It's On!

Ladies and Gentleman. The film Dog Sitter is now officially in pre production. We are scheduled to shoot October 11, 12 and 13 of this year. We'll have a camera in one hand and a turkey in the other.

But the big news is, I am pleased to announce that the very talented Faisal Lutchmedial (My Cultural Divide, Useless things) will be producing the project. I am VERY excited to be working with Faisal. He is a good friend of mine but also somebody who I look up to professionally.

This film is going to kick ASS!

I'm also working on a series of Video Podcasts to coincide with the production of the film. They should start popping up soonish.

Tomorrow I have a plan to raise money for the film. I'm gonna take the sign you see me holding and hit the streets and plead my case. Andy and Stu (great motivational Speakers) once told me one way communication sux (I'm paraphrasing here) but two way communication rules. I realized that asking people to donate money to my dream through a blog doesn't really work. I think asking people face to face might help. We'll see.

Please help me spread the word.

Cheers!

p.s. I just saw The Dark Knight...greatest movie ever made! See it in IMAX!

Budgeting and the Evil corporation

Maybe Evil is a harsh word but I can tell you that I am definitely getting the run-around. That giant contract that I was so excited about 3 months ago has turned into a pain in the ace!
I have not been payed yet and I am now in a financial bind as a result. I made the stupid mistake of quitting a part time job I had before I saw any money.

Not only has the organization been holding off payment but they have stringing me along the whole time telling me that I will be paid "Next week" or "the next pay period." The most annoying thing is that I am now going to be loosing money because of the lateness of payment. Anyways, I could get into much more detail but I'm really upset and I feel it would not be fair to dump all of this onto all my readers. (All 3 of you hee hee...)

Lets change the topic a bit. I think what I will do now is I would like to keep a production journal for the film Dog Sitter that I am trying to make. although I will keep you posted on the other stuff happening I think having a production (pre and post as well) journal will help keep this blog focused. SO....here 'goes:


I have decided that the best time to shoot the show will be Thanksgiving weekend. October 11, 12 and 13. I get the long weekend off from my day job and it gives me the right amount of time to get it going. Not too soon and not too far.

I've written a tentative budget for the shoot and it is going to come in at around $10,000. I'm hoping to raise all of that between now and october. HA HA HA!!!

Really.

I'm gonna try!

I'm going to be ruthless and shameless and and try everything in the book. (the legal book not the illegal book)

I'm also going to be looking for a decent actress to play the lead role. Somebody that can get the film noticed a little more. Can Sarah Polly still pull of being 15?

I need a Canadian actress who can pull of being 15-18 years old, is awesome, and has some draw with the name. Any suggestions? Can anybody think of an actress who fits the bill. Let me know what you think. How about Elisha Cuthbert? She still do it?


And people, please.....please please please PLEASE PLEASE!!!! throw a few bucks my way to make this movie. Tell your friends about this blog. Make my dream come true. PLEASE!!!

Thanks for everyones support so far!

Later!

Useless Things Documentary

Check it out people. This is a "Making Of" about the short Film "Useless things" that I worked on.

Despite my name being spelled wrong I assure you that it is me.

Watch the short at this link:
http://www.cinevate.com/images/makingofuselessthings.mov

Dog Sitter News

Greetings everyone!

A few small updates on the Film "Dog Sitter"
I have just received my first donation or an "Investment" from one of my new "Executive Producers." Although I did say that all you need is to donate $1.00, this person actually donated a lot more than that and I am so thankful. Just a reminder to everyone, every bit helps. If you can't donate through paypal then E-mail me and let me know. I will send you an address to send a check or well hidden cash to.

Also, some of you may not want to put money into something blindly so if you request it, I will send you a copy of the script (as soon as it is registered with the W.G.C. which should happen very soon!)

As far as actual doing this thing..., I have decided to schedule production for October. I have found a great award winning producer (to be announced soon) to help with the project and I am now on the verge of looking for a few key Crew members. I will also be putting out a casting notice soon so keep your eyes open!

And in other news, I'm hoping that there will be a website for Rail City Media up and running by the end of the summer.

Oh yeah...on a completely unrelated topic, I'm going to see Iron Maiden this weekend which is going to kick ASS cause it's Iron Maiden AND it's an outdoor festival with a slew of other bands playing as well! (Including but not limited to Type-O-Negative, Mastodon and Dethklok!)

Also...Go see Kung-fu Panda...Ski-doosh!

YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS!

In a way to raise money for a film I would like to make I am offering anyone and everyone a chance to become an executive producer on the short film "Dog Sitter". This means that if you donate one dollar or more, you could see your name in the credits of a film.

And not just any film, but a film that will be freakin' awesome. This film is going to be my calling card. This is the one that will launch my career and allow me to make a feature film. You will be able to say things like "Adam Reider? Oh yeah, his movies are great, I helped jump start his career" or "What do I do for a living? Well, among other things I am an Executive Producer."

The basic idea is I am trying to raise money any way I can. Just asking for money for nothing in return seems unfair so this way you can see your name on the screen.

This is no joke. You will be credited as an Executive Producer and should the film see its way onto the Internet Movie Database...so will your name! Imagine...you on imdb.com. I'll post the names of Executive Producers on this site.

So all you need to do is to click on the DONATE button on the left of the screen and donate at least a dollar. (you could do more...)

Tell your friends... Tell all your friends...

What can I afford?

Hi everybody.

It's been a little while since I posted a new blog so here I am... Posting a blog... Blogging.

So since my last post a few things have happened. I have decided to take the other non-media related job in the fall as well as continue with Rail City Media. I thought it over in my head again and again and I realized at this stage of the game it would be dumb for me to refuse such a good position and a steady paycheck. My first priority will be Rail City Media but although I got a sweet contract, I might not get another one until 2010 so I want to be safe knowing that I have some income. That job has a little training at the end of may but it really starts in August.

In the meantime, I'm putting together all the components I need to start podcasting. It's taking a little bit of time to be ready to launch episodes but expect to hear my voice within the next month or so.

In the meantime, I've been working hard trying to get this media project running but I'm being held up by one key factor. I have no money. Now you may think "Wait a minute, I thought he said he was getting a lot of money for this contract." and you are right, I will be. The problem is when? You see, because I have started this business while I am broke, I have no money in the bank to finance the project while I am making it.

The contract I signed states that there must be a percentage paid up front. I have not been able to claim that money yet. Because of timing, I needed to start shooting right away. Luckily I was able to borrow a camera from a friend of mine to start shooting some of the hand-held shots. I could have said that I wanted %50 on contract signing but because this organization is somewhat of a government organization, there are procedures and waiting times and processing times and it had to go through tender and all that before I see a dime. This would have meant that I would only be able to sign the contract weeks after I did initially. For me, thats too long. I wanted to sign right away to ensure that I have the job. So I am waiting for a check.

Whats frustrating is that I don't even have a tripod, a mono-pod, any lights a decent mic...nada! I can't buy or rent because I have no money. This is making my job hard as I can only shoot basic hand-held shots otherwise the quality of the finished product will go down if I only use the camera for the whole thing. I want this project to be of the highest quality possible so I can use it as a calling card for other similar contracts. I can't afford to use good equipment yet I can't afford not to.

Above all this, I need money for food, rent, bills and other expenses just to live. I've been working for almost a month and I have less money now than when I had no job.

It's frustrating now but this kind of thing should get easier later on as I'm not taking on contracts after being poor for months.

When I get paid, one of the first things I will do is put money aside for times like this where I can still live a normal life while waiting for a paycheck.

When it rains, it pours!

The drought is clearly over.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I got a big contract and I'm excited like a teenager watching "Splash" without parents around.

um...y'know... the Tom Hanks movie where he does it with a Mermaid?

Cough Cough...

Anyway, since then I was offered a full time position working at a college in the area. This is the type of job that I would jump all over...if I didn't just get a video contract. I can't beleive these two major opportunities landed in my lap at the same time. What do I do? I'm going to take the weekend to decide but one thing is for sure: I'm not giving up Rail City Media. I've put in too much time to let that dream fall away. The question is can I do both.

I don't really want to get too much into the details of my decision but I will keep everyone posted as to what I decide to do. In the meantime I'm focusing a lot of my energy on my film career.

This weekend I'm 1st Assistant Camera for two music videos. I like doing this position because I get to see all the action up front and really learn a lot about the camera . Jobs like this don't give me a lot of money right now (of course union scale would be a different story) These are basically low budget projects but the experience is really important. When I say low budget I mean we are still working with lights and sets and a crew great camera not a little handicam and a flash light. The fact that I get to actually touch the camera makes my presence on these shoots very important.

The idea is to judge what will help your career and what won't. Taking jobs like this that might not pay anything will help me later on when I am doing something for money. People want a good product in the end so these small shoots are the time to learn and experiment a little and then the paid gigs are the ones where you put all your experience into. I have not been on a shoot where I did not learn anything. I ALWAYS learn something that can be used later on. However I do try to pick the ones with the biggest learning curve.
Here's me, on the set of "Useless things" cleaning a lens filter.

I was 1st AC on a short called "Useless Things" a number of months ago and I just saw a behind the scenes documentary about the film today. There is a strong focus on the camera we were using and because my job was to take care of the camera I am in the doc a lot. I thought it was kinda cool. I think it will be posted online soon so I will try to post it on here ASAP. An important aspect of doing jobs like these is to allways be professional and work your hardest. Run, don't walk, look and listen, bring your A-game every time, bust your ass and do it with a smile. Even though I have DP'd on a fiew shoots, I have a long way to go before I would call myself an expert so when I show up to a 1st AC job I do that job better than anyone instead of trying to be DP and be semi-OK. You never know what each job will bring.

Oh yeah...and my Gal is on the other side of the country in Banf where there is snow and I am here in Montreal where I am sweating. HI SARAH!!!