Ana Alexander Added to Cast for Film Project

Brutal weather and the vicissitudes of Delta scheduling stranded actress Julie Horner on the East Coast Thursday, which threw our shooting plans into dissaray here in Los Angeles. Julie was cast months ago for the project and we were looking forward to working with her again. She has a new feature film "Eyeborgs" with Adrian Paul being released this spring (http://www.eyeborgs.com/) and she's a consummate actress in all respects.

When it became apparent that Julie would simply not be able to make the shoot we had to scramble to call casting agencies and cash in favors in order to find a replacement for the role. Fortunately, we were able to pitch the project to the representatives of Ana Alexander and she liked the script. Ana has guest starred in numerous television shows including CSI: Miami, Reno 911, Las Vegas, Two and a Half Men, Sleeper Cell and many other. You can peruse her credits and her reel on her site: http://www.anaalexander.com/.

We consider ourselves damn fortunate to have an actress of her talent work with us on such short notice. Shooting will continue through the weekend.

Fat Monster In Malibu

Saturday night made a cross-town run to Malibu to catch a performance by the band MIGGS and a post-show meeting with front man Don Miggs. The band's 2005 album Insomnia was produced by Gavin MacKillop (Goo Goo Dolls, Barenaked Ladies, Sugarcult) and received enthusiastic reviews in the music press. Unfortunately, the band's label went bankrupt leaving the band to do promotion themselves (over 150 tour stops in 2007 alone). The band moved more than 20,000 copies of Insomnia at merchandise tables and New Jersey record label Rock Ridge Music has agreed to publish a new MIGGS album (Unraveled) to be released in June 2008.

The band is committed to having Fat Monster Films produce the video for the album's launch single and we discussed tentative schedules for production. The label has yet to choose the single for the video or commit to a budget so that last night's meeting could only be an exchange of good will and good intentions. Don, however, expressed his commitment to bringing Fat Monster on board with the only issue being whether we could work with whatever budget the label gives him.

In truth, the band's schedule fits our own better than an early production push. This week sees us shooting a short film project with talent and crew flying in from the East Coast and immediately thereafter we will be shooting a video for I Hate Kate before flying to Washington for the Vienna Teng shoot on Whidbey Island. Moreover, this week Tim has been negotiating with a band that hopes to shoot a video for their single "as soon as humanly possible." Given that we have forensic video projects set in Alabama, Virginia, Georgia and out here in San Bernardino we simply do not have the calendar bandwidth to take on a MIGGS project before March.

Of course, staying busy is what this business is all about and you will hear no complaints from us.

After the MIGGS meeting we stopped by Hollywood to call on Stuart Ortiz who was holding court among candles in his apartment. Stuart related a pretty amusing story about how the place came with electricity turned on and the juice flowed for more than three months so that Stuart sort of assumed the utilities came with the rent. Somebody at PG&E pulled a switch this weekend so that Stuart is without lights until Monday. Stuart's wide circle of friends assured a continuous supply of beer and candles so that he's not hurting in the least.

Stuart did give us more information on a feature film project he will be co-writing and shooting in Canada this spring and we'll keep our eye on it for you all.

Fat Monster to Produce Video for "I Hate Kate"

Glassnote recording artists I HATE KATE have signed Fat Monster Films to produce the music video for their new single "Bed of Black Roses" from their new album "Embrace the Curse." 

I HATE KATE was founded in November 2004 by former ZEBRAHEAD guitarist and vocalist Justin Mauriello. I HATE KATE has played shows with bands including SOCIAL DISTORTION, HOT HOT HEAT, THE BRAVERY, THE LIVING END, UNWRITTEN LAW, and SHINY TOY GUNS to name a few. The band has had successful tours internationally including most recently Japan where Justin developed a huge fanbase and three gold records from his days fronting ZEBRAHEAD. 

Check out I HATE KATE on their sites at www.myspace.com/ihatekate and www.purevolume.com/ihatekate

A Word About Cinematographers

We here at Fat Monster Films have been fortunate to work with a number of brilliant cinematographers. From our inception, Tim and I agreed that we would make hiring talent behind the lens the first priority of every project. For our upcoming Vienna Teng video we have been blessed to have the services of noted cinematographer Steven Dempsey. I truly encourage all readers of this blog to visit Steven's Pine Lake Films site to click on a few samples of his nature cinematography: www.pinelakefilms.com The guy is a mad scientist behind the camera and I can honestly say that his native sense of landscape and framing is without peer. 

Anyway, Steven and his family have a place in New Mexico and he shared with us the accessibility of nearby White Sands National Monument as a location for a future shoot.  Over the holidays Steven and his family drove to White Sands where his lovely wife Linda made this lovely greeting for Fat Monster's new year:

Linda, you rock! We'll see you in a few short weeks up there in Washington.....

Fat Monster Looks at 2008

The holidays are over at last and we're ready to hit the ground running here at Fat Monster for 2008. This morning when I woke up in Nebraska it was two degrees below zero. When I got off the plane at 1:30 here in California it was 75 degrees.

We have a very busy January scheduled so far and we're sure it will only get worse as more projects hit the calendar. However, both Tim and I agree that we do our best work when under pressure and we're looking forward to the sleepless nights to come.

While I'm finishing up this post, allow me to put a plug in for the lovely singer who played with the band I sat in with on New Year's Eve. Her name is Terri Jo and you can find her album called "Stories Around Me" on CDbaby.com. Terri is an incredible songwriter who has received national exposure on NPR and has won several awards for her songwriting and performing skills. After plying her with a bottle of wine I brought from Napa she allowed me to hear the rough cut of her soon-to-be-released new album and its a killer. I've already made plans to return to Lincoln, Nebraska to play with her band next New Years. If you're going to be out there on the prairie next year I can get you a table ....

Mark for Fat Monster Films