Just saw today that PINK has been featured on YouTube. Not sure when this happened or how, but it happened in the last day or so I think.
THANK YOU very much to the editors at YouTube for noticing and featuring the show.
And since we've been featured we've had over 20,000 views on Webisode 01. Pretty cool!
I'm actually in LA this week for several meetings regarding the future of "Pink". Hopefuly more cool news coming soon. :)
-Blake
Nice behind-the-scenes story on the show...
Online Videos by Veoh.com
Thank you Sunny Gualt and all the folks at Viral and Veoh!
-Blake
If you travel at all these days you know the feeling of arriving into an unknown town and not having a clue how to get anywhere. I travel quite a bit and routinely get lost. But not anymore. Last year I bought a portable GPS from Magellan and it's the most liberating device I own (besides maybe my cell phone).
So this week I'm in Atalanta for a video shoot, which I haven't been to in almost 20 years, and I don't know where I'm going. I get my rental car and turn the GPS on and enter the hotel's address.... and boom, the satellite tracks my location and starts telling me where to go (I have one that talks to you). Only problem? I entered the wrong address. I compared where I was going to a map I printed off Yahoo, and something wasn't right. So I pulled over and re-entered my location and figured out I had put in "Avenue" instead of "Street". In Atlanta there are about 20 different "Peachtree" streets. So, the system is not completely fail safe, but once I entered the CORRECT address it took me right there. Nice.
Next day I had to go to the convention center and the hotel concierge gave me directions on a handy little pre-printed 3x5 index card. It also included directions for the return. The directions were good and I got there with ease. BUT, for the return... I had to park in a parking garage that when I exited put me onto a side street that was not mentioned on the 3x5 card. Nothing worse than driving around a downtown area with one-way streets, etc. and not knowing where you are. I just so happened to throw the GPS in my camera bag (glad I did), so I fired it up and got directions on getting back. Worked perfectly.
There are a lot of GPS brands out there and they pretty much all work the same. And the costs are coming down too. I think I paid around $400 for the Magellan over a year ago, and you can now get a good one for probably $250 or so. Tom Tom makes a good one and so does Garmin.
If you're a filmmaker going to different cities and/or varied locations around the globe I think a GPS is a must have these days. In the not too distant future I think the idea of being "lost" will be gone.
Now if it could just drive the car for you then we'd really be talking... :)
-Blake
Okay, so I've been focusing a lot of my time recently on the new web series "Pink". And BTW, episode #6 is out now so definitely check it out.
BUT, my last feature film "Killing Down" has got several things going on with it too...
First, just got an update from my foriegn distributor that so far we've sold these territories for DVD (and some TV):
1. S.Africa
2. Brazil
3. Romania
4. Italy
5. Taiwan
6. Albania
7. Poland
8. Latin America (via an MGM output deal for DVD)
This is all really cool news. The DVD should start popping up in retailers soon.
Secondly, we're EXTREMELY close to inking a domestic deal (finally). I can't release details just yet, but if all goes well the movie will be availble here in the states by early spring.
So, please keep your eye out for the DVD releases wherever you may be reading this. I'll update specific dates when I have them.
In the meantime, I have to go edit another episode of "Pink". :)
-Blake
This week we posted a compilation of the first five episodes of "Pink" - and our friends at the video sharing site Revver put us on their main front page (thank you guys!).
We've had really great response from the show and are continuing to work on building an audience and our brand, which is NOT easy on the Internet. But sites like Revver do make it easier, especially when they help foster a project like ours.
The nice thing too about Revver is we use their RSS Feed for our iTunes account. And iTunes with it's very large market share is really helping us build an audience. But again, without Revver it would be much harder to do.
If you are a filmmaker and want to upload projects to the web I would highly suggest using Revver. Great site and great folks behind it.
-Blake
More press coverage of "Pink"... this time in a video form.
The new show "Viral Propaganda" did a short piece on "Pink" a few days ago, and they're (possibly) doing a full story later this month (after they interview Natalie Raitano in LA).
Check it out right here!
Online Videos by Veoh.com
Also, a little promo we did for the show (on Veoh):
Online Videos by Veoh.com
-Blake
"Pink" is now on iTunes, which is excellent news - BUT even better - Apple contacted me directly (they really dig the show) and have put it on their main store page under Podcast New Releases. It's right there on the front page for the whole world to see. Pretty cool. I hope we get some viewers from this excellent promotion.
I really need to thank my new friend Tim Street for this iTunes introduction. He's the creator of the web show "French Maid TV" and has been consulting with me, and opened the door to Apple. Great guy and his show is definitely funny and worth checking out (hint, hint - go check it out!).
I also need to thank my contact at Apple (his name withheld to protect the innocent) for helping me get my RSS feed straightened out and get all the proper metadata onto iTunes. He was a big help!
If you have a video iPod or an iPhone you can simply subscribe to the show (for FREE) and when a new episode is released iTunes will automatically download it to your computer - then you simply sync your device and watch it whenever you like. If you don't have an iPod or iPhone, you still can/should subscribe via iTunes because you can just simply watch it on your computer (within iTunes).
And if you prefer to watch the show now, well, here you go!
-Blake
Young nate dreams of a new doll for her birthday, but her daddy has a different idea for a perfect gift...
-Blake
Nice front page mention of "PINK" on the cool site "The Daily Reel"...
CHECK IT OUT
(And here's a direct link to the story if above main link is gone)
Episode #4 is out today too. :)
-Blake
Okay, so a lot going on with the new web series "PINK"...
In the past few days I was interviewed on the FresHDV blog, the producers of the "Viral The Show" have contacted me and are doing a story on the show, the video sharing site Revver put "Pink" as their "Video of the Day" (which got us thousands of views - and they posted a nice blog entry too), and now we're talking to Veoh about rollling the show out on one of their Internet channels.
Additionally, we've been contacted by some other media outlets to do more interviews, and lastly we're working to get "PINK" featured on iTunes (we'll see what happens). However, we will have the show available SOON to subscribe to on iTunes as a video podcast.
So, A LOT going on for "PINK". More news coming soon...
-Blake
Okay, so we just hit the 1000 view mark on YouTube. Not bad for a new show with the only marketing being of the grassroots nature through Myspace, this blog and word of mouth.
The show is also on the aforementioned Myspace and the video sharing site Revver, and the main "PINK" website too - so between all the sites we've had just shy of 2000 views.
Revver has contacted us and loves the project, so they are "featuring" us each week in their Editor's Picks section and in their "Featured" artist section. Hopefully this will help build more of an audience too.
The cool thing about this distribution model is the number of folks who can see your work so quickly - and so easily. For instance, my last feature film has really only been seen by some festival audiences (so far). The DVD is not out yet, so in reality only five or six hundred people have seen it in the past year and a half.
To compare, in the past week and a half nearly 2000 people have seen "Pink". That's really amazing. And I do believe those numbers will continue to grow as the show is released over the next 8 weeks.
Now, if we can just figure out how to make money at this.... :)
-Blake
Check out webisode #2 now...
Also see on YouTube and Myspace.
www.youtube.com/pinktheseries
Thanks!
-Blake
The premiere episode of "PINK" is officially online now.
There are three other ways to check it out too...
YouTube:
www.youtube.com/pinktheseries
Myspace:
www.myspace.com/pinktheseries
Official "PINK" Website:
www.pinktheseries.com
Please take a moment to watch the show and remember to catch a new episode every Tuesday for the next 10 weeks.
We'll also have it available on iTunes in the near future along with offering high-res HD downloads.
Stay tuned... :)
Thanks!
Blake
Here are four frame grabs from my Avid timeline from "PINK". These are flashback shots of "young Nate". Used a warm wash, slightly contrasty look to depict a past era in time. These were all shot on my Canon XH-A1 in HDV at 1/48 shutter using the Letus35 FE 35mm adapter. Nikon lenses were used - 24mm, 50mm and 85mm. Color correction was done in Avid using three-way corrector, Magic Bullet Colorista, and Boris Continuum.
I think they have a very filmic quality. Remember, the show premieres online Tuesday September 4th!!!
www.myspace.com/pinktheseries
-Blake
Tim Burton attended a film festival in Guanajato, Mexico and Jason (my step-brother's cousin who is a professional trumpet player) played at a private party for him. Pretty cool.
-Blake
Three War Stories (and lessons) from the "Pink" shoot:
1. LIGHTS - On our first day of shooting we were at a small farm south of Fort Worth. Most of our setups were outside, although we did have one short scene to shoot in the house. This shoot had been planned for several months remember, but as I've said many times if things can go wrong they often do... Midway through the morning a TXU truck pulls up to the property looking for the owner (his name is being withheld to protect the guilty). :) I told the TXU guy he wasn't home and he proceeded to tell me he was there to turn off the power. Yep. Shoot planned for months. The one day we're actually shooting TXU shows up. To turn the power off. I love indie fimmaking. I tried to offer to pay the bill but he couldn't accept money. I then asked him if he could come back later. Even offered to "buy" him lunch. No takers. He went ahead and turned the power off. So, the shots we needed to shoot in the house... well, we did them guerilla-style with available light. Ended up looking pretty good though. ALWAYS make sure your location's electric bills have been paid!
2. LETUS - This was my first time to use a 35mm lens adapter. We used the Letus35 Flip Enhanced. What this does is allow you to use 35mm SLR lenses on video cameras (we shot on a Canon XH-A1 HDV camera). The footage you get with this looks amazing. Very, very film-like with the shallow depth-of-field. The thing is you have to remember to turn the thing ON before you shoot. By turning a small motor on it make the ground glass vibrate and thus creates the film-like images. However, if you FORGET to turn the ground glass motor on the footage looks like you're looking through a dirty window at it. Well, we forgot to turn the motor on twice. Bad thing was it was on two scenes with actors and we had to reshoot them both. One was MOS and the other did have dialogue. Luckily I watched dailies everyday, so I caught it and were able to shoot again. Just remember, IF YOU USE A 35MM ADAPTER MAKE SURE YOU TURN THE MOTOR ON. We're actually creating a label to put on the adapter to remind us in the future.
3. LOCUST - Okay, so we're shooting a scene in my backyard. It's summertime in Dallas. Behind my house is a fairly large wooded area. A small forest actually. I scouted it for the shoot several times and thought it would work great. And it did. Well, almost. The one thing I didn't take into consideration was the locust singing their tune. They were so loud that we almost couldn't hear ourselves think. We got the mic very close to the actors and so I think it sounds okay. Plus, the sound is constant, so I should be able to notch it out with an EQ. Or I can always ADR the scene, but that cost money. It's a good lesson to remember - ALWAYS check your locations at the time of day (and year) you'll be shooting - not only for light but for sound.
-Blake
Started a Myspace page for the new web TV show "Pink". Please check it out and if you're on Myspace yourself let me know and I'll add you as a friend...
www.myspace.com/pinktheseries
Also have a new traditional website under construction.
Please check it out too:
www.pinktheseries.com
In the near future we'll be adding still pix from the shoot (some already on Myspace) and then the actual show will play here too. It will play on the main "Pink" website, on Myspace and YouTube.
More info will follow soon. And, I will detail the shoot soon as well.
REMEMBER, SHOW PREMIERES ONLINE TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 4TH !!!
Thanks for the support!
-Blake
Well the shoot is over and I must say I'm very tired. Actually yesterday I was really tired. Today I'm much better. Went to bed at 8pm on Monday night and slept a full 12 hours. Night before I only slept 3 hours. So I needed it.
I will detail the shoot in the coming days, but for now I will just say that I had a good time and we got some great footage. BUT, I really hate production. I really do. So many things can go wrong (and often do). You also have a mix of personalities that can (and often do) clash - especially when you're tired, etc. And we had a descent amount of "friction" on this set for some reason. Really the first time I'd experienced it. And I don't like it. Of course not everyone was affected, but it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.
Anyway, enough with the drama.
It's really all about the show and the work - and like I said, I'm quite happy with that. I also think I've stumbled upon a REALLY good child actor and I'm going to look into helping her find an agent and get more work in the future.
One last thing is I'd like to thank the cast and crew for all their hard work on the shoot. If any of them are reading this just know that you helped the show tremendously and I greatly appreciate your efforts. Nice work!
Now off to the editing suite... :)
To be continued.
-Blake
This Wednesday we begin shooting the new web TV show. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm looking forward to it - although I must say production is my least favorite part of the filmmaking process. Too many things can go wrong (and often do). But I'm working with a lot of the same crew - and even cast - from previous projects, so that should make things go fairly smoothly. They're all very talented folks, well most of them. :)
I hope to post on the blog some along the way and also get some behind-the-scenes cast and crew video on the web too. But it's funny how things tend to get away from you in the middle of shooting. I'll do my best though.
-Blake
