Rock It Cafe cancelled tonight
Well the gig isn't cancelled, I just can't make it. Took my car in for repairs to the brakes and it's not done yet. So I have to opt out of the gig.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
To this point...
Wow I can't believe it's the last day of July already. This summer, and the year in general, are just whipping by. It's been quite a ride so far and I can't wait to see where the future is leading to.
Even in looking back to when I first began this blog on the new site. I've earned my Screen Actors Guild eligibility, lost my grandmother, booked a commercial, started a comic book project, went to San Diego to pitch it and that's only the tip of the iceberg.
Back in January, I got my Tarot cards read and my question centered around if I was going to acheive the heights in my career that I aspire to. My answer was a resounding yes, but not right now. I was supposed to weather some hardships and disappointments the first 6 months of the year and have to handle a lot of business on my own. After that 6 months, things are supposed to start moving and put me in position to meet people and do projects that are going to place me in those high aspirations for next year.
Now who knows if it's true or just self-fulfilling prophecy, but I can feel things changing. I had a rough couple of months at the beginning of the year and right now, I feel like I'm breaking through to something...different. I don't know exactly what it is, but I feel different and things are happening. I can see it.
It's going to be a crazy ride.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Some more pics from Comic Con
Here are some additional pics. Click on them to bring up the larger image. If you want to see more and read Jeff's recap of the event, click here...
Jeff's banner for "60" hanging at Dicks in San Diego...free advertising!!
Alex Robinson, creator of the kickass Box Office Poison
Kyle and me
Hangin' with "Super-Agent" Judy Cook
I'm...Batman
Takin' the easy way out
No need for a post today as Jeff has the entire Comic Con convention experience covered in a post on the 60 Minute Broadway site ...complete with pictures!!
Check it out!
Sunday, July 24, 2005
New clips up and upcoming show
I put some new video clips up on the site from the M Bar show. There's a new version of the West Hollywood bit and the bit that a lot of people have been requesting...the story of my deaf girlfriend in college dumping me. So check those out if you feel so inclined and I'll probably be putting more up in the coming days. I'd like to do a CD or DVD in the near future.
I also have a show coming up this Sunday 7/31 at the Rock It Cafe in Hawthorne. The show starts at 9:00 and you can always email me for more details and info.
Hawthorne...if I really kick ass at that show who knows? Next month, maybe Downey!!
Friday, July 22, 2005
More nonsense from Comic Con
As was detailed in an earlier post, Jeff and I had some difficulties in obtaining lodging for our Comic Con trip, so we made our second attempt at hitting the con early Saturday morning. We got there and the line to purchase tickets was insane. I'm talking pre-Glasnost-Russia-buying-toilet-paper-line huge. It was long. Luckily, one of Jeff's friends had procured a two letters from an online movie site that deputized us as reporters covering the event and not only got us in gratis but also allowed us to use the short Press Entry line. So we were in the convention and in our geeky glory in a matter of minutes.
Side Note: We're walking the aisles and for some reason, all of the vendors are calling us over and being so nice to us. It wasn't until about the 4th pitch that I remembered...I had a press pass. So everyone was jockeying for position trying to get us to write nice stuff about them. I had to perfect the move of having a conversation with someone while just keeping my eyes focused on their table. Don't make eye contact! Once I saw an opening, I would just slip away into the sea of humanity (and Klingons and Stormtroopers and Goths...etc).
Actually, once we got over whatever the initial crap was with the hotel and our first foray down there on Thursday, the rest of the trip couldn't have gone more smoothly. First off, we stopped by Allen Speigel's table to see my commercial agent (and the most wonderful, amazing person I know) Judy Cook. Her boyfriend, August Hall, is a fantasy artist repped by Allen. Allen also represents Dave Mckean (of Sandman fame) and noted water color artist Jon J Muth. Jeff was a huge fan of Muth growing up and he made a comment to that effect, to which Judy responded "oh that's so cool...he's right here". So Jeff not only got to talk to him and get a picture with him, he also looked at the 60 pages and really liked them a lot. Great start to the day.
We also showed the pages to and got advice from people at Image, Top Shelf, IDW, Dark Horse as well as a few other small press companies and were blown away by one thing...everyone was so freakin' NICE! Generous with advice as well as compliments. People dug Jeff's artwork and the story idea. So we came away with two things: 1) that we need to get about 8 more pages together and do some formal submissions and more importantly, 2) we can do this. We can get this published and the book is as good, if not better than a lot of the stuff out there. It will find a home and it will be great. This I know.
To top off the day, we went into downtown to hang at Dick's Last Resort where my good friend from Boston Kyle is the GM. So he hooked us up with eats and beer and we had a great time hanging out. I only get to see Kyle every few months or so (more so since he and my roommate Jake moved out here from Boston), so it's always great catching up and throwing a few beers back. So much thanks Kyle!! You're the man! (he even put up a Jeff Schuetze original drawing with the 60 Minute Broadway website on it...nothing like a little free advertising because I am nothing if not a whore :)
So overall, it was an amazing experience. One that has me stoked for the possibilities for the future of not only 60, but other projects that Jeff and I may end up working on.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Tales from Comic Con
Sorry for the lack of updates this past week. I was running around like the proverbial chicken with it's head cut off trying to get all our stuff ready for Comic Con.
It was my first comic book/video game/movie/sci-fi convetion experience and I guess couldn't have picked a better one to start with. The San Diego Comic Con International is the biggest convention of it's kind in the world, the grand-daddy of them all. And man, it did not disappoint.
The Con itself went really well. We had the four page story teaser for 60 Minute Broadwayand some script pages, story synopsis..etc bound into a pitch book. We got to show it to some people at Image, Top Shelf as well as some other indie companies and everyone really loved the idea and the pages. Now it's just a matter of getting 8-10 more pages in the can and doing formal submissions. I really believe in this project and think it's going to find a home and a publisher. I can't wait to see it sitting on my bookshelf.
All manner of people in costumes. We got to witness the world's fattest Stormtrooper, Superfly Superman (a James Brown looking dude with a Superman outfit that left nothing to the imagination...you could tell what religion this guy was at a glance) and my personal favorite...Gus the Klingon. There was one guy dressed in a complete Spawn outfit walking along holding his small son's hand. I wanted to lean down and say to the child, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry".
And I used to get embarrassed if my Mom picked me up at the mall in front of my friends.
I'll have pics up here in the next few days.
Friday, July 15, 2005
No room at the Inn...
...or any inns or hotels or motels...for a 60 mile radius of San Diego!!
Unable to pre-book a hotel room in Downtown San Diego pre-convention, Jeff and I left Los Angeles last night at around 12:30 AM and headed to the convention. We figured we'd get down there and if need be, just get a hotel room 30 minutes or so outside the city and drive there.
Man, were we mistaken.
After 3 hours of driving around and stopping at about 20-30 different hotels we came to the conclusion that there was NOT ONE vacant hotel room anywhere within 60 minutes of San Diego. Insanity!! So we turned around and drove home, not wanting to pay $150 for a hotel room that wasn't much closer than either of our apartments.
I was pissed, frustrated and ready to toss the whole project into the trash.
And then I read all of your comments on the teaser artwork. And it totally recharged me, so thank you. They made me realize that this project is something cool, different and special. So we'll lick our wounds today and head back down EARLY tomorrow morning...if we have to sleep in our cars overnight on Sat so be it. We'll get at least one or two convention days in and see what happens.
So thanks so much for all the positive feedback! You have no idea what it means to us!
Thursday, July 14, 2005
It's done!!!
...well, the proposal at least. You can click the title link and check out the four page story opening/teaser for 60 MINUTE BROADWAY. Leave a comment over there and let us know what you think!
On the road again
I just spent all night printing out script pages and business cards and assorted junk for the 60 Minute Broadway pitch book. I just got off the phone with Jeff and he's working away on finishing the coloring on the artwork for the proposal, so we seem to be on track. I'm somewhat disheartened because I don't feel as prepared as I'd like to for something like this. That, and the business cards I tried to print up came out looking less than spectacular. They're fine, really, but that's about all. Fine.
It all could just be pre-convention jitters though. I'm prone to a "sky is falling" mentality when I can't see the outcome to something.
We've got 60minutebroadway.com registered and operational as it's own blog. So please visit that site as most of the posts this weekend will be on there. That's exclusively for all things dealing with the comic...any other general weirdness will be posted here on my site. So now you get two bits of reading goodness for one low price!
We'll have the completed story intro artwork up tomorrow at the 60 site. Please check back and let us know what you think!!
Monday, July 11, 2005
The Road to San Diego
Have you ever been in a situation where you hoped something would work out the way you envisioned in your head? You plan, you work, you design and do everything in your power to make what has been residing in your imagination materialize before your very eyes. Sometimes the finished project falls way short of even the best intentions.
Not this time.
Pictured here (click on it to see a larger view) is the first page of complete art work for the 60 MINUTE BROADWAY comic book that's based on my screenplay of the same name. I'm blown away. One of my best friends on this planet, Jeff Schuetze brought over this finished page as well as the pencils for the three other pages we are doing as a proposal to pitch at this coming weekend's San Diego Comic Con. I was blown away by his rendering of the characters and stories as well as the unique coloring and the way he just brings it all to life. His work is amazing!
This is something we've been talking about for a few months and to see it come to life fills me with excitement and joy. His artwork is perfect for the story...cartoony enough to capture great facial expressions, but realistic enough to convey the story and emotions therein. It's exactly how I hoped it would look and I can't wait to see more.
We're going to do the four page intro for the story, combine in it with the cover art as well as script pages and story synopsis in a pitch book and hopefully make some connections at the convention to get it published. I can't imagine anyone taking a look at what we have so far and, if intrigued by it, not wanting to see more pages when we get them.
I'll be posting all four pages once they're colored, so keep checking back. That, plus reports from the convention, the "M Bar" video clips as well as any assorted audition and Hollywood craziness...well, this should be a good week for updates.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Coming Attractions
I'm back in Los Angeles and looking forward to the coming week. I've got some meetings planned with my representation to go over strategy for the second half of the year and I'm really looking forward to that. Not to mention, the San Diego Comic Con is next weekend and Jeff and I are headed down to pitch 60 MINUTE BROADWAY and try to get that published as a 4-5 issue mini series (or just a complete graphic novel). At the very least, we want to get the proposal to some people to let them see it. We're planning a cool little "pitch book" complete with artwork, script pages and story synopsis. I think it's a solid sell and appeals to mainstream audiences as well as the indie comic crowd. It's something different, yet familiar.
So this week, I should have some additional artwork, maybe some pages, from the comic. I also just transferred the video from the Live at the M Bar show on 6/17 to my pc and I began cutting up some of the bits to put on the video clip page. So far, I've got a new version of the "West Hollywood" bit and the new bit about my deaf girlfriend in college dumping me over the phone.
Any requests? Drop me a comment.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Beantown
I've been here in Boston for a week and looking at heading back to Los Angeles tomorrow. I'll have some free time before having to get everything ready to head to San Diego and Comic Con the following week to pitch 60 MINUTE BROADWAY with Jeff Schuetze. As I type this, I'm sitting on the couch and watching TV with my grandfather. Well, that's not entirely true. The TV is on, but he's zonked out in his chair.
I've enjoyed my time home this trip. Played cards with some comics I hadn't seen in while on Friday. Had a really good time at Tom's wedding on Saturday and then stayed over and had a cookout on Sunday. It was so good to see all my friends (although 2/3 of the table I sat at was the "friends from Los Angeles" table) again. And then just hung with my family the rest of the time.
Those of you who have read other posts here know that in April, my grandmother passed away. My grandfather lives with my mom and stepdad so he's well taken care of, but I feel so bad for him sometimes. He's alone most of the day while they work (on Tues and Thurs there is an aide that comes and spends time with him for a few hours) and can't really move or speak well. He's had a few strokes and his body is failing. But then he'll come out with a comment or joke and you realize his mind is a lot sharper than you give him credit for. I was looking for directions to my friend's house on Friday and asked my stepdad where a certain street was. My grandfather popped right up and told me exactly where it was. And he was right. Dead on.
He remembers taking me to see Return of the Jedi when I was little and waiting in line for like 3 hours. He remembers a lot of stuf. And he still remembers my grandmother. He misses her a lot and I feel for him. We took him to breakfast yesterday and then to the cemetary (he likes to go on Sundays). He uses his good arm to hold his bad arm and he makes the sign of the cross and says his peace. I think the following statement pretty much sums up their over 60 years of marriage:
"I miss you. I miss you even though you called me a son of a bitch".
And that, ladies and gentlemen, are my grandparents.
