Mike McCafferty Announces the Return of “The Invisible Man,” Plus New Projects for Vince and Paul, and an Old One and an Interview

The Invisible Man Returns!

With all the hints and buzz that something might be happening on The Invisible Man front lately, it was very exciting to see this announcement by Mike McCafferty from the other day!

Dear Fans,
Talked to Vinny.
Talked to Paul.
Talked to Eddie.
They’re all on board.
We’re making a little something. Gonna kickstart it in a bit.
For reals this time.
Stay tuned.

What exactly is this little something?  A full-blown movie?  An I-Man short?  My guess is the latter, but we’ll eventually find out.  Even if it’s a short film, it’ll be awesome to see the guys back together again in the roles we loved them in!  And, who knows?  If it’s a short and it does well, we may get more I-Man.  One can dream, can’t one?

Paul Ben-Victor’s New Series:  Vinyl

The very talented Paul Ben-Victor has landed himself a role on another HBO series.  This one is called Vinyl and it’s helmed by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger.  It’s about the New York City rock and roll music scene of the 1970s. Paul plays the role of music executive Maury Gold.

Vinyl is due to air in 2016.

Paul Ben-Victor in Friends and Romans

Paul Ben-Victor in "Friends & Romans"

Paul Ben-Victor in “Friends and Romans”

Friends and Romans premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival last year as well as the Boston International Film Festival.  Now it is due to be released October 23 in Philadelphia and Providence, Rhode Island, before heading to New York in November. No word yet on if it will get a wider release.

What is it about?  Well, here’s what writer/producer Gregg Greenberg has to say about his film.

Paul plays Dennis Socio in the film.  Here’s a trailer.

Cooper Talk Interviews Paul Ben-Victor

Steve Cooper from Cooper Talk interviewed Paul back in March.  It’s a great hour-long interview and well worth your time.  Steve and Paul talk a little Invisible Man too!  Listen to the interview here.

Vincent Ventresca in Wicked City

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen Vince regularly on our TV sets but, now, with his new recurring role on Wicked City, we’ll be seeing him on a somewhat more regular basis.

Vince plays the role of Jimmy, ex-boyfriend of Betty, one of the lead characters.

If you look closely at the following two pictures, you’ll see Vince sitting in the corner at the table read for Wicked City.  Click on the pictures for a better look.

Wicked City Table Read

Wicked City Table Read

Wicked City Table Read

Wicked City Table Read

Wicked City premieres Tuesday, October 27, on ABC.

Stakeout:  A New Webseries Starring Vincent Ventresca

stakeout

Vincent Ventresca and Erik Palladino have put together a little web series that will be coming out in November.  Erik describes the series as basically two guys in a car on a stakeout.  It sounds pretty low budget but, also, sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

Here’s a video promo for the show.

Real Life Unaired Pilot

Finally, here’s an unaired Vincent Ventresca pilot for you.  Real Life is a pilot from 1998 that was never picked up or aired.  Vince has a supporting role in it as a doctor and the husband of one of the main characters.

Maybe it’s a good thing that it didn’t get picked up, because shortly afterward, Vince landed the role of Darien Fawkes on The Invisible Man.

Enjoy!

Vincent Ventresca Co-Stars in “Break Point” and Talks “Invisible Man,” and a Dragon Con I-Man Panel This Weekend

Vincent Ventresca’s latest movie Break Point is out in theaters this weekend. Vince has a small role in it as Gary, the douchebag hair model boyfriend of Amy Smart’s character, Heather.

Hmm…I seem to remember Darien Fawkes from The Invisible Man also doing some hair modeling in his past.

Break Point stars Jeremy Sisto and David Walton.  It’s about two estranged brothers who reunite to make a run at a major tennis tournament. Here’s the trailer for the film.

In this scene, Gary meets David Walton’s character, Darren.

In this interview, Vince talks about the director, the writer, and the relationship between Gary and Heather.

Here’s some behind-the-scenes footage from the film.  Look closely and you’ll see Vince in a couple of scenes.

 

Break Point is getting a limited release this weekend in these cities.  It’s also available on VOD at iTunes and Amazon.

Rama’s Screen recently did an interview with Vincent, which you can read here.  I really love this interview.  Rama starts out revealing that he is an Invisible Man fan and that makes the whole interview even more fun, especially when he comments on the shirtless scene.  Vince gives all you VVSB’rs a shout out when he mentions the Vincent Ventresca Shirtless Brigade!

Vincent Ventresca shirtless in "Break Point"

Vincent Ventresca shirtless in “Break Point.”

But the best part of Rama’s interview was by far when he asked Vince if The Invisible Man could come back. Vince replies saying that he’s been talking about it with Matt Greenberg, the series’ creator.  He doesn’t really give us much information in the interview, but Mike McCafferty has hinted that something might be going on.

Although they are being tight lipped about it, the fact that, at the very least, discussions are taking place, makes the fan girl in me squee with delight.  As some of you may know, years ago I had an entertainment lawyer approach Universal so that we could start a dialog about the rights to The Invisible Man.  I got turned down flat.

My thoughts since have been that if The Invisible Man is to have any chance of coming back, it would most likely happen if the people involved in the making of the original series worked to make it happen.  And even for them, there are a lot of hurdles to overcome.  When it comes to the movie and TV world, getting anything made is hard.  Real hard.

But the fact that there is actually some kind of effort being put toward that goal is so freaking awesome.  How cool would it be to get the cast back in both The Invisible Man and my movie too?  To my knowledge, I don’t think anything like that has ever been done before.

In the interview, Vince mentions his hope for finding a bigger audience.  And that’s going to be vital to its success.  We already have a small loyal audience for the show, but it needs to grow.  With such a huge quantity of media clamoring for the audience’s attention nowadays, it’s hard to stand out and get noticed.  So, from a strategic point of view, getting both the show and a fan-produced movie made could be enough of a tipping point to get us known to the wider audience.

I know I’ll keep working on my end to help make that happen.

I-Man at Dragon Con

Lastly, but by no means least, in commemoration of the show’s 15th anniversary, there is fan-run Invisible Man panel happening this weekend at Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia!

The panel takes place tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m. in the Marriott hotel, room M303-M304.

If you’re attending Dragon Con this weekend, be sure not to miss it!

Announcing Our Crash the Super Bowl Commercial: “Doritos Golden Trophy”!

Hey, folks, I’m pleased to announce that our commercial for the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest is now online!  Now before I send you to the link to watch it, I want to give a big thanks to our cast and crew and especially our director, Sandra Myers, for making this ad a reality.  We couldn’t have done it without you!  This was truly a group effort.

There are only a couple of days left before the submission period closes so we need you to help us out and get us noticed!  Here’s how you can help:

  • Accept the Doritos Facebook app!  It’s the only way you’ll be able to watch the commercial.
  • Go rate the ad by giving it five stars!  Not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars!  We need to keep near the top of the ratings and not get lost at the bottom so that we can get noticed.
  • Post a comment!  You’re comment will appear on your Facebook page along with a link to the commercial.
  • Share the commercial!  There are three share buttons below the ad.  One for Facebook, one for Twitter, and one for email.  Please share it with everyone you know and ask them to rate and share it too!

Thanks for your help.  Now go watch the commercial!

Doritos Golden Trophy Commercial

 

Season Five of “In Plain Sight” Starts Tomorrow!

Hey, folks, sorry I’ve been so quiet lately, but the treatment writing and class have been keeping me busy. I wanted to take a few minutes here to remind all of you that In Plain Sight’s final season starts tomorrow, March 16. I believe this is a short season too, so if you want to watch Paul Ben-Victor in the role of Stan McQueen, don’t hesitate to tune in before the show disappears!

The show starts at 10/9 Central on the USA channel.  As usual, be sure to check your local listings for the correct time and channel in your area.

Here’s a sneak peak…


Craig Silverstein Named One of the Top 50 Power Showrunners for 2011!

We Invisible Man fans have always recognized the incredible talent of Craig Silverstein.  The I-Man episodes he wrote are always among our favorites.  He was even described as a young savant by one of the cast members (I forget which one.  Vince, I think?).  It’s been exciting to see Craig’s career skyrocket, although I have to admit that I would love to see Craig writing more I-Man.

Now Craig has been named one of the “Top 50 Power Showrunners 2011” by the Hollywood Reporter!  How cool is that?  It couldn’t happen to nicer or more talented guy.  Check out the write up in the Hollywood Reporter:

 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/craig-silverstein-247420

It’s hard enough to get one show on TV but, impressively, Craig has two shows currently on the air:  Nikita and Terra Nova!  Here’s a little bit of info about each of them.

_________________________________________________

Nikita

The second season of Nikita is already underway. Craig is executive producer of the show and he’s been pretty active promoting the show.  He started giving us tidbits of info about the new season this summer during Comic-Con and the info keeps on coming. I’ve compiled a bunch of these recent videos from around the web of our favorite I-Man writer himself talking about Nikita.

Comic-Con Interviews

Comic-Con Panel

Craig Silverstein and Shane West

Episode Previews

Nikita airs Fridays at 8 p.m./7 p.m. Central on the CW.  Be sure to check your local listings for the time and channel in your area.

__________________________________________________

Terra Nova 

Craig also is an executive producer on the new sci-fi series, Terra Nova.  According to the Hollywood Reporter, he is credited with being one of the co-creators, although I’m not sure how much actual hands on day-to-day involvement he has with the series.

The sci-fi lover in me is really starting to enjoy this series.  Have any of you been watching it?  If not, you might want to give it a try.  It airs on Mondays at 8 p.m./7 p.m. Central on FOX (again, check your local listings).

__________________________________________________

2011 has turned into a very good year for Craig with two successful series concurrently on the air and being named one of the Top 50 Power Showrunners.

Congratulations, Craig!



Filming in San Francisco

Back in July I had the priviledge of listening to a presentation by Susannah Greason Robbins, the Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Commission.  The presentation was hosted by Renaissance SF, a group I belong to that is working to promote the arts in San Francisco.

In her speech Susannah talked about the state of filmmaking in San Francisco, the rebate program, and other perks and programs for filmmakers. Thankfully, her presentation was filmed, giving you the opportunity to listen to it if you are interested.  Her speech was split into two videos, which I’ve imbedded below.  Each video is about 30 minutes long.  (You can hear my voice briefly in the question and answer session near the end.)

It’s serendipitious for our feature film that I have set the story in San Francisco because, not only is it a beautiful city and conveniently close to where I am located, but, also, because San Francisco is one of only two cities in the state of California that has a rebate program for filmmakers.  If I get lucky enough to score the State’s rebate also, it could be a double win…and all without having to leave the state to get a tax rebate.

“In Plain Sight” Season 4 Starts Tomorrow!

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

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?!