Another Sunny Day in Los Angeles

Our short film "Where The Heart Lies" placed third in its first festival submission for the dvxuser "love fest" on line festival. Approximately 50 films were entered and we missed second place by two points and first place by seven. We are busily editing a longer festival version that will compete in several short film festivals from coast to coast.

Meanwhile, we are also working on a new short film project that we are very enthused about. We've got a first draft of the script and have already attached some serious talent to the cast and crew. More details to be released in time. Suffice it to say that we're happiest when we're making films and we feel particularly good about this new project.

We are constantly reminded why we love living out here in the Los Angeles basin with so many resources. Tim was seeking some assistance with art direction on one of our upcoming music videos and pulled up one of the many long lists of contacts that you can find on L.A. websites. He found a listing for a gentleman who simply had "production designer" next to his name. Tim called him and started asking about helping with art direction and the guy politely said, "Well, I'm probably not able to work in your budget but perhaps I can help you on the phone with some ideas." They discussed some issues and the man was really helpful and spent a lot of time on the call. Before they hung up he told Tim to call back if he wanted to run some more stuff by him. Only then did we look him up on line to find that he's the Production Designer who did "12 Monkeys", David Fincher's "The Game" and was nominated for an academy award for his work on "Dances with Wolves." Sometimes Hollywood can really surprise you when you find people who REALLY care about helping others and especially helping the little indie film makers who often get overlooked.

I had a similar experience as I was running down some prop assistance for our new short film project. While scouting some locations a studio manager gave me a number for a prop designer, who I was told might be able to help us. Not having any idea who he was, I called him and had a remarkable conversation along with his commitment to help us figure out how to shoot our concept on a tight budget. I later learned that he has done everything from Alien: Resurrection, Star Trek: Voyager, The X-Files and Independence Day. I dissolved into fanboy mode when he mentioned that he did all five years of Babylon 5 and still has a ton of the props and costumes in his garage. The guy was as friendly as though I'd known him for years and he invited us to come over this weekend to look through his stuff. As I said, sometimes Hollywood can surprise you.