48 hour film challenge experience!

Well, what can I say. What a night! I recently attended the Phoenix 48 hour film challenge viewing and man, was I blown away! I'd never been to an event like this so it was great to see so many actors that I had worked with and many other actors that I had heard great things about.

There were 33 short films, in all, screened that night. And, after watching all of them, I was blown away by the level of talent that exists in Phoenix - both on the talent side and production side. There were many in attendance on both sides who I think would have as good a chance as any over there in the Southern Cal market that we call Tinseltown. And honestly, I was really proud to be involved in this challenge and really proud to call myself an Arizona based actor after the event.

One of my favorites from the night was D.E.A.D - an old 60's style spoof on how to kill a zombie. Frickin' Hilarious. My favorite of the night was a flick called Luna. A story about a guy dating a girl made of cheese. Very nicely done and oh so funny. Plus, there were some great performances in a short called Like You Said. My wife kept commenting on it that night!

It was a good night for our short, Tip Jar.



It took home the award for Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast! I'm pretty sure that my 5 seconds on the screen sealed the deal for the award! ;) Seriously, it was a great effort by the cast and I'm really looking forward to the completion of the extended cut of the short. There was a lot of good stuff that got cut due to the 3 minute length restriction and I think the extended cut will highlight some nice work by other members of the cast that didn't make the final revision. Further, I think the extended cut will make the story a line a little clearer as well. For those of you who haven't had a chance, check it out below! Enjoy!




Tip Jar on YouTube

First (and Final) cut of Tip Jar

Hello childrens,

I just saw a first cut of Tip Jar and I really dug it. Man, it's tough getting in a ton of good footage in just 3 minutes. Personally, my scene, which I ad-libbed a great deal, was mostly cut. But, honestly, it had to be done. I can't think of another scene in the short that should have not been in there. But, my scene is at least still in the short and I've got a really good reaction shot which should get a good laugh during the viewing.

I'm really stoked about the short and can't wait to share it with you guys! I think we have a good shot in the comedy genre portion of the competition.

Game on, baby!

48 hour film challenge!

Just finished shooting a movie short for the 48 hour film challenge. For those of you who are not familiar, this is a local film competition and it goes like this. Yesterday at 5:30pm, 33 different teams were given a genre, a prop that must be used in the film and a line of dialogue. The film has to be written, filmed, edited and completed in 48 hours.

Filming got started earlier today. I'm on a team with Synthetic Human Pictures working with director Stephen Krystek. I had not met Stephen before filming today. I got his info from another actor, Patti Tindall, who I had worked with before. I sent him my demo and resume and he told me that he'd like me on his team. Networking pays off!

Call time for cast was 6AM!! Our short is called "Tip Jar" and it's a comedy. It's a story about two coffee shop waitresses who flirt with customers to get the most tips. I play an unsuspecting doctor in the coffee shop.. I felt good about my performance. In fact, if it comes off as well as I think it did, I think I'll be able to add a good comedic clip to my demo reel. Booyeah!

Filming got off to a rough start.. so, one of the lead actresses doesn't show up! I think she got hammered last night or got thrown in jail or something. I'm not really sure. Anyway, we all knew it was going to be hard to find a replacement on such short notice especially since most every other actress is working on other teams! So, I asked the director if I should call a friend of mine, Geeta, who was a drama major but hadn't acted since college! The director gave me the A-OK and I called my friend at 7AM (and she is not a morning person plus she went out the night before). She said she was free and came to the shoot! Long story short, she came to the shoot and knocked it out of the park! The directors loved her work.. Quite a fortuitous turn of events! Geeta really seemed to enjoy her time filming. In fact, she was still shooting when I wrapped as she had a lead role in the short! Crazy, huh!

Well, even though filming ended today, still need to do ADR tomorrow. I've never done ADR so I don't know what it's like. Seems like it would be a pain in the ass but I'm looking forward to the experience!

Anyone out there have ADR experience? How was it?