Friday, June 28, 2013

My Future: An Exit Story


The ancient Greeks had two different concepts of time. Chronos was and is the time registered by the clock -- a way of understanding time. But Kairos was something else. At its simplest, it means the right or opportune moment -- a window of opportunity created by circumstances, God or fate.

That moment, for me, has arrived. And after nearly four years of working for Anthony E. Zuiker, creator of the CSI: franchise, and Dare to Pass it's time for me to move on and seek new opportunities.

Though I have enjoyed some experiences at this company and found Anthony to be incredibly supportive, I've realized that you don't become the creator of CSI: by working for the creator of CSI:.

And what I most want to do is be a creator. To do that...well, I need to do it. And I can't do it working 11 hour days (even though I did just shoot a feature film while working here).

So, backed up by the digital connections, contacts and education I got while serving as the Director of Digital Media, I'm striking out on my own. Now, it's not to say that I'm not considering other opportunities at various companies (a man's gotta earn a living) but while that is happening I plan to aggressively pursue the creative side as a director, producer and writer.

I very strongly believe that one of the only ways to get ahead in this town and this business is to take risks. Taking a risk is what got me the job with Anthony in the first place and now it's what will take me beyond it.

I look forward to bringing you with me on this next part of my journey, the next stage of my career and at the very least, I will be showing up on here more often.


Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Layover Test Footage with Director Commentary


As an added bonus to the test footage we released last week, I took some time to record a little commentary detailing why we shot test footage for the film.

Also gave me a chance to test out the Yeti Blue Microphone I got. Not bad.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Layover - Test Footage


As a reward for reaching 100 'Likes' on our Facebook Fan Page for Layover we released some test footage that we shot in an effort to check the viability of shooting on a Canon 5D with very little lighting. 

Shooting this definitely gave me the confidence that we could pull it off. Everything you see was shot with either 1) available light or 2) a small light panel during those times when there was literally no other light available (while it can shoot at high ISO, the Canon unfortunately can't create light where this is none). 

The music in the piece was composed by an awesome team that goes by Meta. You can check out their Facebook Fan Page here.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the footage or anything else on your mind.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Layover - Feature Film - Announcement


Back in January (coincidently, the last dated post on this blog) I wrote that I was "currently writing a script, some of which may be outline, improv, etc that I plan to shoot on weekends with no friends. I'm grounding it in the style and approach of French New Wave and making a small, personal drama. It's a project I'm very excited about and am hoping to lens within the next couple months. Once I have a script it's full steam ahead and my goal is to do it for $0. (Though I may have to spend a little money for food, etc.)

"I'm gonna run around Los Angeles with a 5D in my hand, shooting guerrilla style and piecing together a feature. It's gonna be awesome. Know why? Cause I'm making a film."

In May, I did just that. 

I want to introduce you to Layover, a film you'll be reading and hearing much more about over the next couple months.

The film, titled Layover, is the story of Simone Lyon, a young woman traveling from Paris to Singapore to visit her boyfriend. When her connecting flight is cancelled, she's forced to spend the night in Los Angeles. 

The film was shot over the course of 11 nights throughout the month. We shot entirely on the Canon 5D totally guerrilla style. We stole every location we could, we begged, borrowed and stole and at the end of the day only spent several grand on the production (after paying for food, locations and some other things that I'll reveal later). 

And we did it. Together with my amazing production team (Travis Oberlander, Vertel Scott and William Wolffe) and an incredible cast (Nathalie Fay, Karl E. Landler, Bella Dayne and Hal Oszan) we pulled it off. Meanwhile, Will Torbett (my long time Assistant Editor) will be joining me as a co-editor of the film.

In the coming months, I look forward to revealing more about the film, the process we went through to get the movie made and our plans for the film once its done.

For now, head on over to our Facebook Fan Page and give us a 'Like.' We've already hit more than 200 and have released some test footage we shot with actress Nathalie Fay to test the 5D/no budget concept.

Meanwhile, keep checking back here for a few more announcements in the coming weeks.