Where have all the geeks gone?

Where have all the geeks gone?

I went out to try to find some midnight madness for the November 1 release of the Star Wars Episode III DVD, and the Star Wars Battlefront II PC and console video game.

I went by a Circuit City, an EB Games, and even made myself go by a Wal-Mart, before finding a party at a local Hastings. And by "party" I mean like 5 people, and only one in Star Wars-themed get up (the kid in the pict above).

he was dressed as "Anakin Skywalker" (Hayden Christensen) -- scar and all -- and probably would have had the best Star Wars costume. Even if there had actually been some competition.

I'm guessing the Force wasn't strong with this young one, since he was oblivious to my following him around to snap this picture.

I wanted to adopt the kid so he could make it through high school. He was making conversation with 3 of the other costumed attendees, and was asking things like, "So, are you a Dark Knight Returns concept Robin?"

Sad. But dedicated to his geekdom.

And I didn't even get me an Ewok ...

Gonna try to get me an Ewok. Or Jar Jar.

Gonna try to get me an Ewok. Or Jar Jar.

Tonight, I'm sure there are going to be crazy midnight release parties for tomorrow's November 1 release of the Star Wars Episode III DVD, and the Star Wars Battlefront II PC and console video game.

Now, I'm a fanboy of the franchise. But that's not going to stop me from driving by some of the these dress up parties and seeing if I can run over an Ewok ...

Wow. Today, I was blessed with a great, great day...

I try to do the right thing.

Sometimes, trying to do the right thing for someone who doesn't know I'm doing it for them leaves them with a half solution, so for them it looks like they're getting shafted, because I haven't told them I stood in the gap so things wouldn't suck more than they do.

Sometimes, even while trying to do the right thing, life keeps happening. The house foundation cracks. Pipes back up sewage into the bathtubs. The dog gets sick. I get sick. I can't get to life stuff because I'm tied up in this rightness.

Sometimes, when I'm trying to do the right thing, I can bust my ass, "do whatever it takes", "run the gauntlet", brutalize myself so people downstream don't get as brutalized as much as they could, work 70-90 hour weeks for months on end, try to get something good done because that's who I am; not because I expect anything out of it.

And in the midst of that, I can be black balled, slandered, disrespected, taken advantage of, and removed from my position. I might even be asked to go hide, even though that's not how I'm built.

Sometimes, when I try to the do the right thing ... all I end up with is having tried to do the right thing.

And that's enough.

Work sucks ...

Work sucks ...

And now, more disturbing race-related ramblings ...

Earlier this week, my real-world anecdote around race relations and language was more interesting/funny (though, arguably, "not funny 'ha ha'").

Today, it is -- unfortunately -- no less real-world, but it is far more disturbing.

I heard about "Prussian Blue" -- the 13-year-old twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede who are a pop duo with a different message -- White Supremacy.

<rant>These two girls have been nicknamed "The Olsen Twins of the White Nationalist Movement" (leave it to our responsible media to besmirch a squeaky clean (arguably insipid), unrelated duo in the name of a catchy journalistic handle.</rant>

The whole unsettling deal can be found on ABC News.

But what bothers be in addition is how I found out about this "News of the Weird" item.

For various reasons, I'm still on a graduate mailing list for the University of Texas, following some initial post-graduate work I did at UT.

And we've all made mistakes in doing a "Reply to All" to a listserve (at least I have), but I was disturbed by this nugget, broadcast to the world:

"It's so perfect that KKK David Duke has them as his warm-up act before one of his tirades. I think that the mother's statement of wanting to move her family to the Northwest is perfect. Aside from Seattle (and maybe Portland) that's where these fucked-up idiots are congregating for cultural warmth and companionship. They will interbreed themselves out of existence. I can't imagine anything more horrifying and boring and culturally deadening than living in an all-white trash trailer park. I hope the media absolutely ignore these little racist tarts."

Though I'm no supporter of David Duke, or the KKK, or their beliefs, I can't begin to talk through how "off" this blast is -- classist, elitist, ageist, (I'd say) racist, and hypocritical (and would be laughably so, if it weren't so disappointing).

And this from one of the supposed bright, post-graduate, open-minded, and tolerant new Eductional Elite.

God help us.

Race-related interactions are interesting and important. And life is funny. Sometimes, the two collide.

I was at one of the biggest electronic superstore chains Sunday (returning a TV; if I'm going to pay that much for a box, I want it to be "awesome!"; not "pretty good").

Here's the scene:

A white women ("White Employee") is helping me in Customer Service. A black man ("Black Employee #1") is also helping, testing the TV I'm returning. Stay with me, because I wouldn't mention skin color if it wasn't germane to the story.

While I'm waiting (a looong time), another store employee -- also black ("Black Employee #2") -- walks over from the video section and yells, "Hey! Black Guy! I need to talk to you! Yo! Black Guy!".

Think about this. In today's hypersensitive social world, I found it interesting that this guy was acting this way -- face it, we live in a stupid pseudo-tolerant world, so the whole thing was surprising.

Anyway, Black Employee #1 says something like, "Hold on, I'm busy" (which makes me think he knows this guy).

Then White Employee, semi-joking (I'm thinking because she wants to play in the banter, but is a little uncomfortable with a customer involved) says, "I want you both to know that I'm offended by that."

To which Black Employee #2 says, "Why? You're not black."

And then -- I kid you not (and this is the "life is funny" part) -- the long trailer for Crash starts playing on the bank of TVs behind them.

You can't script an interstitial better than that. It's had me thinking all evening.

I'm inspired by Andrew McMahon from Jack's Mannequin.

I'm not inspired by Doom.

Dinner for late Sunday night:

1. Macaroni and Cheese
2. Ruffles® Potato Chips (Original)
3. Firebowl Cafe veggie egg rolls (left overs)
4. Gatorade® (I'd just run 3 miles)
5. 3 glasses of water
6. Tums® (no issues; I'm being proactive)

I may need to improve my dietary habits slightly ...

Updates on video game voice over announcements:

(aka Video game VO gigs Adam's not getting.)

The current continuing trend in video game voice over is big-name Hollywood talent for video games.

While this has seen some good effect (Patrick Stewart in X-Men Legends and its sequel), it's also seen some bad, or at least critically under-rated (Michael Madsen in Driv3r; David Duchovny in XIII and Area 51, etc.).

And the expense! Retail prices for video games are supposed to go up ($60, up from $50), because development prices for games are supposed to go up in the next generation ($20M plus, up from $5-12M). But from at least one next-gen development insider, development budgets are "only" jumping to $12-15M.

As a gamer, I'm looking for immersion. I don't want to be yanked out of my willing suspension of disbelief by sucky VO work (it happens a lot in games). But I'm not buying a game for big-name talent.

Which makes me wonder: Are we as gamers paying for big-name talent that may not be solid voice talent?

As an Example, Activision just announced Thomas Jane will be doing the lead for their upcoming Gun free-roaming actioner for current- and next-gen platforms.

In this month's Game Informer Magazine, Jane talks about how hard the voice acting was, because he didn't have physical actors to react off of, and for the most part, didn't even have rendered sequences for context (ADR-esque style). He said for one sequence, he scheduled Lance Henrikson (who's also doing Gun), so they could do their scenes together.

I'm a professional voice actor. What I do is create a believable performance, in a booth, with nothing. I nail an audition or gig by being believable in a vacuum; I lose gigs if I'm not. Good for Jane being able to schedule co-stars for sessions, but he's big enough to be able to do that. I'm not. So I need to keep honing my traditional craft.

I'm passionate about gaming, and video games (and cartoons) are why I got in to acting. I consider myself lucky to particpate in games and cartoons (and to get compensated fairly, of course). And I save video game companies a ton of money, because I'm not Hollywood.

Anyway, given this, some video game voice over updates of note below -- I've been interacting with a number of these companies, so I'm a bit bummed that there announcements are my semi-formal "we thank you for considering us ..." ;-)

Of course, I'm persistent.

Gun -- Activision and Neversoft Entertainment's wild west got some top talent, with The Punisher's Thomas Jane (Colton White), Kris Kristofferson (Colton’s father Ned); Tom Skerritt (Clay Allison), Brad Dourif (Josiah Reed), Ron Perlman Mayor Hoodoo Brown), Lance Henrikson (Thomas MacGruder). I sent NeverSoft a voice demo and press packet for this title when it was announced, and didn't get any feedback. Might be OK, because though I'm still excited about the game, the recently released Xbox 360 trailer looks a little too current-gen to me. But if the gameplay rocks, I don't care.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion -- Bethesda Game Studios has landed an all-star cast, adding more voice to the already impressive presence of Patrick Stewart (the Emperor). Sean Bean (Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, Flightplan, National Treasure) will be the Emperor’s lost son; Terence Stamp will be the game's voice of evil, and Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman) will be lending her talents as well. I never sent Bethesday a press packet or voice demo.

X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse -- Besides Patrick Stewart, this game (and its precursor) has some decent voice acting (and a lot of it). After playing the first X-Men Legends, I tracked down the director of audio over at Raven Software and sent a voice demo and cover letter explaining my voice acting, passion for comic books, video games, and their games. I'm guessing the game shipping last month means they didn't need me this round.

Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood -- Ubisoft's/Gearbox Software's recently shipped sequel to their incredible refresh of the WWII shooter genre raises the bar again, this time with somewhere between a 6-9 month development window. These folks are outside of Dallas, and I hit them up for the original title, this one, and will be doing the same for their upcoming Unreal Engine 3 games.

Gears of War -- This is one of games I'm most excited about on the next generation of hardware. No announcements have been made, but, yeah, I sent a a href="http://www.adamcreighton.com/demos.html">voice demo and press packet letting them know I seriously want to be a part of it. I thought the main character, Marcus, was voiced by Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series). But after watching some footage from Microsoft's recent X05 event, I'm thinking it may be Steven Jay Blum (or a sound alike), one of the hardest working animation and video game voice over talents out there. Getting him mixed up with Conroy is understandable, since his Roger Smith voice Japanese anime The Big O was "Batman-plus-Spike-from-Cowboy-Bebop". I'm going to have to ping Cliff "CliffyB" Bleszinski and see if he would tell me that...

I'm reminiscing about the 80s & 90s cartoons, toys, and comic books ...

I'm reminiscing about the 80s & 90s cartoons, toys, and comic books ...

While I was out running in the rain yesterday (of course), I was waxing reminiscent about my weekend toy hunt.

Running and rain seem to stimulate creativity, and/or sentimentality, and (at the very least) dampness, and I was thinking about the fact that though everything retro seems to be chic, it's hard to find the retro I want.

I've talked before about my predilection for unique toys (again, not the embarrassing-to-find-during-an-airport search kind; let that go). I like unique, inspiring, and sentimental toys.

So this weekend, I went on a quest to find stuff, and ended up for the first time in a long time at chain Toys "R" Us, and was ... disappointed.

Over time, I've watched the changes in the Transformers, G.I.Joe, and other franchises. But to see them all in one place was a bit of a setback.

For example, I cut my cartoon teeth on G.I.Joe, Transformers, Battle of the Planets, and so on. These things have seen recent (positive) insurgence in the comic book industry. But the toy/collectibles handling of the licenses has been kind of spotty.

I really like what Devil's Due Publishing has done with G.I.Joe -- updating it, making it more adult, and spinning it six ways to Sunday as a true franchise. I'm less thrilled with what Hasbro has done for Joe on the toy front; evidently, kids aren't creative enough to play with these toys, so electronic sound effects and phrases are built in. I know I'm sounding semi-crotchety, but play with these things -- they feel ... hollow. And I've got mixed feelings as to this fall's all-ages, anime-esque TV series slated for this fall ...

Robots that are other things are just cool, and Transformers saw a resurgence in the comic book world from recently defunct Dreamwave Entertainment/Publishing. Despite Dreamwave's checkered history, Pat Lee and company did a phenomenal job with the Generation 1 series, scratching an itch that Transformers: Energon's kiddy-fare can't quite reach; which is fine, because that series makes the big guys more accessible to a new generation (pun intended). With Dreamwave's recent resurrection Christian Dery, the studio may have its time in the sun, but Hasbro saw the demise of the previous version of the publisher as an opportunity to reclaim the license (as it did, thankfully, from Atari, who butchered it in their recent PlayStation 2 game).

An interesting footnote: Gobots used to be the poor man's Transformers (though I think they came out first in Japan), but Hasbro bought that license, and now the line is the toy company's kids line of transforming robots. Nothing like healthy competition.

And if Transformers are back, why the hell can't I get a decent Dinobot?

As far as Battle of the Planets, Image Comics did a bang-up job on the series, not least of which because they tagged artistic master Alex Ross to do covers, posters, and promos for the series.

And Power Rangers have nothing on Voltron.

But back to the weekend toy hunt.

Luckily, the overpriced (but well stocked) folks over at DSC Toys & Collectibles had a Marvel Modern Age Captain Britain (with Lockheed) to cleanse my aesthetic pallet.

Actually, I was looking for two figures from ToyBiz's Marvel Legends series 10: Angel and X-Factor Cyclops. What makes these things cool is each one in the series comes with a piece of a Sentinel. Get all of them in the series, and you can build a 16.5" robot. I was kind of mheh on the gimmick, until I got one of the pieces; some serious craftsmanship. This is a bummer, since besides Cyclops and Angel, I think only Black Panther is cool, so I'm going to end up with a leg and a couple of arms. Mr. Sinister isn't bad, so maybe I'll end up with 2 legs.

I'd picked up Archangel before, and am actually looking for the variant version of X-Factor Cyclops to put next to it, because though I may be a child of the 80s, I hit my stride in the 90s.

I did find a non-variant Angel from the series, which I wanted to juxtapose with Archangel. The attached pict isn't top quality, but I've position the figure on a stand, so that it looks like it's either swooping down to beat the tar out of his turned self, or his "pure self" is ascending out of Archangle.



They're metaphors.

I may need an intervention ...

I received some incredibly kind words from a DP/Director by way of my agent yesterday.

Unsolicited, this guy felt compelled to let my agent know he was impressed with me as a talent and as a person, and that he fully intends to use me on future projects.

I don't mention this to showcase myself (I'm humbled by his comments), but to flag what a cool, stand-up thing it was for him to do. Knowing some details of how wicked busy he is on his current project, I'm impressed he had the time to do something that could be considered a secondary priority.

I don't think we recognize folks (unsolicited) often enough, and especially in this stereotypically superficial biz, I was really encouraged yesterday by his comments -- and I really needed encouragement yesterday ...

Flashback radio programming...

Did I really used to think Helmet and Danzig were "hard"? And when did they become retro?

Tech Geek Actor updates ...

You may have noticed some subtle updates to my website recently.

1) Y'know that "I'm seeing/"I'm hearing"/"I'm playing"/"I'm reading" section below my headshot on my "About" page? I've created blogs for each of them, so those are now clickable links to get to (sometimes) deeper thoughts about what media I'm consuming and why.

2) I've created syndication feeds for my Acting and Gaming published blogs, so you can subscribe to them, if that's preferable to you over getting Email updates. There are too many flavors of XML-ish syndication "standards" out there (a couple atom feeds, 3 versions of RSS, etc.), and I don't think you folks should have to suffer for it. To get around this, I use the fine services over at FeedBurner.com to create a "super feed", so you can pick the subscription that works for you.

• An Actor (News and Thoughts) feed
• Computer and Video Gaming feed

3) I've repackaged all of my FeedBurner-generated feeds for my blogs (including the 4 new "I'm [whatever]ing" blogs) into HTML (via FeedBurner's nifty BuzzBoost service), so they show up on my main blogs page. Think of it as one-stop shopping for your "Adam blog" needs.

4) I've redirected the auto forward of www.adamcreighton.com to my main blogs page, rather than my Actor's Ramblings blog. This makes it easier for folks to get to my acting blog, gaming blog, and media blogs, all in one place.

Caveat: Now, I'm using the stellar free services for blogging over at blogger.com, and the syndication services of FeedBurner.com, because they're both free, pretty easy, and customizable to fit into the rest of my Website without making it look ugly. If either of those services were to make all of this harder, I'd drop them like a Chuck Austen Avengers run. I'd do everything I'm doing via Movable Type, server-side includes, or equivalents.

The Future: Oh, and this is only the beginning. I've got something cool related to fishing for whales coming up soon ...

Sucks . . .

I think an injustice has been done to a good man.

A great, talented, genuine leader left work before his time. I don't know the whole story, so I don't know what the "reasons" are from a corporate perspective, but I do know other things.

There are different kinds of leaders.

There are people like this guy, who are technically competent, business savvy, and care about relationships with people. These are the leaders people choose to follow.

There are other leaders. Leaders who bold-face lie, intimidate, belittle, disrespect, and damage the people and business around them. Theses are leaders whose leadership people choose to suffer.

That kind of person -- the bad leader -- is still there. And the good leader is not.

Which is what makes me think an injustice has been done to a good man.

To be honest, the recipient of the short change isn't really all that upset or concerned (that's one of his gifts: "It is what it is"). So maybe this is a "minor injustice", as opposed to a "grave injustice".

But really, if we're talking about injustice, how far have we slipped as a society if we started assigning grades to justice?

Injustice is injustice.

I like the way a 4-year-old's mind works.

It was a 4-year-old's mind (driving her mouth) that informed me (giggling all the while) my dogs spend day and night in my house absolutely naked.

Brilliant.

Neil Gaiman is in Austin.

Tonight (7 p.m., Sept. 26), he'll be at Book People in Austin, for a reading and signing for his recent novel Anansi Boys.

Gaiman is one of my favorite writers -- from creating Sandman, to putting the poetry into the English script for Princess Mononoke, to the amazing novel American Gods, to a host of other works garnering a bunch of international recognition.

I won't be there -- I've got a family commitment tonight that (for me) takes precedence over seeing even one of my favorite authors.

Oh, and Gaiman's most recent film, MirrorMask (in collaboration with Jim Henson Company), opens in Austin this week ...

I saw Tim Burton's Corpse Bride today.

Tim Burton is an artist, and the stuff that he creates with Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Danny Elfman is a ton of fun. And I think co-director Mike Johnson may be a guy to watch.

The film's a weird (but working) mix of sentimentality and "ew". Also, I'm not going to tell you (because it will give away too much of the plot), but a gold star to you if you can figure out after you watch the film what classic (not Disney)children's story Corpse Bride retells.

And there's a nice, subtle, and infinitely deserved nod to Ray Harryhausen that's kind of fun, too.

Now, it's off to find the musical score ...

(You may notice the offical movie website is having problems; while it's down, check out the trailer at Apple.)

So much of what I experience every day is an opportunity to observe character in myself and other people.

Today is "Donut Day" at the toy job. Every Wednesday, boxes of donuts for the sugar-deprived are available in the break rooms. They're meant as a perk for full-time employees; kind of a soft marketing, "Hey, look how much we love you!" (unless you're diabetic, then the message might be, "Hey, we want you to die!").

Anyway, it's interesting to watch how people treat the "perk".

There are people who "can't possibly eat a whole donut", so they cut or break one in half (please don't do that; if you're going to touch food offered in a public way, take the whole thing).

Today, I noticed there were donuts that had a third of their circumference removed, which seems odd. Are people sampling large bites and leaving the rest (ew)? Are they building some sort of hybrid, calico donut for their morning snack? Do they suffer from multiple personality disorder?

And then there are some contingent staff (contractors, consultants, etc.), for whom the donuts aren't actually meant (they're an "employee perk"), who take a stack of 3 or 4 donuts back to their cubicle. Is this indicative of extreme selfishness? Social ineptness? Cultural differences? Borderline poverty and the need to eat whatever is available? An addiction to Dunkin Donuts (which, I'm sorry, is just a phenomenal disappointment in Austin)?

Me? I generally don't eat the donuts -- they mess with my resume weight.

Except for today. Today I was weak.

But I only took one (completely whole) donut.

I really enjoy good photography.

If you do too, check out Brent Schneeman's work.

I like his work because it's good, and because he captures a lot of stuff from my current and past stomping grounds. There are some great photos of city- and landscapes, floral, landmark, and "interesting perspectives". A bunch of his photos adorn the walls of my toy job's office complex.

One of my personal favorites is the pict of McDonald Pass, where US-12 passes through Montana at the Continental Divide, about 15 miles southwest of Helena. Ah, I miss snow and mountains ...

By the way, no, Brent is not a headshot photographer.

Check out Rhea Willis if you're looking for a great headshot artist.

I have way too many unread comic books.

I don't need to buy fewer comic books; I need to spend more time reading them.

Had an audition this morning for Whataburger.

I did kind of a sucky job. Might have had something to do with all my tubs and toilets backing up as I'm leaving the house ($118 later, we're fine, thanks for asking). Maybe I was just off. Maybe a little of both.

I did get to audition for casting agency Toni Cobb-Brock and Company -- my first time with these folks.

Even better, I met a guy, Joe Perez, that was a personable prince of a guy. Outgoing, genuinely supportive, realistic, and having fun. I like meeting people like him. Makes up for prima donnas I sometimes run into at these kinds of things (including today -- c'mon, it's a Whataburger commercial!). Joe seems like a good guy, though.

Brent Smiga helmed the camera. I've met Brent at a couple of social events, so it made the audition at least comfortable.

And ran into Drew Whelpley again. I like that guy. Dude is funny...

So, the President/CEO of company BigHugeCorp was in town today, and I had the opportunity to give him a tour of our offices, and ended up spending a lot of time with him.

Why? Because besides doing big-gun project and program management for software and services projects, I managed the physical remodel of our current office digs, so when dignitaries come into town, I'm usually tapped to give the tour.

Interesting experience. Our CEO is new to the company, and where the last guy was a "kick ass and take names" kind of guy (who probably never would have visited the Austin office, but did phenomenal things for getting BigHugeCorp into its current market domination), this guy is a bridge builder. He was stopping to talk to everyone we met -- in the halls, the breakroom, their offices ...

He was asking about their families, what their spouse did, how old their kids were, and so on.

And he remembered all that stuff hours later when he ran into them again. That's a gift. Stereotypically, CEOs are arrogant SOBs, and it's tough to get in their space at all. This guy doesn't seem to be that at all.

So it was cool to spend that much time with a guy in the kind of position to which I wouldn't normally have access, but I figured something out -- the tour guide gets ignored.

I'm supposed to be there, so I'm kind of movable scenery. Kind of a corporate extra, if you will (see, life imitates art).

So I had all this time to spend with CEO, and no real interaction.

Yeah, I know. Whoas me.

I did get to do something cool for someone else. But I'll let him tell you about it ...

Oh, and this guy is different than the president I mentioned going to dinner with recently. That guy (who I really respect and admire) is the president of the wholly owned subsidiary that I call home for ~70 hours a week. The guy from today is the big dog of the mega company that owns my subsidiary (which I'm unfortunately currently letting own me).

I don't need this kind of phone call ...

I don't look like my headshots. . .

So, I got a haircut today, and when my preferred stylist was finished, she said she was "bored" with my old haircut. That's ok, but I'm an actor -- I need to look like my headshots. . .

Running is good thinking time.

At least for me.

I've mentioned it before, but rain and running do wonders for my creative juices.

Last run and this run, I've been inspired to work on NAwM (which is going to get changed to another camel-cased codename, but that won't be published; the new acronym figures too prominently in the story).

NAwM is one of my multi-Intellectual Property ("multi-IP") projects. I'm gearing the thing for comic book, video game, and movie and/or cartoon venues (it's hard to pull of the last two together; not that the others are going to be a cakewalk). Each of the mediums have particular challenges (besides the unique way you need to do the pitches for each), and I figured out how I want to work in the often-problemmatic video game training sequence in a way that's true to the story, will hopefully feel organic, and leaves some surprises for later.

I also figured out a few story elements that are pretty important to the "trueness" of the characters. I'm pretty stoked about those.

Oh, and I was kind of attacked by a dog again tonight. Unlike last time, this time was a little entertaining.

I was chased by a geriatric chihuahua for about a block and a half. He ran out of a party goer's back yard, all two pounds of his gray-flecked redness. I felt bad for him, so I slowed down so he could catch up, but by the time he reached me, he'd evidently forgotten why he'd been running, passed me, and stood confused in the street. I coaxed him over to lawn where he could sit and gag from the exertion of the chase.

His owners ran up and got him and took him back to the party.

Cute and sad at the same time.

Getting old seems to suck no matter the species ...

More Comic Book Movies!

This week, Marvel Enterprises Inc. (which will be renaming itself to Marvel Entertainment Inc.), announced it's basically raised $525 million to do up to 10 films in the next 7 years, based on Marvel characters and franchises.

Possible films include the following:

• Captain America (My personal favorite, the rumored first flick, and the best hero that has been disserviced as a victim of two horrible flicks, a non-differentiated 1930s serial, and multiple cartoon guest appearances, some bad (the "Operation Rebirth-ish" appearance in the 1990s Spider-Man), some good (X-Men: Evolution; Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends).)
  
• The Avengers (Which is not X-Men, and is not Justice League, and has a huge stable of front-running characters from which to choose.)
  
• Dr. Strange (Think Constantine, but more epic and less creepy ... depending on the story arc; they'd do better with Spider-Man & his Amazing Friends Dr. Strange than 1990s Spider-Man Dr. Strange.)
  
• Hawkeye -- He's a flamboyant character that's the quintessential boy scout; think an amalgamated clone made from equal parts Colin Farrell and John Tesh, after you've worked out the lumps ... think about it ... Now, breathe ...)
  
• Nick Fury (No, the David Hasselhoff made-for-TV movie does not count, and let's never speak of it again.)
  
• Black Panther (Wesley Snipes has supposedly been on again off again for this role, though after seeing Crash, I'd honestly like to see Terrence Howard get a shot.)
  
• Ant-Man (Here's a chance for some cool CGI and live-action ant wrangling.)
  
• Cloak & Dagger (Depending on their take, this could be successful as teenie bopper or dark goth; Clueless or Underworld.)
  
• Shang-Chi (Martial arts action, and Marvel'd do well to think about having this driven by Far East expertise.)
  
• Power Pack (I haven't read the resurrected franchise, but was a fan of the original; this is a great marketing choice by Marvel to broaden the demographic.)
  

And all of this adds to the recent Fantastic Four and next year's X-Men 3, Ghost Rider and 2007's Spider-Man 3 and a possible Hulk sequel.

Even better? By relaunching their indie slate in a more proven market climate, Marvel is in a much better place to leverage cross-character or cross-franchise appearances than is DC (who has Batman with Warner Bros. and Superman with Universal, which will likely prevent a "World's Finest" kind of scenario.

Imagine -- In the comic book world, Captain America leads the Avengers, and Hawkeye and Ant-Man (in all his incarnations) are long-term members of the team. Plus, if Marvel goes with an Ultimates version of the Avengers, Nick Fury heads up the team (and, in the comic, he's drawn identically to Samuel L. Jackson, which has long led to speculation that the franchise was relaunched with film in mind).

Even in Power Pack, little Franklin Reed Richards is the kiddo of the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) and Sue Storm Richards (The Invisible Girl/Woman).

Like you couldn't tell, I'm a long-time fan of comic books, and their overlap with movies and video games. if you are, too, you should check out Superhero Hype and my own "Comic Book Video Games" blog entry.

Can't stop thinking about Crash...

I'm beyond behind at work, and it's basically been one long day for the last week and a half.

So, after 7:30 p.m. rolled around, I decided a can't really be more behind, met an acting buddy of mine, we went to dinner (wings again; it's all we do), and then finally got to see Crash.

One of the hardest, more important films I've seen in a while. How amazing is Don Cheadle? Who knew his strength was drama (other than him)?

And Terrence Howard -- he was a pleasant surprise for me. Probably need to see Hustle & Flow.

Powerful, powerful film. I really recommend it.

Now it's back to work.

Crap. Turns out I can really be more behind ...

I'm in the penalty box.

I'm in the penalty box at work.

Or so a co-worker told me. It's a hockey metaphor, where guys who are temporarily rule-challenged get the adult version of a "time out" for 2 minutes, 4 minutes, or the rest of the game, depending on the infraction.

It's a metaphor, so like all metaphors, it breaks down at some point.

Hockey players generally get stuck in the penalty box for "unsporting behavior or intentional, dangerous disregard of the rules". I'm "in the box" not for breaking the rules, but for blowing the whistle when it looked like the rules weren't being followed.

Also, in the sport, while a player is in the penalty box, the player is out of the game, and the team can't sub a replacement. In my situation, it's basically been one long day for the last week and a half, so I don't even get the rest period generally afforded the penalty box.

Plus, I suspect my penalty box has a trap door that leads to an incinerator.

Pretty crappy metaphor.

And you can't tell from the picture, but I actually have monstrously large feet.

4,000+ visitors to AdamCreighton.com in August!

There's a homily that goes something along the lines of "90% of acting is business; the rest is craft."

My Website is a key part of my business and marketing utility belt. I check traffic stats on a weekly basis to find out where people are going, how often my resume is viewed, how many clips are being downloaded, and so on.

I can see from where visitors are coming (from which domain), and I've used that to create opportunities for me. For example, after sending a press packet to a major game studio, I saw from my Web logs that someone from the company had gone through my Website, and listened to all of my audio clips. So I followed up and said, "Hey, I sent you a press packet, and from looking at my Web traffic logs, I know someone from your company was on my site!"

His response?

"Ahh, you found me! Caught me sneaking around your site did you? Damn that hi-falootin technology!"

Followed by a desire to bring me in on the studio's upcoming project. Granted, this may or may not happen, but I was able to create an opportunity that wasn't there before.

I can also see where people are spending their time, and what's keeping them glued to my content ("gauging the stickiness"), and change my site based on that.

A few notable examples:

• Notice that www.AdamCreighton.com now routes to this acting blog, rather than the "Welcome" page? That's because people who get to my blogs stay on blogs, browsing through current and past postings.
  
• I recently repackaged my blogs from the serviceable blogger.com templates, into the rest of my website, which hugely upped traffic to the rest of my site.
  
• I recently broke out "Demos" and "Clips" into "Voice" and "Video", which has driven viewing of the video clips way up.
  

I also use the stats to figure out what's not working for me. As example, there are a couple of online services I've paid into for this year that have sent zero people to my website (and I haven't gotten any offline bookings). So, why should pay into these next year?

A lot of work, yes, but since the relaunch of my site in January (after signing with a new agent), I've seen a 10-fold increase in unique visitors each month to my site, and a trendline increase of around 5-fold in total hits.

I've got an acting buddy who responded thusly when I mentioned my recent Web traffic:

"4000 indeed...4000 people read your mom."

(Yeah, he's a little weak on the smack talk area; evidently, the extent of his competitive sporting experience growing up was "I played karate".)

Anyway, for his education (and your interest), here are the Year-to-Date numbers for AdamCreighton.com Unique Visitors and Total Hits:





Ninety-percent business; Ten-precent craft.

One hundred percent relationships, so don't let stuff like this get in the way of that.

I've added a new video clip from short film Suicide: A Love Story to the "Video" section of my website.

I shot Suicide last year -- a great experience with filmmaker Steve Muccini (efficient, flexible director).

Check it out -- and let me know what you think!

My Xbox just caught on fire!

Seriously. Just turned it on, and got billowing black smoke and that acrid smell that comes from an electrical fire.

And it wouldn't shut off -- I had to yank the cord and run outside with the smoking, 8-pound brick. Everyone (other than the Xbox) is OK. Man, my 'box dies 2 months before the Xbox 360 comes out . . . What's a gamer to do?

Catch the play-by-play over on my video game blog.

Korperashuns still Suk ...

Went to The Alliance gig tonight ...

Wall-to-wall people there (in the ballpark of 125, by my count) to meet members of "The Alliance", get questions answered, network, etc.

Or maybe they were just trying to be seen by the powers that be in our little film town.

I got to chat with some folks I hadn't seen for a while, which was really nice -- It's all about the relationships, folks.

And, hey, it was at Momo's Club on a Tuesday night -- kind of like AustinActors.net meetings used to be. And there was an (I think unadvertised) set by Patrice Pike. She's still so freakin' amazing.

The only real downside was a ridiculously insular, insensitive, inaccurate, and -- unfortunately -- public trivialization of the current hurricane devastation of of Louisiana.

Also ran into a jerk actor I hadn't seen for a long time. Still a jerk ...

Bunny and Clydo is going to rock the festival circuit!

I've mentioned this film before, and even went so far to say even if I wasn't in the film, you should still see it.

Anyway, the new site is up, and it'll be showing at the Los Angeles Int'l Short Film Festival in September (as the closing finale for the "Having A Bad Day" category). Having the film show at this festival is a big deal, and more power to Rocky Jo, Damon Chang, and Arnie Reyes, and other folks that put what I suspect are amazing efforts behind this flick.

It'll also be showing at the following festivals (with some times TBA):

• Big Bear Lake Int'l Film Festival (Sept. 16, 2005)
  
• Los Angeles Korean Int'l Film Festival (Sept. 17, 2005)
  
• San Diego Asian Film Festival (Sept. 29, 2005/Oct. 2, 2005)
  
• DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival (Oct. 11, 2005)
  

Niftage ...

Dinner with company President/CEO tonight.

Interesting how I get blessed with opportunities people way more senior than me may never see.

More importantly, he was as fired up as me about doing the "right thing", and seems genuinely passionate about it.

And, unlike me, he can do something about it.

Nice.

I just got back from a commercial audition for the Children's Hospital of Austin.

This looks like it will be a nice and sweet little piece, and it's a nice bonus that it's for something I can gladly support.

The set-up is a mom, dad, and nurse watching a little girl ride up to them on a tricycle. The 5-year-old little girl I auditioned with, Caiti, did a fantastic job, and this was my first time to work with fellow Collier Talent Katherine Willis. I really enjoy working with professionals who know their stuff. Plus, she's got one of the best actor's websites I've seen in a while.

Oh, and the commercial is being directed by Jimmy Lindsey, camera operator for Robert Rodriguez forever, and DP on the "Untitled Supernatural Thriller (aka Revolver)".

Good for Jimmy branching out into directing, and I really appreciated the chance to audition for him. Nice, professional guy, and amazingly good with the kids.

Wish me luck!

Korperashuns Suk ...

"If none of us had limitations ... What would God do with his time?" (Professor X/Whedon).

Ah, Joss Whedon, to live in a world of the X-Men Legends video game, you writing Astonishing X-Men comic book, the Firefly TV show back on the air, and the Serenity film out next month ...

Thanks for giving fanboys the deep stuff.

-- Adam

Texas critters, part 2

This is the 5th little guy like this I've caught and tossed out of my house in the last week. This one was a scrapper, and acted like he if was going to take me down. (No geckos were harmed in the making me this post.)

More on the Austin Film Festival competition trailer I've chatted about here, here, here, here, and, uh, the aftermath here.

I met with a couple of folks, Rocky and Sunee Conly, from Campus Crusade for Christ International last night.

Rocky's working with the CCCi national media team, so we wanted to connect, see what each other was up to, and explore possible opportunities for working together.

Watching the clips, I'd say Rocky's been a part of some nice short films, and some big-gun industry folks have been participating. The stuff is pretty amazing, and the Conlys themselves (part of a bigger team), were really fun to hang around and chat with.

Check out their blog. Look through the media team's portfolio and download their recent International short film. I'm impressed that these are religious films that not only don't suck, but our, really, really good.

And, like me, Rocky is a not-so-closet video gamer.

Both Rocky and Sunee are using their considerable gifts for religious ministry, which means they're totally dependent on financial commitments from other people (there's a concrete example of "faith"). If you feel like you can help them out, be sure to contact them through their blog.

I'm getting to hate Halo 2 and Xbox Live

I'm getting to hate Halo 2 and Xbox Live.

Last night started out well. Me and 1.5 acting friends got together and fired up the projector and watched new high-rez and high-def game trailers for WarDevil (from Digi-Guys Studio), Project Offset (Offset; Somebody fund this game!), Huxley (Webzen; freakin' awesome looking MMOFPS with style and meat), Painkiller (People Can Fly, DreamCatcher Interactive), Ninety-Nine Nights (2015), Final Fantasy XI (Square Enix), Dead Rising (Capcom), Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit (Quantic Dream, Atari), Gears of War (Epic Games, Microsoft Game Studios), and King Kong (Ubisoft Entertainment).

Then the three of us played co-op through a level of X-Men Legends.

We watched an episode of Thundercats, freakin' finally released on DVD (and, though I hassle my friend for running out to buy it instantly, I did get goosebumps while watching the opening episode).

Then came what should have been the crowning event for the evening. Mutliplayer Halo 2 on Xbox Live.

Since I had guests, the only options for play are "Rumble Pit" and "Team Training" -- unranked play for people without dedicated Xbox Live accounts -- so we started with some team work, with me hosting the game.

When we started out, and after my perfunctory, "Whassup, fellas?", Dude #1 asks, "Hey, Hitachi" (which is my Live Gamer Tag handle) "What size TV are you guys playing on?"

(Stupid question, because someone asking that probably wants to brag.)

Me: (Answering honestly) 107 inches.

Dude #1: **Expletive** liar!

Me: No, seriously. It's a projector,
and the screen's 107" diagonal.

We get to playing, and then someone else chimes in with a question for Dude #1:

Dude #2: Why do you ask? What size are you playing on?

Dude #1 (Sheepishly) 52-inch plasma.

Me: (Sincerely) Man, that's awesome! Those things are so nice -- great picture, and that's a really huge plasma!

Then they ejected me from the game (which booted all of us). Just like that. For screen-size envy.

And things just went downhill from there.

We'd play games, and people would drop off because they were losing (it's Rumble Pit and Team Training your twits! That means the games don't affect your ranking!).

We'd play games, and as part of the random set up, one of my friends would be paired with me, and the other ended up on the other team. He wasn't doing well, so they'd boot him (which booted all of us).

We'd play Rumble Pit, where it's a free-for-all, and even though my two friends and I would treat that honestly and beat on each other and other players, other yahoos with one or two guests were teaming up on people to get better scores (yes, that's called cheating).

But, the worst part is the brainless chatter. The profanity. The inanity.

There are these moments at the start of each game where the players are hanging out as the game sets up, and those of us with headset can chat. I use the time to try to meet people, find out where they're playing from, etc.

But more often than not, my intros of "Whassup, fellas?" and "How's everyone doing tonight?" were answered with no response, mockery, "That's a stupid handle", and even "F*** you." Seriously.

One such interaction:

I****edYourMom: I****edYourMom.

Dude #3: Huh?

I****edYourMom: I****edYourMom.

Dude #3: What?

I****edYourMom: I****edYourMom. Then I pooped in her mouth.

So I ended the game before it started. I probably did that for 4 or 5 games, because of crass, foul-mouthed louses.

And that's on top of the fact that after downloading the required Xbox Live patch and free maps, I get constant "you failed to load the map" errors.

Let's be perfectly clear: I didn't freakin' fail to do anything -- the Xbox did. Halo 2 did. Xbox Live did. I didn't. And no amount of deleting everything else on my Xbox to reinstall (which makes me oh-so-happy) fixes the problem.

So after my friends left (after finally a couple of fun competitive matches in a row), I watched a couple of the high-def, Xbox 360 trailers again to cleanse my palette.

Trailers for the offline games.

I'm hoping Xbox 360 and the relaunch of Xbox Live, creating the "Casual Gamers Zone", fixes a lot of this gargage. It's not fun right now.

Spiders, slugs, and geckos - oh my!

So, I've noticed an increasing number of creepy crawlies lately. This particular big guy is outside my work, and has an almost four-inch span.

I love the rain.

Central Texas thunderstorms are awesome, but usually only last a few minutes (15 on the outside). This one, however, has been cranking away for 45 minutes.

I'm sitting in a third-floor office in northwest Austin, watching the deluge. Looking out over the trees towards downtown Austin, it almost looks like a tropical rainforest -- steamy, swollen raindrops, tons of lightning, and booming thunder. I can barely see buildings across the parking lot, the rain is so heavy.

Impressive. Most impressive.

I am tech geek

I am tech geek. I have more than a terabyte of storage.

I've got a Windows Media Center PC I use for everything from audio and video editing to recording massive amounts of TV.

The thing "only" came with a 160GB hard drive, but since I record tons of animation stuff and every Inside the Actors Studio, I added an internal 300GB hard drive, and since this computer is crucial for my Biz stuff, I jumped on an unreal deal for a 300GB external drive, where all of my working files live, in case the computer should ever go kaput.

Then, this weekend, it sounded like the original 160 Gig hard drive was failing. So, even thought I had the flu and a bad sinus infection (not a recommended combination, rest assured), I rushed out and got a steal on a 400GB replacement internal drive, and spent the entire freaking weekend rebuilding my computer (in between bouts of nausea, dizziness, and uh, Xbox sessions). I bought a cheapy USB enclosure for the old hard drive, so I could (in theory) "easily" recover all of my Email, calendar, contacts, etc. (turned out that was a little more work in practice, but it's all done now).

So, sitting back amidst the techno carnage during a bout of cold sweats (and somewhere during the X-Men Legends "Weapon X" flashback level), I still felt good at having rescued my computer -- until I heard the same, bad, high-pitched whine and ball-bearing rattle that caused me to replace the hard drive in the first place.

Turns out the power unit -- not the hard drive -- was going bad. For those in the know, yes, this is a cheaper, easier, and less serious replacement on a computer.

But, since I'm a "The-glass-is--full-and-how-do-I-fill-up-the-other-half?" kind of guy, I still have the following:
400GB internal hard drive (new)
+ 300GB internal hard drive (existing)
+ 300GB external hard drive (existing)
+ 160GB external hard drive (old internal)
-------------------------
= 1.16 terabytes of storage

I feel like I've reached a new level of my technology ownership. Not bad for a guy who's first computer (after the beloved Atari 2600 game console) was an Atari 520ST (with 520K of physical memory); and I felt like I'd really arrived when I upgraded to the Atari Mega II ST.

(Incidently, my two favorite games on the Atari were Kings Quest III and Dungeon Master. I'm still looking for a game that hooks me as much and for as long as Dungeon Master did.)

"Never work with kids or animals." So says the Biz adage.

I'm of the mindset of Danny Boyle, who said the adage simply isn't true.

Yesterday was BigHugeCorp's "Bring Your Child to Work Day" (which, in true big business fashion, was summarily reduced to the unpronounceable acronym "BYCTWD").

Part of the festivities included filming a commercial -- really a PR piece, "focusing on the Company's most valuable assets: Its people!"

Once again, as they were looking around for someone to pull this off, they again went down the rabbit hole of, "Who do we know that does films and commercials? Adam!"

So we wrangled together two groups of 24 kids, shot two commercials in an hour a piece, edited each for a rough-cut (an hour and 35 minutes, respectively, for editing commercials #1 and #2), and we were able to show the kids a semblence of a finished commercial on the day of the shoot. Very cool.

This was by no means a solo act. I had some talented people working with me the couple of weeks leading up to yesterday. One is a theater actress. Another has theater, modeling, and (a ha!) kids' theater camp experience (why wasn't he on the hook for this thing?). An editor-want-to-be who knew the tools and could grasp the creative direction. Our DP is an accomplished film maker in his own right. An adept photographer who made a good grip/gaffer. An intern we could tell to shut up and do whatever we asked (never understimate the value of that). And other folks who gave their time and energy to make cue cards and help out in other ways.

So it turned out well. It's footage of kids being authentic, talking about what their parents do to make BigHugeCorp successful, and it turned out well. Because they're minors and the thing isn't intended for broadcast, I won't post any clips here, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Now, to spend the weekend cranking the final cut for OneWhoHasPower in BigHugeCorp to approve.

At least the kids were fun ...

VO audition until 2 a.m. last night

Granted, it was an MP3 audition, and it was so late because the Reel Women monthly mix went so late. And my PC mic conked out, so I was reduced to recording my sessions into my digital voice mail, Emailing them to myself, running them through a filter to reduce the phone tinniness (without changing the audio quality), then saving them as an MP3. Plus I have a head cold, so I had to do a bunch of takes to Email to my rocking (and understanding and collaborative) agent to pick the best and forward on.

Anything for a gig.

So, what was the gig that had me working so hard? Can't say :-) . But I can tease: It'd be narration for a feature\documentary for an activity that could be labeled "redneck" or "white trash", but in reality involves some talented, athletic, entertaining, and fun-loving folks, and it's with a professional company with whom I've wanted to work for some time. I may have said too much....

I am humbled and amazed by people ...

St. Edwards University audition

Just leaving an audition for St. Edwards University. I got to act like a re-entering college student listening to a lecture. Worked well, because I wouldn't mind being a student again, and I'm usually being lectured by someone. By the way, I don't recommend trying to take a picture me the St. Ed's exit sign while driving. Or text blogging while driving. Now I'm off to the Reel Women monthly mixer.

Check out my comic book video games write-up on my video game blog!

http://www.adamcreighton.com/blogs/gaming/2005/07/2005-2007-years-of-comic-book-video.html

Audition for The Apprentice ...

It's called a turn lane!

This is the carton for a fly fishing desk I bought from American outdoor franchise Cabela's. I don't know whether to be more concerned that it was manufactured in China, or that Cabela's is misspelled.

Minor tweaks to the website today.

"Home" is now "About", I separated out "Demos" and "Clips" into "Voice" and "Video", etc.

Yeah, not sexy, but hey, hopefully a little more intuitive.

I'll post more video clips of me soon. Now that's sexy ...

Yeah, but is it made with real Asian?

Dwayne McDuffie is absolutely amazing.

OK, I've like Dwayne for along time. I think St. George (on which he was editor) was amazing and underrated, and it was the first title I remember getting angry about being canceled. I felt like he rejuvenated Deathlok as a character for Marvel, and, of course, The Tick. And I'm very impressed with his bravery in creating and championing Static (Static Shock).

But what I'm most recently impressed into writing about Dwayne is his work on Justice League Unlimited. After a shaky start this second season, JLU righted itself, and I just finished the series finale arc, written/produced by Dwayne.

You need to see this finale. It carries through with themes are devices introduced throughout the series, but arguably starts in earnest with Question Authority, and ended Saturday with Divided We Fall.

The writing (including dialog) is striking, witty, passionate, and moving. The almost filmic finishing arc is dark, and the stakes are high.

As an aside, I get a little bent out of shape at politics in my entertainment (a la Revenge of the Sith), but the politics injected in JLU feel organic, necessary, common sense, and ... well ... right.

So, check out the series finale arc for Justice League Unlimited. It's cartooning for adults -- seriously, I've had folks who aren't overly keen on my cartoon viewing floored by this series.

Also, check out Dwayne's site. The guy is a mainstay and a courageus power in the industry.

So, I was attacked by a dog tonight.

I'm fine -- the dog was a bully, not a biter -- but I'm pretty peeved at character disordered pet owners.

I was out running in the rain (I find it a great, refreshing, creative time to run), when a guy stepped out of his house with what looked like a large red akita. The dog ran at me, which I ignored, because the owner was there, and I thought, "Surely the dog is safe, with his owner standing right there."

The dog barreled in to me (must've been about 90 pounds), looked surprised that I didn't run, and took off up the street.

No reaction from the owner. None. Zip. Nada. Seriously, he looked expressionless as I continued my run past him.

I was 25 yards down when I could hear the dog's nails clipping across the asphalt as he charged me again. I turned around, planted my feet, and wound up to deck the dog.

So, here's the other scary part (aside from the owner doing nothing while all of this is happening): The dog saw what I was doing, it registered, and he skidded to a stop and ran back down the street. A dog that that has enough history to recognize a runner going into self-defense is a scary thing.

I'm a dog person, but seriously, if you own a dog, take responsibility for it. Don't penalize a dog for your bad decisions, if you can't handle or manage your pet.

I guess I'll have to do my rave of Dwayne McDuffie later this week, and defer my update of my video game blog with comic book gaming goodness as well.

Stupid character-disordered dog owner ...

I saw The Fantastic Four at lunch today (yes, the movie).

Good summer flick, a lotta fun, great trailers, good cast.

Speaking of cast, though I think they made a major miss-step in making The Thing foam-rubbery-looking rock (instead of CGI, a la Hulk), I'm finding myself liking Michael Chiklis. Then, Jessica Alba (Sue Storm/The Invisible Girl) is (of course) incredibly watchable (Gorgeous? The comic book leading lady? And she can act?). I liked Julian McMahon (Dr. Victor von Doom) in The Profiler, and I'm looking forward to Prisoner. I'm still thinking about Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic). He's a surprisingly prolific (professionally) young(ish) actor, so I think I'll check out King Arthur and a few of his other things and get back with you. He does do a good job with some rough dialogue, though.

Which leaves us with Chris Evans (Johnny Storm/the Human Torch), who is a lot of fun in this flick. He looks like he's haveing a fun, and his scenes feel authentic.

Other than the movie, my trailer awards include the following:

• Best Trailer: King Kong (still second to The Chronicles of Narnia; that one still makes me want to stand up and applaud).
  
• Best well-deserved 2nd chance for an actor: Jason Statham, in The Transporter 2. I've found Statham a joy to watch since Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and felt he gave us a taste of his future greatness in Snatch. The first Transporter film was terribly underrated, and I was worried the critical pan was going to short-circuit his career. The new film kicks off a 7 flick run over the rest of this year and next for Strathum, so I'm a happy camper.
  

Back to FF, I can't help but find it significant that the film opened a week after its planned release (so as not to compete with the July 4 launch of War of the Worlds), but has made $25 million more (in a week's less time).

I gotta think Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise find it significant, too ... ;-)

I am so freaking TIRED!

On my way FROM the AFF competition trailer shoot ...

On my way TO the AFF competition trailer shoot ...

Bummer. Client dinner for the toy job kept me from meeting with biz buddies and a bunch of out-of-town acting buddies tonight.

*sigh*

Ah, well. At least the clients are pretty cool. And Fonda San Miguel rocks!

I was invited to talk about "marketing and branding for actors" tonight by my film acting coach, Van Brooks.

It was beyond generous of Van to invite me to chat to his students tonight, and I also got to sit in on their mock auditions and monologue reads.

I didn't "teach" anything (personal bias: "God teaches, man parrots"), but I basically ran through what I do for my personal branding/marketing campaign, from Email templates to thank you cards to postcards, to whatever.

Kind of an abbreviated version of the stuff I talked about in the Biz Directory.

Caveats in a nutshell:

1. Don't use marketing or the business as a replacement for honing your craft, or for getting to know people.
   
2. It's about building relationships, not just networking.
   
3. Do what works for you. I do what I do for marketing myself because I don't know how to do anything else; other actors will probably do something else. Yeah, it's business, but hopefully it's a little organic for you.
   
4. Freakin' treat it like a business! Know what your goals are for each week, month, year, 3-year, 5-year, whatever. I know if I'm doing OK on the biz front any given week or month, because I have specific goals. I know if I'm doing well, or if I'm sucking it up, and I know why (and if it's OK).
   

Anyway, Fun shtuff ...

I finally made it back to the Reel Women "First Monday Mix"!

I haven't made it to the Monday Mix for a year (I've been doing ongoing Monday night class for that long), so it was great to get back into it. Even though it was 99-degrees, pouring rain, and humid as hades ...

I got to hang out with Donise Hardy (CSA), casting assistant extrordinaire (and actress) Leigh Green, actress (and fellow "The Mastery" buddy Christine Wolf, actor David Blackwell (with whom I did Bunny & Clydo), and I met some new folks from Damien Malice Independent Cinema (DMIC).

I also got to finally meet Doran Ingrham (who's also represented by my agency, Collier Talent Agency). This guy is even more stunning in person than he is in his headshots -- and seems to be a nice, genuine kind of guy.

Now, if we can just get AustinActors.net started again ... Hmm ... Watch for it ...

Voice session for Austin Film Festival competition trailer:

Sunday breakfast ...

Sunday Breakfast ...

So, I'm not a big breakfast person. We've got coffee in my favorite mug (Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King!), whole milk in a Hornsby's Hard Cider Mug (I'm not into single-use items), pseuphedrine (I've got a nasty sinus thing going on), and Motrin (I over did it a wee bit on the home improvement front yesterday).

I felt a bit silly after taking this pict, so I had a multi-vitamin and a bowl of cereal, too (out of Crunch Berries, so I settled for Crispix; yeah, I'm a health nut) ...

I've added a new clip from "Don't Know Why" to the "Video" section of my website.

I shot "Don't Know Why" in April (read about it here), and finally got past the technical difficulties to convert it into a web-friendly format.

I did a bunch o' editing to get my best pieces (hey, it's my site, so it is all about me ...), and I find the whole process a ton of fun.

Anyway, check it out -- and let me know what you think!

Sux ...

It's a brave new world ...

Time to catch some more live music -- wanna join me?

I'm heading down to Momo's Club tonight to catch Lee Simmons. I think Lee will be backed up by bassist JJ Plasencio in a power-pop trio format, post-July 4th celebration of "our independence from the British and [JJ's] own personal dependence on Brit-rock".

I'm eager to check out Simmons for the first time, and Plasencio was the bassist for Sixpence None the Richer (remember "Kiss Me"?) and Plumb. He's also got a new band, Stereovolt (and, hey, I'm a comic book fanboy, and Stereovolt's got a song called "BatmanBelt", so I figure I need to support them and anyone associated with them; or something).

If you wanna catch the set (or me), they're on starting at 9:30 p.m. (yeah, JJ's site says 8 p.m., and Momo's Club doesn't list them at 8 or 9:30, but JJ and Lee told me they're on at 9:30. FYI, I'll probably be at Katz's before (or after; I'm wild like that).

Justin Long is a guy to watch.

So, I finally got around to watching Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. And, yeah, Rip Torn still has it. Sure, Ben Stiller is still Ben Stiller (in a good way). I still wouldn't complain if I were Vince Vaughn. Stephen Root is understated genius (whether this or News Radio or Office Space).

But Justin Long? Man, the guy is amazing. If you don't think so from the film itself, don't miss the DVD extra, "Justin Long: A Study in Ham & Cheese". Absolutely brilliant, and committed to the scene.

Looks like Dodgeball: is Justin's breakout film -- he's got no less than 4 new films 2005 alone. I'm a little concerned that imdb.com doesn't list anything for him for 2006 this late in the year, so I hope his career doesn't tail early.

This guy is good.

I got a part in that Austin Film Festival competition trailer I mentioned yesterday!

I'm doing a Supporting and VO, so this should be a pretty fun piece.

Suh-weet ...

I just auditioned for an Austin Film Festival competition trailer for the folks at KLG/Jade, and I am excited about it.

This is one of those deals that I'm bummed I can't talk about. Not that I'm sworn to secrecy or anything, but I feel like this project is unique enough on the creative and technical fronts that I don't want to be the one who let's the cat out of the bag.

Be watching the fine folks at KLG/Jade, though -- they've got something pretty fun in the works.

Hopefully, I'm in it.