Thursday, December 20, 2007

Independence Day.


Here I present my latest lashing of thoughts into letters, letters to words, and words to sentences. In the words of a great friend of mine "restaurant season" is upon us here in LA. Time to bring on all the gushing, the crocodile tearing, and the "fuck I didn't win!" expressioning. I will admit this year I am totally invested. Ever since that rat fuck piece of film school hackery "Crash" liberal guilted it's way into a best picture win I voluntarily tuned out except for rare breaches to see if my man Harry Dean would get some love for "Big Love". This season however I am pulling for a great friend to win a few for his behind the camera work. Not for his ego or the accolades but for the hope that any nomination or win will get him more leverage to continue his work behind rather than in front of the camera. Shit! I can feel the sidetracking begin time to get back to the main rub of the post, after perusing the various nominees for the Independent Spirit Awards I've come to the conclusion that I was under a dubious spell. I always assumed it was the award ceremony for the best and brightest of independent films. An award show I've always enjoyed. However some nominees in the various categories were perplexing. They didn't really scream indie film making to me. I chomped down on my cigarette holder in anger and started to pound away at the keyboard in fury. You can't call "Juno" an indie film it was made for 25 million bucks(at least that's what Wikipedia says)! "A Mighty Heart" was produced by Paramount Pictures or I'm sorry their small totally ignored splinter cell Paramount Vantage! "I'm Not There" was distributed by The Weinstein Company and produced by Killer films who have almost forty films to there credit, many of them high profile "independent" films. I'm not taking anything away from the artists and producers who made these fantastic films, but the powers or money behind a lot of them really don't scream independent to me. Then the name of this award giving entity jumped out at me. Independent SPIRIT Awards. These awards are for films made in the "spirit" of independent films. That realization sparked another. That there really is no proper definition of what is an independent film. A massive argument took hold of my brain. What should the definition of an independent film be? A film made outside of the studio system? Well if that's the definition then the recent Star Wars prequels fit that bill. Well those can't be considered independent movies they were made with too much money. But by that reasoning you can't count "Juno" as an indie film because they spent 25 million on the making of that film. That's a lot of money for a film that is essentially nothing more than people in various rooms talking to each other especially with the advent of digital film making. (On a side note what I mean about the "people in a room talking" line is that if you strip away the fantastic story, performances, and direction on a purely physical production level it's people in rooms talking to each other which in the world of film production is generally easy to shoot.) But in the defense of Juno's indie cred we all know one of the big five would never green light a film with a truly original female centric story. The mind continues it's whirling Disney's Alice In Wonderland Tea Cup ride. All the arguments regarding the definitions of what makes an indie film an indie film is really a snake eating it's tale because every side of the argument leads into the other. Unless you simply strip it all away and call an independent film a movie that is made for very little money, with relatively no stars in front of or behind the camera(that means you Van Sant), a production company made of relative newcomers, and no means or conections to big distribution and big publicity. I realized then that thankfully the Independent Spirit Awards have an award for just that kind of independence in the "John Cassavetes Award". An award given to a feature made for under 500,000 thousand. Well at least those nominees are true, at least in my mind that is, to what an independent film should be. Sadly my insanity was only quelled for a short time as questions started to rise out of the mists again. Who needs awards any way? But then what would happen to restaurant season? Where would all the industry types go on a Wednesday night in January? Would the star fucking stop fucking? Would the fucking stars stop starring? Would Damon and Affleck finally admit to the perjury of "Good Will Hunting"? Would Speilberg and Lucas finally admit to their pig fuck on intelligent film making? Would Paris stop Hiltoning? Would Von Trier stop art fucking? Would Gallo finally bathe? Would Akiva delete his Final Draft program? Would Fox come out of the closet? What about John? Would Halle give Bassett her Oscar back? Would liberal Hollywood stop believing that liberal lawmakers are really against the war? Would Ratner go back to his roots where he belongs? Would sequaling and remaking finally dry up and blow away? Would teenagers stop dictating content? Would the strike end? Would the unions end? Would the studios end? Just too many goddamn questions. Fuck it, I'm going back to not caring.

Mahalo,

T

It's been a long time coming, but persistence pays off


As I'm sitting here at my computer listening to the new Becky Schlegel cd that my wife got, it dawned on me that it's been awhile since my last entry. Especially since I promised an entry about my favorite topic superheros. Ya know I'd like to say that since it's highly possible that we might just have a Black presidential candidate in the months to come that we should take this time to focus on our American myths and that is...the graphic novel. As a kid this is all I could ever think about as I sat on my swing set with my latest issue of Superboy or Flash Gordon (enter ahh ahhh here) on my big Buddha belly and daydreamed that I could be those people leading heroic lives. Not once would I ever think that because of the color of my skin would I never be able to do all of those things. Fast forward a few years to when milestone comics made their debut and offering something new to the market place it was refreshing to see heroes that looked like me. Even during the death of Superman when Steel came about was I like wow this is cool. So as I look back at all of these things I have come to this conclusion: as an American it is vital that we keep our myths and legends alive. It gives us our strength, hope and something to gage ourselves as we tackle everyday obstacles. It is even more important that an American of color, who has been bombarded with images that does not look like him or her, have something just as important and great to look up to in order to have that same feeling of being the next great hero. Just a thought.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

What the Fu*!....is that...? Okay Jeff what ever you do.....don't geek out!!


Ya know sometimes the fates shine on you and you get a brief moment in time that let's you know that you are not alone in this big bad wonderful world of entertainment. just 40 min. ago I was walking towards my bike on 4th street in Berkeley and I ran into the man that has re-invented science fiction; Mr. Ronald D. Moore. It was a very brief 5 maybe 10 seconds, but all in all I just gave him dap on the show (Battlestar Galactica for those of you who don't know) and wished him well. But to make this blog entry worth writing I will share the subtext of my greeting to him:

Jeff: (trying not to freak out) "Mr. Moore (my last name is Moore)
I love your show (whimper whimper) I made a video for your contest (whimper, whimper)
I listened to all your podcasts (sniff sniff) I just wanted to let you know that I think you're great...
I love you man!!

add a few more sniffling remarks and I think you will get the picture :)

But seriously, folks as an actor/filmmaker I have seen each season at least twice listened to each podcast and studied this show on how it is able to tell a story without giving too much exposition and not falling into a lot of traps that some shows fall into. And that is one of the reasons why I admire the cast and crew.

Anyhoo. Ron if you come across this site, I wish you well and I hope you, as well as all of your fellow writers out there, come up with a swift and fair solution to bring an end to this strike. We can't wait to see the ending of such a great series. Peace.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Flash!!!! Ahhh Ahhhh Worst show on television. Pt 2

And now the much anticipated well worth the wait second part of my rant about the worst science fiction show on the sci-fi channel to date. Flash Gordon basic elements that make a good story. One is basically caring for the characters. none of them are really developed enough for anyone to care about them and secondly aren't developed enough to really be interesting. I mean what's a hawkman without wings? I am curious to know the numbers on how many people are watching this but I would imagine that it's pretty low (even with the battlestar galactica mini episodes stuffed in between). I could go on and on but the list is long and my wife and I are planning to see "The Darjeeling Limited" so I must conclude by saying don't cheat an audience by cutting corners and over-modernizing something. Part of what makes Flash Gordon a good story in this case is the villian and the other supporting characters and the environment that they all live in, and none of that is prevelent in this version. please put this show out of its misery and cancel it.

Next up: A discussion on bringing superheros of color into the mainstream.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Funding the Frogband Projects

That's right folks what better way to help fund two filmmakers than to come to our blog and select one of our recommendations for your dvd collection. Of course each click you make gives us a percentage of what amazon makes and we in turn are able to make our latest projects. Thanks for your support!
Lj

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Battlestar Galactica: Confessions

This is a fan film created for a contest for the sci-fi channel's hit show Battlestar Galactica. Now that the contest is over Frogband productions is proud to present the story of a cylon determined to rid the universe of the human race one person at a time. This story is loosly based on the novel: "The Confessions of Nat Turner." NOTE it is best to have seen season 3 of the show because there are a lot of refrences that pertain to the season's story line.

Starring: L. Jeffrey Moore and Tyrel Ventura
Directed Produced and edited by L. Jeffrey Moore
with Special thanks to Scott Becker




Fixed

After breaking up with her ex-freeloader boyfriend Troy, Jill decides to take matters into her own hands after he comes back into her life.

Starring: Tiffany Walker, Brian Burns
Directed By Tyrel Ventura
Written by: Brian Burns
Produced and Edited by L. Jeffrey Moore

Safari vs Firefox

Okay Boys and Girls I just discovered why I was not able to put video content on the Frogband Blog. Since I am a Mac I generally use Safari and I was having a difficult time trying to figure out why I was not able to load video on our website. basically blogspot doesn't like safari or safari doesn't like blogspot techno babble, techno babble etc etc. So I switched to Firefox and whaddaya know.... it works. So without further adieu I present to you the Frogband line-up on our blog....ta daaaaaaa.
Lj

ps I know I still owe you guys a part 2 about flash gordon.....hey a brotha's gotta work ya know.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Flash!!!! Ahhh Ahhhh Worst show on television. Pt 1


When I was a kid there were a handful of movies that have sent me on the road to becoming a filmmaker/actor. Superman, the Star Wars trilogy and the little sleeper movie Flash Gordon circa 1980. When the Sci-fi channel announced that they were revamping flash gordon, I was excited. and then.....my seventh sense (able to sense a bad show or movie) kicked in and I tried to fight it. then I started to see pictures on the set and then when I saw who they chose to play Ming the Merciless (and yes he is the merciless) I ignored my seventh sense. No disrespect to the actor playing (hey any work is good work) but dammit where's Max Von Sydow? Even then I said to myself just wait until it plays and give it shot. So I set my dvr to record it and then i watched it.... This show is ultimatly the worst science fiction show I have ever stomached. I'll write more later as I am packing in preperation to drive down to LA but I promise to give a detailed reason as to my displeasure.

Lj

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Untitled Documentary....a slow process



As some of you may know I am working on a documentary about the urgent need for young African Americans to know more about their culture and the story of Owen Sound Canada and the descendants of run away slaves who have settled there (for those of you who don't know this town is the northern most point of the underground railroad). I have just logged about 10 hours of footage and I am certain that I am not done interviewing in the least. The hardest part is just to sit down and start sifting through everything. I have to tell you though for a few days I have been taken back about the amount of work that is laying ahead of me. It's a bit daunting. But as the African proverb says: "how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." So today I have started to look at the first tape shot by Kelly at her old apartment (picture above). She is the catalyst that has started me on this journey. For the longest time I have been struggling as to what I am going to talk about. I mean I am not the first Black person to tackle this subject and I know I am not going to be the last. But what I hope to gain personally is to give another prospective to our country's biggest problem, and that is learning to live together as Americans and to help redifine the African American dream. And that ladies and gents is the question I am posing to myself, being a person of colour and to other people of the African diaspora.

Lj

The Camanche Cry For Self Expression


Where have we gone and what are we coming to? Even down here south of the border the stench of unoriginality comes crossing over like stagnant elephant dung on a white carpet. Maybe the observations and testaments forth coming are without merit or research so please educate and point this poor slob in the right internet direction so that my dictations are unfounded and made without merit. I'd rather be proven wrong than right on this score ladies and gentlemen. Here we live in a world of oppression, chaos, and warlike tendencies complete with a touch of boredom and a cherry of apathy that sits atop this sundae of inadequacy. A world of intelligent creation of means has given a canvass for storytellers like no other time before us and yet no one is acting on it beyond the chuckle inducing images of human stupidity and or the icy taste of viral marketing. In my scans of this vast menu of downloading and streaming of one and zeros all the storytelling I've come across are lonely girl fifteens and JJ Abrahms giant gila monsters of viral marketing. The Sixties and Vietnam brought us the golden age of cinema. Here we sit with the world burning, soldiers dying, and politicians proving that the Watergate job was small time dime store political hackery compared to the full on rape of the political processes their pulling off today. And yet we can't get beyond the "America's Funniest Home Videos" version of storytelling. Are there any kids out there creating something from the heart? We have the technology, we have the forum, yet we do nothing. All we do is bitch, myself included, but alas I'm not technology savvy like some of you kids are. I come from the first generation to grow up with computers. Some of my generation have the know how, most of us are still teaching ourselves how to use this great tool of communication. But I can't believe that those wonderful creative types younger than myself have no sense of self expression or the need to tell a story. Or are they too busy dressing their Myspace page and playing Halo 3 to take the time to grab a DV camera and a few friends and relieve the pain in their lives by creating something personal to them. It would appear with all the video sharing websites out there that we have the means to distribute without focus groups telling us what is right and what is not. Yes it's true we don't have the ability to make money creating these stories yet, but is that really the reason holding us back? Have we become so dependent on financial gain that we have given up creation for creations sake? Maybe the future titans of self expression are out there on this web of mediocrity but the gods of media do not promote them and the size of this internet beast prevents us from seeing their work. Maybe that last strange thought is the real vortex bitch of the issue. However it's been proven through history that if the expression is heartfelt and from a place of truth it will find an audience. And is that not the ultimate goal of expression? To find others stranded in life rafts sharing this vast ocean with you? So with guilt and sadness I write this next line. Maybe no one is out there trying to tell the truth and if they are then the souls touched by them are not doing their part to share it with the rest of us. If that is the case, than the audience that has found a piece of pure honest heartfelt storytelling on this net of insane means and meaningful insanity have violently dropped the ball in sharing it with the rest of us or are so egotistical that they'd rather keep it to themselves. Like I said prove me wrong in what I write. Give hope to a tall skinny kid on a writing tangent fed by cigarettes and moonlite waves.

T.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Confessions


The Fan film seen by hundreds of fellow Battlestar Galactica fans, "Confessions" can now be seen on google video. I entered this piece for a contest presented by the Sci-fi channel. It didn't win but we got some pretty good reviews for those who have followed the show since the beggining. The short was shot with my new Canon xh-a1 in Hi Definition, so of course as soon as i can get the hi-def version of the piece you can view that as well. Enjoy the link is below please cut and paste it to another browser window or just google it.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7687139982860117429

Thursday, August 30, 2007

The History of Filmmaking Frogs


Frogband productions hopped to life back in the early nineties. Most drunken historians have now narrowed it down to some time around 1991 or '92 when a tall skinny boy around the age of ten was finishing his third epic masterpiece of backyard underground filmmaking. The boy knew he needed a production company. Not that he knew what the hell a production company was but they always were referenced in the opening credits and now that he had graduated to actually putting opening titles on his films by god he needed a production company. His eyes feverishly scanned his fathers office looking for inspiration or just some ten year old cool. Then sitting on a Philippine sub-woofer they stared back at him. Frozen in time, forever locked in the middle of a wild thumping chorus sat The Frogs. Brought state side back in the early seventies this stuffed frog rock band was just the inspiration needed. Hence forth from that sunny summer afternoon Frogband Productions was born. Don't ask me for the metaphoric artistic responsibility six instrument playing stuffed frogs stand for, just know that somewhere out there the frogs are watching over the film and they will always keep things weirdly honest and honestly weird.

T.

Check out our stuff

Okay boys and girls,
As I am trying to figure out how to post our actual videos to our site I think the next big thing would be give you links to where our projects are actually working. Our very first collaberation together "Saturday Night" can be found on the metacafe.com website and you can view our second piece, "Fixed" at revver.com see links below. just copy and paste the url to a new window. Enjoy and feel free to comment on them.
Lj

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/708693/saturday_night/
http://one.revver.com/watch/378793

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

May God help us all...

L. Jeffrey is turning me loose onto the virtual hemisphere of blogdom? Ladies and gentleman Pandora has now opened her box and is on a serious Ether binge.

T.

Welcome



Welcome to the Frogband Production blog. Here you will see our latest projects, read our comments on films, life and other rants but most importantly you will be kept up to date on what's going on with the Mr. Tyrel Ventura and Mr. L. Jeffrey Moore of Frogband Productions. The production company is the brain child of Tyrel and I came into the picture a few years ago. Stay tuned more will be added in the days to come.