Till next time…

I am going to be off the air - in any substantive form at least  - for a few weeks, because I start shooting a sequel to PORKY’S on December 2^nd. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it… You might get a couple of breathless dispatches from the front, but that’s it for the time being.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FUSION is receiving excellent traffic and response. But some people have experienced difficulty opening the file. Click the eye to check it out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will leave you with an example of one of the small joys of this business. When you direct a movie, you share for a short period a special experience with cast, crew and producers. You are all members of a unique club, that admits no new members, with memories of both calamity and triumph that are privy only to yourselves. Then you go your separate ways to other movies, other exclusive clubs with different triumphs and calamities. Then umpteen years later you meet again, clink glasses, and reminisce about your mutual adventure, often with quite different recall of the same events.

So it was after the AFI Film Festival screening of NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD, which I guarantee you will enjoy. I say that not because the film is kind to me, but because Mark Hartley, whose labor of love this film was, did such a fine job creating the energy and the spirit of those times at the start of the 70’s Australian film industry renaissance. Mark distilled a mountain of research, then laid out his thesis in cinematic syntax and grammar that today’s movie audience understands. 6000 cuts in 100 minutes. Now that’s a Rockumentary!

Among the many films NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD (TRAILER) features is my notorious, high camp splatter movie TURKEY SHOOT, critically reviled when it came out, but now a cult favorite. The producer, the director, and the star all saw the movie differently. So, at the After Party to the NQH screening, those three people came together who had not collectively been in each other’s company for 27 years, who had no idea all those years ago that the film’s popularity would increase rather than diminish with time. War stories were exchanged; suffice to say, we had a great time catching up.

On the left is Mark Hartley, writer/director of NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD, without which this get together would never have happened. Then Steve Railsback, star of TURKEY SHOOT, and a fine actor. (Also the first actor to play Charles Manson, in an eternally frightening performance.)

On the right is Anthony I. Ginnane, Australia’s most prolific producer, including two of mine. Tony arranged financing for over 40 movies in the heyday of Australian production, providing training and experience for countless actors and technical craftsmen, thereby helping to build a permanent infrastructure for the industry. Then there’s me in the middle, with a T shirt that almost seems to glow.

In 1981, as we worked our asses off in the jungle making this crazy movie about a corporate fascist government’s ultimate solution to political dissent, we would have had trouble believing that an African American could possibly be elected President of the United States in a landslide only 27 years later.   

Ain’t life grand!

Distributing content without the Suits

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEBISODES…the movie maker’s answer to diminished funding and short attention span, coming soon to a wristwatch near you! No, aficionados of quality drama, the sky is not falling. It’s just the delivery system to the customer that is changing. Once again. Silent to Sound. Nickelodeon to Picture Palace. Big Screen to Small Screen to BluRay. Now, as the computer in all its forms takes over your harried life, it provides you with analgesic entertainment. Snacks not banquets, for a world on an accelerating treadmill.

As the business we love recovers from the double whammy of industrial action and fiscal implosion, original production for the web will expand and be the meat and potatoes for regular working actors and technical craftsmen. In the burgeoning digitally democratized world of recorded entertainment, low cost will assist The Creatives in maintaining greater creative control.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A leading writer/producer of the fabulous FARSCAPE series, Richard Manning, has devised a way cool Sci-Fi police procedural entitled FUSION exclusively for the web, and invited me to direct the pilot and as many episodes as I wanted, when the series is funded.

FUSION, shot in two days with a very small crew, premiered at the FARSCAPE convention last Sunday to great response.

FUSION is now on line. The baited hook is out, we‘ll see who bites. Click the eye for the link:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ricky Manning sees the show as a, well, fusion of science fiction, horror, romance, and suspense, with a sprinkling of mystery and a dash of police
procedural — in short,  a broad-spectrum dose of genre.

Looking ahead through his writer’s bible, there are stunning twists and turns of plot and character to come. Also interesting to me is creating the off kilter, dystopian world in which these characters live; offices, shops, streets, apartments, we know these places, yet there is something strange about them. Genre fans, sipping their java, as they gear up for - or need help coming down from -  the workday,  will get a kick out of this series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please let me know your reaction.

The future of genre episodic is in bite sized mouthfuls. As production values increase, more eyeballs will be lured to advertiser sponsored webisode series.

So, in the on-going labor negotiations, it is time, in my humble opinion, for both sides to give a little ground and settle this thing before the end of this year, so this under-employed town can launch into the New Media Era with confidence. Perhaps Nikke Finke, Hollywood’s best source, can enlighten us as to the prospects for settlement.

Did my Lesbian Rambo predict the election?

In 2005, I wrote this opening scene.

EXT.  WASHINGTON    DAY

An American flag fills the screen, rippling gently in the wind, as credit titles and stirring music begin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dissolve to an aerial montage: the Washington Monument, the White House, the Capitol Buildings, etc. (Stock). A morning news broadcast fades up.

                             NEWSREADER (VO)

In an historic unanimous vote, Congress passed the universal health care bill at 3 am this morning. This is seen as solid evidence of the new bipartisan spirit on Capitol Hill that was promised at the last election. Swift passage through the Senate is expected and the bill could be on the President‘s desk as early as Friday morning.

Dissolve to aerial shot of the Vice Presidential motorcade on the freeway.

                              NEWSREADER (VO)

In other Washington news, Vice President Walker leaves today on a six nation tour to promote the President’s initiative on global warming…

CUT TO: Air Force Two in flight, buffeted by a heavy storm…

Hey, Film Guy, what delusional universe are you living in? A Utopian Washington doing the people’s business with efficiency and compassion? And this less than a year into Bush’s second term, with Karl Rove predicting a permanent Republican majority? Pull the other one, it‘s got bells on. Reviewers, a humorless breed by and large, missed the irony and snorted derision. Of course they were not going to like this movie anyway. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My assignment was to develop, produce and direct a Lesbian Rambo derivative that could, with a few simple substitute scenes, be sold to broadcasters intolerant of gay themes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The concept was this: Air Force Two crashes in the Pacific, and the Vice President (DAVID KEITH), together with his gay secret service bodyguard (the magnificent MARIEL HEMINGWAY) and glam reporter (JILL BENNETT) are washed ashore on a remote island held by ruthless insurgents. The rebels, led by a crazed US mercenary (DAVID MILBERN), hunt the VP for ransom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big mistake. Mariel Hemingway slaughters them all. Think of it as a campy homage to 80’s right wing gun porn, but with only enough money for a 14 day shoot. Check out the trailer here.

I accepted the budgetary challenge, because it amused me to make a film that Vice President Cheney could sit and watch with his proudly lesbian daughter, each identifying with different characters.

The movie could have started with the poker game scene on Air Force Two, but since Darth Vader had given the office of Vice President such a bad name, I added the opening montage to help create a sympathetic image for the VP, before the audience even meets the character. Then David Keith’s wry charm takes over, and we care about the character’s fate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hence the Utopian Washington, mocked by critics. Yet, miraculously, here we are, but 3 years later, at the dawn of a new era in American politics, where the social change implied in that voice over news report, is now within sight.

I am not clairvoyant. I was just trying to fix a dramatic problem! IN HER LINE OF FIRE (mildly lesbian) or AIR FORCE TWO (straight and less fun) should be judged in the context of a 14 day shoot fueled by a budget best described as the smell of an oily rag.

The work of Steve and Bennique Blasini of BFX Imageworks creating the crash of Air Force Two, and lots of digital gunfire/collateral damage was a great help. The staging of gunfights goes a lot faster if the safety concerns relating to blank ammunition and pyrotechnics are not an issue. Just aim the empty weapon and CLICK! The Blasinis will do the rest. To see more of these digital wizards at work, check out their website: BFX Imageworks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for Washington, it will take a lot of wizardry to repair that dysfunctional institution, but at least the world now has a leader with a powerful intellect willing to try.