FORGOTTEN HERO in the Proverbial Can

•April 2, 2013 • 1 Comment

This morning I ran the last loads of laundry and scrubbed the mudroom floor.  FORGOTTEN HERO production is now complete.

In ten days of shooting we collected 14 hours of footage and about 900 different files of shots. I got all the coverage I planned, learned more things about my camera, and was able to add additional small scenes that I’ll use for transitions.

We also managed to stay within the miniscule budget. This was the least expensive film I’ve ever made.

After I take a break for a couple weeks I’ll begin the tedious process of syncing the sound to the footage and then begin editing.

My target for completing the film is September.

I’d be honored to have you join us for news and updates at www.ForgottenHeroMovie.com

The Night Before Filming

•March 17, 2013 • 1 Comment

And all through the cabin

the crew prepared to film

a movie full of stabbin’.

 

Patrick arrived

from Austin intact.

After sampling Oregon beer

he’s sleeping in fact. 

 

The cast are at home

preparing their lines

Awaiting the first day

we shoot in the pines. 

 

And I at my desk,

naked as a jay,

am calling it a night

to be ready the next day.

 

A thriller we’ll film,

with blood and suspense

Funded by you

our beloved aud-ience. 

 

Sleep well, my loves. 

We’ll do the same.

Tomorrow adventure begins

FORGOTTEN HERO its name. 

 

 

 

 

A Week From Today We Jump in the Fray

•March 11, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Not really. 

The FORGOTTEN HERO shoot is organized and everything is falling into place. The cast is amazing, and as far as I can tell, will be a lot of fun to work with. I’ve got the best soundman in the land flying in Sunday. Business owners and even the city are eagerly opening their doors for our shoot. It’s all going right. 

Tell that to my body, which decided to launch a massive migraine attack over the weekend, segueing into a full instant diet plan today.  I’m back to wearing the same size as I did in junior high. Give me a tutu and I could audition for Ballet Trocadero. (After a few dance lessons.)

The only outstanding concern is finishing the financial campaign to pay for making this movie. The hard drives, digital cards, and all that stuff is paid for and on its way from Amazon. I still need to feed this cast/crew and put gas in their tanks.

If you can help I will certainly appreciate it.  The cast will appreciate it. My crew will appreciate it. Even my cats will appreciate (but don’t expect them to show it).

Donors who fund FORGOTTEN HERO get the digital download of the full feature film before it releases to the public. You paid to make this movie, you reap the rewards.

Every donation makes a big difference.  http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/forgotten-hero-feature-film-production

Thanks for joining me on this adventure.  Just don’t try this diet plan, you wouldn’t look good in a tutu.

-Paul

Two Weeks from Today

•March 4, 2013 • 3 Comments

We will film.

FORGOTTEN HERO, the suspense thriller about a combat vet who moves in with a family in the isolated Cascade mountains, is almost ready to shoot.

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We are fully cast. Mathew Bostrom stars as the returning soldier, who isn’t exactly who he appears to be.  Heather Liddycoat is the sympathetic woman who invites him home. Her husband, Patrick Green, reluctantly agrees.  Stuart Bennett and Jasmin Savoy Brown share the house, and the danger, of a bringing a stranger home.  The neighbors, Mike Hawkins and Peter Young, steal to eat. Patty Gray does what she can as the Sheriff in the area.

I’m also stepping in front of camera for the role that is too creepy for any other actor to play. You will want me to die.

This week I’ll be gathering props, securing locations and figuring out costumes. This is also the final week to purchase external hard drives and flash cards for recording and storing the film.

We are 60% funded. That’s enough to get started, but not enough to finish.

Help us get this movie in the proverbial can: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/forgotten-hero-feature-film-production

Everyone who donates will receive the digital download of the full feature film. And that’s better than a t-shirt or poster. 

Be the first to see the film: Fund the film. It’s simple. And your resources will help a lot of other people do the work they do best.

 

I Will Remember You

•February 5, 2013 • 4 Comments

I will remember the lives we shared together. I will remember the jokes, the funny pictures, the outrages, the moments we longed for change.

And I remember how things used to be.

When we made my first movie (ANGORA RANCH) everything was a challenge, from the casting process to the film’s distribution. It took nearly a year after the film’s completion before it was listed on IMDb (Internet Movie Database). It was a struggle for acceptance, a struggle to prove the work we were doing meant something to somebody.

Sunday evening I submitted FORGOTTEN HERO to IMDb as a new listing. By Monday afternoon the film was on the site. Today I added the cast to the listing, some of whom are receiving their first credit with IMDb. It is amazing how much difference experience and a track record makes, how many challenges are less daunting.

Thanks to Kate Young at KEY Talent Management in Eugene, Oregon this was the easiest film I’ve ever cast. In one afternoon I met 30 talented performers, none of whom I’d ever seen before,  and six hours later I had the team that will make FORGOTTEN HERO unforgettable.

And this film is coming together so quickly and hassle-free I am simply amazed. Doors to locations are being unlocked, time schedules are aligning, equipment is being loaned and shipped. Paul Fleck, the former marketing executive at Paramount Pictures, is handling the film’s distribution publicity and marketing.

This will be the fastest film I’ve ever produced. I didn’t even have the idea for this movie before Christmas. In six weeks we begin filming.

I’m making this movie because I want to remember this time in our life – five years after the financial crash – and the resiliency to survive. I want to remember the gorgeous mountains, the snows, the lingering rain, and roaring waterfalls. I want to remember the people, who open their hearts without expecting anything in return, simply because they want to share their stories.

This year I’ll continue documenting stories in JACK’S COFFEE TALK, while creating the fictional tale of FORGOTTEN HERO. What I learn from the people interviewed in JACK’S COFFEE TALK inspires the FORGOTTEN HERO feature film. This story could never be told by someone who hasn’t lived here or doesn’t understand this life. My greatest hope is FORGOTTEN HERO will lure you into a world that feels undeniably real. 

Please join us in this adventure in the rain forest.  Join the FORGOTTEN HERO page on Facebook, like the FORGOTTEN HERO page on IMDb, contribute to the film’s success on IndieGoGo.

We would like a few things that will help us make the movie: Gas money, hot food in the middle of a cold and wet day, a few external hard drives to house the film’s footage. And I would like Patrick Henderson’s help on set, recording sound and helping me keep everything prepared for  shooting.

I will make a movie for you if you can help make the movie for me. The best way to help right now is on this IndieGoGo campaign.

No one will ever forget FORGOTTEN HERO.

Because you’ll make this movie happen, I will always remember you.

Roaring 20′s

•December 31, 2012 • Leave a Comment

That’s it!  Thirteen years of awkward expressions, tripping tongues and wasted characters are finished!

With the blink of the clock at midnight the two thousands are left to history, never to be uttered again. 

For an agonizing 4, 748 days we’ve been calling the year ‘two thousand _________.’

But tonight we enter the ‘twenties.’

Twenty thirteen.

The world in tumult.

The climate in flux.

The economy out of balance.

The population hopeful.

‘Twenty’ feels much younger than ‘two thousand.’  More lively. More spry.

Will we shed those extra thousand pounds tonight and leap into a bright new future?

Ask me in 2014. 

Pushing Through Failure

•November 17, 2012 • 1 Comment

My good buddy, Steve in Long Beach, emailed me The Entrepreneur’s Creed yesterday. At the top of the list is “I will not be ashamed of failure.”

They don’t mess around, do they?

The number one, biggest issue with entrepreneuring a life is failure.

At the moment, Jack’s Coffee Talk is in the abyss of conceptual catastrophe. The initial idea was a web series talk show, hosted by Jack the Garden Cat, meeting people in the Cascade Mountains who do things that keep this little town running.  Each segment will be about three minutes long, and I’d release one every week.

The premiere was supposed to be November 7th, ten days ago.

And then it didn’t happen.

The interviews are interesting; the people are passionate about what they’re doing, speak well, and the stories are intriguing.  The theme music is fun. The equipment works well. The cat is alive.

But the concept isn’t gelling.

Initially I thought it would be like Morris the Cat in the canned food commercials, with Jack having a sarcastic edge. But the interviews are heartfelt testimonials about dreams and passions.  A snarky cat doesn’t belong in those scenarios.

Then I figured maybe the cat would only speak another language, like Henri.  But that didn’t make any thematic sense here in the mountains. And it would require subtitling, which is hard to read if you’re watching the web series on your cell phone.

I went back and watched more web series to see what other people are doing. The fictional web series that are well made are comedies about 20 year olds. The documentary web series are fast cutting collages about someone overcoming enormous challenges to succeed.

None of the shows I’ve found is a good comparison for what I want to do.

I’m trying something else now. If it works you’ll soon see the first episode of Jack’s Coffee Talk.  If it fails, give me another chance to try again.

Failure is hard to live with. Not just for me as the one who fails, but also for my family. Mike admired my courage to try almost anything, but wanted assurances that it would financially pay off. Joe remains dubious even when projects succeed. Dad wishes I’d get cast in a TV sitcom and live the fantasy life he believes in.

Jack the Garden Cat doesn’t care what happens with the show. He just wants fresh mice, aged pond water, and a warm place to sleep.

The Entrepreneur’s Creed says I “cannot have great success without tasting some failure. Failure is a step in the refining process.”

If success is the destination, then failure must be the road which takes us there.

 

 
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