In the area of "Hey, Check This Out:"
My friend Adam Spiegelman, aka Media Yenta, recommended this upcoming show to me.
"MoCap, LLC" is a show about one of those jobs that you know people have, but you never ever think about--professional motion capture techs, and the freelance hell they live in.
"MoCap LLC" will soon be a 6-episode series airing on Spike TV starting April 23 at midnight. Check it out, y'all!
posted by Rob on 4:53 PM |
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[ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 ]
Hi, I'm Buckwheat. Uh-member me?
Yeah, it's kind of been a while since I updated this--mother of GOD! TWO YEARS?!?!
Seriously?!?
So, yeah, it's time to start again, seeing as I've got a TON of stuff going on.
Since I posted last, I've made a few short films as well as trailers for other theatre companies, had a short play produced in Chicago, been in three more episodes of Chad Vader (two of which I co-wrote), was in the best play I've ever been in, hosted the Blitz Plays, had a novel written about one of my characters, and now, I'm self-publishing Knock Knock. After Emily Mills self-published The Fix-Up, I just figured it was incredibly stupid to have written three novels and not to do anything with them. So, here it is:
It's up for sale. Right damn now.
And, yes, I'll be doing the others, too.
Also, I may put up the scripts of some of my shows, too. Quite a few students actors who have found my monologues in the Smith And Kraus monologue books have been sending me emails, looking for more of my work, so I figured I should probably give them something to find.
But back to Emily Mills for a second.
"The Fix-Up" is the prequel to a series of movies I made with Antlion Films, about a drug dealer named Chapel.
Chapel, who was more or less supposed to be prison-bound at the end of the first one, just kept a-comin' back, and we just finished the third one.
Here they all are, for your convenience:
"Complicated," the first one, was my first attempt to do a 48-hour films (to date, all of the Chapels have been 48-hour films). And, yeah, it was as complicated as the title implies.
Best bit: The encyclopedia.
Then came "Distracted." (also called "Distraction." When I cleaned it up a bit, I changed the title to fit the last one.)
"Distracted" came about when Sam Lawson and Josh Klessig of RASHfilms invited Emily and I to join them on a trip to Louisville, Kentucky for the Kino Louisville Kabaret.
I figured, we got Emily, we got a hotel room, why not do a story that brings back Chapel, with her on the run?
We got Whitney Bishop, director of Kino Louisville to be in it, who was very cool.
Best bit: When Chapel first enters the house.
And now, here's "Extremed," which I think of as the "Goldfinger" of the group. Like, the first James Bond movies were good, but it was "Goldfinger" that defined the formula and the series became what it was to become.
This one is more cold-blooded, mean-spirited, and, well, funnier than the others. I'm very proud of this one.
Best bit: Everything after Kelly Maxwell yells "Shut. The fuck. UP!!!"
There's talk of doing others (there's always been talk of doing others, but this one showed us all what we could accomplish if we just sat down and did it)...and Will Gartside (director of "MASSACRE (the musical)") and I are planning...something for when we have a budget. Shhh.
Oh, and speaking of Will, we just finished principal photography for "High School Sweethearts."
This isn't a comedy like "MASSACRE" was--the story (written by Will with some additional material by myself) starts out as a high school love story, and then it...really isn't...and then it REALLY isn't...and then...well, let's just say it contains possibly the most horrifying thing I've ever been a part of filming. And keep in mind who's telling you that.
What you might not know, is that "High School Sweethearts" is the first half of a longer film, called "Wasted Youth."
And yup, that's right, the second half is written and directed by me, and it's called "The Girls."
Here's the teaser trailer for that one:
"The Girls," which we're just doing preproduction on now, is a revenge drama--and yes, it's a rewritten version of my long dreamt-of, never-realized series "Death And The City."
Recently, Will and I did an interview on the Film101 podcast where we explain how this happened. Listen here.
Oh, and one last thing: I'm working on a comic book adaption of "Wasted Youth." But more on that as it happens...
posted by Rob on 9:36 PM |
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[ Friday, December 07, 2007 ]
Hey howdy hey!
One of the podcasts I listen to, BrassRingWriting Playwriting Podcast, not only mentioned an email I sent in, not only basically based the episode around a topic I brought up in that email, but also plugged this blog, which made me say:
Yeep. I'd probably better update my blog, huh?
So, lots of stuff to report, actually.
First: I won National Novel Writing Month again. I wrote another mystery with Anthony Phillip Grover, a.k.a. Tony Bompicelli, a.k.a. Tony The Bomb, in his life in the Witness Protection Program, this time working with Jilly O'Halloran, a fiesty female cop, trying to solve a mystery so complicated--they don't even know for sure if a crime has been committed...
(By the way, if you're interested in reading this, or the first Tony The Bomb mystery, Knock Knock, then shoot me an email.)
In other news, I am still editing MASSACRE (the musical). All that "coming this Halloween" stuff was a bunch of tree-huggin' hippie crap, so we're aiming for the end of the month (which is our deadline for getting it to several of the contests we want to submit it to).
In the meantime, here's the longer, cooler trailer:
While we're talking about videos I'm responsible for, here's another one that I wrote and directed, which is a prequel to the "Disarming" series of plays I wrote for Mercury Players' Short Shorts. (If you have seen them, don't worry, you don't have to have seen them to watch this).
It's called "Two Girl Minimum," and features Emily Mills, reprising her role as Kidder, Kelly Kiorpes, reprising her role as Maggie The Meth Head from "Complicated," and myself, reprising my role as Reeve. Most of the female cast of MASSACRE managed to slip into this as well.
Oh, and I'm told it's NSFW, mainly because of all the gunfire, and a shot of two girls making out. So, um, be warned:
And for those of you fans of Chad Vader, as well as things that I briefly appear in or provide guns for, Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda have just put a new video up on Super Deluxe, called CSI: North Pole.
Also, I'm in another Mercury Players show coming up, called The Pillowman, which'll be running at the Bartell Theater from January 18 through February 2, 2008.
So, it's actually been kind of a busy end of the year for me. Ah, what can the future hold? Will 2008 be awesome...ly bad, or just plain awesome?
Tune in next year...and we'll find out...together.
(Sometimes I have genuine trouble finishing these blogs.)
Labels: Aaron Yonda, BrassRingWriting Playwriting podcast, Chad Vader, CSI: North Pole, MASSACRE (the musical), Matt Sloan, Mercury Players, Nanowrimo, Tony The Bomb
posted by Rob on 11:40 AM |
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[ Saturday, August 04, 2007 ]
posted by Rob on 10:31 PM |
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[ Monday, June 18, 2007 ]
Don't say you weren't warned.
posted by Rob on 12:27 AM |
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[ Thursday, May 03, 2007 ]
Recently, I recieved an email from a Chicago theater director named Bryan Cohen, who, like me, has been having trouble getting reviewers to see his show--so he's come up with an interesting solution: Invite reviewers and critics and have them do "community reviews," which I'll post here so that they can be found during a search or he can link to them.
It's actually a pretty good idea (one I may steal). It's a good way for not only for there to be some reviews out there, but for there to be a sense of communtiy among different theater groups through the internet. Here's the first review, just recieved today:
Something From Nothing
Directed by Bryan Cohen
A review by Paul Barile
Everyone who does improv should see "Something from Nothing" even if only to hear the theories that have gotten lost in the so much of today's gratuitously blue improv scene. The characters talk about – argue about – and understand the various reasons actors do improv.
The characters invoke the holy guru of improv – Del Close – to remind us that honesty and connections are more important than farts and boogers. There is an earnest air about most of these actors that leads the audience to believe they believe it as well. Their belief makes it an easy sell.
Another positive element is they find ways to work history and theory into conversation without being preachy. When one character gets completely wrapped up in theory and forget to just live life – the consequences are less than positive. It is also refreshing to watch a show that isn't peppered with insider humor as many sketch and improv shows tend to be. In fact – you don't need to be in the industry to enjoy most of this play.
Whether intentional – or not - the cast fairly reflects the 1985 film The Breakfast Club. Since the show is set in 1985 – and the improv team takes the name The Breakfast Tub, one is left to draw their own conclusions.
The standout performance by Lauren Q. Hearter – easily the most comfortable person on the stage - is worth the cost of admission. Her character's arc is so complete and uninterrupted that by act three (yes… act three) when she resolves her issues, the audience is completely seduced.
The rest of the cast is uneven – although most of them have great moments. Most of the problems they face are the result of two negative elements in the show. The first negative is the show is way too long. The second element is there are so many unnecessary plot twists – this could be two different plays.
Scripted from improv is a double-edged sword. While you are getting fresh real dialogue – you have to know when to stop the tape. Some of these scenes go on and on and take 15 minutes to say what could be said in 5. There are too many instances when two actors walk out on stage – pull up a chair – and talk. Sometimes they are drinking a beer. Sometimes they are playing a video game. Mostly there is a lot of sitting.
This thing comes in at 2 hours and 30 minutes when they could have told the entire story in 90 minutes. (Note from Rob: I have been informed by the director that this will actually been shortened down by about a half-hour, starting this Sunday.)
All of the subplots did was add time to the script. They didn't raise the stakes and they didn't make us feel more or less of anything toward the characters except – about half-way through act three we were feeling a little contempt that they could get up and walk around as they rambled on and we were planted in seats.
As a time-capsule Stephanie Solorio's costumes were on the money and Amy Gorelow's set was pioneering with its minimalist aesthetic.
Something from Nothing continues its run at the Apollo Studio Theater at 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., (nearest the Fullerton Red/Brown Line) through May 16th, playing Sunday through Wednesday nights at 8 PM. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $7 for students. Call (773) 935-6100 to make reservations.
posted by Rob on 11:58 PM |
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This is a trailer for a movie that doesn't exist, written by Doug Reed, edited by myself, starring Emily Mills, Kelly Kiorpes, and Kathy Lynn Sliter, and directed by Nick Drake. Visual effects by Detonationfilms.com. It's basically what I was doing all last week.
