Podcast updates and other such things

The podcasting project is going great. I've done 3 interviews so far and I've gotta say that each person I've talked to was so excited that this was taking place I feel that I am definitely headed in the right direction.

In other news the 2007 HD short film "Borders" featuring Dominique Swain and Former Minnesota Governor and host of Tru TV's "Conspiracy Theory" Jesse Ventura has finally seen the end of it's long post production journey and is now "ready" to be seen by the rest of the world. The short, directed by longtime friend and partner Tyrel Ventura, was received well by friends and colleagues and has been a special side project for Colorado based film company, 42 productions. We owe them our gratitude and appreciation for taking care of us in color correcting, sound sweetening and creating an HD master. THANK YOU 42!!! As a matter of fact all this came about via the Governor's involvement with the production company's film called "Woodshop" (which should be out by now). Anyway via "The Body" and his son/director Tyrel, we graciously took them up on their offer, so I loaded up the hard drive of the entire file and shipped it over. Now all that's left is a screening.

With So many things to do how does one keep it together? A little faith, patience and of course determination. 2010 here we come!

Coming soon...A RedCape/Jammin Productions

Bad Ass right? More to come but I actually found the time to act again. check RedCape Cinema's site here

Construction Zone

Construction has started on the Frogband website. Complete with Logo and all. Again Special thanks to Scott Becker (Mac Guru, artist and, all around good guy) who's telecommuting in Mexico for his job (which is in Vermont). Ha! Anyhoo, The goals for this week is to research other websites that have a lot of video and other media on their site. I am learning a lot about designing a website by looking at others sites and I am getting a lot of inspiration. Here are two that come to mind. Behance.com has a clean modern look and placement of their content. The white space is used pretty good content is interesting to look at. I also took a look at the Revision 3 site as I am looking to create a network of micro budget content for visitors to view/download etc. I am using iWeb and after digging deep into the application I have come to realize that this is not just a tool for people who do not know how to design a website. You can actually create some pretty sophisticated designs and themes with a little guidance. Some sites I have visited for tutorials are:
all about iweb
iweb faq

These two sites were really helpful and I highly recommend going to them if you are using iweb. I stumbled across them while I was researching on testing the limits of this underused app on my Mac.

Lastly I am happy to announce the first podcast will be reacorded this friday. I am interviewing Nara Denning who has a series of six vignettes called Neurotique. Check out her site here. These podcasts will be released early in 2010. The podcast line up of more micro budget filmmakers are filling up fast and there's more to come.

The Frogband Studio Store

Doing a little online holiday shopping but decided to check out what's going on with Frogband? Well you can do both. Frogband now has a studio store tab on the right side of the blog, or you can click here. This is linked through Amazon and a portion of what you buy can help us chug along and make more movies to share with you. For those of you looking to save a few bucks on a computer and are looking to by an Mac but not sure feel free to email your questions to at frogband5.gmail.com. I am an Apple fanatic and if I don't know the answers I can surly find someone who can. Not looking for computer? You can do an amazon search here as well. Anything you look for here will be linked back to this site.

Two Nights only....Black Dynamite

November 20 – San Francisco, CA
Castro Theatre
429 Castro Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
http://www.castrotheatre.com/


November 21 – Oakland, CA
Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Ave
Oakland, CA 94610
http://www.renaissancerialto.com/

An oldie but a goodie

For those of you who have scene and discussed the latest Battlestar Galactica space opera: The Plan, I found this in one of my bookmarks. I still laugh at it sometimes. Enjoy.

Obama misses Battlestar Galactica

The All New Frogband Blog...Coming soon

Frogband Productions with yours truly and Tyrel have been active for about 5 years and now with 7 short films and a music video, the phrase: "I am a filmmaker has solidified more and more with each project. With technology the way it is now it can be said that anyone can do this. Yes, anyone with a video camera and a computer can be the next big sensation. The major difference, however, is the person who weilds the camera. That will be the difference between a filmmaker and a hack. The thing that technology has done is make the tools more accessable to the creative masses. Even the number of people who are talented enough to put a few images together may still find it hard to get their passion project seen or even distributed. This I believe will be the new frontier for the shade tree filmmaker in this big bad world.

But I digressed. This conversation is supposed to be about Frogband's future, both as a production company and as a blog, where you the reader/filmmaker will have place to rest your weary head. This has been crazy. With 2 short films a music video and the arrival of my first child, there is nowhere else to go but up. The goals for us will still be the same, and that is to keep pumping out projects that we enjoy to make, regardless of the money. The one thing that I have learned as a producer is that creating is about the process and the resources, not money. If you have the means to beg, borrow and (gasp) steal then you would've beaten the odds.

So as I look towards the end of 2009, 2010 seems promising. We'll have the Frogband line up posted as the year comes to an end, but in the meantime this blog will undergo a few changes. The plan is to create a hub for both local filmmakers, screenwriters, composers, etc, etc here in Berkeley, Ca but also the world. A place to exchange information, communicate/commiserate (depending on how you look at it) comment on each others work and such I believe will make all of us better artists. Importantly it will bring us all together and give us a chance to work together. I (or someone else) will also be reviewing certain products for the Indy filmmaker as well as talking about movies I've watched, the state of independent filmmaking, news from fellow artists and perhaps an online screening or two.

Also to help pay the bills I have sold my virtual soul to capitalism and will be placing an amazon store on the site so you can purchase films, and other shows that we dig and other stuff. Until then: Peace see ya later.

L. Jeffrey Moore

Horror Fest 2009 recap

This past Sunday I entered the first part of my episodic show: "The Experiment" in the 3rd Annual 2009 BCM Horror Festival. Again seeing local filmmakers do their thing is really what it's all about. We had everything from a Vampire with insomnia to a mocumentory about zombies (who'd a thunk that Zombies are people too). My particular favorite is "It came from Id" directed by Nara Denning. She's the first picture above with me. She reminds me of directors such as Tim Burton and David Lynch. She is actually having a screening at the Make-out room in November. For more info about that check out naradenning.com. The second picture is the host of Horror fest Moby. The next festival is Herofest which will take place in April

Film Distribution....The Final Frontier

As any filmmaker will tell you the final hurdle after the blood sweat and tears spent on actually making the film is getting it out there for people to see. DISTRIBUTION IS KEY!!! This past week I attended a workshop on distribution held at ATA (Artist Television Access). The panel was made up of local filmmakers AND local distributers. Who were they you ask? Well S.F. Cinematheque, as well as Microcinema International, Wholphin DVD magazine, and Canyon Cinema. The workshop was informative and also served as a "film distribution state of address" . Now for those who are interested in getting your film screened at a local venue ATA is a place to consider as they give you a cut of the admission price. (40 percent to be exact) click here for more info. I would also recommend getting in touch with your local distributor. These guys/ and gals were approachable and very friendly.

Horror Fest 2009

I am happy to announce that the first episode of "The Experiment" will be shown again This Saturday at 9pm check out the information below.



THE BCM HORROR FILM FESTIVAL is a special one night Filmmakers Networking Event benefiting Berkeley's BETV-CH28 featuring low-budget short horror films made by Bay Area movie makers.
FEATURED FILMS SCREENING ON SATURDAY
"DIONAEA" by Oliver Ferrasci
"HELP WANTED-TRAILER " by Waylon Bacon
"NEXT DOOR " by Chia-Li Hung
"UNDEAD IN AMERICA " by Moby Theobald
"THE EXPERIMENT " by L. Jeffrey Moore
"IT CAME FROM ID " by Nara Denning
"INSOMNIA" by Eve Edelson
"CHRONICLES OF THE ORDER - TRAILER " by Ron Santiano
(Subject to change)

SILICON 2009 Pt2

So the cool thing about going to this convention is that I have never been to one much less talked on a panel on how the subject of low budget filmmaking. It was a wonderful experience being on a panel with your peers talking about something that you love to do. Next up is BCM's Horror fest. See you there.

SILICON 2009

So Tyrel and I have been invited to take part in a panel discussion about micro-budget filmmaking. Cant wait to talk about when I return tomorrow night. For more information check out the link:
http://www.siliconventions.com/

Bloodwood coming soon in Fall 2009

My good friend and fellow filmmaker has made the great leap into his first feature film with "Bloodwood". This HD feature was shot with the help of (ahem) my Canon XH-A1 camera and a lot of great talent up in Northern California. Check out the trailer below. For More info just go to www.bloodwoodmovie.com

Bloodwood movie trailer 1 from Arcadian Entertainment on Vimeo.

Frogband Demo Reel #1

Here is a demo reel from Frogband Productions. We are working on a second reel and will post soon.

Herofest 2009 directors panel

Herofest took place on May 9th 2009. Myself and the other directors had a chance to speak to the audience about how they made their films and other things.

Herofest 2009

So I'm about to go see my latest short that I directed called: The Experiment (more on that later) and what can I say I'm pretty geeked out that few Bay area folk are gonna check out the next Frogband Flick. More later.