Things Are Brewing

Got some Women's Studies related things in the works. Patience, young padawan.

The Waiting Game

Someone left a comment on a recent blog asking 1) Has Women's Studies been released. 2) Where is it going to show? 3) Any festivals that you can list yet?

The answers to those questions are 1) No, but it's finished. 2) Still unknown. 3) Not yet.

It seems strange to have put so much work and effort into Women's Studies for the past couple years, yet now have all this "down time" while waiting to hear from festivals. Should we be being more pro-active? Well, we are being pro-active in some arenas. However, our festival strategy requires we use a little bit of patience before more actively seeking distribution.

Do festivals work? Since this is my first feature, I have no idea. I do know that the number of festivals that actual distribution deals come out of is small. The point is more to get exposure, generate interest, and make the project more marketable to therefore (hopefully) make a better deal. Remember, we have a responsibility to investors to keep.

The wait sucks a bit, because otherwise I'd be on the phone hassling every industry contact I have about getting WS in front of a distributor. I've actually been contacted by a few sales agents, some recently, who are interested in helping Cindy and I sell the film. Right now, I'm keeping communication and my options open. Again though, we'll see what happens with festivals.

I am excited about getting Women's Studies in front of audiences. And as soon as I have information to pass on, I will.

Uncle Harlan is a God Among Men

In light of recent events and my first real exposure to creative decision making on large(r) budget films over the past few weeks, I'll let the great Harlan Ellison do my blog for me.

The "No Update" Update

Ah, remember the days when every week was filled with musings from a young director, high on the excitement of producing his first film? Me neither.

Okay, so I went on vacation outside Vancouver, British Columbia which I believe is where I'd like to live out my days on this earth. Perfect weather. Nice people. Lovely landscape. Fantastic public transportation. Biker friendly. Groovy vibe. Mountains, beach, and city all within reach of each other. Yeah, I'll see you on the west coast.

Since I've been back, my writing time has been taken up by another project and I haven't really wanted to pull energy away from it. I can't talk about it quite yet, but I will say that there are some "industry eyes" waiting to look at it, which is kind of new and exciting. Hopefully, I'll be able to spill some details about it here in the next month or so, but not quite yet.

Besides, as far as Women's Studies goes, there's nothing to blog about anyway. The waiting game continues and probably will for a few more weeks. I will say that the same industry eyes looking at the script I'm working on may also get to take a look at Women's Studies which can be nothing but good. We'll see.

I know this is a horrible update. Sorry about that, but it's better than no blog at all, right?

The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

As you've likely noticed, the past few blogs have been done on a bi-weekly basis.

The reason for this is that we here at Women's Studies HQ are basically in a "sit and wait" period until we hear back from all the various festivals and press outlets we've sent copies of the film to. In all likelihood, it'll be August before most of these folks even think about getting back to us. My WS workload has decreased dramatically, and it's actually been quite nice not to have to deal with it on a daily basis.

I haven't done any kind of "retrospective" blog because I'd rather look forward than backwards, and I don't want to throw off my chi.

What I have done is look towards the future beyond Women's Studies and done work on some possible future projects. I know, I know. The running joke has been that asking me what I'm doing next could get you killed. The problem is that I'm something of a workaholic. With Women's Studies done and six weeks of lag time before I have to get out and heavily promote it, I'm itchy to work on something. Plus, if opportunity should knock I want to be ready to open the door.

First I brushed off a screenplay I wrote ten years ago called Strangling Desdemona. It's about a hit man who wants out of the business and his corporate boss who gets him in WAY deeper. If you're a long time Ningen Manga-loid, you'll know that I self-published the first pages of the script as a comic book at the end of the millennium. (Buy a copy! Only one dollar! It actually costs more for me to send it to you than it does for you to purchase it.)

The Strangling Desdemona script is for sale, by they way. Hey, and the first few pages are already storyboarded! Amazingly enough, it's in pretty good shape after ten years. I just had to do a touch up here and a clean-up there. Then it was ready to send out to whoever might want to see it. (Agents? Studios? Investors? Send me an email.)

For the past couple of months, I've stewed on both a brand new idea and revisiting another old script that I really like a lot, but could use a serious rewrite. As time went by, I decided the new idea was good enough that it would keep and that my heart was really into the old script. (Which by the way, was the full length horror script I wrote right before the original Women's Studies script. . . the one I told you about in the last blog.) It's about a possibly cursed corn farm, the family who owns it, and the town surrounding it. Earlier this week I started working on a rewrite. What I want to do with it is such an overhaul, that it's almost like working on a brand new script. Or maybe it just feels that good to be writing again. And while I'm not settling on anything for my "next project" right now, this feels pretty right.

But who knows? Creatively speaking I have a lot of open space in front of me at this point in time. I want to explore it up and down before I really settle into anything. Besides, I have a feeling that come August, Women's Studies, fickle needy mistress that she is will once again show up on my doorstep with some crazy demand. Frankly, I'll be really happy to see her.

# # #

No blog next week, as I'm going to stay on the bi-weekly schedule for just a wee bit longer. Look for the next one on Tuesday, July 22.

The Void

I didn't do a blog last week because I honestly had nothing to say. Lately, I've just been laying low, kind of enjoying not having to do much.

Women's Studies is in a bit of a holding pattern until Cindy and I hear back from festivals, press, and a few other key folks who are getting copies of the finished film for one reason or another. It's been kind of nice to experience this strange thing which has been eluding me for the past two years. I think it's called "free time."

Yet there's also "The Void" to deal with. "What's that?" you ask. Allow me to explain . . .

I've been writing "seriously" for about twelve years now. In that time, I've written eight full length screenplays and more short scripts than I can even count. After the first draft of each full length, I've always experienced what I call "The Void." It's the space in my conscious (and subconscious) mind that was once filled with the energy devoted to whatever project I've been working on. The idea is that I put so much thought, emotion, and work into a story (or in this case, a movie) that when I stop working on it, the lack of energy and forward motion is slient, a little cold, and empty. I call that empty space "The Void."

Eventually, The Void gets filled up with everyday life; work, friends, hobbies, etc.

A lot of the time, I'll take the space left by a big project and fill it with a different smaller project. It's like there's so much energy left that even when the brunt of it leaves, there's still a little bit of power bouncing around. A lot of short scripts have been written in the wake of the big ones. Women's Studies was actually conceived in one of those Voids. I had written a different full length horror script and had some energy left over. The right combination of influences came together and the original short script for Women's Studies came to be.

The Void has it's dark side too. It's kind of like a break up after a long term relationship. There's a certain level of depression that comes with it. You've put all this effort, work, and love, so much love into this one thing that it's hard to believe it's over. But you can't hang on. That's an exercise in denial and stepping backwards. Once it's over, it's over. You can't go back. You can fix that which can't be fixed. You can't unlearn.

Mostly though, The Void is a great teacher of self. My self-image is always clearer after a big project. It's as if I've spent so much time in an imaginary world, my appreciation for the real world is heightened dramatically. I find myself looking in the mirror a lot . . . trying to see if the deep places I've been are visible on the surface.

Since Women's Studies is hands down the biggest, most ambitious thing I've ever done in my life, The Void is pretty huge on it. What's been good is that there's a a lot of left over energy that I've focused on things like exercise, diet, and remembering that Cindy was my wife long before she was my co-producer.

I thought this Void might be really tough, but it's actually been pretty easy. Maybe some things are so big that the energy never leaves you. It just changes into something else, something new. All I know is I feel like I 'm ready for anything.

# # #

My dear Lady Killers: I can't wait to show you what we did together.

Looking Ahead

Women's Studies is still finished.

Oh, Fear not. There's still work to do. Most of it has to do with marketing and promotion of the film. My and Cindy's major focus is film festivals, though we're getting some other gears moving as well. There's still a lot of work to do, but it's a much less intense work flow. Frankly, I'm okay with that.

So what's up?

On the technical side, Aaron Shirley and I are working with another video engineer on getting an HD master made for the film. I'll let you know how that goes. Right now, all I know is that it's an expensive undertaking.

Women's Studies has been sent off for it's first batch of "pre-festival" reviews which could start rolling in as soon as this week. The point of doing so is to get some blurbs to pad our press kit with. You know, things like "This guy makes Ed Wood look like Stanley Kubrick."

Joking aside, I'm actually pretty excited about getting some reviews because it'll be the first time someone completely objective will be taking a look at the movie. Up to this point everyone who's watched it has either worked on it or been a friend. All I know is that after looking at it for over a year, my ability to be objective is severely compromised, so it'll be interesting to see how the movie REALLY plays.

Speaking of press kits, the one for Women's Studies looks frakin' awesome. Co-Producer and Marketing genius Cindy has really outdone herself this time. We have an electronic version you can look at, but it really doesn't come close to the hard copy she's sending out.

And what about film festivals? I'm actually working on the first submissions today. I'm only to going to announce acceptances so as to where we're submitting, you'll just have to wonder. I imagine it'll be mid-summer at best before there's any première news.

I'm still going to try and update the blog every week, though much of it will be links to reviews and the like. I'll see if I get it in to me to reflect and pontificate on the whole experience though honestly, I'd rather just focus that energy into writing something else, maybe even a new script.

Stay tuned. Lots to come!

Cocked, Locked, & Ready to Rock

So, I had posted this cool picture to celebrate the completion of Women's Studies, but I realized it's a spoiler, so I took it down.

It's done though. The DVD is mastering as we speak.

I don't know what to say except: Holy shit! I made a feature length film!

A big thanks to cast and crew and everybody else who made it happen. Special kudos go to Aaron Shirley and Sean Russell. Other than Cindy Marie Martin and I, they were the first crew to come on to the project and the last to work on it.

After two years(!) the Lady Killers are ready for you.

The question is: Are you ready for them?

Nearing the End

Five days until final output/mastering of Women's Studies.

Post Sound Super Sean Russell and Composer Ryan Sayward turned in their final audio mix early Monday morning. Colorist Aaron Shirley is the last stop and he has just a few more color tweaks and some VFX work to do. Friday, we'll meet to watch it on a big screen to catch any nagging color issues. Also, Sean and Ryan will get a disk tomorrow to check for any last minute audio notes.

It's crazy to think the movie is this close to being finished. It seems like I've been working on it forever. Cast and crew started shooting almost a year ago. (May 29, 2007) Preparations and pre-production had been going on for well over a year before that. For the past two-and-a-half years, my single minded goal has been to get this film completed.

And now it's almost over.

I hear somebody saying, "Don't jinx it!" Really though, even if there was some cataclysmic act of god like Aaron Shirley's hard drive getting obliterated, the film's completion would only be delayed by a few weeks. (Fear not. Aaron, along with everyone else working post, has extensive back-ups.)

My role of late has been largely administrative. There's been a lot of approving things or asking for changes. Sean, Ryan, Aaron, and Editor Jim McGivney have been the soldiers in the trenches getting it done for you and me. They've been exceptional.

If all goes well, and it looks like it will, next week's blog will be the first with Women's Studies completed*.

# # #

(*Keep your fingers crossed. Just in case.)

Rally Caps Are On

12 days until final output/mastering of Women's Studies.

Meetings, meetings, meetings.

I've had meetings with various post-production crew members almost every day since late last week. Music mostly, but color got Sunday night out of me. And sound gets some more love today before I head back to hopefully wrap up that fickle mistress music tonight.

It's been a stressful week for multiple reasons. A lot of difficulties, disputes, and delays popped up late in the week. For a couple days I thought that the crew and I were going to have to postpone the final mastering. However, this fantastic crew rose to the occasion and rallied around the project. In fact, they pretty much carried me through the weekend which is rather awesome. Despite my best efforts, these guys just won't let me fuck this movie up.

Where do things stand?

According to an email I received when I woke up this morning, Post Sound Supervisor Sean Russell pulled a seventeen hour shift yesterday "seeding" (putting in place) the first half of the music for Women's Studies in the timeline with his Foley, ADR, SFX, and production audio tracks. Over 120 tracks in all. (!) At the time of this writing, he's catching a few Zzzs before heading back in to continue mixing everything down.

Tonight is my final spot check of Composer Ryan Sayward's music. There were a couple sequences that we both wanted to play with some more. I'll see those tonight and sign off on them. Then, Ryan will head over to studio with Sean and seed the music for the last half of the movie.

I saw the first pass of Aaron Shirley's color correction on Sunday night and it's looking really good. Most of the coloring in Women's Studies consists of simply color matching and balancing, making sure the colors are consistent form shot to shot. There are a couple scenes where we'll use color for effect. Aaron actually worked those out first and it's quite nice. This week is digital Visual FX week. Don't worry. Han still shoots first. Almost all of the VFX in Women's Studies is color based and correctional.

I'm growing old before your very eyes! Less than two more weeks and I can relax . . . a little bit. Okay, no. That's not true. When the film is done, a whole new world opens up.

Soothing the Savage Beast

19 days until final output/mastering of Women's Studies.

Early this morning, I picked up the "master" DV file of the entire film from Colorist/VFX Artist Aaron Shirley and delivered it to Post Sound Supervisor Sean Russell. Up to this point, Sean has been working on the film in eight separate "reels," nine if you count the end credits. Though still in the middle of recording Foley, Sean can now pull his eight separate ProTools sessions into one master session in preparation for mixing which begins next week.

Look! Here's Natalie Apuzzo, our Foley Walker/Artist stabbing melons. Why on earth would she be doing that?



On Saturday, Cindy and I met with Composer Ryan Sayward and for the very first time watched Women's Studies in it's entirety with music. It was a pretty exciting and fulfilling, yet surreal experience. For the first time in a very long time, I felt like I was watching a movie I hadn't worked on. It was a pretty good feeling to get swept up in the mood of the scenes again. After seeing the film more times than I care to count, I've become a little numb to the emotional impact it can have. If you can't tell, I'm really happy with the music.

Ryan has also picked out some "needle drop" songs from local music artists to use as background music in parts of Women's Studies. "Not Alone" by Redshift will be featured at the beginning of the film. "Barcelona" by Soft Complex as well as a remix of their song "Beat the Chill" will also be included.

I feel good about where we're at. Sure, we've still got six weeks of work to do in less than three, but if this was easy everybody would be doing it, right?

The Speed of Sound

26 days until final output/mastering of Women's Studies.

Sound has been the name of the game recently. As mentioned before, Post Sound Supervisor Sean Russell and I have been recording ADR pretty much every night for the past two weeks. Yesterday was the last session, though we'll likely have to bring Cindy Marie Martin (Mary) back in for one more night of catch-up.

This week, Sean is editing all the ADR and production dialogue while also adding background ambiance to give verisimilitude to the scenes. Today, he's finishing his Foley spotting session, and will then begin recording Foley and adding sound effects which will take up the better part of the next ten days.

Over the weekend, I'll visit Composer Ryan Sayward and hear the Women's Studies soundtrack for the first time with the movie. I'll give notes and Ryan will spend another week making any creative adjustments needed. Then, Sean and Ryan will get together in the studio and add in the music. Once we all agree that the music, Foley, sound FX, and dialogue are all what we want, Sean will begin the final mixdown.

The energy is high because 26 days is a ridiculously short time to try and get all this done, especially with two people doing all the work. While everyone is a wee bit nervous, we're also very excited. It's starting to come together and isn't half bad either. The end is near, and that's the fuel keeping everyone moving.

One Month Away . . .

Tomorrow is May 1, meaning the post-production crew and I are basically one month away from our deadline for having Women's Studies completely done.

The past two weeks have been almost as busy as the shooting schedule. I've split my time between recording ADR in the studio with Post Sound Super Sean Russell, meeting with Colorist Aaron Shirley about color correction and VFX, and trading emails with Composer Ryan Sayward about music.

Next week Co-Producer Cindy Marie Martin and I start planning for the "post June 2" schedule of festival and review submissions. Cindy will focus on that more than me as I'll be once again splitting my time between Sean, Aaron and Ryan as we near the finish line.

It's exciting, but also a whirlwind. I hardly have time to sleep. Then again, so what? I can sleep in June . . . snuggling a finished movie.

ADR Scripts + Melisa Breiner-Sanders = Hell

If there's a hell, it's an eternity of writing ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) scripts while Melisa Breiner-Sanders stands next to me yelling in a shrill voice, "Where's the blog? Where's the blog? Where's the blog? Where's the blog? Where's the blog?"

Why does Melisa get mentioned so much on the blog? Because she hounds me like she's Ahab and I'm a big white whale. Seriously. She makes Dave Letterman's stalker look as normal as Donna Reed. I'd have her IP address banned from my email, but I'm afraid she'll show up at my house.

(And really, all my mentioning her does is feed the fire of her (self)obsession. I keep telling her that my beastly sexual prowess she finds so irresistible is merely a freak genetic accident and she's going to have to learn to resist it. But you know, she's totally fucking psycho.)

Anyway . . . what is an ADR script, you ask? Well, it looks like this:

(Click to enlarge.)


Basically, the actor uses this script to loop lines that had something goofy in the production audio like airplanes or air conditioners. Or maybe the dialogue didn't come through loud enough because the sound guy was forced to put his mic a hundred yards away to keep it out of the shot. Or maybe I just want to alter the delivery because on set the actor was too busy trying to sleep with everyone regardless of gender instead of focusing on their performance, though I won't mention names. *coughMelisacough*

ADR scripts are pretty tedious to write, especially at this point in production when I've literally seen Women's Studies almost a hundred times. I hope I don't sound like I'm bitching. (Though I'm sure I do.) I actually like posting sound quite a bit. Writing ADR scripts is just more busy work than creative expression.

They're vitally important though. Having scripts with proper time code and scenes makes the process go so much quicker. We don't have to waste time figuring out where the right cue we need is. We can instead focus on picking a drunk Melisa up off the floor and trying to get her to say, "You can't make men into the enemy," without slurring.

# # #

A quick side note:

I read a great piece recently by Lexi Alexander, director of the upcoming Punisher 2 in which she talks about how all her blogs have to go through studio approval. Basically, she doesn't post them very often because she "writes like shit when [she's] being censored."

While I'm sure any studio that might think about hiring me will look at this blog and run in the other direction, I'd like to make two points.

First, I would never publicly talk shit about anybody I worked with unless I was joking. I'm not that stupid, and I wouldn't want six ugly cheerleaders to kidnap and beat the shit out of me. (Melisa of course is the exception. I'm deadly serious that she's crazy and she scares me. I can't prove it, but when I'm dead you'll know I was right.)

Secondly, People don't just want a rosy view of filmmaking or the world for that matter. I went through a brief period when I tried to make everything on the blog happy and wonderful. But you know, sometimes life isn't that way. Sometimes, you're stuck doing tedious work that you don't really enjoy. Sometimes, you even get confused and forget why you're doing something and think you want to quit.

It doesn't mean you don't love what you do OR believe in the project you're working on. I refer you back to my mantra: Nothing worth doing is easy. I think it's the hard stuff people want to hear about. It reminds them that there are other people out there who deal with life's little hiccups.

And crazy stalker actresses.

Persistence of Vision

Wow.

The past week has been a level of intensity I can't even begin to describe. I had always said that the recent Horrorfind Weekend would be the coming out party for Women's Studies. However, I had no idea that things would rev up as they had.

It's good though. The light at the end of the tunnel, once just a faint glimmer, gets brighter and brighter with each passing day. Well, that might be an overstatement, but at least I can see the end ahead of me.

First off, the big news: As of earlier today, Women's Studies is picture-locked, which means the video is as it will always be. Hats off to Editor Jim McGivney who has spent the past four months (Nine if you count the "rushes" he edited while we were shooting) putting this thing together for me. He's worked his ass off and I'm damn proud of him. Special mention goes to Cindy Marie Martin who was really a driving force behind the last few editing sessions.

The specs? Women's Studies clocks in at almost exactly 100 minutes, not counting the end credits. (Those will probably add about two minutes to the running time.) That was our target length all along and while Jim and I had to cut a couple of my favorite scenes to get there, I think the right choices were made. The eventual DVD will have eleven deleted scenes ranging from ten seconds to three minutes.

Next up is sound editing and music. I'm not going to spend any time talking about it right now. (Trust me. You'll hear more about it than you ever dreamed over the next seven weeks.)

We've basically got 53 days from the time of this writing to finish the film. That's a ridiculously short amount of time to color-correct and post sound for a feature length film. Should be fun, right? Right?!?

You've seen the new trailer for Women's Studies, haven't you?

We premiered it at Horrorfind Weekend last weekend to a pretty enthusiastic crowd. At least they seemed to ask all the right questions, so I got the impression they were interested. The response to the online trailer has been pretty positive. We even got a couple film festival invites out of it. (No, I'm not saying where. More on festivals come June.) I have high hopes this film will find it's audience.

Once we get it finished, of course. Let's not put the cart before the horse.

# # #

Just about everybody who knows me knows that George A. Romero is pretty much my filmmaking hero. I'm not exactly sure when it happened. I rediscovered his zombie "trilogy" about ten years ago. (That's back when it was still a trilogy.) That was right around the same time that my mind really started to shift from just writing scripts to actually making movies.

The admirable thing about Romero that has always struck me is his fierce individuality and independence. He makes the movies he wants to make. Yet, it's not out of stubbornness, but rather a persistence of vision which is awe-inspiring. He gets what he's doing, and I think a lot of filmmakers don't. They just feel their way through the process hoping to make the "big time," whatever the hell that is. Hell, I might even be one of them as much as I like to think otherwise.

Romero's persistence of vision and ability to be present is what I aspire to. His indefinable type of filmmaker is the kind I want to be.

Anyway, I got to meet Romero in the flesh during Horrorfind Weekend. We didn't talk long, only about five minutes, but he was present the entire time. We talked about his Season of the Witch a film I think is highly underrated and one he would like to remake. We talked about Women's Studies and working with Judith O'Dea. We even for the briefest of moments talked about our worldviews which was pretty cool. The whole time, he was present. He was talking not just to me but with me.

It was a pretty huge moment for me, one that's going to see me through to the end of the Women's Studies process. Hell, I might even find me some big assed trademark glasses to wear when it's all said and done.

New Women's Studies Trailer Online!

You don't care what I have to say, do you? It's the new Women's Studies trailer!



(***I know. I've missed a bunch of blogs. Getting this movie where it needs to be has been absolutely insane. Next week, I'll catch you folks up on the trailer, the movie, Horrorfind Weekend, and meeting George A. Romero!***)

The Past Two Weeks

Sorry about the missed blog. There was so much going on last week, I completely forgot about writing one. It was Friday before anybody even reminded me that I’d missed a week. By that point, I figured I would just wait until Tuesday.

It’s been an eventful two weeks both personally and professionally.

First off, Cindy and I had a small house fire. Fear not. All is well. The house is still standing. In a nutshell, a surge protector failed to do what it was supposed to, though the fact it had gotten wedged under a couch probably didn’t help. Thankfully, I was home and had the presence of mind to zap it with a fire extinguisher. We were really lucky. It could have been far worse than it was.

The fire burned up a couch and some curtains, singed the floor and did a good amount of smoke damage. While there was more dirt and soot than actual fire damage, it was about a week of dealing with insurance, housecleaning, and getting all the soot out of cat fur. (The cats are fine.)

The lessons: Make sure you have smoke alarms on all levels of your house, test your fire extinguisher(s) regularly, and don’t skimp out and buy cheap surge protectors to save a few bucks.

Anybody who wants to make a joke about me burning down the house to finish paying for Women’s Studies should do so now.

I also spent the past two weekends working as an associate producer with Women’s Studies Director of Photography Aaron Shirley on his long gestating short film project which bears no relationship to the Denzel Washington/Russell Crowe film but is still tentatively titled American Gangsters. We were actually supposed to shoot American Gangsters in the spring as a test for a lot of the techniques and workflow we intended to use on Women’s Studies, but there were only twenty-four hours in each day and something had to give.

Aaron’s Untitled Gangster Short (There, better?) should be finished by mid-April. I’ll post info on where and how it can be seen as it becomes available.

What else? Oh yeah, Women’s Studies!

On Sunday, the chip cooling fan on my computer’s motherboard said “sayonara.” While neither the motherboard or hard drive were damaged, my machine had to go into the pooter shop which has pretty much left me without the means to do much but hope all the department heads are on task AND finally write a blog that’s more than just “Work! Chaos! More soon!”

So where are we?

The past couple weeks have really seen Women’s Studies start to blossom into the movie I’ve always hoped it could be. Make no mistake, there’s still a ton of work to do. However, Instead of worrying about big broad patches on the film that didn’t seem to be working right, Editor Jim McGivney and I have gotten to a point where the tweaks and fixes are only needed on very specific areas.

(Oh yeah, both Jim and I got hit with some Captain Trips level flu/cold over the past couple weeks.)

It used to be I’d watch a reel and see a bunch of footage trying to be something. Now, with each passing day I get a sense of a story, a glimpse of lives unfolding before me. I get wrapped in drama, comedy, conflict and horror. More and more, I feel like I’m watching the beautiful amazing thing we call a movie.

It’s pretty exciting actually.

Next week, I’ll spend some time talking about music, sound, and the first eight minutes of the movie (and the new trailer) we’ll be premiering during Horrorfind Weekend taking place at the end of the month.

Radio Interview - Thurs. - 2/28 - 7:00pm EST

The League of Extraordinary Paranormal Women, an internet radio show covering women in all areas on the paranormal, will be interviewing co-producer/actor Cindy Marie Martin and myself about Women's Studies this Thursday, February 28 at 7:00pm EST.

Click the link above to tune in. Be sure to tune in and tell your friends.

# # #

(Production is staying super busy. I'll update next week with all the latest.)

ADR & the Men Who Love It

I honestly have no time to write a blog. TRUST ME when I tell you that everyone is busy as hell on Women's Studies.

Below is a pic of Stef Williams (Black Widow Burlesque Dancer) recording her ADR.



I love doing ADR. It's like making the movie all over again except all I have to do is sit on a couch and tell actors how to say lines. If that makes me sound lazy then . . . Well, yeah, I guess I'm friggin' lazy.

Various Updates

Look it's a picture from my vacation!



Two friends and I biked a hundred miles from Key Largo down to Key West. Then I drank myself silly for three days before flying back home with an upper respiratory infection. Awesome times.

But you don't care about that, do you? It's all "Movie! Movie! Movie!" with you people. Bolsheviks, all of you.

What's new with Women's Studies?

--Our own Senator Hamlin, Judith O'Dea, was Pretty-Scary.net's Gal of the Day on Monday. She did this little fright flick back in the late sixties that they're fans of.

--I got the official word on Monday that there will be a Women's Studies panel at Horrorfind Weekend on Saturday, March 29. Time is still TBA, but I'll pass on that information as well as other details when they come in.

--After a multitude of delays, Sound Guru Sean Russell is hard at work sweetening up the first finished scenes of the movie. We'll be scheduling our first round of ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement) in the next couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to getting in the studio with him and seeing how long it takes us to kill each other.

--Editor Jim McGivney is working on the new trailer. I got a sneak peek earlier this week, and I'm pretty excited about where it's headed.

--Aaron Shirley spent last week perfecting an animation of the Women's Studies logo which will be featured in the final film.

--I've heard a good deal of Ryan Sayward's music over the past few weeks, and it's really something special. Maybe I'll give you a taste in an upcoming blog.

I've got about eight thousand things I need to be doing, so that's all you get.