World Premiere of “Anytown”

Tomorrow night, Friday, March 27, is the world premiere of Anytown.  Why should you care?  Because our own Paul Ben-Victor is featured in this film!  Paul plays the role of Principal Wheeler in this indie production that is premiering at the 2009 Method Film Festival.

 paul-ben-victor-as-principal-wheeler1

Synopsis:  Anytown revolves around a middle-American teenage boy who is negatively affected by the proliferation of the media surrounding terrorism and the war in Iraq. As a result, he and his friends become involved in an altercation that escalates into a hate crime against an East Indian classmate that shocks the entire nation.

Time:  7:00 p.m.
Location:  Regency 8 Agoura Hills
29045 Agoura Road
Agoura Hills, CA 91301

Tickets are $7.00 to $10.00 and will allow you to get into the party being held afterward at the Chapter 8 Lounge.  To order tickets go to Brown Paper Tickets.

Paul Ben-Victor in “Sin, a Cardinal Deposed”

I just found out that Paul Ben-Victor is part of a staged reading of Sin, a Cardinal Deposed.  This is a play that apparently started March 5, but according to the theatre website has three more showings.  The thing that’s tricky about this reading is that it has an alternating cast and I couldn’t find any cast information about upcoming shows, so you take your chances as to whether Paul is actually performing the night you attend.

Synopsis:

In Suffolk Superior Court, lawyer Orson Krieger treads a fine line between respect and contempt.

He relentlessly pursues answers from the elusive Cardinal Bernard Law, the Archbishop of Boston, for his failure to protect the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests in his archdiocese.

Every question, every answer, every word of this play was taken from two hearings and one trial.

All the characters are real.

A review of the staged reading can be found at Blog Critics Magazine.

The reading is held every Thursday at 8:00 p.m. at the Hayworth Theatre, and runs from Thursday, March 26, to Thursday, April 9.  Tickets are normally $20, but this week’s performance is a special benefit for SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) and the ticket price is $50.

The Hayworth Theatre
2509 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA  90057
Website:   http://thehayworth.com

Reservations
(323) 960-4442
Order Tickets Online

Vince Guest Stars in “Without a Trace”

vincent-ventresca

Set your DVRs!  Vincent Ventresca will be guest starring in an upcoming episode of Without a Trace.  The episode is entitled “Daylight” and was originally scheduled to air this coming Tuesday, March 24, at 10:00 p.m. on CBS.  However, because of the President’s press conference, CBS is showing on their schedule that the episode has been pushed back to Tuesday, March 31, at 10:00 p.m.  As usual, be sure to check your local listings. 

Synopsis:  During the search for a missing psychologist, the team discovers the victim’s brother was imprisoned for serial rape, which makes them question if his brother’s past is connected to the disappearance. Meanwhile, Martin’s relationship with Kim heats up.

Vince plays the role of David Morgan in this episode.

“Path” Makes a Move

Wasn’t it great seeing Eddie Jones on last week’s episode of Path?  I’m once again reminded what a talented and dynamic actor he is…and a plain nice person to boot.  This week Eddie once again makes an appearance in this week’s episode entitled “Hot Coffee.”  Jason Makiaris also makes a brief appearance in this episode.

For all you I-Man fans, have you been noticing all the little I-Man references sprinkled throughout the series?  How many have you caught?

Now don’t go looking for the new episode in the usual places.  Mike has moved the series to a few new locations.  So go check them out and show your support by voting (you have until midnight Friday) and, of course, telling your friends.

Facebook Group – Path:  The Series

http://www.paththeseries.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/PathTheSeries

By the way, here’s a little video about the Friendship League.  If you are interested in finding out more about this organization, check out their website at http://friendshipleague.org.

 


And in this video the Friendship League gets kicked out of Ralph’s.  Aw…they were just trying to be friendly.  Anybody want to go to their Thursday barbecue?

IIFF & WonderCon

IIFF Meeting

A little over a week ago I was in San Francisco twice.  Thursday night it was for the monthly IIFF (Institute for International Film Financing) meeting held at the Academy of Art University

For anyone interested in learning about film financing, I highly recommend IIFF’s meetings as well as their workshops.  If you’re not near the Bay Area, meetings are occasionally held in other areas.  Just keep an eye on the IIFF website.

I knew four out of the five speakers Thursday night:  an executive producer through whom I hired one of my story analysts; a lawyer who is also a distributor, producer, and investor; the director of IIFF; and my own lawyer.  The fifth speaker was an accomplished screenwriter (has sold over 20 features), novelist, and producer, and I made a point of briefly talking to him and getting his contact info.

To give you an idea of the kind of information you can expect from IIFF meetings, the program was as follows:

  1. BLENDING ART & COMMERCE: Crafting Movie Deals That
    Really Work
  2. THE REEL DEAL: Getting Your Indie Financed, Produced &
    Distributed Without Getting Ripped Off
  3. FILM BUDGETING & SCHEDULING: Key to Success for
    Filmmakers & Financiers
  4. STARTING ON THE RIGHT FOOT: Legal Documents Any Film
    Entrepreneur Needs
  5. HOLLYWOOD PROFITS: Quantitative Drivers of Motion
    Picture Profitability

Some of the information I’ve heard before, but I usually pick up some new tidbits at every meeting I attend and I consider them well worth my time.

Have you ever been in the embarrassing situation of walking right by someone you know and not even recognizing them?  Well, that’s what happened to me at the IIFF meeting.  I smiled and walked right by a bearded man in the hallway and it wasn’t until I heard my name and recognized the voice that I realized the man was my lawyer.   You would think I would know my own lawyer if I saw him, right?  Well, I haven’t seen him since last May.  We communicate primarily by email and phone.  So even though I knew he would be speaking that night, I had no idea that he had grown a beard and I didn’t recognize him.  Amazing how much a beard can change some people’s appearance.

WonderCon

Last weekend was WonderCon.  WonderCon is the smaller sister convention to Comic-Con and is run by the same organization.  At 29,000 attendees, one would hardly call it small.  In fact, it is the second largest comics convention on the West Coast.  But when you compare it to Comic-Con’s 125,000+ attendees, it is dwarfed by comparison. 

By the way, if you are planning on attending Comic-Con this July, you’ll want to hurry and get your tickets.  It’s only March, but can you believe the four-day passes are almost sold out already?

WonderCon was held at Moscone Center South, just south of Market Street, in San Francisco.  If the con ever grows to the size of Comic-Con, there’s plenty of room to expand as Moscone Center North wasn’t even used.  I knew I was getting close to the convention center when I saw a storm trooper standing on a busy street corner…not your everyday sight in San Francisco.  By the way, crowd control into the convention center was done by Darth Vader and some storm troopers.  I found it rather amusing when a storm trooper told us to “move along.”   

WonderCon is only three days long compared to Comic-Con’s four days plus preview night, but it has a lot of what you would find at the bigger convention.  The big panels are there, although not as many.  This year they had panels for Watchmen, Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, Chuck, and Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles, among others. 

I was there for only one day (Saturday), so I didn’t attend any of the big panels.  I came close to attending the Star Trek panel, but then decided against waiting in the long line and decided to check out the exhibition hall instead.  It’s a big room filled with row after row of exhibitors’ booths, much like Comic-Con.  The biggest difference was the noticable lack of big studio booths.  I think Capcom had the biggest booth and it was pretty tame compared to the ones you find at Comic-Con.

I walked right by a booth where Adam Baldwin was signing autographs, but I didn’t get in line to meet him.  The line to meet Mark Hamill was even longer and there were so many people crowding the booth, I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of him.  However, I did get to chat briefly with Charlott Stewart, who I remember from Little House on the Prairie…a really nice woman.  I, also, could have sworn that I walked right by big-time producer Jeffrey Katzenberg in the crowd.  He was wearing a baseball cap, but it sure looked like him.

I attended a few smaller panels that were more industry oriented.  One was a special effects makeup panel that was pretty cool.  The special effects makeup artist gave some interesting demonstrations using some victims…er, volunteers.  By the time he was done one girl had a bloody hole in her neck with raw flesh hanging down and the rest had a various assortment of smaller scars.  Pretty gross, but fun to watch it being done. 

I also attended a writing workshop by David Gerrold.  He writes primarily science fiction, but, really, his advice could work for most other genres.  One tip he gave that really stuck with me is that if you want to make your characters likeable, make them fun.

I ended up walking out of the last panel.  It was supposed to be about how to do full-time creative work on a part-time schedule…something I’m all too familiar with.  I figured I could pick up some tips, but the panel turned out to be more of an advertisement for the company’s website than truly instructional.  It was poorly put together and very unprofessional.  I wasn’t the only one who walked out.  They were starting to have a serious leakage of audience members.

There was one area where WonderCon beat Comic-Con and that was with the food.  It was just as ridiculously overpriced as it was at Comic-Con, but it was much better.  I had the pizza and, wow, what a difference from the cardboard stuff they try to pass off as pizza at Comic-Con.

Now, I’ve attended comics/popular arts conventions as a regular attendee and as an exhibitor, but this was the first time I’ve attended one as a professional.  I was able to get my paperwork together in time to qualify as one.  What’s cool about attending as a professional is that you get in absolutely free.  Can’t beat that price!  Also, there’s no waiting in those long lines that everyone else has to wait in…just had to pick up my badge at the professional registration booth and I was good to go.  For some reason WonderCon publishes a list of attending professionals on its website.  I don’t remember giving permission to have my name published, but somehow I ended up on the list.  Not sure that really means much because, seriously, does anyone know who all those people are? 

I didn’t take pictures because I still have pictures from last year’s visit to Comic-Con in my camera that I need to download.  My bad.  I apologize for not sharing those with you yet.  I’ve really got to try to get those up soon.

Help Mike Find the Right “Path”

Have you ever wanted to have some creative input into a show or movie?  Well, now here’s your chance.  Mike McCafferty has created an interactive Internet series and you get to vote on what happens next! 

So should he go with the girl?  Go with the Friendship League?  Or play X box?

Is the girl an alien?  With the government?  Or is she crazy?

Should the next location be in a space ship?  In a warehouse?  Or in a Ralphs (supermarket)?

You decide what you want to see happen next and then tune in the following week to see the results of the voting.

Now, I wasn’t able to get this blog up in time for you to vote on the second episode last week.  But the second episode is online and you have until Thursday noon to vote for episode three.  Don’t worry about getting caught up—episode one is still available for viewing.

There are two places, that I know of, where you can view and vote on the videos:

http://mikemccafferty.blogspot.com/

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