Can't remember the last time I posted anything of importance...
This has been a busy freaking summer. Its almost over and I feel like its blown past...even though it was hardly wasted.
Started in June with Midsummer. It was our third year, and it was really a make or break year in my head. With some of the drama and crap that happened last year (no use rehashing old drama) I HAD to have fun this year...and you know what? I really did. I remembered why I do this stuff. We increased our attendance (about 600 people came through our gates altogether), I had a really strong cast, and a loyal crew. It was a lot of fun. I also got hooked up with a guy named Thom Woodley who was filming a webisode series called "All's Faire". He is a friend of a friend and they had contacted me a year previously, but there was no time to get involved with them...so they filmed some short pieces at NJ ren faire. This year they wanted to film a complete season of episodes and they got in touch with me with enough time to make it work. They came to faire and filmed some stuff and we worked out a deal to put on a faux ren faire in August to finish the series. All in all, the faire was fun, it stayed in the black, we got our first taste of wedding planning which somehow came off really well. I was very happy with everything and grateful to everyone that helped make it happen. Can't wait till next year!
No rest for the wicked, right before faire I started filming a short film with Ed Ballinger. He saw my movie "Tuesday Morning" and wanted me to play a crazed murderer in his film. We filmed a couple of weekends throughout the summer and its a really fun, kind of scary movie. Very twisted stuff. I still have a scene or two to film, but I can't wait until its done. Not sure what the end result is going to be...but there is a possibility it will be distributed by an independant record label as a dual soundtrack/DVD package...that would be pretty freaking cool. I met a lot of great, talented people working on this as well. I am really proud of the work I've done on this project. Its a bit experimental, lots of interesting lighting designs and stuff. Plus I got to have this conversation at work because of it:
"Hey Brian, what did you do on your day off?"
"Eh...killed a hooker..."
Heh. As soon as things get closer to being finished I will keep everyone updated.
I start my new job on Friday...and once again, a busy freaking week. I worked my last day at Lonestar on Saturday night...followed by a very long shoot day in Alburtis for another movie "Under the Rainbow".. It is directed by Luke Ramer, who directed "Tuesday Morning" a few years back. This project is much more ambitious. Longer script, better equipment and crew. Its a trippy Wizard of Oz themed movie. I play a killer jester character, and an evil prince in the movie. It was a loooong day on Sunday, and fucking hot! I was in a heavy coat for much of the day...and I swear I sweated out five gallons of water...jeez. We will be filming a lot of the trippy parts over weekends in the next few months, but we were filming the "real world" parts this week. I was there all day Sunday, and a few hours on Monday. Monday I got to have a faux mullet....shudder....for a prop photograph that was supposed to be set in 1989....thankfully the mullet was created by hairspray so it washed out.
Then...once again, no rest for the wicked, I drove up to Lehighton to set up the fake ren faire for the "All's Faire" shoot. This was followed by a 13 hour shoot day, in the sweltering heat....but holy crap has it been amazing!! Most of the cast are professionals, it was an independent project, but it was technically a SAG shoot. Two members of the cast were from A Guiding Light, another performs at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in NYC, another is a recurring cast member on CSI...it has been a lot of fun. I got the part of Angry Bob, the ren faire drunkard. I have to say, this has been an intense experience. We are filming 15 - 16 episodes, with a script that is over 100 pages in three days...so its been non-stop. My part isn't huge...but I have quite a bit of background screen time, and I'm a named character with lines, which is pretty sweet. I will admit....I did my best to steal camera time...and I was a little nervous about how I would be perceived, but the rest of the cast and the directors have been nothing but complimentary, telling me how funny my stuff was! I am joined by Mike, Dave, Mr. P, Joe, Brooke and Brooke (Brooke ends!), Kevin, Vick, Steve, Sue, Jackie Z, Shara, Zane, Drogo, Katie and Ray. Check out the pilot episodes they filmed last year...
allsfaire.tv
Tonight we filmed the storming of the Mal-Mart! We filmed it at the Westgate Mall in Bethlehem. Imagine driving by and seeing twenty people, dressed in garb, swords drawn, charging the entrance screaming war cries in the rain! Heh heh heh. That was waaay too much fun....and I have to admit, even my bitter self loathing dork self was like a kid in a candy store...because damned if I haven't always wanted to do something like that. I also filmed my big scene where Angry Bob freaks out on a Greeter in the store. Also I got to swordfight Dave while both of us were standing on children's rides! It was...fucking incredible! And somehow Angry Bob, the anti-social drunk even gets a girlfriend by the end...
I have one more day of shooting and then I start training at the new job...I am quite grateful that Lonestar let me out early so I could take a week and live the life of a working actor again...I'm going to have a bit of adjusting going back to work though. Granted I should make more money there...which will leave me free to continue auditioning for things. I love directing and stuff, but its been great acting again, I tend to forget how much I miss it. I've been doing a lot of networking these past two years and its begun to pay off. I'm hoping that these three projects lead to a lot more. The next couple of months look pretty busy too. Going to Vegas in Sept. Hopefully going to London in Nov. Plus working on "Under the Rainbow" and "Secret Door", planning a second Aaaaar-Tober Fest, and starting pre-production on faire....but that's okay, I need to keep busy or I lose motivation. Heh.
I also picked up a part time gig doing weddings, so that will be a nice supplemental income! Things with Angela are going well. There's been some stress...a death in her family, and her step dad moving in with her...but all in all, everything is going well I think. She is a great gal, and very supportive of all of the things I've been doing. I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend.
I mean, there's been bad stuff this summer...Dan's passing devastated me...and my car being stolen....but I don't want to dwell on the bad stuff because so much more has been amazing. Besides, its not like Dan went far...hell I saw him sitting in the Fruits of the Earth vendor stand we set up...just smiling at all of us as we filmed...I feel that I have no choice but to move forward, keep doing projects, etc...because I don't want to dissapoint him...
Anyway, this is my life....
Started in June with Midsummer. It was our third year, and it was really a make or break year in my head. With some of the drama and crap that happened last year (no use rehashing old drama) I HAD to have fun this year...and you know what? I really did. I remembered why I do this stuff. We increased our attendance (about 600 people came through our gates altogether), I had a really strong cast, and a loyal crew. It was a lot of fun. I also got hooked up with a guy named Thom Woodley who was filming a webisode series called "All's Faire". He is a friend of a friend and they had contacted me a year previously, but there was no time to get involved with them...so they filmed some short pieces at NJ ren faire. This year they wanted to film a complete season of episodes and they got in touch with me with enough time to make it work. They came to faire and filmed some stuff and we worked out a deal to put on a faux ren faire in August to finish the series. All in all, the faire was fun, it stayed in the black, we got our first taste of wedding planning which somehow came off really well. I was very happy with everything and grateful to everyone that helped make it happen. Can't wait till next year!
No rest for the wicked, right before faire I started filming a short film with Ed Ballinger. He saw my movie "Tuesday Morning" and wanted me to play a crazed murderer in his film. We filmed a couple of weekends throughout the summer and its a really fun, kind of scary movie. Very twisted stuff. I still have a scene or two to film, but I can't wait until its done. Not sure what the end result is going to be...but there is a possibility it will be distributed by an independant record label as a dual soundtrack/DVD package...that would be pretty freaking cool. I met a lot of great, talented people working on this as well. I am really proud of the work I've done on this project. Its a bit experimental, lots of interesting lighting designs and stuff. Plus I got to have this conversation at work because of it:
"Hey Brian, what did you do on your day off?"
"Eh...killed a hooker..."
Heh. As soon as things get closer to being finished I will keep everyone updated.
I start my new job on Friday...and once again, a busy freaking week. I worked my last day at Lonestar on Saturday night...followed by a very long shoot day in Alburtis for another movie "Under the Rainbow".. It is directed by Luke Ramer, who directed "Tuesday Morning" a few years back. This project is much more ambitious. Longer script, better equipment and crew. Its a trippy Wizard of Oz themed movie. I play a killer jester character, and an evil prince in the movie. It was a loooong day on Sunday, and fucking hot! I was in a heavy coat for much of the day...and I swear I sweated out five gallons of water...jeez. We will be filming a lot of the trippy parts over weekends in the next few months, but we were filming the "real world" parts this week. I was there all day Sunday, and a few hours on Monday. Monday I got to have a faux mullet....shudder....for a prop photograph that was supposed to be set in 1989....thankfully the mullet was created by hairspray so it washed out.
Then...once again, no rest for the wicked, I drove up to Lehighton to set up the fake ren faire for the "All's Faire" shoot. This was followed by a 13 hour shoot day, in the sweltering heat....but holy crap has it been amazing!! Most of the cast are professionals, it was an independent project, but it was technically a SAG shoot. Two members of the cast were from A Guiding Light, another performs at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in NYC, another is a recurring cast member on CSI...it has been a lot of fun. I got the part of Angry Bob, the ren faire drunkard. I have to say, this has been an intense experience. We are filming 15 - 16 episodes, with a script that is over 100 pages in three days...so its been non-stop. My part isn't huge...but I have quite a bit of background screen time, and I'm a named character with lines, which is pretty sweet. I will admit....I did my best to steal camera time...and I was a little nervous about how I would be perceived, but the rest of the cast and the directors have been nothing but complimentary, telling me how funny my stuff was! I am joined by Mike, Dave, Mr. P, Joe, Brooke and Brooke (Brooke ends!), Kevin, Vick, Steve, Sue, Jackie Z, Shara, Zane, Drogo, Katie and Ray. Check out the pilot episodes they filmed last year...
allsfaire.tv
Tonight we filmed the storming of the Mal-Mart! We filmed it at the Westgate Mall in Bethlehem. Imagine driving by and seeing twenty people, dressed in garb, swords drawn, charging the entrance screaming war cries in the rain! Heh heh heh. That was waaay too much fun....and I have to admit, even my bitter self loathing dork self was like a kid in a candy store...because damned if I haven't always wanted to do something like that. I also filmed my big scene where Angry Bob freaks out on a Greeter in the store. Also I got to swordfight Dave while both of us were standing on children's rides! It was...fucking incredible! And somehow Angry Bob, the anti-social drunk even gets a girlfriend by the end...
I have one more day of shooting and then I start training at the new job...I am quite grateful that Lonestar let me out early so I could take a week and live the life of a working actor again...I'm going to have a bit of adjusting going back to work though. Granted I should make more money there...which will leave me free to continue auditioning for things. I love directing and stuff, but its been great acting again, I tend to forget how much I miss it. I've been doing a lot of networking these past two years and its begun to pay off. I'm hoping that these three projects lead to a lot more. The next couple of months look pretty busy too. Going to Vegas in Sept. Hopefully going to London in Nov. Plus working on "Under the Rainbow" and "Secret Door", planning a second Aaaaar-Tober Fest, and starting pre-production on faire....but that's okay, I need to keep busy or I lose motivation. Heh.
I also picked up a part time gig doing weddings, so that will be a nice supplemental income! Things with Angela are going well. There's been some stress...a death in her family, and her step dad moving in with her...but all in all, everything is going well I think. She is a great gal, and very supportive of all of the things I've been doing. I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend.
I mean, there's been bad stuff this summer...Dan's passing devastated me...and my car being stolen....but I don't want to dwell on the bad stuff because so much more has been amazing. Besides, its not like Dan went far...hell I saw him sitting in the Fruits of the Earth vendor stand we set up...just smiling at all of us as we filmed...I feel that I have no choice but to move forward, keep doing projects, etc...because I don't want to dissapoint him...
Anyway, this is my life....