Film Method

On November 11th, 2010 Film Method and Mental Eclectic held their first joint Shorts 'N Spirits Showcase together. The event featured many different web series and shorts and included industry speakers as well. Film Method was there to capture it! This is part one of the interviews we conducted at the event with speaker Diahnna Nicole Baxter of Web TV Workshop, filmmaker Scott Baker with his film Cub and writer/creator Steve Silverman and actors Sam Pancake and Stacy McQueen of the hit web series Pretty.

Scott Baker-Filmmaker

Scott Baker, a native of Northern California, received a degree in History from Sonoma State University and served in the United States Peace Corps from 2000-2001 in Turkmenistan. ÂHe co-founded Vegan Cannibals Productions with Philip Stimmell in 2002. ÂTheir first film, Brunch of the Dead was a feature-length zombie-comedy. Since re-locating to Riverside they have done several award-winning short films, including Rationed which screened at this year's Cannes Short Film Corner and 2 episodes for their new series Findings (think Ghosthunters meets Reno911!). ÂYou can find out more atÂwww.VeganCannibals.com

Scott's film Rationed was 2nd runner-up in the world finals of 48 Hour Film Project, aka, Filmapalooza as part of the NAB Show in Las Vegas. The film was also selected for a showcase at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival (Short Film Corner Marche du Film).

Steve Silverman-Writer/Director/Executive Producer

Steve Silverman is a critically-acclaimed playwright, with over twenty plays and musicals produced nationwide, including the three years running smash hit 15 Minutes of Fem, and Slideshow , which the LA Times proclaimed "Downright Magical," now in it's fifth year of monthly shows at the Fake Gallery in Hollywood. Steve is also a multi-award winning writer-producer in the world of On-Air Promotions, with stints at ABC, CBS, NBC, Bravo, The WB, and the CW under his belt, he presently spends his days (and some nights) at the FOX Broadcasting Company - you know those commercials you see that try to get you to watch American Idol and The Simpsons? He makes those. Pretty is Steve's first swim in the vast ocean that is the 'interwebs' as a writer-director.

Stacy McQueen- Actor

Stacy McQueen attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and earned her BFA from Webster University Conservatory of Theater Arts where she was one of twelve (out of the nation) recipients of the prestigious Irene Ryan/ Kennedy Center Award. She moved to Los Angeles and studied with the late great Roy London (with the likes of Brad Pitt, Geena Davis, Kristen Davis, Framke Jenson...yeah, what happened there?) She was saved by Dolph Ludgren in I Come in Peace, served a two and half year stint on General Hospital playing nurse Sheila Cantillion and portrayed a whore with a heart of gold on Quantum Leap. She got her big break when she was reunited with Dean Stockwell as a series regular on the sitcom In the Mood. Unfortunately, it wasn't picked up. She worked on the short lived Maybe this Time along with Craig Ferguson in his first TV role in the US. He went on to become a star of late night and she went on to be one of the few clothed women in HBO's Breast Men. She's performed in many plays around town. Some of her favorite roles were Princess Leia Magdalene in Jesus Christ Super Star Wars and Annette, the retarded Asian baton twirler in The King and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Stacy most enjoyed Vangsness/McQueen, a show she co-starred/co-created with her dear friend Kirsten Vangsness. You can find lots more on Stacy at www.stacymcqueen.com.

Sam Pancake- Actor

Sam Pancake is an actor, improviser, and sketch comedian who hails from Romney, WV. He first came to the attention of film and television casting directors in the late '90's as a member of the award-winning sketch comedy troupe, Margot's Bush, and not long after that he found himself being ca...

The next Shorts 'N Spirits Showcase will be held this Thursday, November 11th and Film Method will be apart of it! This screening series showcases short format projects including short films, music videos and web series. Craig Wilson and Mel Huffman of Shorts 'N Spirits join us to talk about what films will be screening at the event. John Carrozza, Executive Producer of the web series Pretty joins us as well to talk about the series and about screening at the Shorts 'N Spirits Showcase on Thursday.

John Carrozza-Executive Producer

John Carrozza helped form Velvet 
Candy Entertainment, LLC in 2006 with a mission to tell 
unique and compelling stories with diverse LGBT characters 
and strong crossover appeal.

The award-winning Socket (the world's first gay science fiction thriller) was John's first 
stab at co-producing a feature, but Velvet 
Candy has completed 
several other projects including the short films Rubdown, Screening Party, The Defenders and Reunion, which was funded by 
the HBO Shout Short Film Competition. John has also executive produced the web series Pretty which debuted in January 2010. Coming up later in the year is the short film Rubdown, which will appear in film festivals across the country.

John has also recently produced the upcoming 
musical comedy The Mikado Project, which premiered at the 2010 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and Qwerty, a straight-ish office sex comedy completed and shopping for distribution. John lives and works in Burbank, CA with his husband Doug and their dogs.

Craig Wilson-Producer/Director

Craig started his 12 year career in entertainment as an Artistic Director for a black box theater troop. In 2003 he graduated Los Angeles Film School majoring in Directing and minoring in Producing. Since that time he has worked as a Producer, Director, First Assistant Director, Grip, Electrician, Craft Service and Production Assistant in television and film. He has produced two independent feature films, is in pre-production for one and is in development of another, both slated to shoot 2010. He has also Event Coordinated and Produced five world premiere screenings, four monthly networking events and is currently a Producer for the San Diego Indie Festival Film Stage.

Mel Huffman-Event Coordinator/Production Designer

Mel's passion has always been art. After creating her first work at the age of 5, she joined the Buena Park Civic Center Arts earning multiple awards for her oil paintings. Spending years working backstage with her family on productions, she found her calling behind the scenes. She has previously worked closely with such artists as Artis Lane, Richard MacDonald, and Ricky Swallow at the LA Fine Art Foundry. Mel helped these artists create their vision in fine art bronze sculpture. Mel is also the Los Angles Regional Manager for Mental Eclectic, assisting Southern California filmmakers in production, networking and marketing. She has now dedicated herself to a full time career in the film industry. Mel produced The Return of the El Diablo, which premiered at Geekfest in Mexicalli in 2009. She was also the on-set dresser for The Guild season 3 in addition to working as the production designer for Simply Simon, Art Director for the music video Feel Better by Nikki Lang and Production Designer for the web series The Last.

You may be surprised to learn that using animals in your production may not be completely out of the question if you're working on a low budget project. Join us as we listen to expert Andrea Gold talk about her experience in working with animals in film. Tune in if you're considering using animals for your film or even if you're just an animal lover or filmmaker! Jeremy McGovern of Mattoid Productions sits in as guest co-host.

Andrea Gold-Animal Trainer

Andrea has been working with animals for the last 10 years. After receiving a degree in Wildlife Management and Animal Behavior, she began her career training animals for movies and television. Her specialty is training exotic animals. She works with Elephants, a Rhinoceros, Pelicans, Monkeys, Tigers, Bears, as well as dogs and cats. She has worked on projects such as: Into the Wild, Hotel for Dogs, In the Darkness, Fight Science, Eaten Alive, I Shouldn't be Alive, and Pedigree Adopt-a-Pet. One of her greatest fears is jellyfish.

A2Z Animals

Jeremy McGovern-Producer/Writer

In the last 12 years Jeremy McGovern has worked on marketing campaigns for Hollywood films, businesses of his own, Fortune 500 companies, charities and smaller local businesses. During this period McGovern also graduated Magna Cum Laude with his BA from Columbia College's film program with a double emphasis in Directing and Writing for cinema and television.

During his studies at Columbia, McGovern gained the opportunity to work with Participant Productions on the release, alternative marketing, and social action campaigns for Angels In The Dust, The Kite Runner and, Jimmy Carter; Man From The Plains. In this period McGovern also gained invaluable work experience on a myriad of short films, documentaries and music videos.

While still at Columbia, McGovern was recruited by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts where he worked as Operations Manager for their flagship Resort/Spa and Wellness Center for three years. After leaving the corporate world McGovern transitioned back into film by co-founding Mattoid Entertainment with Jenna Edwards and Andrew Robinson where he has co-produced, written and developed projects for the company as well as working heavily in the companies cutting edge Marketing, Distribution and Social Media divisions.

Mattoid Entertainment

We're excited to announce a new feature called the Film Method Mail Bag! You, the listener, now have the opportunity to get those pressing questions answered about making your own film. Join producers Jenna Edwards and Cooper Harris and Producer/Director/DP Ace Underhill as we kick off this new feature and answer some listener questions. To have your questions answered, email [email protected] or send your Tweet with #fmmailbag or #filmmethod.

Cooper Harris- Producer/Actor

A recent graduate of the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts, Cooper happily herself paying her bills acting and producing! She recently starred in the SyFy Channel's upcoming thriller, Meteor Apocalypse and just wrapped the title role in a rom-com opposite Josh Sussman (Glee) and Lochlyn Munro. Cooper was seen this summer as the new host for Red Bull, as well as in campaigns for DishNetwork, POM, Microsoft and the groundbreaking new LG campaign. Cooper produced and stars in DailyMotion's first original comedy series, Squatters. She is also a writer/producer of award-winning transmedia commercial campaigns for companies such as Post It Notes, Kimberly Clark, and Krazy Glue. Upcoming, Cooper can be seen as the title character in the upcoming thriller, The Resurrection of Serious Rogers. www.CooperHarris.net

Ace Underhill- Director of Photography

Ace Underhill has worked in the film and television industry for over 13 years, blending extensive technical knowledge with an award-winning artistic edge. He founded Brilliant Screen Studios, a full service film & television studio as well as a feature film production company. He has served on the San Diego Filmmakers Board of Directors and was part of the Advisory Group to the San Diego Film Commission. Brilliant Screen also supplies productions of all sizes with crew, consultation, and equipment. Brilliant Screen Studios

Jenna Edwards- Producer

Jenna Edwards began her film career in Minnesota where she was signed on as talent with Easter Hailey. Quickly after being signed Edwards was hired by the agency as a full time employee giving her a head-start on her Hollywood education. After two years of rising through the Minnesota film community Edwards made the move to Los Angeles.

Soon after Edwards moved to Los Angeles she was hired by Agent Jamie Ferrar. It was while Edwards was working for Ferrar that she developed an interest in the casting process, before long she had moved from talent agencies to working in casting with such industry leaders as Sally Steiner (Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Boy Meets World), Barbie Block (Jonas, Pepper Dennis) and Allison Jones (Super Bad, The Office). During this time Edwards was also able to gain valuable production experience working on shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Malcolm in the Middle, and working with studios like Disney, MTV, FOX and CBS.

After several years of successfully navigating her career through the Hollywood studio system Edwards made the leap to independent film with her first feature April Showers. After her success with April Showers Edwards formed Mattoid Entertainment with partners Jeremy McGovern and Andrew Robinson where they made, In the Darkness, the first narrative feature to ever premiere on Hulu.com. Most recently Edwards made her way back to Nebraska, where she shot April Showers, to team up with some new filmmakers on a comedy film called Trunk'd.

Mattoid Entertainment's Website

Mattoid on Facebook

Being an actor in Hollywood requires strategic planning as far as marketing and branding yourself and Rachel Lien and Bryan McClure have been busy doing just that. They both moved to Los Angeles from Omaha, Nebraska a little more than a year ago after co-staring in the independent film April Showers and have already landed some notable auditions and the attention of various casting directors and agents. We also welcome back Jenna Edwards fresh off the road from her midwest journey to hear about what's going on at Mattoid Entertainment.

For our guest bios and links please see Episode Fifty-Four: The Business of Acting Part 1

In the film world, the camera is king. What you shoot on will affect everything that matters to your project including budget, schedule and workflow. This week our discussion centers around choosing the right camera for your project. Join us for some extremely helpful insight given by directors of photography Lore Haroutunian and Ace Underhill.

Lore Haroutunian- Director of Photography

After graduating USC's School of Cinematic Arts production program, Lore began finding her way as a cinematographer through shooting independent short films, web and viral videos, and teaching. She spent some time as adjunct faculty teaching 16mm camera techniques at the Colorado Film School, and after that, joined Denver's Binning Family Foundation to teach film as storytelling, as well as lead an after-school film school program for teens. She now lives and freelances as a cinematographer in Los Angeles, and writes a rather nerdy blog for cinematographers called I Should Write This Down.

Ace Underhill- Director of Photography

Ace Underhill has worked in the film and television industry for over 13 years, blending extensive technical knowledge with an award-winning artistic edge. He founded Brilliant Screen Studios, a full service film & television studio as well as a feature film production company. He has served on the San Diego Filmmakers Board of Directors and was part of the Advisory Group to the San Diego Film Commission. Brilliant Screen also supplies productions of all sizes with crew, consultation, and equipment.

Brilliant Screen Studios

One of the most important skills to learn as an actor or filmmaker is self-promotion. This is part 2 of the interview with film marketer Sheri Candler and actor/filmmaker Jenn Page. There's so much information that we had to split it into two parts! Actors and filmmakers, you won't want to miss this show!

For information about our guests see the Episode Fifty-Two Part 1 episode page.

One of the most important skills to learn as an actor or filmmaker is self-promotion. Join independent film marketer Sheri Candler and actor/filmmaker Jenn Page for this chock-full-of-good-info podcast. There's so much information that we had to split it into two parts! Actors and filmmakers, you won't want to miss this show!

Sheri Candler- Independent Film Marketing and Publicity

Sheri Candler is an inbound marketing strategist who helps independent

filmmakers build identities for themselves and their films. Through the

use of online tools such as social networking, podcasts, blogs, online

media publications and radio, she assists filmmakers in building an

engaged and robust online community for their work that can be used to

monetize effectively.

Sheri Candler's Website

Jenn Page- Actor/Director/Producer

After obtaining her degree in theatre performance form Southern Illinois University Edwardsville she earned her wings in New York City acting in independent films including the multi-award winning short Off. With the intention of furthering her acting career she moved to Los Angeles. Shortly after her arrival she decided that the best way to get work was to make her own. She began producing projects for herself and formed her first production company. Since then she has acted, produced, and/or directed feature films, short films, music videos, and stage shows. Directing has become the main focus for Jenn as she found that not only does directing allow her to utilize everything she has learned over the years, but it is her true passion.

Luminave Films

Reel Star Makers

Important Information & Links

Facebook Vanity URL

Bonnie Gillespie's Facebook Page (casting director)

Boosting your Google rating

1. First, find out who you are now

- www.onlineidcalculator.com (log out of Gmail first before you run it for

more accurate results)

- www.addictomatic.com (makes a dashboard of your personal mentions)

2. To Boost Your Rating

-Get a LinkedIn account, even if you don't plan to use it

-Get on IMDB

-Join actor and filmmaker networking sites, not just Facebook and Twitter

Examples for filmmakers: Production Hub, Massify, indieProducer.net

-Leave comments on prominent industry sites

-Check Technorati or Alexa for well trafficked sites, and leave comments of value, do not just say "great post". Make sure you fill in your name, email and website, this is good for building inbound links on your site and for raising your profile.

-Another site to check out to post yourself on many social networking sites in one go, Knowem. I don't like it much myself as my goal is to only be on sites I actually visit, but if you do want to spread yourself out or you are just getting started on social networking and would like to go to one site and sign up for many at one time, try Knowem.

- Use Websitegrader to evaluate how you are doing with your site and see what can be tweaked to raise your score.

A chat with the creator and stars of the new indie web soap The Bay premiering online Fall 2010. Tune in as we speak to creator/director Gregori Martin and cast members Jade Harlow, Kristos Andrews and Derrell Whitt.

The Bay's Website

The Bay on Facebook

Following the life of socialite SARA GARRETT and the people around her, THE BAY is a new web series in the vein of Aaron Spelling's 1980's classic primetime soap opera, DYNASTY. Filled with sex, lies, scandal, and everything required to make a hot 1980's soap opera, THE BAY stars several soap icons including Mary Beth Evans (Kayla DAYS), Tristan Rogers (Scorpio GH), Lilly Melgar (Lily GH), Martha Madison (Belle DAYS), Charles Shaughnessy (Shane DAYS), Nicolas Coster & Lane Davies (Lionel & Mason SB), Matthew Borlenghi (Ziggy B&B), Matt Ashford (Jack DAYS) and many others.