just an average blog

Average Community is all yours people

2010-10-21T08:57:00.006-04:00

So I suppose this is a pretty big week for me. My first feature film is now available on DVD on our website www.AverageCommunity.com and through Amazon. We're still working on some things for foreign distribution, so we'll see how that goes.

Also just in the last two weeks I started shooting for my next documentary called "Create". I can't really figure out why I push myself so hard to make these films when I don't have the time or the money to make them. So I decided to make a film asking the question "why do artists create their art"? As of now it is the very beginning stages of a new film project, so all I can think is . . . . here we go again.

Speaking of Sequels

2010-09-27T14:07:00.003-04:00

I can't figure out if Grease 2 is the best sequel of all time or the worst. Sure when it came out the answer was clear, it was the worst. I mean comparing it to the classic 1978 John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John original, was like comparing New Jersey pizza to those little frozen pizza bagels you get at the supermarket.

But we live in a different world then we did in 82 when Grease 2 hit the theaters. Today if a film makes as much as a $5 profit, you can be sure they'll be a sequel. Now will they bother to actually write a script? …. no. That would take too long, and would be too much trouble. Who cares about a story anyway.

With the exception of maybe The Dark Knight and Spiderman 2, are there any sequels in recent years that should have even been made at all?

Now I'll admit, I don't get to the movies as much as I'd like to, so I haven't seen a lot of these new breed of cinema clones. But you tell me, do I really have to waste $10 and two hours of my time to figure out that the world would be a better place without Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

Think about . . . Rocky, only needed one. The Matrix could have stopped at one. And tell me, how many damn Oceans 11 movies do we really need. When my 4 year old grows up am I going to be taking her to see Oceans 53: Danny Ocean is at it again?

When you think of it that way maybe Grease 2 wasn't so bad; at least it was different. And look, it gave us a fresh faced Michelle Pfeiffer and of course Adrian Zmed as the ulra cool Johhny Nogerelli. And it introduced us to what it means to be a cool rider.

So I was thinking of going to see Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps this week, but now that I think about it . . . . I may just go bowling instead.

It's coming

2010-09-01T08:29:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know...to all my millions of loyal followers of this blog, I'm sorry I don't update enough.

So it appears that I will be selling the Average Community DVD very soon. We're working on finishing up all the design stuff now. I'm only planning on selling the DVD in the U.S., since I'm still looking to do something else outside the country.

There will be some cool extras on the disc that I hope people will enjoy.

Stay tuned, this could get good . . . .

P.S. happy birthday to our Producer and DP, Ali Imran Zaidi

The death of film festivals?

2010-04-22T20:31:00.006-04:00

Something significant happened this week; film festivals died a little. What I mean by that of course is the fact that Shrek Forever 3-D is opening the Tribeca Film Festival. Wait a second here . . something smells fishy about this, and I don't mean the abnormal smell of a giant green ogre.

I think it is fair to say that most film festivals have gone way too Hollywood lately. The days of festivals looking for emerging talents and taking chances on films that may otherwise not have seen the light of day may be behind us.

I've been hearing through the film-maker's grapevine for many years now about how festivals just aren't what they used to be. However I really started to take notice of the backslide of the festival world in 2006 when The Da Vinci Code opened the 59th Cannes Film Festival. I mean really, did Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Tom Hanks need any extra publicity for their bloated Hollywood production.

I wonder if there would have been room at Sundance back in 1994 for Kevin Smith's Clerks if it had to fight for screen time against some big budget films of that year like Forrest Gump or Legends of the Fall.

Not to say that there are not film festivals out there still fighting the good fight. In fact there are several; even some notable ones here in the sunshine state. However it feels disheartening to hear how some unknown filmmaker lost a slot at Sundance this year because of a Spike Jonze short film. I mean Spike Jonze is great don't get me wrong, but can't he just add his short film to the DVD of his next feature?

Look, I understand “festival people”, it’s a numbers game right? What worries me is that film festivals used to be a nice alternative to big budget Hollywood films. Not that there is anything wrong with a big old, pumped up, Hollywood mess of a film, with bad writing, predictable dialogue and a happy ending. But what would we do if that’s all there was? There was no more Sex, Lies and Videotape or Basketball Diaries, only Shrek sequels. Wouldn’t that make us all feel a little . . . green?

It's been a while

2010-04-18T18:53:00.003-04:00

Yes, it's been some time since I've posted here. That's not to say I have not been doing anything . . it fact it's exactly the opposite. I've been very busy.

Two weeks ago the computer that I edited most of the film on was stolen out of my house, along with my bike that I take to work almost every day. The break in could have been worse, so I'm not sweating it. Sad though.

I just had the pleasure of watching an early cut of "The Ah of Life" by my friend and fellow filmmaker Banks Helfrich. It's in its early stages and still needs some work, but it is the kind of story that makes me want to be a filmmaker/storyteller. The movie is about . . well, life..and time. Banks is a very talented guy, I'm proud to know him. Keep your eye out for it when it's complete.

As for as Average Community, well just working on some last minute legal stuff. And now contacting distributors and sending out screeners. If I get a bite from any of the big ones, awesome! If not, I'm gonna work on packaging up the film myself and start selling. I'm not going to bother with smaller distributors. Most of them are just gonna make a butch of promises and then take all my money. Who needs that.

Either way, I'm hoping to be able to have the film available soon. Only time will tell . . . right Banks.

New York . . New York

2009-10-26T21:59:00.003-04:00

I really don't know what to say about my trip to NYC and the CMJ Film Festival. I was already very exited about the trip because . . quite frankly New York is the greatest city in the world. But I didn't know the trip was going to be so emotional and such a blast.

First off, staying with my brother Chris in his upper East-side apartment was great. Then meeting up with my friend old John Hill and having some great NY pizza and then going to the Museum of Modern Art was such an awesome way to spend a Thursday. And then Thursday night Chris and I went to go see Brighton Beach Memoirs on Broadway. You just can't beat that.

Then Friday we met up with my other brother Joe and friend Imran for the festival. What a great turn out. A fantastic mix of old friends, new faces and just plan film lovers. Alex and Frances, two of the organizers of the festival were so gracious to us and said some really encouraging things about the film.

Having Sammy's parents at the showing was very special. I really think they took a lot out of the film. They kept telling me "thank you" for recognizing their son. And although I appreciated it I don't know if I deserved a thank you. I just tried to show Sam in the film for what he was . . . a great guy with a great sense of humor. I hope I did that.

When Sam passed away in June it made me very sad that he would never get a chance to see this film, and I know he was exited to see it. But after this screening, with his parents and friends in attendance, in the city he loved . . I don't feel that way anymore. I know Sam was there watching with us, that I'm sure of. The only thing I'm not sure of now is if he liked it or not. But I guess someday I'll get a chance to ask him.

Thanks NY, thanks CMJ

IndieFest 09

2009-09-27T11:34:00.004-04:00

I just got word from Todd Thompson from Stars North Films that Average Community was accepted into IndieFest 09. Very cool, I'll have more details soon.
www.indiefest09.com

It's out now

2009-09-02T08:13:00.004-04:00

So after two years of this movie being in my head, on my computer and on my TV, it finally went on a big screen in front of an audience. We had the first screening of Average Community this past Sunday. There was a nice turn out and everyone really seemed to enjoy and connect with the film. It was amazing that our film made people cry for, and connect with people up on the screen that they have never meet before.

One of the best comments I heard was from someone who brought her 14 year old son said that the film will help her open up a dialog with her son about drug use.

It was also great that my brother Chris came down from NYC, and my old friend and band-mate Joe Bryce boarded a plane for the first time in 18 years to come down and support the film. Thanks Joe!

Screening soon

2009-07-21T08:10:00.002-04:00

Plans are in the works for the first screening of the film. It will be in Orlando at the beautiful Enzian theater. I will be announcing the date really soon.

I was finishing up the DVDs over the weekend and making copies. I was working with my three month old son in one arm. It's funny that my wife Kris wasn't even pregnant when I started this film, and now I'm finishing the film with the newest member of the crew sitting on my lap. Maybe that's not a big deal to anyone else, but I thought it was cool.

Just some glitches

2009-07-10T07:58:00.001-04:00

Well Joe and I finished mixing down all the sound last night. As always it took longer then I expected, however it sounds really good. Joe did an excellent job cleaning up some really rough audio. He says he could have done better with a little more time but as it turns out . . we are all a little low on time right now.

The only thing left for me to do is fix some glitches in the video. For those of you that don't know, back in March the hard drive I was working from malfunctioned just as I was about to lock the picture. There was a time there, where I thought I lost everything. Thanks to Data Doctors and my personal financial angel who said "I won't let this film die", I was able to retrieve the data.

Not without a few glitches it appears. Every few minutes in the film there will be ONE frame that has a tiny white box that just appears. They are really hard to see, but as my fellow filmmakers can understand, they drive me crazy. As we were mixing last night I noticed five more of those little bastards. Once I have time to sit down and fix those I'm done. Boy, if anyone told me making a feature film would have been this tough, maybe I would have decided on a career in plastics.

Never blogged

2009-07-04T10:10:00.001-04:00

Alright I've never blogged before. In fact I'll admit that I always thought that people who kept blogs who didn't have any kind of notoriety were a bit presumptuous and self serving. However it's been suggested to me that as the director of an independent feature film, I should have a blog. So here goes.

Maybe I'm starting this a little late because the film is just about finished. We are just mixing down the audio and trying to clean up what we can. But for the most part it's done. And for anyone who doesn't know (which is probably most reading this) I started developing this film in the summer of 2007. So it's been a long road. And I have to say that the film is turning out better then I hoped.

One thing that really makes me sad however is that one of my oldest friends and my old band mate Sam Latini will not be here to see the finished project. Sammy is a big part of this film and I know he was really exited about seeing it. Sadly Sam passed away last month at the age of 39. He will be missed.