Threat Watch

2009-09-05T22:59:00.000-06:00

I had forgotten this blog existed. It was lost in time like so many old journals and diaries. Like the spiral notebook my kids found when digging through my basement. They were very interested in hearing about my grade school love life.

Funny to think how blogging has changed, even since I last wrote here. Funnier to think how much life has changed. Funny to think about the gaps in history. Stories never told. Secrets never revealed.

2006-08-30T23:03:00.000-06:00

The Spotlight Nebraska Film Festival is coming!

They had a little press conference this week. Here's the blurb from KNEB:

Gering Native & Spouse To Premiere First Production At Midwest Film Festival
A Gering native and her husband will premiere their first production during the Midwest Theatre's 2006 Film Festival October 12th through the 14th. Steve and Andrea Mudd, formerly Andrea Myers, will be showing the political suspense film "Seclusion," filmed near Breckenridge, Colorado last summer.

The film is the story of a Congressman who has an affair with his beautiful advisor while renting a secluded cabin to work on a political speech, and what ensues when she disappears the next morning as the Congressman's wife and the assistant's husband arrive. Film Festival spokesperson Willa Kosman says she's excited about having the Mudd's first production premiere Saturday evening.

The Mudd's workshop Saturday, titled "Filmmaking on a Dime," will track the successes and tribulations of their film-making experience. The festival will also include workshops and presentations by special effects producer Helen Ostenberg Elswit, whose grandfather built the theatre, respected screenwriter Lew Hunter, and award winning photographer Joel Sartore. Premiere passes are being sold for $125 apiece. Individual event tickets will be sold at $5 apiece starting September 15th.

That's Festival Director Willa Cosman in the photo! Rock on, Willa.

Visit the festival website: Spotlight Nebraska Film Festival

Hmmmm.....

2006-08-27T10:35:00.000-06:00

So, if you've been paying attention, you'll know I've become yet
another, late adopting myspace geek. And not I can't even remember
my stupid blogger password so I have to email this one in...

www.myspace.com/seclusionthemovie

2006-07-27T22:24:00.000-06:00

This handsome man is Mr. Haylar Garcia. He is the editor of Seclusion. You can visit one of his websites at www.taoengine.com. You could try and visit his myspace page, but you won't really find him there too often. With the exception of my lovely wife Andrea, Haylar has taken more abuse working on the film Seclusion than anyone else. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

My latest slap in Haylar's face was excluding a mention of him on the DVD commentary of Seclusion. I was unscripted and flying by the seat of my pants when I did the commentary. For those of you so lucky as to listen to the DVD commentary on Seclusion, you'll hear me mention many things. Mostly raccoons. And Bartek. You should have heard me mention Haylar. Of everyone on the cast and crew, I would vote Haylar "Most Likely to Succeed." His talent and energy know no bounds. He has a little documentary coming out: Do it for Johnny. It's a love story about Johnny Depp. And guitars. And guns. When you have the opportunity to see it, do.

Thank you, Haylar, for making Seclusion what it is.

2006-05-21T22:31:00.000-06:00

Watch the season finale of 24 and watch HUFF!

In Monday's season finale of 24, Christopher Stapleton, star of the feature film Seclusion, will be appearing as Secret Service Agent Clark. From my understanding he will appear in the climax of the show.

And while you're at it, set your Tivo and watch HUFF on Showtime on Sunday, June 4th 10pm Pacific, 9pm Central. Missy Crider, also the star of the feature film Seclusion, will be appearing in an episode called "Tapping the Squid." Previously, she appeared in an episode called "A Cornfield Grows in LA." Catch it in reruns if you can...

Rock on...

2006-03-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

Special thanks and apologies to Pat Angello. Mr. Angello is not only the only regular reader of Threat Watch who comments on it, he may be the only reader. He also was kind enough to let my son and I use his Avalanche tickets today as the Avs crushed the Calgary Flames. I must apologize, however, as he is a Cherry Creek High School alumnus and, well, if you read my last post, you know how I feel about that dark time in Patrick's life.

I can talk smack because the Mullen Mustangs handily defeated Cherry Creek to win the 5A state title. That same evening, my Wyoming Cowboys fought hard, but ultimately failed against the heavily-favored and NCAA-bound SDSU Aztecs.

In other good news, I have apparently been named to the unofficial Top Ten Hottest Dads list at Wilder Elementary. Sweeeeeeeet! All my campaigning finally paid off!

Hoops baby

2006-03-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

The madness has begun. For those of you keeping score at home, the Mullen High School Girls Basketball Team will be playing for the Colorado State 4A Championship Game tonight. Ill be there.

Last night, I had the pleasure of watching the Mullen High School Boys Basketball team frustrate the Smoky Hill High School team and earn a berth in the 5A Championship Game on Saturday. This game has a special meaning to me as the Mullen team has three kids on it that I coached a few years back when they were in Junior High at St. Marys of Littleton. The best part of it is that we werent even considered the best team at St. Marys. All of the good players were on another team. These guys stuck with it and are now playing with the best in the state. That rocks. Mullen also has 6 11 Providence-bound giant Ray Hall on their team who just dominates the floor. Even with a rough night offensively and with rebounds, Ray owned the floor dictating where Smoky Hill could and could not shoot.

The best part about the championship for the Mullen boys is their opponent: Cherry Creek. I have this deep, irrational, hatred for Cherry Creek. We have friends who probably going to end up sending their kids to Creek. I hate that. There is no other entity in the world that arouses such uncharacteristic emotions in me. Dam the Creek. Go Mustangs!

And to top off the basketball revelry, the Wyoming Cowboys who have been absolutely abysmal this season (13-17 overall, 5-11 in the MWC) upset the Air Force Falcons (24-6, 12-4) to move on to the next round of the MWC tournament on Saturday against Utah. Go Pokes! Go March!

2006-03-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

Like any good filmphile, I watched and thoroughly enjoyed the Oscars. I love all of the pundits who take so much time to criticize the telecast. What's the freakin' point? I mean, if the Oscars were solely for entertainment value, they'd do a much different show. For one thing, they would get rid of all of those pesky awards. They tend to get in the way of watching the mimes wander around the stage. Who cares if Jon Stewart is or isn't as good as Billy Crystal? I'm not tuning in because of the host. I'm tuning in because of the films. I want to enjoy a celebration of the craft of flim making. Some other random thoughts:

I enjoyed Crash, but didn't feel it was the best pic of the year. I read Ebert's comments and he persuaded me a bit, but I'm still not convinced it was the best pic. By the same token, I'm definitely convinced Brokeback was not the best pic (see previous blogs).

Go Wyoming! If you didn't notice (and you probably didn't because you were taking a leak during this particular commercial break), Wyoming ran a tourism ad during the telecast. Go Wyoming! That is so cool. That is emblematic of Wyoming thinking. Everybody is going to be talking about Brokeback and how beautiful it us. Let's buy advertising to increase tourism. Perhaps this whole Crash/Brokeback controversy is really being stirred by some think tank in Cheyenne...

Twelve. I saw twelve of the feature films nominated for Oscars. I'm proud of that. I think it's the most I've ever seen. I even saw two of the documentary features. Cinderella Man came via Netflix a couple of weeks ago, but I'm still not interested in popping it in. Damn Russell Crowe and his mumbling.

2006-03-02T00:46:00.000-07:00

I just saw Capote. Holy cow. I had been pulling for Joaquin, but Hoffman was amazing. Such a prick of a character. So self-centered. Amazing, amazing work. I really enjoyed the film too. It was just what I needed right now. Strangely, I came out with a feeling of... almost love - but more like humanitarianism. Capote was so human. So real. So utterly incapable of dealing with the dark side of the world in a way that resembled what we consider moral turpitude. So much like so many of us.

Pizza Hut at Kipling and Bowles

2006-02-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

Just a quick little rant. We went to eat at the Pizza Hut at Kipling and Bowles and had one of the absolute worst customer experiences we've had in recent memory. Naturally, I wanted to share it with everyone who might have occasion to go to this particular Pizza Hut.

We get there and stand by the "Please wait to be seated sign." We don't see anyone for a moment or two. No big deal. Then across the restaurant - which is not busy - we see a blonde Pizza Hut guy. He looks over, sees us, then disappears into the kitchen. OK, fine. Then a dark-haired Pizza Hut guy come out carrying two pizzas out to the dining area. We are in his way. Instead of "Excuse me" or "Hi, excuse me, I'll be right with you" we get "Coming through." Our kids scramble to get out of his way, but he basically just barrels through carrying these piping hot pans over the heads of my children. OK, fine, whatever. I overhear him say to the table, "Sorry about the wait." Not a good sign, but we're not in a hurry. He proceeds to walk past us again without acknowledging us. He grabs something else from the kitchen to take back to the table. Walks by us again without acknowledging our presence. Then we see blonde guy again. He walks out and takes a step toward us looking right at us. Progress! But no. He stops the dark haired guy. "Hey, you need to take this table." And he points at us. The dark-haired guy mumbles something. Goes back toward the kitchen. The blonde guy disappears. One final time the dark-haired guy comes out of the kitchen. And ignores us again. So we left.

I love minimum wage people who don't know their place in the world. I expect somebody owns that Pizza Hut. And I expect that these guys were lucky to get a job there. Bad mistake. We eat a lot of pizza. If I ever see Pizza Hut on some kid's resume that I have occasion to hire, I will think twice.

2006-01-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

I dont know what Im more surprised by. The fact the Walk the Line didnt get nominated for Best Picture or that only 7 of the 12 Enron jurors have college educations. Skilling and Lay are screwed.

Heres my first pass at Oscar pic picks. Technical categories excluded. And other categories I dont really care about.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Joaquin Phoenix will upset Hoffman. This is Philips first nomination and Joaquin did not win for Gladiator and should have.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Clooney wont win for director or writer, so he should win here.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Reese, no question. We really dont want a Desperate Housewife with a penis to win an Oscar.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: At least one foreigner must win every year. This year, its Rachel Weisz.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR: Wallace & Gromit, hands down. These guys have never lost.

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING: Ang Lee.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Murderball. Everyone will be rooting for the Penguins, but the Academy rarely likes to pick the crowd favorite here.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR: Brokeback Mountain. Yawn.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Brokeback will win since they will get stiffed in the acting categories. Although Capote could get the nod here also.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Paul Haggis will get the nod for Crash. In part, because he also wont win for Director.

2006-01-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

I figured out why Brokeback was boring to me. I had lunch with Teddi Davis today and it dawned on me after talking to her that there was no character arc in the film. The characters never change/grow/learn/decide anything. It's over two hours of watching two men live their tangled lives which really aren't so tangled and never really untangle. That's why they didn't win the SAG awards and that's why they won't win the Oscar.

If you haven't read Larry David's op ed piece on Brokeback, you must. It's hilarious: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/02/opinion/eddavid.php

2006-01-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

Saw Brokeback Mountain yesterday. I had an expectation that I would be blown away by the beauty of the film. Yada yada yada. I was bored by it. Beautifully acted, beautifully shot. Boring. Like watching two shepherds in a field. Wait...

Anyway, as someone who has spent some time in Wyoming, I feel compelled to defend the state. Brokeback paints a picture of Wyoming as a place where homosexuals are targeted for acts of hatred and violence. Is there some historic record of this I'm not aware of? I mean, other than Matthew Shepherd. (Coincidence with the last name?) I would submit that intolerance is greater in probably every other state. In Wyoming, they value privacy. Wyoming is a state of people who keep to themselves. The expectation is that everyone else should keep to themselves. Wyoming will tolerate anyone as long as they are quiet about what they do. Anyone who makes a spectacle of him or herself and thinks he or she is more important than anyone else is not going to fit in.

Wyoming was the first state to give women the vote. It was also the first state to hang a woman. In Wyoming, everyone is equal. There's a poster you can find up there with a little slogan. A young girl in the 1800s had a diary. In it, the final entry was supposedly: "God bless Wyoming, and keep her free." I can only surmise that the girl was eaten by a bear the next day...

Where are they now...

2006-01-26T22:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some updates on what the cast of Seclusion is up to these days as they wait patiently for Seclusion to be released and increase their fame and fortune:

Christopher Stapleton is not only starring in a Spike TV pilot with Michael Madsen, he’s one of the writers. In retrospect, Chris should have shaved his head for our movie and kicked the crap out of somebody… To see a trailer, visit one of these:

High Bandwidth: http://www.christopherstapleton.net/upload_user/DeadManTrailerHigh.mov

Medium Bandwidth: http://www.christopherstapleton.net/upload_user/DeadManTrailerMedium.mov

Low Bandwidth: http://www.christopherstapleton.net/upload_user/DeadManTrailerLow.mov

Jefferson Arca who starred as Mike Donahue (or Mike Richards depending on the draft of the script you read) is now the general manager of a bar. Lannie’s Clocktower Caberet opens January 27 in the historic D&F Clocktower on the 16th Street Mall here in Denver. From their website: “Lannie’s is home to Lannie Garrett, Colorado's most versatile chanteuse. This intimate nightclub showcases all of her diverse musical styles, from her swinging Big Band to her hilarious country-western spoof, ‘The Patsy DeCline Show.’” When you go, tell Jefferson you know me and he’ll give you a free drink. (You may have to give him $6 to remind him who I am). Visit http://www.lannies.com for more info. Oh, and Jefferson is still acting.

The lovely Missy Crider has announced her engagement to Danny Kastner. Fans of the Apprentice will know Danny as the guy with the guitar from season III. Best wishes to the happy couple!

Disney loves Pixar

2006-01-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

I am so happy that my kids are old enough now that we don't have to see every Disney film that comes out - whether in the theater or on DVD. In our short tenure, we've had to sit through enough Disney crap. Other than The Tigger Movie, the Pooh revivals have been disgraceful. I actually fell asleep during the sequel to Peter Pan. The straight to DVD stuff has been worse.

The only bright light in animated entertainment has been Pixar. Down the line, we've enjoyed every single Pixar film. Now, there are excessive rumors that Pixar and Disney might merge. Uggg. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/01/20/BUGLAGQ6FP1.DTL&type=business

I hate to say it, but Disney is creatively bankrupt. There is nothing left. If Pixar merges with them I fear that they will suck all of their creativity into a morass of dumbed down poppycock. Just say no, Mr. Jobs. Please. For the kids sake. I understand the desire to get your sequels back. Disney will probably ruin those. Find another way. Don't let your culture be assimilated.

2006-01-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

New Year's Resolutions, I have decided, are pointless wastes of time. Not so much because they are quickly abandoned, but because so many people delude themselves into thinking that they are really going to make their life better in the new year. Get over yourself. Your life will not be any better this year just because you will it into being.

Your life will be better if, and only if, you make plans. Make a decision and make a plan. Do something with your life. And quit telling me what you're going to do. Just do it.

2006-01-01T00:10:00.000-07:00

The ball has dropped. Another year is upon us. I hope to spend this new year as I spent this year. Taking chances. Spending time with people who take chances. Teaching my kids to take chances.

Find your brilliance.

I've been so overwhelmed this year by the overwhelming support and the generosity of so many of the people in my life. Words can hardly express what I feel. I hope I can return the karma that's been given to me. I hope I can continue the magic.

Chronicles of Narnia anti-Semitic?

2005-12-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

The Chronicles of Narnia really disappointed me this
weekend. We had high hopes, based on the trailer,
that the film would some sort of great epic and in the
end, the film just fell flat.

What was it missing? Jon Favreau. Zathura went so
much farther in establishing a believable kids fantasy
adventure. Zathura also did something that the
Chronicles did not. Within the first five minutes,
you understood who the kids were - i.e. what are there
strengths and quirks and what the pressure in their
life was. Chronicles only established the latter.
These British kids have a dad who is at war and they
are being shipped off to the country. I could not
find a single distinguishable character trait until
they put their crowns on at the end and the movie told
us what their character traits were. I never felt the
plight of these kids. I guess you had to read the
book, which I did not. And will not.

So I do have to give Walden Media credit for their
marketing. $67 million for an opening weekend is
terrific. Mr. Dobson and his Focus on the Family and
every Christian church in the country are touting this
as a great, Christian film. In my humble opinion,
this film is really no more Christian than Lord of the
Rings. Or Star Wars. Or the Star Trek where Spock
dies. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the
few. This is a common story device in all literature
and film. The hero has to go through hell to save the
world. Someone dies only to rise again. The same
story appears in every religious mythology in one form
or another. There is nothing uniquely Christian about
the Chronicles of Narnia other than what people have
told us is uniquely Christian. An impartial observer
might disagree that there is any Christian content
whatsoever.

So Mel Gibsons Passion was criticized for its
portrayal of Jews. If you go along with the marketing
and Aslan is a thinly veiled symbol of Christ, then
his crucifixion scene has some real anti-Semitic
overtones. In the Passion, the Jews were at least
portrayed as people. In the Chronicles of Narnia, the
persecutors of Christ the Jews are portrayed as a
bunch of bloodthirsty creatures. Minotaur and
Cyclops. Warthogs. Angry dwarves. Not exactly an
everyone can be forgiven mentality. In the end,
Aslan resurrects all of the good creatures. None of
the bad creatures are saved. Doesnt seem very
Christian, but it is a worldview that I suppose most
Christian churches ascribe to. Be saved or die.

My Stolen Laptop

2005-12-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

So I stupidly left my laptop outside of a meeting room
at the Westin Tabor Center hotel
(westin.com/taborcenter) and while I was in the
meeting, someone walked by the room, grabbed my laptop
bag and another laptop inside someone else's bag.
There's a couple of ironies here.

The meeting was for XPAC, Xcel Energy's political
action committee. Attending the meeting were several
high-ranking Xcel Energy executives as well as two
high-ranking Colorado State Senators. Law makers
inside. Criminals outside.

I guess I figured that given the audience and the
Westin's reputation that my laptop would be safe. I
can't say that I thought much about the decision. I
take full responsibility for my actions. I wish the
same could be said for all those involved.

The Westin was one of the official hotels for the NBA
All-Star game and they also seem to be the hotel of
choice for visiting sports teams and rock stars. The
Westin folks I dealt with were very nice, but
completely ineffectual. One person told me that there
was no security camera in the area where the theft
took place. When I talked to the head of Security he
said they had a camera there. When he reviewed the
footage, they couldn't identify a suspect. So, either
the first Westin guy or the second Westin guy was
lying to me about the existence of the camera. I
wonder if the thief was aware of the lack of security
cameras there. Inside job perhaps?

For their part, the Denver Police have been completely
useless. They were too busy to come down to the
Westin to allow me to file a report. I had to file
one online and I have absolutely no expectation that I
will even hear from a real person. Apparently,
theyre too busy covering up their own crimes to
investigate new ones. Or maybe theyre getting rid of
panhandlers Nope. They're still there. Come on
Looper, lets get this city up to par!

Im still waiting to hear back from my insurance
company also. Well wait before we rant on them
They're going to give me money

Regardless, if you are in the laptop stealing
business, I would recommend that you go to the
conference room on the second floor on the west side
of the Westin. It's the one whose entrance is
directly across from the entrance to the Tabor Center,
near the ESPN Zone. With luck, you'll encounter a
meeting going on with attendees as stupid as I was and
you can make off with whatever they leave behind, like
a raccoon going through the trash. If you need a
winter coat, there should be a full coat rack there.
Incidentally, the Tabor Center has a camera in their
hallway leaving the hotel, but it's pointed at the
ESPN Zone. So don't turn around if you leave that
way, and youll be fine.

And to the person who took my laptop or to anyone who
can recover my 12 in. iBook G4 and all of my data,
there is a reward. Contact me. No questions asked.
If you dont contact me and I happen to find out who
you are, I will remove your... wait... can't post an
actual threat... might be used as evidence... if the
police investigate...

2005-11-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

What does it say about a FILM fest when the biggest FILM star you can get to appear is David Schwimmer?

2005-11-09T00:09:00.000-07:00

To all of our friends near 120th and Lowell, you simply must visit The Exchange Tavern (www.exchangetavern.com). The proprieters - Teddi and Gary Davis - are two of our dearest friends, kindred spirits, and co-producers on Seclusion.

The Exchange is a lifelong dream for them (although certainly not their only dream). I am very proud of what they put together. No detail has been overlooked. The place looks great, has great employees, great food, great drinks, great uniforms... If only it weren't 192 blocks away from my house I would be there every night...

It is truly amazing to watch the germination of an idea sprout a reality that is so cool. The lesson for all of us is to dream big and work your ass off. Whatever you want, you can have it. Leap and the net will appear.

I raise my glass to you, Teddi and Gary.

2005-10-31T22:13:00.000-07:00

Look! I've added Adsense from Google. Click above to somehow eventually put money in my pocket. Email me if you are against this brash commercialization. But before you email me, click there and check it out. I don't know how it works, but what the hell, I'll try it.

2005-10-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

It's sad when one begins to view Blogging as one views confesstion...

The short story: business. We've been knee-deep in finding our final investors and finishing Seclusion. We're at the finish line. Much to tell very soon. The film looks great. I'm very happy with the result. If you haven't already discovered the link, visit www.voteroberthamilton.com to see the trailer.

Rock on.

Spotless News

2005-08-26T09:24:00.000-06:00

Spotless, co-written by me, will be screening in
Toronto during the Toronto International Film
Festival.

In other related news, Spotless director James Kelsey
has announced that he and his girlfriend are having a
baby putting to bed any rumors of James' inability to
conceive. Congratulations James!

September 13-15
Press Release #1
August 25, 2005

HD Showcase and DigiScreen high definition screenings
off Broadway during Toronto International Film
Festival
New technology by New Filmmakers 6 feature films and
14 short form films

HD Showcase has been a leader in the placement of high
definition content for over 4 years. DigiScreen
develops and operates innovative low-cost technologies
for enabling networks of High Definition cinemas to
present independent films and multimedia content. As
this technology secures its place in the theatrical
world, it will become more and more important for
buyers to understand and appreciate its advantages,
states president Susan Soares.

We are showcasing 6 feature films and 14 shorts
originated and projected in stunning high definition.
The schedule will be posted at the end of the week and
reservations will be made for qualified buyers only.
The features are Novem, In Plain Sight, Katie Bird:
Certifiable Crazy Person, Sonata, Spotless and The
Rest of Your Life. The shorts are Filters, Karma
Ghost, The Journey, On the Couch, Embryo, Small
Change, Hold the Rice, Perfect Sec-Illusion, Evenfall,
Natural Selection, F*@k the Movie, Confessions of a
Late Bloomer, Clowns, and Daddy's Boy.

Our Showcase will be at Atom Egoyans Camera Bar.
CAMERA is a unique bar, lounge and Screening Gallery
located on Queen Street West in Toronto.

Address: 1028 Queen Street West (just west of
Ossington)
Toronto ON M6J 1H6
Telephone: 416.530.0011
September 13th through 15th 2005
From 2PM until midnight

For reservations email Susan@HD-Showcase.com
Trailers @ www.HD-Showcase.com
Questions? 310.540.6639 or 310.540.6631
mobile 310.923.3857

2005-08-25T21:31:00.000-06:00

This is a great picture of Catherine, waiting for us to do our thing. I'll try and post some more of these as time goes on.

It was fascinating to watch the different processes of our actors. Some wanted to talk in detail well before we shot. Some just wanted to go over the highlights. Some trusted my words -- i.e. the script -- as gospel. Some wanted to change everything. Some were more social, more gregarious. Some more image conscious. Some aware of their hands, some aware of their good side. All wanting something great to happen with our little film. All fragile at some level looking for some reassurance that what they were doing was good. It was.

The characters grew in many ways. They started on paper, but then real people analyzed them. Gave them logic. Histories. Purpose. Fixed my flaws as a writer. Created story problems. Not everyone got all my jokes. Of course, not everyone will laugh at what I think is funny. Oh well.

2005-08-07T21:03:00.000-06:00

A lack of blogging may indicate many things. Death. Dismemberment. Abject failure. It's like days or weeks missing in a diary. Whatever happened? There's a great quote out of Wyoming where a young girl's last entry was something like "God bless Wyoming, and keep her free." A nice sentiment, until you wonder why that was her last entry. What was it in free Wyoming that made her stop writing? Bandits? A bear?

As for the lack of entries in the month of June, I can point only to my lack of available time. I had grandiose ideas of blogging every night to give folks some insight into my little foray into film making. As if anyone really cares. The short version is that the film is done. Production went well. Post-production is underway. Visa is maxed. As is Mastercard. And Amex. And Discover. And on and on.

I am forever indebted to the handful of courageous folks who took a chance and gave us some money to make our little movie. Their insanity will not go unrewarded.

I am equally indebted to Andrea, without whom the film would not have been possible. She endured the most torture of anyone. I'll tell more of her stories in a separate blog. The car crash was just the beginning.

2005-06-06T23:01:00.000-06:00

Day 1 on location. Here we are.

So much has happened since my last post. Where to start....

Our production has now officially lost two vehicles. Our production designer Joann wrecked her car a couple of weeks ago. On Saturday morning, my wife and co-producer Andrea was driving up to Breckenridge early in the morning. After passing through the Eisenhower tunnel, Andrea encountered icy, snow-packed roads. The car in front of her lost control and began to spin, Andrea attempted to avoid that person and hit a car that had pulled off the side of the road to wait out the storm. She then got out of her car to check the damage and exchange information. She got back into her car and was on the phone with USAA (the greatest insurance company in the world) and another driver came out of the tunnel driving too fast and caremed into her. Thank god she was in the car at the time.

Everyone has been filtering in from far afield. The whole crew should be here tomorrow. The location looks great. Mr. Christopher Stapleton arrived today. He's going to be great.

I should have a random musing or two going on here, but I'm more focused on doing what I need to do right now. Which is not blog. So I'll stop.

2005-05-21T10:46:00.000-06:00

OK, not everything is final as we still have to sign contracts and all that jazz, but here's some info on the rest of our cast:

Missy Crider: Missy’s career began as a child when she was named the Young Entertainer of the Year at the Ozark Mountain Music Awards. As a teenager, she earned a role in the mini-series “Lonesome Dove” later followed by an Emmy Award nomination for her acting in the TV movie “Love in the Dark Ages.” Her first feature film, “A Boy Called Hate,” won the Grand Jury prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 1997. More recently, Missy appeared in Bill Paxton’s directorial debut “Frailty,” she played the waitress Diana in David Lynch’s enigmatic “Mulholland Dr.” and she had a memorable turn in the Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez comedy “Gigli.”

Christopher Stapleton: A former University of Michigan punter with three Rose Bowl rings, Chris is an up-and-coming actor who has played lead roles in a trio of independent feature films – "Aurora," "Black Friday," and "Ides of March," the latter with Michael Madsen. Chris also played the title character in the popular Batman fan film, “The Death of Batman.” In addition to his film work, Chris has worked on numerous television shows, including "The Young and the Restless," "NCIS," "JAG", "According To Jim," "Providence," "Suddenly Susan," and "The X-Files." (www.christopherstapleton.net)

Chris Gann: Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, Chris found his first calling when he discovered the sport of jet skiing. His professional career took off and in just 6 years he accumulated two world, five national, and six state jet ski titles. Parlaying his success, Chris went to work for ESPN and Fox Sports Net as a TV show host and from there made the leap into acting. Chris has now counts over 25 television and film credits on his resume. Most notably, he starred in Sony studios “xXx” and reunited with Vin Diesel again this summer while working on “The Pacifier.” In his last film Three Bad Men,” Chris played the lead and co-starred with Academy Award- Winning actor George Kennedy. (www.chrisgann.com)

2005-05-10T22:51:00.000-06:00

Missed me, missed me, now you have to kiss me... get that song out of my head. I want it for the credits of the film... Amanda, if you read this, we want to use your song. We love it. It's Tuesday. Just watched Open Water following the recommendations of several friends who watched the special features and thought of us. Husband, wife, make movie on bare-bones crewless budget. Hmmm... No crew... There's an idea... Fire everybody... Of course it took them two and one half years to make their movie. A bit of insanity if I may say so. Apparently his corporate job didn't have quite the vacation time that my friends at Xcel Energy have provided me with. Rock on Xcel Energy! Even if you fired us as the safety family.

I'm ready to get into the nitty gritty details. Find the creative envelope and start pushing to get our little story across. I'm stoked. Crew is filling out nicely. Cast will be too, soon. Tomorrow in fact, according to my Hackett induced deadline. Sounds good to me. Time for a few folks to fish or cut bait. Put up or shut up. Fight the power.

2005-05-08T22:55:00.000-06:00

I had a great conversation today with our would-be lead actor. Hopefully he likes what we've put on the table. If not, well... then on to plan B. It's amazing how many plan B's we've had to go through anyway... On nearly everything... Part of the fun I suppose...

2005-05-07T00:32:00.000-06:00

Seriously, if you haven't seen nin in concert. You should go. Saw them again this week. I'm getting old though. We only made it through three songs in the pit before it became too distracting to the music and we decided to bail to the outer rim. Nin was also kind enough to put a GarageBand version of their new single on their website. If you like that sort of thing and have a lot of ram, download it and play. It's way cool.

The Dresden Dolls opened (www.dresdendolls.com). They were awesome. Thanks to our teenage neighbors, we now have the cd. It's awesome. This is a band that knows how to entertain. I want their music in my movie. I hope I can afford that...

2005-05-07T00:19:00.000-06:00

So much to say... Been so busy lately with the chaos of preproduction... Let's first throw out some props:

Jefferson Arca became the first actor cast in our film. Jefferson rocks. Check out www.jeffersonarca.com

The second official casting was Catherine Sheehan in the role of Emily, the wife. Catherine completely rocks. Check out www.catherinesheehan.com

More casting news to come very very soon.

And, for the first time, I am now officially recognized in the industry. Check out http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1871694/ and see me! Thanks to Mr. Kelsey for getting all the Spotless stuff up. If you have a chance, vote for Spotless. The more votes we get, the better the publicity on the film will be, the more money Steve makes.

There's a backend to imdb called imdbpro and it has a "Starmeter." The Starmeter has some secret formula that ranks all of the people in the imdb database based on pr/searches/films and other proprietary stuff. Right out of the gate, I was ranked 907,119th. Out of everyone in the film industry, ever, I was the 907,119th biggest star. In a week, however, imdb recognized the true power of my rising star, and my current rank is 132,270th. Quite an impressive rise for just one week. So if you're bored, check out imdb and search for me. It will make me a bigger star. My goal is to break the top 100,000 by the end of the year.

On a side note, if you're an actor who has actually done some film work, be sure to get your contact/project info on imdb. Every resume/headshot we see that we have a vague interest in, we imdb. If your credits are fake, we will find out. If your roles are inflated, we will find out. There is no escaping here.

2005-04-16T22:58:00.000-06:00

OK, so in watching reels from actors I've discovered something. It's difficult sometimes for me to differentiate between bad acting and bad writing. My advice to those actors out there who are getting started is put something of substance on your reel. If you're going to put theater stuff on your resume, put a clip of that on your reel. As far as short films go, be sure the script you work with is good.

I realize that this is a catch-22. You have to get experience and the only person who will cast you is some geek fresh out of film school who thinks he's Fellini and writes like he's Big Bird. Once you have experience, then you can work with the Steve Mudds and Charlie Kauffmans of the world (ha!).

You know, the world is in such a reality TV craze, that might be a better type of reel. Have your little brother follow you around with a video camera for a couple of days. Show me you. If you're interesting, we can make you a good actor. If you're vacuous, then I really don't want to spend a lot of time with you anyway.

(Note to actors who have sent reels: the criticisms in this blog do not refer to your reel, but another actor's whose reel was much worse than yours.)

2005-04-15T01:55:00.000-06:00

Fighting self-imposed arbitrary and capricious deadlines. Killing rednecks. Needing sleep. Must go to bed. Soon. Now. New draft nearly done. Almost. Damn day job.

2005-04-11T21:16:00.000-06:00

I finally took the plunge. Bought myself an iBook. I'm enjoying it immensely, especially with the Airport Express thing.

We had some make-up auditions today. Now I have to schedule some callbacks and deal with all of the reels we expect to be seing soon.

We were stranded in Colorado Springs this weekend after our kids' DI function. Had a great time letting the kids run rampant while the adults all drank wine in the lobby. Made some new good friends. Need a 4wd. And a nap. Feel like I'm falling behind on everything. Need to rally the troops. Finish the script. Check my voice mail. Charge the phones. Damn the torpedoes. Slowly but surely. Drop the leash. Get out of my fuckin' face. (Name the song, win a prize.) Off to bed. Happy blizzard.

2005-03-31T07:04:00.000-07:00

So after we went the craigslist route, we posted our project on a couple of other sites, www.nowcasting.com and www.actorsaccess.com. Both sites have given us an unbeleivable number of headshots, primarily from the LA area. We have taken a first look through all of these and identified our top candidates. We will be holding auditions in Colorado this weekend. For obvious reasons, we have a preference toward home-grown talent. However, if we don't find what we need locally, we will be determining if we need to come to LA for auditions or figure out an alternate way to audition long-distance - probably have folks videotape auditions for us.

On the location front, we spent Monday and Tueday in Breckenridge and Fairplay scouting. We saw some amazing homes. Without giving away our top choices, we found a number of amazing places from some cool websites: www.paragonlodging.com, www.southparklodging.com, www.vrbo.com, and www.breckvillas.com. If you're looking to rent a home in the mountains, visit one of these guys... As soon as we get the owners' permission, we'll announce the location here.

2005-03-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

Yo yo yo. I gotta be throwin' out some props to my homeys as craigslist.com.

We were sittin' around tryin' to figure out how to reach the LA talent market for our casting and a lightbulb went on. loasangeles.craigslist.com. Since we posted, we've been getting about six headshots per hour, yes, one every ten minutes or so. Now if only Campbell Scott or Kevin Bacon read craigslist we're in! Hmmmmm... maybe we should try the NY craigslist too...

Note to our LA friends: Our challenge, as a Denver-based production, is that auditioning you may be difficult. If you have an online reel or an online trailer or a recognizable credit (recognizable to us in flyover country), please tell us about that. We may be asking some of you to send a reel in lieu of being able to meet you in person inexpensively, but please continue sending the headshots first.

Note to my boyz (and ho's) in the Colorado hood: Don't worry about this whole LA thing. We jus chillin' in the hizzy. We know there's talented people here and we're going to use as many of you as we can. Colorado auditions will be scheduled soon, we now have a location.

Peace out.

2005-03-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

There I go again. Waiting a whole month before blogging. Damn. Consistency. Momentum. Blah blah blah.

It's snowing here. I'm hoping for a blizzard.

If you signed up to receive Security Threat Film email updates, we've lost your address. Or rather, Edmund lost your address. All of them. Gone without a trace. Damn Edmund. So much for guerilla marketing. Sign up again. We won't let Edmund close to them this time.

The casting ball is rolling. We've sent out feelers to the local agents. If your agent hasn't felt you, you may want a new agent. All I need is a place for auditions and we'll be set on our local folks... Now if we can only get someone who can help us sell this damn project... Or at least someone who can attract some more dollars for our project...

New nin on ktcl tomorrow. I can't wait. We got tickets for the Fillmore. We rock. Out.

2005-02-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

All-Star weekend is all around us. The All-Stars are all staying at the Westin downtown, across from my day job. That was cool. I saw Melo, Shaq, LeBron... A whole bunch of the Sophomore team that I didn't recognize. We have an inappropriately acquired room key from the Westin and aren't afraid to use it. At least to get in the lobby of the hotel and have a Starbucks. The same Starbucks that Shaq went to. Maybe I'll also use the same bathroom that some NBA groupie chick will throw up in tonight.

From this whole Westin experience, I now have a new favorite Great White Hope. Of all the players I saw, Chris Anderson, currently of the New Orleans Hornets. I wasn't really paying attention when he played for the Nuggets, but this guy was cool. He actually acted like he liked the crowd in front of the Westin. He actually smiled. Very few of the other players even looked up, heaven forbid acknowledge the crowd. No wonder I didn't recognize them. Always remember the audience.

We also went to the Jam Session thing here today at the Convention Center.

Note to the NBA: lose Build-a-Bear as a freakin' sponsor. There is no connection. None. Not even a tenuous one.

Second note to the NBA: If you're going to have a Celebrity shoot out, have a celebrity or two that people actually know. Now that one guy you had or that other one. And the token local celebrity. Reminds me of a local celebrity golf tournament where they had Jake Jabs as their celebrity. Weak. Very weak.

Third note to the NBA: If you want people to recognize the people that were getting on the bus, have them show up at the Jam Session. Do you understand the brand loyalty you would have created with me and my son if you actually had more than one NBA player signing autographs? Nothing against the WNBA, but who wants a WNBA autograph? Not my son. My daughter would I suppose, but she didn't come today.

Tomorrow, thanks to my good friend Doug, I will be attending the NBA All-Star Game. Watch for me in Row 6. Of section 324.

2005-02-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a response. Thanks to everybody who has sent us resumes and reels and stuff. You're all awesome! Some of you may be wondering, what the hell are they doing? I sent my stuff into those bastards days ago and I haven't heard anything. Well, fuck you. Be patient. Everyone will get a response. Please keep in mind that Edmund isn't paid very well and gets a little moody.

Specifically as to where we are, we sat down Sunday and reviewed the various DP reels and websites we've received. We're still getting a trickle of these and are evaluating them as they come in. We've narrowed the original list of 40-50 DPs down to less than 10. We also have some referrals from friends and trusted associates that we may try and contact. We are evaluating the DPs based on feature experience, logisitical ease to work with, artistic compatibility, available equipment, and cost.

On the script side, I've completed a new draft and have that out with some trusted associates to get feedback for one final polish.

We're still looking for that perfect location.

More to come on this, but there is currently a bill in the Colorado House of Representatives that would give film investors a 50% tax credit of their film investment. As a film investor, I can't tell you how excited that makes me. As someone who relies on other film investors, I really can't tell you how happy that makes me. If you know any Colorado legislators, please contact them and have them call me so I can tell them how happy they can make me.

2005-02-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

Our notice went out to the CFVA and we have received many many resumes from many many people. For those of you who have wandered far enough into our site to find this blog, thank you for your submission. For those of you who did not make it to this page, screw off.

One important lesson we've learned thus far: the power of saying "I want this job." With so many people to look at and sift through, finding the ones who are applying because they really want to workwith us - and I mean work - is a joy. Thank you for your blind faith.

If you're curious about our process, for the short term we're focusing on requests from DPs, production companies, and people whose resumes blow us away. Everyone else, we will talk to later.

(Crap, that blog wasn't philosophic or clever or anything. Fuck. Today we had our highest number of pageviews ever and all I can come up with is some cheesy "thank you for your submission" bullshit. Sorry.)

2005-01-27T23:00:00.000-07:00

There is that point they say where opportunity and preparedness meet. I feel like I'm there today. There are challenges ahead, but I have every confidence they will be overcome. No shread of uncertainty.

Sometimes, you push one button, expecting one door to open, and another one does. Feed the lion, make the tiger happy. It doesn't all make sense, but it does work that way. Pure confidence is the fuel of alchemy.

It's like there's a club. Of smart people. Of achievers. It's like a secret club, but it's not all that secret. It's just that the people who aren't apart of it aren't aware of it. They throw rocks at it, but they don't know what it is. The trick is to find other people in the club, who are aware they're in the club. Who recognize the inanity of it all. Find those people who know that mountains can be moved.

[For an audio copy of this motivational blog, contact Edmund Vest]

2005-01-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

What a brilliant day! Thanks to everyone who made this day so brilliant. You know who you are. We may great progress today, receiving resumes, nailing down funding, and interviewing potential crew. All in all, I'm stoked. I hope tomorrow is half as good.

2005-01-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Great birthday party today! Nice girls all the way around.

Drinking, eating, and piano later. I'm going to announce for crew and stuff on craigslist and CASA now. We'll see what develops. I've had a few promising leads on department heads, but not enough to keep me comfortable.

2005-01-21T23:45:00.000-07:00

Great week. Lots of meetings. Lunches and the like. Coffee meeting tomorrow.

Saw Troy tonight. What a crock of cinematic shit. Bad writing. Bad acting. Bad directing. Horrible score. Bad editing. I can forgive some things, but not bad writing. Why I put that on my Netflix list, I'll never know. I'm trying to remember if Brad Pitt's been in a really good movie since Fight Club. I don't remember. I spent the whole movie trying to remember who played Agememnon. It was Brian Cox. I recognized the voice, but had forgotten where I heard it. He was great in Adaptation.

Coffee meeting tomorrow, then birthday party, then dinner. Maybe poker later.

Happy to welcome Edmund Vest to the Security Threat Team. Edmund will be writing his own blog soon.

'Night.

2005-01-17T21:11:00.000-07:00

We went location scouting this weekend. Found some strong possibilities in Summit County. Lots of stuff happening now. Trying to balance work and film and freelance and family and stuff. I am obsessed. The film is going to happen probably in June. Met some cool people in Keystone. Found some cool houses. I'm going to call the owner of this one particular house tomorrow. We have a lot more leads. Thank you Craigslist.com.

This week should see an email to our investor friends and potential investor friends explaining our current situation, then a press release to whoever we can think of announcing our presence and looking for people. Rock on.

Location scouting

2004-12-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

One song in my head. All day. For days. Breathe by Anna Nalick. If you haven't heard it, please visit www.annanalick.com and listen to the song. Buy the CD. We saw Anna open for Ari Hest (www.arihest.com) here in Denver at a little dive bar. Great show. Neither of these performers will be spending much more time in dive bars. Buy the CDs. Now.

Reason Number Two

2004-12-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

So another reason I don't write very often is that the
official corporate filter at my place of employment
does not allow me the option of even going to
blogger.com. So then, my lovely and intelligent wife
tells me I can just send an email to my blog to be
read later. Woo hoo! I'm on that! Rock on.

This blog marks my first foray into the world of email
blogging. Wow. Who really cares?

2004-12-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

So much to write. So little time. So much excitement in the world. I wish I wanted to bloc more. I think the problem, if you can call it that, is that I have an audience. The perfect audience. My wife. She actually laughs at what I say. Why risk rejection anywhere else? Why blog? I suppose if you don't have that individual audience, a blog is the next best thing.

So if you happen to stumble across my little blog and really want to read a blog from someone who actually writes more than once every six months, check out www.rageboy.com. He blogs more than I ever will and his persistent narcissism will entertain you. At least, it entertains me. Mostly. And occasionally, he posts pictures of naked people that don't get picked up by the corporate filter. Sometimes during the day, you just need a little narcissism and nudity.

This is where my head is today.

2004-06-28T23:00:00.000-06:00

I've got it. They're all in the cabin or they soon will be. Now I have to start killing them....

2004-06-24T23:17:00.000-06:00

Today, I embraced the vacuum of middle management achievement. I mean, I guess I've always been a little bored by my job, but today...

The world is no better off now than it was when before I went to work today. In fact, you could probably go back to when I started my job two and one half years ago and say the same thing. There's been no tangible improvement at least. I have nothing that I can point at and say, "That's cool. I did that."

Screenwriting certainly gives me that feeling. I can point at a completed script or even a completed page and say, I did that. There it is. Right in front of me. Tangible.

I guess that my world has been tangibly improved by my job. I have a bigger house. Good neighborhood. More stuff. Well-fed kids. These things are important. Probably more important than I'd care to admit.

I just wish I could get the good paycheck and still have something tangible at the end of the day.

2004-06-24T23:10:00.000-06:00

Quick Script Update:

Fuck! I hate it when the characters I create get stuck and I can't figure out what to do. I know Point A. I know Point C. Point B is a pain in the ass. Maybe my subconscious will figure it out while I'm sleeping tonight... Thanks, Linda Seger, for that piece of advice.

It's like the problem of the cars. What to do with all the damn cars in front of the house. Dead people have cars too. I can tell when screenwriters cheat and don't deal with the cars. It drives me nuts.

2004-06-20T22:31:00.000-06:00

One thought. I've now heard a couple of versions of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and I can't get the song from my head. So I went back to find the original version. I just listened to a clip of it at www.leonardcohen.com. I like the other versions better. Is that wrong? Is it wrong to like the copy better than the original?

I guess maybe the moral of the story is that writers shouldn't sing....

2004-06-17T00:17:00.000-06:00

So I'm trying to figure out what impact turning thirty has had on me, now that I've been thirty for like almost a whole month now. Someone told me that when you're thirty people start to take you more seriously. I'm still waiting for that, but I feel it. I feel more important, less immature. Child like things passing away and all that jazz.

It's coming though. Something is coming.

I don't know if anyone is taking me more seriously but maybe I'm taking myself more seriously. No more bullshit. It's time for me to be me, whatever that means. That little glimmer of inspiration, that hope that my life would be something great, seems a little more bright. A little more focused. Everywhere.

That's not to say that my life isn't great. It is. Crap... time for bed...

2004-06-17T00:16:00.000-06:00

Phew, I got that out of the way. The virgin post is done. Thank god. The cherry is broken. Now what...

2004-06-17T00:13:00.000-06:00

Anytime you write something in a new book or on a new page or a new media you're faced with the blank page. What to write? How much backstory do you put? Who really cares where you start?