Today marks the opening of the American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica. I’ll be shopping my screenplay around in the next week! Below is the Teaser Trailer I directed for it! It’s time for a green light!

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It was interesting being at a Festival that you don’t have a pass to see any of the movies and you don’t have a film playing in the Festival. I met some cool people standing in line for the free things and I saw two movies that were incredible in the Outdoor Cinema. Oh and the scenery ain’t too shabby in Telluride either.

I camped in an area that was sort of a grey area. It was at the end of the pavement, at the end of the valley at sort of a dead end, but it was before you got to the sign that said “Public passage through private land – stay on road’. You could only get over Black Bear Pass if you have 4WD. I think I was fine because I saw several police trucks drive to the end of the pavement, and then flip a u-turn in front of my motor home! no tickets!

It was about 1.6 miles from town, so it was a good amount to walk with the dogs, or ride my bike. It wasn’t too far, but just enough that I could feel it as I was trying to recover from my hike.

As I went to and fro, I could swear that someone was watching me. Especially at night I would get the creeps because it was so dark between town and where I was camped. There was no moon as well so I basically was navigating by starlight. Yes I did have a headlight on my bike and a headlamp on my head, but what fun is that!?! During the daytime, I walked very carefully through the route I had taken and I think I found who was watching me!

Beware of the Eye of Aspens!

It rained most of Sunday, which provided some very interesting hanging fog and made the whole place seem pretty magical.

The two films which I really liked, I watched at the Abel Gance Open Air Cinema, which was actually outdoors in the park in the middle of the town.

The first film I liked was Pirate for the Sea, which is a documentary about Paul Watson and his quest to help the animals of the sea. Some of it was a bit graphic, but in a documentary about cruelty against animals, needless slaughter, and the fight against those forces – its necessary. If you want to see a passionate individual and see what all the fuss is about, don’t miss this film. Earlier in the day Paul Watson and Director Ron Colby were given an opportunity to discuss the film with Ken Burns moderating. It was truly fascinating to see and hear Paul Watson in person and hear how passionate he really is.

Photo by Peter Mathew (Sydney Morning Herald)

Poster in English

The second film I really liked was The Good The Bad The Weird. It was described as a “Korean Spaghetti Western” – and it lived up to my hopes. If you could ever imagine the cool Clint Eastwood with a bit more movement in his step, you’d have a good approximation of the movie. It is kept me pinned to the edge of my water soaked bench seat in the park. It had rained all day and continued to rain sporadically throughout the movie which only heightened the experience. The film is set mostly in the Manchurian desert and is quite a thrill ride. I found myself laughing through many scenes! This is definitely a “don’t miss film”.

If you’d like to watch the trailer it’s here on youtube.com.

The French poster is much better than English IMHO.

Celebrity Sightings:
Jeff Goldblum (actor – Indendence Day, Jurassic Park)
Laura Linney (actress – Truman Show, Mystic River)
Lauren Graham (actress – Gilmore Girls, Evan Almighty)
Leonard Maltin (writer – Movie Guide)
Salman Rushdie (writer – Midnight’s Children, The Satanic Verses)
David Fincher (director – Fight Club, Being John Malcovich)
Ken Burns (director – Civil War, The War)

And on a final note, Burn On The Bayou, a film that I edited, did not get screened at Telluride Film Festival, despite a hefty campaign by yours truly.

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From talking to him on the phone today, he thinks this is a later stage of the Minuteman missile, not the entire thing. From looking at the Wikipedia article on the missiles, I would have to agree that it is the top stage of the 3 stage ICBM. Still cool to see though.

This was at the Hill Air Force Base near Ogden, UT.

I climbed around inside a C-130 Hercules, which is a cargo/transport airplane that looked like they were using it for parts. It was a wreck on the inside, but it was cool to see how big it was on the inside. It was in the back of the Museum lot, after walking past some F-4 Phantoms that were also being used for parts.

I also crawled around the inside of a HH-3 Jolly Green Giant Helicopter. Being inside aircraft and helicopters at a museum is really unusual. The HH-3 I asked permission, the C-130… well… no one was looking.

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I have found on my travels that some of the best places are marked very clearly. Lets take a look at what I found!

The Yuba River is formed from meltwater from the snow. The water is actually a really nice temperature compared to the ocean water off the California coast. I didn’t go swimming in it, but I will definitely go back and maybe go tubing or rafting in the fall.

While we were in playing in the river, I found a very ferocious animal hiding in the bushes. See if you can spot him!

Here is Izze and Dusty after playing for a while.

I ended up camping at Cisco Grove Campground, which is a great place to be. It is right next to the Yuba River and has a creek flowing through the campground. There is many ATV trails that start from right next to the campground! I’m going to camp there again on my way back.

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