This blog has so far been mainly us writing about creative endeavors or thoughts on creative processes, but the last few months have primarily seen us working to progress the business of Brainroot. This isn’t as exciting to talk about as movies. But it is at some points interesting. I’m going be talking about the business at more points from this point forward. I’d say “we,” but I haven’t actually talked to Paul about this possible content amalgamation. I think he’s probably been thinking about it himself. If not, I’ll just come back in here delete these few sentences, because it’s the internet and it’s ephemeral and I can do that so Nah. But, yes, Business! Not always, don’t fear, just at points.

We’re going to India. There’s an update for ya. That’s on the business side. Got our shots on Friday so that we hopefully don’t die while over there…cause then we couldn’t do the work we’re to do, which is to document World Water Day with Water.org. They’re a really great organization and we’re really happy that we’ve been able to work with them…and that they’re taking us to India.

While that’s big and exciting, it’s the only really exciting thing coming up. So for now, that’s all I’ll update you on. Now, if you’ll excuse me ladies and gentlemen, I need to stretch because there’s hoops we need to jump through.

No, I didn’t mix up my metaphors. We’re gearing up to enter the ring. No more bare-knuckle boxing in the back alley. Sure, it’s fun and it gives you a sense of adventure and makes you feel tough. But when you operate outside of the mainstream where only a few people know about you, when you win you still don’t win all that big no matter how much of a beating you took. The big money is in the ring in front of the cameras with a stadium of people yelling for you to win and lose.

We’ve spent our first year in the back alley testing our grit and cutting our teeth. We’ve come out on top. Our clients like us. They refer us. We’re good, and we like doing it. But we’re still in the back alley. We’re working on moving out, meaning lots of meetings and lots of paperwork. A lot of unsexy little tasks that seem like encumbrances, but those are the things that let you get into the big ring.

The majority of my fairly fractured time over these last few weeks has been spent rehashing the Brainroot pro site. A lot of 12-16 hour days sitting in front of my computer monitor (which, thanks to my family+Christmas is luckily a sweet Samsung 2333HD 23″ LCD, a highly recommendable monitor since it has HDMI and component inputs and can therefore be used on shoots as an HD monitor, which are very important to have. . .end parenthesis)

Right, anyways, I’ve been working pretty whole-heartedly on updating the professional (web)face of Brainroot Light and Sound, LLC. I built the last webpage, which is up currently, back in ‘08 and it’s fairly not good. Mainly it’s the copy that needs to change, but there’s a lot of graphical stuff I’m rehasing, and ALL of the back-end code was very poorly built. If you’ll allow me to switch to my native tongue of Sarcasm I’ll say, “Exciting. I know.” But it’s something that must be done. And you will benefit from it.

The point of this blog is movie making. The subtitle of this blog is “the lives and times of indie movie makers” and right now our indie movie maker lives are in hard times. Don’t think we’re not awares of the lack of creative production flowing forth from our hands. Don’t think that I’m not aware of the hypocrisy that our current state of production, coupled with my last post’s fervent statements “talk is cheap!” and “talk is bologna!” makes me nearly guilty of. But we don’t have a 9-5 that supplies a reliable, budget-ible, savable stream of income that we can put towards makin’ da movies. Every dollar we earn, we earn. And right now, we need to earn.

So I’m sorry, but at current all we have in the fridge is bologna. It doesn’t fill us with joy either. Just don’t be under any illusion that we think the bologna sandwiches we serve up are tasty homemade pizzas. We do know how to cook. Quite well. We just need to be able to afford proper ingredients. Stick with us.

Me. In the wild. Deal with it.

-or-

The Importance of Getting Out

I decided to join you today not from the peaceful serenity of the Brainroot national headquarters, nor the nourishing mayhem of my favorite coffee shop, rather, I decided to write this weekly update from deep in the Kansan tundra.

As I wandered off the beaten path, searching for the perfect writing location, I was slowly overwhelmed by majesty of the land.  It was cold and barren (as only the prairie can be).  I was surrounded by a symphony of noises: the bass from a passing freight train, the melody provided by a  duet of bubbling creek and howling wind, and the treble part from the rattling of dead branches and brambles.

Caucasian males writers have often journeyed for the wilderness for inspiration.  It gives us an excuse to write flowing, elegant prose about wind and creeks and other boring things.  It also makes us feel like we’re “getting in touch with our creative energy.”  (Because hallucinogens will only take you so far. ) (And they are expensive.)  (And need to be purchased from seedy people with foreign names.)  (Or at least hip-hop names.)  (I digress.)

I journeyed to the wilderness for a simpler reason.  I had lost my sunglasses. Or at least one pair of sunglasses.

Those who have known me for awhile know that I am close to my sunglasses.  In fact, I don’ think my first girlfriend ever saw me without them.  (She is now getting married.) ( To someone else.) (I digress).  The following is a picture of where I lost this particular pair:

A wire diagonally spans the creek

I had been shimmying across the creek on the aforementioned wire (another story) when the sunglasses fell from my pocket.  I found it much more difficult to retrieve them than I had anticipated, and got several appendages wet:

These shoes have been to hell and back, several times.

Finally, however, I retrieved the lost pair.  Here I am at base camp shortly afterwards:

The rescued sunglasses are atop my head. Unfortunately, they were too scratched to wear.

After this ordeal I proceeded to look for a suitable writing spot.  I though it prudent to document my equipment so that other aspiring writers would know what is essential for their own wilderness experience.  They are as follows:

1.

A liquid warmer appropriate to your ethnicity. Mine is Jameson.

2.

A tuna sandwich. (Mine includes cheddar).

3.

A pipe. A source of inspiration for many generations of writers.

4.

A well worn pair of shoes, lest you be timid about treading where you will.

Finally, I arrived at a suitable location and unpacked my writing gear. A swig from the flask, a deft lighting of the pipe, and I was ready to go. I unfolded my laptop and pushed power. It was dead.

45 minutes later I was back at my car. 30 minutes later I was at a coffee shop and began writing this post. My shoes are soggy, I smell like creek, and I look like I’m homeless.

On second thought, screw the wilderness.

But what about Brainroot?

Oh yeah. The update.

Well, we’re still going.  Chris is working on a new website and I’m finishing up a few editing projects while I continue to squeeze in a few minutes here and there to work on the script.  The office is great an already feels like home.  Now we just need clients.  Any one willing to work on commission?

December marked several interesting developments. There was the IFC related shoot on the 5th & 6th as detailed in the previous weekly update. We toyed with making a video for a online contest by Nikon and even did a little filming, but it was leaving a bad taste in our mouth so we cut it. A good bit of December was spent finalizing projects for Water.org and KCAI, as well as an unexpected shoot for KUMed. But the biggest development of the month was that we acquired office space and spent a large amount of time getting it set up and near-ready to go. We’ll have a timelapse of that soon.

The only other update is that we had great Christmases and New Years and we’re looking forward to tackling 2010! More, and more extensive, posts to follow.

On Set of 'Secrets' (photo: M. Montgomery)

A very good weekend.

On the left you see a picture of Chris and myself looking knowledgeable and helpful on the set of ‘Secrets’, a short film directed by a fellow IFC chap named Matt Connolly.  We were collectively filling the role of DP.   It was a fun group and a relatively headache-free shoot (not counting a mysteriously elusive prop Rolex).

Always good to stay involved and keep your production skills honed.  You never know what new challenges you might encounter that will help you be a better producer.

We were also involved in a premier event for ‘Let’s Make a Movie‘, a great after-school program for at-risk youth in the K.C. area.  It was started by Eric Keith  David Huffman of Red Echo Group as a way to get kids off the street and behind a camera.  Our job was to interview kids as they walked the red carpet as if we were the paparazzi.  It was really great to hear their stories and be a part of the evening.

The rest of the week was spent taking a few steps closer to a new home for Brainroot and working on a few creative projects which will hopefully roll out in the next week or so.

On the movie front:  Scene one of the script is complete!  To be more accurate, a draft of something resembling scene one is complete.  Nevertheless, it represents a major hurdle which is now out of the way.  As the script comes together we’ll be working on a tentative budget and business plan.   Oh yes, this is for real.

Monday was our final pre-production meeting for Secrets. It’s a short movie being directed by Matt Connolly this weekend and we’re in charge of the technical production for it. We met Matt through the IFC and we worked on Trailer: The Movie with him. He’s a solid gent and we’re looking forward to the production this weekend.

We feel quite good about how we’ve planned it out. The story all takes place in one single scene: one location, one time-period, “one” set-up. We’ve gone through and created a shot-sheet from the script and done an overhead of the camera positions based upon the location scouting we did with Matt and Michael Loftus (the Assistant Director). In talking with Matt it sounds as though the cast (a tight group of three) are well rehearsed and comfortable with the characters so the production should go as smoothly as it’s possible for a production to go. We’ve got a solid game plan laid out, which will allow us to confidently toss that game plan aside on the day of shooting.

That’s just how things go.

Tuesday night through Wednesday morning was spent composting and rendering out some scenes for Jerry White’s movie 0:22:43. Jerry is another solid chap that we’ve met through the IFC. He helped run camera on one small band shoot we did (hopefully I’ll be able to post more about that in a month or so) and he stuck with us as we tried, failed, tried again, and failed again to get a Lord of the Rings-Guy Ritchie spoof shot. 0:22:43 has been a massive undertaking that he and his team have worked on for countless months and it was great to be able to help them put some of the finishing touches on their project. Check out their website at www.2243themovie.com.

That’s all for now. We’ve got a meeting about office space tomorrow. We’re not sure how it’s gonna go, but after talking back and forth we think we’re going to go for it if we’re able. Other than that I can only say “Thanks” to everyone who gives us encouragement. This Brainroot adventure is tough at points, but we’re keeping our stick on the ice. There’s a lot of folks out there pulling for us.

This is me. Right now. In your face. Deal with it.

In my last post, A Difficult Week and a Change of Course, I mentioned that we have been dealing with a bit of discouragement lately.

We’re approaching the end of the “Year of Brainroot“, yet all we’ve managed to shoot are two shorts that are (as of yet) unfinished.  The business is going, for now, but is still run out of our dining room.   Brainroot’s biggest accomplishment appears to be that it’s still alive.  Is that success?  For many small business owners, it might be.  For us . . . well, we are thankful, no doubt, but that five year Hollywood clock is ticking (tick) (tick) (tick).

So, where do we go from here?  What will mark Brainroot’s second year in existence?  What can you, the dear reader, except to see next season?  The same old thing?  New characters?  Will Fox drop us mid-season?  Well, let me tell you:

We have an announcement.  A big announcement.  Perhaps the biggest all year.  Get excited, this is huge:

The Big Announcement

Not me. Deal with it.

We’re making another movie.  Yes, that’s right.  The next feature.  When? Next spring/summer.  What? Well, details are still coming together, but the forerunner is a comic morality tale about financial foul play.  It’s adapted by a from a stage play written in 1909.  Most likely it will take place in a more recent decade, but that depends on a few things.  How? Well, this is where it gets tricky.  I mentioned in my last post that we can’t bear any more no-budget filmmaking.  That means we need money.  How much and from where is still up in the air, but this will be a business venture, not a passion project.

But that’s not all!  There is another big announcement.  Maybe the second biggest all year.   Get excited again:

The Other Big Announcement

We’re going legit.  Brainroot is in serious talks about finding a more permanent home for the business.  We may not be totally ready, nor can we totally afford it, but we can’t take the next step as a company until we have a place to be a company.  We’d like to keep the location quiet until it becomes official, but it should be pretty cool.

Signing the lease will be terrifying, though.  Too soon?  Too risky?  Let us know what you think . . .