Business and Camera Update: A Reminder that Everything Is Okay

 Today was a great day. Here I am working to jump out in faith that this will financially pay for itself. The Media-Moses Ltd, the films, the series, the documentary work, etc. So we are working to build a team to shoot not just film but also TV series and video podcast work (for Youtube). Working on these promos to show we can make this series using "The Chosen" series as a model. Getting actors and resources from the series to fill it out, which I'm very grateful to Debbie (my co-producer) for this great work. Also working on another promo to sell the services of the "production co" which will be an interview/documentary style promo to help build a news & commentary business community locally. This can work for us at Media-Moses or contract out to bring in more funds. Flexibility with a production company is important so that will be a corp. owned by Media-Moses parent company, eventually.

I registered Media-Moses Ltd., I got a PO Box, and I will be getting a bank account soon. I bought a new cinema camera for all this new work, and it came just an hour ago!

​It's a good little cinema camera & cheaper than many others of this form factor. It's called a Z-cam E2 M4. This one is not the higher resolution 6 or 8k cameras which are hot now. It's a 4k camera but has excellent dynamic range, higher fps, & dual native ISO which gives you cleaner images in variety of brightness. It's a micro 4/3 sensor which goes with my Meike cinema lenses I bought for my older GH5. So that's an extra expense I don't have to pay.

It's a bit of a risk so I'm having to trust God for much of this. I still have to get a few more lights & reflectors & diffusion for daylight ext shoots which is going to be much of our initial promo work since we have no studio so we'll be going on day-length shoots outside. Staying mobile is good at first anyway because it challenges you to stay efficient and effective. It also means contracting out is easier. We go to them instead of always asking them to come to us. People like that.

I've been working on a church-based model (shoot in churches) to shoot special episodes of our podcast "The OFB". The idea is to ask local churches to partner with us to bring in special guests & use their sanctuary to discuss hot cultural topics (mostly faith-based entertainment questions). This requires much prayer because many churches are very negative on the idea of sharing resources or letting you use their space. But it makes so much more possible when you have an event space (a sanctuary) being used to host church-related discussions. It takes an open-minded pastor to allow someone from another church to bring in ideas not endorsed by that church or denomination. I find it disturbing that our churches are often so closed off to these ideas because these kinds of discussions benefit everyone, and no church should have to feel that they need to endorse opinions just because they are having an open discussion with someone else. Talking freely in good faith with someone doesn't imply you agree with everything that is said in these conversations.

It's amazing. Like I said, I've been praying about financially committing to this work and then some windshield salesmen guys come to my house today and one guy was like, "You're a filmmaker?" I was like yeah here's a short film on Youtube. He's like "I've been searching for you for years! I can pay for this kind of work!" I'm like <3.

Let me tell you God is good. He will provide and make sure this is well taken care of and we are headed in the right direction. Why? Because we are working for Him. That's why.

How Film Movements Grow: Culture, Marketing, and Buzz

Hello again, as I have now given the heads up with "WILL" and with my new plans to be a part of this new movement to grow a "Conservative New Wave" of film and new media (*see the last post), neglecting the details on how we are moving forward locally should not be done. So, let's give our steps moving forward, offer the invitation to the public, and illuminate everyone on the duel project happening here to make this powerful effort most effective, that is to say- marketing.

Before I decided to do the WILL project, I decided that a daily effort must begin to cultivate, plant, and harvest a bountiful crop of media for a community to serve us into the future. Before it was only film, then I started a podcast "The Film Bar Review" which I also mentioned in the last post, but now it has become a new website which solves multiple needs in our culture. That is, it serves to build a new culture. What is it called? Media-Moses, of course.

What is Media-Moses and why has this project become paramount enough to make it a daily cultivating effort? Well, as I have become a consumer of modern internet-based media such as Youtube, videos, podcasts, and social media since the late 2000's, it has become clear to me that the Hollywood marketing machine is still awake and very powerful, but it is behind the times. As mentioned in the previous post about the Conservative New Wave, new technology is an essential part of every new film movement. In this case, the money-making, and star-making effort that Hollywood engages in is really what we are taking stock of, not just the filmmaking action or aesthetic itself. That is to say, when anyone seeks to dethrone some old aesthetic, or some old reigning modality, one has to take stock of what it has failed at, but also what it has succeeded at doing. And the business itself has been a success in Hollywood, for the most part, not a failure. While the failure has come in the art form and aesthetic itself (for the most part). Therefore, even if a new film movement has better art, financially its success may not remain, because it will not be able to compete with the winning aspects of Hollywood, the juggernaut that is their market-dominating profits. This isn't to say that all aspects of their marketing must be followed, but understanding it is necessary in order to compete.

Enter: Media-Moses, a conservative & faith-based entertainment marketing website, which includes film, Christian entertainment, music, comics, news, interviews, literature, games, memes, etc. It serves as a watering hole for sincere fans and the conservative media trades to gather. Imagine "The Hollywood Reporter" or "Variety" or "Deadline" meets "Hollywood in Toto", "Daily Wire", "MovieGuide," or "Bounding Into Comics" with an understanding that the "movie trades publications" are a necessary, authoritative marketing tool for Hollywood that provides glitter, glamour, buzz, and news for the industry itself. Just for emphasis, this is not just for entertainment, but also as an industry-centered trade magazine. This can then be seen as a necessary extension of any film market. It is the one-stop location that Hollywood producers go to besides IMDb and places like Box Office Mojo or The Numbers to see well-curated, well-crafted stories about what is currently happening in Hollywood. It is the one element in conservative and faith-based film industry that DOESN'T EXIST anywhere. So, as a need that must be filled we are going to be making this honest effort to fill that need.

Films, filmmakers, and stars in these markets (conservative, faith-based, family-friendly) and the entertainment market IN GENERAL (music, games, comics, celebrity, art) which does not serve the popular political agenda is going to be served here as a necessary marketing tool for us all. We don't seek to just utilize this tool because we can, no. We seek to humbly perfect our own efforts to engage in marketing for the entire community by maintaining high standards. If our products don't rise to the standards of the community, our under-served creators simply won't learn to see the value in these powerful tools. This privilege to create the tools for our market must be earned. But good work will always be rewarded, and efforts will be illuminated to the marketplace so we can see what else is out there with which to compete. Good work is successfully and accurately curating what appears to stand up to a fair scrutiny in the marketplace, and in craft. So, every product created doesn't simply deserve this expensive marketing space just because it exists. These standards and maintaining them must be happening daily, as part of this cultivating effort to build our community. And if done well, not only us, but everyone benefits from these higher standards.

But how do we improve upon this marketing effort? Because being part of the community itself is a good start, and may serve many, but doing what Hollywood does even better than Hollywood is going to be necessary for us to work at if we seek to continue to survive in such an edgy, technologically-driven marketplace. Finding a model to learn from and follow is a good strategy here, and in my case, I believe The Daily Wire and many YouTube and internet influencers give us a clue on where things are going marketing-wise, and success-wise. The Daily Wire, in particular, has done very well financially and has rallied its popularity in a very smart way, monetizing it, and starting new projects as the demand rises. But what many don't think of when they think of The Daily Wire, is that they are essentially a glorified podcasting company with a news site, an app, and now, a subscription paywall model to gain access to more content such as their Hollywood-quality films. This SVOD platform and news site, with podcasts and internet shows, is the direction we are going in as well, and are determined to achieve, given the five year plan is successful. Here's the five year outlook...
 

1. Central Website with advertisers (2022)
2. Podcasting/Influencer Growth (2022-2023)
3. Phase 2 Website update (2023)
4. New App & Merch: New Products/Content Creation (2024)
5. Studio Expansion: News & Film Distribution (2024-2025)
6. 2nd App expanding entertainment accessibility (2025)
7. Subscription Paywall Initiated (2025)
8. Feature Films/Shows & New Products Behind Paywall (2026)

This represents a very basic five-year overview to grow and compete on the level of the Daily Wire, as we work our way up to a subscription model & start to own our own films at every release window. Obviously more is happening here within that 8-step overview, as well as films being shot at the same time, podcasts growing and turning into bigger studio-shot productions, and journalists being hired to do interviews with conservative celebrities, etc. In the meantime, the website has been purchased and being built, the short film "WILL" is being planned, and an Elijah-based short film is also being written and being produced. These things take time. Each podcast show will either grow into a YouTube show kind of like Louder with Crowder, or a daily/weekly video podcast that attempts to serve its customers faithfully and fill market needs.

Partnerships are now being sought out, and as the primary operator of this business, maintaining constant communication and accountability with my partners is super important. If you communicate well, seek to grow and do more, and seek to be a profitable operation, then we are interested in working with you.

To contact me about this project you can go to my facebook and message me there.

A Conservative New Wave: A New Inspiration for Local Filmmakers to Improve

Hello my friends! This post will be multifaceted and dynamic! And yes, I have to explain why I've been gone from this publication for three years. It's not something I'm either proud of nor concerned about, because the reasons make sense. Obviously we've had a pandemic but we've also had a period of babies growing up and being in between film projects. I now have a nine, six, and three year old, all being homeschooled, which has been really fun! But now, its back to my endeavors, and much has changed here.

Pilgrim Update

"Pilgrim" has been a difficult to crack nut because it is not altogether a currently producible project. It will take a mountain of travel and production design. So similarly to my first feature film journey, which some of you may be aware of, the unavailability of essential project resources is a bit of a discouragement. This has brought me to, as previously mentioned, the project jumpstarting technique of "proof of concept" shorts. Not to mention the fact that local crews where I live are typically not up to snuff to do such a dynamic project.

Pilgrim takes place in European and middle-earth-style fantasy locations, such as New Zealand, Iceland, Norway, Tunisia, or Patagonia may serve well, but not the subtropical environment I'm currently bound to. However a stint to a Pacific Northwest, or Smoky Mountain location may work for much of the project.

Additionally, with the success of the Dallas Jenkin's crowdfunded series "The Chosen" I have simultaneously found myself being interested in an episodic series which features new chapters and locations in each episode, as opposed to the difficult to structure story that was taking place before. This was always, apparently, an invariable reality forming because in every new scene, a new unique location was forming as imagined while writing the script. So this was always an incredibly diverse visualscape of challenges for the main character "Pilgrim" to face, and the story was reflecting this more and more as I continued writing. This is becoming a long-distance goal for me as a result.

The Conservative New Wave

While recording for my new podcast "The Film Bar Review," Tim Mannix and I kept returning to this concept that conservative filmmakers (which I didn't used to think of myself as) needed to understand a slew of challenges if they wished to form a new film movement. Outfits like The Daily Wire, Conflix Studios, JC Films Studios, as well as many Faith-based production companies, have been growing in influence, though only The Daily Wire has reached a certain critical mass of popularity and timeliness. The challenges have only grown as we see just how far the influence of conservatives on the culture has fallen. But Tim and I have attempted to communicate our knowledge of the depth of Hollywood's corruption as well as the necessity to understand how new film movements form through history.

The French New Wave is probably the best example of how a film movement we need can coagulate into something real. But I have included my own flavor to the discussion on why copying their movement is fool-hearty, and only by understanding the reasons behind why new film movements happen can we understand why this is. Making a new movement was necessary in Europe in general after the war decimated the industry there. Luckily, they were smart enough to understand that technological advancements from the war (war correspondence and film journalism) made this far more possible than ever. As is generally the case, technology always transforms art into a new medium with new limits and new tools, but the story tends to remain consistent, as it finds new life within this growing new medium.

In this case, conservatives must utilize the new filmmaking technology in ways that the current industry has failed to fully do. Technology such as DSLR cameras, easy audio tools, social media, drones, volume studios, game engines, iphone shooting, and improvised or scriptment-assisted scene building can be vastly useful to a new movement. It becomes more an effort of efficiency and mobility, reducing the size of crews, using internet collaboration when it makes sense, and improving workflows in post which serves to build communities and fanbases online first, then locally, and then on to a community screening model of distribution, which has mostly been overlooked during release of films.

But this is all very technical, and as we examine the French New Wave we cannot ignore the reigniting of personal, intimate, relevant stories to the forefront instead of the vast, colorful, impersonal epics that was making cinema lifeless for the French in the late 50's and early 60's. This was not the same in the United States, but it was nonetheless very similar in effect. So the New Wave was just as much a "content war" as well, and its important to remember this, because then we have to ask, "What are the unique challenges we deal with today, similarly to what they dealt with back then?"

I'd say the answer is that lifeless Hollywood propaganda pieces, money-grab remakes, and superhero films are ubiquitous now. So an effective response to these cynical, lifeless, heartless chum-buckets (also called "content") can happen if we give people what they "need" instead of what the market says they "want", of course the market doesn't know what people really need or want because they are asking only particular questions fashioned to give them particular answers. And how much money a superhero franchise makes is the biggest form of market research that the Hollywood studios utilize to let them know that they are already on the right path, which is, of course, ridiculous when you are a normal person in the normal world, just seeking quality entertainment with value. Content that people "need" such as cultural myths that contain "values" are often the first to go in this kind of environment.

In a world like the one we have now, the studios will be happily ignoring what consumers complain about when Hollywood's films miss the mark. And instead, profits and propaganda will rule the minds of the Hollywood elite because this speaks far more loudly to them in their immediate lives. Propaganda makes them feel that they are morally and thematically on the right path, and the money gives them what they consider an "objective yardstick" to confirm their suspicions correct when they have no other metric to gauge it. Essentially, it allows them to continue to give their own propaganda-laden art-pieces another chance when they make just enough money to keep from being shuttered... no other considerations required. 

So, what am I getting at? If personal, intimate films that feature "different" or "unconventional" political, social, moral considerations are given a fair try they will likely do well, when part of a new movement. Being less technically perfect may even be a plus, because Hollywood prides themselves on accomplishing things that unlimited budgets gives them. IMAX cameras or celluloid, Volume studios or game engines to drive a new kind of studio experience. Hollywood loves this technical superiority. But a new movement will be forced to be a reaction to the weaker, ideologically-centered structural choices of Hollywood film studios, and they are going to gain ground in this new kind of film movement. Indie comedies and satire that skewer this ideological weakness in Hollywood may do even better than a $150mil budget Hollywood blockbuster, given the satire is authentic and caustic enough. But most importantly, the relevance of personal stories that reveal REAL problems in American communities rather than propaganda that elitists value- this is of central concern.

Step-by-step on How to Make Strong Local Film Movements

This then, needs to be given central focus in our local American communities instead of continuing to worship at the feet of Hollywood idols. 

1. Write intimate & relevant short stories (5-20 pages) that are going to be easy to produce locally.
2. Assemble local filmmakers that believe in this vision and shoot it economically. Pay people.
3. While editing it, regroup with your crew to weed out people who do not believe in how you made this film. Keep it small and purpose-centered.
4. Work towards turning this short into a feature, or work towards writing a "proof of concept" short that CAN be made into a feature (or a larger episodic show) that can garner funding enough to build repeat business.
5. Release the short with a larger purpose indicated as part of the "marketing campaign". This larger purpose can be goal-oriented on your larger project or on building more local support, or even on a larger more expansive artistic theme that you wish to develop. But building something larger than your single short should be made very clear to your audience because it demands more attention than what you are currently getting. People will feel this supply and demand disparity and many will want to join the ride.
6. As you continue to grow, never forget that your fans and their personal challenges ought to help give you themes that provide grounding and intimacy to your work.

Repeat this process from 1-6 and IF you continue to improve with every film (technically & artistically) you will impress many and will continue to be an essential part of this Film Movement that is now growing.

My Contribution

So, how am I participating in this new Film Movement which I think needs to happen? For me the aesthetic has been forming as a B&W, economically shot (DSLR or iPhone), intimate story, which may be based upon a previously written public domain work such as The Bible, or romantic literature writers such as George MacDonald. I like the idea of making a western from a 19th century Scottish writer (MacDonald) where only the setting and dialogue changes, but almost everything else is the same. This is an intriguing premise because, like a lot of "conservative values", they hardly change with time, but their locations and affectation does. Imagine for example, the Divine Comedy, or Canterbury Tales, rewritten and told as a western or period drama? Very interesting results may be forthcoming.

But this is "an assist" for people without their own scripts. I have stories and scripts now, and many are coming in time, as I like to more "directly" face modern challenges with my own stories and themes. This isn't to say that classic stories can't do this though, and I still feel that many older stories may do this just as well. Stories of the Saints (such as St. Patrick), Bible stories, or epics such as Paradise Lost or Pilgrim's Progress are still very much on my list as essential storytelling opportunities.

However, my first short planned in the near future is for the purpose of building local crew. In particular, I feel the need for forming a better cinematography department to round out my crew. Tim and I both feel that powerful visuals should be the cornerstone of what makes the best cinema, and this is pretty much an indisputable fact for us. So, my short film "Will" which used to be called "Something to Lose" is on the burner. Getting back to social media and advertising at my church is going to be a new experience, but getting back to organizing productions and solidifying some much needed crew positions will be paramount.

A proof of concept will be coming after this, and a friend of mine (Debbie) has reignited some Bible-telling story ideas that seem prescient in our day and age. After all, who doesn't know that the Elijah vs Jezebel story needs a revisit? The old testament prophets became an interesting touchstone for my Bible reading lately, and this seems to me the most relevant story for our current day and age. Corruption, idol-worship, political stupidity, and ignoring our past as a moral anchor- these themes can resonate with many today. Doing a mini-series about these stories may make this opportunity even better, and considering the success of The Chosen series, we may be on the right track!

If you are interested in discussing these new projects, please email me, or approach me on facebook here where you can message me. More to come.

2019 Production Updates

Hello Liberty No. 5 fans! This little outfit of mine has certainly been producing very little since having my little kids, which is the past six years. But fear not! I have still been bravely trudging onward to deliver the ring of power to the Mountain of Mordor. Suffice to say, the method, or path, has changed a few times as the times have changed. Not to belabor my news with poetry, so I will cut to the story, short.

I am currently working on a few major film projects, as well as my local film networking efforts (Film Bar Mondays), and a few new projects unrelated to film. I feel that my biggest film project should come first, which is my current mythopoeia project (mythopoeia is my life's focus, I believe). The current iteration is inspired by John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress, while not being a direct interpretation. This is true in the sense that it's not to be fashioned so much as a piece of allegory (or in other words, not as an extension of the 16th century religious commentary that his allegory symbolizes) as it is meant to be a timeless and mythical tale, rendered through a timely film adaptation. This means that the deep inner meaning of the myth itself is to be astutely translated to inspire and speak to the needs of a modern audience through the film medium. This must take great skill, not simply desire.

One could say, "Hey weren't the other Pilgrim's Progress attempts meant to accomplish the same?" And I'd say, "Well, maybe they thought they were, but they did not keep their eye on the ball, and as a result did a mediocre job of it. But more likely than this is that they did not know what they were really trying to accomplish, except to make a movie. So, to them, they succeeded. But to me, if one wants to bring true myths into the public consciousness, via the film craft, this is certainly not going to be enough. One must try harder." And this is something that some people simply cannot do. I guess they feel that they have more important things to do? I can't say. But to me, almost nothing in life is more important.

So, to cut it short, it is not meant to be a direct interpretation of the book. For example, it is to be called "Pilgrim" and the lead character will be referred to simply as "Pilgrim". His journey is meant to symbolize a pilgrimage of life of the "spiritual man" as opposed to a protestant political and symbolic religious journey through the opposition that a 16th century Calvinist might come across in Cromwell's revolutionary England. It IS fashioned, instead, to be a more universal and accessible rendering, while not being altogether without its mystical and primordial story-telling devices, so things like the divisions between Catholic and Protestant will be eliminated in this telling.

If the story of Pilgrim does well, then the story of his wife, Christiana, could occur after this as well.

The smaller film projects I am working towards include two shorts "Something to Lose", and "Paradise Beach" which can work up to a feature called "Beach Baby" and two proofs of concept shorts which can work up to two other features called "The Foster Family Fire Pit" and "The Good Grief". The remainder of which are all planned to be shot locally in the Tampa Bay area. These projects will likely happen before the Pilgrim project will, depending upon when funding is fully acquired.

I also have quite a few projects still planned for the future (twenty years of work) with my mythopoeia focus. Fantasy, Sci-fi, and epic adventures. Some of which include:

2020 - Roxy by Proxy (retro 80's cyber comedy thriller)
2022 - American Savages (anime-inspired American biker war movie)
2023 - Trinity (sci-fi epic)
2025 - Children of the Reeds (sci-fi fantasy)
2027 - The Inheritance (sci-fi epic)
2029 - The Double Edge (super hero horror assassin action)
2030 - Punishment (Lynchian horror)
2031 - Artefact. (epic fantasy sci-fi conspiracy)
2032 - The Knight's Pilgrim (medieval action drama inspired by The Seventh Seal)
2033 - The Nibelung (epic mythical action)
2034 - The Shadows (fantasy christmas carol adventure)
2035 - The Light Princess (fantasy fairy tale)
2036 - Arthur (epic fantasy adventure inspired by King Arthur)
2037 - Patrick (legendary epic adventure fantasy inspired by St. Patrick)
2038 - John Tully's "Starpol" (sci-fi ensemble action mystery)
2039 - CS Lewis' "'Til We Have Faces" (mythical epic fantasy)
2040 - CS Lewis' "Cosmic Trilogy" (sci-fi fantasy)
(and more...)

The projects unrelated to film include "house flipping", a podcast called "Terra Nullius", a garage conversion, a third baby (who is a boy), and an ambitious goal to be a traveling family which makes films, art, and literature.



Projects currently shelved: Floridiana, The Demon's Head, The Dark Cinema, The Darkened Door, Pirate Planet, In This Sign Conquer, The Grand Fury, The Christmas Killer, The Cursed Strangler, Florida Man, Bad Day, The Ice Cream Man, Beks, Cinema Sinestra, Deadman's Caye.

These projects can and may return if a combination of miraculous events occur to return them to life, including script-work, finding the right resources, and acquiring the right people, etc. I also have a slew of horror/thriller stories that can happen once the ball is moving forward more quickly financially. These projects could put thousands of people to work in Florida and abroad.

This slate of projects would most certainly frighten a lot of people. But if we take our plans a day at a time, don't expect each one to be successful, and stay on course even when our goals fail... we will still accomplish much. I might not direct each of these films. I might not get funding for most of them. But if I even write and fund one of them, that is a success for me.

I plan to write each one in the year planned, to pitch it and seek funding for it the year after, and to expect it to get produced from between 2 to 5 years after that (if funding is acquired). Additionally, one of these feature scripts have already been written, and eight of them will be adaptations to currently existing work. Having produced and worked on numerous films, this is not unrealistic whatsoever. I don't count my chickens before they hatch. I only have the audacity to count eggs. Audacious goal as it is.

Please contact me if you wish to discuss Pilgrim, or any other projects I have slated.

New Florida State Film Production Tax Incentives on Drawing Board

Announcement: 

"We, at TPA-Film Bar Mondays (in Tampa Bay)  pledge to work on a new project to try to encourage and inspire informed discussion on bringing Film Production Tax Incentives to the state of Florida again, except this time better structured to encourage fiscal responsibility, as well as greater competitive advantages to experienced Florida filmmakers instead of to transient Hollywood producers who have no interest in benefitting our state substantively. These discussion will occur at Film Bar Mondays meetings regularly and will focus on a five year plan to bring responsible leadership to Tallahassee to represent these interests with principled leadership."  -- Jon Croft (leader of the TPA-Film Bar Mondays chapter in Tampa Bay. 

If you are interested in learning more or being involved in some way as a Floridian or a filmmaker, please contact me at libertynumber5@gmail.com with the title "Sunshine State Tax Incentives."

Thank you!  :D

Speedbump: Feature Film "Floridiana" is Currently on Backburner

TORPEDOED!...
Well, well. This has been a long transitional state into my work on Floridiana and out of it. And I'm not pleased about how hard it has been to find the right help to get this film going, but this hasn't actually been the primary issue. I've been through three (3) different producers, probably five (5) different cinematographers, and a few actors. But ultimately its been about story, a few partnerships lost, and about finding (or NOT finding) some funding.

I have not been interested in seeking crowdfunding due to the nature of the story, which, sadly, doesn't wreak of crowd-pleasing fare. Instead, it was always a personal and intimate story about implanting my own idealistic themes of brotherhood, and community into a wish-fulfillment tale about having the kind of exultant teenage years that I never experienced.

Yeah, so there've been some torpedoes that sent my submarine traveling under the film radar into the depths of a temporary or permanent sea-floor grave. Ok. But I'm actually not bitter about this. I know that these things happen. After all, one of the factors involved is that I'm having a third child, which is going to be great! Also, I'm doing some unconventional stuff with business to try to raise my income level, but this has a time frame which gets in the way for me. A partnership got dissolved due to mutual differences (thankfully, not much money was invested into that, but time was), and another partnership ended up putting some of my investments at risk, but that is being hammered out currently. And, Jonah Hill's "Mid90's" came out which requires me to re-write the script considerably. It is almost identical in its primary foundational elements to the degree that its too obvious. Makes it look like I'm a bad copy. That's not cool. Harumph!

So, "Floridiana" is now being shelved, and I am back to organizing my projects in order of ease of ability to shoot vs. difficulty of execution. My list of projects has only gone up since I started having children, because I've got writing time but rarely do I get shooting time now. And because I am an idea person, I can literally come up with a quality, viable feature movie idea and write out the basic plot points in one day, which I just did a few days ago. But I have to admit that without making serious progress now, I feel somewhat lost and inconsolable. I put a lot into Floridiana, but honestly there's not a lot I can do but to hope for the right one to come along. So, has it?? Possibly.

I have an older project that I was working on but never completed the script. I also felt that I wasn't ready for this project, but I now feel that if I put more prep into it I may be able to make a great crowdfunding project from this because it is based on a public domain property that has been attempted numerous times before, but not very successfully (in my humble opinion). So, it would likely be highly inspired by (but not necessarily directly based upon) this famous English work of literature from the 1600's which I will tell you about soon... ;)

I really want to recommend these kinds of projects to new filmmakers because they encourage an adaptation or a translation of someone else's famous work. And this is a great skill to have in this current film market, but it is also going to give you some really great source material to play with.

Coming up next... my list of films I am currently developing, including this next feature film project.

Our "Golden Foot" is Walking to a Theater Near You

Hey film fans! Our little golden film, "Golden Foot" is walking around Florida visiting festivals!

It is a 20 min. comedy short about a narcissistic foot model who must resolve with his mother after a strange selfie addiction afflicts her! Yep. Did you get that? We made a short film about a self-absorbed foot model and a disease brought on by selfie addiction... And what have YOU been doing with your life?... I thought so. :D

We continue to bring comedy, laughs and quality filmmaking to Florida! So, here are the current screen times and locations on the books...

1. Silver Screen for Short Films - August 8th, 7pm, Villagio Cinemas, Tampa, FL.

2. Tampa Bay Film Society - August 21st, 7pm, Holliday Inn Express, Oldsmar, FL.

3. CENFLO - Central Florida Film Festival - September 7th, 11am, EPIC Theaters, Mt Dora, FL.

4. CENFLO - Central Florida Film Festival - September 9th, 1240pm, EPIC Theaters, Mt Dora, FL.

5. TBUFF - Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival - December 9th, 1125am, Britton Cinemas, Tampa, FL.

6. Dunedin International Film Festival - January 12th, (time tbd), Dunedin, FL.



We will continue to update this post for future dates and changes.

May the Foot Be With You!!!
~Jon

Also please visit our Facebook page here.


Some Updates:

8/8/18 - WINNER of the Silver Screen for Short Films Audience Choice Award!!!

8/21/18 - Successful screening @ the Tampa Bay Film Society on Aug 21st to a packed room!

9/9/18 - Successful screenings in Mt Dora at the CENFLO festival of films!

Putting Our Best Golden Foot Forward: Our "Golden Foot" Cast!

I just want to give a shout out to our wonderful cast for "Golden Foot"! It was a wonderful experience to work with you all! I apologize to anyone who wanted to be part of the cast but couldn't. It was a joy to meet and work with each of you!!

I wasn't sure how well everything would go during production, but as soon as we got filming things really kicked into 5th gear! I was very pleased because there were wonderful surprises and great inspiration for me everyday! And now I sincerely miss working with you all now that we are screening the film. So, allow me to glowingly showcase each of you here a tad!

After all, these guys worked hard and deserve to be shown off! In fact, I already know that a few of you have found feature film work as a result of meeting others on this film! I am glad I could be a part of anyone's success! Especially for people that I like so much! You've been a joy to work with!

Let's start with our lead protagonist, Daniel Cooksley, actor extraordinaire!!!

1. Daniel Cooksley - playing Sergei Bogdonovich aka. "Golden Foot".
Daniel showed a surprising amount of responsiveness when finding the middle ground for his character. I was sometimes resistant when he asked me pointed questions. But every question he asked was astute, helpful, and necessary to getting to where we needed him to be for this role. And it shows! Daniel was a powerful collaborator who I'd be honored to team up with again, if the opportunity arises. I pray it does! Thank you so much for making this experience memorable and fun, Dan!!!
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1354708/

2. David Flood - playing Charlie.
Dave is a consummate professional. He never complained once. He never avoided or shrunk from the challenge. He is always there 100%. And he is a natural actor! He just GOT the role immediately, and did emotions from zany to serious at the drop of a hat. David, I am so honored I got to work with you man!!! It was just such a great experience for me, and I hope we can work together again some day!
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1492708/

3. John Borland - playing Andrei Bogdonovich.
John is always available to play a role to help out a friend. He's ever faithful to show up and knock 'em dead! He can do roles that many would consider impossible, or difficult, AND he has fun doing it! Thank you John for being a friend to me and making this film stronger and much more fun because of it! "Like PROBIOTIC," my friend... like probiotic, indeed!!! :D
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7962611/

4. Cristoff Marse - playing Stuart, Patricia's agent.
Christoff kind of blew my socks off. And many of you who were there when he performed know what I'm talking about. I even told him that after he performed and I was taken aback by how instant he was in getting the role. After clarifying his role all he needed was how much (emotionally) to do it. He landed on the ground like a super hero and placed all of this intensity and humor into every breath whenever the camera was rolling. It was magnificent. I truly feel that lightning struck that day. And I hope it does again!  Thank you for your power, intensity, and beauty, Christoff! Still amazed!!!
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4934258/

5. Mary Jane Heath - playing Patricia Bogdonovich, Sergei's "mannequin mother".
Mary was like a fast friend who is always on your side. She always gives you something you never expect and never expected you needed until she gives it to you. Then you know you'll need her help again. I just love her so much for being such a talent, but especially for her friendship!

Just to give you an example, that "poem" she says to little Sergei during the flashback sequence? That was entirely her. Not the script. Our contribution was something like "Don't worry your footy will be fine. And you'll see- one day you'll become famous- blah blah." And she turned that into magic. Because that's right folks... Mary Jane is magic. NO other explanation! Thank you, Mary!!! :D
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1021602/

6. Susan White - playing Dr. Debra.
Susan was such a powerful friend to have on set, because she was always available to say yes. And when you ask her to jump she asks "How high?" She just knocked our socks off straight-off during casting. And we knew that her brand of humor would be perfect as the subtle straight-faced "Doctor" with silly instructional videos about mannequins. She was perfect. And more than that- she played against a mannequin and did every crazy, ridiculous thing we came up with on the spot. I am so grateful for that.

On top of all of this I have to give her a big huge "THANK YOU" for providing her house to us free of charge for a full 24 hours of straight shooting. She opened her home to us and we tried (probably in vain) to clean up our mess afterwards. I bet there was still popcorn we threw somewhere in the house a week later. Thank you for putting up with us, and still giving us all a perfect performance on the day! I had so much fun and I hope it was a memory-maker for you too!!! ;)
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5317604/

7. Linda Roser - playing Female Assistant.
I love working with Linda and I've even written roles for her before because she is such a talented local actor, I wish there were more challenging roles for her locally. Her comedic timing is bar-none incredible, and her facial expressions are infectious. Thank you so much for gracing us with your presence and allowing our "Russian foot model" to reject giving you an autograph- with so much rudeness. It was perfect! Thank you, Thank you!!! =D
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4558350/

8. Chris Plourde - playing Male Assistant.
Chris is my bro when we can hang out, which is becoming rarer, because he is so popular in the local film and commercial scene. I appreciate everything you do for us brother, in front and behind the camera! When Chris is in "go mode" it is really helpful because he pushes us all forward! But I especially love his range and his willingness to do more. I don't think an actor like him will ever be out of fashion. He will always be in demand because he is willing to do the work and willing to be a powerful voice on set wherever he goes, because he's doing it all as a gentleman and a scholar. You da man Chris!!! Thank you!!!
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7161702/

9. Andrew Durliat - playing Photographer. And Ellah Durliat playing "Little Footy".
Drew does work a lot. And I miss him sometimes because he's not always working with me (shoot!) :/. Why? Because he's here, and there, and everywhere, helping so many local productions! How did he contribute? He got us little Ellah as "Little Footy". Thats right- we used her foot in a shot. Thank you Ellah! :D He also made our locations happen, and he made pre-production happen very smoothly because he was always saying, "what else do we need?" So he made a great photog as well because he had experience knowing what they do, and he wasn't about to hold back when he showed up on camera. Thats what comedy is about brother! Make 'em want more. But most of all, thanks for being a friend and being so helpful to us! You made it happen brother!!! Thank you for being there for the team!!!
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6747828/
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6797231/



And last but not least... TA DA!

10. Jillian Kinsman-Barrett - playing "Footy" in the opening closeup shot.
Thats right. We got a really fantastic actual foot model, Jillian, to get the opening foot shot to show just how glamorous Sergei's foot was. LOL. The foot shot seen later (in the Footy Bed) was Daniel, however. LOL. I felt that in the opening shot this would make his foot look really glamorous- and I think it worked! Thank you Jillian for adding your professional touch to everything you do! :D
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1817261/



You cdcan currently see our film playing in Florida film festivals, and you can see it listed on IMDb here. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5510880/

So again, thank you to everyone in front of the camera who made this film happen smoothly and made it a joy to shoot!!! You guys ARE GOLDEN!!! So lets watch how well our little short does, and give it the attention it deserves!


May the Foot be with you! And with you as well!!! :D

~Jon

Low Budget/High Concept & the AFM Aftermath

Well, the AFM happened folks! It was an astounding success for us. But for some people, they might not see what I see. I made some great new friends, and got some great ideas & direction for our future. That's what I expected, and that's what I wanted. But I've known lots of people who have wished for and even expected a sale on their very FIRST VISIT. Which I find to be absolutely ridiculous. I've even seen the people who go to AFM without a finished film, which is probably the majority of filmmaker attendees, expect this. That's probably because they didn't do their research, or because they are being unrealistic about their product.

 

Let me give you a clue. The market doesn't care nearly as much about your product as you do. But what they can start to care about is you. YOU, the filmmaker. YOU, the human being. So, appeal to them on that level first. That's the first step. The next step is to learn how to sell or to find a sales producer to team up with. That's step two.

Well, that's what we did, and that's what we got. We met some amazing people. One of them lives close by, and we are now teaming up with him. His name is Terry Hopkins of Firestrike Productions, and he really impressed us. But there were also a handful of other friends we made from around the world. The guys from Badlands, Sean from Callumny Films, Travis from Cobalt, the team at Thriller, and to many more! Thank you to all of you I met with and to those who advised us on our films, and making better films for the market.

One thing I learned is that 'high concept' can be a good but also a bad thing. It's good to start with high concept, but never settle on it. We can do the best work as we never give up to what I call "the entropy of the high concept", but if we continue, instead, to fight for the greater complexity of characterization and the greater sophistication of plot and themes... in two words, we need "groundbreaking storytelling". Its true that Low Budget/High Concept is good. It makes selling to a market like AFM possible, but it's not by any means the end-all of storytelling.

 

So, to you, the reader, the fan, I have some great news! Liberty No. 5 Pictures has teamed up with Firestrike Productions to bring product to the AFM next year! So, that's our goal! More specifically, to have one or more projects in each stage of development by next year. A project being developed or written, a project in pre-production, a project in post-production, and a finished project seeking distribution. So, at least four projects that have great teams, and are building up to a great sale (or a few great sales) at AFM 2018. Here's what we are working on now.

1. Development on horror film, "The Demon's Head" in the Tampa Bay area.
2. Developing a Faith-based Musical inspired by the Biblical story of Job (with writer Preston Walden).
3. Developing a Halloween themed family thriller called "Let's Get Scary." Being developed with director/writer Nick Canning.
4. Developing a shark thriller film with director/producer Ryan Justice.
5. Developing a horror/thriller about the urban myth called Black Eyed Children, with producer John Borland.
6. Developing an action film about bounty-hunters with Joe Sanchez.
7. Developing a faith-based film with director Matthew Glover.
8. Developing an action comedy with Joel Wynkoop called "Battlesuit".

And now my personal projects...
9. My coming of age drama 'Floridiana' about skaters, abuse, & homelessness is in pre-production.
10. I am writing & developing a drama comedy set during Thanksgiving, and a fantasy adventure inspired by "A Pilgrim's Progress".
11. I am working to bring my short script "Something to Lose" to the screen.

I can't discuss too many specifics about most of these projects for good reason, but the ones that are personal projects are free game. Development can be a fragile time for teams. We don't want to expect too much at first. And we don't want to squelch the creativity too much by demanding a lot or thinking we know what the film is about too early on.

Knowing what a story is truly about is essential to bringing it to life effectively. And development is really about finding that out, and getting the pieces put together before we rush down a path that could actually dead end once we get to production, or get to post-production, or to market. It can get sidelined at any one of these steps if we don't really know our limits, and if we don't know if we can execute this with our limited resources.

We need more projects closer to post or to sale. But that's just where we are now. As soon as we get more successes we can start asking for funding in various places and know that we can get somewhere without having to self-fund or crowd-fund everything.



Low Budget/High Concept image by Mongrels, © Mongrels 2015 all rights reserved.

"Death Do Us Part" plays at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival

My first little short "Death Do Us Part" will be playing at the Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival this December 2017. It was also submitted to a few other festivals, but once this film has been screened at TBUFF we are considering releasing it somewhere online. So, this will very likely be the last time you will be able to watch it on the big screen. Unless you mean the big flat screen in your living room that is.

My plan for Death Do Us Part was always to screen it locally so people could see it here, not just to dump it online. It seems an unceremonious insult to the film in my view to just put something online like that, because I always strive to make something more professional in the aims to make bigger, more expensive, more spectacle films. Because if you treat your film like every other home video made in America, it eventually gets treated that way by everyone else. But I also cant expect too much for my first short film. After all, it is one short out of a million. Ultimately it is one step of many in my film career.

Let me know if you want to see the film and give some advice or criticism. Or see it Sunday night at TBUFF, Britton Cinemas in S. Tampa during the Final Girl Short Horror Film Block from 9:20pm-11:20pm. See ya there!!! It will be playing right after Daryn Murphy's "The Apocalypse Needs Weirdos".

https://youtu.be/54WAR5WaFak