20 Minutes Gone Episode 11: Purgatory Comics

This episode has been a long time coming... Angela Benedict joins me (via phone patch) and we discuss Purgatory Comics in depth... including the casting process, the challenges we faced on set, and other war stories. Then, we read the reviews on Amazon.com together.

For those of you who've followed this blog through the production of Purgatory Comics - or if you've seen the movie since its completion - this is a can't miss episode!

Angela is in Gothic Beauty Magazine

Check out issue 35 of Gothic Beauty Magazine for not one but TWO images of Angela Benedict in a post-apocalyptic fashion article. 

Also Angela swears she is importing herself soon back to the states - and it feels like just yesterday I wrote the export post.

Some Random Updates

"I can haz brains?"

Been a little bit since a nice update post, so here goes. Let's start with a film review! FilmBizzarro.com reviewed a DVD of Purgatory Comics. The reviewer wasn't really into it as it wasn't his cup of tea (he prefers his movies with lots of blood and guts and honestly, I can't blame 'em). But rather than rip it apart, he reaffirms he's just not the right audience which was cool, and if he took the time to write and plug it, I'll take the time to plug 'em. Be warned though, nsfw image of Bree Olson at the site. Read the review here.

DP Mike updated his demo reel over at his site. There's some glimpses of Purgatory Comics in there, so check it out. He has gained so many new capabilities since shooting my movie that I'm itching to work on a new project with him. In the meantime he's exploring some cool new Bluray authoring capabilities. I'll keep you posted on that. Also he made himself a top-notch editing suite so if you're in the tristate area and you're looking for a good editor, check out his site.

Angela's still at it with the youtubin' from London. Here's her latest vid:

And last: I've got two scripts in the works. Both have been in my head for nearly a year and they're both in different stages of development. A relationship movie is trickling onto paper very slowly, and a thriller is completely outlined and 30 pages of script are done. Even though the latter is further along, my passion for the former is much stronger. I'll keep you posted.

Happy Belated New Years! Resolutions coming soon...

Angela Benedict Drinking Tea in a Furry Hat

These new snapshots of Angela with the video above prove two things: she's keeping things sexy in London, and she really loves furry hats. Click to enlarge:

Of course you can see a lot more of Angela in "Purgatory Comics," which you can buy on DVD for a very low price at filmbaby.com. Their stock is refilled and ordering is both quick and easy!

Angela's Exporting Herself

In a few days, our rising star Angela Benedict is moving back to the UK with her husband Benn. Although I don’t get to see them much these days, I’ll miss ‘em. To me, it feels somewhat like an epilogue to the whole production process.

Since many of you are just now starting to see Purgatory Comics for the first time, let me just quickly reflect on Angela’s contributions that stem beyond leading role: She provided make-up for the entire cast with a kit she bought herself. She saved my ass when a bar owner bailed on me by convincing another bar owner to let me shoot at his location (the night before). She discovered Jennifer Stone, who played Zombie Gal. She did wardrobe and costume duties, including for Bree Olson. She made Jonathan's hair look long. She got me someone to play the Lee role (her husband Benn, who she got to punch in the face on-screen). Later Benn and she would do incredible photography and graphic design for the film. And through all this, she found the time to memorize all of her lines, follow directions, and also become someone I consider a friend. She’s a good egg, and someone with a lot of potential and big dreams. I wish ‘em the best and I’m sure we’ll see more work out of her in years to come.

Purgatory Comics Small Posters Now Available!

Check out the official Purgatory Comics movie poster below. They're now available for order at cafepress.com, so order now! These posters go perfect with the silver or gold autograph pens, so if you're an autograph hound, grab a poster now so you'll have it in time for the screenings next year (TBA). As mentioned before, the photography here was done by Vanessa Zimmer Hidden Pixels Photography, and the design was done by Benn Fielding and myself.

Angela is Somewhat Photogenic

As I mentioned in the last post, the other week we had a mini-photoshoot out at Hidden Pixels Photo, courtesy of Vanessa Zimmer and Benn Fielding. We chose which pictures we like the most and Benn's been touching them up for poster art. Below is the first Side Panels mini-doc since maybe eight months ago. It's super short, but you'll get a look at the photoshoot last week.

I got my hard drive back from John so the whole film is once again in my possession. Tomorrow I'm meeting with DP Mike LaVoie, who's going to watch it and maybe do some more contrast/brightness type corrections. He hasn't seen it since my very first rough cut back in February, so hopefully he'll think there have been huge improvements.

It's nice to have momentum again. This is a very gray area for me though and it needs to be handled delicately. I'll drop a nice "what next" blog in the coming days but right now I'm just going to relax and watch a movie.

Wow, only 3 days in and having a free/coherent moment seems like an unknown dimension. Overall shooting has been fantastic thus far. The crew and cast are great people and fun to be around. It is however very tedious work. Tedious work which requires a great length of time. Per day, 11 hours on average. A good portion of the scenes we've got in the can already has taken place outdoors which basically translates to we froze our asses off for a good SEVERAL hours. Luckily a little something Vinny has referred to as "actors adrenaline" kicked in once action was called and we suddenly just stopped shivvering and forgot about being cold...Until however 'cut' was called.

Despite being physically drained and slightly under the weather I'm extremely pleased with the way takes have turned out. We've had some technical difficulties here and there but it wouldn't be a full scale production without these little hurdles which is what makes it all the more real.

Ralph has miraculously managed to keep his composure at the most frustrating and mentally exhausting of moments and has really gone above and beyond to make sure that we're all as comfortable as possible. I can't wait to get my butt into the comic book store already so that the real mayhem can ensue. They're gonna need a tranq-gun to stop us when Tim, Jonathan and I get started.

Angela punches like a girl

The main page of the upcoming baggedandboardedmovie.com is done but I've still got to make the rest of the damn site before I put any of it online. I'll be away for a week so I won't get to work on it for awhile, or post in this blog for that matter. Hopefully some fellow cast mates will keep things rolling while I'm away.

In the meantime, here's a fun photo ready for your captioning abuse:

Cue all the jokes about me making casting couch or nude scene offers in 3...2...

I was all prepared to gush about meeting the whole cast for the first time. About how amazingly talented and freakin hilarious they all are. I'd even planned to go on to add how I was all bounces and giggles afterward...but then I decided that I'm not gay (in the non sexual orientation sense of course). Go team LGBT! Random side note; How the hell DOES Atoki keep his skin so even toned & silky smooth? A query for our next encounter.

Jon, Tim and Alex have such powerful energy to vibe off of. From the very first meeting I felt like I'd known them forever. Team Hamsterflap? They've definitely given me incentive to work harder.

So to sum things up whilst sounding as least mawkish as possible. You guys make me feel so.......

You get the *squish* just like grape

It's been 3 days since the reading with Ralph and I've since had a thorough read myself. I laughed my ass off. Since a good portion of that took place in the gym I'm confident that I secured my place as runner up for the gym nut. Rightfully so, you should see who got first place. Let me put it to you this way if wearing a speedo over sweat pants ever hits the streets this guys gonna be the bell of the ball!

I'm so excited to be part of this project. From the moment I did the cold reading I knew it was something I had to be part of. I can't wait to torture meet the rest of the cast and I'm counting down the days until filming!

The lead is cast!

Tonight, Angela Benedict has officially signed on to play the part of Nicola ("Cola") in Bagged and Boarded. She received her copy of the script and we did a cold read-through so she could familiarize herself with it. The good news is that I caught her laughing a few times, so I think the story is on the right track. The better news is that Angela is multi-talented in the world of fashion, modeling, and of course acting and her great personality will add much to this project.

A handful of people have been notified for other roles (and they've happily accepted), but I don't want to make any announcements about those parts until they've officially signed the dotted line.

In other news, I've recently acquired BaggedandBoardedMovie.com, but nothing will be there for some time. We're building a cool-ass site that will feature all of the awesome news on this project. I've also commissioned some new graphic design artists to lend their work to the movie. I'll post some new designs in the near future.