Last week ended up being busier than I anticipated. Hence I didn’t have the time to record my new podcast or even write a blog. This week I will be just as busy but I will find time to either record a new Random Ass Podcast with Teddy or my new podcast. Who knows maybe both. Since my last blog I have received a lot of proposals for podcasts that will air exclusively on Grindhouse Radio. Some great, some…not so much. However, I have come up the most diplomatic way I know of to fill out the rest of the Grindhouse Radio roster. I will have my top 10 proposals do a 15 minute sample show, I will air them on www.grindhouse-radio.com and I will have our listeners vote. I will hopefully have that up and going by September.
The next month promises to be really busy starting with this week. I have to finish editing my contest entry. It’s a 3 minute short that I am really proud of. I think I have a really good chance to win. I am really confident in my editing skills now that I have several projects under my belt. I may go back and re-edit Sorrow Hill at some point…not any time soon but someday. We will be finishing FLoZ in the next couple of weeks in Evans City so Ryan Burnett and I can get it edited and perfect for the Sundance deadline September 20th. That’s right we plan on entering For Love of Zombies in Sundance. Are we aiming high. Hell yes we are. I am that confidant in FLoZ. I truly can’t wait to show the world what we have accomplished.
I have received a lot of feedback on the company name. I’m glad so many of you noticed. I am working on a new logo but unfortunately I am not a graphic designer and it’s hard for me to make my ideas come to life so for now I will be using something basic. I am hopeful that I will be working with Thomas Design Studios again in the future but right now it isn’t an option. Tom is amazing and the reason why everything from my web site to my movie posters look professional. Without Tom I would not be where I am right now. Anyone who has an graphic design needs should contact him. www.thomasdesignstudios.com You will not find a more professional, talented, or reasonable individual.
As for the first feature film for Little Red Wagon films is still being discussed internally. I hope to announce what that will be on my next podcast. Thanks again for reading.
I promised in my last blog some news and now it’s time to deliver. If you cast your eyes to the top of the page you will see that my company is no longer called Grindhouse Pictures. I love the name and it is was not something I really wanted to do but it finally got to the point where the friendly cease and desist letters became more threatening and quite frankly at the end of the day this is one fight not worth fighting. So going forward Grindhouse Pictures will now be known as Little Red Wagon Films. And I am excited to announce that For Love of Zombies will be the first film under the Little Red Wagon shingle. I can’t think of a better way to launch the new production company. For Love of Zombies is shaping into a really good short film. One I am proud of and one that is good enough to enter into some big time competitions and festivals.
I have something else to announce. I am expanding Grindhouse Radio. Right now we only feature the Random Ass Podcast but I am going to add more podcasts with different hosts. I will still be doing the Random Ass Podcast with Teddy and I will be doing a separate podcast that will focus on everything indie film making. I will have interviews with local film makers, writers, actors as well as featured guests. I plan on that being a weekly show. I am looking to add possibly a sports podcast and who knows what else. If it’s a good podcast I will put it up. So if you think you have what it takes to do a compelling one hour podcast weekly hit me up. I am very excited about this expansion and adding talented people to the GHR family. Yes I am still using Grindhouse Radio…I’ve never been told otherwise so I am keeping it.
I feel now is the perfect time for Grindhouse Radio and for the name change to Little Red Wagon Films. For Love of Zombies is the perfect launch and the first feature film that will be produced by Little Red Wagon Films is…that announcement will be later this week.
This past week was a little crazy even for me. I am a healthy person. Now don’t take that to mean I am a work out fanatic or that I eat properly. Because I don’t. But I am in reasonably good shape and I am proud to say I don’t get sick…ever. I don’t get flu, colds, sniffles, viruses anything like that. I am just very fortunate that I have a kick ass immune system. However this week I had quite a scare when out of the blue I started having chest pains for a few frightening moments I thought I was having a heart attack. I went to urgent care and they ran a bunch of tests and they all came back negative. So the conclusion was drawn that I had a panic attack. Never really had one before. Been stressed out before, been depressed before but it never led to a panic attack. Not a fun thing let me tell you. I’ve been stressed a lot lately so that’s what probably did it. Guess I have to learn to relax and maybe take a few things off my plate. Hard to do with so many things left to do. For the time being I am just focusing on relaxing and finishing my project.
Working hard on the FLoZ edit, filming another horror short for a competition I want to enter, and of course marketing Sorrow Hill. Even though I wonder why I bother. I am working hard to sell DVD’s and the majority of the people involved with the movie don’t even promote it in anyway. Now, I’m not asking for the world, just maybe mention on your Facebook page that the movie you were in is now available on DVD. Instead all I get are emails wondering when they are getting their free copy. Drives me crazy how people only care about themselves. I guess they don’t understand the simple concept, the more movies we sell the more money they could potentially make. One thing I learned recently from my entire Sorrow Hill experience, don’t make movies and expect to make friends…not gonna happen. There will be exceptions and there are a few when it comes to Sorrow Hill but if you are going to make a film just remember the majority of the people involved are not your friends. They are there for themselves. Now after the film wraps they may still keep in touch that’s only because they are hoping you can still do something for them. But once they decide your usefulness has run out, they will leave you high and dry. Trust me on that.
Sorry to rant but it’s just frustrating and sad when people you thought were your friends turn their backs on you. They will regret it someday. They will need something from me or even want to be in one of my future projects and they will be disappointed when they see I don’t give second chances. So they can continue with their aspirations,appearing in films no one will ever see, get involved with production companies that can’t promote and draw a crowd like Grindhouse can. Because say what you want about our sluggish DVD sales the fact remains over 500 people came out to the Sorrow Hill premiere on a cold, wintry, February night…in the middle of the week. While other production companies attract 9 people to a screening I’m packing the Pitman theater. I was upset for the longest time trying to figure out why people that I thought were my friends had suddenly vanished. Now I am just pissed and I am hellbent on making them regret their choice. There a few people from Sorrow Hill who I remain close with and there is one actor who I can’t wait to work with again and that’s Jon Bershad, as for the rest I wish them the best of luck and at the end of the day we will see who has had the most success. I didn’t mention names of those who have turned their back on me and Grindhouse Pictures because that’s not what I’m about. They know who they are and that’s all that matters. My doctor said my panic attack was brought on probably from stress and my tendency to hold things in. That is why this blog was written…I needed to get a lot of things off my chest. This blog was indeed truly cathartic.
Anyhow, I should end on a positive note. I will have two big announcements this week. One concerning my next project and one concerning the future of Grindhouse Pictures…stay tuned.
It’s tiresome to always come up with a blog title. I mean how many times can I name it Sorrow Hill updates or For Love of Zombies news because that is basically all I blog about anymore. I use to talk about things going on in the horror world or movies I have seen but I found that with every opinion I gave I had some idiot emailing me telling me I didn’t have a right to criticize because I am a filmmaker. Seems like people live to troll all that I do…quite pathetic. I use to enjoy all the hate I received via email, in some weird way it fueled me. I love to prove people wrong especially childish, idiotic trolls who have never accomplished a thing in their worthless lives. Lately the venom directed towards me has even begun to wore me down. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even open emails from those I don’t recognize. Not sure why the insults have begun to get me, I guess even I have a breaking point. So all of you can continue to email me all of your hate and post messages on the blog that never get approved if that’s what makes you happy, just know I won’t be reading it anymore.
Sorrow Hill DVD sales have been sluggish to say the least. It has received some very favorable reviews and has a lot of extras so it’s a great value at $9.99. It’s only gonna be available at that reduced price for a limited time so click HERE to order your copy. The DVD has received lukewarm interest from distributors so hopefully something will happen on that front. I am proud of my first feature film. I am proud what everyone involved accomplished on such a limited budget. I am working hard to reward everyone who was involved with the project. Even though the majority of those have turned their back on the project since it wrapped. However, I am loyal and will not turn my back on those who made Sorrow Hill a reality. So if and when the movie makes money they will be rewarded.
For Love of Zombies continues to gain momentum. We are close to wrapping and we have filmed some really good footage. Very excited to see what we can put together in the editing phase. We have a strong following on Facebook and the For Love of Zombies web site sees a lot of traffic so thanks to everyone who keeps up with what we are doing.
And to the thousands who read my blog thank you for reading.
I know it’s been a while since I blogged but I do have a good excuse…been busy filming. So close to wrapping For Love of Zombies, we only have one day of filming left in Evans City and then it’s off to post where Ryan Burnett, Tim Somers, Matt DiBiase, Matt Lo Re and myself will be hard at work to finish the film by certain festival deadlines.
I’ve been editing FLoZ as filming has gone along. Sorrow Hill I didn’t edit while I filmed and it hurt me in the end. I was so exhausted after a day of filming Sorrow Hill that I rarely looked at dailies…huge mistake. I have been diligent when it comes to viewing the dailies and because of that I was able to re-shoot certain scenes if need be. One thing I will say about myself, I always learn from my mistakes. I have gotten a little better at scheduling but that is something I still need to improve upon going forward.
As with previous projects I learned a lot while filming FLoZ. The most important thing I learned was who my true friends really are. Now I won’t get into specifics but quite a few people showed their true colors and it’s sad. There were several people I considered friends but now…who knows. What I have found out is who truly has my back and that’s most important. I have been privileged to work along side some very talented/creative people on FLoZ and so far we have some incredible footage that will certainly make a fun/zombierific film.
If I wasn’t busy enough I’ve decided to shoot another short for a contest that was forwarded to me. I will be filming it this weekend and then it’s off to post. I wrote a very scary 3 minute film that if edited and shot correctly should give me a good shot a winning. If I was fortunate enough to win this contest it would certainly help FLoZ and Sorrow Hill.
If you haven’t done so already, support independent film making and Grindhouse Pictures by purchasing the Sorrow Hill DVD. Right now we are running a weekend special where you can purchase Sorrow Hill for only $9.99. Click HERE to order. A big thank you to everyone who has already ordered the DVD. I hope you enjoyed it.
To celebrate the 2 year anniversary of Sorrow Hill wrapping we are putting the DVD on sale for a limited time…only 9.99. So if you haven’t ordered the DVD people are calling “A groundbreaking achievement in low budget horror film making” now is the perfect time. Click below to order your copy and to take advantage of this limited time price.
This past week has been a little bumpy and really stressful. First off, if you have never attempted to make an independent movie just know going in…it isn’t easy. Things will not go smoothly, trust me. There will always be things, big and small, that arise that will slow down production or even threaten it. How you handle those bumps will determine whether or not you have what it takes to see the project through. You could be the most talented writer, director, actor, producer, or sound engineer in the world but if you don’t have the gumption to battle through rough spots then you will never make it. I am proud to say that the cast and crew of FLoZ have not only the gumption but the will to finish this project.
We had an unfortunate set back this week. The vehicle we were using for the interior/exterior truck scenes unexpectedly became unavailable. This was a blow because we had filmed roughly 75 percent of the truck scenes. I watched the footage several times trying to figure out a way to be creative with my editing so we could make it work. I couldn’t do it. We would either need to find an identical vehicle and finish the remaining 25 percent or we would have to re-shoot all the footage with a different vehicle. After asking around on social networking sites to see if anyone had a similar vehicle to lend and after calling every car rental agency in south jersey we came up empty. So we decided we would have to re-shoot all the car footage. This meant adding another day to the shoot which would require cast and crew to commit to another full day of shooting. It was an amazing feeling when everyone in the cast/crew was completely behind and committed to whatever we needed to do. No one complained, no one whined every person said basically the same thing…we will do whatever we have to to get it right. Needless to say that showed how fortified we are as a team. I am so lucky.
The other smaller bump we hit this week was with our “main” zombie. I main zombie is played by Ryan DiBiase and he has done an incredible job so far. Whatever we have wanted to do he has been completely up for it. We filmed all day Monday and it was all stuff we needed with Ryan so we could wrap his scenes. However, after reviewing the footage I realized we missed a couple of shots that I really wanted. We had to rush a little bit that day because of some scheduling issues with some of our other cast members and I missed a small section of shots on my shot list. Ryan is getting married the weekend of June 25th and will not be returning from his honey moon until early July so I had to make the decision do I just go with the footage I have and work around the shots I missed or do I try and schedule a day in July to get what I needed. I spoke to my cast including Ryan and once again all of them said whatever we needed to do to get it right.
This dedication to FLoZ has reinforced what I knew all along, that this is a special script. Everyone involved with the production believes in the script and in the fact that if we shoot it correctly, we will have something pretty special on our hands. The footage we have so far has me really excited and when it is all edited together…let’s just say I can’t wait.
June 26th and June 27th is only one week away and we still could use more ZOMBIES! We are shooting all day both days and we are still ironing out the call times for the various zombies. If you are interested in being a zombie and you want to be a part of this exciting film contact Elisha Jachetti. Her email address is elisha@grindhouse-pictures.com. Next weekend promises to be a lot of fun as we shoot the climatic scene to our movie, so come on out and have a blast.
Also, just a reminder Grindhouse Pictures first feature film Sorrow Hill is available on DVD. Order your copy now at www.sorrowhillmovie.com. Also, help the production of FLoZ by ordering your own For Love of Zombies T-Shirt. Order yours now at www.forloveofzombies.com.
Get caught up with all the For Love of Zombie news and listen to the song we play during our music break…one last F-You to the man! Click below and behold all the podcast glory.
I messed up a little on the release date. May 31st was Memorial Day and so I didn’t get my shipment of DVD’s. However, I did get them June 1st and we are in the process of putting the cases together and all the pre-orders will be shipped by the beginning of next week. Once again thanks to everyone who pre-ordered and for your patience as we put the DVD together. I believe once you see the movie you will realize it was worth the wait.
We will be having a DVD release event today at the new Capes and Cowls Comic Book Store in Bensalem PA. Their address is 527 Bristol Pike. We will be selling the Sorrow Hill DVD, you can meet some of the cast from both Sorrow Hill and our next film For Love of Zombies. We will have raffles and giveaways as well For Love of Zombie T-Shirts. The event starts at Noon so come on out and see us.
If you can’t make it out to Bensalem you can of course still order the movie at www.sorrowhillmovie.com. The movie is only $15 and shipping is FREE.
For Love of Zombies begins principal photography this Saturday. I am looking forward to being behind the camera again. We have a great cast and crew who are all dedicated to making a great film. This experience has already been a lot different than Sorrow Hill. In a good way. We will be posting a lot of pictures and behind the scenes video on the For Love of Zombies web page as well as the For Love of Zombies Facebook page. Keep checking to follow along with our progress.
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