Posts Tagged ‘ Judas Kiss ’

A Meow-Out to Blue Seraph Productions

This is a re-post of a blog entry I wrote for “JesusCat (or How I Accidentally Joined a Cult)” at www.jesuscatmovie.com.

In case you didn’t get it, “Meow-Out” is, like, “Shout-Out” – except with a cat reference.

About a week-and-a-half ago, I was in Norfolk, Virginia for the inaugural Reel It Out Hampton Roads Queer Film Festival (which, I believe, was the first LGBT film festival in the entire state), for their screening of Judas Kiss – an indie feature I played a supporting role in that was released in 2011. I was accompanied by the film’s writer/producer, Carlos Pedraza, whom is someone I have periodically bugged throughout post-production of JesusCat, mostly with questions like, “How did you guys make your website?” and “Do you happen to know why Final Cut keeps doing this to us?” And after two days of chatting with him, mostly about producing, I figured I could write them a special shout-out (I mean, meow-out) on our website as a way to say “Thank you.”

And also because they have a pretty large fan-base and it never hurts to cross-promote between projects or production companies (aka name-drop) that are larger than one’s own.

So, having said all that, I’d like to thank Carlos Pedraza and J.T. Tepnapa of Blue Seraph Productions for their sporadic words of wisdom and support in the making of JesusCat. They may not even know it, but I referred quite a bit to their online presence and how they promoted Judas Kiss in social media to get ideas on getting our project out there. They gave me referrals and ideas and sometimes just plain motivation. I’d also like to thank J.T.’s husband and associate producer, Adam Browne, and Blue Seraph’s production manager, Tellier Killaby. J.T., Adam and Tellier attended a private JesusCat test screening last month and offered us some really strong feedback. At the test screening, we asked for anonymous written feedback only, but I think I could pretty much tell who was who. Especially because when J.T. left that night, he said something like, “Feel free to call me if you have questions about my feedback. That is, if you still want to talk to me after reading it…”

We took some of their feedback and left some of it behind. There were other attendees at the test screening, so we basically took a look at things that were commented on across-the-board. Right now we are working on the end credits for the film and getting outside help with transferring, outputting, rendering (or whatever) the final film to different formats at its highest quality. We have a handful of film festival submissions under our belt already and plan forJesusCat to screen in Los Angeles this year – soon – hopefully more than once. And in other cities too.

Crossing fingers. I mean, paws – or claws.

Blue Seraph Productions is a production company committed to strong progressive values that shed light on the human experience. Blue Seraph Productions doesn’t focus on a lifestyle; we tell stories built on the universal principles that make us human. Laughter or tears, we’re all the same. (Taken from their website: www.blueseraph.com)

Their current project is The Dark Place, a quick-paced and suspenseful thriller, with a dash of humor. Borrowing a page from Sherlock, Britain’s hit TV series, The Dark Place depicts a flawed hero with an incredible gift, a witty and sexy sidekick, and a deadly mystery that will sneak up, grab a hold of and propel viewers to the edge of their seats. (Taken from the website: www.thedarkplacemovie.com)
2013
04/03
CATEGORY
playing well with others
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I resent this blog

I am currently feeling resentful toward this blog because, for whatever reason, I feel obligated to contribute to it on a semi-regular basis (which seems to have been averaging about once-per-month), even though I don’t always want to.  I seriously have had not felt like writing about anything this past month. The thing is, blog material is not the same as creative writing material or journal material. At least not for me. I have to remember that, though unlikely, people I don’t know may actually read this. So I can’t be a total bitch like I would be if I were just venting about stupid people via email to a close friend. Plus, I feel obligated, for whatever reason, to use this blog as a sort of promotional tool, which forces me into this fake-sounding writer’s voice that I don’t like. For example, I just tried to write a blog post about the “Judas Kiss” screening at Frameline in San Francisco, and how awesome it was even though I was on the road for 12 hours in exchange for a mere 4 hours of fun. But that it was worth it. But the post was sounding all, like, fake-professional and cheesy and self-centered and it annoyed me, so I trashed it and wrote this one instead.

I also resent Radiohead’s most recent album, “The King of Limbs.” Now, this is major tragedy for me because Radiohead is my all-time favorite band and might just be the only band that has multiple songs that have moved me to a different place. Like, out-of-body experiences. Anyway. I had downloaded the album months ago when it was first released online, and listened to it several times through and have pretty much remained disappointed with it. I think it would have served better as B-sides or an EP follow-up to “In Rainbows,” as the sound isn’t much different. But then I received the $40 “box set” thingy that comes with the vinyl and the CD and the artwork (they did a similar thing for “In Rainbows” but that one went for $80). Well, the reason this one is so much cheaper is because it’s packaged super-cheap. I resent that it does not come in a sustainable case. It is wrapped in plastic. Now, I understand that the creative idea behind this was because all the artwork on the inside is printed like a newspaper. And, I know, newspapers are delivered in plastic. But everything is loose and flying around inside and I already opened it, so it’s like all torn up on one edge, and worst of all, I can’t fucking display it. Like, the “In Rainbows” box set came in a box (well, like a thick, cardboard case for vinyl), so I can put it on a shelf and prop it against the wall. I can’t prop the “TKOL” box-set! I can’t! And every time I look at it, all I can see is the edge where I didn’t rip it open quite right, so it looks all jagged, and I hate myself for opening it at all.

I also resent that playing “Hanging with Friends” on my iPhone seriously drains my phone battery.

2011
06/24
CATEGORY
blah blah blah
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I can proudly say I am proud of “Judas Kiss”

OK, I meant to share about my experience at the “Judas Kiss” film premiere at the Phoenix Film Festival on April 2. But I didn’t. So, after it’s screening at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival last night (which I did not attend), I figured I should at least mention it.

If you don’t know, “Judas Kiss” is an independent feature film that I worked on last summer, directed by J.T. Tepnapa and written by Carlos Pedraza, both of whom I know through several years of working on Star Trek fan films with Hidden Frontier Productions. The tagline for the film is “If you had a second chance, would you grab it?” I guess I’ve been calling it a gay-themed time-travel drama about second chances. In the film, I play the supporting role of Abbey Park, whom I like to call the snarky fag-hag.

Anyway, so the film premiered at the Phoenix Film Festival on April 2 and I drove to attend. And despite being totally cranky after a long drive and dealing with a little bit of a cluster-fuck about actually getting into the screening, I have to say the premiere has probably been the highlight of my year so far. The screening was sold-out so it was moved to a larger theatre. I think I heard it out-sold some movie about or by the creator of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and some Keanu Reeves flick. But don’t quote me on that. There was a Q&A following the film, which most audience members stayed for. I just mostly stood upfront, doing my darndest to make sure it didn’t look like I had to pee really bad… because I did.

I think the best part of the premiere was that I actually adored the movie. I mean, so far, the ratings and reviews that I’ve seen have been positive and people have been really liking it. But let’s be honest – I would say about 90% of the films I’ve ever worked on, I’m not necessarily impressed by. I mean, I don’t want to go as far as to say I’m not proud of them, but a lot of them ended up being crap, which is why you’ll never be able to see them because they never went anywhere. But I really liked “Judas Kiss” (yes, I still cringed watching myself), but I teared up at the end. It’s a fucking good movie! And it’s the film that I am most proud of being involved with – so far!

I think the worst part of the premiere was that – okay, again, just being honest here – it’s a gay film. It’s pretty much only hitting gay film festivals. A lot of the audience members so far seem to be gay. And there’s a lot of male eye-candy in the film. So, yeah, I admit, I feel a little – on the sidelines. I mean, none of those audience members were interested in getting a photo with me or getting my autograph. A little self-conscious, are we?

I’m hoping to make it to the screening at Frameline in San Francisco. Maybe another road trip. But apparently it’s the largest LGBT festival in the world, so I’d hate to miss it. I’m still a bit of a fag-hag at heart. And I’m super crossing my fingers that it gets screened in LA at Outfest this summer. Super-super crossing!

For more information, including upcoming screenings, visit:
www.judaskissmovie.com
Or become a fan on Facebook.

2011
04/24
CATEGORY
if all the world's a stage, i want better lighting
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