We returned this afternoon from our time in Dallas and Arizona visiting the relatives. It’s been a blinding 2 weeks, but we enjoyed the relaxing break.

Before flying out from Phoenix, we spent the evening and night with a friend of mine from high school, Matt Eppright, who has since written/produced/directed a staggering number of short films. His latest film, “Trickery of Travelers”:http://www.mankindpictures.com/trickeryoftravelers.html enjoyed two packed premiere showings at “Farrelli’s Cinema Supper Club”:http://www.farrellis.com in Phoenix. Matt brought me the DVD when he came up to visit last month, and I have to say it’s his best work yet. He shot it on Super8 film with a great cast. It’s a clever, catchy piece about a ballerina and a salesman who travel around the desert collecting souls and doing a job for a particular fairy godmother. Very quirky, very cool, and reminds me a little of “Amelie”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211915/combined, which is no surprise — “Jean-Pierre Jeunet”:http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000466/ is one of Matt’s favorite directors.

You really ought to check out his trailer “here”:http://www.mankindpictures.com/travelers_preview.wmv (Windows Media file). “Rachel Hamilton’s”:http://www.rachelhamilton.com music really makes the movie!

In between mouthfuls of mexican food, we talked a lot about the noticeable difference in quality between film and video — which is something independent filmmakers LOVE to talk about in great detail, much to the chagrin of my wife — and that led me to my 1st Personal Filmmaking New Year’s Resolution. I’ll throw up that list tomorrow.

No comments

I’m in Arizona right now, spending some time with my grandparents who live in Tucson. Tomorrow we’re doing some swimming in the morning and heading out to play golf in the afternoon with my grandfather. Haven’t ever played before, so it should be pretty funny to anybody watching. Not that anyone would.

I mentioned last week about the importance of making connections through friends. I made a terrific new contact the day after Christmas. My family spent Christmas in Texas with my uncle, and one of his friends dropped by. Susie just got back from working on the new Muppets movie, “The Muppet Wizard of Oz.” Hadn’t even heard of it before now, but she did costume and creature design for it. She told me her last project before that one was a certain film about the Country Bear attraction in DisneyWorld, but we didn’t dwell for too long on that…

Anyway, we had a terrific chat. I asked her about her experiences working for Jim Henson and she asked about my movie projects. We exchanged information and I look forward to continuing the dialogue in cyberspace.

See, you never know who you’re going to meet or when you’re going to meet them. So, as Lloyd Kaufmann says over and over in his book, tell anyone who will listen about your great idea for a new movie!

Speaking about the Muppets, if you haven’t seen The Muppet Christmas Carol, you’re really missing out on what is arguably the last great Muppet movie of the 20th century. Although I did enjoy Muppet Treasure Island as well, but that could just be my Tim Curry bias talking…

No comments

Yesterday I finished meeting with one of my new clients, an artist in Kansas City named Donna Aldridge. “Donna”:http://www.aldridgestudios.com is another example of working your network. I met her through a neighbor, who came to a garage sale I was helping my parents with. As I carried her purchase to my neighbor’s car — it was an artist’s easel — I asked her about her art and told her about mine. When she heard I was a filmmaker and looking for industrial work to pay the bills, she cracked a smile and told me there were several artists in the area who were looking for someone to produce how-to videos for them to sell at workshops, art shows, etc.

So she put me in touch with Donna, and after several emails and our initial meeting I find myself in Donna’s house yet again, discussing our options for marketing her upcoming series of how-to videos that I am going to shooting and edit for her in February. The material is already there, since she’s been teaching this stuff for years, and there are several subjects she is passionate about teaching to new artists. Right now, we’re outlining and scripting the first few DVDs.

She’s well connected to a couple major international art suppliers (her specialty is pastels) and spends most of her time doing demos, workshops and classes all across the country. She also receives many requests for commissions and actively shows her work in galleries around the world. I’m excited because she has lots of original material to teach — stuff that’s not being taught in other art videos or books. An international art magazine is writing an article about her right now, and there’s also a book in the works.

She’s also well-connected and has lots of friends who will help us out. For example, a photographer friend of hers has generously agreed to help with the lighting and any other way he is able. Her daughter is a commercial artist, so they are working together to design a logo and overall look for the packaging. We are currently looking for funding to buy some necessary new equipment and pay for part of the reproduction costs. We’re all excited about this, because it has the potential to sell well. It’s good to start a project when you already have a viable marketing plan. Working with Donna is already turning out to be rewarding and educational. She’s a smart, terrific woman and a very talented artist.

And it all started at my parents’ garage sale…

No comments