There’s a fun little series going around the Internet called Chad Vader. It’s a spoof on the Star Wars Darth Vader character. Created by Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda of Blame Society Productions, the latest installment, Episode 5 (Holiday Special), features our own Mike McCafferty as a rather unconventional ghost.
Go check it out on YouTube and may the force be with you.
Big thanks to Laura who just gave me the heads up that Seabiscuit is being rerun tonight on ABC at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time, 7:00 p.m. Central Time. (Check your local listings.)
I really enjoyed this movie and what makes it even better is that our own Eddie Jones has a role in it. He plays the character Samuel Riddle.
Of all the I-Man DVDs available for purchase, the U.K. version is the best one out there, in my opinion. Not only do you get the episodes, but you also get some really great special features:
Some pretty cool features, eh? Well, we have Ian Atkins to thank for these beauties and, of course, let’s not forget our cast who willingly gave of their time to do those great interviews.
Now if you’re looking at the pictures of the two boxed sets (above) and thinking one set is season one and one set is season two, stop right there. Unfortunately, they are not two seasons. Both sets are of season one, which was divided into two sets. It’s a rather common misconception and I want to thank Rebecca who reminded me to make that clear.
The first box set contains the following episodes:
The second box set contains the rest of the season one episodes:
A few video and audio clips from the DVDs are available at the Gold Street Entertainment website. Just scroll down to around the middle of the page to download them.
A Little History and What About Season Two?
As I’ve already mentioned, we owe a lot to Ian Atkins for putting together such great sets. Ian is a self-proclaimed “huge fan” of The Invisible Man. As the former Product Manager of Contender Entertainment, the company that released the U.K. DVDs, it was his job to oversee the release of the DVDs. He has even stated that he took the job “primarily to be involved in the I-Man DVD releases.”
Now if you’re wondering why Contender never released season two on DVD, it’s because they had to see how season one sales went before they could make a decision about going ahead with season two…a logical business decision. And even though Ian had said that he would “be fighting like crazy to get season two underway” as soon as possible, the season two DVDs never happened. Since Ian no longer works for Contender and they never released season two, I can only surmise that sales of season one just weren’t strong enough.
I can’t say that surprises me. The Invisible Man wasn’t well known in the U.K. It aired on lesser-watched networks and didn’t get much publicity, so it’s fan base is relatively small in comparison to other countries.
What does surprise me is that Contender was willing to take the gamble and commit to the season one DVDs in the first place. It’s a gamble that I wish had paid off better for them. Regardless, I’ll always be thankful for what we did get, because no other I-Man DVD releases have the kind of extras that Ian put together for this version.
Where You Can Purchase the U.K. DVDs
Following is a list of some of the online sites where you can purchase the U.K. I-Man DVDs. I, again, want to thank Rebecca who gave me a hand with finding some of these sites. This list is by no means complete, but it’s a start.
Please note that as of this date, Amazon and HMV appear to be out of box set one. You may wish to inquire about availability before placing your order.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The U.K. DVDs are made for region two and are produced in the PAL format. If you are ordering these from the U.S. and Canada (region one) or any other region, check to make sure your TV/DVD is compatable with this format. I’ll be explaining the ins and outs of regions and formats in a future post.
This post was actually supposed to be up on Tuesday but I’ve been waylaid by the flu and am only now starting to feel well enough to spend more than a few minutes at my computer. If I could only get my coworkers to stop coming to work sick and sharing their germs with everyone. That kind of generosity I could do without. You know what I mean?
Anyway, I wanted to let everyone know that as of Tuesday, January 9, Mike McCafferty’s film, Idiocracy, is now available for purchase on DVD.
Idiocracy stars Luke Wilson as Army Private Joe Bowers, an “average American” who has been put in a deep-freeze hibernation experiment as part of a top-secret Army program. Things go wrong and Bowers doesn’t wake up for 500 years. However, America has changed for the worse, becoming so dumbed-down that Bowers is now the smartest person in the world.
There has been all kinds of speculation about why this film has received so little support from the studio. It took two years for this film to get released, and then it only got a very limited release in seven cities with virtually no marketing, no advertising, and no official website. Needless to say, some fans have been unhappy with the way this film has been handled.
So if this film wasn’t released in your area and you’ve been waiting to see it, you don’t have to wait any longer. DVDs are now available at Amazon.com.
Vincent Ventresca will appear CSI: Miami tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on A&E. As usual, check your local listings for the time and channel in your area. The episode is called Invasion and Vince plays a character named Zellar.
This is a rerun, so if you have already seen it, you might prefer to catch Paul tonight in Close to Home, which is a new episode and happens to air at the same time. If you haven’t seen it, then you’ve got a decision to make. Vince? Paul? Vince? Paul? It’s like choosing your favorite child…impossible. But then times like these are why VCRs were created.
Paul Ben-Victor will appear tomorrow night in CBS’ Close to Home. The name of the episode is Road Rage and Paul plays a character named Paul Bosco.
This is actually the third time that Paul has played this character on the show. I apologize for not alerting all of you to this before, but I only recently found out about these appearances myself.
Close to Home airs tomorrow on CBS at 9:00 p.m ET/PT. Be sure to check your local listings for the time and channel in your area.
Welcome to 2007! I can’t believe it’s already here. Now where did 2006 go? I swear I just saw it around somewhere.
The beginning of the new year is a good time for me to take a few moments and talk about the status of the project and to take a look at what’s coming up in the future.
The LLCing is coming along slowly but surely. I had hoped to have it done by now, but sometimes these things take longer than planned. But it will get done.
Some of you have asked if we have a script yet, and the answer to that is no. However, since the script development phase can be a long process, I’ve already begun talking to writers. We’re considering several options in our search for a writer, from hiring a professional screenwriter, to an up-and-coming hopeful, to a talented student, to basically just putting the word out and seeing what we get. Nothing has been decided yet. It’s a complicated decision because, depending on which way we decide to go, contracts, union requirements, release forms, rights, funding, options, etc. may or may not have a play in our decision. But, whichever way we decide to go, my first concern will be to get a top notch story. It’s been said that you can make a good film from a good script. You can make a great film from a good script. You can even make a bad film from a good script. But no one can make a good film from a bad script. A quality script is absolutely vital. That’s where it all starts.
The dismantling of The Invisible Man Online has been put off for a while due to time constraints, but I hope to start in a month or so and spread it out over the course of several months or more. I really hate the thought of losing everything there, so I’ve decided to save as much as I can (without violating copyrights) and bring it over to this website. The SciFi.com website has tons of stuff for fans and they even feature productions that are not theirs, so I figured, why can’t I? So expect a new section for fan stuff in the near future. I’ll make an announcement when it’s online.
I look forward to a productive 2007 as we move closer to our goal of getting our film made. Thank you for all your support. It’s been heartwarming to get messages from you expressing your excitement and enthusiasm at the thought of seeing our cast together again.
May good things happen for you in 2007!
There have been dancing contests, singing contests, and various other assorted talent contests gracing our TV screens over the past few years. Now, finally, there is a contest for filmmakers. It’s about time!
On the Lot is a new FOX reality show “brought to you by reality show mastermind, Mark Burnett, and legendary producer and director, Steven Spielberg.” It works similiar to the way American Idol works. Out of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of applicants who submit their short films online, only 16 will be chosen for the show.
Over the course of a season, they will produce new short films every single week in different genres such as comedy, horror, mystery, drama, etc. That’s one week to go from script development, to pre-production, to shooting, to post-production. Whew! Makes me tired just thinking about it. Viewers at home will get to vote for their favorites and the contestant with the least votes goes home. The filmmaker left standing gets a $1 million development deal with DreamWorks.
On The Lot will air next spring on FOX, but the search for the 16 finalists has already begun. Hundreds of short films have already been uploaded to the official On The Lot website located at http://www.thelot.com/.
When I’m able steal a few minutes away from other obligations, I love to go to the site and check out the submissions. Quite a community has developed there already. Once you sign up on the website, you can rate the films you watch using a star system and leave comments about the films if you wish. Similiar to MySpace, you can blog, post photos, have a friends list, and a favorite films list, among other features.
Just like American Idol, people of various talents and abilities are trying out for this contest, from absolute beginners to those who have been making films for many years. Watching the films and reading the comments is a learning experience in of itself. Some of the more experienced filmmakers offer constructive criticism in their comments, which can help one develop an eye for what works and what doesn’t in a film. Whenever I watch one of the films, I find myself analyzing what I think is right and wrong with the film and then I go read the comments and see if I caught what others caught. Of course, taste is very subjective, so I skip over comments that are personal opinion and pay attention to the comments that deal more with the technical and artistic aspects of filmmaking.
When I first found out about On The Lot, I knew that it would be a must see show for me, but it has become even more now because a friend of mine has entered the contest.
John Meredith is a beginning filmmaker whom I met in a filmmaking class last year. He wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the film he submitted entitled Boy Trouble. The film also features his darling daughter and a neighbor girl. I’ve got to hand it to him, he’s much braver than I am. He made this film with absolutely no crew!
Many in the online filmmaking community have taken the time to help John out by offering some great constructive criticism. Whether he is chosen as one of the contestants of the show or not, I know that with his love for filmmaking and his determination, he’ll continue to grow and develop as a filmmaker.
Check out John’s film at http://films.thelot.com/films/1559.
Addendum: John just read this post and gave me the low-down on the actress (whom I described as a neighbor girl above) in his film. Her name is Tasha Trujillo. Tasha was second runner-up to Miss California in 2004, is currently host of the nationally broadcast TV show Latin Eyes, is a San Francisco 49er cheerleader, a former San Jose Sabercat Cheerleader, and was Miss San Francisco Bay Area in 2004. She is 25 years old.