Latest Youngstown Film Adventure

We shot JIMMY'S art movie last night. "It's just of women's legs." It was funny.

Todd showed me his studio. He's our official audio guy for the film.

I did rehearsal today with James and Keith. First we ran a couple miles and did push-ups. They love push-ups.

Brian Palumbo and the folks at Selah will be the official caterers for The Human War Movie. I enjoyed an amazing turkey melt there today.

Building an Art Studio for the Film

We have been working this weekend into making JIMMY'S APT look like a legitimate artist's pad for the film. It's been a lot of work. Luckily, we've had help from the actors themselves. Keith McAleer (JIMMY) and James Roehl (MARK) have given their all to make original pieces for the set. You could even call it a painting party. Everyone contributed a little bit to the pieces.

Here is Keith (JIMMY) saying what is what. I am not sure what James (MARK) thinks of his orders.

Are these kids ready to be movie stars? Could be...

Past Simple 7

Past Simple 7 is now up. I was asked to be the Guest Editor. There were some great submissions. Thank you to all the writers and artists who contributed. Thank you also to Jim. Past Simple is a great mag.

Day 8 of Pre-Production on The Human War

We did some more B Roll today. We got a shot of some smokestacks, visted some check cashing stores, and then met up with our two lead actors.
Tomorrow I rehearse with actors all day, while TJ and Tom will discuss the shot list. I need to be like a marine. I wake up at 7 a.m.. I probably won't stop until 9 p.m..

Film Update

We got our first shot of the film yesterday. We were scouting locations with TJ Hellmuth, our Director of Photography, when he yelped while looking out the window, "Birds in flight!!"

I looked out the van and saw thousands of birds swarming in the trees and sky. We had about a half hour left of sunlight, but we managed to get the Red camera setup and ready for some hand-held shots. Then, after the birds stopped swarming, I ran along the highway screaming and hooting like Old Yeller to let the whole multitude of Hitchcockian elegance descend over highway 680. It was quite a sight. What do you think? Movie opening or closing?


This past Saturday was John Kennedy's birthday. He celebrated in style at his bar, The Royal Oaks. I got this picture of him dancing to "Pabst Blue Ribbon," an original by a local band in the area.
This last element is a "Blowmeo." We needed to get some artwork for one of the characters, so I've started collecting old vintage paintings and tagging them with a character known as Blowmeo.

Basically, I wanted to create something that an actor could imitate. We're going to have to hit a few dozen more paintings. I'll show you the full studio when we're done.

Donate to the Movie

Donations are being accepted for THE HUMAN WAR. Help spread a little movie magic this holiday season.

Rehearsals in Youngstown

I am in Yongstown in an empty apartment. For the past couple days it's been just me and Keith McAleer (actor pictured above). We've been rehearsing day and night.

Tonight we are doing a sleep over rehearsal party. We're running lines and working on his character development.

Keith is very dedicated. I like actors who are willing to give 110%.