Streckfus Entertainment

2007-11-07T17:19:00.000-06:00

Well...man it's been a while. My apologies.

We had a private cast and crew screening that didn't quite go as planned, but the reception was well nonetheless.

"IceBreaker" has so far been submitted to the Sundance and Slamdance film festivals. Later this week we will submit to Tribeca.

It's just a waiting game now...

2007-09-27T22:23:00.000-05:00

Little late on this but.... "IceBreaker" arrived at the LA offices of the Sundance Institute yesterday at approximately 9:00am.

We will get word sometime in December if the film has been accepted or rejected.

2007-09-21T12:05:00.001-05:00

"IceBreaker" will be put in the mail for the Sundance Film Festival on Monday, Sept 24th.

We had a long battle with some pull-down issues, but we were able to resolve them and the film looks and sounds fantastic.

2007-09-14T08:08:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since we've done an update, so here goes:

We have reached picture lock on "IceBreaker".

Our actors have been working very hard on ADR. Our post-production / sound re-recordist Jim Morgan and his team have been doing a bang-up job.

This past Monday Chad & I took the video in to Pixel Farm, for our color correction job. Dave Sweet and his assistant Jennifer Dartt did an amazing job. Thanks also to Christine for figuring out all the logistics.

Chad continues to supervise our audio mix with Jim Morgan and his team. I listened to some samples yesterday and I am amazed. Things are sounding great.

Chad is going to be mixing our audio and video signals together this weekend, so a "Festival Cut" dvd will be ready to send to Sundance next week.

2007-08-27T17:23:00.000-05:00

I'm a little late with this, but we have been really busy. "IceBreaker" editing is complete. I couldn't be happier with the final product.

We are currently working with sound designer Jim Morgan on doing some ADR and final mixing stuff. We should be done with that in the next couple of weeks.

On Sept 10 and 11, "IceBreaker" is having a tape-to-tape color correction done at Pixel Farm in Minneapolis.

We are also currently trying to work on a poster and schedule some publicity photos.

A private screening will be held in October.

2007-05-31T08:43:00.000-05:00

"IceBreaker" Editing Continues

Last night Chad and I were able to get two finish getting two more key scenes cut together. Only two scenes remain, and they are two of the more intensive scenes in the film.

We're still in negotiations with a couple of post-houses in town for our color correction and graphics work, and have a promising lead on a good guy to finish out our audio stuff.

The "Horror House" production that we are working on starts production on June 3rd in St Paul. As always, check www.horrorhousemovie.com for details and updates on that.

2007-05-18T16:28:00.000-05:00

Dear sister...

2007-05-18T16:16:00.000-05:00

Another GRINDHOUSE trailer- sorta...

Acuna Boys

The 'COMING SOON' intro still plays at the Zumbrota State Theatre in Zumbrota, MN.

2007-05-17T09:21:00.000-05:00

I loved the movie "Grindhouse". At this years SXSW Film Festival, Robert Rodriguez held a contest to see who could make the best Grindhouse-style trailer. Here are the results (not for the faint of heart!!!):

Winner:

Hobo With a Shotgun

Runner Ups:

Maiden of Death

The Dead Won't Die

Honorable Mention:

El Jardinero

As I find more I will post them. Enjoy!

Here are the trailers that played with 'Grindhouse' theatrically:

Edgar Wright's "Don't!"

Eli Roth's "Thanksgiving"

Rob Zombie's "Werewolf Women of the SS"

Robert Rodrieguez's "Machete"

2007-05-15T10:36:00.000-05:00

We spent most of yesterday on a location scout for the upcoming HORROR HOUSE shoot, but we were able to meet with one of the bigger post houses in town. The meeting went well and their facility is amazing. Today I am sending them the rough cut of the first five scenes and we will wait until Friday for a quote on color correction, ADR, sound mixing/editing, and some credits/graphics work.

On our way over to see Justen Overlander get a head mold done (again, for HORROR HOUSE), we ran into ICEBREAKER Associate Producer Jeremiah Jacobson. A brief chat ensued and we were on our way.

Exciting stuff.

2007-05-11T10:32:00.000-05:00

All right, things are official now. Streckfus Entertainment has secured a very generous investor and we should be taken care of through post, and hopefully up until the festival circuit.

I believe she would like to remain anonymous, but thank you! You know who you are!

2007-05-11T10:30:00.000-05:00

http://www.hammerfilms.com/

I was really into these films when I first started college. Good to hear that they won't die off.

2007-05-10T09:28:00.000-05:00

Well, our meeting with the post house was cancelled yesterday due to an emergency there. Oh well, these things happen. We will probably be rescheduling for Monday.

We have a conference call this afternoon with our attorney to finalize our investment contracts.

2007-05-08T10:59:00.000-05:00

Spider-Man 3
Sony Pictures Releasing
Weekend gross: $151,116,516
Weeks in release: 1
Number of screens: 4252

Dam

2007-05-05T08:35:00.000-05:00

The Harry Putter premiere was last night. I am proud to say that this is a great little film! Gus did a great job putting it together in editing. There was a great turnout (prob 100 or so people). We got to see a bunch of people that we worked with on IceBreaker- Matthew Feeney & Jeremey Gustafson of course, Jim Westcott (extras wrangling), Stephanie Allensworth (publicist), Melanie Nolan (extra) and last but not least the Barancyzk clan. It was a great night of fun. Nice job Gus and Feeney!

Onto some IceBreaker related stuff-

Our post meeting is coming up with a local post house on Weds, so I will let you know how that goes on Thurs.

Editing continues...we are still on schedule for the '08 Sundance deadline.

2007-05-04T07:46:00.000-05:00

"HARRY PUTTER AND THE SORCERER'S PHONE"

This is a short film written, directed and produced by Jeremy Gustafson, one of the Executive Producers on "IceBreaker". The world premeire is tonight in Minneapolis. For more visit- www.harryputtermovie.com.

2007-05-03T07:57:00.000-05:00

I ASSURE YOU, ICEBREAKER IS STILL ALIVE!!!

Well, I have returned. Although it may not seem like it, but we have been busy. We have been working on securing our post-production funds, getting a new lawyer and...oh yeah, editing the film.

First off, we are very close to securing some funding for all the post work (ADR, audio mix, credits, color correction, poss. an animated title sequence)- I won't say anything until things are official.

We have secured the services of a very noteworthy attorney with a large local firm.

Chad and I had a marathon editing session last week, and have about 2/3 of the film in rough cut form. It is coming together nicely and is looking great. We were concerned about the pacing of the film, but it really does move right along.

This is going to be a great movie!

We are meeting with a local post house next week to discuss the above mentioned items, so I will keep you posted on that.

In other news, we are still preparing for the HORROR HOUSE shoot starting June 3rd. Our key crew has been selected and we are currently in the midst of securing the final locations. I will be starting on shot lists this week. For all things Horror House related, check here: www.horrorhousemovie.com.

That's all for now, I will be making more regular updates than I have over the past few months, so please keep checking back. Thanks to all our loyal supporters!

2007-01-23T08:25:00.000-06:00

Nominations for the 79th Academy Awards

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)
Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson” (THINKFilm)
Peter O’Toole in “Venus” (Miramax, Filmfour and UK Council)
Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children” (New Line)
Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)
Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed” (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Penélope Cruz in “Volver” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)
Helen Mirren in “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox)
Kate Winslet in “Little Children” (New Line)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza in “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)
Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)

Best animated feature film of the year

“Cars” (Buena Vista) John Lasseter
“Happy Feet” (Warner Bros.) George Miller
“Monster House” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Gil Kenan

Achievement in art direction
“Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Art Direction: John Myhre Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
“The Good Shepherd” (Universal) Art Direction: Jeannine OppewallSet Decoration: Gretchen Rau and Leslie E. Rollins
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Art Direction: Eugenio CaballeroSet Decoration: Pilar Revuelta
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista)Art Direction: Rick HeinrichsSet Decoration: Cheryl A. Carasik
“The Prestige” (Buena Vista)Art Direction: Nathan CrowleySet Decoration: Julie Ochipinti

Achievement in cinematography

“The Black Dahlia” (Universal) Vilmos Zsigmond
“Children of Men” (Universal) Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Illusionist” (Yari Film Group) Dick Pope
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Guillermo Navarro
“The Prestige” (Buena Vista) Wally Pfister

Achievement in costume design

“Curse of the Golden Flower” (Sony Pictures Classics) Yee Chung Man
“The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox) Patricia Field
“Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Sharen Davis
“Marie Antoinette” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Milena Canonero
“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Consolata Boyle

Achievement in directing

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Alejandro González Iñárritu
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Martin Scorsese
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood
“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Stephen Frears
“United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal) Paul Greengrass

Best documentary feature

“Deliver Us from Evil” (Lionsgate)A Disarming Films Production Amy Berg and Frank Donner
“An Inconvenient Truth” (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)A Lawrence Bender/Laurie David ProductionDavis Guggenheim
“Iraq in Fragments” (Typecast Releasing)A Typecast Pictures/Daylight Factory Production James Longley and John Sinno
“Jesus Camp” (Magnolia Pictures)A Loki Films ProductionHeidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
“My Country, My Country” (Zeitgeist Films)A Praxis Films Production Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glatzer

Best documentary short subject

“The Blood of Yingzhou District”A Thomas Lennon Films ProductionRuby Yang and Thomas Lennon
“Recycled Life”An Iwerks/Glad Production Leslie Iwerks and Mike Glad
“Rehearsing a Dream”A Simon & Goodman Picture Company ProductionKaren Goodman and Kirk Simon
“Two Hands” A Crazy Boat Pictures Production Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr

Achievement in film editing

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise
“Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Steven Rosenblum
“Children of Men” (Universal) Alex Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)Thelma Schoonmaker
“United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal) Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse and Richard Pearson

Best foreign language film of the year

“After the Wedding” A Zentropa Entertainments 16 ProductionDenmark
“Days of Glory (Indigènes)” A Tessalit ProductionAlgeria
“The Lives of Others” A Wiedemann & Berg ProductionGermany
“Pan’s Labyrinth” A Tequila Gang/Esperanto Filmoj/Estudios Picasso Production Mexico
“Water” A Hamilton-Mehta Production Canada

Achievement in makeup
“Apocalypto” (Buena Vista) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Click” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kazuhiro Tsuji and Bill Corso
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) David Marti and Montse Ribe

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Gustavo Santaolalla
“The Good German” (Warner Bros.) Thomas Newman
“Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Philip Glass
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Javier Navarrete
“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Alexandre Desplat

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth”(Paramount Classics and Participant Productions) Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge
“Listen” from “Dreamgirls”(DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry Krieger and Scott CutlerLyric by Anne Preven
“Love You I Do” from “Dreamgirls”(DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry KriegerLyric by Siedah Garrett
“Our Town” from “Cars”(Buena Vista)Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Patience” from “Dreamgirls”(DreamWorks and Paramount)Music by Henry KriegerLyric by Willie Reale

Best motion picture of the year

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) An Anonymous Content/Zeta Film/Central Films ProductionAlejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)A Warner Bros. Pictures Production Nominees to be determined
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)A DreamWorks Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures ProductionClint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers
“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)A Big Beach/Bona Fide ProductionNominees to be determined
“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)A Granada ProductionAndy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers

Best animated short film

“The Danish Poet” (National Film Board of Canada)A Mikrofilm and National Film Board of Canada ProductionTorill Kove
“Lifted” (Buena Vista)A Pixar Animation Studios Production Gary Rydstrom
“The Little Matchgirl” (Buena Vista)A Walt Disney Pictures ProductionRoger Allers and Don Hahn
“Maestro” (Szimplafilm)A Kedd ProductionGeza M. Toth
“No Time for Nuts” (20th Century Fox)A Blue Sky Studios ProductionChris Renaud and Michael Thurmeier

Best live action short film
“Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)”A Peliculas Pendelton and Tus Ojos ProductionJavier Fesser and Luis Manso
“Éramos Pocos (One Too Many)” (Kimuak)An Altube Filmeak ProductionBorja Cobeaga
“Helmer & Son”A Nordisk Film Production Soren Pilmark and Kim Magnusson
“The Saviour” (Australian Film Television and Radio School)An Australian Film Television and Radio School ProductionPeter Templeman and Stuart Parkyn
“West Bank Story” An Ari Sandel, Pascal Vaguelsy, Amy Kim, Ravi Malhotra and Ashley Jordan ProductionAri Sandel

Achievement in sound editing
“Apocalypto” (Buena Vista) Sean McCormack and Kami Asgar
“Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Lon Bender
“Flags of Our Fathers” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount)Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)Alan Robert Murray
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista)Christopher Boyes and George Watters II

Achievement in sound mixing

“Apocalypto” (Buena Vista)Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Fernando Camara
“Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ivan Sharrock
“Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie Burton
“Flags of Our Fathers” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount) John Reitz, Dave Campbell, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista) Paul Massey, Christopher Boyes and Lee Orloff

Achievement in visual effects

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista)John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall
“Poseidon” (Warner Bros.)Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chaz Jarrett and John Frazier
“Superman Returns” (Warner Bros.)Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover and Jon Thum

Adapted screenplay

“Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” (20th Century Fox) Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan MazerStory by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips
“Children of Men” (Universal)Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by William Monahan
“Little Children” (New Line) Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta
“Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Patrick Marber

Original screenplay

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)Written by Guillermo Arriaga
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)Screenplay by Iris YamashitaStory by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis
“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)Written by Michael Arndt
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse)Written by Guillermo del Toro
“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)Written by Peter Morgan

2007-01-23T08:24:00.000-06:00

The PGA has awarded "Little Miss Sunshine" as the best picture of the year and "Cars" as the best animated picture of the year.

2007-01-19T08:18:00.000-06:00

DAKOTA FANNING CONTROVERSY

The industry is abuzz with the new film "Hounddog" and Dakota Fannings performance in it. Apparently the 12 year old Miss Fanning is raped in a very graphic scene. On my drive home last night the right wingers were all over this, condemning Hollywood and the producers of the film. Sean Hannity (the pompous ass that he is) was one of the main detractors of the film and dedicated a large segment of his show to the subject.

I would want no part in filming a scene that depicts a 12 yr old girl being raped- especially when the actress playing the 12 yr old girl is actually 12 yrs old. I would never let my child take part in a film like this. The people that were defending the film could only muster up comments that "it's art" or "it's only a movie, it's not real". Well duh. "It's art" is not a viable defense anymore, maybe in the 60's, but not now.

I am not going to blast the film. I have not seen it. The wingers have already sold the film as a product of Satan, without even seeing a single frame. Sean Hannity defended himself by saying that the scenes are described in detail in the script. From firsthand experience I can tell you that what is in the script and what is on the screen often is not totally the same. Things happen on set 'in the moment' that can change everything. It is also possible to shoot things without actually showing what is going on. Again, I am not saying that raping a 12 yr old girl on screen can be done tastefully, but PLEASE wait and see the movie before you comment on it. And if you don't want to see that sort of thing, then don't- but PLEASE keep your big fat mouth shut about it then.

Will I see it? Yes. I work in the industry- it's part of my job as a producer to know what kind of product is out there.

If these wingers put as much effort into real rape cases that they are for this film, I think a lot more can be done to help people.

For more info on the film "Hounddog" go to:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0415856/

2007-01-18T08:29:00.004-06:00

Art Directors Guild Nominees

Period Film
----------------------------
Curse of the Golden Flower, PD: Huo Tingxiao
Dreamgirls, PD: John Myhre
Flags of Our Fathers, PD: Henry Bumstead
The Good Shepherd, PD: Jeannine Oppewall
The Prestige, PD: Nathan Crowley

Fantasy Film
------------
Children of Men, PD: Geoffrey Kirland
Pan's Labyrinth, PD: Eugenio Caballero
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, PD: Rick Heinrichs
Superman Returns, PD: Guy Hendrix Dyas
V for Vendetta, PD: Own Paterson

Contemporary Film
-----------------
Babel, PD: Brigette Broch
Casino Royale, PD: Peter Lamont
The Da Vinci Code, PD: Allan Cameron
The Departed, PD: Kristi Zea
The Queen, PD: Alan MacDonald

2007-01-18T08:29:00.003-06:00

I thought this was kind of interesting-

AMPAS Breakdown

Actors
1260
Producers
461
Executives
429
Sound
415
Writers
396
Art Directors
378
Directors
376
Public Relations
371
Members at Large
283
Shorts/Feature Ani
316
Visual Effects
249
Music
237
Editors
224
Cinematographers
186
Documentary
134
Makeup
115
Total
5830

2007-01-18T08:29:00.002-06:00

MPSE (Motion Picture Sound Editors) AWARD NOMS

"Flags of Our Fathers"

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"

"Babel"

"Blood Diamond"

"Dreamgirls"

2007-01-18T08:29:00.001-06:00

WAZOO SHOW UPDATES

As some of you know, Chad and I shot a couple of Wazoo Show skits (www.wazoo.tv). The first one, 'Men in Plaid', was shot in mid-October. The most recent, "Showdown at the OK Cinema', was shot this past weekend. Check www.wazoo.tv for information on episode broadcasts.

2007-01-18T08:29:00.000-06:00

DREAMGIRLS the best picture of the year?

In my opinion-no. A good film, but not the best of the year.

One has to wonder though if DREAMGIRLS isn't the current 'favorite' to take home the top prize. It's on just about every top ten list and it won a Globe. DREAMGIRLS also has all the components of a 'best picture' winner: great direction, script, cinematography, art direction, soundtrack, score, acting, costume design- it's all there. The genre also fits one of Oscars favorites- a behind the scenes look at the entertainemnt world, and a semi-biopic musical. I'm saying it's a favorite to win, this is probably going to be a tough year to pick a best picture winner, but one has to notice that DREAMGIRLS is no slouch.

2007-01-17T08:11:00.000-06:00

GOLDEN GLOBE RESULTS

Best Picture, Drama- BABEL. I have not seen this, and I won't until the DVD release on 2/20. From everything I have read about this, it seems as if critics and fans are split 50/50 on it. I am a big fan of Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography, so I am looking forward to it in that respect. I also have enjoyed Inarritu's previous films AMORES PERROS and 21 GRAMS. I was rooting for THE DEPARTED, it was by far the best picture I have seen this year.

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy- DREAMGIRLS. I liked this movie a lot, and I am glad that it took home the prize in this category. People have disagreed with me, but I liked it better than CHICAGO. Great performances all around and a killer soundtrack.

Best Director- Martin Scorsese. I hate it when best director and picture don't match up. It doesn't make sense to me. Director and picture go togehter like father/mother and child. Oh well, Marty won and that rocks. The Departed was an amazing film that was excellently executed. No deserves this as much as he does. Oscar, here he comes!

Best Actor, Drama- Forrest Whittaker in THE LAST KING OD SCOTLAND. Haven't seen it but from word of mouth and the trailer it looks good. I don't think it's playing anywhere around me, so I might have to wait this one out.

Best Actress, Drama- Helen Mirren for THE QUEEN. Haven't seen this yet either, but I will before the BIG night. Nothing but rave reviews from everyone talking about it.

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy- Sascha Baron Cohen for BORAT. Again, a film I dod not see in theatres and will have to wait for DVD. I am a big fan of the Borat skits and Ali G, etc. I hear he is in talks to c0star in SWEENEY TODD for Tim Burton. Funniest speech of the night.

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy- Meryl Streep for THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA. I liked this movie a lot. I thought it had one of the best casts of the year, lead by the glorious Meryl Streep. The greatest actress of our time. She was still thrilled to win, even after winning countless times before.

Best supporting actor- Eddie Murphy in DREAMGIRLS. Eddie was amazing in this. It's nice to see him get recognized after such an extensive body of work.

Best suppoerting actress- Jennifer Hudson in DREAMGIRLS. She should have been nominated for best actress. This was the performance of the year (of the films I saw).

Best Score- THE PAINTED VEIL. Haven't seen it, will probably catch it on DVD.

Foreign Film- LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA. Haven't seen it, but it's nice to see Clint get recognized...again.

Best Original Song- Prince for some song in HAPPY FEET. Cool, I like Prince.

Best animated film- CARS. My son says it rocks. Word.

2007-01-12T07:47:00.001-06:00

CHILDREN OF MEN has been slowly ganing steam in top ten lists across the country. It is now starting to come in as number one on a lot of lists. This is a fantastic movie! It's not the best picture of the year, but it is a contender. Go see it! Go see it now m'F-ers!

2007-01-12T07:47:00.000-06:00

EDDIE NOMINATIONS, FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM EDITING

Drama

"Babel," Stephen Mirrione, Douglas Crise

"Casino Royale," Stuart Baird

"The Departed," Thelma Schoonmaker

"The Queen," Lucia Zuccheti

"United 93," Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse, Richard Pearson

Comedy/Musical

"The Devil Wears Prada," Mark Livolsi

"Dreamgirls," Virginia Katz

"Little Miss Sunshine," Pamela Martin

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," Craig Wood, Stephen Rivkin

"Thank You for Smoking," Dan Glauberman

2007-01-11T13:25:00.000-06:00

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS YEARLY AWARDS

Emmanuel Lubezki for CHILDREN OF MEN

Dick Pope for THE ILLUSIONIST

Robert Richardson for THE GOOD SHEPARD

Dean Semler for APOCALYPTO

Vilmos Zsigmond for THE BLACK DAHLIA

2007-01-11T13:23:00.000-06:00

WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA YEARLY AWARD NOMINATIONS

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Babel, Written by Guillermo Arriaga, Paramount Vantage

Little Miss Sunshine, Written by Michael Arndt, Fox Searchlight Pictures

The Queen, Written by Peter Morgan, Miramax Films

Stranger Than Fiction, Written by Zach Helm, Sony Pictures Entertainment

United 93, Written by Paul Greengrass, Universal Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer, Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips, Based on a Character Created by Sacha Baron Cohen, Twentieth Century Fox

The Departed, Screenplay by William Monahan, Based on the Motion Picture Internal Affairs, Written by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, Warner Bros. Pictures

The Devil Wears Prada, Screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna, Based on the Novel by Lauren Weisberger, Twentieth Century Fox

Little Children, Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta, Based on the Novel by Tom Perrotta, New Line Cinema

Thank You for Smoking, Screenplay by Jason Reitman, Based on the Novel by Christopher Buckley, Fox Searchlight Pictures

2007-01-04T08:28:00.000-06:00

SAG AWARD NOMINATIONS:

Best Actress

Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children

Best Supporting Actress

Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Best Actor

Leonardo Dicaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Best Supporting

ActorAlan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Honsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls

Ensemble
Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine

PGA NOMINATIONS:

Best Picture

Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Animated:
Cars
Flushed Away
Happy Feet
Ice Age: The Meltdown
Monster House

2007-01-03T14:14:00.000-06:00

OF THE MOVIES I'VE SEEN SO FAR THIS YEAR, HERE ARE MY TOP FIVE:

THE DEPARTED
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
UNITED 93
DREAMGIRLS
CHILDREN OF MEN

Most entertaining movie of the year- CASINO ROYALE

I have not seen either one of Eastwood's films, or The Queen, Little Children or Babel.

2006-12-16T12:48:00.000-06:00

FYI:

The GOLDEN GLOBES air on Monday, Jan 15th 2007.

The OSCAR nominations are announced Tuesday, Jan 23rd 2007.

The Independent Spirit Awards air Saturday, Feb 24, 2007.

The OSCARS air Sunday, Feb 25, 2007.

2006-12-15T18:36:00.000-06:00

Well, it's that time of year again....Awards season!

64TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS NOMINATIONS

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

BABEL

BOBBY

THE DEPARTED

LITTLE CHILDREN
THE QUEEN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

PENELOPE CRUZ — VOLVER
JUDI DENCH — NOTES ON A SCANDAL
MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL — SHERRYBABY
HELEN MIRREN — THE QUEEN
KATE WINSLET — LITTLE CHILDREN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

LEONARDO DICAPRIO — BLOOD DIAMOND
LEONARDO DICAPRIO — THE DEPARTED
PETER O'TOOLE — VENUS
WILL SMITH — THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
FOREST WHITAKER — THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

BEST MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

DREAMGIRLS

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

ANNETTE BENING — RUNNING WITH SCISSORS
TONI COLLETTE — LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
BEYONCE KNOWLES — DREAMGIRLS
MERYL STREEP — THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
RENEE ZELLWEGER — MISS POTTER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

SACHA BARON COHEN — BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
JOHNNY DEPP — PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
AARON ECKHART — THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR — KINKY BOOTS
WILL FERRELL — STRANGER THAN FICTION

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

CARS

HAPPY FEET

MONSTER HOUSE

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

APOCALYPTO (USA)

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (USA/JAPAN)

THE LIVES OF OTHERS (GERMANY)

PAN'S LABYRINTH (MEXICO)

VOLVER (SPAIN)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

ADRIANA BARRAZA — BABEL
CATE BLANCHETT — NOTES ON A SCANDAL
EMILY BLUNT — THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
JENNIFER HUDSON — DREAMGIRLS
RINKO KIKUCHI — BABEL

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

BEN AFFLECK — HOLLYWOODLAND
EDDIE MURPHY — DREAMGIRLS
JACK NICHOLSON — THE DEPARTED
BRAD PITT — BABEL
MARK WAHLBERG — THE DEPARTED

BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE

CLINT EASTWOOD — FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
CLINT EASTWOOD — LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
STEPHEN FREARS — THE QUEEN
ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU — BABEL
MARTIN SCORSESE — THE DEPARTED

BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE

GUILLERMO ARRIAGA — BABEL
TODD FIELD & TOM PERROTTA — LITTLE CHILDREN
PATRICK MARBER — NOTES ON A SCANDAL
WILLIAM MONAHAN — THE DEPARTED
PETER MORGAN — THE QUEEN

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT — THE PAINTED VEIL
CLINT MANSELL — THE FOUNTAIN
GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA — BABEL
CARLO SILIOTTO — NOMAD
HANS ZIMMER — THE DA VINCI CODE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE

"A FATHER'S WAY" - THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESSMusic by: Seal and Christopher BruceLyrics by: Seal
"LISTEN" - DREAMGIRLSMusic & Lyrics by: Henry Krieger, Anne Preven, Scott Cutler and Beyonce Knowles
"NEVER GONNA BREAK MY FAITH" - BOBBYMusic & Lyrics by: Bryan Adams, Eliot Kennedy and Andrea Remanda
"THE SONG OF THE HEART" - HAPPY FEETMusic & Lyrics by: Prince Rogers Nelson
"TRY NOT TO REMEMBER" - HOME OF THE BRAVEMusic & Lyrics by: Sheryl Crow

London Film Critics

British producer

Paul Greengrass, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, "United 93"

Al Clark, Ken Marshall, Rachel Robey, Paul Andrew Williams, "London to Brighton"

Lisa Bryer, Andrea Calderwood, Charles Steel, "The Last King of Scotland"

Rebecca O'Brien, "The Wind that Shakes the Bar-ley"

Graham King, "The Departed"

British newcomer

Andrea Arnold, writer/director, "Red Road"

Paul Andrew Williams, writer/director/producer, "London to Brighton"

Jodie Whittaker, actress, "Venus"

Clare-Hope Ashitey, actress, "Children of Men"

Rebecca Hall, actress, "The Prestige"

British actress in support

Emily Blunt, "The Devil Wears Prada"

Emma Thompson, "Stranger than Fiction"

Juliet Stevenson, "Pierrepoint"

Emily Watson, "The Proposition"

Helen McCrory, "The Queen"

British actor in support

Eddie Marsan, "Pierrepoint"

Michael Caine, "The Prestige"

Bill Nighy, "Notes on a Scandal"

Leslie Phillips, "Venus"

Dominic Cooper, "The History Boys"

British actress

Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"

Helen Mirren, "The Queen"

Kate Winslet, "Little Children"

Loraine Stanley, "London to Brighton"

Kate Dickie, "Red Road"

British actor

Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat"

Toby Jones, "Infamous"

Timothy Spall, "Pierrepoint"

James McAvoy, "The Last King of Scot-land"

Christian Bale, "The Prestige"

British director

Andrea Arnold, "Red Road"

Stephen Frears, "The Queen"

Christopher Nolan, "The Prestige"

Kevin Macdonald, "The Last King of Scotland"

Ken Loach, "The Wind that Shakes the Barley"

Actress

Helen Mirren, "The Queen"

Penelope Cruz, "Volver"

Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"

Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"

Joan Allen, "The Upside of Anger"

Actor

Jeff Daniels, "The Squid and the Whale"

Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"

Richard Griffiths, "The History Boys"

David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck"

Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland"

Screenwriter

Peter Morgan, "The Queen"

Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"

Guillermo del Toro, "Pan's Labyrinth"

Dan Futterman, "Capote"

Michael Arndt, "Little Miss Sunshine"

Director

Guillermo del Toro, "Pan's Labyrinth"

Pedro Almodovar, "Volver"

Paul Greengrass, "United 93"

Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"

Alfonso Cuaron, "Children of Men"

British Film (the Attenborough Award)

"Children of Men"

"The Queen"

"Red Road"

"The Last King of Scotland"

"The Wind that Shakes the Barley"

Film of the Year

"The Departed"

"Little Miss Sunshine"

"Volver"

"United 93"

"The Queen"

Toronto Film Critic Noms

BEST PICTURE

"The Departed" (Warner Bros.)

"The Queen" ( Alliance Atlantis)

"United 93" (Universal Pictures)

BEST PERFORMANCE, MALE

Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of Americafor Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan "

Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson"

Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland "

BEST PERFORMANCE, FEMALE

Penelope Cruz, "Volver"

Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"

Helen Mirren, "The Queen"

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, MALE

Danny Huston, "The Proposition"

Michael Sheen, "The Queen"

Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed"

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, FEMALE

Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"

Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"

Rinko Kikuchi, " Babel "

BEST DIRECTOR

Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, "L'Enfant"

Stephen Frears, "The Queen"

Paul Greengrass, "United 93"

Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"

BEST SCREENPLAY

Guillermo Arriaga, " Babel "

William Monahan, "The Departed"

Peter Morgan, "The Queen"

BEST CANADIAN FILM

"The Journals of Knud Rasmussen" ( Alliance Atlantis)

"Manufactured Landscapes" (Mongrel Media)

"Monkey Warfare" (Odeon Films)"Six Figures" ( Seville Pictures)

BEST FIRST FEATURE

"Brick", directed by Rian Johnson

"Little Miss Sunshine", directed by Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris

"Thank You for Smoking", directed by Jason Reitman

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
"Happy Feet" (Warner Bros.)

"Over the Hedge" (DreamWorks/Paramount)

"A Scanner Darkly" (Warner Independent Pictures)

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

"L'Enfant" (Mongrel Media)

"Pan's Labyrinth" (Odeon Films)

"Volver" (Mongrel Media)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

"Deliver Us from Evil" (Maple Pictures)

"An Inconvenient Truth" ( Paramount Classics)

"Manufactured Landscapes" (Mongrel Media)

2006-12-01T11:04:00.000-06:00

Woody Allen is 71 today. I never realized how old he is.

I saw his last movie, Scoop.

All I have to is this:

Scarlett Johansson is SCORCHIN' HOT.

2006-11-23T07:56:00.000-06:00

1925-2006

2006-11-17T17:11:00.000-06:00

Peter Bart- either ya love him or hate him.

MEMO TO: Tom Cruise.

You seem to be living at a remarkably high decibel level for someone who's recently been fired, Tom. Paramount may not want you, but filmmakers all over town are submitting projects for your approval as the new co-head of United Artists and you've just greenlighted one of them, co-starring Meryl Streep and (who else) Tom Cruise. Further, there's more buzz surrounding your wedding than there was around the release of "Mission: Impossible III."

And the CEOs of all the congloms (including Paramount's Brad Grey) have signed on to co-host a big charity dinner honoring you, as though to reinforce the question, "Why would anyone fire Tom Cruise?"

Since you continue to be at the center of the storm, Tom, I thought I'd pursue my policy of offering unsolicited advice about the conduct of your career and the rebirthing of United Artists:
Your fans, Tom, want you to turn off Cruise Control. Actors and filmmakers who have worked with you in the past testify that you're both considerate and supportive as a colleague, not the manic control freak depicted by the media. In presiding over your new company, it's more important than ever to foster a kinder and gentler Tom Cruise who creates a positive presence in the community.

Both you and your producing partner, Paula Wagner, are closely identified with the Power Establishment, which can be a strength. Remember, however, that UA in its banner days under Arthur Krim and David Picker built its reputation by welcoming mavericks and outsiders. Tony Richardson was hardly a hot Hollywood director when Picker signed him for "Tom Jones" (which won an Oscar). Similarly, the James Bond books had been sitting on the shelf for a few years before UA mobilized the franchise.

In its prime, starting in the '60s, UA fostered brilliantly idiosyncratic niche films rather than tentpole pictures. During your Paramount deal, Tom and Paula, you clearly tried to sandwich provocative fare between your "Mission: Impossible" pictures, but both "Ask the Dust" and "Elizabethtown" turned out to be cutting edge without the edge. Was it that your "Mission" projects sucked all the energy out of the company?

The major talents, and their reps, by and large, believe that the studios are scaling back both in marketing and dealmaking: Witness that "Borat" became a hero at Fox, but his next movie was set up at Universal. Or that Martin Scorsese made his biggest hit at Warner Bros., but now has closed an overall deal at Paramount. Talent is looking for love and loyalty, Tom. You're in an excellent position to provide the nurture.

The last few years of your career, Tom, have provided reinforcement for the notion that stars should avoid providing TMI -- too much information. The studios of old used to shield the private lives of their stars from public scrutiny. Whatever details we learned were usually phony -- even bios were dreamed up in the offices of press agents. So remember, Tom, your fans don't need to know about the teachings of Scientology. I've had many friends over the years who were Quakers or Mormons, but they never shared their doctrinal epiphanies with me. Try thinking like them, Tom. They're nice people, too.

Now you might very well ask, "Who are you to give me advice, especially about United Artists?" That's a good question, Tom, but I would offer the following: I was once the nominal head of UA during its darkest days in the late '80s. I say "nominal" because UA, at the time, had been stripped of its identity. A percentage of MGM releases were arbitrarily assigned to UA without thought of style or subject matter. As a member of the MGM management team, it was my job to nurture them.

MGM's new hierarch, Harry Sloan, wants to change all that, and I hope you will help him bring it off.

And, yes, the time may come when you, too, may have to fire someone. I know you'll think twice, or three times, about it.

2006-11-17T07:44:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Marty!

2006-11-10T21:52:00.000-06:00

According to Premiere magazine, it appears as though the powers that be are going to try to get DiCaprio listed in the Best Supporting cateogry come Oscar time so he can get a Best Actor nod for Blood Diamond. Also sounds like Nicholson's performance might get bumped into the Best Actor category instead of Best Supporting.

What the hell? DiCaprio's role is obviously the most pivotal - and the most challenging - and although it's always fun to see Nicholson chew up the scenery, his role isn't a leading one. One can argue that Nicholson steals the show, but that doesn't change the fact that the movie really focuses on the characters portrayed by DiCaprio and Damon. So why would DiCaprio's leading performance be shrugged aside? So he doesn't compete with himself in the Best Actor category? How about this: don't nominate him for Blood Diamond. His performance in The Departed is the best work he's done, and although he'll likely turn in another good one for Blood Diamond, that ridiculous accent he displays in the trailer should be enough to take him out of contention anyway. Stupid politcs.

All I know is that Marty better get his Oscar this year. Dude's gonna go apeshit if he gets passed up again.

And just think...if The Departed takes home Best Picture, Brad Pitt gets a statue. Plus there's Oscar buzz about his performance in Babel.....I'm probably gonna lose the Oscar pool once again this year.

2006-11-10T16:45:00.000-06:00

"I can shit bigger than you..."

1919-2006

2006-10-27T18:33:00.000-05:00

BOO-YAH

The IceBreaker wrap party is tomorrow night...it's going to be sick....

Here are some links to the HORROR HOUSE website and blog, the next feature CHad and I are working on:

www.horrorhousemovie.com

http://horrorhouse.blogspot.com/

2006-10-11T08:27:00.000-05:00

ICEBREAKER TRAILER LEAKED ON YOUTUBE.COM

It was bound to happen. There will be a high res version up on www.icebreakermovie.com this weekend or early next week. In the meantime, enjoy:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0Gk6cCblaR8

2006-09-29T11:01:00.000-05:00

AWESOME

Robert Downey Jr. is set to star in his first big-budget action movie - the comic book adaptation "Iron Man". Jon Favreau is directing the movie, which will be distributed by Paramount Pictures in May 2008 reports the trades.

Downey will portray Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Using his intelligence and ingenuity, Stark instead builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity.Upon his return to the U.S., he uncovers a plot with global implications and must don his armor and protect the world.

Principal photography is set to begin in February.

2006-09-19T08:44:00.000-05:00

ICEBREAKER DAY 21

Today we are shooting at Luci Ancora in St Paul...the same place and scene we shot on Day 1. We had some audio crackling and we wanted to try something else with the framing, so we decided to give it another shot.

Again, Maria at Luci was very accomodating and the shoot went flawlessly. We had two cameras and Jane and Emily were spot on. we nailed the entire scene in about 90 minutes. Great stuff.

After the Luci shoot, Chad, Emily and myself scooted over to the Uptown Theatre (thanks for the last minute accomodation!) to shoot the last bit of Sam's monologue. It will be really funny- Emily all by herself in an empty theatre shouting out lines.

After that we moved on to............................

Wait....

That's it.....

IT'S A WRAP!

Principle photography on IceBreaker is done!

2006-09-19T08:41:00.000-05:00

ICEBREAKER TRAILER

We now have an IceBreaker trailer. It screened this past Friday night at the Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis before the world premeire of Tazer Gun. It looked fantastic.

We should have it streaming up on icebreakermovie.com soon.

2006-09-19T08:38:00.000-05:00

ICEBREAKER DAY 20

Day twenty is shooting at Keri Bunker's (Lindsey) home. The scene is the other half of a short phone conversation between her and Gary. Here is how it went down:

We arrived at Keri's house.

We set up the camera, the lights, the computer and the mic.

We filmed the scene.

We took down the camera, the lights, the computer and the mic.

We left.

In and out.

2006-09-19T07:28:00.000-05:00

ICEBREAKER DAY 19

Day 19 is another all nighter at Brother's. We are starting around 10:00p, with a complicated jib arm shot inside of Brother's (please note: they are open for business and this is a Saturday night).

It is hellish getting the jib and computer setup- people are evrywhere, which is waht we wanted, so we have to suck it up and overcome. Jim was able to wrangle some folks to mingle on the staircase (we are shooting Emily and Sasha storming out of the bar) and they did a mighty fine job. We also have 2 cameras for this shoot, so we were able to get double the footage. Once we got everything setup, it took us about 10 minutes to get the shots we needed with the jib arm.

After that, we went outside of Brother's and filmed Sasha and Emily walking out of the bar and bumping into each other on the street. Chad and I had to walk backwards on the busy sidewalk and film, so I want to thank Randy and Eric for helping to guide us safely through the drunken mass.

Here are some quotes from people on the street that night:

"Oh my God! Please tell me you're shooting a fucking porno!"

Drunk guy: "What movie are you guys filming?"

Andy Kraft: "X-men 4."

Drunk guy: "Really!?"

MPD Officer: "What are you doing?"

Nick: "Nothing."

MPD Officer: "Well knock it off."

Drunk girl: "Hey! This is Project Greenlight!"

Jim: "You need to sign this release form if you want to be in the movie."

Transient: "I gots to read this first...I been in jail and one thing I learned from that is that you gots to read stuff before you sign it."

It was an interesting shoot.

After all that, we set up a light on the dance floor and had Randy in pimp mode dancing to a Johnny Clueless track that people were really getting into.

Then we went venturing into downtown Minneapolis with the boys- Eric, Andy and Sasha- for some cutaways. We did a pretty good job of not getting a) busted by the police for not having a permit, b) not getting mugged, c) not getting killed, d) not getting an STD.

Then Chad and I let the boys run lines while we went out on our own, getting all kinds of misc cutaway shit. It was a good time :)

After we got back to Brothers, we just had to wait for the bar to close down so we could film some dialogue stuff. It's all a blur now, but I think we wrapped around 5am, thus wrapping Brothers as an IceBreaker location. If you haven't picked up on this, Brothers was VERY good to us. This movie would have suffered without there help. Thanks Greg, and to all you staff for helping us out. See you on the 28th of Oct.

PS thanks for the early morning pizza!

2006-09-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

Slowly but surely, "IceBreaker" is getting listed on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.COM):

http://imdb.com/title/tt0852967/

2006-08-31T08:17:00.001-05:00

ICEBREAKER: DAY 18

Just a skeleton crew today. Me, Chad, Mary setting up craft services and Randy as our PA. We shot at the Metro Transit Police HQ in Minneapolis with Justen Overlander as Keith and Matthew Feeney as Officer Hoffman. This was so much fun (even dealing with glare issues on the glass divider between the two). These guys are so talented and so funny. I'll refund anyone's money that sees this movie and doesn't laugh during this scene. Great wardrobe too Matthew!

The above only took a couple of hours and then we headed over to Bloomington to shoot Keith switching plates on the cars for the build up to the above scene (thanks again for the truck, Delo).

We did a few variations on it- some really over-the-top, so we'll see. It was fun and the actors were great. Thanks to Randy & Mary too.

2006-08-31T08:17:00.000-05:00

This looks fantastic:

http://www.theblackdahliamovie.net/

2006-08-30T07:42:00.000-05:00

SORRY FOR THE DELAY...

ICEBREAKER DAY 17 (part 2)

We have a lot of stuff to get done between the hours of 10:00 pm and 2:00 am. And we have to deal with 150 or so extras that are drinking FOR REAL (it didn't take long for the cast & crew to start drinking for real, either).

We set up the dolly track (about 75 feet) along the southern most end of the bar- to film Emily storming out of the bar. This went fairly well, except for a few extras hamming it up for the camera. Emily did a great job as always and I appreciate Phil working the dolly, Sarah setting lights and Brian wrangling all f'ing cords. Thanks guys, you did an awesome job.

Next up was a cutaway shot of Keri behind the bar getting drinks for people. Keri is a natural and this went awesomely fast. As did the cutaways following this, of Keri talking with her "co-workers" AKA the staff at brothers.

While flipping dolly track and lights, we shot an entrance shot of Justen coming down the stairs through the crowd. We used the jib arm and got at least one really good take. Justen did a great job, it was just getting the extras to do what we wanted them that was a challenge. Oh well, it turned out.

After the track was flipped to the otherside of the bar, we shot Sasha storming out followed by Sasha and the boys (Andy & Eric) coming down the stairs into the bar. These guys did a great job and we nailed it in only a few takes. We used the dolly for both set-ups.

Then we weaved the dolly through pool tables and booths for what we like to call- "THE BIG ASS DOLLY SHOT". This dolly shot was very complicated and had a lot of stuff going on in it. We follow "shot man" past "cell phone girls" curve past "dancing folk" to "hot pool girl (Aurelia Scheppers)" to "beer crotch guy (the adorable Tim Asp)" and end on Roach, Gary and Eric. We only did it a few times and I was very pleased with the outcome.

We wrapped just before 2:00 am! We nailed all our dolly shots in this precious window of time.

Our cast & crew were ON tonight. Thanks guys, if it weren't for all the professionalism we wouldn't have gotten done in time.

Thank you to Greg. You are a God. Thanks for the shots :)

After getting the gear loaded, moved & unpacked- I was sound asleep on Chad's couch at 5:30 am.

P.S. Phil- you should've kicked that guy's ass!

2006-08-25T09:27:00.000-05:00

ICEBREAKER DAY 17 (part 1)

Day 17 is probably the most interesting day yet...

We needed a grip truck today, but all of Lights On's were spoken for, so we decided to rent a U-haul and piece together a lighting/grip package from Lights On (thanks Dave and Colin for working with us on this). Sounds simple enough.

So I go pick the U-haul up at about 4:00, and the guy working there was such an asshole. Anyway, I got the truck and made it up to Lights On by 5:00. We loaded up the dolly, 75 feet of track, 2 curves, the jib and two Arri light kits.

The shoot didn't start until 10:00pm, so I made my way down to Bloomington and stopped to grab a bite at BK at about 6:30pm. When I got out to the truck around 7:00, the F-er wouldn't start. I checked the battery- A-OK. I called the roadside insurance (thank god I paid for that)and they said a mechanic would be there within the hour. No problem, let's get this bitch fixed and on our way. Chad and Eric met up with me at about 8:30, and still no friggin mechanic. I called back- "yeah, yeah, sure. We'' call them back."

Then a truck approached us. A saint by the name of Kevin asked if we needed help. Apparently Kevin works for 24 hour towing, the same company that was supposed to be on their way for us- they have a contract with U-haul. Kevin made a call and they weren't even contacted by U-haul until after 8:00pm. AARRGGHH!!

Kevin got his tools out, started banging on some shit and voila! the trck started right up. He said that the starter was busted and that the vehicle would not start again if turned off. Shit. We need to park this beast in downtown Minneapolis until about 3:00am. Kevin said, no matter, just cal us back and we'll come out again for it. Rock on. So if you ever need anything- look up 24 HOUR TOWING out of Richfield- you won't be dissapointed.

Ok. The truck is running, it's 9:30, lets do this. We make it to Brothers in downtown at about 10:00, we have reserved parking so we're set. We unload the euipment and are ready to get this party started....

2006-08-25T08:27:00.000-05:00

ICEBREAKER: DAY 16

Today we are shooting a very intense scene between the characters Keith (played by Justen Overlander) and Sam (played by Emily Fradenburgh). I don't want to give too much away regarding the scene, because it does involve a turning point in the story.

We shot this scene in a dorm room on the ** ****** campus in St Paul. The dorm is doubling as Keith's apartment. The set was bare, so we had to fill it to make it look like an apartment. Luckily, our location managers Randy and Mary were able to help us out by donating a couch, tv, tv stand, end table, coffee table, etc. Eric Lee also donated the use of his Playstation 2 and Randy was gracious enough to make a Target run to purchase a PS2 game and a Johan Santana poster. With all the stuff combined, it made the dorm look like...a dump basically. Which was what we were looking for anyway.

The shoot itself went great, and the actors were spot on with their performances. This scene is going to have a HUGE impact on the film, I can't wait until you all can see it.

We also shot some stuff with a toaster...

After the shoot, we had lunch at Davanis with Jeremiah (one of our investors) and his lovely girlfriend Marissa.

After lunch we cut the crew loose and returned some of Randy and Mary's stuff. Then we shot some driving around cutaways of Emily and Justen in the car. We tried rigging something up from the back of Eric's truck, but the road conditions in St Paul were less than favorable.

The next thing shot was in Bloomington. Chad, myself and Emily shot the remaining portions of the near car accident between Sam and Gary. It was tricky, but I think it will look convincing on screen.

Day 16 was a great day and we got some great work done. Kudos to all the cast and crew, and to Eric, an actor pretending to be a PA. Just kidding, you did a fine job sir.

2006-08-17T09:08:00.001-05:00

We are now listed in Variety, the most wide-read publication in the entertainment industry.

http://www.streckfusonline.com/Variety_com%20-%20Film%20Production%20Detail.htm

2006-08-17T09:08:00.000-05:00

"ICEBREAKER" DAY 15 OF PRODUCTION

Day 15 took place this past weekend in Rochester, MN at the manor of Sir Eric Lee. Call time was 10:00 PM with a skeleton crew of myself, Chad, Ben and Jay. Actors on hand included Sasha, Eric and Zeus.

The first scene shot would be the campfire conversation between Eric and Sasha. This was fun to setup, I think the lighting is pretty cool. We used the Lowel lights with some orange gels and a bit of red. After the scene was completed, we exchanged poop stories (did I mention this was a 'wet' set?) in Eric's workshop before hitting the hay.

In the morning, Eric's lovely wife Jackie prepared breakfast for everyone, and it was very good. Next up, we shot a small scene (1 shot, about 10 seconds long) of Eric talking on the phone in his kitchen. It was compelling stuff.

Next, we went outside to shoot Sasha approaching the house and watching Zeus eat the lasgna. Hilarious stuff. That dog has a future in showbiz!

Next cam the driving bit with Sasha. We used Chad's car, which is a stick. Sasha got a crash course in stick shift driving and we were off. I sat in the passenger seat and shot Sasha from as many angles as I could. Chad was in the back with the mic. I think Sasha only killed it 11 or 12 times. Good times.

2006-08-16T09:39:00.001-05:00

"IceBreaker", Day 14 of Production

Day 14 was…interesting to say the least. We were scheduled to start shooting at the club Euphoria in downtown Minneapolis at noon. When Chad and I arrived at the front of the building, there were about 20 extras, Sasha, and crew members waiting on the sidewalk. From what we gathered, there was no one in the space to let us in. We walked around to the back of the building, found the back door, pounded on it, but nothing. We got screwed.

Randy arrived on scene and explained that he had great difficulty getting confirmation in the last week from Euphoria, even though we secured the spot 3 months ago. We tried making some phone calls, but nothing. We reassured the cast and crew that we were looking at some other options.

Randy hit Rosen's bar, explained our situation, and they agreed to let us shoot there. Meanwhile, I was talking to Tom down at The Loon. Half the bar was closed, so he said we could use it for whatever we wanted. Awesome.

We started at The Loon, shooting some stuff for the rejection montage. Kristen Richardson played our babe for one sequence, and Ashley Powell played the babe for another. Both were great scenes with great performances. We had The Loon cater our lunch, which was very good. Thank you to Tom and all his peeps at The Loon.

We then moved down to Rosen's for the goth and hooker bit. Sasha informed us that a Christian club around the corner, 3 Degrees, might be very cool for the goth bit so Chad and I ran over there quick to check it out. We made contact with Pastor Steve and let him in on our situation. He said that we had 30 minutes to get it, and that was all. We made a mad dash over to Rosen's, grabbed the gear and the Goths and darted back to 3 Degrees. We shot handheld, and fast. The scene is great and was probably one of the more fun shoots so far on the project- just because of the rush from working quickly.

After we wrapped 3 Degrees, it was back to Rosen's were Chad's computer crashed. No problem, we just went right to tape. We filmed a short sequence with Sasha and Angie Hauk then moved onto the more complicated hooker bit. Kristen Beyer played our 'lady of the night' and Sasha and Andy were on hand as Gary and Roach. Randy had another cameo as pimp daddy, but I don’t want to reveal too much, you’ll just have to wait.

It's too bad Euphoria doesn’t have their shit together. Their location was great, and would have worked for us. Oh well, everything worked out in the end.

Thanks to cast and crew, Mary for the food, Brian Casey for being a last minute PA, Rosen's, The Loon (Tom) and 3 Degrees (Pastor Steve).

2006-08-16T07:33:00.001-05:00

"ICEBREAKER" PRODUCTION, DAYS 10-13

I apologize if this seems real generalized, but days 10-13 are kind of a blur now...

Days 10-13 were our four 'big' days at Brothers Bar and Grill in downtown Minneapolis. THIS IS THE BEST BAR IN THE TWIN CITIES. GO THERE, DRINK, HAVE FUN! Seriously though, Greg and his staff at Brothers were awesome. They accommodated us with everything we needed to make the shoot go smoothly as possible. And they had good food too.

Here are some highlights/thank yous:

We shot the scene between Sam (played by Emily Fradenburgh) and Steve (played by Corey Anderson). This was hilarious. Emily was spot on with her delivery and Corey is a comic genius. This scene will stand out for sure.

Another comedic genius is Andy Kraft, playing Roach in the film. We did a lot with him over these four days (including a long dolly shot that Andy totally improvised- he might steal the movie with this). It was a true pleasure working with him.

Our extra turnout was not in the numbers we hoped for, but we GREATLY appreciate everyone that did show up, and thanks to Anne for keeping everyone in line. And thanks to anyone we pulled off the street to help fill in spots of the bar- you did great.

Sasha got pink eye. It sucks, but what can you do? Nothing. That day ended early.

Eric Lee. The man is a maniac and we appreciate the job well done and all the extra help.

Justen Overlander, Keri Bunkers and Dawn Brodey- total professionals. We never have to worry about getting a great performance from you guys. Thanks.

Damon Barta- a fantastic job on a great cameo. Thanks for keeping me company in the grip truck.

Oh yeah, the GRIP TRUCK! We rented a grip truck from Lights On (rent all your film equipment there, they rock!) with lights, the dolly, grip shit...it was awesome.

We did a 'Vertigo" shot of Keri. It was hard.

Gus, thanks for wrangling cords. Not too many Executive Producers would do that.

Papa Jim, thanks for coming down. Be proud of Anne, she does a great job.

Thank you Tim, Mary and Randy for helping out with everything. You guys are always there for us and really appreciate all of your hard work!

Our crew- Narayanan, Ben, Jay, Phil, Brian, Sara, Tom- this movie is going to be awesome, and it is in part due to you guys. Thanks for getting up at 4:00 am ready to go.

Did I mention that Brothers is awesome? Thank you thank you thank you Greg. You are a rockstar and you really came through for us. Greg arranged for Bud and MGD to make up huge banners promoting the movie. (i will try and get a picture of one up soon). Thanks again, I will forever be indebted to you and your establishment!

Chad, you are my hetero-sexual life partner...bitch.

We got the majority of the stuff we needed to get done, done. We still need one night to get some dolly shots, and another to get some atmosphere shots. We are still working to get everyone scheduled for that, so hopefully we will have it soon.

Oh yeah, I ran over a sign with the grip truck in downtown Minneapolis (no damage, no worries) and a Minneapolis cop gave me the finger after cutting him off.

Score!

2006-08-16T07:33:00.000-05:00

I ASSURE YOU- WE ARE STILL IN PRODUCTION!!!

I HAVE NOT BEEN DOING A VERY GOOD JOB AT KEEPING THE BLOG UPDATED, BUT I ASSURE YOU THAT "ICEBREAKER" IS STILL ALIVE AND KICKING...AND ALMOST DONE WITH PRINCIPLE PHOTOGRAPHY!

HOPEFULLY I WILL GET THINGS UPDATED VERY SOON, SO PLEASE DON'T BAIL ON US YET!

2006-07-25T07:43:00.000-05:00

SORRY THIS IS SO LATE:

IceBreaker Production-Day 9, Part 2
The second half of day 9 didn't start until 11:30 pm, at Whiskey Junction in Minneapolis. This made for a 24 hour plus day for some of us.
The scene tonight is the remaining portion (the beginning) of the opening scene with Gary (Sasha) and Eric (um...Eric) having some beers at the bar and talking about Major League Babe (Tiffany Ogle).
We started off with some reaction shots of Tiffany and her friends, then moved on to some approach shots of Gary coming up to the table, and then the final "breaking the ice" bit.
After a short break (people were starting to drag at this point), we started with Gary and Eric's dialogue. We did a fair amount of coverage on the scene, so it took some time- but everyone did a great job and we got some great stuff.
This coming weekend is the beginning of the big stuff at Brothers Bar & Grill in Minneapolis. These next two weekends are basically everything we have prepared for, so pray for us that everything will go well!!!

2006-07-18T15:07:00.000-05:00

IceBreaker Production-Day 9, Part 1
Well, it's been two weeks since our last shoot. Day 9 started at 6am in Burnsville, at the Raven Hills Apartments. We are using the exterior as Sam's apartment building and one of the demo units (fully furnished) as Sam's apartment.
The plan is to shoot the exterior stuff in the am (to avoid the forecasted 105 degree temps in the pm) but we are hit with on and off thunder showers. We decide to start indoors, with the bedroom scene. The scene went great. Emily and Justen are great performers who do a great job. We then moved on to Keith's grand entrance, which was very funny.
We then moved outdoors for our dolly shot and Keith running up the exterior stairs. The dolly shot was great, with some really good improvising.
For lunch, we were invited to the Wazoo Show picnic. The Wazoo Show is a local public access show much like Monty Python's Flying Circus. It worked out great, the picnic was in Minnehaha Park and we could "steal" the scene with Keith pushing his stalled car off the road, right in front of a no parking sign. We cut the cast/crew loose for lunch and Chad and I headed over to Bloomington to pick up the car we are using for Keith's car. A 1992 White Chevy Blazer with a ton of rust on it. Thank you Heidi Delo :) We make it back to the picnic and eat, mingle, etc. We shoot the scene (giving the masterful Randy Barancyk a cameo...) and head back to Bloomington for the 'dropping Keith off at work' scene. This was an amazing scene. Emily and Justen are awesome. You'll just have to wait and see it. That was the end of the day portion.
Shooting will resume later in the night for the remaining opening scene bit.

2006-06-27T07:44:00.000-05:00

ICEBREAKER, DAY OCHO

We are shooting at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis again today, this time with Sasha and Eric. Crew call is 10am, cast at 11am.

We had a late start today, which really sucks and hurt us bad at the end of the day. We also had a rain storm, but the delay came right at lunch so it didn't really hurt us too bad.

We had a Matthews Dolly and 75ft of dolly track to work with today. Setting that up was our first priority, and actually didn't consume too much time.

After that, we got Sasha, Haley (playing the hot mom) and Austin (playing the bratty kid, and also my son in real life) through make-up while we quickly blocked the scene out. Once we were set, this scene went vey smooth and turned out great.

We then moved on to a semi-complicated shot in one of the stairwells in the park. Sasha, Eric and Zeus start at the bottom and walk all the way to the top, all while delivering lines. I had to the pan the camera to follow them up the stairs and it was easier than I though (considering the camera and myself were positioned on a ledge). We had some audio issues and the scene may have to go through some ADR. Then the rain started coming down...

...I quickly grabbed out trash bags and everyone started shoving film equipment into them. Then everyone made a mad dash for the gazebo, which wasn't too far away. Nothing got damaged, thank GOD. We broke for lunch (thank you honey for the great food!!) and waited for the rain to stop.

About 45 minutes later, we were setting up the dolly and getting the motions down. The scene went great. Sasha and Eric did a great job and Ben our PM did a nice job pulling the dolly. A "Folk" concert of something started up in the gazebo and the park became busier, totally messing with our audio, so ADR is a must for this scene.

All in all, I think the day went well. We could have done without the late start (we really lost our light at the end) but what the hell, roll with the punches, right?

We're off for 2 weeks now, our next shooting date is July 16.

Stay tuned...

(not many pictures today, too much other stuff to do!)

2006-06-20T08:52:00.000-05:00

ICEBREAKER, DAY 7

Today’s shoot is taking place in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. The scene calls for Sam & Tina to be sitting on a bench talking as several different types of men pass by.

Crew call is 10am. After lugging all the equipment from my Aztec and Eric Lee’s truck (Eric is helping with the generator and other duties today) we begin setting up. The location is simple- a park bench with the park in the background.

The generator is not quitest in the least. We decide that the best location for it is down a stairwell. We lug it down and Eric implements the ICEBREAKER NOISEBUSTER (patent pending) that he built which will act as a noise filter. It worked great. The generator was totally inaudible from where we were shooting. We ran the power cords up through the woods and we were in business.

At 11:00 one of our featured extras, Brad Hatzenbeller (playing sexy GQ guy) showed up followed by Dawn Brodey (Tina) and Emily Fradenburgh (Sam). Nicole got them through make-up while we were blocking and shortly thereafter we were ready to shoot.

The shoot went very smooth. Everything was in place. The weather was awesome and the crew was dead on. Our fetured extras did a bang up job, Brad as "GQ guy" and Henry Cho as "Married Man" with his dog Sam. Thanks guys!

I can’t wait for everyone to see Chad in his cameo. It is hilarious. Stay tuned.

There was a homeless guy with a boom-box wandering around wearing a shirt that he had written: FUCK BU$H on. I had to bribe him with ice for his alchoholic beverage in a McDonald’s cup that he was carrying aorund so that he would leave us alone.

Like I said, the shoot couldn’t have gone better. Here’s to hoping that Day 8 (also at the park) goes as well as Day 7. Good job everyone!!!

2006-06-14T14:33:00.000-05:00

IceBreaker Production…Day 6

Day 6 is at Whiskey Junction in Minneapolis. Call time is 0100. Chad and I start the day by stopping by Whiskey Junction to do some last minute blocking. Once we figure out what we are doing we head over to Minnihaha Park to check it out (day 7 & 8 is set there). We figure some stuff out and head down to Old Chicago for a bite to eat. Our next destination is Cub Foods in Bloomington where we pick up two jugs of white grape juice, a two jugs of cranberry juice, some V8 and 6 six packs of non-alcoholic beer for the shoot. We must have looked like some real party animals with that cart full of stuff.

We went back to Chad’s to chill for a few hours and Eric Lee showed up. We watched the Clerks II trailer and Eric ran some lines for the nights scene. I tried to sleep a little but couldn’t. At about 11:30 my brother Joe showed up and we loaded up the rest of the gear. We had one more stop, the SA, to pick up pop, ice and sugar-free Red Bull. J

We arrived at Whiskey Junction a little after 12:00am. Shortly thereafter the "Trolls" showed up (Jack, Jim & Tommy) and Jim Westcott (our extras wrangler). We backed the Aztec right up to the bar and everyone unloaded the gear.

We wanted to get a lot of stuff with the extras right away, so we began with a dolly shot of the Jack, Jim, Tommy and the bartender gal looking at Gary walk up to Major League Babe (MLB). Funny, funny shit.

I don’t want to give away too much regarding what we had the extras doing, but trust me- this is some real funny ass shit. Look for a cameo by Jay, our beloved PA in the opening scene.
Thanks to all the extras, they did a bang up job. And I can’t complain that we didn’t have enough hot chicks on set. Man O Man.

Tiffany Ogle (MLB in IceBreaker and in real life) did an awesome job. Her and her friends hung in there for nearly the entire shoot and didn’t bitch once. Tiffany even operated the camera for one shot, she nearly showed me up!

The crew did a great job considering the late hours. I didn’t see Chad slow down for even a second. We over booked ourselves going into it (we knew there was a good chance we wouldn’t make our day). We got about half of the shots done that we needed to…but they are great shots. We didn’t really linger on any one scene, things just took time.

Thanks to the whole cast and crew for putting up with the hours and schedule overrun. Some actors didn’t get utilized and I apologize. We are however starting to work more smoothly with each other which can only make things better.

We have scheduled another date for the location, and I think the film will be better because of it. Stay tuned for day 7…

2006-06-06T08:27:00.000-05:00

IceBreaker Production, Day 4

Today (June 4th, 2006) we are filming at two locations. First in Bloomington at Chad's apartment which is doubling as Gary's apartment. Then we are moving over to Randy and Mary's house in St. Paul which is doubling as Kevin's (master thespian Justin Barnett) house for the BBQ scene.

Call time for Bloomington is 0700 hours. We are working with a new Boom Operator today, and he was right on time along with Brian, our Sound Engineer. Next to show up is Narayanan, our script supervisor. Our PA Sarah has been called into work so she is unable to help out today, which is cool because as the day progresses the apartment gets hotter and hotter and more crowded and crowded. We got everything setup and Ben our PM showed up and had to jet over to Eden Prairie to pick up the make-up from Nicole who was unable to attend the shoot. When he got back, Sasha arrived and we began blocking/dressing the scene. Eric Lee (playing...Eric) was also on hand for the shoot. The scene calls for Gary (Sasha) and Eric to be talking on the phone as Sasha walks around his apartment. In order for the timing to be spot on, we actually had Sasha and Eric call each other and play the scene out on the phone. At first we placed Eric outside in my car but the interference on the lav mic was too great. So we stuck Eric on the can in Chad's sweltering bathroom, with the door closed and a large quilt hung over the shower rod to act as a sound baffle. Eric got a little warm in there.

We gelled the lights with CTB and improvised a quick jib with two tripods and we were off shooting. Chad's apartment isn't tiny, but with 8 men, 3 lights (2000W combined), no AC and 90 degrees outside (not to mention all the other gear) it got hot...real hot...and quick. Between each take it was a mad dash to shut the lights off, flip the AC on and swing the patio door open. We shot there from 7 am until 2 pm (7 hours!!). Oh, I forgot to mention that my back was still fucked and I was walking with a cane.

After wrapping the apartment scene, we had planned on filming a quick scene with Gary driving around talking on his cell phone. With the call time of he BBQ scene being 2:00pm, and it already being 2:00 pm, we scrapped the plan and decided to pick it up at another time (Dam, we missed our first day). On the way over to Randy and Mary's we swung by Korte's Grocery Store (from the grocery store rejection!) to pick up some hotdogs and burgers for lunch and for the scene.

When we arrived to the location, Justin Barnett (Kevin) Joe Thompson (Joe), Andy Kraft (Roach), Keri Bunkers (Lyndsey and make-up for today), Sasha and Eric were all ready to go. The location was great, a nice spacious deck. We got setup and eveyone had a quick bite to eat. We quickly blocked and dressed the scene. We shot a master and some cutaways. When all was said and done, we were wrapped and packed at 7:00pm (so, about 5 hours at the location. 12 hours for the day). The stuff we got was great-very very funny stuff- it was just mild pain in the ass getting it. Don't get me wrong, it was still better than any day at my day job, just not as efficient as we could have been. After the shoot I headed over to my dad's house to pick up the dolly for the next day. I was home and in bed by 12:00am.

5 hours later my alarm clock started beeping and guess what? It's day 5 of the IceBreaker shoot!

IceBreaker Production, Day 5

Day 5 (June 5th, 2006) was shot at three locations, all at St Thomas in St Paul. Call time is 0800 and we will start with Sasha in the church singing with all the mom's, dad's, old folks, kids, etc. We were going to Dolly out on Sasha to reveal all of the people surrounding him, but by 0900 hours we had about 10 extras show up to fill the entire church. We had the extras get ready and practice the song with the organist and the cantor while we decided what to do. We were already having problems with the dolly (not enough track- Eric was PAing for us today so he was running around campus trying to gather wood for some extended track). We eventually scrapped the idea for the dolly shot and went with a static shot of Sasha surrounded by our extras. My mom and Chad's mom flanked him, with our dad's on either side of their resoectives wives. As a little bit of an in-joke, we placed Jane Hammil (playing Karen, Sam's mom) behind Sasha in the pew. I knew my mom would ham it up and she did, and Chad's mom was flirting with Sasha too. It was a great, hilarious shot. We got a few cutaways (the cross, windows, etc.) and we wrapped the church.

After a quick lunch on campus we moved over to the library for a rejection montage shot with Sasha and Chad's sister. It was a simple dolly shot and it went very smoothly. I think we did 4 takes, but we nailed it on the first try.

We then lugged all the equipment over to the gymnasium for Emily's (Sam) "Rebound" portion of her monologue. We set this up and did a few takes. Easy suff. Eric almost pegged Emily in the head, but no matter, we got the shot and it looked good. This was a wrap for the day.

We had a quick location scout at one of the campus housign buildings and we booked it for the end of August. We will be using it for Keith's apartment. All in all it was a great day, a little more efficient than the previous. Up next is Whiskey Junction on the 12th for the opening scene. See you in a week.

2006-06-02T07:59:00.002-05:00

IceBreaker Production Day 3 + The Joy of Back Pain

Well, this should have been posted a few days ago, but I was on the brink of death (well, not really). On Monday, May 29th, at about 1430 hours, I began experiencing the worst pain of my life in the lower left portion of my back- for no apparent reason. Sure I sodded my lawn on Saturday and Had a pretty strenuous film shoot on Sunday- maybe it all caught up with me. Regardless, I had my Dad help me into his SUV (I could barely walk) and drive me to the ER. After a lame-ass examination by Dr. Doolittle he gave some weak-ass pain killers and a muscle relaxant not even strong enough for a wuss like Chad. I went home and gingerly sat down on the couch, unable to move. I did not sleep much that night. The next morning I though, Fuck this, I'm going to the clinic. Just so you know how much pain I was in, I NEVER go to the doctor for ANYTHING. I don't even have a regular physician that I see, which is probably why I had to go back so many times. Anyway, I went to the clinic and saw Dr. Wood (seriously). Well Dr. Wood is a jackass. All he did was give me a poorly photo-copied page of back exercises. I can't even move on my own and this guy is giving me back exercises...thanks Doc. At this point I couldn't believe what was going on. It felt like a searing hot knife was being jabbed into my kidney and nobody cared. I asked if he could check it out further- maybe an x-ray or something. Nope, Dr. Wood said that it was most likely a "strain of some sort" that "will probably go away in time". Go away in time? How much time Dr. Wood? "It's hard to say". Okay, I am no medical guru by any means, but I'm pretty sure that when a doctor is talking like this that either A) he has no clue what the fuck is going on, or B) he is late for his tee time and he wants me to clam up and get out. There is a letter going to the Faribault ER/Clinic stating my displeasure with there program as we speak. So, I went home in pain, sat around in pain, made my wife get me things, etc. I called the Northfield Clinic, a little further away-but with an excellent track record, and made an appointment immediately. I went in and saw Dr. Wright (my new physician I might add) and he actually examined me, did some x-rays and all that jazz. He determined that it was possibly a strain but also possibly...gulp...a kidney stone. He was going to get some other opinions on the x-ray and get back to me. Sounds pretty professional. He gives me a steroid that will reduce the tension and swelling and...sweet jesus...VICODIN! This made everything better. About 20 minutes after the pills, I felt awesome. Not 100%, but the pain was dramatically less. I got the call from Dr Wright later and he informed me that it was not a kidney stone (YES!) but that one of my lower back discs had decided to take a part time job pinching one of my nerves (the bastard). The disc was slightly out of place, not enough for surgery, but hopefully something physical therapy could fix. Anyway, I am feeling better, not great (I need to walk with a fucking cane, I looke like a stroke victim), but better. If this whole therapy thing doesn't work out then they are going to have to fillet me like a fish and pin the fucker in there. Oh well, that's my excuse. Now one with the more interesting shit-

Day 3 (May 28th, Sunday) started at 9:00 pm at Korte's Supermarket in St Paul. A couple hours before the shoot, Chad and I swung by Randy and Mary's to check out the deck and do some quick blocking for next weekend. We then swung by Korte's for some more quick blocking (we had 2 setups in mind) and left with 5 setups now scheduled. Then we cruised over to Longfellows and found that we had to change our game plan a bit there due to the ridges in the floor. He decided on a swish pan. We jetted back over to Korte's and got there at about 8:45. A few of the extras and Tim (an associate producer) were there ready to go. We unloaded the equipment and began setting up. At 9:20 my brother Joe showed up- he is helping with grip/PA shit tonight. At 9:30 my sister Katie and her boyfriend Joel showed up. Katie is playing the girl in the grocery store scene. We got her through make-up (Nicole Mulder rocks, she does such an awesome job) and Sasha showed up. The other extras trickled in and we began to do some blocking. I tried to talk to all of the extras- what an awesome group, and I apologize if I didn't say hi or thanks. At about 10:00 I hit the make-up chair for my cameo (my first time in make up). A little after 10:00 we had the first take done. The crew moved like a well oiled machine tonight- we nailed 5 setups between 10:00 and about 11:45. My cameo was fun, I nearly broke an entire display of jam and I got to push Sasha. We even had shots with children- and a stunt. Chad was running camera this shoot so while they were shooting I was coordinating with Matthew for the next location and getting the gear and store cleaned up. Everything went extremely well at the store- Sasha had a couple bumps and bruises, as did a bottle od salad dressing and two apples (thanks to Korte's for donating them, and the countless rolls of paper towels!).

After all was packed and ready to go, we headed over to Longfellow Grill in Minneapolis. The extras and Tim and Matthew were there, as well as Emily (Sam) who made the location possible (Thanks Emily). We setup rather quickly but our actress for this scene was a no show. Luckily, one of our beautiful extras was able to step in and nail the part. The shoot called for two swish pans- one starting on the bartender and swishing to the girl, and one swishing from the bartender ending on the girl. It was a difficult move, but we nailed it in about 10 takes. We edited it together on set and the cut was seamless. We packed up and that was the day. When we got back to Chad's place, we cut together the grocery store scene and laughed our balls off.

Thanks to everyone, once again a superb job on everyone's behalf. I want to send a special shout out to my brother Joe, who came down from St Cloud to help out, and to my sister Katie (who has never acted before) for being a trooper and to Joel and our other extras for hanging out and doing what they do. Ben, Narayanan, Sarah, Nick, Brian, Nicole, Matthew, Jeremy, Tim, Mary, Randy, Sasha, Emily, Chad- thanks for everything. This was the funnest shoot to date.

*Once again, sorry for spelling/grammatical errors- F U for noticing them

2006-06-02T07:59:00.000-05:00

Paul Gleason

1944-2006

Nobody played a prick like this guy.

2006-05-16T10:38:00.000-05:00

There are pics up on the website of Days 1 & 2- CLICK HERE.

2006-05-16T10:12:00.000-05:00

IceBreaker Production, Day 2:

Day two went equally as smoothly as day 1, with the exception of one small detail, but more on that later. Chad and I arrived at the townhouse (doubling as Tina's house, the kitchen and the bedroom) at about 0745. Randy, our location manager, was there to meet us. Next to arrive was Brian our sound engineer. We unloaded all the equipment into the garage which would act as our staging area. Our Production Manager Ben was the next to arrive. Our PA's had some personal matters to attend to, but they would be on set as soon as possible- no big deal, they both work their asses off. The first scene we are shooting is the ice cream bit with Sam (Emily) and Tina (Dawn). We get audio setup and then the lights and camera. Todays breakfast: orange juice, donuts and strwaberries that Sarah the PA brings later. Ben is doubling as PM and Script Supervisor today (Narayanan had a prior engagement). We soon find out that our boom operator is not coming (scheduling error). At about 0845 Jay (PA) shows up and is informed that he will be the boom operator for the day, he gladly accepts. At about 0900 Nicole our make-up artist and Dawn (playing Tina) arrive on set. After some breakfast and chit-chat Dawn goes into make-up. Shortly thereafter Emily arrives (playing Sam) and goes into make-up after Dawn. While the final lighting design is being devised (Nick and Jay) Dawn, Emily and Chad rehearse upstairs while make-up/wardrobe is being finished. At about 1000 we start the first shot of the day. It was a good scene, and both actresses did a wonderful job. It was very amusing watching them eat the ice cream, take after take. We had one technical difficulty during the scene- one of the lav mics had some major static and had to be taken out of commission. No matter, the remaing lav and the boom did a fine job capturing the sound. We wrapped the scene around 1130-1200 and broke for lunch (pizza). This was a day-wrap for Dawn. Next up was the kitchen portion of Emily's monologue. We got camera, lighting and sound set up, then did some last minute production design which included Sarah running out to buy an apple pie. Make-up/wardrobe was awesome (you'll have to wait and see when the film is finished, I don't want to spoil it). Emily did a great job and we nailed it in about 7 takes. We struck the set for a move upstairs and got about half the gear moved when Emily (not me, not Chad, not the script supervisor) realized that we missed a line downstairs in the litchen. Shit shit shit! We moved back down. Rather than reset the entire set, we pushed in on Emily and shot her in a close-up. Awesome, it only delayed us about 15 minutes. Then we moved upstairs for the sex/monologue scene. Emily went into make-up/wardrobe and Doug (playing "man") arrived on set. I set up the makeshift jib I made while Brian setup audio and Sarah and Jay brought the lights up. We decided ahead of time that this would be a closed set due to the nature of the scene (simulated sex). The only people in the room (other than Doug and Emily) would be Chad, Jay (holding the light) and myself. We let the camera roll and the scene was wrapped in about 15 minutes. So far this shot is my favorite of the film. The angle, lighting, performance- just awesome. We had the set struck and gear loaded by 4:00 PM and thats all she wrote- Day 2, done on time.

2006-05-10T07:45:00.000-05:00

IceBreaker Production: Day 1

I meant to have this up yesterday but blogger wasn't working- sorry for the delay.

Today we shot the "Wanna screw?" portion of the rejection montage with Sasha and the dinner scene with Emily and Jane.

Day one went great. We got a bit of a late start (the owner of the restaurant, Luci Ancora, was late), but it didn't end up hindering us at all.

Our crew worked their asses off and I think it will show in the finished product. I am really happy with the camera and the light kit, both worked awesome.

Originally we wanted to shoot out the window onto the street, but the ever-changing weather outside prompted us to shoot in front of the fireplace instead. Luci Ancora is such a beautiful restaurant anyway, we could have shot anywhere.

Sasha had to have water thrown in his face for a part of the scene, and at the last minute Chad decided that instead of a glass of water, it would be a PITCHER of water thrown in his face. It worked much better. After we shot Sasha and Maggie's (playing the waitress) setups, we cut the sequence together in Vegas really quick- right there on the set!- and it was hilarious.

After that we moved into the dinner scene, with every setup being nailed by Emily and Jane in 2-3 takes. Awesome.

We made our day! We wrapped around 2:30 and had the set struck by 3:00. Production stills should be up on the web site soon.

I haven't had this much fun on a shoot in a long time. I can't wait until Monday (15th) to work with these people again!

2006-05-03T12:40:00.000-05:00

LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!

This is the light kit we have. :)

2006-04-27T07:54:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a while since there has been a posting up, but I reassure you that IceBreaker is right on track. We have secured partial financing, enough to get going, and it looks pretty good that the rest will eventually fall into place.

We have been rehearsing with actors and fine tuning the script.

We have made some substantial purchases of gear (lights, software, etc.).

The shooting schedule and audio test are this coming Sunday.

Shooting begins MAY FREAKING 8TH!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-04-04T09:07:00.000-05:00

IceBreaker Update:

Well, It's official- Monday, May 8th is the first day of principle photography for IceBreaker.

Almost all locations have been secured. After this past weekend we finalized Brothers, Euphoria, Cabooze and Whiskey Junction.

We have started drawing up contracts for our actors, locations, musicians, etc.

We have yet another potential investor. I have a good feeling about this one though.

And just for fun, check out this link:

THE MOVIE TIMELINE

2006-03-30T08:05:00.001-06:00

Cool

2006-03-30T08:05:00.000-06:00

IceBreaker update:

We have our final location scouts this weekend. Once our scouting is complete, we will check the availability of the locations and start putting together a schedule. Rehearsals have begun with a couple of the actors, and they are going great. One of the spots we are checking out on Sunday is a studio space that we may utilize for rehearsals.

On an unrelated note, I watched The Godfather Part II yesterday and a line of dialogue that I just love from that movie is this:

"Make sure everyone gets to see the cake before you cut it." - Hyman Roth (at a "mob" meeting)

What a great line.

2006-03-25T07:37:00.000-06:00

"I want these motherfucking snakes off the motherfucking plane!"

A line spoken by Samuel L. Jackson in the upcoming film, Snakes on a Plane.

I love it.

2006-03-21T13:26:00.000-06:00

The Halle Grail, or How to Bring People to the Box Office*

-A lifetime industry ban on Rob Schneider.

-Fandango paper bag people found incinerated!

-Halle Berry look-alike in every fourth seat.

-Trailer warning: "Funny scenes depicted in the following preview may constitute all of the funny scenes in film."

-Electrified seat backs: You kick it, you fry.

-The old Plaza Hotel-style treatment: valet parking, fresh flowers, tuxedoed waiters carrying martinis, "Oh, Tim Allen's in it? Just leave the whole pitcher, dahhling."

-Good movies.

*From the Washington Post

2006-03-10T13:00:00.000-06:00

PURE AWESOMENESS

2006-03-09T10:29:00.000-06:00

IceBreaker UPDATE

Like I said, our table reading was awesome. We had three cameras running and Chad has edited the footage into a cohesive film of sorts. We are currently going over that and adjusting the script as need be.

We are also messing around with some ideas for a trailer or teaser that we hope to film soon.

Our location peeps, Randy & Mary, have also been doing an awesome job of securing even more locations for us. Nothing is in writing yet but as soon as it is we will let you all know what we have.

Rehearsals will begin soon- 1 to 2 weeks from now.

We are still chasing several leads in the financing department, but nothing is concrete yet.

In an unrelated note I just saw March of the Penguins and what an awesome film it is. Check it out when you get a chance.

2006-03-07T12:13:00.000-06:00

Best Picture of the year

Wow, I guess this didn't surprise me but I would still consider this an upset. I think this film really did deserve it over the others- I just wish I would have went with my gut and picked it for my picks. Oh well.

2006-03-05T06:15:00.000-06:00

Chad's Oscar Picks
BEST PICTURE
Will win- Brokeback Mountain
Should win- Brokeback Mountain
BEST DIRECTOR
Will win- Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)
Should win- Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)
BEST ACTRESS
Will win- Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line)
Should win- Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line)

BEST ACTOR
Will win- Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
Should win- Joaquin Phoenix (Walk The Line)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Will win- Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)
Should win- Catherine Keener (Capote)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Will win- George Clooney (Syriana)
Should win- Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man)
ANIMATED FEATURE
Will win- Wallace & Gromit In the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Should win- Wallace & Gromit In the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
ART DIRECTION
Will win- Memoirs of a Geisha
Should win- King Kong

COSTUME DESIGN

Will win- Memoirs of a Geisha

Should win- Memoirs of a Geisha
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Will win- Brokeback Mountain
Should win- Brokeback Mountain

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Will win- March of the Penguins
Should win- March of the Penguins

FILM EDITING
Will win- Crash
Should win- Crash
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Will win- Tsotsi
Should win- Paradise Now
MAKEUP
Will win- The Chronicles of Narnia
Should win- Tootsie
ORIGINAL SCORE
Will win- Brokeback Mountain
Should win- Brokeback Mountain
ORIGINAL SONG
Will win- "In the Deep" (Crash)
Should win- "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp" (Hustle & Flow)
SOUND EDITING
Will win- King Kong
Should win- King Kong

SOUND MIXING

Will win- King Kong

Should win- Walk The Line

VISUAL EFFECTS

Will win- King Kong

Should win- King Kong
SCREENPLAY-ADAPTED
Will win- Brokeback Mountain
Should win- Brokeback Mountain
SCREENPLAY-ORIGINAL
Will win- Crash
Should win- Crash
DOCU SHORT SUBJECT
Will win- The Mushroom Club

Should win- The Cauliflower Club

SHORT FILM-ANIMATED
Will win- Badgered
Should win- Badges, We Need Not
SHORT FILM-LIVE ACTION
Will win- Cashback
Should win- Your Mom

2006-03-03T13:16:00.000-06:00

Nick's Oscar Picks

BEST PICTURE

Will win- Brokeback Mountain

Should win- Crash

BEST DIRECTOR

Will win- Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

Should win- Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

BEST ACTRESS

Will win- Reese Witherspoon, Walk The Line

Should win- Felicity Huffman, Transamerica

BEST ACTOR

Will win- Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

Should win- Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Will win- Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener

Should win- Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Will win- Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man

Should win- Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man

ANIMATED FEATURE

Will win- Wallace & Gromit In the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Should win- Wallace & Gromit In the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

ART DIRECTION / COSTUME DESIGN

Will win- Memoirs of a Geisha

Should win- Memoirs of a Geisha

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Will win- Brokeback Mountain

Should win- Good Night and Good Luck

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Will win- March of the Penguins

Should win- Murderball

FILM EDITING

Will win- Crash

Should win- The Constant Gardener

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Will win- Tsotsi

Should win- Paradise Now

MAKEUP

Will win- The Chronic - "What?" - cles of Narnia

Should win- Narnia

ORIGINAL SCORE

Will win- Brokeback Mountain

Should win- Brokeback Mountain

ORIGINAL SONG

Will win- "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp" Hustle & Flow

Should win- "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp" Hustle & Flow

SOUND EDITING / SOUND MIXING / VISUAL EFFECTS

Will win- King Kong

Should win- King Kong

SCREENPLAY-ADAPTED

Will win- Brokeback Mountain

Should win- Brokeback Mountain

SCREENPLAY-ORIGINAL

Will win- Crash

Should win- The Squid and the Whale

DOCU SHORT SUBJECT

Will win- A Note of Triumph: The GOlden Age of Norman Corwin

Should win- Sure, why not?

SHORT FILM-ANIMATED

Will win- The Moon and the Sun: An Imagined Conversation

Should win- Sounds good to me

SHORT FILM-LIVE ACTION

Will win- Six Shooter

Should win- Ok, sure

2006-03-03T08:21:00.000-06:00

RIP One Armed Man

2006-03-02T07:56:00.000-06:00

Well, after about 90 minutes of deliberations yesterday, I have made my Oscar picks. I voted pretty safe this year, but I'm not really sure if there are any clear winners this year. I think there is definitely the potential for some major upsets. If that's the case, I'm screwed. I also have been hearing and reading a lot about how this is one of the worst years for movies. I saw a lot of nominees this year, and I liked them all! I think this is probably one of the best years for movies. The Indies are taking over baby, making way for the guerrillas (IceBreaker) to become the "new Indies". It is going to be a great show, and I am really looking forward to it.

2006-02-28T12:51:00.002-06:00

Well, we had our table reading this past Sunday and it rocked. Chad and I have assembled the best group of actors and crew possible. Seeing the script come to life in a manner not yet experienced further ignited the IceBreaker flame inside us. I had no idea that the entire cast and crew were as onboard as they are. I have no doubt in my mind that IceBreaker is going to be huge!

2006-02-28T12:51:00.001-06:00

Chad gave me these pictures a while ago, but I am just getting them up now. These are from our Grain Belt Beer commercial we shot some time ago-

The Pontiac Aztec- loaded and ready

I forgot to mention our official sponsor- Nike

The Beer

I liberated the board that the DVX is sitting on from the side of 35W. I had a vision on how to execute our "floating camera" shot ala The Evil Dead. I named the board Bruce and he resides in my garage now.

reveling in my own glory...

Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson & Steven Spielberg

2006-02-22T08:11:00.000-06:00

A little known awards ceremony the night before the Oscars is the IFP Independent Spirit Awards. Chad and I are voting members (through the IFP) and through a special promotion with Netflix we had the opportunity to see some really great films. Voting ended yesterday, but check out the nominations here: http://www.filmindependent.org/spiritawards.html

2006-02-11T07:54:00.000-06:00

News on the locations front-

We have secured a few key locations for the shoot. I will not go into great detail on what they are yet (everything is verbal at this point), but these are some pretty substantial locations. Great job Randy & Mary!

News on the casting front-

We are plugging in some final names for smaller characters, but our cast is pretty much set. Expect an announcement on that soon...

News on Scarlett Johansson's Front-

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......

2006-01-20T23:20:00.000-06:00

AUDITIONS: ROUND ONE

Today marks Day One of auditions for IceBreaker. There are 12 auditions scheduled for today, 24 scheduled for tomorrow, and who knows how many for next weekend. We've received many submissions thus far with more coming in every day.

This project has been in existence for nearly two years now, the screenplay has been finished for over a year, and since then, I can't count how many times Nick and I have gone through the script. Reading it, timing it, tweaking it, loving it, hating it. We've had these characters in our brains for a long time, but now actors will be performing scenes that were previously just words on a page. Talk about a big step in the right direction...

Judging by the amount of submissions we've received thus far, and considering the amount of talent that is being drawn to this project, it's safe to assume that Nick and I will have some very difficult decisions to make down the road. But at least we're in a position to be making these decisions. One year ago we were in no position to even consider casting - there was simply too much work left to do - but now we're moving forward, and holy shit.

It is SO on.

2006-01-13T10:12:00.000-06:00

Nick's 63rd Annual Golden Globe Predictions

Here are my predictions, I'm pretty hit and miss with these so I'll predict who I think the award will go to and who I think deserves it. Be advised that I haven't seen all the nominated films.

Best Motion Picture - Drama

Who I think will win- Brokeback Mountain (haven't seen it)

Who I want to win- Good Night, And Good Luck

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Who I think will win- Felicity Huffman (Transamerica, haven't seen it)

Who I want to win- Felicity Huffman (The trailer looks good I guess)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Who I think will win- Phillp Seymour Hoffman (Capote, haven't seen it)

Who I want to win- David Strathairn (Good Night, And Good Luck)

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy

Who I think will win- The Squid and the Whale (haven't seen it)

Who I want to win- The Squid and the Whale (looks great)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Who I think will win- Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line, haven't seen it)

Who I want to win- Laura Linney (The Squid and the Whale, haven't seen it but I like her work)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy

WhoI think will win- Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale, haven't seen it)

Who I want to win- Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Who I think will win- Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain, haven't seen it)

Who I want to win- Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Who I think will win- Matt Dillon (Crash)

Who I want to win- Matt Dillon (Crash)

Best Foreign Language Film

Who I think will win- Tsotsi (haven't seen it)

Who I want to win- Kung Fu Hustle (come on now!)

Best Director - Motion Picture

Who I think will win- Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, haven't seen it)

Who I want to win- Steven Spielberg (Munich)

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture

Who I think will win- Brokeback Mountain, Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana

Who I want to win- Crash, Paul Haggis, Bobby Moresco

Best Original Score - Motion Picture

Who I think will win- Brokeback Mountain, Gustavo Santaolalla

Who I want to win- Memoirs of a Geisha, John Williams

Best Original Song - Motion Picture

Who I think will win- "There's Nothing Like a Show on Broadway", The Producers (didn't see it)

Who I want to win- "There's Nothing Like a Show on Broadway", The Producers (didn't see it)

That's it for the motion picture side of things and, well, I don't doTV...

The 63rd Annual Golden Globes air live on NBC, January 16 (Monday), 2006

2006-01-06T08:48:00.000-06:00

It was announced yesterday that Jon Stewart will be hosting the 2006 AcademyAwards. In my personal opinion, I wish they'd go back to Billy Crystal instead of trying to lure younger audiences all the time with these new "hip" hosts - you simply cannot beat Crystal's opening musical numbers. Or at the very least, Steve Martin would've been nice. But the Academy made it pretty clear early on that neither of them would be hosting this year, so taking that into consideration, I'm glad that they chose Stewart. I wasn't a fan of Chris Rock last year, I'm not a fan of Jay Leno period...and damn - I think Whoopi has been a disaster (not to mention her wardrobes) - so I guess Jon Stewart will do. Conan O'Brien would've been a good choice as well. I don't know why they refuse to consult with me when they make these big decisions.

Now if they'd just let me present a damn award. Or accept one.

2006-01-05T10:46:00.000-06:00

A quick update- we have a good lead on a casting director that we are meeting with tonight, hopefully we will get the ball rolling on that very soon.

We are shooting for an end of the month crew meeting, depending on people's schedules.

I said we would have our "Best of '05" film lists up soon, and we will- check on Monday or Tuesday for those.

Chad came across some production stills from our "Beer Guy" commercial the other day, we'll try and get those loaded ASAP. There is a cool one of a camera rig we designed on the spot that actually ended up working out great.

Oh yeah, Happy New Year!

2005-12-27T10:11:00.000-06:00

Well, a belated Merry Christmas to everyone who checks in on the blog (if you haven't given up yet!). I apologize for the lack of updates but let me reassure you that Chad and I have been working on the project. We have secured the services of several crew members and are speaking with several highly talented possibilities. Check www.icebreakermovie.com for some bios in the near future. We are still tinkering with the script, changing little bits and pieces but still maintaining the overall theme and feel of the project. We are also still chasing a few financing leads that will hopefully pan out. Thanks to all our "fans" and supporters, 2006 will be the year of ICEBREAKER!

P.S. Chad and I will post our "Best of '05" movie lists in the next few days or so.

2005-11-27T13:13:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Chad!! From all of us at Mooby's!!

2005-11-25T20:47:00.000-06:00

wax on...wax off...

1932-2005

and just for Chad...

Happy 85th Kahn, er Ricardo!

2005-11-17T17:12:00.000-06:00

Happy 63rd Marty!

2005-11-17T09:05:00.000-06:00

Our first group of interviews for the IceBreaker crew were yesterday 11-16-2005. Chad and I were very happy with all of the applicants (except for a couple of no shows). This first group represented a wide variety of people with all different types of experiences. Thank you to everyone who took time to come out and chat with us. We have another round of interviews this coming Sunday and a couple more here and there, so we should have some information regarding our crew very shortly!

2005-11-09T19:23:00.000-06:00

Will Steve finish it in time for Oscar contention?

PS IceBreaker crew interviews begin next week.

2005-10-24T12:47:00.000-05:00

Just to show you how hard what we are doing is, listen to this guy's story:

This is John Gulager. He won the directing competition for Project Greenlight 3. Dimension Films put up the budget (around 3 million dollars) and pretty much gave John free reign to make the film he wanted- FEAST. Well, now FEAST is complete and there is no sign of a theatrical release for this badboy. The main issue I am hearing with this film is that Dimension Films doesn't know how to market it. Whatever. The film has screened at numerous festivals across the nation and is drawing rave reviews from everyone who has seen it. My point is, this guy has a studio behind him. They put up the money and everything. We are doing this on our own. Finding the money, hiring the cast and crew, editing, festival promotions- everything. Just look back in this blog to see all the hurdles that we have already conquered and the ones that lie just ahead. No easy feat for any man, not even one with a studio to back him. Good luck John.

2005-10-21T19:42:00.000-05:00

Well...our first financier has opted not to invest in the film. She read the script and said she enjoyed it, but due to unforeseen circumstances all of her cash is currently tied up. Oh well. We have come across another option- and are patiently crossing our fingers, but not getting our hopes up.

We are moving ahead with crewing up- if you check under the "crew" heading on www.icebreakermovie.com, you will find job descriptions and an online application. We encourage everyone to apply- students, professionals, hobbyists- all are welcome.

"Hey Bob, you think you can make any more noise with the dolly you creaky motherfucker !"
-Nick (Steve Buscemi) in Living In Oblivion

2005-10-11T20:43:00.000-05:00

Check www.icebreakermovie.com under the "crew" heading for some more info on the crew positions. In the near future there will also be a downloadable PDF application where we will require your social security number, DL number and bank account routing information. Just kidding.

Oh, and apparently the Brothers Weinstein have the sequel and remake rights to 15 successful film series- the only one I am aware of is the "Halloween" franchise, from what I hear they are considering a remake. With the new "Fog" remake in theatres on Friday, I assume Mr. Carpenter is going to be rolling in the dough. Unless Bob and Harvey screw him, which I wouldn't put past 'em.