I have the first two of those films ready to edit! I produced and directed one film over the weekend and on Monday a friend of mine directed the other film which I also produced.

We shot in HD, but the project will be down-converted for normal DVDs. Not quite ready to produce in HD yet, but the footage is there if we ever do want to release it in HD!

The film I wrote and directed is based on the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32). I’m excited to be able to show you all a rough cut within a couple of weeks.

The other story is about a doctor whose brother gets killed moments after he leaves him. The killer then steals the doctors car, and… there’s a point later in the film where the doctor has to decide how to respond to the man who killed his brother. Carter Mason played the brother who got killed in the film

This project needs to be “in the can” by October 1, so I have time to get DVD’s ready for sale by Soularize.

So alrighty then, I’d appreciate your prayers that the editing and sound mixing goes well for this project… there’s a lot more to do, even though all the footage has been shot…

So any way, I squeezed a few hours in this morning to have a photo shoot for some new headshots. That way I can audition again, and be even more busy

My favorites from the shoot

Yes… I use a professional name. Please don’t use it in the comments. I separate my acting name from my real name for many reasons, and one is when people want to know about me as an actor, I want them to find information about that if they google the name and not my many, many theological ramblings. Any comments using that name will of course mercilessly be deleted (or not approved to begin with if its your first comment!).

If you do, however, want to help me pick out headshots, that of course is fine

“At a time of escalating tensions in the world, the entertainment industry cannot idly stand by and allow Mel Gibson to get away with such tragically inflammatory statements,” he wrote on the Huffington Post weblog.”

I thought…

Ari Emanuel needs to shut his yap.

First off, I hated the movie Gibson’s so famous for in the evangelical community. I thought it was a beautifully-shot insider film lacking major story elements which means it’s not a real movie to me. Movies tell stories.

That being said, Mel Gibson, superstar though he is, is a human being. He’s flawed, and I didn’t for a minute think he was an evangelical darling. In a meeting with Christian distributors for the DVD, he spewed out an f-bomb in referencing how much more rich he had become because of The Passion of the Christ. At that time, my attitude was pretty much what it is now… he’s a human being. Had I thought The Passion of the Christ was actually a good movie, I wouldn’t feel any less so because of Mel Gibson’s arrest and his cruel anti-semitic remarks. If he had never sinned again after making the movie, I wouldn’t think it’s any better than I do now.

Ari Emanuel has a right to be offended by Gibson’s words. But unless he wants to go on a morality hunt in Hollywood, he needs to shut his mouth. I’m weary of those in Hollywood who go after certain sins because well, because one race is dominant among agents and producers. They’re very good at what they do, but that doesn’t give them the right to try to silence films because they don’t like someone. I don’t even like Mel Gibson as a filmmaker, but it still ticks me off.

The entertainment industry awarded a child molester who fled the country to avoid prison an Oscar, but a relapsed drunk says some hateful things, and we should never see his movies again? Come on, now.

Ask and you shall receive. I searched for open source screenwriting software, and voila, I found there was a most excellent piece of software called Celtx.

The writing tools included give it a leg up on Final Draft, believe it or not. Sure, there are some features of Final Draft Celtx does not have, but the writing tools gives Celtx a leg up. And you can’t beat the price

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood studios start selling digital versions of films such as Brokeback Mountain and King Kong on the Internet this week, the first time major movies will be available on-line to own.

The films can’t be burned onto a disc for viewing on a DVD player. But even so, the move is seen as a step toward full digital distribution of movies over the Internet.

Six studios said yesterday that sales will begin through the download website Movielink. The site is jointly owned by five of the seven major studios.

Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and MGM will offer some first-run and older titles on Movielink, a PC-only download service. New films will be priced similar to DVDs — between $20 and $30 (U.S.) — while older titles will sell for $10 to $20.

(Via globeandmail.com.)

What a bargain. You can spend more than you would on a DVD while they only give you a digital file with no cost for packaging and minimal delivery costs (bandwidth). And, you can’t burn the files to DVD, so you can only watch them on a TV set by hooking your computer up to your TV or entertainment system.

Reasons movie downloads in this structure will fail miserably:

• Over-priced
• Lack of control over product
• Windows-platform only (which means they get zero of my money… which they had a chance at with a more competent business model)
• Downloads will take longer than a quick trip to a store (which might be worth it if you weren’t paying more, or at best the same, than you would for a DVD)
• Negative backlash for putting forth such an incompetent plan
• Independents and smaller studios will begin to strike deals with iTunes and Google Video to get content out there cheaper and possibly sans-DRM
• Those who know how to hook their computers up to television are tech-savvy enough to understand the deeper issues and how the studios are actually being offensive to consumers through this model
• It’s possible they are not incompetent and actually want this plan to fail

So I ask you honestly: Does anyone, and I mean anyone, think this is a good idea?

I’m working on a couple of scripts right now, but I’ve been blocked. For me, watching a lot of good movies tends to get the creative juices flowing. It’s not about copying ideas, it’s just that for me experiencing a really good story gets my mind turning and opens up new ways of looking at characters and stories I’m developing.

So, here’s a few suggestions from my recent movie binge:

It’s All About Love with Joaquin Phoenix and Claire Danes – quite possibly the WORST MOVIE I have ever seen. Seriously, these two actors just got demoted. Previously, both were on my safe bets list. Now, I question their ability to choose projects.

Prozac Nation with Christina Ricci, Michelle Williams, Jessica Lange – All in all a very good movie, but if you don’t like angsty films, stay far, far away. This one’s all about depression, and the story itself is a bit depressing.

Broken Flowers with Bill Murray, Sharon Stone – Really good movie until the end. Hated the ending. I don’t want to ruin it for you if you haven’t seen it. Everything up until about the last minute was pretty good, although very, very slow. Sometimes I like slow, and I think this flic pulls it off. But if you don’t like slow, don’t watch this one.

The Constant Gardener – Awesome. Twists and turns that work and take you on an emotional ride.

Junebug – I can recognize the best supporting actress nod, but the movie as a whole put me to sleep. Literally. I’m a night person and I fell asleep probably two hours before I normally would while watching this movie.

I’m watching The Machinist today. I’ve heard a lot of good things, so we’ll see. I guess Christian Bale is anorexic in that movie. Wierd that we was so buff in Batman Begins.

Click here to take the “Which Serenity character are you?” quiz…

So… here goes. We either need an investor to come in to purchase a camera (we’ve been using a Panasonic DVX100A) or a generous person to loan us the money. These cameras hold their resale value, so one option would be that after the documentary is finished, we sell the camera if we are unable to sell the project itself.

Ideally, we need $3,000 to get the camera and some accessories for shooting. We could do it for $2,000 (there’s a camera on eBay right now for $1800 Buy-It-Now!), as getting the accessories on loan is a lot easier than getting the camera consistently.

There’s a time constraint on the project, which is why we don’t just save up and buy it in a month or two. We need someone to come in basically now (last week would’ve been nice ) if we’re going to get this thing done in a way we can complete it and sell it (very marketable documentary).

So if you’re of the investing ilk… or just a generous soul who feels compelled to help out a couple of starving filmmakers… please contact me, and I will give you the full details of the project via private email communication (or a telephone call, if you want to send me your phone number).

Thanks for taking the time to read my shameless request for investment or loan

Edited: There’s also a couple of spiritual short films we’re looking at shooting, and that could be worked into the investment proposal as well. Points on those films in addition to the documentary.

But if you are one wallowing in the terrible decision for the academy to award the best film to Crash… get over it. It’s just an award. There’s certainly no anti-gay conspiracy in Hollywood. From what I understand, Brokeback isn’t even an agenda movie and was purposely written and directed as a character-driven tragedy. The film was not out to make some huge statement about gay rights, and if it was, it would not be the Best Picture for that reason. I’m not saying because it would be pro-gay, but because propaganda films are not Best Pictures. That’s why Passion of the Christ was never even in the running for that award. Maybe propaganda is harsh for Passion, but at a minimum it was an incomplete story that required an insider’s view to make any sense whatsoever.

Crash won for two reasons: it was an excellent film that resonated with many who saw it. It caused evaluation and reflection. Certainly it was not a perfect movie, but most of what I’ve seen criticized was almost certainly done intentionally. And you can’t avoid a certain amount of caricature when you have such a broad cast in a two-hour movie. The actors and the director did a tremendous job making the characters interesting.

And the other reason Crash won… it had a lot of great actors turning in excellent performances. And the largest voting block in the Academy is… actors. I shouldn’t have been so surprised by the victory myself. It is the film I wanted to win, which rarely happens.

I have no problem with people voicing their opinion about the movie and even hating it. What irks me is the talk of like the world is caving in because the Academy voted for a film nobody outside of the academy expected to win. It’s not anti-gay. It’s not even a political choice. The Academy voters felt Crash to be the Best Motion Picture. And I agree… at least until I see Brokeback Mountain and Capote.

Update: A good article on the subject from the San Francisco Chronicle.

There is one more possible theory, albeit one that’s not getting much attention this week: After so many critics fell in love with “Brokeback Mountain,” voters simply thought “Crash” was a better film.

Loved what Clooney had to say, though.

Parton’s song was just interesting. Spielberg didn’t look too happy about it while he was clapping.

Any way, I don’t want to offer up a lot of details here. I’ll post more info about it on my acting site after the shoot a week from Sunday.

The plan is to make 36 short films based on parables. These guys are friends and excellent filmmakers, so I suggest you check out 36 Parables. And if you’re into short films, and especially if you use them as part of the goings on of your local church, you should buy their DVD. It’s only twenty bucks!

I think Steve Carell is hilarious, but I’m a little hesitant about the script idea for the Bruce Almighty sequel.

God, played by Morgan Freeman, tells Evan Baxter (newsman from the first movie) to build a flood-proof ark.

Should provide some laughs, and I’m glad to see Tom Shadyac is directing. If anyone else were directing the sequel I’d be very, very scared!

And it’s really, really funny, although I think flawed for the purpose the director obviously meant it for.

If any one is interested in having a discussion about how this video misrepresents certain beliefs, I’d be up for it.

I’m a big far of the iTunes Music Store, and the optimist in me says that when the DRM wars play out, Apple will be at the forefront of providing DRM-less content. Okay, so some would call me delusional, I really believe it. It will take a year or two, but eventually consumers will get what we want. We are in a consumeristic society, after all.

What surprised me today about Google Video was that they let Mac users see the previews, but then a nice little, “Sorry, purchasing this video requires Windows 2000 or Windows XP.” notice appears buy where it should have a button to buy the video.

Mac users are at the front-line of purchasing the latest and greatest digital products. While the percentage of Mac users may be under ten percent, I’d estimate the market share Google Video is losing to be around 15% at the low end to as much as 25%. If old shows like The Brady Bunch could be sold in a DRM-less or at least Mac-compatible format, maybe they could make headway. But even their shows which have been out of production for decades use their terrible Google Video Player.

So I can’t even buy crappy DRM content from Google. The good news: They only have terrible shows, and there weren’t any I wanted to buy any way. I’m afraid they are somehow going to win over a network or two, and then shows I would buy won’t be available to me because I choose a computer that crashes twenty times or more less frequently than Windows, looks better (screen and exterior), has superior protection against viruses, and gets faster which each new OS instead of slower on the same hardware.

Feels a little bit like a documentary at times, but a good documentary.

I wish I would’ve found out more about Murrow’s life after McCarthy. Not far after, but it ended before all of the McCarthy stuff was really over.

I had to get on the internet to find out McCarthy drank himself to death in ‘57.

In reading up on the infamous senator from Wisconsin, I ran across a paper supporting McCarthy written in 1987. It was a pretty unbelievable denial of history. If you google mccarthy one term (he actually had two, but that’s what I was looking to find out) I think it’s one of the first five links.