C-Squared Forever.

In THE FUTURE there will be irony & Elizabeth Berkley.

2011-08-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, a friend of mine called me up (and by call I mean IM'd me) and asked if I wanted to go to a movie. I said sure and asked what he wanted to see. He listed these 3 movies:

Crazy Stupid Love
The Future
Another Earth

I said of those three, I would see the 1st one or the 3rd one, but he said the 2nd one might be good too. I said "I'd never even heard of that one until you mentioned it. You're making me feel like a bad hipster."
"You are if you didn't know who Miranda July is," was his reply.

Well, I just had to Google it then, I mean my street cred was on the line. The premise of The Future sounded cool so I said I would be willing to see any of the 3 and he should surprise me - just tell me what time and I would show up. This made for a pretty exciting movie going experience, kind of a letting life take me where it may. Little did I know this was just the beginning of an amusingly "ironic" evening.

We saw The Future, it's a cheap little indie dramedy and was actually really good, but see it's about 2 hipsters who decide to let their lives take them where it may. They want to adopt a dying cat which they look at as a finite commitment, but then they find out the kitty has to stay at the shelter until its paw is healed, so they have a whole month before they have to make this "commitment" and decide to use it to the best of their existential advantage. The results are somewhat apathetic but never the less mind blowing. And the cat is even allowed to narrate with the sweetest/pathetic kitty voice I'd ever heard, coupled with the fact it looked exactly like my mom's cat of 20 years, and I was a mess - every time that damn cat started talking about being in the shelter or it's hurt paw I would just think of Agnes and how old she is and start crying uncontrollably.

So there I was in my skinny jeans and a wide neck tee shirt emblazoned with a school logo that doesn't exist, with the idea that I was quote-unquote "seeing" The Future, and then there was the girl next to me in the cowboy boots, slouchy scarf, and her mocha she brought in that timeless of accessories - the white paper coffee cup avec brown cardboard sleeve - and then, AND THEN it turned out we were at the opening of the movie and writer/director Miranda July was there in person with her ironic bangs and her ironic belted mini dress for a Q&A!

She was truly captivating, and not in an ironic way at all, just a very cool lady. People throw around that term "down to Earth," which, along with Facebook RSVPs and the distance any given place is from where you start, I have come to know means nothing in Los Angeles, but Miranda July was definitely down to Earth. I really felt like I could totally be friends with her, I could easily strike up a conversation with her in a bar or at a party, I could feel this even from all the way in the back row of the theater.

After a question from the guy who started rigorously clapping before the credits had rolled and before anyone else in the theater seemed to know the movie had ended, and in which he used the phrase "pregnant emptiness, " [rolls eyes] July explained that she wanted the audience to leave with the kind of sadness that reminds you of all the great things in your life, and that the movie was a celebration of the death of waiting - waiting to begin your life as your authentic self in this case. It was very sincere and honest, for something so "pregnant" (to steal a phrase) with irony.

Then when the Q&A was over they brought the Muzak back up and of course it was playing Foster The People. But just when the irony was about to kill me I was saved by an angel of all that is shallow, vapid, and quasi relevant - Jesse Spano in the flesh. I personally think Elizabeth Berkley is pretty rad because she has a great website called Ask Elizabeth where she offers advice to girls all over the country to help with their self esteem. Yeah, I know she was Nomi Malone, and that in of itself makes this ironic, but I'm glossing over that right now becasue of the special place she holds in my heart for being scared of her addiction to caffeine pills. Anyway, as we came down the escalator she turned to me and smiled like an old friend in military inspired harem pants and wedges. Of course we don't actually know each other yet, but it was the perfect way to bring me back to Planet Hollywood, where arrogance is earned through ones car and neighborhood as opposed to secret hipster knowledge (like the fact that I was going to Foster The People shows at art galleries when they barely had 5 songs to play) - in other words, seeing "The Future."

I'm proud of you Mama Cash!

2011-06-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

Being an artist is not easy - it's a lot of work for a lot of heartbreak and the occasional reward. Back in March, I wrote about how my career as an actor has been a marathon not a sprint. In that post I talked about how I deal with rejection, how I dust myself off and keep going every time I fall on my face - well, I got that unconquerable spirit from my amazing mom, Alana Cash. As someone who never gives up, my mom inspires me as the personification of the courageous artist.

My mom is an award-winning filmmaker and author. She was 1 of 60 U.S. writing teachers chosen to be profiled on the PBS series, "A Writer's Exchange" which was translated into 8 languages. She has written and directed three documentaries that are in distribution – MILEVA MARIC, the Other Einstein, MARIE CURIE, the Woman Behind the Mind, and ANNA FREUD, Under Analysis. She also wrote and directed the feature I produced, TOM’S WIFE, filmed (almost) entirely in a 150-year-old farmhouse in Elgin, Texas. The film has won numerous awards including, Best Director in the Hawaiian Digital Film Festival and First Prize in the Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival.

I am very proud to say that "Tom's Wife," the novel the movie is based on, was recently published and became available on Amazon. Set in Arkansas in 1932, the story is about a love triangle between a young farm wife, Annie Huckaby, her abusive husband, Tom, and a traveling peddler named Jake Stern. It captures an historical, but timely, perspective of the Great Depression, as well as the flavor of country life which is now gone. For my mom the book started out as a short story based on asking herself a question – "I wonder if my grandmother ever fell in love with anyone else?" - and turned into 300 pages. But, as she puts it, there’s a saga of 20 years behind the publication of the book. A couple examples:

The acquisitions editor at SMU Press loved the book and said she'd get a contract to my mom in 3 weeks - a week later the editor passed away.
An executive in development at Orion Pictures loved the book and asked for everything else my mom had written - but delayed optioning the work - until 6 months later Orion announced bankruptcy.

My mom used to joke about contacting the mob to start sending her book to their enemies. But at long last the book is published and she is now about to embark on a small, but ever expanding book tour. The first stop is central Texas where it all started, where she will be making the following appearances:

Friday 6/17
Radio interview on KUT (an NPR station) 90.5FM @ 10AM
Book signing at Bookwoman (5501 North Lamar, Austin, TX 78751) from 7-9pm
Saturday 6/18
Book signing at The Twig (200 E. Grayson Street, Suite 124, San Antonio, TX 78215)

If you happen to be in the area please head on down. If you're not and you'd like to own a copy of the novel you can go here, or better yet make a request at your local bookseller. If you want it autographed then drop me a line and I'll see what I can do.

And to all the artists out there who might be reading this, keep creating if it makes you happy and be brave because someday, somehow, you'll end up exactly where you need to be!

Brass Nuts & DIY Entertainment

2011-05-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

This morning I overheard an actress complaining about her agent and manager. It went something like this: "My agency never sends me out. But like, yesterday they called me at 11am for an audition happening at 2pm! And I was like, I don't even have any headshots printed because they haven't picked one out yet, plus I gotta work. So I had my friend look up the audition to make sure it was worth turning down and it was for some kind of commercial in Korea, and I was all 'uh, no.' So I called them up to tell them I couldn't go and they were all, 'What is it now? It seems like you've had a lot of problems as of late.'" Ok, A) No audition is worth turning down - you can learn from the experience and meet a new casting director. B) I would not let my representation speak to me that way. "What is it now?" !!! Clearly there is an imbalance in this working relationship. If I was that actress I would look into dropping that agency - I left the first agent I ever had in Los Angeles because she was unorganized and unwilling to be accountable, and went unrepresented for almost 2 years because I knew that my professional commitment to acting merited better. Fortunately I've never had to check my current team because we have an excellent relationship. Why? Because C) which should A) I am in the same business that they are - the business of making money. In other words I make sure I have some kind of picture & resume (even if it's 5 years old) on hand at all times in case I get a call for a same day appointment, then stop at nothing to get there in the hopes that I book it and then everyone gets a check - because THAT is what I am here to do. I'm an actor, I act for a living. But I can't rely just on my representation, no one can, not anymore.

There are literally thousands of other actors in this town, and if I wait for the town to get me work I may wait forever to get my turn. I don't have an audition everyday, sometimes not even every week, that is why when I do get one - even if it's for a small job that's only going to air in a small market (ahem, Korea) - I am very grateful. But in the meantime, I am also doing what I can to sharpen my skills and create my own work.

I recently shot an investment trailer for a feature film called "La American Femme" [sic] playing Jean Luc Goddard. The project is written and directed by Charles Haine, owner of a production company called Dirty Robber, who got the resources together to take a bunch of talented people out to Bakersfield, CA and shoot something that he passionately created, in the hopes that someone rich will be passionate about it too. On the ride back from Bakersfield, Charles and I got into a discussion about the importance of creating your own material and the amazing time that we live in that makes that so possible. Numerous funding possibilities like Kickstarter, as well as numerous online distribution possibilities, have created a content revolution in the 21st century. For the first time, artists of all kinds have the tools to bypass the gatekeepers of entertainment and have their voices heard by the hoi polloi.

Friday night I had the pleasure to see an awesome example of the genius that can occur when artists get together to create their own stuff. Re-Animator: The Muscial at the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood, is a musical comedy based on the 1985 movie Re-Animator, which in of itself is based on the story by H.P. Lovecraft about a medical student who gets mixed up in his roommate's experiments in reviving dead tissue. It was so amazingly funny I literally had tears streaming down my face! And the best part is that we sat in the "splash zone," the first 4 rows of the theater in which audience members are splattered with blood and guts that come flying off the stage at certain points in the story (it all washes out). The show has become a smash hit in Los Angeles having been extended 4 times, and has developed a group of regular attendees (that should have some kind of name like Re-Animatorites or something) who wear white or lab coats and sit in the splash zone relishing (with disturbing zeal I might add) the chance to be drenched in fake blood. The show, directed by Stuart Gordon who also directed the feature in 1985, seems to have been born out of Gordon's own passion for the material and desire to work. He had an idea and he created an opportunity, and collaborated with some great talent as well. My friend Brian Gillespie, as well as a couple other actors who are in the show, is part of an improv troupe called F.U.C.T. - yet another example of artists getting together to create their own stuff.

Producers have been doing it forever, but now writers, actors, directors, fashion designers, visual artists, and more are finding and creating ways to bypass traditional channels to get their artistry appreciated. Don't get me wrong, just because the mechanisms exist doesn't mean it's easy. It still takes a lot of tenacity to get up and make something (like a feature film for example) believe me. And then of course is the fear of the unknown - a lot of actors don't know the first thing about writing, let alone producing. So of course it makes sense, in the case of the actress I overheard, that she would want as much under her control as possible (like the headshot she presents or the amount of time she has to prepare) in order to remove some of the fear and anxiety of the industry. Totally understandable, and I sympathize with her to a certain extent. But my personal experience has been that if you want to make something happen you gotta be willing to make things happen. And that takes some brass nuts.

Jump Start That Script In Your Head

2011-05-09T08:58:00.000-07:00

Last year I was contacted to review a new book on screenwriting. I told the publicist who sent it to me that instead of a review I would be using the book as a tool to write my next screenplay and then report back on how it really worked. Well, its been busy and that "new script" is still collecting dust in my brain. Meanwhile though, thought I would pass along this info for screenwriters in LA who might be in need of a jump start like me...

UCLA Screenwriting Chairman Richard Walter Offers On-Campus UCLA Screenwriting Workshop – Summer Class Open to UCLA Students and Non-UCLA Students

It’s easier to win admission to the Harvard Medical School than a seat in Professor Richard Walter’s legendary screenwriting seminar at UCLA. He takes you all the way, from idea to draft to studio deal. UCLA-trained screenwriters have won two Oscars and three Oscar nominations in the past four years, and written ten movies for Steven Spielberg.

Through a special Summer Session course both non-UCLA and UCLA students can enroll for eight credits in a course with this celebrated storytelling guru. The class is especially designed for the Summer Session and is appropriate for new writers and also for experienced writers. It is a round-table roll-up-your-sleeves-and-write seminar. There are in-class writing challenges and also analysis of in-progress script pages written by students in the class.

The on-campus UCLA class meets in Westwood for six Monday afternoons from June 20 through July 29, 2011, 2:00 to 4:50PM. All prerequisites are waived and the class is especially designed for Summer Session ‘A’. The class, listed in the online catalog of courses as “FILM TV 135A ADV SCRNWRTNG WKSHP” (more info here) is open to UCLA students and also to students who are not enrolled at UCLA. Students receive 8 credits. To obtain more information and register, please click here.

To register, students should visit http://www.summer.ucla.edu/ and click “REGISTER”

Who knows, it could even be funny...

TAKE ACTION: stop the VOD revolution!

2011-04-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

We are the artists and business professionals who help make the movie business great. We produce and direct movies. We work on the business deals that help get movies made. At the end of the day, we are also simply big movie fans.

Lately, there’s been a lot of talk by leaders at some major studios and cable companies about early-to-the-home “premium video-on-demand.” In this proposed distribution model, new movies can be shown in homes while these same films are still in their theatrical run.

In this scenario, those who own televisions with an HDMI input would be able to order a film through their cable system or an Internet provider as a digital rental. Terms and timing have yet to be made concrete, but there has been talk of windows of 60 days after theatrical release at a price of $30.

Currently, the average theatrical release window is over four months (132 days). The theatrical release window model has worked for years for everyone in the movie business. Current theatrical windows protect the exclusivity of new films showing in state-of-the-art theaters bolstered by the latest in digital projection, digital sound, and stadium seating.

As a crucial part of a business that last year grossed close to $32 billion in worldwide theatrical ticket sales, we in the creative community feel that now is the time for studios and cable companies to acknowledge that a release pattern for premium video-on-demand that invades the current theatrical window could irrevocably harm the financial model of our film industry.

Major studios are struggling to replace the revenue lost by the declining value of DVD transactions. Low-cost rentals and subscriptions are undermining higher priced DVD sales and rentals. But the problem of declining revenue in home video will not be solved by importing into the theatrical window a distribution model that cannibalizes theatrical ticket sales.

Make no mistake: History has shown that price points cannot be maintained in the home video window. What sells for $30-a-viewing today could be blown out for $9.99 within a few years. If wiser heads do not prevail, the cannibalization of theatrical revenue in favor of a faulty, premature home video window could lead to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue. Some theaters will close. The competition for those screens that remain will become that much more intense, foreclosing all but the most commercial movies from theatrical release. Specialty films whose success depends on platform releases that slowly build in awareness would be severely threatened under this new model. Careers that are built on the risks that can be taken with lower budget films may never have the chance to blossom under this cut-throat new model. Further, releasing a pristine, digital copy of new movies early to the home will only increase the piracy problem—not solve it.

As leaders in the creative community, we ask for a seat at the table. We want to hear the studios’ plans for how this new distribution model will affect the future of the industry that we love.

And until that happens, we ask that our studio partners do not rashly undermine the current – and successful – system of releasing films in a sequential distribution window that encourages movie lovers to see films in the optimum, and most profitable, exhibition arena: the movie theaters of America.

We encourage our colleagues in the creative community to join with us by calling or emailing NATO at 202-962-0054 or nato@natodc.com.

Sincerely,

Michael Bay
Kathryn Bigelow
James Cameron
Guillermo del Toro
Roland Emmerich
Antoine Fuqua
Todd Garner
Lawrence Gordon
Stephen Gyllenhaal
Gale Anne Hurd
Peter Jackson
Karyn Kusama
Jon Landauv
Shawn Levy
Michael Mannv
Bill Mechanic
Jamie Patricof
Todd Phillips
Brett Ratner
Robert Rodriguez
Adam Shankman
Gore Verbinski
Robert Zemeckis
Cameron Cash

Filmmakers On The Radio!

2011-04-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

I received this email today and thought I would pass along the information. Sounds pretty cool...

You’re invited to listen to our new radio show which features guests talking about trends the film industry and the latest developments in science, technology, business and society. It’s Changemakers on BlogTalkRadio and airs live each Tuesday from 5:00-5:30 p.m. at www.blogtalkradio.com/changemakers, and you can listen at any time to previously recorded shows in the archives.

For our show Tuesday, April 5th, our guest will be talking to Gene Massey, the Chairman and CEO of Media Shares and Cinema Shares, which has a unique patented method of crowdfunding movies on the Internet.

Who's the most LA now?!?

2011-03-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

When I first moved to LA I slept on people's couches while I looked for a job and an apartment. The last couch I slept on was my high school buddy Doug's who had been living out here for several years. He earned his living traveling the country and producing music content for a cutting edge cable network, his roommate was a working actor, and his best friend was another high school buddy of ours who had already become a movie star. I was pretty stressed because it had been almost 3 months and while I had a pretty rad day job, I hadn't had any luck finding an apartment in my price range (I had no car and had to find an apartment in the pricey neighborhood of Santa Monica so I could ride my bike to the day job). Not to mention feeling inadequate compared to these other guys who all seemed to be living the dream I had moved to LA to achieve.

One night Doug and I were watching Entourage, and Doug commented, "I love this show, it's so crazy. I mean it's like our life." The "our" he was referring to was him and his friends. Until today that was the most LA thing I had ever heard. I mean who compares their life to Entourage? It's a show about an up and coming movie star in Hollywood and his 3 closest friends from back east, produced by Mark Wahlberg, and incredibly funny, but not something I would ever consider close to the common guy's experience.

Well, today I realized the only thing more LA then comparing your life to Entourage is to actually be on the show Entourage, which makes me the most LA of all because I just booked the role of Robbie (a funny waiter). Ha! Times sure have changed.

NEWSFLASH: It's not about you.

2011-03-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

People often say to me, "I could never be an actor, I couldn't handle all that rejection." At the risk of encouraging even more competition, I'll admit it's not that big of a deal. It's not like you go in for something and then get a call the next day saying,

"Hi Cameron its X Casting Director. I just wanted to take the time out of my own life to make sure that you knew that we're rejecting you."
or
"Hi this is Y Casting Director, just wanted to make sure you knew that you weren't good enough. Take care."

The reality is you never hear from them again. You might get a call back and go in again, or a chemistry read to see how you work with other actors they are considering, but usually they make their decision and the only reason you hear from them is if you booked the job. So really it's a lot of acceptance and hardly any rejection - it's all a matter of perspective. Dwelling on every single audition you have and wondering why you never heard from them again does not serve you. You gotta keep pushing forward on to the next turn at bat. I am very fortunate in my career at the moment to be auditioning on a regular enough basis that I can't even remember all of the jobs I go out for. I show up, read my lines, say thank you, and then toss those sides (the short script for the audition) into the garbage. But not only is it about moving on, it's also about realizing that you are you, and they are looking for something very specific and if it's not you what are you gonna do about it? Change? It's too late for that. No, you gotta keep living your life and doing your best. It's like earthquake preparedness; it's really just doing your best to survive, there really isn't a whole lot you can do to prepare for the ceiling to come crashing down on top of you.

Yesterday I drove 40 minutes to an audition that I had a gut feeling I wasn't right for - as I prepared the night before I kept thinking, "this character would be really great if he was a black guy." I went anyway because it's part of my job and you never know (I once booked a job where the casting director said, "try it one more time without sounding like a Nazi."). After I paid for 35 minutes at the meter, I go into the casting session to find a room of ethnically diverse guys. There were a couple of white dudes, but all the others ran the gamut of skin colors. So, okay fine, the casting director had the same sense that I did, I still believe that if I rocked it I had a shot. Thirty minutes later I walked into the room shook hands with the director and we began. Let me digress to say that the reader was also the camera operator and chose to stand almost directly behind the camera - this happens far too often and I hate it because then part of the audition becomes about trying not to look directly into the camera. Even if I allow my eyes to wander naturally, as they would in real life, I have to remain conscious about keeping them away from the lens which then takes me out of the scene and puts me in a technical head space. Kudos to the actor who can remain completely natural in this situation - chances are it's an accident. Anyway, I had two sets of sides and after the first one I knew the director was not picking up what I was laying down. I did the 2nd set of sides, he said thank you, and I headed back to my car where I found a parking ticket - my meter had expired.

As I drove home cursing the children of that meter maid, I thought about how well the audition went. Sure my instincts about the ethnicity of the character were probably right, and sure the director wasn't feeling it, but I still created a great character with a certain cadence and body language, and I never looked at the lens despite the positioning of the reader. As far as I'm concerned I nailed it, but I probably won't hear from them, or to put it another way, they will probably reject me anyway. But the point is that I did a good job, so it isn't really about me, it's about what they are looking for. I like me, if they don't well, agree to disagree.

Any career choice one makes is a marathon not a sprint. Sadly, it's easy to loose track of this when you are an actor, as everyday there are more and more people vying for the same jobs, especially if you choose to believe that there is something wrong with you instead of you just not being quite right.

Sometimes we all deserve luxury and a statuette!

2011-01-31T10:10:00.000-08:00

I did not watch the season finale of Bridalplasty last night. I never actually followed that show, but I did get caught up in the 2nd to last episode when it aired as part of a marathon yesterday afternoon - that reality garbage really sucks you in, huh? And I must admit I was rooting for one particular contestant and was happy to find out this morning, when I Googled it, that she had indeed won it all. No, instead I chose to participate in the time honored Hollywood tradition of congratulating ourselves for how great we are by watching the SAG Awards.

The show ran long. When you give awards for talking effectively on screen to a room full of people who love to hear themselves talk that's no shocker. What may have shocked some people however was that the union, my union, an American union, bestowed its highest honor on a what is essentially a foreign film: The King's Speech.

Don't get me wrong, TKS is an amazing film. Very moving, full of great performances (the least of which is Helena Bonham Carter playing someone who isn't crazy or a witch), deserves all of its kudos (Colin Firth gave the most charming and classy acceptance speech for his best actor award) and I'm sure that it meets all the qualifiers that make it eligible for the categories in which it has been nominated for all the awards shows across the board. However, although it is in English, at the end of the day it is still a foreign film; produced by an Australian company, starring British and Australian actors, filmed in London with a European crew. It's a union's job to keep jobs local isn't it? To ensure labor standards while keeping employers from escaping to foreign countries where labor is cheaper and, most importantly, non-unionized? Of course the Brits have their own actors union called British Actors' Equity, which is a sister union to SAG, so it's not like running off to Taiwan to manufacture tee-shirts, but never-the-less the jobs were offered overseas - not exactly "accessible" to actors like me let alone my friends who are gaffers and costumers. In his acceptance speech for best ensemble, Geoffrey Rush named some of the youngest members of their cast, of which there were several, and I wondered are they even actually members of SAG? I'm sure they're members of BAE, but as a foreign production would they be forced to join SAG as well? I'm doubtful. So an American union designed to protect my job, hands over its highest honor to a production filmed in another country and which employed non-Americans who aren't even members of said union. Ironic? Hmm.

Well, this industry is filled with ironies. Like attending a film festival to get a bunch of free stuff and get drunk as opposed to meeting emerging filmmakers and seeing independent filmmaking. For the 5th year in a row I attended the Sundance Film Festival but it was the first year that I realized that a majority of industry folks who fly in for the event rarely actually see any of the movies (with the exception of the one they are there to promote etc.) - and this year I whole heartedly gave in to that majority. After all I AM an independent filmmaker. I AM exactly who should be getting gifted and be honored with entry in to exclusive parties. It is very common to attend Sundance, go to the gifting suites and get all your free stuff (like blue jeans and iPads), take a nap at your condo, hit the parties on Main St, and then fly home. Sad, but true and not too shabby once in a while either.

I had been invited to go up last minute by some good people in my life and I ended up having the most fun I've had in 5 years in Park City. I stayed in the biggest house I had ever been in in my whole life and I allowed its luxury to color my entire experience. It had heated floors, an indoor pool, a movie theater, and I wanted for nothing - I was walking on air the whole time. I was bummed that I didn't get to see any movies, I tried to wait-list - twice! But I would arrive at the venue 2 hours early just to find out that they had already given away all 200 of the wait-list numbers. So these people who got a number had been waiting upwards of 3 hours to see one movie, once they did they would have spent almost 5 hours of their day to see one thing! I had more fun things to do - like getting my picture taken for Vogue, getting gifted a pair of Agloves for texting in the cold, and stuffing my face here.

For a lot of us that's what being in this industry is all about - doing what you like and having fun - at least for actors anyway. In the biographies I have read about famous actors they are very rarely serious people. Instead they seem to put a pretty high value on having fun, and I think that's an awesome way to live life. Sometimes acting can be very serious work, but even then you gotta find what makes it enjoyable, otherwise why do it? To hell once in a while with low budgets, waiting in lines, fire & brimstone & the economy! Sometimes we all deserve luxury and a statuette! When I cast my votes for the SAG Awards I didn't give a second thought about what was filmed where - I just wanted to honor the best performances and to me those are the ones that looked the most fun to perform. And it's not so shocking to think that's probably what my peers did too (it didn't hurt that TKS was one of 2 movies that made sure all of SAG received their own screener). So congratulations to The Kings Speech and all of last night's winners. Hope it was as much fun as it looks!

"It's MY turn!" - Natalie (crazy town) Portman, A YEAR IN REVIEW

2011-01-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

In the past few weeks I've managed to see every major studio release that is being buzzed about for awards season. True Grit, The Fighter, The Town, Black Swan, The King's Speech etc. It's one of my favorite times of year to see movies because each one manages to be worth seeing, if not spectacular. I wouldn't say, however, I've been blown away by any movie this season, nor any performance (although that Black Swan movie gave me nightmares...or was it the steak I had right before?). What's been amazing about this particular awards season is that, I either got to watch these movies from my own couch, or in a small private screening room filled with people who kept their mouths shut and cell phones off (with the exception of one or two incredibly narcissistic people who couldn't possibly go a whole 90 minutes without communicating the minutiae of their every move to the social networking masses). I have been afforded the opportunity to do this through my membership in SAG, a turn of events that came about during a pretty spectacular year we all know as twenty ten. So as I go hurling into twenty eleven, I thought I would review the moments that I blogged that made last year so bitchin!

January - Years after its premiere at the Houston World Fest, my feature film Tom's Wife finally began to move through the last components of its post-production process: sound design and color correction. It was incredible to see and hear how these two elements transformed Tom's Wife into a far better film. You can read more about that process here.

February - The single most transformative moment of 2010 happened in February. Through a friend I found out that an adult dodgeball league was forming in West Hollywood and I decided to make that the subject of a documentary. A few months later I had a lot of great footage and had met some incredible people who helped me to understand that everyone feels like an outcast at some point, but eventually things get better. When the next season started up I joined a team, my circle of friends expanded exponentially, and I am now a two time league champion. You can read about how it all started here.

March - This was my birthday month and also the same month that I became part of the hottest trend from 2010 - zombies! I was cast as The Master, a well bred English sen-sei, who teaches the Bennet girls the art of thwarting zombie attacks in a teaser for the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls. The teaser is currently at over 200,000 hits on YouTube, and you can and watch that here.

April - I had finished principle photography on the dodgeball documentary. It had morphed into a story that I was very proud to tell and I was delighted when a player in the league stepped up to help me cut it together. You can read about that here. I also joined Twitter.

May - The reason I was aggressively moving forward on the completion of Tom's Wife was to get it into the hands of our sales agent and distributor Echelon Studios. Making a truly independent film is a monumental task, for some filmmakers it can take decades, like Colin Fitz Lives which was produced in 1996 but didn't get distribution until just this past year. While my thoughts of Echelon are mixed, it feels really great to know that my movie is finally getting the opportunity to be seen by audiences all over the world. You can read about that here.

June - I landed my first starring role in a television series called Lost Tapes. Every episode is about a different kind of unexplained creature or phenomenon, my episode was about a poltergeist and I got to deal with a real terror of my own...a child actor! You can read about that here.

July - My amazing editor and I pieced together a teaser trailer to show everyone in the dodgeball league how grateful I was for their participation. A few months later my editor left the project for creative reasons and I was fortunate enough to land Sean Rowe to take over! He and I are currently in the process of polishing a rough cut and I hope to have a new and more official trailer very soon. You can see the original teaser here.

August - Because of the Emmy awards at the end of August it was TV month, and I got some of my favorite bloggers and friends to write about shows they loved. You can read those and other posts about TV here.

September - I met and worked with Justin Timberlake. You can read about that here.

October - Even though I injured my back in rehearsals, I managed to live through Il Postino at the LA Opera. You can read about that here.

November/December - I shot another movie called Finding Mr. Wright and then got wrapped up in more dodgeball, family time, the holidays, and reflecting on 2010.

I look back on last year as one of best years of my adult life thus far. Professionally and socially it was awesome - it was a year when I truly felt I left amatuer hour behind and stepped into the spotlight with the other pros. It finally felt like my turn. So here's to hoping that this year will be even more spectacular, and good luck to everyone this award season - may we all get the validation we deserve in 2011!

I Hate You Phillip Morris

2010-12-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

I Love You Phillip Morris was finally released theatrically in the United States this Friday. Apparently the film I saw at Sundance almost 2 years ago has been edited for content, so I am curious to see how it has changed for the better or worse. If you've had a chance to see it let me know what you thought.

You can read my original thoughts on the movie HERE.

The glut we leave behind...

2010-11-16T14:51:00.000-08:00

I suck...ish at writing this blog at the moment. I've been awesomely busy recently. Shooting 2 features, promoting a TV show I was in, doing post on the dodgeball doc, the opera, Halloween, my best friend's wedding etc. And then of course I've been going to the movies because it's getting to be that time of year when every movie that comes out is just freaking amazing! A topic I wrote about a while back here. One movie I was particularly excited about was Hereafter. I love a good psychic movie with creepy visions and great effects, and the trailers looked pretty awesome - what with that tsunami and all (so topical). I wish I could say it got me thinking about death, but I'll let the elderly gentleman with dementia in the 6th row who was having full conversations with himself during the movie take credit for that.

I'm lucky that I make movies, because when I'm gone there will still be a piece of me here on Earth. I'm in them, I write them, I produce them, I watch them. I like to think that what I make is good, but regardless of how good a movie is, we each only seem to have a handful of movies that have a permanent place in our memory. For some of us it's movies like Troop Beverly Hills, for others it's Gone With The Wind. I have one friend who's favorite movie is Hellraiser. But then there are the movies that fall to the wayside, ones that are good but forgotten. Try naming the Best Picture winner from 1998 for example...see what I mean? (It was Shakespeare In Love) As a society we have been churning out movies for decades all over the world and as technology innovates it becomes easier and easier to jam more content into the glut of cinematic consciousness. However, all of this content, from studio features to micro-budget, from documentaries to cartoons, is part of a certain kind of visual history, and I for one feel really blessed that I get to be part of that.

Recently, while doing some research about tragic deaths, I learned that Jayne Mansfield's house, the Pink Palace with the heart shaped pool, had been torn down in 2002 (Jayne Mansfield, it was reported, was decapitated in an auto accident in 1967 - the truth was her neck was broken and her scalp had been torn off. Her daughter, Emmy winning actress, Mariska Hargitay, was asleep in the backseat of that car FYI). At first I thought it was outrageous to tear down the house of a movie legend. A house so engendered into Mansfield's persona it seemed like it should be some kind of Hollywood landmark. It had a heart shaped pool for god-sakes! But then I thought, "well, who was Jane Mansfield really? Like, to the world." She was a voluptuous movie star who rose to stardom during the blond bombshell fad of cinema in the late 1950s...that's about it.

Born Vera Jayne Palmer she was scouted by Warner Brothers in Pasadena and soon became a star of Broadway and Hollywood, but her career was mired by the sordid details of her personal life and publicity stunts in which she purposefully bared her breasts. She was also a victim of a certain kind of glut herself - every studio was pushing the blonde sex symbol during the height of her popularity. Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak, and Mamie Van Doren (who Mansfield openly despised) were the most notable of a trend of blond actresses that cooed and purred their way into America's theaters during this period. But what of the countless others? Like Diana Dors...

Who?

Or Joi Lansing...

Huh?

Its not like any of these blonds had any true impact on the world, with the exception of Marilyn Monroe of course. They aren't exactly a part of history, just entertainment. So why shouldn't we tear down their homes? What real significance to do they have anyway? Sadly, as much as movie people like to think they are as significant as Thomas Jefferson, the only thing they truly leave behind are their movies.

Instead of turning their homes into museums they are given the honor of being enshrined in celluloid, as are 100s of lesser actors and extras. To me it's a truly amazing moment to be visually captured for all eternity by a movie camera - one of the many reasons I do what I do. So the next time you watch a movie take a moment to reflect on the countless talents who were allowed to leave their mark on the world through cinema. And if you are in the industry, try doing that before you run out the door with your Flip Camera, or upload some files to IMovie, or sit down to write that next script on Final Draft (like I am about to do), and give thanks that you are being given the opportunity to continue a legacy. It might motivate you to create one of those works that everyone remembers forever.

As for Hereafter, I walked out. I mean, that guy wouldn't shut up. But from what I saw it was a very Clint Eastwood style of movie. So, if you like his stuff you'll like Hereafter too. And, incidentally, you might want to check out Moviemaker Magazine's latest do-it-yourself 2011 issue on stands now.

WANTED: Young, Skinny, Wiry Fellows

2010-11-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

My friend CJ (editor on my CO3 Holiday video card last year) has partnered with the National Park Service to produce a documentary on the Pony Express. Read below a message from CJ about how you can help...

Late last year, I quit my cushy entertainment gig in LA to direct my first feature-length film, an independent documentary called 1861: Spirit of the Pony Express. This year is the 150th anniversary of the dramatic service that delivered mail from the east coast to the west coast via the end of civilization at the Missouri River in 10 days at a time at the dawn of the Civil War. My tiny crew has camped and bunked across the U.S. following the original trail, digging into America's cultural history and exploring the beginning of our modern era. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express)

The government has noticed our potential; this week the National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/index.htm) has awarded us as a recipient of their 2010 Challenge Cost Share Program. Thousands of projects across the country compete for months to be granted this opportunity. It means if our non-profit can raise 20k, the NPS will match that amount, doubling our opportunity to finish this landmark film. Our focus is to help develop innovative tactics for educating children as well has National Historic Trail preservation. Our company has already partnered with OCTA (http://www.octa-trails.org/) to help save South Pass, Wyoming from energy development this fall.

Movies can entertain and inspire us all, but this particular project has the chance to affect many lives this year as well as preserve parts of this country that have not changed since pioneers pushed West hundreds of years ago.

Please go to www.ponyexpressdoc.com to find the link to donate. Just $20 and forwarding this email can make this happen by the end of the holiday season. We are hoping to finish principle photography here in Missouri by the end of September then bring the post back to LA. "In kind" donations (sound mixing, color correction, music etc) also count, so if you have a skill and want to be a part of this, just hit reply! All donations are tax-deductible.

If you want more background or want to keep up with our progress, friend the film's movie page on Facebook, "Pony Rider".

Thanks for your time!

--C.J. LongHammer

Lighten up! It's the opera.

2010-09-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

If you follow me on Twitter then you know I'm in some kind of opera. It is an adaptation of the film Il Postino, and stars the legendary Placido Domingo. I've had to ditch social commitments left and right this whole month for "Opera Rehearsal, " and friends are very impressed when I tell them, and usually reply with something like, "I didn't know you sang opera!" I don't. I'm in the non-singing chorus, playing a fisherman, one of the lead character Mario's (Charles Castronovo) friends.

When I went in to audition I was surprised to learn that the director was actually good friend of my sisters named Ron Daniels. I had in fact sat next to him at two different Thanksgiving dinners, and upon seeing me and saying hello, he said, "Well, I guess someone just booked a job, didn't he?" And that was the end of it.

Now, the opera basically invented the term "diva," so when I went in for my first rehearsal I expected a lot of ego and attitude - you know like on a movie set. I was shocked to learn how kind and well mannered everyone was. Each person in the room was utterly respected for their contribution to the opera. From no-liners like me all the way up to the composer, everyone was treated with equal respect. I had not worked in the theater at that professional level in years and it made me yearn for my days in England training with the RSC.

I was on my absolute best theater behavior - comfortable rehearsal clothes that included closed toe shoes, arriving early, no hats, no gum, no cell phones, no talking on stage, minimal whispering off stage, generally making sure I was ready and aware of anything I may be asked to do by the stage managers or other crew. Basic professionalism that was burned into me by the man who taught me everything I know about the Theater when I was attending the McCallum Fine Arts Academy High School - Mr. Bill Staples.

What I quickly learned, however, was that my standards of professionalism were not shared by the majority of the other performers I was working with. All the way up to the principals, the actors in rehearsal were getting away with murder! Getting away with the kinds of things that would make Mr. Staples come storming down the aisle of the house screaming "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!!!" And I was getting annoyed because no matter what standards I upheld, I was just lumped together with the rest of them. I talked about it with my BFF who is a musical theater veteran, and she made the point that when you are dealing with singers who act, you are basically dealing with musicians; it may not seem like it, but they are cut from the same cloth as folks like Jim Morrison and Lady Gaga.

Well that gave me quite a different perspective to say the least. I figured I'm basically putting on a concert, and as long as the fans are happy with what happens on stage, then who cares what happens off stage. So, I've lightened up quite a bit. It took me a little while to get there, but I'm actually having fun. My costumes are amazing, the music is gorgeous, and Placido wears a lot of cologne like a pimp!

Il Postino opens September 23rd, you can buy tickets and learn more here.

PS - remember when all there was to Lady Gaga was her harsh bangs?

Justin Timberlake gave me Beiber hair!

2010-09-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last month, while I was singing the praises of television, I did a shoot on a feature film called Friends With Benefits, playing my namesake in Ferris Bueller's Day Off the Musical, a musical within the movie. Did I mention the film stars Justin Timberlake, or Justin as I call him now.

It was a night shoot so my call was 9:30 pm at a non-descript parking lot in Hollywood. I checked in with production, dropped my stuff in my trailer, and headed straight to catering! They were just coming off lunch so I grabbed the usual movie set fare of chicken fingers, ceasar salad, and a big slice of coconut cake (even though I hate coconut, but I was starving). The other 4 actors in my scene (playing Ferris, Sloane, Ben Stein, and Charlie Sheen [I have no idea either]) watched me eat and talked about getting their SAG cards and what crazy stuff they did in their audition. We all had to sing, but the one thing that we all agreed booked us the part was that we all went in with our own choreography. I would love to get my hands on that audition tape!

After the food and chat it was off to hair and makeup. When I sat down in the hair stylists chair, after having a lovely chat with the woman who did my makeup, the stylist started running her fingers through my hair and asked me if I had any product in it, I said "Yes, and I left it nice and dirty for you. I know you guys like that." When I was a runway model they always reminded us to come with dirty hair because it was much easier to style. However at the mention of dirty hair, this stylist dropped my hair out of her hands like it was infested with lice and replied, "No. That doesn't matter." She then fired up the flat iron and said, "If I burn you with this flat iron, I apologize in advance." Wasn't that sweet of her? She didn't burn me, but as she pulled the iron through my hair I could see how shiny it was. I said, "It is pretty greasy." To which she replied, "Yeah, I didn't want to say anything." She was quite the charmer. I walked out of there looking like this:

Now, I ask you, do you think I looked like this:

Or like this:

After we filled out all our contracts and got into costume we were taken to set for rehearsal. The scene was all about making the musical look as tragic as possible. Will Gluck, the director, showed us some steps he wanted us to do and then we ran the song a few times. Next thing I know, Justin walks in, confers with Will, and then strides right up to me and my Ferris Beuller cronies and says, "Hi, I'm Justin."

Couldn't you just die?

At this point it was about 1 in the morning. Justin had been on set since 2pm. Needless to say he was exhausted. I wish I could say we dished about another Cameron who was once in his life, but we didn't chat much. I did learn that Ferris Bueller's Day Off was his all time favorite movie, that he thought it was funny that my name was also Cameron, and that he is genuinely a very polite guy. We showed him what we had rehearsed with Will, and after watching us, Justin changed everything - I mean I guess he knows a thing or two about how to sing and dance. He gave us new choreography and counts at the top, told us to sing loud, and even broke up the song little bit to make it more interesting. This guy is a genius!

Justin's action was to walk past the theater, look in at us, and say something funny. We did take after take. A crowd had gathered on the opposite side of the street from the shoot, and some assholes over there were giving JT a hard time. He was tired and in a bad mood, so on each take I made it my job to try and make him laugh. I decided to channel Catherine O'Hara in Waiting for Guffman, slap on a huge grin and sing and dance my heart out. And on the very last take of the night Justin finally made eye contact with me and cracked up! It was epic.

I got home around 4am, my hair had been plastered to my head to look a little more like Cameron Frye, but I was too tired to wash it. It was an awesome night and I went to sleep feeling grateful for one more chance to do exactly what it is that I want to be doing with my life. And meeting Justin Timberlake didn't hurt either.

I'd like to thank the Academy...

2010-08-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

The Emmys were last night, and I can't say there were very many surprises in my opinion (except maybe that Jane Lynch wore a dress). My two favorite shows, Mad Men and Modern Family, took home the best show prizes respectively - truly a monument to my good taste. For a full list of winners go here.

Well, I hope you enjoyed TV Month here at C-Squared Forever. Thanks again to Susan R. Hill, JJ Wienkers, and Japhy Grant for their amazing contributions. It's been a busy month for me so look forward to upcoming blogs about my work with Justin Timberlake, the LA Opera, and of course dodgeball. And don't worry, I'll write about TV every once in a while too.

If you'd like to contribute to C-Squared Forever just gimme a shout.

Torn between 2 masters!

2010-08-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

The Emmys are on Sunday and everyone all over town is making their predictions. And while Mad Men is the highest Emmy nominated drama, HBO's True Blood might give AMC a run for its money. Cultural blogger Japhy Grant over at blog.japhygrant.com weighs in on why if one of these shows wins the other wins too.

How True Blood and Mad Men are the same damned show!!!

One is about oversexed vampires, the other -- oversexed mid-century office workers. Both are up for the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy this weekend. While on the surface the Southern Gothic goofiness of True Blood seems to have nothing in common with the Dostoevskian coolness of Mad Men, look under the hood and they're the exact same show. Here's how:

Both are "sequels" to seminal cable TV dramas.

Part of the fun of Mad Men and True Blood is seeing how they differ from the series that their creators worked on last. For Mad Men's Matthew Weiner, that means his stint as a writer on The Sopranos. For Alan Ball, it's Six Feet Under. Ironically, Weiner and Ball have switched places a bit. Where Six Feet Under was a leisurely and understated (drug-induced dream sequences excepted) developing essay on American life, True Blood is well, as bloody as The Sopranos, if not more so.

They're both shows 'about America.'

A lot of people I know who were fans of Six Feet Under hate True Blood. Their argument usually boils down to a feeling that Alan Ball is slumming it in the bayou, what with the profusion of vamps, werewolves, zombies, shifters and fairies. Yet, I think Ball is being totally authentic. Six Feet Under was ultimately a show about Los Angeles: What it means to live in a sort of post-post-modern vaguely apocalyptic world of cobbled together extended families.

True Blood is ultimately about the South and the supernatural elements are crucial to the storytelling. Whether it's B'rer Rabbit or Tennessee Williams, the exaggerated and the supernatural are at the heart of all good Southern tales. It lets you get away with things you would never be able to otherwise.

How else could Ball get away with a scene from this season where Tara, the perpetually fucked-over black bartender, found herself running furiously away from a plantation manner in a 19th-century dressing gown pursued by wolves? In any other show, the overt slave imagery would boil over. Too familiar, too cliche, too tasteless, but somehow, because the owners of the home are gay vampire lovers and the wolves pursuing Tara are werewolves, the scene seems fresh. Over the top, but fresh.

Mad Men, of course, proves the old adage that all histories reveal more about the era they're written in than the era they're written about. In its retelling of the 60s, Mad Men eschews hippies and hope for the quiet disappointments of fractured identity and family. Oh sure, the furniture is meticulously researched, but you know, it's about us, right now.

They're both soap operas.

That's the dirty secret about Mad Men and True Blood-- they're our generation's Dynasty. Yeah, it's a golden age for television, but despite the high-art pretensions of Mad Men and True Blood (okay, maybe just Mad Men), both shows turn on melodrama.

In fact, it's amazing more people haven't noted the similarity between Mad Men and the weepy 50s women's melodramas that clearly inspired it. The only real difference is that the heroine of Mad Men is Don Draper. Like Mildred Pierce, he came from nothing, compromised himself to make a name for himself and is rewarded for his sacrifices with nothing but scorn and animosity from those he loves. Why do you think everyone in the show is always commenting on Don's virility? It's to mask the fact that he's more Joan Crawford than Carry Grant-- and it's what keeps the show so entertaining.

Though until it starts throwing in some naked vampire threeways, both shows will have to share space in my heart as my favorite show.

Meh – gnificent!

2010-08-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. I've written about the show Glee a few times on this blog and my friend JJ Wienkers over at JJWienkers.com felt he needed to show me the light. And its official, JJ has converted me into a GLEEK (or GLORK as he says)! I already had my leanings, but I'll let JJ take the credit; one thing I can't ignore about that show is its sheer zeal and joy. Here's what JJ wrote:

Initially, I was less than enthusiastic about Fox’s raging hit, “Glee.” Oh there's a new episode, I’d think to myself whilst browsing Hulu every Wednesday afternoon, last fall, I should totally..."Meh."

Nothing about it really hooked me. Not the premise, not the characters, not even Sue Sylvester. In fact, more than anything, I was disappointed that Jane Lynch’s jump to primetime signified her exodus from “Party Down.”

“Ugh. Sell out,” I’m sure I grumbled to fellow fans of the now defunct Starz program.

My former roommate, however, began Gleeking out immediately following the premiere. She would download each new cover and play them on repeat. In the car, in the house – even when she wore headphones, the volume was so loud I could hear every refrain clearly.

“Ican’ttakeitanymore!” I regularly shrieked.

But then something happened. I began to warm to “Glee.” Like realizing that you actually do enjoy the company of someone with whom, previously, you had only merely tolerated for the sake of mutual friends. And when Olivia Newton-John re-imagined her “Physical” music video alongside Sue Sylvester in episode 17, “Bad Reputation,” well – then my fate as a Glork was irrevocably sealed.

“It ain’t no “Rumour,” I punned the title of another one of her Billboard Hot 100 singles. “This show is just damn good entertainment!”

And it’s more than fluffy escapism. Yes, “Glee” may be the televised equivalent of the pop music genre. But it is inspiring new perspectives on contemporary social issues as readily as it is reviving an appreciation for 80s chart toppers.

Burt Hummel’s impassioned monologue on the despicable and sorrowful persistence of homophobia amongst today’s generation nearly brought me to tears during episode 20, “Theatricality.” Nearly, only because I haven’t cried more than 11 times since I began elementary school. Yet, no matter your emotional tendencies: that was, undoubtedly, the most touching and progressive expression of support and respect shared between a father and his gay son that the world has ever seen on primetime television.

I imagine that episode was the final push hundreds of gay teens needed to come out. Not to mention that the prominence of a young gay character in general is surely urging a lot of other burgeoning homosexuals forward, closer to the closet door. Concurrently, it’s more than just rainbow banners that “Glee” is prompting people to raise, but the all encompassing, proverbial freak flag, too.

They may get lobbed into dumpsters, have Slurpees thrown in their faces, and lose out on school funding in favor of the cheerleading squad, but over the course of the first season, those Glee Clubbers proved to themselves and the viewing audience that nerds and, even more broadly, underdogs, can succeed.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the cast and creators of the freshmen series fulfill their own message at the Emmy’s. However, there are many who disagree. Many who don’t believe they even deserve to be nominated at all, much less in the category of Outstanding Comedy series.

“I don’t laugh once during that show,” a friend of mine has said.

Honestly, I’m not sure I do all that often, either. But that doesn’t mean it’s not funny. I may not want any actual friends who don’t make me cackle; but as far as a 43-minute program is concerned, anything that elicits various other, quieter expressions of joy is enough to satiate my appetite for humor.

Comedy or drama, award winning or mere nominee, “Glee” no longer prompts me to shrug, “Meh,” but shout, “Magnificent!” Sure, that’s not as much validation as a winged, golden trophy; but coming from a critical asshole like myself – it’s something of which they should be proud.

If you love it, why don't you marry it!?!?

2010-08-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

As part of TV Month I have been reaching out to my creative friends to ask them if they would like to contribute their thoughts on television. My friend Susan R. Hill, a theater artist, loves TV more than the movies. Here's why:

I love television – I mean I really love it. I also love reading and the arts and theater – lest you think I am some nitwit, couch potato, boob tuber. I want you to know that I am a “find the good in everything” kind of gal. For example, whilst I think that watching fishing shows is Snorefest 2000, I can see the merit in it for fishing loving folks. I can understand how one might find that enthralling were they entranced with fishing. Television, like dating, comes in all kinds and in all shapes and sizes; there is a veritable smorgasbord of entertainment options. And don’t even get me started on Tivo – yes TIVO not a DVR – everything else compared to the Tivo is useless and without merit to mention. My point is that whatever mood I am in I can find something suited to my entertainment need. Feeling nerdy? There is so much educational television a woman could lose her mind – need some escapism – oh boy that is there too: sex, love, money, news, politics – you name it! Literally anything is there for the watching. I even heard a story on NPR about a guy trying to start a puppy channel – that’s right, just video after video of puppies. Puppies playing. Puppies eating. Puppies sleeping. Puppies jumping up and down off a couch. All set to joyful, upbeat music. I know you are thinking, that is dumb – but be honest – you like it when you get those mass emails every week showing pictures of puppies doing silly things. You like it and you pass it on. It’s ok – sometimes when you are feeling sad – or happy – or whatever - everyone wants to see adorable puppies doing adorable things. It’s human nature. So, while sadly no one picked it up I really didn’t think it was such a bad idea. You can bet I would have Tivoed (Tivo’d? What is the correct conjugation of that verb? Verb? hmmm) an hour of puppies doing something once a week to have running if I needed a little pick me up. But I digress, I say all this so that you can feel confident that I am not just some random Jane making proclamations about television all willy-nilly, but a bonafide, honest to goodness T.V. lover. I want to be clear that I love T.V. more than the movies. Movies are great for their glitz and glamour, but they use you up and spit you out in 2 hours or less without a care in the world. (Unless of course it is my number one, all time, worst movie ever A.I., which is three hours of my life I will never get back, but that is another story all together.) ANYWHO - they don’t have to be good because you aren’t going to come back. They don’t have to be consistent they don’t have to be anything but well talked about and marginally reviewed and most folks will go see them. But T.V.! T.V. must cajole, flirt, interest, and keep you in mind. Returning week after week to woo you, creating a relationship with you so that you will keep coming back. Similarly television, like dating, comes in all kinds and in all shapes and sizes. In short, T.V. treats me like a lady – while the movies must think me a whore. I just honestly, truly, seriously, really - REALLY - love T.V.

Braniacs and Munsters

2010-08-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

This is not easy reading, but it's still a pretty rad article about how the horror genre was blended with the sitcom in the 1960s. I found it here. Enjoy!

Cultural Semiotics: The Addams Family and The Munsters on American Television
by Colva Weissenstein

In this entry I want to try and expand on ideas I started developing last week regarding semiotics and the way monsters in classic horror are read culturally. The idea raised by Barthes that cultural objects have to be decoded by the viewer in terms of the information they have already gathered allows common media forms and genres to be taken apart based on these predetermined structures. One of the things I was considering while doing this week’s reading was how popular television forms (comedy, drama, sitcom, crime) can be read intertextually and semiotically, and furthermore what happens when television genres are intermingled and how they can be in turn reread. The example I was particularly struck by was the merging between the American family sitcom and the horror genre, seen in the 1960’s television shows The Addams Family and The Munsters. In these examples the audience decodes the material based on their predetermined understanding of elements of the horror genre I discussed last week in the format of the happy-go-lucky American family narrative, glorifying the nuclear family and the neighborhood.

Both The Addams Family and The Munsters were on television in the 1960’s and have remained popular. The Addams Family revolves around the misadventures of a macabre family and how they fit into their environment and in with their neighbors. While the Addams’ generally seem to be human, albeit peculiar, The Munsters, who deal with similar issues are a family constructed from canon monster characters. Both shows act as satires of both the popular sitcom and the often-campy monster genre.

One of the things which I found interesting about these particular examples was that they require the audience has a knowledge of the American television sitcom, and beyond that the 1950’s cultural ideals of nuclear families and suburban life. In addition to this they have to have a working knowledge of the creatures that appear in the shows, and how those creatures would have functioned in their own genres. For example, Herman Munster being a play on Frankenstein’s monster is funnier with knowledge that the original monster spent his time in desperate search for a mate while Herman is a happily married family man. Furthermore, these shows, like other sitcoms make use of the highly structured narratives discussed in Smith and Riley’s work on Baktin and Eco. The reader becomes responsible for understanding the repetitive structures of the television show.

The encoding of these shows is such that the producers see the monster figures as being such function cultural objects that they can be incorporated into network television, it is undeniable that the characters of the sitcom (the stay-at-home mother, bread winner father, cheerful children) and the classic Universal monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman) can be considered a part of the Eco’s cultural encyclopedia.

Furthermore, the shows make us of popular social ideology in unusual formats. The Addams Family and The Munsters not only speak to a 1960’s American glorification of the family and the security of married and family life, but also of the importance of cultural acceptance. The power structures explored in these shows are the same as their day-glo counterparts. There is potentially something to be read in these texts about communities needing to accept people who are perhaps different, or unusual. It seems particularly telling that these television programs came out during the civil rights period.

What is also interesting about these particular culture examples is how they may have been intended for reading upon creation and how they are interpreted now. While I do not doubt that both the Addams and the Munsters were designed as humorous interpretations of popular forms, following much of the same patterns, it is also likely that they were intended for much of the same audience. In imagining these television shows in terms of Barthes’ myths, “the reader of myths himself who must reveal their essential function. How does he receive this particular myth today?” The way these objects are interpreted now plays a significant role in their decoding. Today these characters and shows have been adopted by a very different set of people. The Addams Family and The Munsters are the ideal family shows for off-kilter and alternative families raising their children in the horror tradition.

WE LOVE TV!

2010-08-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

Once again, as I went hurtling along the pacific edge of California on a weekend road trip, I held a tweetathon of things related to my trip and yet not quite an "over share" if you know what I mean. The last time I did a tweetathon it was all about movies titles, I then picked out the best ones and created log lines. You can read those here. I just finished an application for We Have Dodgeball to ITVS Open Call, which connects filmmakers with funding and distribution through public broadcasting networks worldwide, so TV has been on my brain. And what with Mad Men starting up again, and the Emmys a few weeks away, I decided this time the subject of my tweetathon would be TV. And instead of pitches I thought I'd do some of that "old school" tweeting and just tweet what was on my mind, just to (as Bravo says) see what happens.

What happened is that I learned some things. Below is what I learned and the tweets it inspired:

Barbara Eden, a blond haired, blued eyed pinnacle of 1960s American sex appeal led me, as a kid, to my grandparent's Encyclopedia Brittanica to look up the city of Baghdad. From there I learned about Alladin, The Arabian Knights, Buddha, and Islam. To me, Jeannie was an ambassador to an entire culture and mythology, not the wet dream of Sherwood Schwartz. A few years after reading up on the Middle East in my grandparents living room, the United States would be at war (the first time) with the same country that Jeannie came from and I came to realize how much had changed in the few thousand years since she was born. The tweet: Csquared4ever: As a kid, #IDreamOfJeannie was my first exposure to Middle Eastern culture. #TV
Cows eat oranges. They eat the whole thing, skin and all. I used to LOVE drinking milk, I drank tons of whole milk as a kid. I'd go through a couple gallons a week and my mom would complain about how expensive that was. I attribute the growth hormones in the milk for my height (I'm the tallest in my family). But the thought of cows eating oranges just seems cannibalistic to me. Breakfast eating breakfast. The tweet: Csquared4ever: just learned that cows in florida eat oranges: twisted Sat AM cartoon show, Breakfast Eating Breakfast #TV
We were talking about the experiment they are conducting in Russia where they have locked 6 male astronauts in a mock ship for 520 days in order to simulate the psychological effects of a long term space mission to Mars. Apparently, they had tried this once before and included a woman, but the experiment fell apart when the men's libido started to make the environment volatile. A friend joked that being the only woman she could have used her feminine wiles to get whatever she wanted from the other astronauts and would have ended up as their leader - sexist, but funny. I thought it would make a funny web short. The tweet: Csquared4ever: "Space Hooker" the best astronaut on Earth! #newshow #TV

On August 29th America will celebrate TV at the 62nd Annual Emmy Awards, but I've decided we should celebrate TV all month. So get ready for guest bloggers, trivia, tweets, and other random tidbits from the far reaches of the interweb all about how we love TV!

What do you love about TV?

Shorts, Unicorns, and "no budget"

2010-07-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

I was invited to attend the opening night screening of the LA Shorts Fest last night in West Hollywood. Until yesterday I don't think I can say I ever heard of this particular festival, but as I am an admirer (and producer) of the short film genre I was excited to see what the festival was about, particularly since it is officially recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which makes the entrants eligible for Oscar nominations in the short film categories.

With that kind of clout I should have been expecting brilliance, but having ridden the short film rodeo a few times at other festivals I've become pretty good at managing my expectations. I took a seat in the back of the theater, a two seater row by the exit (rule #1 of going to an unknown screening at a festival - sit in the back just in case it sucks so you can make a quick exit and save yourself two hours of your life you will never get back). The guy in the seat next to me was wearing credentials so I struck up a conversation and learned he was a filmmaker with a short in the festival. This was the second time he had been in this festival and he spoke highly of it, but as I glanced past him at the fiber glass seeping out from behind a stained mauve colored polyester curtain lining the wall, he said it used to have a better venue.

The screening was packed to the gills, with press sitting on the floor in the aisles. The first half of the program was a collection of 5 shorts called Parallel Lines, sponsored by Phillips as part of their ad campaign for a new line of televisions, exclusively from directors represented by RSA (Ridley Scott Associates). Each of these shorts was a different story but the concept was they could only use the same exact 6 lines of dialogue:
What is that?
It's a Unicorn.
Never seen one up close before.
Beautiful
Get away. Get away.
I'm sorry.
Pretty clever and very interesting to see how each filmmaker interpreted the story based on this dialogue. My favorite was an animated piece called Jun And The Hidden Skies and involved a cardboard spaceship called Unicorn. You can watch all of the shorts in the series here.

After that portion of the screening, a representative from RSA and Carl Rinsch, the director of The Gift, one of the Phillips sponsored shorts about a dystopian Russia that apparently sparked a bidding war for feature rights according to the LASF website, got up for a Q&A. Before any questions were asked Mr. Rinsch launched into a testimony about how the Internet is changing the world by catering to short format content distribution, and that folks online want to watch more short films. His proof of this were the 9 million unique visits to the Phillips Parallel Lines website. When asked about the budget of the films, both the rep from RSA and Mr. Rensch were adamant about the fact that each of these films were done with "no budget." Pretty impressive considering the level of talent and production value in each, until the RSA rep said "let me put it this way, all 5 shorts were made for the price of one 30 second Lexus television spot." If you're like me then you have no idea what that means, but through my contacts in commercial production I learned that the average commercial costs somewhere around $130,000. That would mean a $26,000 budget per short - not exactly what I would call "no budget," in fact I could make a feature film with that kind of money. After that I zoned out and thought about how many unique visits I could get with corporate sponsorship and a $26K budget.

As for the other 5 films shown that evening all of them had movie stars in them and were pretty good efforts with the exception of Martin Bell's Prom; a sentimental documentary that visited 12 high schools across America in the span of 4 years interviewing the young attendees at one of the most pivotal moments in their lives. It was an excellent example of short format non-fiction! Listening to these kids talk about their dates, their friends, love, and life after graduation was funny, heart warming, and heart breaking all at once.

It was a perfectly programmed evening. I'm sure LASF stuffed all their higher profile pics in and then capped it off with a truly great film that made me want to come back and see more - pretty smart. I only wish there had been a better turnout by the filmmakers for the Q&A, and while I wouldn't say I walked away with brilliance, I will definitely never forget the Los Angeles Shorts Festival.

Teaser trailer: WE HAVE DODGEBALL (unofficial)

2010-07-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

If you've been paying attention, then you know that for the last several months I have been producing a documentary on dodgeball and its corelation to adolescent development. It's called We Have Dodgeball. If you haven't been paying attention or need a refresher click HERE for my blog archives on this project.

The 2nd season of the West Hollywood Dodgeball League began 2 weeks ago, and instead of being an observer I am now a participant! As part of the new season it was important to me to show the players how crucial their participation has been to this project, as well as the fruit of my labors in the form of a teaser trailer. It's my way of saying "thank you," and of showing everyone involved (and all of you) where we are headed with this movie. It is, therefore, unofficial because we are still in the process of capturing interviews that will ultimately shape the narrative of this documentary.

Enjoy! And feel free to tell me what you think.

Beach Blanket Movie Titles

2010-07-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

I spent the entire 4th of July weekend on the beach with friends, and rather than tweet the inane details of my sunburns or the sand in my trunks I decided to have a weekend long tweetathon of "good movie titles" based on my experiences. These cryptic, often two word, tweets were a window into the events of my weekend without sacrificing my privacy. And while some of them like Tiny Lobby or Party Casualty are humorous and remind me of funny moments, some of them were true gems. So I decided that I would blog my top 3 titles with an accompanying log line. The log lines are not in any way associated with the experience that created the movie title, but are instead a completely original thought based solely on the title itself.

Movie title #1: Go Go College
A rowdy journey of self discovery begins when 3 college dudes travel from Nebraska to Los Angeles to enter a national Go Go Dancing competition to win a grand prize that will help them save their high school football field from being demolished.

Movie title #2: Bullet Proof Dancer
At the tender age of 17, an inner city ballerina struggles to graduate New York City's prestigious LaGuardia High School as she stoically carries the secret that she was a witness to the murder of both her parents, and waits for the day when the killers finally find her.

Movie title #3: Frozen Beach
When a group of 30-somethings have a drunken Memorial Day weekend in Laguna Beach, a married couple struggles to come to terms with infidelity, while 2 lovelorn friends begin to see each other in a whole new light.

Now, which one do you think I should write first?

Follow me on Twitter @Csquared4ever

greenlight: Update

2010-06-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I blogged this POST about some filmmaker friends who were using IndieGoGo to raise funds for their latest feature film project. I am happy to announce that they have exceeded their fundraising goal! You can learn more HERE.