I-ManiCon 2007 Pictures and Reports

Well, it took a bit of doing and time, but I finally have the pictures up from this year’s I-ManiCon.  I want to give a big shout out of thanks to Laura, Joyce, and Tara who generously shared their pictures with me so that I could share them with you.  I also want to thank all the fans in the pictures who gave me permission to post their picture.

Following are a couple of photos of Mike and Paul.  The rest of the photos can be viewed from the I-ManiCon 2007 Photo Gallery page.

Mike McCafferty

An exhausted Mike McCafferty takes the time to visit with fans. 

Paul Ben-Victor and Lev Gorn

Paul Ben-Victor poses with his friend and fellow Wire actor, Lev Gorn.

In addition to pictures, a few con reports have come in from fellow attendees.  Links to the reports can be found on the I-Maniacs Fan Club’s I-ManiCon 2007 page.

Planning for Next Year’s Con

Next year’s con will be held on July 19, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.  If you’re thinking of attending, here are some things you can do now:

  1. Write down the date in your calendar.  Go ahead.  Do it now so you don’t forget.  I’ll wait.
  2. Flexibility is the key to enjoying yourself at the con.  Remember, there are no guarantees that the cast will be able to attend.  Last year all four guys made it, but this year none of the cast was able to come on the actual day of the con.  However, we were able to meet with Mike and Paul on the following two subsequent days, so try to plan on spending a few days in LA if possible.
  3. I-Maniacs are a fun group of people and we like to sightsee, so do come prepared to hang out with us and tour LA.
  4. Depending on how much notice you need to give at work, reserve your vacation time as early as possible.
  5. Whether it be a savings account, a piggybank, or under your mattress, start a con fund today.  Doesn’t matter if you put in $1 or $100.  Just start saving!

Hope to see you next year at I-ManiCon 2008!

Unaired Episodes of “Drive” Now Online

Six episodes of Drive were made, but only four episodes were shown before the show was unceremoniously yanked from the air.  Now, those last two episodes are available to watch online on Drive’s MySpace page.  Episode five, entitled “The Extra Mile,” and episode six, entitled “Rearview,” are there in addition to the first four episodes.

A post-Drive wrap-up interview with executive producers Tim Minear and Craig Silverstein can be found at the Drive Fans website.  In it, Tim and Craig reveal future storylines had the series continued.  It may not really matter at this point, but because of all the spoilers, I suggest you watch the last two episodes before reading the interview.

“Monk” Available On Demand

Melissa has informed me that the Monk episode entitled “Mr. Monk and the Birds and the Bees” is currently available on Comcast On Demand in the TV Entertainment section.  So if you are a Comcast customer, here’s another chance to catch the episode that Vince is in.  Thanks for passing on the info, Melissa!

Follow Up to “Mr. Monk and the Birds and the Bees”

So wasn’t it great to see Vince back on TV again?  My only complaint was that the episode ended too quickly! 

If you missed the episode, don’t worry.  You still have a few more chances to catch it on the USA network.  Note the following dates and times when this episode will be reaired and do check your local listings as usual.

  • Saturday, August 11, 5:00 p.m.
  • Monday, August 13, 1:00 a.m.
  • Sunday, August 19, 9:00 a.m.

If you’ve already seen the episode or you don’t mind spoilers, you can read a full synopsis of the episode over at the Episode Guide.  If you click on the Episode Gallery link just below the picture, you’ll find a picture of Vince among the stills from the episode.

If you’re interested in the writing process for this episode, you might want to watch the Writer Commentary video with writer Peter Wolk. And, yes, it’s full of spoilers too.

Vince Guest Stars in “Monk”

Vincent VentrescaYou’ll want to make sure you’re home this Friday night because Vincent Ventresca will be guest starring in a brand new episode of Monk this coming Friday, August 10, at 9:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. central on USA.  As usual, be sure to check your local listings for the time and channel in your area.

The name of the episode is entitled “Mr. Monk and the Birds and the Bees.”  In it Vince plays the role of Rob Sherman.

Logline:  Monk tries to prove a sports agent is guilty of murder while helping Natalie’s teenage daughter, Julie, with her love life.

You can catch a brief glimpse of Vince in this clip from the upcoming episode.

Twists, Turns and Bumps in the Road

Dearest readers, I recently recieved some feedback from a fellow fan and it was suggested to me that I should be writing more about the film in development and giving more frequent updates as to how it is progressing.  Now I had planned to wait until I had news that was more concrete, but I can totally understand wanting more frequent updates.  After all, you want to see the cast together again and you want to know what’s going on! 

I’m cool with that, but I should give you a little warning first.  It’s important for you to know that film production can be, for lack of a better analogy, like an old mountain road, with its accompanying unexpected turns, twists, and bumps.  One can think that they are going in the right direction and that everything is fine and then suddenly something happens that slows down progress or gets one off course.  That’s just the way film production works and one has to be willing to go with the flow and deal with these unexpected occurances when they happen.  So if one week I report about some plans in progress and the next week I tell you those plans have stalled or been changed, don’t worry, I might have just hit a pothole.  I’ll find another way to get the job done and get the project back on track.  

With that in mind, let’s talk about the film, shall we?

Let’s go back to February of this year.  I had just found a writer who was interested in tackling the script.  I had some personal stuff that was coming up and I knew it was going to keep me busy for quite a while, so getting a writer onboard and working on the project before that happened was very important to me.  My top priority is to keep the project moving forward.

Things seemed to be going fine then I found out that the writer didn’t have the time to work on the project.  A couple of great opportunities had come her way and I don’t blame her a bit for grabbing them.  I couldn’t be more thrilled for her successes.  But, now, I’d hit a pothole.  The project had stalled.  Nobody was working on it.

The next logical step would have been for me to get the project back on track by finding another writer.  Fortunately, I was saved that effort when another writer approached me out of the blue and offered her services.  That was about six weeks ago and I’m happy to report that this writer has been hard at work on a story.  Things are moving forward again.  Already, she has written the first draft of Act 1 of a treatment and it is coming along quite nicely.

I should explain what a treatment is for those of you who may not be familiar with the term.  A treatment is basically a screenplay written first as a short story.  Writers often them use them to focus and flesh out the story without having to worry about formatting and all the other considerations that come with writing a script.  But treatments are also used to sell a story.

Now the decision as to what story we tell isn’t just mine alone.  It also belongs to the cast.  They have to want to do the story also.  So I’m asking for a treatment instead of a script because treatments are generally shorter than scripts so there is less to write and less to read.  I figure it’s easier to write and read a 10- to 20-page treatment than a 90- to 120-page screenplay.  If the cast likes it and wants to do the story, then I’ll give the go ahead to the writer to write the script.

So that’s where we are in a nutshell.  I promise I’ll try to be better about giving more frequent updates.