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Happy Independence Day

Many of you may actually be too young to remember this. For those of you in my generation, who were in grade school during the 70s, this is for you.

technorati tags: School_House_Rock, 4th_of_July, Independence_Day

The Lot Low Down - Week Three

This week's entries on The Lot as a whole were just "okay." BTW, sorry I missed last week. I had a meeting that evening and didn't tape, expecting to just watch the episode online. Well, they never put the darn thing online until today! But, seems like there was some mild controversy over mean ol' Carrie's comments to Marty Martin (who ended up getting booted). I guess he got really defensive at her comments and snapped back. As she pointed out at the beginning of this week's show, he has to get a much thicker skin if he want to work in Holly-werid.

Anyway, of all the films that debuted this week, by far my favorite was Jason Epperson's, "Blood Born." I was actually surprised the judges didn't like it more. It was definitely visually the most "filmic" in look and feel. And I loved the concept. A young man (who, based on a flashback sequence appears to dabble in drug trafficking on the streets) discovers from his doctor that the blood he's donated to sick patiets has miraculously healed all of them. The doctor says he's a walking miracle. I won't say what happens at the end. You'll just have to watch it yourself.  The judges (including guest judge Wes Craven) felt that it was a little confusing at times, and Wes said it would have been stronger if we saw the main character be forced to make a choice in the end. I sort of agree with that one. But still, based on the creative concept and striking visuals, it gets my vote.

The filmmaker who got blasted was Jess Brillhart. Her film, "The Orchard" was a "horror" story told from the point of the view of the tree. Hello? The tree! Given the fact you had an iconic horror film director on the panel, there's no way I would have tackled that genre unless I came out with somethiing really frightening. Although visually it was interesting, seeing the tree's POV of the man cutting it down and trying to make me feel "scared" just didn't cut it (pun intended). I'm pretty sure she'll be the one to go next week.

technorati tags: On_the_Lot, Steven_Spielber, Mark_Burnett, Jason_Epperson, Jess_Brillhart, , Carrie_Fisher, Garry_Marshall, Wes_Craven, Chris_Moore, Fox, HBO, Film_Festival, filmmaker

"The Lot" Low Down

As a filmmaker, you know that every week I'm tuned in to watch Fox TV's latest reality gameshow, "On The Lot." This "American Idol" for aspiring filmmakers is executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett (Burnett is creator of "Survivor" and "The Apprentice.")  When I first saw commercials for the show, I thought, "Heck, didn't Matt and Ben already do this show on HBO?" However, this show is actually quite different than PGL. I must say that I liked PGL more. That show was focused on the magic of movie making as well as the behind the scenes drama. The Lot really is just a weekly film festival judged by Carrie "Princess Leia" Fisher, Gary "Brother to Penny" Marshall (aka Laverne DeFazio and one of the most successful woman directors in Hollywood) and a guest judge every week.

This week's guest judge was Micheal "Blow 'em up" Bay, who brought you such cinematic masterpieces as "The Rock" and this summers' "Transformers." I have to give Mike much credit. He was no holds barred in his critiques of the contestants' films. He told one contestant that her film was what they call in Hollywood, "A Groaner." (Ouch!). Carrie plays the "Paula Abdul" role nicely, very light on the criticism and squeamish about saying anything too mean. Gary is sort of comic relif. He always has a good joke to throw in, the humor amplified by his Bronx accent.

The contest is now down to 15 filmmakers from all over the country and each week five of them will have their 3 minute films viewed then voted on by the 15 or so people who watch the show (okay, maybe there are more than 15. :-). That's where I come in.  Each week (time permitting) I'll give you MY favorite and why. For this week, I actually have two picks.

First, hands down, no contest, the best shot and most professional of this week's five films was Shalini Kantayya's "Laughing Out Loud: A Comic Journey." It's a short documentary about a gay Indian comic. The cinematography and editing were top notch. The others look like amateur films compared to this one. However, the one that held the most entertainment value for me (and by far the most original) was Adam Stein's "Dough: The Musical."  The songs were clever and funny, the acting great, and amazingly, it flowed like a true musical. I felt the production quality on this one was also very high.

As much as I enjoy watching the show, it's only because I'm a filmmaker myself and I get a kick out of seeing other people's work. However, I doubt if the show will be back for a second season. The host is not that great and there just isn't enough drama.  I want to see more of what happens on set. What made PGL so much fun (particularly season 1) was watching Chris Moore yelling at everybody, and the inter-crew politics and soap opera-like melodrama. There's none of that here. There was in the first episode or two. But now that we're in "film fest" mode, it's gone.  They gotta bring that back if they hope to see this baby really take off. IMHO.

technorati tags: On_the_Lot, Steven_Spielber, Mark_Burnett, Shalini_Kantayya, Adam_Stein, Project_Greenlight, Matt_Damon, Ben_Afleck, Carrie_Fisher, Garry_Marshall, Michael_Bay, Chris_Moore, Fox, HBO, Film_Festival, filmmaker

Tasra on TV...Again

Well.  She's done it again. My bee-yoo-tiful wife has made it on TV again. This time it was ABCs "View from the Bay." It comes on 3 pm PST on ABC...right before Oprah! Tasra was there talking about scrapbooking and her book, Real Women Scrap. We are very excited about how well her book has been received. We'll be in Southern California (Anaheim) for the national Craft and Hobby Association expo. The book is a finalist in a national competition. CHA should give us great exposure to vendors and potential distributors. This is an exciting time.

Read her post about the experience.

Or, click the image below to go to the page where you can  see the video. Enjoy!

If any of you or your friends are into scrapbooking, you gotta get her book. You won't be sorry.

technorati tags: Tasra_Dawson, Real_Women_Scrap, View_from_the_Bay, Scrapbooking, ABC, Dare_Dreamer_Press

Good-bye Ed Bradley

As an African American video producer, I would be remiss if I didn't pay homage to the passing of a great journalist and good man. Ed Bradley was a CBS veteran for 35 years, 26 of which he spent on the critically acclaimed news program 60 Minutes. He was a consummate professional and an inspiration to not just African Americans, but anyone who dreamed of one day being a worldclass journalist.

Ed Bradley died at the age of 65 from leukemia complications on Thursday, November 9. Click the link below to see a CBS "Best of Bradley" video montage.

View video

The Bradley Bio

technorati tags: Ed_Bradley, CBS, 60_Minutes, Journalism