Author Archives: Amanda Rogers

A New Look for Vince

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Vincent Ventresca recently guest starred in an episode of Hot in Cleveland last month. Fortunately for us, it’s not too late to see it.  The episode, entitled “Unseparated at Birthdates,” will air again tomorrow, July 17, at 9:30 a.m. on TV Land.  Be sure to check listings for the exact time and channel in your area.  If you don’t get TV Land, you can, also, watch it immediately online here.

In this episode Vince plays Dr. Doug; and he’s sporting a whole lot more hair than ever before.  In fact, his look gets quite a reaction from Valerie Bertinelli’s character!

So what do you think of Vincent’s new look?


A Brand New Look

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If you haven’t looked at Shoom Zone’s website in a while, go check it out.  It has a new fresh look!

As much as I liked the previous header picture, it didn’t fit anymore.  So I replaced it with not one picture, but fifteen…all from the shoot we did a few months ago.  To see all of them simply keep refreshing the page.  The pictures randomly rotate.

The front page is configured quite differently too.  There’s a top feature section and only one full post after that is visible.  The other most current posts are links below that.  You can click on one at a time to read them; or you can click on the Blog link in the side menu to see all the posts sequentially.

Take a look around.  I hope you like it!


“In Plain Sight” Season 4 Starts Tomorrow!

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Starting tomorrow, we get to enjoy watching Paul Ben-Victor back in the role of Stan McQueen on In Plain Sight!  Can you believe it’s already the fourth season?

To watch, tune in to the USA Network Sunday, May 1, at 10/9C.  Be sure to check your local listings for the channel and time in your area.

While you’re waiting, check out what Paul has to say about his character and the new season in this interview:

Paul Ben-Victor Interview


Moving Forward

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If you’ve been keeping up with my Facebook or Twitter feeds, you know, unfortunately, that we didn’t make it into the finals of the Dockers contest. If you’re reading it here for the first time then, yeah, I’m disappointed too. I put a lot of work and money into that contest and I know you guys voted your little hearts out to get me into the semifinals, but those are the breaks.  Sometimes you win the battles and sometimes you don’t; but don’t believe for a minute that we’ve lost the war.

I’m reminded of something I heard several years ago regarding the film business: Expect to get 100 no’s for every yes.  If one isn’t able to deal with that, then they shouldn’t be in this business.

Like any good story the protagonist must overcome obstacle after obstacle, some of them seeming insurmountable, before reaching his or her final goal. This is just another obstacle in our story. The quest to reunite the cast of The Invisible Man lives on!

I have no regrets about the entering the contest.  I really don’t.  It was a wonderful (albeit exhausting) and much needed learning experience for me and I was able to show that, yes indeed, I can pull together a production.  There is only so much one can learn from books and classes.  One really needs to just get out there and do it.  As a result, I have footage that I can use for other purposes.  Yep, it won’t go to waste.  For example, I can re-cut it and use it to create a crowdfunding video.  Crowdfunding, in fact, is most likely the next step that I’m going to be taking in the future to raise the seed money I need to get this project off the ground.  I don’t have much of a choice.  I’m personally tapped out.  It’ll take me years to pay back that bank loan I took out to fund the video.

But first I need to finish the story.  It’s been sitting idle for far too long and my screenwriter has been infinitely patient with me as I dealt with reprecussions from my auto accident, holding the Name the Movie Characters Contest, my computer dying, and then entering the Dockers contest.  Now I really need to focus on getting the story done because no story…no movie. 

There is one advantage, however, to letting the story sit for so long and that is that I’ve had a long time to think about it.  There’s a bit of screenwriting advice that I heard once and that is that after you’ve written the first draft, put the story away for a month or two or six and then come back to it because, although it may seem perfect when you finished that first draft, you’ll really see its flaws after you’ve been away from it for a while.  I can really see the wisdom in that advice because I see flaws now that I didn’t see previously.  Scenes that I was absolutely in love with will have to go because they really don’t serve the story and its theme.  That’s hard, but it has to be done.

Before I tackle the treatment, however, I need to get the story bible done.  Getting the characters fleshed out, the pseudoscience in place, and the back story done are a vital foundation for the story.  It’s absolutely needed in order to keep everything consistent.

I promised you pictures and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of our video and I haven’t forgotten.  I just need to still get the pictures and footage.  I, also, wanted to wait until you actually got to see the video, which is now posted on Facebook and on the home page of this website.

So go watch it and tell me what you think.  If you like it great, but if not, tell me why.  I do appreciate constructive criticism.  How can I learn and grow as a filmmaker without it?!

Countdown to Monday

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Recently, I had pretty much resigned myself to not getting into the finals of the contest.  The deadline for turning in the releases and other paperwork had come and gone and I had heard nothing from Dockers.  So I went back and read the rules again trying to see if maybe I missed something.  (The rules are written rather loosely and open to interpretation.)  Well, in parentheses there are two words: “if requested” that could be interpreted as meaning that Dockers might choose not to ask for upfront paperwork.  If that was so, I still had a chance.

I’ve been monitoring the conversations on Facebook and Twitter and other semi-finalists have also been wondering if the top five had been notified yet, but there was no answer from Dockers.  The only reply we’ve been getting from Dockers is that they would let everyone know who the top five were on Monday the 25th.

Until recently. 

The other day one semi-finalist asked on Twitter if “the top 5 already know they are in the top 5?”  The answer back from Dockers:  “No they do not.”

Whew!  That’s great news!  That means I still have a shot of being in the top five!

In two days we will find out for sure.  If I do make it, please be prepared to vote again because we will only have five days to vote and each person will only be able to vote once per day.  That means only five votes per person!  Yikes!

So please stay tuned for this coming Monday (April 25) for the results.  Let’s hope that Dockers thinks that reuniting the cast of The Invisible Man is as great a project as we think it is!

The Waiting Game

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Wow, it’s been an extremely hectic few weeks since I last updated you about the contest and my submission.  I didn’t mean to let my blogging updates go this long, but it’s been crazy busy.  Fortunately, things are starting to wind down a bit, although I’m still wrapping up loose ends from the shoot.  The cast’s and crew’s jobs may have ended already, but producers are still on the job long after wrap is called.  Yep, no rest for the producer!

I already posted the big news on Facebook and Twitter a few weeks ago, but have been too freakin’ busy to post it here so, if for some reason you haven’t heard the big news yet, here it is:  I am definitely a semi-finalist in the Dockers Wear the Pants contest! 

I have all of you to thank for that.  Seriously, I couldn’t have gotten this far without all of you who tirelessly voted for me daily for all those weeks.  You guys totally rock!  And I’m making sure to let the cast know that it was your support that got me into this position.  Fans from not only the US, but, also, the UK, France, Italy, Serbia, the Netherlands, the Ukraine, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, etc. all supported the project with their votes.  We are very much an international group!  How cool is that?!

So what’s next?

Well, according to the rules, Dockers should pick their top five by around April 6 or so and send them releases and other paperwork to fill out.  Now I haven’t heard anything from them yet, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything at this point.  They’ve been running a few days late this entire contest, so I’m still holding out hope that I’m one of the top five.  The judges are judging the submissions based on the criteria of originality, creativity, and suitability to represent the Dockers Brand.  Based on what I’ve seen from the other contestants, I definitely have one of the top projects when it comes to originality and creativity.  As far as suitability to represent the Dockers Brand…well, that’s subjective and only the judges really know what they are looking for.

Now if I was a major company like Dockers, I would definitely be looking at projects that have the possibility of worldwide exposure, which this project has.  Movie audiences are worldwide and we already know that millions watched The Invisible Man around the globe.  Tapping into that audience by partnering with a movie could be a smart move for them. 

But is a sci-fi movie produced by a fan the kind of image they want?  Hard to say.  The video we shot definitely had more of a fun and humorous tone to it and I love it.  But in the back of my mind I keep thinking, are they looking for something with more of a cool sophisticated vibe?  Is what we shot too geeky?  Yeah, I can drive myself crazy second guessing myself.  But when it comes right down to it, I’m proud of what we shot.  My director, Sandra Myers, and the entire cast and crew all did a fantastic job and poured their hearts into it.  It shows in the quality of their work!  I can’t begin to thank them for their help with this shoot.  Filmmaking is definitely a team sport and I had an awesome team!  I’d be more than happy to work with any of them again in the future.

Whatever happens with this contest, I now know that, if need be, I can pull together a quality shoot on a low budget and a tight timeline.  And I did it on my very first shoot!  That said, I hope I never have to pull a shoot together that quickly.  Seriously.  It’s exhausting.  I was literally getting three or four hours of sleep most nights.  I’m way too old for that kind of physical abuse.  But, if I can produce a small shoot under those circumstances, I know I can definitely handle a bigger project…like a feature film.

I can’t show you the video we shot just yet.  I wish I could, but Dockers requires that submissions be original and not previously published, so I have to wait and see what the outcome of this competition will be before I can share that with you.  At this point, I’ve put too much into the project to risk being disqualified.

I’ve got a lot of blogging to do to catch all of you up on the details of what’s been happening these past few weeks.  We, also, took behind-the-scenes footage and photos that I still need to get and share with all of you.  I mean we’ve got some really cool stuff.  I can’t wait to show you.  So stay tuned!

Countdown: One Week!

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We’re in the final stretch, folks!  Less than a week till Round 1 ends!  Now Dockers gave the impression that they were going to post the vote leaders, but they never did.  So I decided to take matters into my own hands and find out where we stand in this contest.  I risked carpal tunnel syndrome and went through all 3,000 entries!  Whew!  And I have the sore neck, shoulder, arm, and wrist to prove it!  So what’s the verdict?

Well, it’s good news and bad news.  The good news is that we are definitely in the top 50!  Out of 3,000  or so entries that’s something to be very proud of!  And it’s because of all of you voting every day and trying to help spread the word, and, heck, even recruiting your family to vote!  So where are we?  Currently, we are number 32.  That’s the bad news, because as I went through each entry, I found more entries that had more votes than we have and it pushed us down the list.  But it’s not terrible news and I’m certainly not going to complain about where we are in this contest.  Do I wish we were in the top five?  Of course.  But considering all the problems we’ve had trying to get the word out to other fans (with the broken fan club mailing list and Facebook blocking me from friending other I-Man fans), I’d say we’re doing pretty good.

But this last week is especially dangerous for us.  The most motivated contestants and their supporters are in this top 50 and they are pushing very hard, so we need to keep pushing just as hard lest we keep dropping and fall out of the top 50.  I’m afraid to say it could happen.  Behind us there are contestants who have more voters than we have and could theoretically pass us by.  One contestant, another filmmaker no less, has been right on our tail for several days now.  Today he passed us up…not because he has a better project or a loyal established fan base, he doesn’t; but because he’s been vote trading with other contestants.  In fact, a lot of contestants have been vote trading. 

It’s not against the rules (I checked), but it is a flawed strategy because they are voting for the very people they are competing against.  Also, the way the app is designed, someone could vote once for someone just to get their picture on their page and then come back every day and leave a message on their page saying they voted again when they really didn’t.  The contestant would really have no way of knowing for sure.  I’d like to think that all the contestants are honorable, but I live in the real world and wouldn’t be surprised if some honorable contestants are being suckered by less honorable contestants.  So I’m not playing the vote trading game. 

Besides, when I contact the cast and tell them we made it into the top 50, I’ll be able to proudly say that it was the I-Man fans who got us there and not because I was trading votes with the competition.  And I do have to, also, give a shout out of thanks to all my family members, friends, and fellow filmmakers who have also been tirelessly voting every day.  All of you have been wonderful in your support!  Thank you so much!

Contest Submissions Progress

Friday, my director and I sat down and hammered out the cast list, which is basically a list of all the roles in the video and what type of actor we were looking to cast in each role.  The next day I posted the roles on SF Casting and, after being approved, they went live on Monday morning.  Within hours I literally had hundreds of submissions from actors!  So I’ve been combing through them trying to find actors who fit what we are looking for.  Tomorrow I’m going to finish that up and then contact the chosen actors and invite them to the audition, which is being held in Pleasanton, California, this Saturday.

Monday afternoon, my director and I visited the studio we are planning on using.  It’s also located in Pleasanton and run by some really nice people.  We’re shooting in a studio because I wanted a plain white backdrop for the video.  This will put the focus on the actors without the distraction of any background and give the video a clean uncluttered look.  To get that kind of background you need to use a studio with a cyclorama, which is basically a wall with rounded corners, so you don’t see any hard edges.  Another advantage of using a studio is that we won’t have to move from location to location.  We’ll be able to do all the scenes on one sound stage and just change a few props, actors, and lights. 

With a small low-budget production like this, I’m doing much more than just producing.  I’m also playing financier, accountant, casting director, costumer, and prop master; and I’m sure my roles will expand even more in the days to come.  Today I ran around to various businesses looking for the costumes and props that we will need.  I struck out at a few places, but managed to find a couple of places that can give me just what I am looking for.

It’s getting late and I need to sign off now but, remember, keep voting!