Our humor is a little DEADPAN. p2

Hello Film Buffs,

   As promised here is part 2 of the DEADPAN saga...

As we last left our heroes they were about to embark on a 0 budget film shoot.. Let's see what happens..

                  Dead Jimmy's pub is where the heart of the show takes place.


If you have ever worked on a film production you know that the bulk of the work takes place before you ever step on set.
Scripting
crewing up
shot list
rehearsals
location scouting
casting
blah
blah

 Mike Bobbitt had written the script with certain people in mind and most characters were loosely based on them.
* Mike Campbell, the struggling comic was of course based on Mike Bobbitt.
* Dead Jimmy Sheldrake was based on local Detroit artist and icon Jimmy Doom.
* Mike's nemesis was based on funny man Dave Landau.
* Mike's best friend, Jeff Ford.
* Walter , the bar drunk Marty Smith.
* Clark Michaels , the owner of Dead Jimmy's pub was based on me, but I was producing and directing. I thought my plate was full enough but Mike Bobbitt felt strongly that I should play this character so I signed on as an actor also.

Now we had the ladies to cast and had no one perfect set in mind. So what do ya do? Holding a casting call. We put the word out and held a few days of casting for the roles of Kyle Michaels ( wife of Clark and co owner of Dead Jimmy's pub) and for Molly Michaels ( their teen daughter)...  WOW what a great bunch of talented actors showed up and they all came with their A game. We had to choose one and we thought we had it narrowed down , but then one of those things happens, the script opened up and Molly Michaels walked right out of the screenplay and right into our casting room. A young new comer named Charly Bivona just stole the role from all the other contenders. What a fantastic surprise..We cast her on the spot. We paired our new Molly up with several potential mommies and the best energy and chemistry came from Val Arnold.... We were done.. we had our cast.

                    CLICK TO SEE THE FULL DEADPAN CAST AND CREW

With the cast in place we set forth on the crew and locations. I had a vision of how the show should look and knew right off I wanted the very talented Helena C. Blakemore to be our DP ( director of photography). We have worked on many projects and she is one of my favorite people to work with. I wanted to show to be different from most. I want a loose life like feel, like you were there with the characters, a almost doc feel to it. We decided to shoot it all handheld and also used steadycam.

The rest of the crew fell into place and we were ready. We secured The Token lounge to be Dead Jimmy's Pub- Landed a perfect upstairs apartment and even Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle. Things were all going our way. We had a fund raiser, scraped up some cash to feed everyone and scheduled filming dates... I know I know you are getting tired of all these words, so lets just say we filmed it all in 9 days and had a BLAST!!!!

 Let's get to what you want to see...... Video...... I will show you the gag reel to give you a taste of what a fun shoot this really was and in the next blog we will talk about the finished product.

Enjoy this little taste and tune in tomorrow for the final chapter of the DEADPAN blog.

Our humor is a little DEADPAN..Episode 4. A new Hope

 I was lucky enough to meet and become friends with a rising star in the comedy world a few years back when I agreed to " Troop" an event at a local comedy club. So let me answer the many questions that last sentence raises... First of all " Troop".. If you don't know by now I am whats known as a " fanboy".. Star Wars geek, nerd , what have you. I belong to a worldwide group called 501st Legion of Stormtroopers, yup the guys in the white plastic armor you see at big events and charity functions.. That's us! Will talk more about that in future blogs.

The Great Lakes Garrison after performing live on stage with Weird Al ( me on the far right)

It has been a real pleasure being part of this group for the past 3 years, we have helped raise millions of dollars for charities and got to be part of some really special events.

Anyway back to the story.... So we were asked to be apart of a comedy charity event that roasted Darth Vader and money raised went to the Fallen soldiers fund. So normally we mingle and pose for photos and generally stand around and look bad ass. But this time we were asked if we wanted to take to the stage and try our armored hands at comedy. Of course I said " sign me up". So to prep for this event, me and a few other braves troopers met at a local bar to write some jokes. There we met the guy behind this event, comic and Star Wars geek, Mike Bobbitt. PLEASE do yourself a favor and watch the clip below. Mike is a funny dude.

So Mike Bobbitt shows up at the bar to help us try to be funny but secretly he wanted to hang out with real live Stormtroopers..Did I say Mike is a Star Wars geek?... 

Well needless to say Mike and I just hit it off, I could tell this was gonna be a guy I wanted to be friends with and a bromance was born. I loved that he was a professional comic and he loved I was a real live stormtrooper. Platonic man love was in the air... So that all happened.. We did the charity event and Mike and I became close friends......OK I will post my stand up bit but remember, I am not a comic.

I should also mention Mike ( was the guy who introduced me in the video) has lost over 100 lbs since then. Good job Mike.

Man this blog has gone astray..Was going to blog about a project we are working on titled Deadpan but the backstory has grown into a complete post in itself. Well sometimes that happens to writers, oh well. 

Well needless to say Mike and I stayed in touch, hung out and and are to this day close friends. As it turns out Mike is one hell of a writer and told me of his screenplays he had written in the past. That little bit of info was enough for me to dig out a script I had been tinkering with and finish it. I even wrote a character in the screenplay based on Mike Bobbitt aptly named Bobby Michaels. That screenplay is called ZOMEDY and will blog about that in the future ( trust me you will hear all about ZOMEDY)..

I showed the screenplay to Mike and he really enjoyed the script, so much that when writing a his next project, a TV series called Upstairs, he wrote me in as a character named Clark Michaels, cousin to Bobby Michaels.  When presented with the final draft that Mike and his wife Christine had wrote I was blown away. I loved it ! I knew right away I wanted to film this and Mike was completely on board with Scallywag Entertainment producing it. We had some meetings and did some rewrites, we changed the title to DEADPAN and started casting for a 0 budget ( big surprise huh) film shoot.

This will end part 1 of this blog. When we return I will tell you the story of Deadpan , show some clips and give you updates of when it will be ready to show.

DIRECTORS REEL

Hola Film Buffs,

  More shameless promotion here... Just got off the phone with good friend Sean H. Robertson and we discussed the painful shameless act of tireless self promotion. I expressed my dislike of having to shove all my wares down all my poor friends throat. The whole " Hey look at me, like me love me" type of thing that I am sure people grow tired of very fast, but he made a good point. Sean told me this " We are not like most everyone else that goes to work and punches a clock, we have to get our own word out there and let people know what we do. Until someone else steps in and promotes your stuff for you, you have to do it yourself. If you are not constantly getting the word out in this business  you are dead in the water." Good advice from a guy who has almost 500,000 views on his Youtube channel for his web series. Sean's youtube channel . ( you owe me some cross promotion now Sean).

 So please take the time to indulge me in watching my short directors reel of some past work from Scallywag. Spread the word and in turn we promise to continue to give you the best quality FREE entertainment we can.

Now this is a directors reel for Michael Clark but please know MANY MANY talented people worked on these projects and all deserved credit for all their hard work.

BUY OUR T-SHIRTS

Hello Film Fans,

  So you may of noticed the DONATE button on the top of our blog. Being poor starving artists and always striving to give you free quality entertainment, sometimes we need to be PBS and have fund raisers... We know you hate it, and please know we hate doing it BUT!!!!! We are prepared to make it SO worth your while to help out.

That's right... FREE STUFF!!!!! ( well not free , in a sense you are buying it )

So we are proud to offer you the first ever SCALLYWAG ENTERTAINMENT FILM CREW T-shirts...

Lovely aren't they???

So here is the drill... If you would like to support our meager efforts in the film world and help us to continue making quality free entertainment for you, here is the dealio...

A. Click the DONATE button above and feel free to reach deep into your pockets and throw us a bone.

Any amount at all. Just know you are helping the arts and backing a solid film company. You will sleep better at night and be filled with the glow that only comes from knowing you are a good person.

B. If you donate more then $18 buck a roos you get a killer Scallywag T-shirt in 

S-M-L-XL sizes donate $20 to get XXL. 

AND FREE SHIPPING IS INCLUDED!

If you want more then 1 shirt just do the simple math..Hit the DONATE button and be sure to add a note on how many and what sizes.

So it's that easy...Basically we are just selling our new T SHIRT but we are not to proud to except plain ole fashion donations to our cause.

The design is at the shop now waiting on orders and will be in our greedy little hands soon. 

There's Always Options...By Steve Gast

After another relatively sleepless night, I forced my eyes open and checked my email.  There I found the message I had been both waiting for and dreading: "SCRIPT ANALYSIS AND LETTER ATTACHED".  A week earlier I was confronted with two options:

OPTION 1: Send $300 to a script consultant and pitch company in L.A.
OPTION 2: Eat and pay rent.

No brainer!  My screenplay "Mr. Stripper" had been sitting on the shelf for a year and at the pace I am going now wouldn't be produced until 2035.  So in a now or never moment, I pulled the trigger and hit the submit button.  Doubt started creeping instantly, because that's what doubt does.  Creepy doubt.  I had visions of red ink splattered all over my screenplay, my year of labor and toil, MY BABY!  I saw angry notes suggesting I give up writing and look into a career at Wal-Mart.  I SUCK!!!

Did I mention writers tend to have self esteem issues?

I forced myself to open the email.

"Dear Steve,

Thanks again for sending in “Mr. Stripper”! The notes and letter are attached.

BTW, I really liked this script, Steve. I’m not sure if you knew that I also produce movies. As such, I am very interested in optioning this. Please let me know if you are interested. Thanks again."

Reading this was indeed one of these moments:

Now before anyone starts asking for a loan, things to keep in mind.  One an "option" does not mean I have sold the script and does not guarantee the film will be made.  It just means I would give a producer exclusive rights (usually for a year) to produce the film.  If it gets made, I might actually get paid something, but if not, I get the rights to the script back.  Even if the film is made, there are a million ways for the writer to get hosed in the deal.  Also I don't have a formal offer yet, just an email expressing interest.

BUT

What this email provided was a gift every writer craves more than anything: VALIDATION.  Even three years into the film business I still feel like a newby, especially when comparing myself to my friends in New York and LA.  I have a long way to go, but just knowing there is value in my work gives me a feeling I belong.  I won't be putting on that blue Wal-Mart vest just yet.

That said, I did spend my rent money on this, so if I could crash on your couch that would be cool.

So the adventure of "Mr. Stripper" begins.  Stay tuned for updates!

UNKNOWN reaches 13,000 views

Hello Film Buffs,

   So today we reach a Scallywag milestone. Our little short film titled " Unknown" reached 13,000 youtube views today.. YEAHHHHHHHH. I know that's not much in the youtube world, people get millions of views on kitten and boob videos everyday, but for a small video production company making original content , it's a big deal.
  So a quick back story on the short. Last year we were working on a project with fellow Scallywag  family member Jacquie Floyd and she told me this idea for a mini short and I loved it. We worked on it and said we should really film this one day. Well one day turned into two and months and like a year later we were all together filming a short and that idea came back up. We had all the people and the players there working so why not take this perfect opportunity to film Unknown...It was an easy shoot and easy edit and the following week it was in the can. I posted it on youtube and we did our best to FB the hell out it and see if it could get a few hundred views, and it did. After a week it was around 400 views, which is average for our films, but I was driven to get this out there a little more. I started posting links on Star Wars FB pages and even posted it on Carrie Fisher's page...Eh got a few more views but nothing earth shaking..But then... Jan 3rd ( my birthday, don't ask my age please) The views started going nuts..Other sites were showing our video, people were sharing it, people from all over were watching it..Well it seems Carrie Fisher saw the video and LOVED IT!!! She Tweeted it and posted it on her page....Carrie Fisher's Facebook page...scroll down and see where she posted our video.... BAMMO we were on sites in Germany- Russia- England..all over. What a great birthday present for Scallywag huh...So that's the back story, now if you haven't already seen it, what are you waiting for? It's right there...Click..enjoy and leave a comment.

IMDB Pisses me off

Hello Film Buffs..

   Just wanna get this off my chest about the rating system on IMDB....How in the world does this rating system work? They say it's some secret system they don't want to divulge for fear of national security  or some shit.. And I know this shouldn't make me THAT angry and I should have a thick skin, take my lumps...blah blah...But ya know, i'm the creative type and want everyone to love everything I do...There I said it.. Artists tend to be thin skinned insecure babies and I guess I am one of them. So lets get to the meat of the post. This past summer we made a short film for a 48 hour film festival. We had two days to write- cast- film- edit- score- everything... Two days.. That's it. Came up with an idea for a hobo love story and we had to make it a foreign film ( per the rules) I barely speak English so to make it in another language was a challenge . We  wrote, filmed everything and had it done by the deadline ( with 0 sleep).. It went to festival and we won 1st place.. Needless to say we were all very happy and proud with the film. We started to send it to other festivals where it has been very well received. People really seem to like this short film.. Well here watch the trailer below.

 Would show you the whole 10 minute short but it is still currently on the festival circuit. So I post it on IMDB so everyone can can their due credit and it starts to receive high star vote..OK? Things are good... Some monkey chump gives it a 1 star, and the rating goes from a 9 star to a 1.7 star?  How is that math even possible? 11 votes- 8 are 10 stars votes- 1 is a 9 star vote- 1 is a 2 star vote and 1 is a 1 star vote..Now ya know that's just some internet dweeb being an asshole or maybe the director of another film that we beat out at the festival but still...Should be 8.4 stars.. So they take away 9 votes and only count the lowest 2? I know they will say they have a system and they may take away votes from people who are listed in the credits to be fair , but I know of people who did NOT work on the film that voted high stars.. They have some screwy system that really doesn't work because even if you didn't enjoy the film it still would rate higher then 1.7...

So here is the link to the IMDB page for Paper Man and see for yourself.

IMDB PAPER MAN

 Thanks for taking the time to hear me whine like a little baby, if you want me i'll be sobbing in my giant pillow.

Hi Internet land!  My name is Steve Gast, writer, director, producer and occasional plastic dummy for Scallywag Entertainment.  Back on October 31, 2008 my employer Dow Chemical encouraged me to pursue my dream of making film in the form of a severance check.  This picture was taken that day and you can see I was bursting with gratitude.

Ok, maybe I wasn't thrilled at the thought of losing a paycheck, but since then I have become overwhelmingly thankful for everything I've gained.  Maybe it was a coincidence I dressed up as a pirate for Halloween, but the universe was definitely pointing me in the direction of Scallywag. 

Over the next three years, I met my film family, wrote and directed three short films, produced and worked on several more, spent long unpaid hours on set having a blast with insanely talented people who helped us stockpile festival awards, and travel to both coasts where I met both famous actors and inspirational peers from all over the planet.  There has never been a better time to be a filmmaker and I am excited to help Scallywag take its place in the global film community. 

This blog is designed to help do that as I am told they get the internet all over the world.  (Not sure if that's true, but if so I want to say hi to my friends Ross and Fergus in the UK - What's up mates?)  Here we will keep everyone up to date on all things Scallywag as we tackle funnier shorts, bigger projects and dare I say it, our first feature film.  Yes I dare.  I invite you to join on this adventure, sailing the high seas of independent film.  Also bring a friend.  And some Cheetos because you can never have enough Cheetos.

If you're interested in watching the stuff we film (and you have to admit watching is waaay easier than reading because there's no annoying "words" to deal with) then subscribe to our new YouTube channel here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/mrgecko65?feature=mhee

Date with a Princess

Scallywag just finished a new comedic short titled " Date with a Princess". This 6 minute short was written and filmed to be entered in the L.A. Comedy short film festival this April. Just got the email confirming they received the DVD's in the mail today... Cross your fingers for us..Above is the trailer for the short...Click and watch... I will wait.... Ok, looks pretty funny right? If the film is accepted Me and my partner Steve Gast will be hoping on a plane and heading to the west coast. This place is packed with agents, sales reps and other blood sucking leeches that can really boost our careers :).

    The film stars Jacquie Floyd and lil old me as a couple out of their 4th date. Larry ( me) is a older gent and has been on the search for the perfect girl. Carrie ( Jacquie Floyd) is a free spirited gal that finds dating an older gentleman a refreshing break from the immature boys then she is use to. Will they find true love? or will the skeletons in Larry's closet make her run for the hills?

Can't say much more then that and you will have to wait and see it for yourself. You may not have to go all the way to LA to see this. We just entered it into the DIFF ( Detroit Independent Film Festival), and if accepted it will play in the Detroit area in the next few months. So for now enjoy the trailer.

A short video about our Youtube page. Complete with Elvis hair... Subscribe won't ya?

If you have been with us for awhile you may remember a little contest we ran called " The Scallywag 3 page screenplay Contest".... I gave a quick set up and you had 1 week to turn in a 3 page script based on the rules i set forth. We had some good fun and got some AWESOME submissions for people from all over. Well I have been sitting on these " 3 pagers" for awhile and thought it was time to make a few. We are making funny content for our Youtube channel page and thought some of these would be great.
 We picked two from the contest called " Interview" in which the you had to write a 3 pager about someone being interviewed, and only have 2 characters.
 Jacquie Floyd, a long time collaborative of Scallywag wrote a really funny and clever script called " Mother" . I  would love to give a short summary don;t want to give anything away.
 I wrote one called " Henchmen for Dummies" as part of the "Interview" contest, in which a young prospect interviews to be part of a Evil organization.

We are slated to film both of these short films Feb. 5th in West Bloomfield Mi. Stay tune for updates.

Scallywag 101 would have to start with our YouTube channel.... See it, love it, subscribe to it.

Scallywag Entertainment's Youtube channel

Welcome

Hello all.
  Michael Clark here from Scallywag Entertainment. For those who know me Hi, for those who don't...Hi... Will give you a brief background of who and what we do and then we will just dive into the fun. I started Scallywag Entertainment a few years back to express my inner film geek. Been in love with all things film since I was a wee lad, was lucky enough to be raised in the 70's, my favorite era of celluloid. One fateful day, May 25th 1977 that love turned into an obsession. DO ya know what that day was??? Do ya? Yup the day Star Wars was released and it changed my life. Now it wasn't like I feel in love with the Princess or I was some closet sci fi fan, but it showed me what was possible in films. I collected the toys, the posters and all the usual fare that 12 year olds love to collect but I also read anything I could find that was Star Wars. I found myself reading about John Dykstra, Ben Burt, and other faceless nobodies that were behind the scenes. The motion control cameras that were built to make the movie, the extensive sound design by Ben Burt, the model builders the prop makers, all of the stuff no one else seem to care about.... I was hooked. I wanted to be a film maker. That started my journey but sadly the teen years and puberty side tracked me into a life of girls, Van Halen, weed, girls and 80's new wave music... Funny how life gets away from ya. Fast forward to 2008, my business toppled, and lost my house in the big real estate bubble burst. I was flat broke and had nothing but my dreams. What dreams you may ask? Well to be Michael Lucas of course. I jumped back into film with both feet and started ( blindly I may add) into the unprofitable thankless job of being an independent film maker.

              So here we are , 2012, I have started earning my stripes in the local film world. Made some award winning short films, some commercials and on my way to huge stardom and riches.....Well I made some films anyway. So thats the short version of Scallywag in a nut shell..Wanna know more? Didn't think so , but if you keep coming back here you will will get more info, like it or not as we all journey through the life of an independent film maker.


  Thanks Michael Clark.