Crappy soda!

Just pulled in from Seattle after a looooong drive as we had to take a detour to get around an overturned tanker trunk on the freeway. Tired...very tired, but had to update on a couple of things from the previous post:

Peach NeHi - super-fake tasting peach, like little peach hard candies. Too fake for me.

Moxie's Original Elixer - Holy crap this was terrible!! At first when it's in your mouth it kind of tastes like root beer, but quickly becomes bitter and very medicinal. The aftertaste was 1000 times worse! I guess I should've known, since it's called 'Elixer,' but I can't believe ANYONE enjoys this stuff. Wow.

Off to bed...

Meatballs and Twikki

On vacation in Seattle. Have spent a little time watching a VHS dub of the DEADLY PREMONITIONS footage from a couple of weeks back, making a scene log and notes. Lots of great stuff.

Watched THE ALIEN FACTOR with the kids the other morning. Love that movie.

Tried the new FRAWG slurpee - mild green apple taste. Good stuff.

Went to IKEA last night and enjoyed 20 sweedish meatballs with all of the fixings plus a peach soda that was quite awesome.

Went to the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame today. I could've spent hours there if not for the kids. Awesome, awesome place full of great props, models and all kinds of stuff. Including the Twikki suit from Buck Rogers!

On the way home, we stopped to get sodas for the kids. I picked up some Peach NeHi and Mixie Original Elixer, which I have yet to try. Also got some Birch Beer, which tastes kind of like those peppermint losenges that taste kind of like Pepto Bismol. A bit too medicinal for me.

More later...

Tainted Blood, etc.

Busy busy busy...

Two weekends back was my 20th high school reunion. I had reluctantly stepped in to help plan it at the last minute and by some miracle it actually came together and people seemed to have a good time. I even had a couple of people really interested in being in some of my movies as well as someone offer his house as a location. Of course, it could've been the beer talking...

Worked some more on the pool monster head for DR. PUDDING'S MONSTER FILES.

Last weekend, I spent Friday and Saturday night at a location about an hour north shooting a vampire-themed short called TAINTED BLOOD.While the story is set against a World War III of humans vs vampires, the short, written by John Bowker, is really a character study of a husband and wife...with cool plot twists and of course a nice amount of blood and slime! Robert J. Olin delivered another intense performance as did newcomer Toni Draggon. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure I've ever had a more enjoyable shoot! They were so prepared, not only with lines, but body language, blocking ideas, costumes, props, etc. that frankly, I barely had to direct them at all! Looking forward to putting this one together. It will show up as part of an upcoming anthology from Falcon Video. Tentatively lining Toni up to be in some remaining DEADLY PREMONTIONS scenes.




But first, I'm off for about a week and a half for some sorely-needed vacation.

See ya in a bit...

- Joe

Deadly Premonitions Pics!

Mr. Fantastic

I wish I could post a detailed production diary complete with kick-ass photos of the incredible DEADLY PREMONITIONS shoot I had over the last jam-packed 3 days, but there is just not enough time. I'm back to work after a few days off and have projects piled up to my eyeballs, plus my 20th high school class reunion is this weekend complete with out-of-town friends flying in and our house hosting a visiting family of five. Between cleaning up the wreckage of shooting in my house and preparing for the weekend guests and visitors, I'll barely have time to breathe!

However, let me say this: Tough Tom Stedham is one fantastic guy - a terrific actor who knew his lines, took direction well, knows more movie quotes than I do, is a laugh riot, doesn't mind moving a light stand or two and takes fantastic pictures (I'll be getting a CD of the hundred or so he took during the shoot in a week or so). Note to any moviemakers out there: work with this guy.

Everyone else was just awesome! Amira not only pulled off playing everything from coy & sexy to scared out of her mind to mad as hell, but looks pretty damned good in skimpy lingerie to boot. Barb creeped the hell out of us with her disturbing portrayal of the disturbed psycho lady and might I say she puts the 'BUST' in bustier. For his portrayal of Detective Newman, Robert J. Olin came complete woith gun, holster, handcuffs, badge and even a handcuffs tie clip! And Rob Merickel gave the greatest maniac killer face I have ever seen - and I mean it.

So many stories to tell! They'll have to wait, but the good news is next time I'll post pictures.

Stay tuned...

Down to the wire

Had a last-minute change to the schedule - Tom's flight gets in about four hours later than originally planned, so the dinner/cast meet & greet is again cancelled. Also, he leaves about 4 hours earlier than originally planned on Monday so we'll have to take care of things earlier in the day, but that should work out fine.

I'm in the midst of getting last-minute items, finishing storyboards and cleaning/decorating my house to serve as the main shooting location. Feeling excited and a tad nervous.

Here we goooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

Things Are Looking Up

Was in the midst of reworking the DEADLY PREMONITIONS shooting schedule due to an actor not being available Sunday when I heard from one of the actresses - she had a big commitment for most of Saturday afternoon! That's when I had scheduled most of her scenes! Not a huge deal, I just had to flip-flop the stuff without her and the stuff with her, all still on Saturday.

The better news was that it turns out the actor who can't make it Sunday has Monday off from work. So now I don't have to cram his stuff with Ton into Friday night and what's more, I can shoot a bunch of additional things on Monday with him. Cool.

Could things get any better? Yes! I had lunch at a place in town for the first time today (the place has been there for years, I just never got around to eating there) and they had a tuna melt on the menu. Still mourning over the loss of the Elmer's tuna melt (see earlier post), I decided to try it. And it was GOOD! And the potato salad was excellent as well. Worked a bit on storyboards and prop sketches and enjoyed a good meal.

Fingers crossed that good things continue...