Video To Alex - CraigoClassic 17

NOTE: It's set to private. Read below.

Ahhhh... dearest Alex.

Here is a photo video I made for her when we were dating. As many who know me are aware, Alex was my first "true love". We met at a German Language camp in Bemidji Minnesota. (A place I highly recommend going. They have different villages that teach dozens of languages. You can get a full year's school credit in a month, and you actually learn the language. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and not just because I met Alex... but that is another story).

Back to Alex. I was a Senior in High School. She was a Freshman. And we were a fantastic match. She lived in Minnesota. I lived in Texas. So after camp we wrote love letters for months, talked on the phone, sent gifts, wrote poems. It was pretty much the perfect, super romantic, high school relationship.

I went to visit her in snowy Minnesota over Valentines day. (Her parents were super cool to let me visit. I was a really nice guy. Our whole relationship was very PG). But it was pure, awesome, wonderful love...

... so I made this video of it.

And honestly, it's too personal to show here. Not cause it's some sleazy video, but because it's so sweet. I know it's silly, I've put up videos of me and my fabulously dorky friends from Jr. High, me with my perm, us trying to improv... but this is different somehow.

After many years of losing touch with Alex, going our separate ways and living our separate lives, I decided a week or two ago to see if she was alive, see if she was okay, and see how things have turned out for her all these years later. And after quite a bit of internet detective work I found her! (or at least her Facebook profile). I actually cheered when I did!

She is married, lives on the other side of the country, and seems to be doing well. As of now she hasn't responded to my Facebook message to her... and I didn't really expect her to. Sure, I was hoping to reconnect. Not to restart any love affair or anything. It's about knowing she's still Alex, only all grown up. To know she's happy and doing well.

Even if I don't hear from her, it's still great to know that she's still smiling. And it'll never tarnish any of the fabulous memories of her... some of which are in this video... which are only for me. Sorry faithful viewers (all 3 of you :).

The Matrix - CraigoClassic 16

So here's a story about some heroes who create a device to dismantle their molecules so they can be sent into the Matrix where they battle evil in their search for paradise. No BS: We came up with this story long before NEO existed, somewhere around 1992. So I think we deserve some credit as well as monetary reimbursment from Joel Silver and the Wachowski Brothers.

You will no doubt see the similarities: The action, the pacing, the fight scenes, the IDEA is ours. With my incredible hair, I am a dead ringer for Keanu. We have a snappy montage of building the device (aka: Neo learning Kung-Fu. Sure we took it from Army Of Darkness, but still...). You can "reprogram the chip" to change your life...(um hello!!!) It's pretty clear once you see it that someone saw our video and ripped it off (not pointing the finger at Mr. Wachoski-s, but still...)

Things we did better than the "remake" you might have seen in theaters: Amazing use of dissolves. Creative ways to make one "actor" appear as two "characters". (Mr. Smith eat your heart out). We have an NIN classic SIN shirt as a wardrobe, which is way more hip than Tinity's leather. We quote ALIENS, which is, well... not really relevant to the Matrix, but still. That is an NES Entertainment system that carries us to the great beyond, which if far more realistic than an array of computers jacked into our nervous systems. (Lame!).

So, for you purists out there, here's the REAL Matrix. And though it might not be quite as good as the OTHER Matrix... It is better than the two sequels.

PS: This also marks the end of the High School section of Craigoclassic. (Can I get a hallelluja!) Next stop: University of Iowa... with a quick pitstop in Minnesota.

Do as Robert does...

For those who don't know, we are planning on shooting "Straight On Till Morning" in two parts. Doing the intro and road trip section of the movie this fall, and doing the rest of it in the spring (at an awesome location we have access too).

So, I was thinking, maybe we're crazy to be shooting the movie in two pieces. Maybe we should just shoot the opening and hold off. Maybe it's nuts to try to do that...

... and then I was reading about Grindhouse (Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Terrantino's flick) and it said that In Planet terror and sin city, Robert planned both movies to be shot in two pieces. With a large break in production so he could edit the footage he had and plan out the next stage of the production!

Shit. If RR did it, then we are on the right track!

Trust the instincts.
Rock on
CraigO

1,000,000

So this morning I logged onto my youtube account... and saw 1,000,961.

wow.

To think that over ONE MILLION people have watched my short films. ONE MILLION!!!
That's more than twice the size of Des Moines, Iowa. Bigger than Austin, TX proper.
ONE MILLION!!!

I try to imagine that many folks over the last 3 years (and most of that in the last 1) tuning in to watch all the Trespassing On The Lot movies. The Schism 9/11 video. And even a few for The goofy ass junior high movies. It's pretty neat, to imagine people in places as far flung as Argentina, Russia, Bangaladesh, and even Saudi Arabia, people have tuned in to watch these little movies I made with friends here in LA. It's really cool.

I've had hundreds of comments over the last few years, ranging from praise and hopes to see more of "Family Ties" or "Lonely_Saturday_31", to the longest running debate about whether or not MAC's do get viruses. (It's a parody of a commercial guys. It's supposed to be funny, not a serious statement of the value of computers. :). To a very serious discussion about what 9/11 means to different people.

It's been fun, and enlightening. People have shared their videos with me, and I've seen some really creative stuff because of it.

And I've learned some things about online video I'd like to share for better or worse:

1. You can make short films that tell a story and people will find them and watch.
2. You don't have to have random babies falling, people getting kicked in the nuts, or two girls and a cup of... well, you know.
3. It doesn't hurt to have some sort of sex appeal. Looking at what key words people search for, I realize that the magic phrase of "woman tied up" is just the beginning. And I stumbled on that one by accident. I guess if it leads them to my movies I'm okay that they might have been looking for a different kind of video when they arrive here.
4. Given the comments on "Family Ties" about people thinking it's a real video about a guy who kidnaps his wife, I would say that a lot of people watching videos on youtube are drunk, high or confused. (Again, the fact they're watching is cool, in whatever state they might be in).
5. Make shit. It's best to make shit. Lots of shit. The more things you make, the more things people will see. For the most part I feel like the better films I've made tend to get the most views. There are some exceptions to that, "Deadline" for instance. But mostly it seems true... mostly.

1,000,000.

I'm proud of the number. I'd put the NIN song on here to pump up this entry, but it doesn't seem I can add music. It's a goal that I've watched go from something that was totally impossible, to something attainable, to something achieved. Not that the purpose of making the movies was to get to a million views. The purpose, for me, of making the movies was to make the movies. To have the experience. To be creative. To work with friends who are also creative. To tell stories. To live.

And we did that.
And thanks to people all around the world, and the power of the internet, we were able to share that with others.

It has begun...

So the pre-production continues (wow this is a lot of work! :), but we're finally FINALLY coming up to shooting. In fact, when I was in colorado a couple weeks ago I shot some travel footage. I'm so excited! It's really beautiful up there and I'm glad we're going to be shooting the road trip for real. Taking David and Kaitlin from LA to Chicago and back. So we can shoot them in the real locations and real places they're supposed to be. And to give Mother Nature a chance to give us some of the amazing beauty that only she can.

Here's the first "production still" shot on I70 in western Colorado.

Ahhh... the joys of pre-production!

My buddy (and fellow producer on "Straight On Till Morning") found this video and it pretty much sums up how things are going right now with SOTM.

And the site its on www.xtranormal.com is pretty awesome too. Enjoy!

The Battle Of Hastings, 1066 - CraigoClassic 15

Wow, I sure am keeping up with this. And to think we're actually not even half way through the videos. If I do it at this rate we'll be posting these things until I'm retired! (Or we will have at least shot "Straight On Till Morning", which is cruising along in pre-production. whew, how things have changed. :)

Well this little Gem is a project for history class. It wasn't even my history class, it was Steve and Jim's history class. But I was the video guy and had access to the equipment so I helped out and it was fun... even if the final result isn't quite as awesome as the great battle might have been.

We mixed footage of this bad ass board game, BATTLE MASTERS, with "live" footage of us playing with the High Fantasy Society. A group of fun folks who would get together and beat the shit out of each other with foam swords and shields. Was a good time and something we did every once in a while. It wasn't about costumes or historic recreations, just action and fun. Like D&D but REAL!!!!

We also feature the tunes of MANOWAR! Which we would have used throughout to make it a bit more exciting, but because of the limited editing time on the old reel to reel vhs editing we weren't able to get things together enough to make that happen. Songs are from the "Triumph Of Steel" tape that has a 29 minute long song about Achillis...pretty awesome.

And then there is the special guest appearance by someone from another planet. If you can tell me what movie that's from I'll give you a high 5!

PS: You might have wondered what happened to Craigoclassic 14...well, if you can believe this, it might just be toooo embarrassing to put up. Really to a friend who's in it, so I'm going to not post it for him. I guess I could use a pseudonym for him...hmmm... I'll think about that.

Casting, Crewing and Locations pt. 1

Hey Team,

So we're in the thick of it. So much to do and it's lot of fun (mostly).
We've had more auditions, this time for Virgil. Talk about brave actors to come in there and do improvs for us with no lines. To create characters based on the couple paragraphs we gave them (and the script if they were able to read it). It's been exciting and I have lots of respect for them. Being an actor is tough and to be in that room and see all the people that walk in that door to a room full of (most likely) strangers, and put yourself out there is a challenge. The ones who make a choice and commit to it fully, and connect with the "reader" in the room are the ones who make the strongest impressions, but even the ones who don't go all the way I have to give props to for going into that situation.

On top of that I'm starting to interview Director's Of Photography. On past projects I've always been my own DP, which is something I really enjoy doing, but for this one I know it'll look better and be better if I let someone else unleash their skills in that department. So of the 13 people I've contacted hopefully one of them will be a perfect match for personality, creativity, style and skill.

And we're looking for locations... so if you know of any 3 story (or 2 story with peaked ceiling attic) houses in the desert somewhere around LA (or anywhere really) that we could use, please shoot me an email and let me know.

Thanks!
Craig O

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Thank you EVERYONE who pledged to support "Straight On Till Morning". The outpouring of support and excitement has been amazing. 80 backers. $22,206. Success. Amazing.

All of you deserve a great big hug from me and the rest of the SOTM team. We're so thankful to all of you. This campaign was a very important part of the overall budget for the film, and with this and what we had before we are now able to set a start date to begin shooting. The thank you you will receive in the credits of the film is heartfelt and well deserved. Everyone who pledged will get in the credits.

Stay tuned here as we post updates on the project. Casting, locations, plans etc. We'll post things here as well as at the official blog.

Either way, "Straight On Till Morning" will exist in better form because of all of you.
From the bottom of our hearts, Thank you.

Craig O, Laurel, Brian, Neal, Laura, Greg, Tom, Kimo, Liz and more to come

Our Sincerest Thank You

Thank you,

Thank you so much for the amazing, fantastic, awesome, humbling pledges that have led to the "Straight On Till Morning" kickstarter campaign being successful!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to EVERYONE who's pledged we reached our goal! Yahoo!!!!!!!! It really has been amazing to see all this support for our little horror movie. It's going to be an exciting journey, and I hope we can make it live up to everyone's expectations.

In addition to our sincerest thanks, a number of you had mentioned in email or in person your desire to still pledge the project, so I wanted to let you know you only have until THIS FRIDAY, June 18, at 11:55pm PST to do so. The link is below, and it's super fast and easy to do. Though we've reached the goal set at Kickstarter this is not our entire production budget. So every penny pledged, even now, will be used on the film for all sorts of purposes: to increase the quality of the makeup f/x, to pay for food (I love food! :), lodging or sets, costumes or props, stunts and more.

KICKSTARTER LINK: http://kck.st/cZnK3u

Again: THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for your kind support.

Sincerely
Craig O and the SOTM team

PS: There are still investor opportunities available if you'd like to be involved in the movie to an even larger capacity. Just email me and we can discuss the options.

Auditions Round 1

So we've had 3 days of auditions for the roles of Lilly, Rubin and David in the last two weeks. It's been a really wonderful experience. Seeing all these talented actors and actresses coming in and reading. Each with their own unique take on the characters and where they would take them. It's an exciting process.

Despite having shot over 20 short films in the past few years, I actually haven't had auditions for any of my films since my rarely seen first feature "All The Days Undone", shot in 1999. And this time around we've got a great casting director, Greg Phelan helping out and setting up all these auditions. We're doing it at a place called CAZT in the heart of Hollywood. And all the headshots and resume's are being submitted online (which is very different from getting hundreds or thousands of headshots in the mail!).

And we've had some Amazing actors and actresses come in. It wouldn't be proper to mention names, but the headshots have been very well known actors and actresses from cool horror movies, action movies, TV-shows past and present. In addition to many talented unknowns as well (but people who deserve to be known :)

Now, not everyone has it all together, and of course some are stronger actors than others, but still, I have such respect for people who can walk into a room full of (usually) strangers, and put themselves out there. It's really cool to watch.

So we've got more auditions coming in the next few weeks, and then callbacks. We're focusing on the larger roles now: David, Lilly and Rubin. Then we'll look for our Virgil. Then cast the smaller, though very important other roles.

This is so exciting!
CraigO

More on Straight On Till Morning's Kickstarter campaingn

Hey Team,

Thanks so much to all of you who have supported "Straight On Till Morning" so far! It's been amazing how generous everyone's been with pledges and contributions for our independent horror feature film. This past week has been particularly amazing!

But we're not there yet: We've only got until JUNE 18, FRIDAY at 11:55pm to raise the rest.
We're at $12,857 of our $18,222. And this is ALL OR NOTHING. If we don't make it, we get nothing, and you're charged nothing.

Now 12 days might seem a short time to raise another $5,000+, but it really isn't so bad at all. Every pledge from $10-$250 makes a huge difference, adds up, and makes this film more of a reality. You'll even get cool things like pre-ordered DVD's of the film, Blu-Rays, Movie posters or visits to the set depending on your level of involvement.

For more about Kickstarter, here's a video our lead actress Laurel Marlantes, and I did talking about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTQnSQEvi1w

So if you've pledged already, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you've been thinking of supporting, we wanted to let you know that the deadline is fast approaching and every dollar counts. Just click the link below and it'll take you right there:

KICKSTARTER LINK: http://kck.st/cZnK3u

Thank you all, we're so excited about this movie and about having you all involved.
And for the support over the past few years.

Straight on till Morning!
CraigO
www.SOTMmovie.com

Here's Where The Story Ends

...But in fact here is where it begins. For this is the moment when I realized that I wanted to make movies in my life. It was this video done for class, edited on reel to reel VHS tape and using a video/fx box, cutting shot to shot and watching the magic actually come to life that I thought "This is so amazing. People get paid to do this? Awesome."

And here I am, many years later, making movies, telling stories and living a great life following my dreams.

Now, this movie ain't perfect. It's really funny to watch it now and realize how POORLY it's edited, when that was the thing that I was so excited about. I mean, really, how much time does the guy need to get up before he charges? Is that like a minute? Dude, what are you waiting for, just go after him and attack!

We got a 98 on this project. And once again, it's a Craigoclassic, that I wasn't often holding the camera on. But I was the main person doing the editing, so I'm finally making my mark. Cole Haney (sp?) was the tough looking guy, I still remember his name. And our main hero, Trevor Lissauer (who's probably going to wonder what the heck I'm posting this thing for) has actually been a working actor out here in LA since High School. We were so excited when he got "The Skateboard Kid". I still mention occasionally, and my Mom brought it up to, how great Trevor was in our high school production of "A Chorus Line" back in the day. ("I can do that!").

Anyway, we got a 98, not a 100, supposedly because the editing was a little slow. Really? Hadn't noticed.

Moving on... the book in there "When Knights Were Bold" wasn't from the library. It was ours. And that's my high school girlfriend Stacey Inman playing the princess in the woods. (Not the princess in the library, you might have noticed a slight difference in looks there).

This video has always had a soft spot in my heart. That Sundae's song is sweet, the story is nice (though why he always imagines himself failing is a choice we made for a reason I don't remember anymore.) It brings back some great memories of high school and friends, when the future was endless with potential. And honestly it still is. It really truly still is...

Today is a new day!

Your Greatest Day!
By Steve Maraboli

Today is a new day!
What can you do today to make it your greatest day?
Shake things up today.
Take time to think about all the things you are grateful for.
Call a friend and make them laugh.
Let go of past regrets and future insecurities.
Stop validating your victim mentality.
Embrace the immeasurable power you have been blessed with.
Say goodbye to people who mean you harm.
Surround yourself with positive people.
Excuse yourself from any relationship that is hurtful.
Understand that you are here to grow, to learn, to love, and be loved.
Do something you've wanted to do but always talked yourself out of.
Share your dreams and thoughts with someone close to you.
Remind yourself that you are beautiful, powerful, and created by love.
Today you have the opportunity to do so much!
You can choose to make it the same ol' same ol' or you can make it great.
Choose to make it great. Today is a new day.
Make today your greatest day! ...then do it again tomorrow.


In Closing

"Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day." ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

The "Straight On Till Morning" kickstarter launch!

One of our plans for raising some of the additional funding for shooting "Straight On Till Morning" this summer is to enlist the power of the internet, friends, strangers, and social networks with Kickstarter.com. The video above tells you a bit about the project and how it all comes together. The link below takes you directly to the kickstarter campaign if you'd like to learn more or to pledge to support the film.

DIRECT LINK TO OUR KICKSTARTER PAGE: http://kck.st/cZnK3u

Rock on

Archive of my film courage interview...

If you missed the interview about "Straight On Till Morning" on Film Courage sunday, you can check it out at the link below.

Film Courage Interview at LATalkRadio.com


Rock on

LINK (If above doesn't work):
http://filmcourage.podbean.com/2010/05/11/filmmaker-craig-ouellette-on-la-talk-radios-film-courage-ep-57/

Special Kickstarter Promotion...5/10/10 Only!

Here's a special bonus incentive to pledge $250 or more to the "Straight On Till Morning" kickstarter campaign. (http://kck.st/cZnK3u)
Reel Productions movie scheduling software. Courtesy of FirstGlance Films and David Branin & Karen Worden of Film Courage.

Thanks so much!
CraigO

Film Courage Interview...Today!

Just a reminder, that I'll be on the internet radio show film courage today. Gonna be talking about "Straight On TIll Morning" and more! Tune in if you can. :)

www.LAtalkRadio.com.
Channel 2
"Film Courage"

12 NOON PST - 1pm PST.

Archived tomorrow on at
www.Podbean.com.
Search for "Film Courage".

Rock on
CraigO

Film Courage Radio

So I've been asked by David Branin and Karen Worden to appear on their LA Talk Radio show "Film Courage" on Mother's day (go Mom, I miss you!).

That's Sunday, May 9th at NOON PST. Goto www.latalkradio.com, and "Film Courage" is on channel 2. If you want to tweet in questions on the day, use @filmcourage

It'll be put up on Podbean.com after that to be enjoyed forever! :)

We're going to be discussing "Straight On Till Morning", the kickstarter campaign, the casting, crewing and making of an independent film. I'm really excited. It's super cool of them to offer me the spot on the air. Hopefully it'll be entertaining and fun.

Would love to hear what you think about how it all goes.

CraigO

Kickstarter Begins

So the official "Straight On Till Morning" kickstarter campaign has begun. We've got until June 18 to raise money to help with the production of the feature film. It's an exciting prospect which will give whoever likes a chance to take part in the film and get some cool SOTM stuff in return.

If you're interested, check out the link above, tell your friends, and thanks so much.

The Fridgidaire

HELL YEAH.

This movie was born from all our b-movie nights, where we'd rent a couple b-movies and watch them and make fun of them while they went along. Nothing different from what any other high schoolers did really. There were so many. This being a parody of THE LIFT, which was about a killer elevator. We thought that few things would be dumber than a killer elevator...except maybe a killer refrigerator!

Oh, this one is a beauty. We really expanded our storytelling. It's got a fantastic prologue which sets up this horrifying tale of a cursed killer refrigerator. In it we see some NEW ACTORS (Holy crap! Holy crap!). We've got Chris G (wearing his signature marble bag ball hugger shorts), Tracy, and the best of them all, my wonderful Mom. She only showed up in a couple things like this (in fact this may be the only one), but it makes me smile to see her being so silly.

We've got a monster credit sequence, with REAL BLOOD. Yep... we sacraficed for our art. I bled on that page. (I used to get nose bleeds all the time...just so happened, I bled all over our credits).

So we have the set up....

...and not much else.

We kinda did this a lot (you've probably already noticed). We'd set it up, and I guess just get bored, or someone would have to go home and that would be the end of it. We would plan on doing it another time, talk about it for a few weeks, and it would just die.

Oh well. It's a great opportunity to see inside Chris G's house (a rare, warlock like lair with no open windows). You get to see my High School girlfriend Stacey. And of course the fine reappearance of Tom, Borden and myself. Dave's car shows up but he's not really in it. Maybe he's the Fridgidaire!!! (cue evil laughter).

We had plans to have a barbie doll fight a model fridge and fall into the empty pool in the backyard. As well as other rediculous kill scenes. But in the end...this is all that remains.

Beware the next time you open your fridge...
Be very aware.

PS: The date in 1995 is incorrect. This had to have been made in 1990 or 1991.






ROTOR...the best of the best.

THEY FOUND IT!!!

Yep, the cops found the car! No way! Yes Way!

And on top of that it's still drivable. In fact the theives vacuumed it and put in the burnt out headlight. Of course they stole everything that was inside, which amounts to about 1000 bucks worth of stuff, but still...SO GRATEFUL it's back.

They parked it on a street with permit parking and the cops ticketed it...and then saw it was stolen and I got it back.

Sweet.

Miracle. Right there.

Thanks mom

Stolen Cars and Movies...

So team,

Some piece of shit stole my car from my PARKING SPOT IN MY HOME on Easter Morning.
Yep...

So guess what happens to the money I had saved up for a movie called Straight On Till Morning?

Yep.

I get to buy a car. That means we are even FURTHER from our goal of shooting this movie.

Now, for some reason, I'm more depressed about this than pissed. It's such a random thing, I just don't know what I can even do about it. I guess if you see a :

94, white Honda Civic 4door with dark tinted windows, Texas Plates, SXR-052. A taped on drivers side rear view mirror.

Call the cops. Follow the fuckers. And help us out. Cause no car means the movie just got harder. Like it wasn't hard enough as it was.

CraigO

SIX DOLLARS, REALLY????

Okay, so I'm gonna bitch for a bit here...

Are you Fucking kidding me that the 3-D mark up on movies is now SIX DOLLARS?????
and for IMAX 3-D it's SEVEN?

I mean, what the fuck? The movies aren't any better because they're in 3-D. A shitty ass movie is a shitty ass movie. You don't even get to keep your glasses.

It's good to know that the greed of Hollywood is willing to screw the fans over so that they end up NOT seeing movies. Dumb asses, people are broke right now. The 12 bucks you want us to pay for a shitty out of focus, bad sounding film is to much to begin with. Now you're charging us 18 bucks for the same thrill.

Look, I think 3-D can be cool, like "Avatar" or "Space Station 3-D", you know, something shot in 3-D. Although honestly to me it was just sort of distracting. A good movie can bring people into the story no matter what 3-D bells & whistles it has. (See "Up In The Air" for an example).

Hollywood doesn't seem to realize that they are going to KILL YOUR OWN INDUSTRY. People won't go. Sure, for a few months everyone will be like "wow, 3-D, I've got to be wowed!", but when movie tickets keep going up every year...and now this...and movies don't necessarily get any better... it's only a matter of time before people think of something else to do with their time.

On top of that, by years end everyone's going to have 3-D in their home, with Blu-Ray and then what? If I can BUY the damn movie for $30 (or less if I just wait a few months), why on earth would I go to see it in a movie theater with a bunch of texting kids and annoying talking people? It just doesn't make sense. And then you have Disney's shrinking the window to release the DVD's to 2 months. Alice is still going to be in theaters when it comes out on Blu-Ray and DVD. Why not wait to buy it once you have 3-D in your home? Or better yet, RENT the damn thing, then Hollywood really makes nothing.

All this makes me sad because I LOVE movies. I love the excitement. The big screen, the energy of an audience paying attention and enveloped in the magical world only movies can create. But now I have to be so much more particular about what I go see because it's gonna be 18 bucks (since EVERY movie coming out by years end is going to be 3-D). And that ends up with me just not seeing as many movies as I want to.

Greed runs this town, we all know that. But it's a shame to think that for a quick buck they'll fuck the fans over, rather than say, "we're going to give you an experience you CAN'T get at home. And we're not going to rape your pocketbook for it. That way, you keep coming back."

Long term thinking people, not instant gratification. I hope you enjoy your new Mercedes with the profits from 3-D studio execs and theater owners, because 3 years from now you're going to have to mortgage your house because you will have killed the movie business and will be out of a job.

Now let me go downstairs, turn on my projector, crank the sound as loud as I want and watch a kick ass movie with no interruptions.

The Dark Night 2 -- Get Off Da Ship!

Ahhh...obsessions.

At this point you might say, "man those kids sure got f-ed up by the Shining".
Well that's not the only one my friends. Alien. Aliens. Perfection.

I still love those movies. They are two of the best movies ever made. PERIOD. Neither is better than the other. They are amazing. Everything about them. So naturally we had to do OUR versions. You might remember Dark Night, (you might not since you were so filled with terror you may have blocked it out). Well, here's the "sequel"...sort of. Homage perhaps?

It's basically a web cam video before web cams existed. Recording on "vidi-disc" before vidi-disc existed. I know this was high school because of the nifty visual effects on the screen which were done with Borden's camera he spent a lot of money on and we rarely used. In fact this was the first video we shot on that.

This one is particularly famous for Borden's intense line at the end "Get Off Da Ship!", which we still quote to him from time to time. In addition to the fantastic dialogue "If you see this I'll be dead...unfortunately", which still makes me laugh.

So prepare to be terror-fied...

...and Get off da ship!

Film Courage Interactive

So last night I attended the third "Film Courage Interactive" event at the Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles. The event is run by David Branin & Karen Worden (www.Filmcourage.com). They put on a weekly radio show where they interview indie filmmakers, and now they've expanded it to this monthly screening event where they show REAL indie films. Not 5,000,000 dollar indie films, but little ones. $10,000 or $20,000 movies. The kind of movies that so many of us are making but don't have a chance to show in theaters as easily because we don't have some name actor in the movie.

Anyway, it's a really cool event. It's in it's infancey, but they are doing a great job of getting people out to chat, meet each other, watch some true indie films, often with a Q&A afterwards, and then they have what we have affectionately called "filmmaker group therapy" where whoever would like to tells who they are, what they're working on and lessons they've learned or problems they face.

I've me a number of really cool folks there this time and last time. People working on indie films at various stages. Some in preproduction like us with "Straight On Till Morning". Some all finished, festival favorites who are looking for distribution like "Scenesters".

If you're an indie filmmaker in LA, I highly recommend coming out, and getting inspired, or at least meeting some cool folks, making movies, that aren't full of shit. :)

And if you can't make it, check out the Film Courage radio show, noon on Sundays. (or archived to enjoy whenever you like).

Is it time for Pre-Production yet?

So...

we've been busy. Interviewing producers. Getting the website, facebook and twitter infastructure up and running for "Straight On Till Morning". Working...nice to have some of that finally after a really slow spring. We've got lots of ideas of what to do next, and just need to put in all the work and do all the stuff it takes to get it done.

I had a big idea for something to write right now and I seem to have forgotten it.

Anyway...watched "Lost Boys" in honor of Corey Haim's death last week. So weird to think he's only a few years older than me, but had done so much in entertainment and then was sort of forgotten. I had a friend who was cast in the lead in a film opposite him last fall, and then they ended up recasting HIM because he wasn't a big enough draw anymore. It's sad really to think that all someone's hard work and all we do can become irrelevant to the people doing stuff in the future. That they'll look back and remember it fondly. And eventually people will hardly remember or even know who we were. After all, how many movie stars from the 30's can you list off? And how many of them have you actually seen in a film? I know I can't do very many.

Guess that's why it's always important to have family and friends and loved ones so close. To really inspire a son or daughter or niece or nephew or something. That the human connection matters most since all of our work will crumble to dust. Then again so will people...

hmmm....this all seems kinda depressing, but I'm actually just thinking about it. Not to be sad about it, but just to think about how BIG the world is, and how tiny what we do in it is. But it doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. Not at all.

Prelude To Neurobashing

Sooooo.....

We're not in the living room anymore! Woooooo! Not that there weren't some amazing films that took place in Tom's living room. But now my friends... we have driver's licenses. Yep! It's late 10th grade and we have finally caught up with the "1st" CraigOClassic "Neurobashing".

So this is the video we shot spontaneously before deciding to do the epic chase adventure in it's entirety. Really, it's just 2 minutes of us cruising around Richardson, TX before coming up with a joke that was the pivotal moment in the full length film. Still, it was sure fun to see the streets, cruise the alleys (that was a big shock upon moving to Texas from Colorado was the strange fun alleys), and watching Tom nearly drop the camera out the side of the car when going over a dip!

Richardson's finest make a cameo, as does my high school, J.J. Pearce. (Yep, the same one Jessica Simpson went to... a few years after me. Same one Shane Caruth, director of "Primer" went to. A few years before me. As well as a number of other working film professionals who I also have no contact with.) Tom and David's high school, Richardson, is featured in the longer film. (Yep, the same one David Gordon Green, director of "Pineapple Express" went to, who my friend Dan Kraus knows from North Carolina.) It's a small world, but a big state.

The end of this makes me wonder why I didn't have much luck with the ladies in high school. I mean, we're so smooth, it's a wonder, really, really a wonder.

Tom actually shot all this, so I'm not sure I can call it a "CraigoClassic". Perhaps its a "THOMclassic", but whatever, there aren't really any rules here. :)

Oh...and the perm may be gone, but DAMN, my hair still looks good.

Random Stuff...

Yep...as random as it gets. This is 53 seconds of avante guard amazement.
pure...
complete...
unadulterated...
video...
art.

period.

The "Straight On Till Morning" Poster...

Here it is!

The One Sheet Poster for "Straight On Till Morning". I'm so pumped! This looks so much better than I thought it would thanks to Natalie Young our photographer, and Lonny Chant who did the titles. To Brian Erzen for his keen eye and for hooking me up with Lonny in the first place. And to all of you who were giving your thoughts and opinions on which struck you as best.

So now we have a poster...for a movie that hasn't been shot yet. We also have a number of other images, many of which you can see as background of the "finished" website www.SOTMmovie.com.

Looking at the images gets me excited to tell the story of David & Kaitlin. Hopefully it'll get other's excited to work on or see the movie. Of course by doing this and asking for all sorts of opinions, I was reminded of the fact that everyone has their favorites and their vision of how things should go, and even though seeking advice is always wise, in the end I've got to make my own choices and own decisions and sink or swim with them. As my good buddy Dan Kraus said in one of my many emails asking for opinions about fonts, blood color levels and more: "This looks great...but you gotta start trusting yourself! you don't need opinions on this small stuff -- you got it goin on, bro!"

Thanks Dan.

Super Ginormous Final Jeopardy

Oh Jesus...

I think it took me so long to post this one because I feared the boredom and dullness of this episode. I'd like to point out that again, the only ones of these junior high movies that I truncated were the two "Jeopardy" episodes. Why? They might very well be the dullest things ever put on film. I mean...wow...wow, we just aren't funny in these. There's no chases, no real jokes, no real...

well, there is real hair. That there is.

And yes...sooner than later there are going to be more fun things to watch. I promise.

Producers...and more Producers...

So I'm at the stage of interviewing Producers.

It's exciting. Really. No, really it is.

Okay, it's not super exciting. Meeting new people is, but trying to sort out the truth from the fast talk is interesting. After all, whoever this is that joins the team has to be trustworthy, a problem solver, creative, knowledgeable and frankly fun to be around. After all we're going to be hanging out A LOT in the next year.

A whole lot.

I just watched "CASINO" tonight, first time I'd ever seen it. And the whole movie is about trust, and that's what it's going to be with me, Neal, Laurel and whoever this Producer is. It'll be exactly the same (well, minus the baseball bats, exploding cars and gunshots).

Still it's scary, and exciting. Up to this point I've been the sole producer essentially on almost everything I've done. I've produced, directed, shot, edited, often written. It's not that I'm a control freak, I actually enjoy watching all the cool creativity and work people put into a project. I like to see everything, and understand it the best I can, but I know there are people who can do certain things much better than I can, and it's awesome to watch it happen.

Like the photo poster shoot. Sure, I could have taken the pictures, and they probably would have turned out pretty good, but Natalie Young blew it up! (not like the car in casino). Everytime I look at the pictures I go "wow". And now we have Lonny Chant helping with the titles and graphic design.

Anyway...

Producers.

Producer.

Looking for that person who wants to get involved, see's the value of this project, falls in love with David and Kaitlin like I have and wants to make this mother of a movie no matter what.

Do you know the Producer?

Gathering The Troops...

So that's what it's about right now. Gathering the team and prepping websites and fan pages for a movie that hasn't even been shot. Fortunately my friend Brian Erzen is going to be heading up most of our online presence so I can focus on crewing, money, casting, directing and all that other fun stuff of making a movie.

So, if you know anyone who would like to join in, most notably a producer / upm who's hungry and eager to work on an exciting feature film with a fun crew and no douche bags, send em this way!

It's amazing how much time is spent in front of a computer and talking on the phone at this stage of the game. Even when you're not working a regular job, it's still all about computers... :)

The Shining -- Part 3

Ahh Obsession,

How it is when you're a kid and all you can think about are your favorite movies over and over again. (No I don't talk about "Aliens" or the "Terminator" like that. I don't!).

So here we took the Shining to a whole NEW LEVEL! Yep...Jack chasing his "wife" and son (who for some reason we call "Sammy" and not "danny"). Yep, chasing. Chasing, and more chasing. The beautiful POV shots, the ghosts, random reincarnation. This one has it all. Including breathtaking reviews from some real movie critics!

Jason Distel is in this one. A fun addition. As is the crew of David, Tom, Borden and Me. (sometime soon, I promise, we'll be onto a different location...well, maybe not). Jason's actually better at improv than the rest of us were. That's for sure.

Now you might ask yourself: Guys, how many times did you watch the Shining back then? And I'll tell you, only once for me. And it was in two parts. We were watching in the game room at my old house and had to stop halfway through to take Lolly home for her curfew (but that begs the point, could we drive? And this was 9th grade, so definitely not. Oh shit...maybe we watched it more times than I remember! Ahhh! Obsession! Obsession!)

As any of you who have seen The Shining know (especially as a kid) that movie is scary as hell. Those damn kids. Jack Torrance. Overlook hotel. I had nightmares.

"come play with us, forever, and ever".

I'm sure you'll have nightmares after watching this one...you can count on it.

Adopting A Child

So yesterday Neal (writer of "Straight On Till Morning") and I met and chatted about making this sucker. He and I get along well, and both are very passionate about the project.

During the meeting Neal said to me that it was time for me to take over the film. He's been writing it, and working on it for quite some time. Both of us have been tweaking and rewriting for the last 9 months, and the baby has been born. But like any good writer, it's time to hand the baby over to the director. So I've officially adopted the child. Yikes. Being a parent is scary, and exciting.

The joke Neal said was "Eventually a writer has to let the Director adopt the baby...so they can rape the writers child." Because a lot of times Producers and Directors will then go off into left field and lose track of what the movie was to begin with. I hope not to do that. My goal is to make the best horror movie I possibly can, and to keep Neal involved as writer and sounding board. I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about SOTM, and am always a big fan of having smart, creative, passionate people around to help things be the best they can be.

So now I've officially got a baby...

It sure is cute, all covered in blood and fear (and love too).

Commercials: Acme Brick & Memorex

So team,

We're still hanging out in the living room. (Not mine, but my buddy Tom's) Yep, we're doing commercial parodies. Like any good kid does with a video camera. We bring our skills to bear on the legendary ACME brick and of course Memorex Tapes. The smooth jazz is particularly nice, as is the ode to classical composer Schubert.

There's not much to say here. It's been a bit delayed in the posting because I've been out of town on a cruise Raging it up in the Bahamas. :)

And damn...that hair is sure looking good here. Mean's it's still ninth grade. Like seriously, did I really think it was a good idea to go for hair like this? I wanted my hair to look like Michael J. Fox's on "Family Ties" (The TV show, not my short film), and I think...I think I was really close. Just a few more perms and I'd have it.

A Bloody Good Photo Shoot

So tonight we did a photo shoot for
"Straight On Till Morning". We were
shooting the poster for a movie that hasn't been made yet. The goal is to make a captivating image that we can use to drum up excitement as well as get investors interested by using it as part of the website and business kit. Hopefully the image will turn out great enough to use as the actual poster so it will become a very familiar "branding" for the film.

We shot at good old Feet First, home of many (many!) of the www.TrespassingOnTheLot.com shorts. Natalie Young was the fantastic photographer. I highly recommend her for professional images of all sorts. She's super cool and has a great eye and I can't wait to see the images. Katie Chandler and Alysha Marcoantonio did the bloody good blood. I'd never worked with them, but they came highly recommended from the Blood Queen herself. So we took a chance and they were great. And for our models we had the ever awesome Laurel Marlantes and Scott Tompkins. One to loom, the other to be beautifully bathed in blood. (Okay, we didn't get to crazy, there is romance in the movie too).

It was a new experience for me. Even though I've taken photos since I was like 9 years old, and I did professional headshots for a couple years, I've never actually done a shoot like this. Where it was all designed and planned out. It took 5 hours from set up to tear down, but I thought it was really fun. Everyone seemed in a good mood and up for the creativity.

So will it work? Will it be the image that helps drum up excitement for "Straight On Till Morning"?

We shall see -- But I feel pretty excited about it!

Super Ginormouse Jeopardy

Wow...Wow...

I'm really sorry about this one. Boy we thought we'd be clever making fun of a gameshow, but what we quickly discovered is we have absolutely no ability to improv WHAT-SO-EVER! I mean Jesus, we even LOOK bored doing this one. Is David asleep?

I admit, this has actually been "edited". No kidding. The raw footage of this one was like 15 minutes long. And when I made a collection of all these high school and Jr. high videos for my friends a few years ago I trimmed this up...but really, a pile of poo is still just a pile of poo.

But damn, my hair looks good. That close up is incredible.

When Zombies Attack!

Hey Team,

Just wanted to let you know that Craig Ouellette's web series "When Zombies Attack!" is up online at

www.ZombiePSA.com

It's here that you can find out all you need to to stay alive in the current zombie crisis. Long before Zombieland, we put tips on screen, mixed in with the action, so that you wouldn't succumb to the horror infested un-life of the un-dead.

So check it out, let us know what you think. And thanks for watching

The Shining -- Part 2

The Terror, The Horror, The ...Rip off.

So we called this "The Shining Part 2" but it's pretty much just us making a parody of "The Shining" Part 1, you know, the Stephen King one. For whatever reason I'm the mom (again). Dave plays a very scary Jack Torrence. I'm quite impressed with our clever play on REDRUM with EDICIMOH. And for some reason the big chase scene isn't in this one... I don't know where it went. So it's a cliffhanger.

Tom's brother Mark makes a cameo here, as the genuinely creepy little boy in the doorway. And it has one of the best lines of dialogue ever, delivered by Tom on the porch.

And yes, my hair is still awesome.

Transporter Tests

Okay Team, this one barely qualifies as a film. Like most kids with video camera's in the 80's and 90's, before computer editing, home studios and youtube, we did the magical video of "transporting". You know, making you disapear, WOW, and appear SOMEPLACE ELSE.

And took keep the Star Trek theme going, we had these Star Trek original phaser guns that worked like Laser Tag (you remember Laser Tag right? How about Photon?) where you shot each other and they made noises when you hit. One of these collectors items is featured in the film.

Full of amazing technological advancements, this is a quick one. Alas, there's no Craigo Hair in this one, sorry folks.

DARK NIGHT

DARK NIGHT



Like a good star trek episode, this one is about time travel. Okay, it's not, I realized after I started the blog that Neurobashing was NOT the first of the CraigoCloassics that I had in my possession. I had in fact a whole slew of videos from...drums please...9th Grade!

Yep, the time when I had the most incredible fricking hair ever. You thought Neurobashing was good hair, wait til you get this. And wow, the glasses were cool. The other guys just look really really young.

This is the first of the videos we did with David, Chris, Tom and myself at Tom's house. (You'll get to recognize the location in upcoming thrillers). We experimented with some amazing special effects, and had our typical "too much exposition" issue before we got to the true "horror" of the piece. It even includes an amazing David Lynchian shot of a fan.

With a lot of these early films it's hard to claim that I was the sole "director" or creator of the piece, because I'm really not. It was a collaboration of all of us wanting to make movies the way that kids do when they've got time on their hands. And the joy of making these was incredible. Sure they all suck, but it's wonderful to get creative with friends and just screw around.

Now from the plot of this, and others, you might think we watched "Alien" & "Aliens" a few times...and you would be right. In fact a lot of our early films will have very familiar plots. I think I'm still trying to make movies that good. Ridley Scott, James Cameron...watch your backs dudes.

PS: The Enterprise model is the same one J.J. Abrams has on his desk in the "Star Trek" extra features. So maybe that's a sign...maybe not.

Neurobashing

NEUROBASHING

Here we go!

It's time for "Neurobashing". Brilliantly named after the main song we used in it. (Hey, you gotta start somewhere). This isn't actually our "first" movie, but it's the first one that didn't just desentegrate partway through into us running around the house yelling "danny, no!" as if we're in the Shining. (Those may show up later, we'll see).

My friends Tom Milian, Dave Warner & I had gone to my girlfriend's house one Sunday afternoon with Tom's video camera in tow. (For whatever reason I didn't have a video camera growing up. Which is either a bad thing, thinking of all the sure to be masterpieces I could have made, or a good thing, thinking of all the sure to be masterpieces I could have made). Anyway, on the way home we started shooting this video about being late for school. It was all edited in camera, and was about 2 minutes long.

Well, we liked it so much, we thought we should do a movie from waking up and racing off to school. We shot in order (no editing machines for this), and came up with skits along the way for it. We then used Tom's audio dub VCR (anyone remember those things?), and added music and very high tech sound effects.

You can see here why perhaps I chose to be behind the camera rather than in front, then again, my hair is pretty incredible.

Enjoy

craigo

CraigoClassic Begins...

Hey Team,

So there have been a number of requests to see some of my old films online, films from college in Iowa and even high school in Texas and before... Okay, I'm exaggerating, I have a few friends who want to see my college film "Stryker Reed and the Exploding Vampyre Whores" (and who wouldn't?) Because of that, my friend Dan Kraus' "Francis Ford Iowa" blog, the fact I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and that this year I will be shooting a new feature horror film called "Straight On Till Morning", I decided it was time to revisit the past and bring to you:

CraigoClassic

A series of "films", some good (relatively speaking), some not so good (more accurate), and some downright terrible (brace yourself for "Plate Techtonics"), that I'll be posting here over the coming months. It's a chance to walk down memory lane (for me) and a chance for all of you to laugh at me (or at yourselves) as you witness the history of my filmmaking "career" thus far.

I'm going to post them (more or less) in chronological order, which means you get some bad ass high school action (with me doing some acting no less) and then we'll drift into the college films and on through my first feature film (what?), which will be broken into nice and easy 10 minute or less segments for you to view at your leisure. CraigoClassic will stop before 2001 and the making of "The Closer She Gets" (www.theclosershegets.com). That, after all, is another story entirely.

I promise nothing. In fact, many of these I haven't seen in quite some time, so I might be more embarrassed than expected when I post them. But I'm going to post them all, without editing, for better or worse.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy (I hope)

CraigO