UCLA Campus MovieFest Finale

Last month, the Don't Tell My Mother production had another great show with a Coming Out theme in honor of National Coming Out Day.  There was a great turnout, hilarious performances, and once again I contributed some pre-show content to fit with our theme, which you can watch here: Don't Tell My Mother "Coming Out" Pre-show.  It was a pleasure to work with the DTMM crew, as always.  The next show will be in December, and I look forward to writing up another post for what is sure to be a holiday themed celebration.

In the meantime, I recently landed a gig with Campus MovieFest, an event I once participated in as a student and have mentioned in this post.  It's a great program that travels to campuses all over the United States, lending students the tools to make a short film in a week. The top sixteen are then screened on campus and awards (and the chance to go to CMF Hollywood) are given out to the very best. After I participated in this event, I became a member of the Distinguished Filmmakers Network, an extension of CMF filled with CMF almuni and opportunities for young filmmakers.  It was through this network that I was able to book the gig for the UCLA Campus MovieFest finale.

The event was a great experience, and my duties were fairly similar to those I generally take on with Don't Tell My Mother.  I helped unload and set up equipment and merchandise tables, I greeted audiences and directed guests, decorated the venue, managed the merchandise table, and assisted in recording video of the show.  The student films were impressive and fun to watch, and I enjoyed a return to the college atmosphere and enthusiasm for some bare-bones filmmaking.  Afterwards, the rest of the crew packed up the leftover merchandise and other equipment, and transported it offsite.

I enjoyed working with the CMF crew and the UCLA campus events team to pull off a worthy festival finale. I wish all the CMF participants luck and can't wait to see more from student filmmakers like those at UCLA.

Another Month, Another DTMM Show

Over the summer, I became pretty busy with my new job at Universal Studios Hollywood. That has been a great new experience, although the hectic schedule has kept me from being able to do as many standalone projects as I used to. However, I've still found time to volunteer with the Don't Tell My Mother show, which I mentioned here back in August.

Our latest show for September was a huge deal, primarily because Pivot TV was endorsing it and filming it for one of their new segments featuring live comedy shows. This partnership was great news for DTMM because it meant publicity and distribution for the show. I worked as part of the creative team, and we decided to pull out all of the stops for this big event. First, we secured the new venue of Busby's East to accommodate for the always-growing crowd. Then we made sure all our technical specs were good to go and ready for a live performance.

As part of a special project, show creator Nikki Levy asked my friend David Bornstein and I to create a pre-show reel that fit the "Back to School" theme of our September show.  We got straight to work using clips from well-known television and film that related to school and adolescence, and edited these clips using Adobe Premiere Pro. It was a lot of fun to create, and was a big hit during the live performance.  Here's a link to our Don't Tell My Mother "Back to School" Pre-Show , including the Pivot TV Promotional reel. Keep in mind that this played during pre-show seating, and therefore house music played over the video content (which is why the clips are silent.)

The show itself went off spectacularly; we filled the house and famous performers such as Joanna Kerns from Growing Pains and Jen Kober from The Mindy Project had the crowd in tears of laughter with their hilarious stories. Pivot TV was likewise able to promote their show of Please Like Me by showing a trailer for it and handing out a large amount of cool swag, such as t-shirts, stickers, and buttons.

Definitely check out Pivot TV, and keep an eye out for the next DTMM show coming soon to an LA venue near you (if you're in LA).

Rock Opera, Act One -- Short Film

A few weeks ago, I landed a PA gig on a short film, a musical entitled Rock Opera (I worked on the first act ,with secondary crews coming in later). It was my first time on a musical set, and it was quite the experience.  For this gig, I spent much of my time on the road, picking up props and equipment necessary for the shoot. When I was not out and about, I primarily assisted the art department in finishing the elaborate set design and helping out wherever I could.  

I was also in charge of food pick-ups and organizing craft service on set, a job which I've grown very accustomed to from many of my past experiences with the role. It was really nice to be able to shoot in a studio for once, as we had the creature comforts of a working fridge and ample space to lay out meals and snacks.

I really enjoyed contributing my skills to such an ambitious product, and I am proud of what the crew and I accomplished in such a short time. I also really appreciated being able to work with some of my film friends again, whom I previously worked with on Tongue Tied, and would love to work with this crew again in the future.

Shark Tank -- Reality Television

This past week, my friend Javier Gomez, who I previously worked with on the set of The Conduit, recommended me for a really great opportunity: production assistant for the hit reality television series, Shark Tank. If you haven't seen the show, it's a reality competition in which inventors and business entrepreneurs pitch their ideas/products to the 'sharks' (self-made millionaires/judges) to try and get investments to start or grow their companies.  It's a really fun and cool show, and I was so happy and grateful for the opportunity to work on it.

Here's a promo for the show's 4th season:



For this particular shoot, we worked on location to shoot an introduction segment of one of the contestants. It was really cool to finally be able to work on a television show, which is my favorite medium.  I did all of the usual production assistant roles, such as making runs for craft service and meals. I also help load and unload equipment, kept the location clean, and assisted other departments as needed.  It was a pretty short day, but we got a lot done and I am proud to have contributed to such a popular show.

Tongue Tied -- Feature Film

Earlier this month, I saw a post within a Facebook job group. A Craft Service PA named Brett had recently had other engagements come up that would have prevented him from finishing his gig with a feature film, entitled Tongue Tied. However, Brett made it his duty to find a strong replacement that could commit to the last few days of the film shoot. Because it was in the area and because I have had experience with working in the craft service department, I reached out to him showing interest for the position. The more we discussed it, the more it seemed like it would be beneficial to both me and the production. A few days later, Brett and I met so that he could hand over some of the craft service snacks that I would need to take to set the next day. He also provided me with the next days' call sheet, contact list, and a list of snacks that people were asking for on set. Overall, I felt pretty prepared going into the production the next day.

It did, however, start out a little rough. I had to find the craft service that had been left on set, and for a time we had trouble locating the coffeemakers. As most people in the industry know, a good film set absolutely runs on coffee. Luckily we found them soon enough, and this actually helped to acquaint me with the people and the set hierarchy. I met many cool people, and by the end of the day, I felt in control of my new position.

On set, most of my duties were craft service related. I made multiple runs to the grocery store to pick up snack items including ones appropriate for dietary restrictions, coffee supplies, and other necessities like paper towels and plates. I also had to handle the petty cash and stay within budget. During production, I organized all foods in an easy to access manner and kept the area clean. I occasionally ran food and coffee orders to the crew as well. During meal times, I organized assembly lines, served portions, and once again took care of the trash.

In addition to my craft service duties, I also got to help move equipment and become an extra in multiple scenes of the film. This was awesome but also uncomfortable, as we had to go without jackets during shooting on a cold night. I enjoyed the experience overall, however.

After four days of shooting, we completed everything that was shooting in the LA area. A skeleton crew would then be sent out to finish in Arizona. I really hope that the rest of the shoot goes well and that I can see the completed film within the next couple years. To my understanding, it centers on a racist talk show host who has a car accident, after which he can only speak Spanish. From this premise and from what I saw being shot, it definitely looks like it will be a funny and well-done film, and I am very grateful for the friends I made on set.

M is for Melody -- Short Film

This  post has two purposes: the first is to continue to show the different projects I've been able to assist on, and the second is to ask for any readers' out there to help my friends and I get our short included in a feature film.

The ABC's of Death is a feature-length collection of short horror genre films, and the first film was released last year. 25 notable directors took part and the 26th director was chosen as the winner of a submission contest. A second film is in the works, and once again, a contest will determine the lucky number 26.

For our submission, entitled M is for Melody, I was script supervisor. I kept track of continuity and made notes to make the editing process smoother. We worked hard and we worked late, but we were able to get it shot in one night. Now we have only two weeks or so to raise our FB likes into the top six (six films will be chosen by judges, six determined by the FB popular vote, so we still have a chance even if we don't make the amount of likes necessary).

Knowing that I have had professional social media experience, the director David Bornstein also asked me to head up the social media frenzy that will be required to attain enough Facebook likes. I'm currently planning different strategies and applying them as fast as possible. Some ways I hope to advertise this film are through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, blogs, and a number of other resources. It's a tall order -- at this point the top six most liked videos all have over 2,500 likes. Still, I see this as a challenge to myself to stretch the limits of my social media savvy.

That being said, here's the link to the film: M is for Melody  If you're reading this before 11/14/2013, please be sure to "like" it and help us out. If not, enjoy the film just to enjoy it!  Also, be aware that it is violent and somewhat graphic, not safe for work, children, and potentially triggering. But seriously, enjoy.

The Conduit -- Feature Film, Part Two

Early this year, I blogged about my production assistant experience with the feature horror film, The Conduit. The majority of the movie was shot last December in my hometown of Globe, Arizona. This past week, one of the producers, Wes Martinez, who knows that I am now living in California, reached out to me and offered me a gig as script supervisor for the last two days of shooting pick-ups in LA.

It was an absolutely great experience to reunite with the crew. Though we only filmed for two weeks together last December, it definitely felt like returning to family or longtime friends. I also met some great new actors and got a sneak peak at the promotional trailer the crew has been showing to potential investors (spoiler alert: it looks amazing).

We filmed from early afternoon on Friday and Saturday well into the night and early morning. I operated slate, took continuity notes, and assisted with managing talent on set. I really enjoyed taking on this new role with the team. We filmed some great scenes, and I am even more excited now to see the film premiere sometime in 2014. I will be sure to update again once a trailer is released or once a premiere date is set.