"A Brighter Tomorrow"

Sometimes all you need is the sun, a camera, and a small group of dedicated nature lovers all in one beautiful place.

A couple of Sundays ago, by 3 am we were all up, and by 4 am we were carpooling together to the badlands just outside of Los Angeles, California. Why? Because the wildflowers were in full spring bloom, and we wanted to catch the sunrise. With a camera. And 2 wonderful actors.

It was the chance to do something special for SunChips by making an ad for Current TV. Oh, and Al Gore would see it. In other words, it was an opportunity we couldn't resist.

We wanted to film a story about a young couple taking...well, never mind. It's all backstory anyway. Come check out the spot and see what a small group of dedicated film and nature lovers came up with.

And here's a pic of us. We were surrounded by wildflowers in every direction. Mother Nature was definitely in full effect.



If Al Gore calls, we're ready.

:: bogna ::

Fan Girls Are the Future

So, there a few things are going on. First of all, the episode of "One Tree Hill" I shadow directed is airing tonight. I can't wait to see it on the small screen... with the commercials and everything. When I was out in Wilmington, North Carolina during production, I noticed something every time we shot a scene on location outside of the soundstage: Fan Girls. Out by the river at the basketball court? Fan Girls. At the remote beach house? Fan Girls. Downtown? Fan Girls. Rainy weather? Fan Girls with umbrellas. Devoted, disciplined, patient, keeping the series going seven seasons strong and counting.

And what's been going on this past week or so, making box office records with the release of New Moon, part of the Twilight franchise? Fan Girls. Everywhere. In line. Spending money. Making movie history. They seem to be a newly discovered, unstoppable force. And as I was watching the movie, noticing the carefully crafted money shots, I thought to myself, how cool that the filmmakers are going to such lengths, from the sweet main title opening to the elaborate visual effects action sequences, for the Fan Girls. It was all for them. And it's working.

So I'm thinking to myself, what if this catches on? I mean, if it really catches on? What if more stories need to be told and everyone wants to make something for the Fan Girls. What if more and more projects with awesome female characters get greenlit? What if production companies, studios, and networks realize that they need more qualified filmmaker Fan Girls to make stories for other Fan Girls?

You see what I'm getting at? Me likey.

:: bogna ::


UPDATE: It appears that CNN is onto this phenomenon as well! "Hey, Hollyood, the fangirls are calling"

Word of the Day: Sparklies

Sparklies. (spar-klees) noun, plural.

A cooler term for "awards" than the word "awards." Usually a shiny statuette that says your work doesn't suck. Sparklies give you cred and make your work legitimafied.

Usage:

"Check out the sparklies on my mantle."

or

"I'm not sayin' my work is better than yours, I'm just sayin' I have a ton of sparklies."

--

True story: I heard someone brought their Oscars to a bank to help get a loan approved.


:: bogna ::

Have miles, will travel

If opportunity knocked on your door, would you open it? Would you step outside and join it?

I don't know about you, but apparently I would. And I just did. I am so excited to be traveling to Wilmington, North Carolina on a moment's notice to do so because a new adventure awaits. It's an opportunity to learn from the best. Stay tuned...

:: bogna ::

Word of the Day: Costa Rica-itis

"Costa Rica-itis," from the words 'Costa Rica' plus the suffix '-itis,' is the condition in which all you can think about is your upcoming trip to Costa Rica. Kind of like "senioritis," but specific to travel in Costa Rica.

:: bogna ::

Yay! We won a Telly Award!

More info on this soon, but I just found out we won a Telly Award! Vista Point Pictures has done some cool projects for some fun clients (or is that the other way around?), and it looks like we've been rewarded. I'm ready to celebrate. Just in time for the weekend...
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

"Also I like to rock" and other cultural phenomena

It is good to live in LA. There are many reasons, one of which is the Also I like to rock series of free concerts at the Hammer Museum by FM station Indie 103.1. Last Thursday The Duke Spirit and io echo rocked the Hammer Courtyard. The Duke Spirit, one of my new favorite bands, is a tight band from London. The lead singer Liela Moss is a little Siouxsie, a little Jefferson Airplane, a little Mazzy Star, with a powerful voice in her own right. Being from London, she thought that the Hammer gig was at "a museum of hammers." No, the Hammer is definitely not "full of tools," especially if they are putting on awesome shows like this for the community. Recession, shmercession, we've got our music. As long as awesome rockers are belting it out in nice museum courtyards for free, we are all going to be okay.

I left the Hammer crowd elated, only to see massive crowds lining the streets in Westwood and feeling a fervent electricity in the air, which only meant one thing: the first screenings of the new Batman movie by Director Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight. A much anticipated film with a record-breaking opening, The Dark Knight deserves the crowds and the accolades, for it is stunning filmmaking of a dark and complex drama. It's great to see that Director Christopher Nolan, who wowed the Sundance crowd with the nonlinear indie Memento, could evolve the Batman franchise into such an intriguing realistic entity with a life of its own, far beyond hopes and expectations, and oh so satisfying. And speaking of Sundance, that's where I was when I heard of Heath Ledger's death. It was snowing and cold, I was on a festival shuttle, and some girls in the back were talking about it. It instantly felt like a tragedy, such a great loss to the film community, and I have been looking forward to seeing this final performance ever since. I've read reviews of Ledger's performance of the Joker as "Cagney meets Brando," and I have to agree, but with the caveat that it was even better and deeper than that. Unforgettable.


:: bogna ::

A shout out to the Stripe Factory

I recently wandered into the gallery in Chinatown known as Sister and ran into 'Stripe Factory' by artist Danica Phelps. Stripe Factory is a series of panels with perhaps thousands of little stripes arranged on them. Meticulous? Yes. Fastidious. Oh yeah. Method to the madness? Absolutely. Apparently the artist really made these panels factory-style with assistants to help make all the stripes in the name of efficiency.
What's nice about these panels is how different they seem when viewed from different distances. From one vantage point, a panel seems to hold purely an abstract texture. If you get a little closer, you can detect a pattern. From one angle there is a slight optical illusion, from another you can really see the detailed work. And if you get a little closer, each little piece of a stripe has its own shape and integrity, which can start to feel maddening when seeing so many of them. And I mean maddening in a good way. It's a nice exercise in seeing the forest, or the trees, or the veins of each leaf, depending on a couple of steps.

:: bogna ::

(Detail of a panel from Stripe Factory)

Public But Not Forgotten: a potato in a parking lot

I am very fond of a certain potato in a parking lot. But it's not just any potato. It's a bronze potato sculpture, and it's sitting in the parking lot of Anawalt Lumber & Hardware in West Los Angeles.
Seriously. Do people even notice it on their way to the hardware store? Do they stop and think how those three massive bronze potatoes could balance off each other so precariously? It is art, after all. Someone had to imagine it and cast it in bronze. It's got a title and everything: "Crutch."
When shoppers use a car remote to lock/unlock their cars, and the potato sculpture happens to be obstructing their view of the automobile, then maybe, maybe, they see "Crutch" for a second... but I think that's about it. I mean, if anyone saw you admiring it in the parking lot, wouldn't they laugh at you?
I guess we've forgotten that art can exist in something as banal and utilitarian as a parking lot. Well, at Pico and Sepulveda, apparently it can. So the next time you need lumber, a bolt, or an eyeglass screwdriver, just remember that art might be lurking someplace unexpected, and closer than you think.