Shane Felux Director's Blog - Creator of Star Wars Revelations, Pitching Lucas, & Trenches

Not Dead Update - Travels

2010-05-24T09:31:00.009-05:00

Yes I know it has been a while since I last posted. I am not dead or trapped under anything large and heavy, but my 9-5 job has kept me busy with travels and then of course family and kids is a not stop thing.

Let's see.. where to begin? Well Film News first:
Trenches is fully released now and you have hopefully seen all the Episodes.

I truly appreciate all the kind words and support. (still has not released for overseas viewing)

It seems like most of you enjoy Trenches and nothing makes me happier, then perhaps making some more film projects.
I have not heard any news or requests for a sequal or continuation, but Pilot Season just ended and things have been busy. Who knows.
Watch Trenches here:
YouTube and HuLu

In a few weeks I might be going to work on a studio TV Show to learn within their system. We shall see and I will keep you updated on that if it turns about.

WHAT'S BEEN UP:
So what have I been doing?? Traveling a lot for my 9-5 job, teaching video editing and multimedia. This time my travels once again took me to Okinawa, Japan (one of my favorite places) as well as Bangkok, Thailand.

As usual I ate to much food in Okinawa and had a great time with the students I teach. Japan is one of my favorite countries to visit as I love the culture, food and people. It's always fun for me.

Bangkok was hot, hot as usual, but I got some great shopping in and was able to get out of the country just as the Red Shirt protests started to escalate. The Red Shirts stormed parliament the night I was getting ready to leave. I was away in the east for three weeks.

I then came back home for a short bit only to head out this time to the Mediterranean on the island of Cyprus, Birth place of Aphrodite, playground of the Gods. Or so they say.

I ate way to much food.. I kid you not, as I came back to the states 10lbs heavier .. and for me that is a lot. So fat!

The interesting thing about Cyprus is that it is part Greek and part Turkish occupied. So you can speak Greek for a bit, then cross over and speak Turkish and it feels like you jumped from one country to another.

It was fun and I enjoyed a good coffee and Hookah or what they call a "Nagila" or shishain other countries. It's a waterpipe with flavored tabaco like Cherry, Pineapple, etc... the best is apple cinnamon. Since I quit smoking over a year ago, I still enjoy a good Cigar or Nagila from time to time :)

I don't get to see a whole lot when I travel usually as I mainly work all day then crash. The jetlag also catches up to you, but I saw a few sights and mainly enjoy the company of the students and people I met.
So I am not dead.. not yet, Just doing my thing like all of us and trying to play regular life for a bit. Summer Baseball games, cub scouts, paying bills, work 9-5, do household chores, life..

One thing. I plan to take the family on a vacation this summer to Florida and the HUGE STAR WARS party..

Star Wars Celebrations V

I might be a guest speaker there telling all and sharing my filmmaking knowledge as well as pieces of my past films, including Trenches. It is one hell of a great time and the largest Star Wars Event you have ever seen. I hope to see you there and be sure to say "HI!"
George Lucas himself will be there, as well as huge celebs like Carrie Fisher and more!.
Tell 'em, Shane sent ya :) .. Summer is heating up!

TRENCHES - Not overseas

2010-03-16T15:14:00.002-05:00

I am sorry guys, but I was wrong. I thought with the release of Trenches on YouTube and other sites that it would be available for our overseas viewers. I was wrong, but I am told Crackle is looking into foreign rights. Sorry, I guess you can do a PSP or something maybe.
- shane

Trenches on YouTube Released

2010-03-12T12:06:00.006-05:00

OK .. I know a lot of you viewers are overseas and not in the US and Crackle only has release rights in the states. You have been asking when can I see Trenches? Well you can watch the episodes now on YouTube!

Yep, so go get your Trenches fix on and I hope you guys enjoy it!
Go share it and comment all over.

Here are all 10 Episodes which you can of course embed and share on your websites and solcial networks.

Trenches - Final excellent release.

2010-03-11T10:26:00.015-05:00

Hey gang. It's been a busy few weeks which I will update with you at a piece as I can. For now, If you have been watching and keeping up, you would know we have aired all 10 episodes of Trenches at Crackle.com

Yep, it's all true! if you missed it be sure to check out all the episodes. We appreciate all the support and it seems from the responses that many of you are enjoying Trenches.

Keep it coming and share the links with everyone and post all over. The more we can get people to watch the better!

I know many of you overseas viewers would like to see Trenches as well. It's coming soon for you all as I am told.

Who is Shane Felux?
What to know more.. Crackle gives an interesting insight in my background and how Trenches got sold and made. Get a view behind the scenes of it all and know me better if you want. Read the episode One Crackle Blog Entry for Trenches interview.

I also had a chance to talk (ramble .. ramble) with my good friends at Slice of Scifi. Check them out and the interview with me about Trenches. Thanks to Mike, Summer and the crew for all the support!!

I have more to share with you guys here soon.
- shane

Another Treat:
Lead Star Mercy Malick does an interview with Cinefools. Take a good look and read. Her picture always spices up my blog and makes me look bad. Love ya Mercy! On her way to stardom.. hope she remembers us little guys. READ ARTICLE

Watch Trenches remaining Episodes:

From Crackle: 8: Snafu

From Crackle: 9: Defecation Hits The Oscillation

From Crackle: 10: Charlie Foxtrot

Trenches Episode 7 Released

2010-02-26T17:16:00.003-05:00

It starts to unwind as we get more and more of the Trenches Story. You still watching?? Are you a fan? Hopefully you are still out there, wanting more and enjoying Trenches as it unfolds online :)

Here is the latest: Episode 7 - The Suck

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Andrews wondered why the Kuzaan had evacuated and now he learns what secret they had been hiding. Can anyone make it off this rock?

From Crackle: 7: The Suck

Trenches Episode 5-6 released & Podcast

2010-02-25T14:42:00.004-05:00

Well the story of Trenches reveals more and more as Crackle.com puts out further episodes.
Check out the latest online.

From Crackle: 5: Shallow Grave

From Crackle: 6: Whisky Tango Foxtrot

Also A huge thanks to Steve Riekeberg for the Podcast Interview at:
Geek Cred Episode #39 Check it out as I ramble :)

Exclusive In the Trenches - eGuiders. We Search. You Watch.

2010-02-25T14:39:00.000-05:00

Exclusive In the Trenches - eGuiders. We Search. You Watch.

SciFi Dinner Interviews Director Shane Felux

2010-02-19T09:53:00.011-05:00

Here is the latest update on Trenches with reviews, news and even interviews coming out such as what we get today from the SciFi Dinner Podcast.

Check it out and see what you guys think.
Listen to PodCast Interview now.

So if you want to get some background on myself, film making as I see it, as well as the coming about and the making of Trenches and so forth. Go check out SciFi Dinner.

Thanks so much to Scott and Miles for the kindness and support!

Are you Hooked yet? - Trenches Ep4 out

2010-02-18T10:09:00.005-05:00

So how are you liking Trenches so far with the release of the first three episodes? We have been getting some very good positive feedback and truly appreciate everyone's kind reply's, support as well as posting. So if you are liking it and want more, here is Episode 4- Dead Reckoning

Trenches will release every Tuesday and Thursday of each week till all 10 episodes have played!
Once again, if you like what you see please share and send it to any and everyone.

From Crackle: 4: Dead Reckoning

WATCH THE BEGINNING OF TRENCHES EPISODES HERE

Here is also a current review of the TRENCHES series thus far from Lowbrowmedia.com.
CHECK OUT THE REVIEW NOW.

TRENCHES RELEASE & NEWS

2010-02-17T14:34:00.009-05:00

There has been a great release with Trenches and it seems a good response. Just you be the judge and tell me. In three days we have had some great replies and comments. Thank you all for all the support.. but stop slacking and let more people know :)

Here is a great one! My good good friend Marc Linn who was the co-editor of Trenches as well as doing pit-ups for me got some great coverage from all the networks in Rapid City. I LOVE this!

Marc Linn and Linn Productions Rocks!

GO WATCH TRENCHES NOW

FOX NEWS - Video

NBC NEWS - Video

Marc Linn makes internet history making Trenches the first ever made for web film for 5 mins. I love it all and Marc you rock!

Here is also a review from NewTeeVee. Now you tell me what you think. It seems like a good review. READ THE ARTICLE - Trenches Light on Details, But Delivers Hard Sci Fi Action
but go post you thoughts and comments if you like!

and of course watch TRENCHES :)

TRENCHES ONLINE

2010-02-16T14:11:00.011-05:00

HERE IS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. THE RELEASE OF TRENCHES IS OUT AND ONLINE.

please if you like our work and wish to help, please share and let everyone know of the release and link online at http://crackle.com/c/trenches

here is Episode One: FUBAR

From Crackle: 1: Fubar

Episode Two: BEHIND ENEMY LINES

From Crackle: 2: Behind Enemy Lines

Episode Three: FIELD PROMOTION

From Crackle: 3: Field Promotion

Trenche's 3 Year Quest Article - NewTeeVee

2010-02-12T19:13:00.009-05:00

Here is an interesting article that came out today from NewTeeVee, that focuses more on the BTS of Trenches and the 3 year quest in terms of going from the idea to the long role of getting to the
Premiere February 16 at Crackle.com

Also for nostalgic sake reporter Liz Shannon Miller posted the interview she did with me way back in the day at ComicCon
(Ohh, I am still as much a dork today as I was then :)

So check it out and be sure to spread the news on the release. All the help is appreciated and the only way we can perhaps gain some interest. It's all up to the content and you :)

Get a "Trenches" Big Screen Sneek

2010-02-11T21:41:00.005-05:00

If you happen to be on the West Coast and want to see something pretty cool and nice, go get a big screen sneek peek this Friday February 12^th at 7:30pm, American Cinematheque, historic Egyptian Theatre.

The event will feature and showcase Crackle.com’s latest original hit series, THE BANNEN WAY as well as a sneak preview of it’s highly-anticipated original sci-fi web series TRENCHES, from indie producer and director Shane Felux. (I am told they are going to show Trenches Episode one on the big screen ,, you guys have to tell me how it turns out and the buzz)

This special event will feature a Q&A with talent from THE BANNEN WAY, including Michael Ironside, Academy Award^® Nominees Michael Lerner and Robert Forster, Jesse Warren and Mark Gantt.

I think you guys will really dig this show Bannen Way as the cast is stellar and I was really impressed with this series. Really well put together and top drawer.. I kid you not, as it really looks pro and I love the edit. I am sure it is even more fun and stunning on the big screen. Sounds like fun so go check it out and let me know!

Tickets are available for purchase in advance of the event at http://www.fandango.com or at the box office at American Cinematheque. Tickets are $11 for General Admission, $9 for Students and Seniors and $7 for American Cinematheque Members. For more information, please visit http://www.americancinematheque.com or call 323.466-3456. The event takes place at American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre, which is located at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.

View Larger Map

Getting Closer!

2010-02-05T18:20:00.010-05:00

The month of love and grueling sweat, blood, tearing feral war, and monsters.. ahh ... l'amour!

Yes this is the month of Trenches releasing online at Crackle.com. February 16th. So just as you get your kissing and chocolate fix in Trenches hits you hard! Here is the Official Crackle Trenches page.

ALSO:
Join the Official Trenches FACEBOOK. Come and join all the cool sexy people in the Trenches and ... will you be our friend? :)

AND:
A huge thanks to Mercy Malick, Trenches is finally back up on IMDB, and slowly being populated with all the info.

So look for that soon. Thanks so MUCH Mercy!
Now post some more sexy yoga pose pictures :)

AND THERE THERE IS:
Trenches was accepted in the Virginia Film Festival!
Very very cool and honored to be a part of the festival! So if you want a chance to see the series it will be showing at the beautiful

Byrd Theater in Richmond, VA: February 28th at 6pm:

The Byrd Theatre
2908 West Cary
Richmond, VA

Join the Festival on Facebook

Here are more details of the Festival and the shows and times.

I plan to try and be there to see the shows and answer questions on Trenches if needed.

So as we get closer please share the word of the release on Trenches and the Crackle link in which you can see the series for free online.

Making the homepage of Starwars.com! WoW

2010-01-28T22:40:00.004-05:00

This is just to damn cool for me and I can not help but be giddy.

You have to understand Star Wars and LucasFilm is like a kinship to me. They are amazing people and I am just stunned at their kind support! Check it out!!

I have now had one of my films on a star wars trading card, won the George Lucas Select Award, been to Skywalker Ranch, ILM, and now on the cover home page of Starwars.com. Wow.. heaven.

pinch me but that is just cool!

Trenches on StarWars.com Blog & More

2010-01-28T10:18:00.005-05:00

As we get closer and closer to the release of Trenches on Crackle.com February 16th, further news, support and promo comes from various venues. Already we have seen news from the LA Times, Tubefilternews, World Screen News and many more you can find HERE in a Google news search.

That said, one of the coolest to share the news is Starwars.com.
Check out the Blog post here. Star Wars Fan Movie Winner directs Trenches

This makes me smile so big as LucasFilm and Star Wars itself is what inspired me to make my first film, even as an 8 year old child to set my dream in films.

And because I am on my blog I can post the unaltered pic of me on set with the LucasFilm cap (LA Times took out the logo) as I always shoot in a LucasFilm cap.

Also another great Star Wars plug comes from TheForce.net .. my old stomping grounds, and still old haunt of friends and fans. Always a fan still a fan. Check out the article here: New Trenches Online Series Coming Soon

The idea is to get the word and news out as much as you can about Trenches. I would appreciate any help you can do or offer. I would love to smoke Crackles server to the ground with traffic LOL

It's happened before and can only happen with your help and support. Unleash the hounds! How about a good slashdot effect

TRENCHES - PREMIERES FEBRUARY 16, 2010

2010-01-21T20:45:00.002-05:00

If you have seen a few of the Trades such as the LA Times, PR Newswire, Tubefilter news and so forth, you would know the release of Trenches is scheduled to release this February, Tuesday the 16th! EXCITING!

It will all happen on Sony's Crackle.com
Check out the blog post they wrote about the show here:
CRACKLE DIGS TRENCHES

We appreciate any support, so please let everyone know and spread the news as vast and far as you can. We hope audiences enjoy what we created and we appreciate the help.

MORE NEWS TO COME

LA Times Covers "Trenches" & More

2010-01-20T19:16:00.006-05:00

As we near the release of Trenches online the official word has come out and the LA Times picked up on the story.
You can read the article HERE

With that said I can now release and tell you guys Trenches will release and air online at Sony's crackle.com. Trenches will be their big release for the month of February.. Ahh the month of love, and scifi action war.. oh yeah!

Get Ready for Trenches!

So mark your calendar and get your groups and the word out.
February 16th Trenches premieres at Crackle.com

While your at Crackle.com check out their original "Bannen Way" pretty impressive stuff with a great cast. Some nice work I think you guys willl enjoy.

MORE COVERAGE
Marc Hustvedt over at Tubefiler news had the following great article. READ THERE NOW

There is also a release of the news on the NEWSWIRE

Happy New Year - another round?

2010-01-05T13:27:00.010-05:00

To all friends and family let me say Happy New Year! Hopefully everyone had a happy and safe event. We are hoping for the very best of 2010 as '09 was a rough one.

(I thought Hello Kitty would make things better and give you a smile to start the year. )

Right, so on to important things

Starting off, I had hoped the New Year would reveal some good news from the Spec Doritos Super Bowl Commercial we completed in October, but it was not to be I am afraid. Sorry gang. In fact I was pretty surprised out of the 4000+ entries on what Frito Lay picked as the 6 finalists. Go check out the picked finalists yourself and congrats to those who made it!

I have to say I am very proud of what our cast and crew created and thank all of them for what we did with such a low budget. Thanks to all the friends and supporters. We gave it out best!

You can check out the commercial from here:

SOME GOOD NEWS

Trenches is scheduled to release this February so you will get to see it very soon online!! Fianlly, so that is some great news for 2010!

I also have to thank Steve and Rain for the great party New Year's Eve Party. it was a wonderful time.

Also thanks to everyone for the Birthday wishes it's great to hear from you all. Just another day older :)

A Roll in The Snow - Underwear Rally

2009-12-11T10:17:00.007-05:00

Dec 5th I participated in this year's Underwear Bike Rally, in which bikers suit up in cold DC Metro weather and ride for charity donating unused and unopened underwear that go to the local homeless shelters.

Last year they had around 75 riders, so I figured this year I would ride and give something back.

Trouble is it SNOWED.

I started out at 9am as the event start 40 miles away from where I live. I am currently riding on a '92 Harley Fatboy which is a great ride.

I figured I am in for this event, rain or shine.. I should have thought about snow.

Right off the bat going down the highway my helmet visor fogs and ices up, so visibility is really poor.. very poor, plus it's freezing cold. I have to ride with my helmet visor cracked up letting in the freezing wind and ice. I figure. "It's snowing but it's just wet and not sticking. It will let up"

I get to the starting location, Coleman PowerSports, and after some coffee and time warming up I am good to GO. Problem is that the snow keeps coming and is piling up. NOT GOOD.

We were scheduled to ride out at noon, but with the conditions we wisely decided to roll early. The smart people came in cars and trucks to ride and support the charity. The others like me rode their bikes... Let's just call them crazy. There were about 12 of us total, and a few begged off once we got on our rides. Then there were 10.

Right off the bat we could hardly get out of the parking lot due to the ice and snow. We had to get a running start, or be pushed to just get on the main, UNPLOUGHED roads.

I have driven in bad conditions, but "this is nuts!"I am thinking. Two bikes go down right in front of me trying to stop on a sloped hill at a light. My tail-end is also sliding out behind me as I just try and keep the Fatboy straight and on two wheels as I slide past the downed riders.
(then there were 8)

Those still up get separated from the leaders and not sure where to go and visibility is really bad. Ice and slush has collected on my running boards and my boots are covered frozen. It's cold and getting worst. Bikes have little traction with just two wheels.

Just me and two other rides go on together. I am familiar enough with the area in which I can get us to the drop off point, Patriot Harley in Fairfax, VA, and boy are we glad to see it. One of the sales managers looks at me and says "I might be ugly, but I am not stupid! Even I have enough sense not to ride in that"

We got in safe, and the guys who fell were collected and taken take of, no injuries other then some scratched bikes and pride. I dropped my drawers as it were adding to a great collection of unused underwear.

So with some warm coffee and good company, we tell our stories laugh and help a great cause. We rode in some bad conditions but the sad part is that some people have to live in it.
Help each other out and GIVE as ya can. Happy Holidays!

What's the DECISION? Great new release! Check it out

2009-12-02T20:50:00.007-05:00

I have to give the ups and a huge support to my fellow Stage 9 Filmmakers at Handsome Donke y. They just released with Sony's crackle.com with their latest new online series called "Decisions, Decisions" and I really have to say this is some fun stuff!

Here is the Trailer:

From Crackle: Trailer

Decisions, Decisions follows Roger Ponders (Brendan Countee) and Patrick Shruggs (Adam Countee) as they fight off the tedium of the average workday by playing a hypothetical game of questions and answers.

The writing is really solid and smooth. Good editing as I know they worked hard on it. I love the moron/smart wit and the real brilliant ideas Handsome Donkey pulls out. These guys have always had the goods, and they just keep getting better. "Decisions, Decisions" is the perfect example of it. The acting is spot on for all the casting. From camera to production value and the stellar work of Brandon and Adam Countee.. Damn these guys are fun to watch!

My biggest thought on this work, and I do not say this often ... I want more!!

Here are some of my favorite bits, but you have to watch all of them as they are all really ALL GREAT.. no joke. Great job guys! I am a fan!

From Crackle: Tinman or Studio Audience?
Would you rather have to dress like the Tinman OR live your entire life in front of a live studio audience?

From Crackle: Chuck Norris or Pink Dildo?
Would you rather only be able to open doors by kicking them in like Chuck Norris OR have to carry a bright pink dildo with you everywhere you go?

From Crackle: Salty Old Sea Captain or Doc Holliday?
Would you rather have all of your e-mails read to you by a salty old sea captain OR whenever you play poker you become Doc Holliday?

These are just a few. Go watch all 15 episodes at Crackle.com and share the news.
My favorite line? "I am going to go get your purse.. you get naked" LOL
Great stuff!

X-ile Pictures - Super Bowl Commercial up!

2009-11-04T09:51:00.017-05:00

Hey gang, if you have been reading lately you would know I have been working on a commercial product. Well I am happy to say it is done and now on line for you to view here:
http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/video/1134

Please note that the link will take you to the main site first, then click "skip intro" in the bottom right, and finally it will take you directly to our entry titled

"Doritos - Enjoy the Adventure".

You can also search for the commercial by Director: xilepictures

So here is the deal. On September 10th I get an email from my good friend Zafe who has worked with me since "Revelations." He half jokingly asks "Hey you feel like making a commercial for fun and potential super bowl air time?"

Now I have still been trying to recoup since finishing Trenches and dealing with all that. Creatively I have been dry, but Zafe's email lit a spark. That spark took and lit a blaze once I pitched an idea to Zafe. he liked it and together we developed what you see as the finished product online. I produced and coordinated the ambitious effort with my wife Dawn's help. Not bad for coming up with the idea, shooting in two days, and then 3 weeks for post with just Zafe and I, and Geoff helped on one shot too :)

The commercial stars my good friend Matt Mickelson who has worked with me since being the lead Executive on "Pitching Lucas", to then being a pilot for me in "Trenches".

Matt has that perfect Harrison Ford/Hero/Bond type look and he is just a blast to work with! Thanks Matt for playing again.

I also brought in another familiar face, Kelley Slagle, who was the lead role of Boyens in Trenches. Kelley plays was my mysterious ninja wielding villain. Type casting :) Kelley is always a pro and a fun treat to have on the set!

A new face on the commercial you will see is a very amazing talent named Gia Mora. I came across Gia when I was casting for Trenches and filed her photo and resume away if I ever had need for her look and skill. When this commercial came up I first though of her as my ending lead joke to the piece. Gia is cute, attractive, very funny and has excellent timing. A true gem! You can also catch Gia's funny short web series called:

"Shrinkage"

"The show where you tell me what's wrong with your life, and I tell you what's wrong with you!"

So, all said and done, a month and a half, while still working our regular jobs, family, and doing the commercial on the side. Not bad at all for the craziness that happens in 30secs!

We shot the whole thing in Richmond, and I have to give a HUGE, HUGE thanks once again to the Virginia Film office, you guys have always been there for us film makers. Remarkable. And a huge thank you, BIG time to the City of Richmond.. man what a film friendly town!

(no joke)

We shut down streets to do the car chases, went on roof tops to do the helicopter chase, got on fire escapes, brought in 15 ninjas.. normal X-ile Pictures silliness, and we couldn't have been able to do it without the huge allowance and help of the VA office, the city and state of Richmond, Virginia! Thanks so much guys. Andy, Mary Kathryn, Kat, Scott.. you guys rock and more!

So here is the deal on the commercial guy. It's a contest, so yes, I took a chance and a gamble to go out and make something fun on my own dime again. But here is the neat part, Doritos is hosting the crashthesuperbowl contest in which they will pick 6 finalists out of all the entries (over 600 so far), then Come January 5th (my birthday) Doritos will post for public voting the 6 finalists. The top 3 will be aired at the super bowl!! Plus, if the ad comes in 1st in the USA Ad meter then the winning commercial, get this, win a million dollars! Seems impossible? Last year it happen to two out of work brothers, and they took all the top prizes in their great ad!

Is mine good enough to go that far? (shrug)

I don't know. I like to think so.

All I do know is I had fun making this commercial, this short form is a blast. I continue to take a shot, live the dream and aim high.

I had a great time on the set of this one and really enjoy working with creative friends, plus making new ones. I am proud of this one, and hope you have fun watching it.

So go check it out and see what you think. Share it with your friends and we appreciate any support :) Hopefully we will make it as a finalist and you can vote to have us shown at the big show! One can dream.. one can dream.

Trooping for Scouts - Pack 1383

2009-10-19T20:11:00.005-05:00

Just a fun little post tonight guys. My son, Ian (age 8) is in the cub scouts and I always enjoyed it when I was a kid. Plus with all I do and my schedule, it gives me and my son time together and to teach as well as learn from each other, and have some fun.. even if the Pack Leader is crazy.. you know who you are Bill :)

Anyway.. tonight was Halloween night for the Pack so I dusted off my old Trooper regalia. I have not suited up in about 2-3 years I am shamed to say, and I am even a member of the proud 501st Legion: Vader's Fist , Garrison Tyranus, (or was till they read this maybe) I am on inactive duty/ stand-by in case the empire needs me ..OK!

The 501st does some great charity for children and events. The guys go and visit sick kids in hospitals as well as raise awareness and funds to support. Like the Make a Wish foundation for one. Plus there are a great group of people who know how to have some great fun!! If you want there is sure to be a local 501st Garrison in your area. You don,t have to be a trooper but any and all Imperials or Bounty Hunters :) Join, support, and have fun!

But I was very pleased I could still suit up. I had to suck it in a little, and yes still short for a stormtrooper, but still looking good! (picture is blurry.. thanks to cell phone)

Now bear in mind folks this is the original trooper suit I built and worn in Revelations. That was in 2002 ladies and gentleman!

I later wore that same suit again in Pitching Lucas as I was the Trooper who get's flipped by one of the fem troopers. No one wanted to do it in their suit, and I do not blame them, as I broke one of my shoulder bell doing the stunt and also one of the screws in my helmet punctured my head when I flipped and hit the mat .. I still did one more take of the shot just to be sure, blood and all (the things we do for movies)

This trooper suit and I have history together, so it was nostalgic to pull it out and suit up.

Anyway.. It still fits gang! So the old man in original classic trooper armor and the son in clone trooper regalia .. oh life is good. Happy Halloween.

Also if you want to support pack 1383 and my son, the Scouts are selling their Popcorn to do their yearly fund raiser. 70% of the money raised goes right to the pack to help pay for uniforms, activities, camp, books and so forth.

You can purchase online supporting my son Ian and Pack 1383.. He get's prizes and awards the more he sells, plus it's popcorn and snacks!!!

Help me, Help you, Help me - Own History

2009-10-18T22:08:00.009-05:00

I liked the title.. I thought I was being pretty witty..

OK, so here is the deal gang. Times are getting tighter and with the completion of my last commercial project I just shot last weekend, I had to spend a few bones I didn't have. It costs to pay for car rentals, hotel rooms, food, gas, cast, crew..

Yes further debt.. but I feel strong about this current project I am working on that it is worth the risk and investment. I think you will enjoy it. Here is where the "Help me, help you" part comes in.

I am selling off some of my film props and collections on Ebay.

Yep.. original film screen used props from my first film "Star Wars Revelations" as well as a few from "Pitching Lucas". A lot of these props I made with my own two hands so perhaps you will get some of my own blood, sweat, and tears along with your winning bid. Just think of the value of that! .. OK don't think of the value of that come to think of it.. but think of the piece of history you will own!

You can say.. "I was there, and bought a piece of sh@#! to remember it all!" OK.. I am just being funny as the props really are not sh@#!, but kind of cool.

So if you want to help out and own some of my props here is your chance. I am selling original screen use Ligtsaber props from the film " Gina,, if you want yours get it now!" costumes, patches, props, a little of this and that as I find and pull it out of storage, even my camera at some point the Sony FX1

Help me, help you, help me .. pay for my film debt and feed my family :) CHECK OUT THE AUCTION

X-ile Shoots Again - the latest project

2009-10-12T10:57:00.013-05:00

Put away wet, tired, sore and ..well tired, this weekend saw some action in Richmond, VA as X-ile Pictures rolled into town Friday and started their latest project .. and why am I writing in 3rd person?

Yes. still recovering but WoW what a fun busy weekend, I got out and filmed my latest new project and I have to thank all the amazing talent from the cast and crew that was apart of this weekends adventure! Great team.

Also a huge HUGE thanks to the Virginia Film Office, as you guys Rock, especially you Kat and Andy. Also a big thank you to the city of Richmond, Capital City Police and mnay others. We couldn't have done it without you and not half as smoothly.

So car chase, ninja alleys, roof top chopper chase, jumping through glass windows .. just another weekend for X-ile Pictures :)

I am very please with what we got in the two days we were in town as the footage looks great. I can not really release just yet what I am doing, but it's kind of fun, action packed as always, short and sweet and just a little small something that I can share with you come November (yes I have to get this one done fast!)

Enjoy a few shots from the shoot. More to come as I can, but I have to start editing :)

Trenches Closes Deal !

2009-09-29T20:23:00.004-05:00

Here is some fun news. My weekly status check in with the studio hits pay dirt today!

My contact says to me " Perfect timing! I just got off the phone and we have closed the deal for Trenches!"

Congrats and awesome! It's taken some doing with the economy change and changing of the guard at Disney and ABC, but Trenches is still a product they are very proud of and have been pushing.

So good news and congrats to the team out there!

Trenches has a buyer, closes the deal, and now goes through the process of when and where the buyer wants to release online. I am not sure if I have permission to release the name of where Trenches will reside and who bought it, but I can say it is another big studio with a good product and branding image and they have a site I think Trenches will fit very nicely in and shake things up a bit maybe :) I feel it is a good match and proud to have them supporting Trenches.

So good positive news out there. It looks like Trenches will release in December is what they are talking about. I will share more official news with you as I can, but till now consider yourself plugged in and informed gray market style ;)

So if your still out there and wanting some "Trenches" then stay tuned.

IN OTHER NEWS
While I wait for Trenches, I actually am gearing up to shoot a fun action commercial. Car chases, ninjas, helicopter roof top chase.. you know... the norm for me :)

All for a 30sec spot! I got the spark again thanks to my good friend Zafe, and Marc so they are to blame for it all! I am going for it and see what happens. I will let you know more when I have something to show you, but it should be fun. Here we go again!!

Way Behind - Summer Sum Up!

2009-09-14T14:44:00.033-05:00

OK.. I have a lot of excuses for not updating but no one cares about that so let me get us up to date.. wow since July.. that is a lot. So here is a cliff notes summary

Happy Birthday Dawn

My wife turned the big 40 and to celebrate I did the theme

"you are only as old as you feel.. young at heart"

I got a babysitter for the evening, rented a Dodge Viper for my wife, gave her the keys to tool around in for 24hrs!

We went to a lovely dinner and drove around in the Viper as the sun set, the radio played and Dawn smiled. The next day I took her and the kids to King's Dominion as Dawn loves the coasters!Happy Birthday!

Summer Break - HOT FUN

We got a chance to visit family over the summer and that means HOT Texas fun! Yep, August in Texas is always a blast 102 in the shade. But we still had fun as we went fishing, played at the beach, went to the aquarium, the boardwalk, so much in a short time and visited with much needed family I truly miss! The boys got to see the grandparents and all the spoiling and over stimulation indulgence that goes with that, and yes and of course pappy let's the boys drive the boat! I wish we lived closer to them all.

The Boys of Summer -

The boys and I got one last hooray in before they started school. So while Dawn went off to DragonCon for a week, me and the boys went into the Shandadoah Mountains and put in the hours of Summer to do some fishing, kayaking, swimming, hot dog/ marshmallow roasting, campfire watching, & hiking. We even went to the drive-in. Once back home we did some putt-putt golf, Chuck E Cheese, video games and ice Cream. All in 3 days! Ahh summers all but gone and back to the books.

Speaking of which Ian started 3rd grade and Brennan starts his academic jump to Kindergarten. here is a picture of the two for the first day of school. Big brother helps little brother.

Thunder Rolls By - The Sound of Freedom

Finally, finally I got the stress reliever I have been wanting for a long time. Instead of spending time and money on my back on a couch talking to a stranger, I am off and rolling down the road the wind in my face and my trouble blown behind. Try and catch me!

Yes indeed. I finally pickup up a bike again. it has been about 10years or more, but I finally got back on two wheel.

You see I have been riding since I was a kid. It started with pop - pop mini bikes, dirt bikes, the street bikes and by the time I was in High School I was riding my 600 Yamaha while my friends still rode the bus.

All through most of college I rode a 1200 Goldwing up to a 1500 year round, and that was the last time I rode, because after that it was off to NY, work, and empty dreams.

Ten years or more later I finally get back on the road and could not be happier.. well I could always be happier as I am only on an 800 Suzuki Volusia. It was all I could afford for now, but thanks to Patriot Harley Davidson and especially Bobby Ross, I am rolling again.

Someday I hope to get that Harley Heritage Softail Classic I have been eyeing... someday.

I could use a bigger bike and more torque, but for now I can make my 800 metric bike work.
A little chrome, throw a hyper charger on it with a stinger air trap, a bit of dress, and she is begging to be a softail, or the best a poor man can do for one.

Ahh yes. If your not into bikes I understand, but there is no greater freedom and it will save you years off a therapist's couch. Try it, be safe, and live free!

And in the Movies?
Well as you can see "in the movies" wise I have been taking a break. Do you see a pattern? Working and spending the summer with the family. But deals are moving within the studio and if I have not stated before, we might very well be looking at a December release. That would be a present I would like to see under my tree. How about you??

In the meantime here are a few pictures from the summer to make you smile and make up for the serious lack of blogging I have not been doing.. but hey it is/was summer!!

Fishing, amusement parks, hot dogs, the beach, kayaking, movies, BB guns, baseball games, camping, pizza eating, video games, boating, so much so fast!

Enjoy the moments you can, as it can all go by or go away before you know it or before you are ready.

Be good to each other would ya, and watch my damn films :)

- Shane

Get your Jedi On - watch now!

2009-07-09T09:36:00.010-05:00

It's that time again folks. The annual Star Wars Atom Film contest! For us it's kind of like the Academy Awards for Star Wars film makers and it's a lot of fun. It gives young film makers a chance to show their work and perhaps shine.

The Atom film contest is one of the things that got me making my first film "Revelations" and eventually then making "Pitching Lucas" which won the George Lucas Selects and Audience choice award. Still a great honor to me.

You can watch Pitching Lucas from HERE at Atom Films as well as Star Wars Revelations which has been broken into 5 parts. Watch the full film from HERE.

If you are really into it and want to go back in time here is a clip from my award speech at Comic Con 2006.

Sanctioned by Lucas Film, the Star Wars film contest winners will be awarded at this year's Comic-Con 2009 and I hope to be there to see the winners.

But in order to do that, YOU need to go and VOTE for the one you think deems the honor and award. Got watch some funny short Star Wars Fan Films, support and VOTE!

IN OTHER NEWS
A few new articles have come out with the beginning of the Star Wars film contest. One of which is an old well written article from our friend Tish Wells titled "A Star Wars Fan Film is Born"
I find it interesting and curious as to why the newsobserver.com would dig up and use of this old article, but fun to read. Thanks again Tish!

and a mention in this article Lucasfilm announces Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge finalists

On the Trenches front, I have spoken with the studio and they have a meeting to see about closing a deal this week which is looking pretty good. I should know more by next week hopefully.

Summer Fun, Movie & Updates

2009-06-29T09:42:00.020-05:00

Starting off I need to thank a lot of you out there who have reached out and offered your kindness and support. Much appreciated!

I have to say I was amazed at the amount of response, as I thought only about 10 of you read this blog .. OK 11 as I know now my wife reads my blog to keep better tabs on me :)

She really wanted to know what my "Show me a Nipple" post was about in December . Innocent fun. Note to self - clear adult site cache files from system.

All kidding aside, thanks so much! A lot of you send some good advise, heart warming thoughts. Let me say this, there are some really good people out there. When the chips are down, family and friends are always there! Thank you for that!!

The Future is Bright -
Things are looking up right now and I am getting my sea legs back.

The studio is very close to actually closing a deal for Trenches and I am very excited about the possibilities.

There have been some delays as you guys know but it looks like something big is going to happen and turn around.

The studio is very busy working on thier end and involving me in the process, which is great. That said, I am being advised we should see a Summer Trenches release!

There is talk of a possible Comic Con showing/ Release - that would be stellar!

I can say this, when trenches does come out I am going to need all your help to make as much noise about it as you can!!

I am also currently in discussions with a development / production company that just approached me, and they have some very interesting ideas I hope to possibly share with you soon. I am also starting to get the itch again some, so I am starting to feel better.

In Other News -
I have been spending some great recharge time with the family. Each weekend we seem to be doing something big and it has been great. Thus far we have been to Smith Mountain Lake for the best father's day I have ever had.

We rented a pontoon boat and did some fishing, tubing and cruising around the lake with the family. Awesome living, and I could get use to that life style, oh to have a boat! (someday) We played putt-putt golf, fed the fish popcorn, had ice-cream. A great weekend!

This past weekend I gave my wife a break and took all the boys to the Shenandoah River. We rented a stunning home on the river bank which I got a deal on, and we went fishing, shot BB guns (yes I am from Texas) went to an old drive in theater to watch "Up".

We had hotdogs, and some good summer fun. I am afraid my kids are going to say "so what are we doing next weekend!?

So family wise it has been great, but tiring of course, as we have already done a lot, plus we are going to Texas to visit family in August.

Till then, things are good and I am hoping you are all well and the summer is warm and bright. Stay tuned as things are heating up!

- Shane

Return of Travels- Get some Seoul

2009-04-09T20:20:00.019-05:00

The latest.. but a bit behind.. I recently had to do some more traveling for my job and this time it took me to Seoul for a few week.

I have to say Korea was a great trip and I really enjoyed Seoul. It's like NY, but the buildings are not quite as high, it's cleaner, safer, and you can't read any of the signs. I love the food in Korea as well as the culture, I should know as my wife is half Korean and I speak the language more then she does .. thanks to my mother-in-law.

But if you ever get a chance in the the east I recommend Seoul.

A wonderful place of stunning culture, food and even fun. From sight seeing such as the many palaces, traditional areas, folk villages, tons of shopping from way expensive Prada style to outdoor fleamarket deals. Gambling, bar hopping, clubbing.. like I said, Seoul is like NY in a way but with it's own flavor that I enjoy.

I liked to pretend I was in Blade Runner at nights as I roamed the alley/street of the business district of Seoul. Very cool and surreal in a way.

The other thing I will say is wow the ladies in Korea like to show off their legs.. man they all wear short skirts and it was cold when I was there, but wasn't complaining :)

The main reason I enjoyed my Seoul trip so much was the company. I usually have to travel by myself when I go on these business trips and as exciting as some of it might sound, eating and drinking by yourself is just no damn fun at all. It's the company, the stories and sharing the experiences that makes a trip all the more fun and this time I had two co-workers with me Ian and Warner to hang out with.

We had a blast! Here are some pictures from the gang courtesy of Warner.. or as we like to call Mr B!

I did learn a valuable lesson on this trip and one I should know better about, and that is I am not as young as I think, wish or thought I was, and I should not try and out drink or out pace the younger crowd.

I paid the price for it and my friend Ian taught me a lesson I will remember.. I simply can not drink that much.. oh gods was I sick, but it was worth it and we laughed the night away.
Mr. B literally caught on fire at one bar as he brushed his shirt sleeve too close to a candle when cool and harmless fire trails ran over his shirt burning off lint of fuzz I think. It was cool to see, and we had quite a few by then :)

So we made it all safe, had a great trip, some great company and met some wonderful people. The food was excellent and I am now back home where I belong back to the 9-5 and family.
Travel is all fine and good but anything over two weeks and I miss my family and being home. nothing beats home.

Indie Film Show "Inside Report" Returns

2009-03-12T11:09:00.006-05:00

Hey gang! I hope everyone is doing well out there and staying on their feet. I know I am doing my best to do so.
I wanted to share the news from a very good friend of mine in the UK, Sky Wilson, who is the creator of "Inside Report"

Sky and the show "Inside Report" has always been a great supporter of indie films and has done a few features on us in the past.

Best of Inside Report: Shane Felux

Special - Star Wars Revelations Premiere Event

I am pleased to announce that Sky and her crew are back up and rolling with a new revamped site for the "Inside Report. " I plan to do a piece for them on "Trenches" once I can get off my ass and do it.. I promise I will Sky.. in the meantime, check out and enjoy the new "Inside Report"

Inside Report Returns

Inside Report, the 'net's #1 indie film show is back and better than ever!!

Featuring a new, refined format and more in depth interviews - Inside Report is back in action over at www.insidereport.co.uk

The first edition of the new series features an exclusive interview with filmmaker Howard Warmsley. Host / Producer Sky Wilson will be chatting to him about his latest film, "The Visitors" - about his history with filmmaking and about the benefit the internet can play for the indie filmmaker.

With the new format comes a new website too. It's more feature rich than ever before with more of a focus towards letting people know what's out there and where they can see it. We've also added a new section listing upcoming festivals and events so that you can keep your film calendar up to date! We've even added an archive of previous shows too!

DON'T FORGET - WE NEED YOU

If you want to promote your film or appear on the show (or if you know anyone who might), get in touch with us info@insidereport.co.uk

For all these features and more, head over to www.insidereport.co.uk

Created way back in 2004 by producer Sky Wilson and director Vin Kelly, Inside Report has always focused on giving the talent behind the best short films the recognition they deserve. Every edition has featured interviews with some of the best up and coming talent from around the world.

Filmmakers such as Sandy Collora (Batman: Dead End), Marty Martin (Got Milk?: The Movie, Dance With The Devil), and Shane Felux (Revelations, Trenches) have all appeared in previous shows, and we are aiming to find the next generation of talent in 2009 and beyond.

Trenches - Sneak Peek - Review

2009-02-19T09:11:00.010-05:00

What you missed it?! Well don't fret too much, but as you might know (if you read this blog and love me.. Kelley Slagle does she was there!) we did a very special, and small sneak peek showing of Trenches last weekend at the Farpoint Convention in Maryland.

First let me say thank you to everyone who came out and for all the kind support. It's been a while since I have gone to an event and it was great to see so many good friends and colleagues. We had a fun screening of roughly 70 people who watched Trenches and after the first episode played the audience roared, cheered and clapped. A great response.
We watched all 10 episodes (yep the whole thing) and at the end people once again stood up cheered and clapped. A fun night to be had.. where were you?? Well you will have to wait for the online release to see it. based off the audience reaction we got at Farpoint, I think you will enjoy Trenches :)

Here is a very kind Review of the Trenches Screening by Dennis Bailey.

For me it is the greatest reward and very important that a cast and crew who worked so hard and killed themselves for little to no money, in the end feel that the film and end result of the work was worth it.

I make films for myself and my audience, but I also want them to be something my team is proud of and something they are glad to say they were a part of. You hope it gives them something back. Nothing is worst then working on a film for little money, long hours and such time and commitment and then it comes out and just sucks and you think "wow, I gave myself for that?!! Damn!" And then it hurts other small independent films because people don't want to work on them because they have been burned and have a bad taste iin there mouth.

But I also want the film or product to be part of the reward. Because we don't have the money to compensate them what they are truly worth, you have to hope the film will give something back to them. Give them something good for their demo reel, a strong resume line, a possible job and further their career and the accomplishment of team and doing what they say can not be done. That you can point to something hopefully good and say "I was a part of that, I was there.. we did it!" And after all the mud, blood and tears.. I say we did do it :)

Thanks to Farpoint for the continued kind staff and support, to everyone who came out and for all the drinks that night. I think it was very clear that I had way too many!

A good DVD release - "IMPRINT" - GET IT

2009-02-12T14:55:00.009-05:00

A fabulous production company, Linn Productions, and some very talented and good friends of mine Marc and Michael Linn have released their Feature Film "Imprint " on DVD.

This is very big as "Imprint" was their first feature film, got great reviews, festival and acclaim awards, and they were able to get theatrical and now DVD distribution. For a film maker this is great news as distribution is tough to get. I think the very best of Linn Productions and some day hope to work with them in the future. Very talented and just the best people.

Watch the Trailer here:

Plot: Shayla Stonefeather, a Native American attorney prosecuting a Lakota teen in a controversial murder trial, returns to the reservation to say goodbye to her dying father. After the teen is killed, she hears ghostly voices and sees strange visions that cause her to re-examine beliefs she thought she left behind.

Imprint is a good fashion ghost story told in a well constructed way that has you guessing. Congrats to Linn Production and the team! Love ya Guys!!!

So if you are looking to support and see a new flick pick up a copy of Imprint today!
You will enjoy - tell 'em Shane sent ya :)

Trenches - Sneak Peek Showing

2009-02-05T15:23:00.009-05:00

OK, here is a rare treat, if you have been wanting to see Trenches before the big online release then here is your chance.

You are invited to attend a special screening of "Trenches" on Friday, February 13, 2009 at the Farpoint Convention in Timonium, MD at 10pm in the Greenspring main Ballroom.

Map/ Directions to Screening

If you are already attending the Farpoint Convention and have purchased your membership the movie is part of the programming.

If you wish to see "Trenches" but are not attending the convention then you may purchase a Friday admission to the convention for $10.

Not only will you be able to see "Trenches" but you will be able to attend other activities and events that are included with the price of Friday admission.

So here is the current schedule:
Friday 2/13 - 10pm - Trenches Screening (Main Ballroom)
Saturday 2/14 - 11am - Second Showing (Dulaney 1 Room)
Saturday 2/14 - 12pm - Trenches Q&A Panel (Chesapeake 6 Room)

Farpoint has always been very supportive of us and our films and I love the idea of screening it to an audience that has always been there for us.

Here is the full schedule of the Farpoint Convention
One of their major guests is
Firefly/Serenity's "Wash"
Alan Tudyk

Also, we'll be having a get together for the cast and crew at the Northern Lights restaurant in the hotel an hour earlier at 9pm on Friday 2/13. Drinks and food are available for purchase.

Please visit Farpoint's website for more information (click on the "flyer" tab to see guests):
http://www.farpointcon.com/

Hotel Information:
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Timonium, MD
2004 Greenspring Dr
Timonium, MD 21093
Off I-83 exit 16A (Baltimore suburbs)

FanBoys

2009-02-02T09:58:00.001-05:00

Just a short addition, but this is a flick I have been waiting for a while. I saw a sneak of it almost a year ago or more. It looks like it is coming out now, but in very limited release.

Now what?! Economy & Entertainment

2009-01-31T09:54:00.011-05:00

Hey gang, I have been down and out for a bit and I will blog about that perhaps later, but I am still here.
Some of you who have your ear to the industry news or news in general might have noticed things have been tough on the economy.
Companies have been laying off and unemployment is at an all time high. The economic slump effects all, from bank bail outs, the car industry, you, me, and yes even the entertainment industry.

Thursday 1/29/08, ABC announced they are merging ABC and ABC Studios into ABC Entertainment Group. They have laid off 200 employees across all divisions, and an additional 200 open positions have been eliminated.

Why do we care?? well for one, anytime people are laid off or let go this is bad. Bad for our economy and it effects people. Remember anytime you see numbers people are in there! It could be you it could be me. But also in this ABC layoff, Stage 9 Digital, the company who I made "Trenches" for was also a part of this merger and the whole team was let go. Ouch!

From what I understand Stage 9 still exists and is being rolled into the ABC Entertainment Group, but Stage 9 Digital as a separate division of Disney/ABC is no more.

As for Trenches, ABC still plans to release the online series, and from last I heard was close to making a deal, but I am sure this whole company re-org might slow things down a bit.

So as things get tough out there, we all suffer, and I wanted to wish the very best to everyone struggling. Keep your chin up, help each other out, and we will see it through together. We have a good leader of our country right now and as things might get tougher, this too will also pass.

Homemade Hollywood- Fans Behind the Camera

2008-12-09T12:21:00.006-05:00

Here is something cool and you should check out. A new book titled Homemade Hollywood: Fans Behind the Camera
by Clive Young and foreword by Chris Gore,
(they have it in hard and soft cover- I could only make the link for the hardcover)

(Insight - Chris Gore was the guy who interviewed me on G4 "Attack of the Show" back in the day, and he couldn't say my first name right, It's Shane btw, and later I told him to give me back the Revelations DVD I gave him as a joke. Oh yeah long ago.
LOL - check it here if you want

The book has released on Amazon and if you look closely, check out who is on the cover (sort of.. well you wouldn't know it if I didn't tell you)

But yep, that top portion of the book is an image taken from the set of filming my first film Star Wars Revelations, and that is Holland Gedney kneeling on the ground, Matt and Dale Henry in Storm Trooper armor, our boom operator, and me with my back to the camera directing the scene. (I don't know who the guy on the bottom of the cover is but looks action snazzy with his camera)

You can watch more BTS of Revelations here that shot was taken from. Boy that was a long time ago, and about 15lbs lighter for me. What 5 years can do you and mid-thirties. crap!

Anyway, check out the book, Clive Young is a good guy and if you are interested in film making and film maker's experiences, tips and tricks, it's worth a read.
(they have limited copies at Amazon but I am sure they will get more)
Homemade Hollywood: Fans Behind the Camera

The book interviews me and talks about the way I made Revelations and my take and insight on Homemade Hollywood. I am not sure actually what that is, or what it says, it could say I am a total tool - I don't know, as I haven't gotten a copy of the book myself yet.. Hey Clive. .where is my copy??

- Shane

Show me a nipple!

2008-12-07T12:54:00.022-05:00

OK, don't let the title fool you or get any crazy ideas, or send me weird emails, but I bet the title grabbed your attention.

The title is actually a line from one of my favorite Christmas movies, as I mention about each year and it is that time of year again.

Can you name the Christmas movie?

If you can, you are stellar and should come over to my house to play "Scene it"

Here is a little more of a hint with further dialogue from the film and the picture above should help too.

"I want to see her nipples."
"But this is a Christmas show!"
"Well, Charles Dickens would of wanted to see her nipples then."
"You can hardly see them nipples."
"See, these guys are really looking. You can go shake a tail feather..."

So with that said and out of the way how about a bit more fun for you guys. If you are looking for some good holiday movies to watch here are a few I love.

- How The Grinch Who Stole Christmas - Jim Carrey (too damn Funny)
- A Christmas Story (classic)
- Gremlins (not for the little kids)
- The Santa Clause (love Tim Allen- always have)
- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (of course!)
- Home Alone (I got to go with it, it still makes me laugh)
- Love Actually (bring your Kleenex, a great flick)

And my favorite and 'must watch' each year, plus the answer to the "Show me a nipple" quiz
Scrooged- starring Bill Murray- priceless!!

SOME SCROOGED BEHIND THE SCENES
Here is a fun little story for you. I actually have a friend who back in the day worked on "Scrooged". He was a young, starting out producer, and was in charge of shooting some of the BTS work on the film. He was on set with his small crew waiting to get some stuff when Bill Murray, the star of Scrooged, came up noticing my friend and his crew and asked,
"Who are you?"

Being young and wanting to seem funny my friend replied,
"I'm the guy"

Murray with a slight raise grin,
"Really? I bet your not"

A bit taken aback my friend smiled, and trying to ease any tension, being sincere replied
"no.. I ah.. I really am." As he was the producer and in charge of his small BTS crew, and doing his job.

Murray nodded and again smiling said,
"I bet you anything your not"
and walked off.

A few minutes later as they were getting ready to shoot a scene, my friend gets setup to shoot some BTS, then director all of a sudden yells "who they hell are those guys! Get them off my set!"

Murray proved his point and had my friend kicked off the set. To this day I still find it funny! Maybe someday I can have that honor of Bill Murray kicking me off a set. One can dream.. one can dream :)

IN OTHER NEWS
Right, so the holiday is barreling down on us and for those 10 of you still reading out there and those of you who have been emailing me asking, "So when are we going to see this mythical, make-believe, Trenches you "supposedly made??"

To answer your questions. Trenches is done. Yep, it has been done and turned into the Studio in September. The last I heard from the sources on a release for Trenches was first quarter 2009.

That's as much as I know. But that said I think we will start ramping up and getting some more Video Blogs and sneak peeks of the series if you guys are interested. You have to let me know.

Till then, everyone be safe have a happy new year and keep your nipples to yourself :)
- Shane

BON VOYAGE AND BACK- ANNIVERSARY

2008-11-06T13:55:00.059-05:00

What a trip and back again! Oh you didn't know I was gone and on a trip?

Yeah, as I hinted at last post that my
wife and I were going on trip to celebrate our 9 year anniversary.

Well we did that last week and what a trip it was!

This post is full of pics for you, to make up the delay in my post, so I hope you enjoy.
Click on images to see full size if you like.

You see I squirreled away some of the money I made doing Trenches to celebration and a big thank you to my wife for all the help and support she gave me while I made the movie, and I thought our anniversary would be the best time.

For a year and a half close to two years I worked on Trenches while my wife took most of the blunt of running the house, the finances, the kids, basically everything, while I worked doing all I had to do. It has been a huge job and a great burden for my wife and our relationship. It takes a lot to work a 9-5 and make a film, but on the other end it takes a great deal of energy and commitment from your spouse to back you and help support along the way. you rarely see each other or spend time together.

- My beautiful wife pictured above, taken from across the bed on this trip.

Now with "Trenches" done I arrange a 3 day Disney cruise trip for us to the Bahamas!

(and no the studio/Disney did not help out at all or offer anything on that .. sorry)

This is very exciting as Dawn and I had never been on a cruise or the Bahamas. In a word it was a stellar amazing trip! I could only afford the 3 day cruise but it was worth it and we had a wonderful time. The Disney Cruise is a blast and not just for kids and families.

The service and attention by the staff is superior and the food excellent! We could not have been more pleased! Check out Video Podcast on Disney Cruises Here

We flew into Orlando a day early just so we could be sure we wouldn't have any flight delays and stayed at the wonderful JW Marriott Grand Lakes Re sort, which was beautiful.

In fact we were there at the time former President Clinton and Senator Barack Obama were meeting on stage at a rally in Orlando, and as Dawn and I were leaving dinner we happened to walk right by President Clinton who was on his way to the rally. Apparently he was a guest at the hotel as well. Thirty minutes later on TV there he was with Obama on stage as we watched the speech. Pretty neat.

The next day we had the limo drive us to the Disney Wonder in Port Canaveral, in which we boarded, and off we sailed to the lovely Bahamas!

First stop was Nassau and the Atlantis Resort which we spent all day playing!

The Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, is stunning and immense. The resort has a huge water park of slides, lazy river, shark surrounded tubes, aquariums, and pools. a blast of a time and we more or less did them all in the time we had.

So mush so that, me like an idiot, put my cruise pass and ID in my swimsuit back pocket thinking the Velcro would hold through such intense slides as "The Abyss", a crazy vertical drop into pitch blackness that nearly drowns you as you scream like a girl all the way to the bottom! Insane! I am pretty sure that is where I lost all my ID and any fluid in my bladder.

Long story short after worrying immensely that I was not going to be able to leave the island and get back on the ship doomed to live out my days selling sea shells on the sea shore on Nassau, the resort actually found my ID. Joy!! So with that in hand we played for about an hour and a half in the Casino and I won $250 on Craps/Roulette and went back to the ship. Not bad at all!

During our time on the wonderful Disney Wonder we enjoyed great food, martini tasting, spa treatments such as sitting buff in a veranda hot tub sipping tea as we watch the ocean and the world float by,

dance the nights away, played games, karaoke (which I sucked at), sitting by the pool, parties, and such great treats and service.

The next day of our cruise brought us to Disney's Private island "Castaway Cay"

Located in the Bahamas Disney really gives you so many choices to enjoy your trip.

Dawn and I sat in hammocks on the beach sipping tropic drinks, hung out with Stitch, and enjoyed the sun.

We went to the adult beach (no that does not mean topless) it just means a place called "Serenity Bay" for adults only.

A calm peaceful place with no kids. A place to sit and relax. Dawn and I sat for 10mins, look at each other and said "I'm bored!" So we are not adults and went back to the family beach where we enjoy the music, sounds of kids playing and activities.

We had a great lunch and even did some fun jet skying around the island. We had a blast! So all day on the beach and fun then back to the ship for more pampering and our dinner at Palos, the upscale fine Italian Cuisine.

Since our cruise was over the Halloween holiday we of course brought our costumes and went to the Disney Halloween party, and the pirate party. Good times on the high seas.

The whole thing was a wonderful trip and it gave Dawn and I a chance to spend some valued alone time together. A huge huge thank you to my in-laws for flying in to watch the kids for us. Such a treat and such as great memory of a trip to cherish. One I shall not forget and would love to do again!

So as you can see I have been trying to get some R&R and honey-do make up time in. Spending valued time with the family and trying to get my breath back after killing myself on Trenches. It has been good. Not sure what I am going to do next.

AND TRENCHES??
What? .. oh yeah Trenches. Well gang the last I talked with the studio the word for release was looking to be the first quarter of '09! Ouch that really sucks I know and I have no control over it.
The studio owns Trenches, so talk to them if you want to see it. It's difficult for me as well as I have always made independent film and I did all the marketing. promotion and release myself. Now it's all in the hands of others. Frustrating to be sure. But rest easy and well as the studio still very much supports and likes Trenches and they are not going to shelf it or anything. It will come out. We are just going to have to wait a bit. If you want to see it sooner make an offer, hell maybe you can sponsor Trenches. Till then, when I know something you will :)

I ROCKED THE VOTE
And I did it! My vote and voice was actually heard!
For the first time I voted and I could not be more pleased. To be a part of history. Amazing.
President Barak Obama!
WoW!!

Don't Vote! -- says it all

2008-10-03T14:13:00.002-05:00

This says it all

The Studio Speaketh ..

2008-09-29T14:26:00.004-05:00

The news? Well after a 30 day wait, the studio finally all sat down and watched Trenches in it's finished entirety last Friday, and the word coming down from that view is.. good. The studio execs and producers really enjoyed Trenches, actually clapping after the showing (so I was told) and it was all smiles, back patting, and thumbs up.

So the word and wait has finally come down from the suits and creative and they are very pleased. Good!

Now what?? yeah I don't know myself. Now you have to sit and wait with me as the studio now tries to figure out what they are going to do with the product and when and where they are going to release it and all that jazz. I do know they want to release it as soon as possible as they are proud of it, as am I, and we want to get it out there to ya. So that is the word and news for now. More to come.. as it comes.. when it comes, etc.

- Shane

Rednecks take the Strip

2008-09-24T13:04:00.016-05:00

You can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy.

It's all true.

As some of you might know I was born and raise in San Antonio, TX and all my family is still there. Once I moved away we started doing this tradition in which my father, brother and uncle, the Felux men, would get together each year and have a Felux men's weekend out! This usually consisted of going to the Texas coast and doing some fishing, drinking, golf, smoking, gambling, fishing and more drinking and smoking for about 3-4 days. It is a blast!

Well since I had been working on Trenches, I had not been able to get away and follow the tradition. For two years we have not able to get together and I promised the guys once I was done with the film we would makeup for the lost time. I promised.

Well I am done with Trenches and I called up the boys and said, "Pack your shit we're gettin together!"

But this year to do something bigger and something different we decided to go to Louisiana for some gambling, golf, fishing, smoking, and drinking escapades. Well guess what?! I booked all the arrangements, was about to jump on a flight to San Anton and Hurricane Ike is barreling down the Texas coast and looking more and more to be heading for Louisiana, right for the place we would be going! Not GOOD.

So I call the wife for the airport and explain the situation and my concern, and she turns around and says "Just go to Vegas. This way you guys can have fun not worry about it and have a great time. Spend the money and go have a great time with your family. You haven't seen them in two years. Go to Vegas. I will book the hotel and flights for you guys and call you when you reach Texas with the details. I will take care of it. Have a great trip"

You know sometimes I have a great wife! She can be quite amazing. What other wife would say "Go to Vegas, spend the money, I will take care of it!"

So that is just what we did folks. The next morning the Felux men jumped on a plane and hit Vegas.. Rednecks on the strip.. watch out!

To make a long story short we had a blast! It was so great to see the family and spend some time with them as I miss and love 'em.

(picture of the Felux Boys, from left to right)
- John Felux, Shane Felux,
Casey Felux (aka: little brother)
James felux (aka: Uncle Jimmy)

We stayed at Treasure Island on the strip and though not a bad place, I wouldn't stay there again. The service was poor and we couldn't even check in till 3pm and the room was still dirty and had not been cleaned. For us it's no big deal but I would expect more for this level of hotel. They had no Concierge (yes even rednecks can say that word) and I just was not impressed with the facility for the price. But again a great time.

No I am afraid we all lost and Vegas beat us this time but boy we sure had fun trying. We got in some golf at the Desert Pines Cou rse, which is a nice looking facility and the people very nice. I came in last shooting a 118 (terrible) but what do you expect for not playing in two years. Whether you win or lose it's still fun to get out on the links and be outdoors.

So we gambled in the casinos, (we hit a lot of them) then played cards in the room, didn't really drink that much now that I think about it, but did a ton of smoking .. LOL (that's bad for you btw kids so don't smoke!)

It was a great get away and my vacation for finishing Trenches. It was wonderful to see the guys and spend some valued time together. We are all only here for a short time and if you haven't called your mother, father, brother, family in a while. give em a call and just say "Hey I was just thinking of you!"

Now I am back home (well I have been for a few weeks now.. I am behind on my blog what do you want from me, at least I gave you this much!)

I tell you what. It's a good thing we didn't try and go to Louisiana, as we would have been right in the middle of Ike when it hit and it would have been very bad. Help if you can.

WHAT OF TRENCHES NEWS??
Oh yeah Trenches.. well the film has been done for a month now and sitting on the studio's desk just waiting for them all to arrange a time in which about 10 producers can all balance their busy schedules to all sit down and watch it to see if they are happy and like it. They had a date and that got pushed so now it is to be this Friday 9/26 Once I hear something back I will be sure to let you know about it. But once the studio gets around to watching the series and say, likes it, then they are in charge of when and where it releases. your guess is as good as mine, but before the new year. Keep your eyes and ears open and I will fill you in as I can :)

Be good to each other as best you can and I will catch you next time.

My anniversary is coming up soon and I got big plans for that to thank my wife for all her support allowing me to do Trenches.. more on that next time.

Vote? What?

2008-09-05T15:21:00.006-05:00

OK, for those who might know me well, you know I am not a political person at all. I really don't get involved or get into politics in any way. It has never been my bag and living here close to the Nation's Capital as I do, this is rare thing, as most here eat and live that stuff.

I will share a secret with you. I don't even vote (shhh) never had.

That's right, never have, and never got involved with it, as for me it has always been the lesser of two evils and a popularity contest in which not much is going to change or make a difference.

But this time around something is different for me. I am not going to stand on some soap box for you, as again I am not a political person, and you all can feel the way you want about your own views, but this time I just felt too strong to sit in the background and not do anything. Weird.

For any of you like me who want to come out for the first time to vote perhaps you are like me and not even sure how to register. I didn't know how to .. but here is a very simply online way. just go to Rock The Vote and get yourself setup if you want.

Oh yeah.. vote Obama! :)

Just don't tell my DC friends I have never voted before. Also, just because I am coming out this one time please don't send me your polls or consensus or fund raises, or awareness campaigns or any of that crap, please stop calling :) I will vote this time.. isn't that enough?

Here is also something I found very funny from my buddy Frank who turned me on to it as well as answering some questions about voting and candidates. thanks Frank.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Trenches - TubeFilter News

2008-08-19T15:34:00.002-05:00

Q&A: Shane Felux, Director of Stage 9’s ‘Trenches’ - Tubefilter News

Posted using ShareThis

What's that smell? Is something burning?

2008-07-11T15:47:00.013-05:00

That is the smell of the creative juices burning from a film maker's tallow candle burning from both ends, on both sides, around the middle, and up the back!

I have been very busy as of late and the good news is that I have now completed all the final FX for Trenches! Rejoice!!

Yes the picture is now locked to edit and visuals FX completed for the entire series! A huge thank you has to go out to my buddy Zafe, who came in and helped me get it done towards the 11th hour. I wouldn't have made it without ya Zafe!

Yes at 3:30am, Saturday July5th, with my right arm burning from 4 , 12 hour days straight of doing FX, with some help (love ya Zafe) I was able to get all FX on the film done. I then got about an hour and a half of sleep and then had to catch a plane to go out of town for my 9-5 job. Which is where I am now.

Where to now?
Now Trenches goes through the final color process which is being done by Laser Pacific on the West Coast and really is looking amazing with what they are doing. I am really pleased with the color/treatment, and Joe Hathaway ,the colorist , is a stunning artist as is the facility and people of Laser Pacific.

As Trenches is getting the final look and treatment applied, 328 Studios continues to work on the sound design and audio treatment, as the composer Mark Edmonson finishes up the socre and will then do the final mix when all audio is done.

When it's all done and put together, the studio will then all sit down together and watch the finished product, and see if they are happy with it (let's hope so) then they will work to getting it released., unless they want to do more work on the film. I am hoping by August it will be out and ready for all you guys to see as I am excited at being this close to done.

It has been a long long hard hard road to get here and I so hope it's worth it. I am proud of the film and just hope you guys enjoy watching it. So soon.. very, sometime soon Trenches will be out, but the good news is that FX and picture is completed! Now on to the frosting on the cake and maybe a few cherries.

FX shots provided by: Jim Hibbert, Greg Metcalf, Lee Stringer. Zafer Mustafa, Shane Felux

- Shane

Donde está Shane??

2008-05-20T15:15:00.006-05:00

Some of you may have tried calling or tried getting in touch with me and I am sorry if I have not returned the call or been in reach. I have been away for the last 2 weeks in Panama working. Every now and then my 9-5 jobs requires me to go out to location and this time it sent me to Panama City, Panama!

The weather was hot, sticky, but being originally from San Antonio, Texas, I didn't find Panama to be that bad in terms of the weather. I didn't get to see and do a whole lot as I was working during the day and at night in the hotel I would work on Trenches as I could.

I did get out a bit thanks to Marco and his wife (Thanks guys for the kindness!) and saw some of old town Panama which has very cool Spanish influence architecture. in fact the new James Bond Movie, "Quantum Of Solace" shot in Panama and we drove by the location of the old club they used for the film.

I also did a bit of gambling while there. My last night in Panama I walked out $90 richer winning with 4 Aces in Texas Hold 'em. That was with a $6 bet on the table. A great way to end the trip.

So with $90 in my pocket I said "dinners on me!" and off we went to a great restaurant called "Beirut" which is Lebanese food. I have never had Lebanese food nor could I tell you where the country is (I suck at geography among many other things) but the food was excellent and we smoked Hukas and watched Belly Dancers perform. A great night of entertainment, good company, and a great send off from Panama back to the states.

So I get back to my hotel at midnight, pack my bags and hit the bed at about 1am. I am up at 4:30am and in a car to catch my flight at 7:30am. from there I arrive back home at my front door step in the good 'ol US at 6:30pm.. a long day.

The bad news is that while I was gone, my youngest son has been having troubles breathing and has been sick. My wife taking care of all 3 kids while I am gone has taken the little one to the doctor a few times and Saturday night when I got back in town, my wife wakes me at 3am and says she is taking the baby to the emergency room as he is having a hard time breath.

Long story short, my youngest son, Hayden, was released yesterday and doing better but still not feeling a 100%. My wife stayed in the hospital the whole time while I watched after the other boys, and my wife continues to be the strong one with doing the medicines, doctor visits, and super mom. I love ya babe! Always stronger then me.

Today I am back to work. So a long trip and then some stress when I got back, then my 9-5 job and then .. oh yeah.. Trenches. Yes still doing that as well.

So I am starting to get back in the grind and get things back up and going but bear with me a moment as I try and get things square and I will be with you as I can.

FearNet.com Covers Trenches

2008-04-24T09:14:00.005-05:00

Here is one of the interviews I did while at NY ComicCon. This one is from FearNet, a great site with really good content. I love their site design! They interviewed for "The incredible Hulk" new movie, "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" , "Ghost Hunters" and many more. check 'em out!

Why is it I always wink at the camera? I know.. it's because I am a dork.
Or it's just my Carol Burnett 'ear pull' gesture to my wife. Yeah, whenever I wink to the camera I am really sending a signal to my wife saying "I love you." .. yeah let's go with that, or that I am just a dork. Well what can I say.. you guys be the judge as I think the jury is still out on this one. BTW.. that's me at the end of the video making the scarry "Ooooooh" sound.. dork.

Moving on

2008-04-22T12:15:00.005-05:00

Well if we missed you at the NY Comic Con event it wasn't my fault. I looked for you. Where were you? I text messaged you! .. ah well. I will catch you at the next event maybe.

Here is a pic from the "Trenches" panel we did at ComicCon
(man Aaron needs to cut his hair :)

(photo by: Zafe) left to right, Lev Gorn, Aaron Mathias, Shane Felux

So moving on, the NY trip was good and it was great to hang out with some very good friends. Unfortunately I got sick, I think I picked it up from on of the kids, as I was feeling a bit off when I flew into town. Now I am pretty miserable.

At the event Stage 9 released a new Trailer for Trenches.
Take a look at this studio cut trailer and let me know what you think.

The studio wanted to put out something new so there ya go. I dig the movie voice over guy. That made me smile. So perhaps a bit more info and look at Trenches as we work to completion and delivery. When you ask? Err.. soon. No later then July.. how about that? :)

Hope all is well with you and send some love sometime!

Trenches at NY ComicCon & NEWS

2008-04-08T12:17:00.014-05:00

If you are wanting to catch me and see perhaps a bit more on Trenches, we will be at New York ComicCon this month April 18-20. So if you are on the east coast and near the big apple come on out to the event. It should be a lot of fun as Comic Con is one of the best with lots to see.

The idea is that Trenches will show perhaps a new trailer (cut by the studio.. be afraid) and will air right before the new Star Wars "Clone Wars" trailer and the new Indiana Jones Trailer.

Also from what I hear, a special ComicCon message from George Lucas and Harrison Ford.
From what I hear. See the full guest list here:

The "Trenches" presentation is stated for the place and time below. Check the schedule here:

Saturday

3:30 PM

4:00 PM

1E12-13-14

ABC TV/Stage 9 Digital Media present - TRENCHES

Also at the event we will be giving out these new cool "Trenches" postcards I designed for the studio. let me know what you think?

Click on the postcard image to see larger size

IN OTHER NEWS:
The Associated Press put out an interesting article talking about Trenches, and even quoted me a few times. Read the article here. "TV Studios Embrace Originals on the web"

Also NewTeeVee.com mentions us in a very cool write up you should check out titled " Weekend Vid Picks: Fan Films Good Enough to Fool You" Thanks for thinking of us guys!

The one really cool thing is this live action "Legend of Zelda" (fake) trailer that was put out on April fools and man is it impressive. I fell for it to as I thought it looked awesome. The gaming site IGN, got people good with this one. Check it out.

Other Other News
Trenches now has full picture lock (thank you lord) what that means is that the studio has signed off on the full edit of the film and now the process for color, treatment, sound, music, FX call all focus on completing the film. Rejoice!

The funny thing is that picture lock is a huge piece off my shoulders but it's like this.
Crawling through the desert dying of thirst while burned at day and freezing at night., knowing that just over that next distant sand dune is civilization and salvation.

And so you crawl and crawl looking only to that distant sand dune and when finally at last you crawl up it, your mouth caked and dry with sand, your mind baked in the hot sun, that when you finally crest that sand dune.. . you look out and see..!
More sand .... and another distant dune with the teasing promise of hope.
Head down we start to crawl forward.

Yeah, it's kind of like that. So be my mirage and catch you at NY Comic Con :)

When I Grow up ...

2008-03-05T13:22:00.024-05:00

Here is something different and fun for you guys.

When I was a kid (ok still am) but regardless when I was younger, my aspirations had always been to be involved in movies, theater, TV ... The industry (though I didn't know it was called "the industry" for a long time.. in fact I just found that out thanks to this thing called the inter net.. or something)

Anyway, when I was young, it was a film called "Star Wars" that opened a new dream for me, "wow, I know what I would like to do.. I want to be involved in that .. somehow!"

yeah it's cliche but true.. sorry. Then a film called "Indiana Jones" and for a while I actually pursued becoming an archaeologist and researching the arc of the covenant.

My Grandmother gave me tons of religious things to read about the arc. I then soon realized archaeologists really don't carry whips and have exciting adventures, but really sit in some squaller sweating to death, while meticulously sweeping dust with a tiny brush for hours on end, to then discover "look I unearthed a tiny piece of a pot that looks more like a lump of dirt.. wow"

(to all the archaeologists out there .. I am sure it is a fascinating job, so no offense, but not for me) Plus I found out you have to be smart to be an archaeologist.. again .. not me :) . I think we are safe though, as I do not really see many archaeologists reading my blog.

So at a young age if I could not be these things, I could possibly play them, or make a story about these characters and adventures, and so at a young age I pursued it.

My first job in front of a professional camera was I think age 9 or 10. It was for an HEB Grocery store company training video. You know the ones they make you sit and watch when you join a new company.

Yeah, that was the one. I played a young Howard E. Butt, founder for HEB ( which is a huge grocery store chain in Texas where I am from)

My mom at the time worked for HEB and when they were looking for children to she knew I had a dream to do movies and so forth and brought it up " I have a son who would love to do it"

and I did and from then on I had the bug. I still do. From then I had done may other projects. I have done outdoor theater, stage, live TV, commercials, feature films, indies, industrials.. you name it. Everything but porn.. still looking into that one .. JK ;

And I couldn't have done it or gotten where I am (still just a little guy buy living the dream) with out my family and there support.

Love you mom!

So when I was home the lest Christmas holiday (I am behind, give me a break) my mom dragged out these old pictures of my first time on a set and my first acting job. She even still had the old VHS tape. So here it is for you, a retrospect look back when I grow up ... (look how cute I was!)

I have posted pictures of my first time on a set (wow the 70's) and my first short acting job. even then it was a lot of hurry up and wait :)

Now today I still would not be able to do this without the support of my friends and family and though she reads this blog rarely, a big thank you to my wife! It's very hard I know.

Note: If you watch the video, notice how the kid (yes that me) actually looks at the camera .. amateur! So when I grow up I want to be in movies .. let me know how it turns out, as I am still waiting to grow up .. someday.

So here is my 5seconds of fame at age 10. Boy I sure could pull a wagon back then, just look at the dedication and believablilty, I really believe his is pulling a wagon and loading grocerys. genius. Well we all start somewhere, and for me it was at a young age.

SHANE FELUX - FIRST ACTING JOB AT AGE 10

Stage 9 - Squeegees

2008-02-28T10:08:00.009-05:00

Well as promised Stage 9 released "Squeegees", their first of a slate of 20 programs to debut on ABC.com and through online video giant YouTube. "Trenches" will be one of those programs. So go watch the first two episodes of "Squeegees" and give your support if you enjoy it. Congrats to Stage 9, and Squeegees! Very exciting

LA Times writes about the debut, Stage 9, ABC, Disney, and mentions "Trenches". It's good coverage for Stage 9 and a great start. I love the picture!

Here is Stage 9's press release from their site

Here is the question. What type of advertising and promotion do you find about the release of Stage 9 and Squeegees? Do you feel the studio is doing their job or really hitting it hard for Stage 9 and promoting their product?

What I would want to see is ads, click through, or something on major sites such as yahoo, google, etc, with banners, and I don't see anything about it on youtube yet, or really anything major but abc.com - It's still early to tell as the release just happened today. I see good fortune for Stage 9 and I think it will all grown and get bigger. Baby steps.

If I do a yahoo or google search for "Squeegees" in general on that word, I get tons and tons of non related sites dealing with window washing, janitor supplies, floor cleaning and so forth. Pages and pages that do not relate to the Squeegees new web series. If I do a specific search for "Stage 9 Squeegees" I get just a hand full of sites dealing with the new series, my blog comes up as #3 on the search, so what does that tell you, as no one reads this blog.. ok .. I am sorry, I think we are up to 20 of you read my blog now .. but what I am saying is that I want to see pages and pages talking about the new series "Squeegees" and Stage 9.

Actuall it apears there are more then 20 of you now, as it seems some of you guys are actually reading my silly rants and poor grammer write ups. Maybe I need to start watching what I am saying now.. no telling who is reading this.. what do you guys think.

Here is an article I found that Doug pulled form my blog.. what's up Doug!

webpronew.com

So you guys are sending me some love.. ahh right back at ya.

Now think about this. I had to do a specific search on "Stage 9 Squeegees" just to find a hand full of news and sites. What if I didn't know anything about this Squeegees new series, or Stage 9. I have never heard about it, I don't even know what it is.. how would I happen to find out about it?? huh? How is it that I would just run across and watch? ..Swirl that around in your mouth for a while.. how's that taste? Because it taste like jack diddle squat to me :)

It's very early and "Squeegees" just released today, so it is very early and perhaps the snowball will build and pick up momentum. Let's be watching and help promote yourself if you like it.

The one thing about online content or the Internet in general is that everyone needs to understand it is very very easy to get buried and lost on the web. There some 7 million plus unique sites on the web. Audience are not just going to find you. You have to really let people know your content is out there and advertise, promote, market and hit major numbers of people. That takes tireless work. To just rely on viral video to happen is lighting in a bottle, or you get lucky, and sometimes it takes a long time. It actually has to be planned and worked to get people to find your content, and that means media relations, press and if your content is online that is what you should be hitting, and lots of it. TV Network spends millions on advertising. Think what would happen if then spent just a fraction of that on online advertising. I think you will see more and more of that soon. If they are smart.

One big web hit series "Quarterlife" was picked up by NBC and premiered to Tuesday Night TV Watchers and did very poorly. Even my buddy Chris covered the story, as he always seems to have his finger on the pulse of online content.

Have any of you heard of Quartlife? I bet some of you haven't. But where have you been this is a huge successful web series and has a huge following, over 6 million streams!

Ah.. so you see my point maybe?

I enjoy "Quarterlife" myself and find the writing very well done and with some engaging characters. It's not my full cup of tea but I have to take my hat off to them. It did poorly because they already showed their episodes online and on MTV, so what was aired on NBC this week wasn't new, so of course no one watched. NBC says they did great advertising for the show.. but did they? Quarterlife was on NBC front page yesterday and now you can barely find it on their site. sad.

My point folks is that audiences are not just going to magically find you. I still have people emailing me saying "wow, I just came across your site and watched Revelations. I really enjoyed it!" It's been 3 years now, and still new people discover and find it.

So let me know your thoughts if you have any. How about you Tish, your very smart :)

For me, I will just keep working on Trenches and doing what I do.. hopefully we will meet up on the otherside, and hopefully you like what I come out to show and I still have your support.

Stage 9 comes up - Premiere

2008-02-27T10:02:00.007-05:00

Here is some exciting news for you guys. The studio that is finnacing and distributing "Trenches" is getting ready to premiere and officially release their first series online this week!

Very exciting!

It's official. Stage 9, the new division of Disney, will put it's first web series and premiere this week, Thursday 2/28.

The first project Stage 9 will be releasing is a great new comedy called “Squeegees”, about the wonderful world of high-rise window washing! The trailer is now online so go check it out and let me know what you guys think of it. Here is the older teaser trailer.

“Squeegees" is produced and directed by the crazy guys at Handsom Donkey.

Adam Countee, Brendan Countee, Marc Gilbar, Aaron Greenberg.

They shall be the first into the breach if you will, and I consider them brethren of a kind, as we both have gone through the Stage 9 system and both made our films through them. We are film compatriots of different spectrums. They doing fun comedy and me .. "what the hell was I thinking" scifi. I wish them the best in success!!

I am very interested to see how Stage 9 promotes and markets "Squeegees", how it does, and what they are able to do with it. Let's see how the studio does it shall we guys?

My understanding is that the series will be online this week and hosted I believe on ABC.com and others to be announced. Stayed tuned for that.

So Stage 9 comes out and is official now. First "Squeegees" then "Trenches" .. maybe.. at some point.. just watch "Squeegees" and keep sending me love.

FedCon Appearance - June 13-15 2008- Dallas

2008-02-08T11:52:00.000-05:00

Just for an update, I had a chance to talk to an old friend Tim Brazeal the other day, who is the creator of Scifi Studios as well as others like TrekUnited, SaveEnterprise, and has been a great help and supporter to me and my projects.

Tim is know in the community as one of the guys who achieves and get amazing things done. He is one hell of a guy. He was the guy who raised millions and offered Paramount the funds raised by fans to keep Star Trek Enterprise going for one more season. On top of running Scifi Studios, film projects, and other events, Tim is also heading up one on the largest scifi conventions from Europe and brining it to the states come this year in June 13-15 2008.

The event is called FedCon and WoW do they have an amazing guest lineup!


Jonathan Frakes	Marina Sirtis	Garrett Wang


Paul McGillion	Connor Trinneer	John Billingsley


Anthony Montgomery	Bonita Friedericy	Menina Fortunato

So if you are into Scifi stars, excellent panels, shows, programming, and one hell of a great time, this is one you should go and check out. I will be there as well, and hopefully at that time I will be done with Trenches and can talk to you all about it and show a bunch of stuff on the film and my past experiences in film making. (As if you guys want to go to hear me talk even more.)

So mark your calendar and get all setup from the FedCon website. I will see you there!

Also, you have got to check out a new web series scifi studios is going to be putting out called IQ 145. This new show looks really high-end and great production value. I am amazed at the level of talent and professional look on this. Looks to be top drawer.

The show:
Sarah Connor Chronicles' Thomas Dekker takes a bold step into the future of Digital media with this high-end, Sci-Fi Web Series. To be released through SCIFiSTUDIOS.COM and WWW.IQ-145.COM this new webisodic experience is sure to send the traditional Network model into a real test of intelligence. As the TERMINATOR franchise simultaneously hits Network air, IQ-145 levels up what the WEB is destined to offer.

LOG: Son of a renowned, inventor/futurist father, who has mysteriously committed suicide; Nate Palmer (T.Dekker) is recruited by a secret organization to help search for his fathers last experiment.

Go check it out and see what you think. It looks like a hit to me. better then my work.. damn you Tim!

LA, LA, LA, Land

2008-01-31T09:51:00.000-05:00

Well, last week I had to travel out to LA for a day to meet with the studio to go over Trenches as well as go into a post production house to look at color timing and treatment for the film.

So, I fly out last Thursday night and got to my hotel at about 2am my time(eastern).
I stayed up a bit working on the presentation and materials I was to be showing the studio that day, and got to bed at about 4am (again my time)

The studio put me up in West Hollywood, which is pretty cool, and I guess could be considered the equivalent of the village in NY but more glitzy. I stayed at an interesting parlor hotel called "The Grafton" right on Sunset. It's a pretty different hotel and definitely Hollywood. When I got to my room there is this huge picture over my bed of an artsy B/W photo of a girl's legs in fishnet's.. OK .. so I am at West Hollywood.. kewl ..but different. Dig the zebra skin comforter! I could just imagine if I had the family and my kids with me.. that would be funny. "it's called art kids.. now get down from there and stop touching that"

So I have a west coast breakfast of gram pancakes, egg whites, and fruit (yeah I am in Hollywood, and when in Rome .. btw, does that rule only apply just when you are in Rome or other cities as well? ) Anyway, I head over to the ABC building in Burbank to meet with the studio. the meeting went great and the studio is very positive and excited about the project. My deadline to finish Trenches is April 30. You guys keep me on this but don't push me to hard... I am fragile and could break :)

So everyone is on the same page, loving what we are seeing and it is then off to The Post Group, the post production house who is currently taking on the challenge of color/finishing Trenches. No easy task. I sat in a 4 hour session with the colorist and staff/ studio staff and was very pleased with what I was seeing.

Trenches is being colored on a Da Vinci 2K System, pretty amazing technology. I am fascinated and love the final process of post production. To me that is where it all comes together and the film takes it's true life. The art of color and finishing is amazing to me and so important. As is music and sound design. hell every little bit that makes it happen. It all adds up and makes a film what it is when you finally get to see it.

After this session I had another 2 hour meeting with my FX Post team heads, and then we all went for some dinner. After that long day I simply went back to my hotel, watched some "Entourage", (love that series) and then crashed.

Saturday morning I got up early, had a quick breakfast with my good friend and writer for Trenches, Peter Robinson, then off to LAX, and I was back home. A fast whirl wind tour and then back to work on Monday. That's the latest for me. So you see it's not all glamorous guys. It's just me trying to do a job and be proud of what I am doing so I can give you guys something I hope you and I both enjoy.

Trenches is looking great and we are getting some work done. The FX team is starting to crank out some great shots and music/ sound are working their magic. I have to be finished and done by April 30th. So that gives you guys something as to when the series might come out for you to watch. Let's stick together and see it through... then you owe me a drink :)

IN OTHER NEWS - TRENCHES
A few weeks back there was some news put out by the Hollywood Reporter that Trenches was finished but delayed to release from Stage 9. This simply is not the cast or accurate. I WISH I was done with Trenches, but the fact is I am still working on the film and no delays are due to WGA strikes or Disney at this time. the only delay is Shane is still working to finish it :)
Here is a better article by Chris Albrecht that has the facts more clear on the subject.

Also, it looks like I will be going for a day to the Farpoint convention to show a few things and talk about Trenches. So if you are in the Baltimore, MD area February 16, I should be there.
Their other guests include:
James Callis (Battlestar Galactica)
Marina Sirtis (Star Trek:TNG)
Erin Gray (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)

Happy New .. what?!

2008-01-07T16:29:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah.. Happy New Year and all that.. wow, I almost did realize it was the new year, what year is it anyway??

Well, a new year ,my birthday and all that actually past and we are older, tireder, wiser.. ok mainly tireder (is that a word?) let's go with that. I know I am getting older when I it gets harder and harder to stay up till midnight unless you have to, and these days I have to, even beyond. Mostly each night I am in a dark cave editing on Trenches and making some good progress. It's coming guys, it's coming, but a great deal of work yet to be done (I think I keep saying that in each post.. ah well)

So Happy New something and .. ok back to work for me.. I really don't see what is so new about this year compared to the last one. I am still tired and still working late hours (sigh)

2008 looks to be a great year and you guys be sure to let me know when we get to 2000 and 8.. whenever that is, for now back to work :)

In other news the LA Times mentioned Trenches briefly in an article, "Sites to watch in 2008"
So we seem to be on the radar and 2008 holds great things .. yet it is so far away ... I guess the news is able to see way into the future or something. 2008 that is a long way off yet, and my name is what again? right back to work.

Trenches update - 2nd Vblog video release

2007-12-29T11:43:00.000-05:00

Well as 2008 looks us square in the eye, the team at X-ile Pictures continues to work on Trenches. We still have a great deal of work to do but it is looking good. The progress that is being made is slow but the film is really starting to take shape and we are aiming at a release date early in the new year. As a belated Christmas gift or a New Year treat, however you want to look at it, we are pleased to finally release a new Vblog entry on the making of Trenches.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRENCHES 2ND VBLOG ENTRY

Catch the new exclusive second Trenches Vblog entry here. This edition deals with the location shooting of Trenches and the various places we shot the film to give you all the looks it has. Editing and shot by Jon Minor.
Video courtesy of: Jon Minor, Errol Spat Oktan, and Cat Simone.

2008 looks like an exciting time and we hope you will be with us when we release Trenches. Be patient, we are working on it, and I think you will enjoy the results!

From the world of Sound

2007-11-09T12:09:00.000-05:00

Here is something new for you guys. A good friend of mine and the composer /sound engineer for Trenches, Mark Edmonson, attended the latest Audio Engineering Society convention and did a great write up for it I thought you guys would be interested to read what he had to say. Especially if you are into the industry of sound and technology, but even if you aren't, it's really interesting and the video industry is much in the same boat.

Mark did all the sound work for Pitching Lucas and has uber years of experience in his field of audio. I am so glad he joined me again to work all all things audio for Trenches.

Here is his knowledge and convention coverage notes for your enjoyment.
Take it away Mark!

Report from the 123^rd convention of the Audio Engineering Society

Jacob Javitz Convention Center
By: Mark Edmondson

Conventions are a funny thing. In order to truly get a sense of what one has to offer, of its place in the world, one must try to attend a few, year after year. In this way, patterns begin to emerge; what people want, what the industry can (or in many cases, can not) seem to accomplish, and how, year after year, manufacturers manage to stay afloat by (no surprise here) trying desperately to offer higher quality at lower prices, and more importantly, continuing to refine each of their little niches.

And really, if one had to begin thinking of ways to characterize the audio industry of the 21^st century, it is just that way- niches. The industry has, it seems, accepted a few things of itself. For starters, the Home Studio is no longer a revolution. It is more than a fact of life, more than a “necessary evil”; it is the standard. The most respectable, and respected, recording artists, producers and directors now perform anywhere from some to all of their audio-related work in some manner of home studio. And the Big Rooms aren’t scoffing any more at those who work in home studios- because they’re… well, they’re sorta gone.

Oh sure, Mix Magazine still manages to have a new picture of some sweet, unbelievably über-hip recording space on its cover every month (and one must wonder… where exactly are all those facilities, 6 months after their cover story?). Of course, there will always be a need for the Abbey Roads of the world, to handle those moments when only John Williams and the LSO will do. And maybe, just maybe, the era of the Big Room will make a comeback.

Or then again- maybe not.

For now, the point is that it is no longer seen as anything other than completely and perfectly acceptable- many would say preferable- to hire a freelancer with a Pro Tools system in a town house to perform your sound design, track your band, compose or record your score, master your disk, or even perform full-scale film re-recording, ADR or foley. The tools are just that good, just that reliable, just that affordable.

And if there was one message at AES- it was that the industry isn’t about to sit around and cry about the passing of an era.

Rather than simply embrace the needs of the small/home studio market, audio manufacturers have set out to redefine it, make it… professional.

Virtually every type of system being demonstrated at this year’s AES offers, in some way, shape or form, the ability to be scaled and customized and adapted to small offices, bedrooms, garages- and to give those spaces the same properties and specifications that used to cost millions.

Acoustic treatment, for example: thanks to CAD-assisted acoustic modeling and design, there are now available at least 10 competing systems for acoustically tuning your average 10X12 space to accommodate advanced recording and mixing needs; duties that only a decade ago would have been solved with carpet remnants and egg cartons. Everything from bass traps to HF absorbers to midrange diffusors can now be brought home in a ready-to-install box for about the price of taking the family to a dinner and movie. And man, does this stuff look cool.

Cabinetry, consoles, racks and stands have also turned the corner. These are not your father’s dusty pressboard and laminate gear racks of the 90’s. Today’s consoles are available in virtually every design aesthetic, from classic to modern, of nearly the same sturdiness and reliability of custom-fabricated woodwork.

But in the end, it’s about the gear. And by gear, of course, one means, software.

While there will probably always be some degree of appeal for small, dedicated hardware-based studio recording systems, it is becoming quite clear that for the foreseeable future, studio recording is now the domain of the desktop computer.

Since its inception in the early 90’s, Pro Tools has reigned supreme as the de-facto method of recording and manipulating sound on a computer. However, during this time, not all were enchanted with its system of (relatively) expensive and proprietary hardware cards and rack units; so, for the last decade or so, a large number of very smart, talented people have been developing… perish the thought… alternatives to Pro Tools. And if anything is clear, it is that those alternatives have arrived.

In large part buoyed by simply ridiculous increases in desktop horsepower (a quad core Mac Pro is something like 32 times more powerful than the G5 processors of just 2 years ago), it is now completely realistic to want- expect- a desktop computer, running an alternative system such as Nuendo or Logic Pro, to equal (make that rival) a respectably-stocked Pro Tools HD system… with, um, no additional hardware.

And oh yeah- the Mac Pro is $40,000 less.

Case in point: Apple Computer’s Distributed Audio technology quite literally turns a Gigabit-Ethernet network of Intel Macs into a DSP farm; being infinitely scaleable, this can rapidly be made to outperform even the most high end TDM system.

The added benefit is, of course, that the network itself becomes the processor. Meaning, that simply by virtue of constructing a computer network (weren’t you going to do that anyway?), one creates an audio processor-sharing environment- one that is always on, requires no supervision or task management… it just works.

And who would have guessed that, thanks to an “if the user wants it, it will be coded” mantra, Steinberg’s Nuendo has become, virtually overnight, the film mixing platform of choice? Its offerings of custom macros (and nested macros), combined with its completely programmable and customizable key commands, its compatibility with every single I/O and control hardware made, to say nothing of its integration with the elegant and powerful Euphonix System 5 MC console, is simply too powerful, too accessible, for any creator of TV or film sound to ignore.

Put simply, users want power- gobs of it- and whoa, is it available. The key to power? Scalability and compatibility: let users expand their systems whenever they want, with whatever they want. Don’t make them buy new hardware each time a new Rev comes out. And especially, don’t limit your hardware’s compatibility to one application.

These are areas in which the industry standard, legacy systems, have begun to truly show their “old school” loyalties.

As the concept of the single, large-format mix facility has gone by the wayside, so too has the idea that any one DAW will or could ever meet the needs of everyone. A walk around the floor of the Javitz Center makes one realize, quickly, that committing to any single workflow concept or hardware platform is, frankly, just not a choice people want to be made to make. And starting now, it’s not a choice people have to make. There are just too many options- too many good options, to expect users to want anything other than full compatibility between hardware and software- all of it.

To that end, Solid State Logic quietly announced the release of Pro Convert- which, as it turns out, may very well break more ground, and open the door to complete software universality, than any conforming- or translation utility before it. Pro Convert, rather simply and elegantly, performs a task many had deemed impossible- it converts timeline files, of any DAW format, to a timeline file of any format. Pro Tools to Logic, Nuendo to DP4, Logic to Nuendo… it’s all possible with this dongle-based application (projected price $1000USD). Pro Convert intelligently manages all plugin, automation, MIDI and other data, and asks questions during the conversion process any time it encounters a potential compatibility issue. Been putting off a purchase of that new, super-affordable DAW app because you didn’t know how you would get your Pro Tools files in to it? Go for it.

Long live open standards

As manufacturers once agreed on standards such as ¼” tape, 48V phantom power, and the guitar cord, so have they now hammered out standards such as USB 2.0, firewire, audio file formats like WAV and AIF, interapplication standards like Core Audio and ASIO, VST, XML, SMF, AU… the list goes on. The progressive hammering out of these standards have allowed the computer-based recording world to share the same level of compatibility, and the freedom to choose hardware and software based on needs and budget, as has existed in the analog world for decades.

Manufacturers of DAW’s based on the proprietary hardware concept are realizing their need to not only support open standards, but that any goal of “owning” the recording industry, of establishing “the standard”, is simply no longer realistic. The recording studio of the future will be based on many platforms, all speaking the same language.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

One area which seems to have gained little to no ground is the ongoing debate over how to measure loudness. In a 3-day panel, experts from TC Electronics, the (recently defunct) ITU, Dolby, CBC, and others firmly dug in and held their ground, as they have for the past few years; loudness is too subjective to measure… it’s easy to measure… it’s hard to measure… we should just compress everything, we should all just buy this one box… we should just give up…

If anything did in fact change this year, it was in the length and, at times, pitch of the debate. Short of finger pointing and name-calling, it became clear that no conclusions would be unanimously agreed upon by the end of this year’s panel. With the exception, perhaps, that it may simply be time for the AES to step in, establish some standard (one that many would certainly reject), and encourage the industry to continue moving forward.

If anything, it seems that the current level of disagreement can in large part be attributed to the fact that virtually all those on the panel were, in fact, representing an equipment manufacturer, or at minimum had a vested interest in some piece of gear or code.

One thing’s for sure: where there’s money to be made, there’s an agenda. Or sixty. Hence the loudness debate seems to be something that broadcasters will continue to be forced to shoulder, and push forth on standards, alone, for some time to come.

In that spirit, Dolby Labs has announced their automated quality control system for broadcast, the DP600. Based on the LM100 loudness monitoring technology, it is able to, via network, ingest, correct and output any program content, all in a fraction of real time. Their recent adaptation of the ITU response curve in future iterations of the LM100 might indicate some concession that there are at least a few valid ways to measure loudness, rather than just one.

Dolby was also discussing their soon-to-be released Dolby Volume - a technology aimed at the consumer market that corrects, or “smooths out” uneven broadcast audio levels, while reportedly, not utilizing any form of compression or audible alteration of program dynamic range. Dolby Volume would likely be installed in mid- to premium- priced consumer receiver units, and depending on implementation, may or may not offer any degree of user control. They were clear to point out two key facts- Dolby Volume is not based on the LM100 engine, and, it is not a “loudness button”.

While it remains to be seen whether the LM100 will “win” the loudness debate (or, certainly, at this point, if anyone will win), Dolby is clearly willing to go the long haul and stand behind their unit, and offer support to all customers who choose to utilize this standard.

“Standard”, of course, as in “one, somewhat contested and hotly debated, way of doing it”.

The take home

The real question, always, is this- how does one cull all the information bouncing around the halls of an AES convention, and get a sense of where we’ve been as an industry, and where we’re going? And will that sense be realistic? Will it hold true?

Trying to predict the future of audio is like, well, trying to predict the future. But, one thing is clear: we have turned a few corners.

The Big Rooms have closed; the Home Studio is now just The Studio. Hardware is software, and software is king. Including the word Digital in your company’s name now elicits the response, “um, duh…?” Networks are now multiprocessor grids.

Great stuff. Unfortunately, still nobody can agree on what the word “loudness” even means, much less how to measure it.

The best news is this: despite the decade of fears of the dumbing down of the industry by affordable, accessible computer technology, one thing is clear: no matter how many low-end players enter the market, Pro Audio ain’t going away. In so many ways, the low end is the high end.

But the concept of the convention itself seems geared against making that very type of judgment- so let’s look at this another way. If you realize that you’ve been working a certain way, with a certain toolset for a long time because it suits all of your needs- economically and in terms of productivity- if you are happy, then, by all means do what the “high end” is no longer positioned to scoff upon; keep doing what you’re doing. You’re the small time engineer/mixer/composer, after all, and you’re the sheriff in these parts.

Article by Mark Edmonson

What gives?

2007-10-30T13:01:00.000-05:00

Hey gang, well I am still swamped busy working on Trenches day in and day out and way behind schedule. Doesn't that always seem the way of it. Well it's a good deal of work as you all might know. The edits are coming along, though slower then I would like, but we are grinding away at it.

A typical night or day for me will be say this past Sunday. I edited for about 9 hours straight and got about a little over a minute of footage done. Yeah, good times locked in a dim edit room for hours on hours. but it's getting there.

Some of you have emailed and asked "So when is Trenches coming out!?"
Well we were shooting for an end of October release (Even I felt that was very ambitious.. ok impossible really) but that has been pushed out due to life, studio, technical difficulties, and simple hard-man working time. This happens a lot in production but one I am not familuar with as i do not tend to be behind schedule to much. Of course past film I set the schedule and deadline and simply got it done when I got it done.

Will Trenches come out at all? Oh yes, you better believe it! After almost a little over a year working on this, yes it will be finished. I am projecting for the beginning of 2008 or 2080 , which ever comes first.

Seriously, Trenches is looking now at a release in Febuary or so. Bear with us and I think your wait will be worth while. There is some great work being done. Below I have posted here for you a little treat to show you a test CG shot from the film. This is a first pass render test from two of our Trenches FX team: CG Supervisor Lee Stringer and FX Artist James Hibbert.

Trenches scifi CG Evac Ship Test Render

Add to My Profile | More Videos

On Spike TV

2007-09-28T12:40:00.000-05:00

I ran across this while reading Trey Stokes Blog (creator of Pink Five) and thought it was kind of cool. In connection with the Star Film Challenge on Atom Films, sanctioned by Lucas Film, Spike TV is actually airing some of the winning Fan films. Pretty cool for us little guys.
Check out the Spike TV promo they are running, and low and behold they are using a great deal of Pitching Lucas in the Promo..

For my cast and crew out there "Look your on TV!" Did you ever think taking a chance with a little guy like me making silly fan films would get your there? I didn't, but I am so glad you guys are being shown! the Ewok is actually my 6 year old son Ian who was only 4 at the time when I filmed him for Pitching Lucas... I know he will get a kick out of this.
For me I do not get a chance to watch much TV these days as I work on Trenches so I was surprised to see this promo, and I have no idea if they aired Pitching Lucas or just used it for the promo. You tell me if you know more. Thanks Trey for posting about this.

Trench Itch - First Trenches VBlog Up - watch now

2007-09-12T12:01:00.000-05:00

So if you have gotten the itch to know or watch more about Trenches as we on the Post team work as hard as we can to get you a release soon. I am proud to offer you our first episode of the Trenches VBlog entry that we hope to put out twice a month or so. WATCH NOW

The Trenches VBlog is a Behind the scenes look at the making of the film, the people that go into it and some glances at the film as we were shooting. See all the crew & cast that makeS up Trenches, and keep checking back with us as we release more and more. Other then the dork director in this first Vblog episode, hopefully you guys will enjoy it. Your cure for Trench Rot :)

(You know if this film is bad (and from what I am seeing I do not believe it will be) but if it is, I can so see critiques using that wit in a write-up "Trenches is as good and feels as good as Trench Rot!" yeah .. just remember I said it first - but it's not true I tell you :)

Trenches VBlog edited by Jon Minor who was our BTS videographer, thank you Jon!
Video courtesy of: Jon Minor, Errol Spat Oktan, (look Spat I posted your name) and Cat Simone.

So I hope that cureS any itch you might have for now on Trenches, otherwise if you are still having problems you might want to see a doctor about that or get some ointment or something. in the meantime we will keep working over here as Fall is creeping up on us way to fast!

I ain't no Babe Ruth , but boy that's cool!

2007-09-04T20:49:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid a few things you dream about. Being in movies, being a fireman or astronaut, and being on a trading card. Among other things.
Well I have made some movies and even have seen myself on the big screen, the whole fireman thing didn't work out and astronauts have to be smart, not really me.

But Topps, one of largest makers of sports and entertainment trading cards, has just put out a new Star Wars trading card set celebrating the 30 years of Star Wars, and I am amazed, honored and stunned that my film "Pitching Lucas" is on one of these cards. # 117 to be exact.

The card kindly features on the front a nice picture image from the closing of "Pitching Lucas" and even has a very kind write up about the film on the back of the card and printing my name for all star wars collectors, fans, and kids like me to read.

(Click on card images below to see larger size)

I have to say I never thought one of my films would be on a trading card or my name printed on one. How kewl is that!

A special and huge thank you to Topps and Lucas film for even recognizing fan films, as there are a total of three cards in the 120 card set, showcasing Star Wars fan films such as Pitching Lucas.
Each card has a main picture from a select film on the front, and then a short write up and then another short blurb and small picture from another fan film. My card #117, titled "Welcome to my world" shares the back with renowned and popular fan film "Pink Five" Directed by Trey Stokes. A guy I think I can call a friend now that we talked a good deal at the last Star Wars celebration event. Way to go Trey and Stacey!

Other films include:
Front image- Star Wars Gangsta Rap
Back Image - Escape from Tatoonie

Front image - Jar Jar's walking papers
Back image - Christmas Tauntaun

What can I say, but what an honor and a thrill! A childhood dream! If only trading cards still came with gum, now that was something, and I always loved the smell.

If you guys want a copy you can pick up the Star Wars 30th anniversary trading card set from Topps at comic stores and retailers who sell trading cards, your favorite and mine.. Ebay, or here is a place to order online.

The set includes 120 base cards spanning all six movies, TV movies and appearances, deleted scenes, fan films and some other little treats such as Artist Sketch and Autograph Cards. But the one you really want is card #117 - my new number :)

- Shane

Slice of Scifi - Interview on Trenches - Listen Now

2007-09-04T10:35:00.000-05:00

If you guys want to check it out, Slice of Scifi has put out their latest podcast interview with me online. A great crew of people, Slice of Scifi was one of the first to interview me back in the day when I released Revelations and they have continued to follow my films.

When they got wind of Trenches, they kindly asked if I would be interested in speaking about the project and the making of. I am always happy to and Slice of Scifi has always been there and a great program.

So if you want some further insight, the general ramblings of me, and the making of Trenches, go check out Slice of Scifi's latest podcast release #124. I understand they also broadcast on XM Radio. A special thank you to Michael, Summer and the crew over at SOSF. You guys are great and thanks for all the kind interest and support!

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST INTERVIEW NOW
Let me know what you guys think of.

Also be sure to join friends with the Trenches Myspace.
- Shane

Mr. Mom

2007-08-30T14:24:00.000-05:00

Well I hope this Labor Day weekend is packed with great excitement and fun for you all. I have 4 days of excitement in store for me, as this labor day weekend kicks off the DragonCon event in Atlanta. One of the larger scifi/fantasy, and all around good time, conventions on the east coast.

But I will not be going to DragonCon sadly :(

No, my excitement is staying home by myself and watching over my 3 small children as my wife gets a much needed break and heads off to DragonCon for all the fun it holds.

What am I missing and what does DragonCon look like?
OH, something like this.. more or less, but often more.

YOu get the general idea.

Anyway, fair is fair, as my wife takes the blunt of it when I have to go off to ComicCon and other events to promote my films or for my 9-5 work. So she will get to go and have some fun this time.

For me I will be fixing woobies, changing diapers, yelling "stop that", "take that out of your mouth", "leave your brother alone" as well as putting out fires. Oh yeah and editing Trenches at night... Oh yes, and exciting jam packed weekend in store for me with great fun to be had!

But if YOU are at DragonCon this weekend, and I hope you are, then be sure to look for my wife as she will have on hand and giving out FREE "Trenches" posters and Dog tags as they last. I think she might even have a few "Trenches" trailer DVDs.

Editing "Trenches" has been going slow but I am making some progress and I have actually added a new editor to my team. Marc Linn, who has been a very good friend of mine from Linn Production, has agreed to throw his hat in the "Trenches" ring and help me out. Linn production has just finished their feature film "Imprint" and it should be releasing to various theaters soon.

Marc is also a star wars fan like me and also did a fan film called "Heart of the Rebellion" which might come out in our lifetime, maybe. Marc shot the whole film started editing it and decided to go back and not just do pickups but reshoot the whole thing all over again. A perfectionist, and a damn talented filmmaker and artist.

I am thrilled to have Marc and Linn Productions join us on the team of "Trenches" as they are very talented and good friends of mine. It's always great to work with your friends.

So everyone be safe, have fun this holiday weekend and send me some pictures from DragonCon!

- Shane

Get anything on Ebay .. even me it would seem

2007-08-04T22:55:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I was taking a break from editing, for just a breather, checking my email and I was doing some ego searching on the web tonight (guilty) just trying to gauge how the buzz is going on Trenches and if the word is spreading and so forth, when I come across a link on ebay in which someone has got up for bid, one of my signed Trenches Posters that they got at Comic-Con! That is too funny for me. I was just there and someone is already auctioning a signed poster of me on Ebay .. LOL

I guess this person thinks I am someone or something. funny guys, really funny. Man is that seller in for a let down. He probably couldn't give it away.

The sad thing is that I am only worth $5. Come on I am worth at least $9.99 or something! Maybe I should bid just to try and make people think this is a valued thing. Yeah, start a stunt on myself and bid huge amounts on my own signature which then creates this flux in the collector's market and everyone going "I must have this, it is worth millions!" and then start hording my signature so I can control the whole thing.. then the world!

Well, I thought it was funny. My signature on ebay.. priceless.

I do think it would be funny to flood and ask the seller lots of questions like "does it come with a COA" and "how can I verify it's original as Shane Felux usually signs nothing and is rare". "Can you get more?", "Will you ship insured?" "I am a huge fan, where can I buy the Trenches movie?" .. stuff like that.

Anyway I just had to share, as it tickled me during my break.

Please help support Trenches and spread the word. slashdot do your worst, as it's not my server this time :) Oh, and the auction for the poster ends in 20 hours so rush on over.

Home again - Survived Comic-Con 2007

2007-08-02T11:16:00.000-05:00

Well here is my report from the adventures that followed at Comic-Con 2007 for me. First off this was a whirlwind tour. The studio flew me out Friday afternoon on which I arrived around 5PST in beautiful San Diego. I so love the weather of that town.

I hoped in a cab, checked into the hotel and then met some of the studio reps for drinks in the lovely US Grant Hotel where I was staying. Then it was off for a wonderful dinner with the studio at Bertrand at Mister A's, an excellent 5 star restaurant with a stunning view of downtown. The food and company were excellent and at this point the drinks were starting to take their effect. Those that know me, know I am a cheap date when it come to the drinks, so I was feeling pretty good by this point. :)

Next we all piled into cabs and jetted off to a bar for an industry party hosted by one the large talent agencies. It was open bar and that is never good for me. who was there? Well I met a good deal of great people working in the industry, producers, directors, animators, actors, and some stars even showed up like Liv Taylor, & J. J. Abrams to name a few. But at this point I was finding it hard to tell my left foot from my right so to help we went to another bar that was on the rooftop of a hotel and drank a bit more.. it's the best I can recall for you. Now bear in mind my body is on east coast time, so when I finally went to bed at 3am or so .. I was pretty beat.

I woke around 11am with my head complaining about it, showered, dressed and then headed on over to the convention. The whole reason the studio brought me in was to promote Trenches, and I was signing poster for an hour in the Inkworks booth. Jennifer Love Hewitt had just finished signing in the same seat I then sat in, so that is about as close as I got, other then in passing. Guys, she really is very hot, and the fans really enjoyed seeing her.

So I signed autographs for an hour and people actually lined up. I figured I would be sitting there for an hour like a dork, but the line actually stayed filled for the hour. A few camera crews came over and covered the event like, Xbox Live, The Daily Reel, ABC.com, etc. I bet people passing where like,

"who the hell is this guy?"
"I don't know but he is giving away posters and signing them .. let's get one"
So there ya go. You can watch the interview The Daily Reel did with me there on the con floor.

(I sound like a dork and not one of my better interviews) and a good friend of mine who has an Xbox said he was watching the Xbox Live Marketplace that was covering Comic-Con, saw me and jumped up scaring the hell out of his girlfriend yelling "holly crap that's Shane!"

So if you have and Xbox 360 check it out. I will post the video soon. I don't have and Xbox (how about hooking a brother up Xbox?)

The signing was fun and exhausting at the same time, thanks for everyone who came and for the kind support. It was great to see you and meet new people. I am always love to hear what audiences are thinking and meeting great people. It's a lot of fun and I am very lucky.

The only next highlight then was the Scifi Channel industry party that night, which I have to say was very nice and very well done. I got to meet and shake hands with Stan Lee and even Seth Green, telling him how much I like the Star Wars Robot Chicken special. There were actors from BattleStar there and a good deal of industry. It was a great time, too many drinks, and it was great company. Fun to be had, as I have never been to one of these industry party's before till this event at Comic-Con 2007.
Pretty swank!

So that is pretty much it gang. I was there for only 2 days and had to fly back home Sunday morning, then back to the 9-5 job on Monday and editing at night for Trenches.

Trenches and Shane at Comic-Con 2007

2007-07-25T15:08:00.000-05:00

If any of you are going to be at Comic-Con this year, which it seems like a lot of you are, as attendance is at a record high, 4-Day and Saturday Single-Day Memberships have Sold Out! THERE WILL BE NO 4-DAY OR SATURDAY SINGLE-DAY MEMBERSHIPS SOLD ONSITE! . I hope you got your tickets and the hard to come by hotel!

Here is a link to the searchable Program Book

Well if any of you are going to be at Comic-Con be sure to come by and see me on Saturday on the exhibit floor. I will be at the Inkworks booth #2629 from 4-5PM showing off the new "Trenches" Teaser trailer as well as signing slick Trenches Posters for all 5 of you (ok 10 now) who want one. We will also be giving out some exclusive Comic-Con/ Trenches swag which is cool.

Anyway. I hope to see some of you there and be sure to stop by and say "Hey Shane, your OK in my book" or .. something better then that .. whatever the kids are saying these days :)

In the meantime, here is a good Comic-Con youtube video to watch about the people who dress up and what their day jobs are.

X-ile Pictures New Film Post News

2007-07-20T22:06:00.000-05:00

Well, finally finally.. I have some time and some news to share with you all. It has been a while since I was back on and sorry about that guys. I have been deep in getting a poster, and a teaser trailer and a website done to release my latest new film "Trenches." I have been talking about it for a while and now I can finally share something with you. I am proud to release for you the official film website and Teaser Trailer video. Go check it out and see what you guys think.

http://trenchesonline.com/

TRENCHES TEASER TRAILER

Please help support my latest adventure if your interested and spread the news. Here is a link you can put on your myspace or websites:

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=13624936

VOTE NOW! 2007 STAR WARS FILMS - REVELATIONS

2007-05-15T11:03:00.000-05:00

This is some pretty cool news guys and something I am pretty amazed at. Remember last year how our film "Pitching Lucas" won the top two awards in 2006?

Well this year LucasFilm and AtomFilms are doing the contest again and this year they have opened the contest up to Star Wars fan fiction! This is a big step for the fan community and fan film makers, as fan fiction or serious fan films have never been officially recognized or acknowledged. That has all changed this year thanks to the kind support of Lucas and AtomFilms.

This year they have changed the rules and "Revelations" is an official entry in the 2007 Star Wars Film Contest!

WATCH REVELATIONS ON ATOMFILMS

Go check out this years film entries and support "Revelations" if you enjoy it, and who know maybe this year we might be honored once again by the audience or George Lucas. The fact that "Revelations" still continues to live and be recognized is quite remarkable by me.
GO VOTE NOW

The dream of the little guy still doing what he does.

TRENCHES - A Few More

2007-05-09T09:20:00.000-05:00

Here are a few more pics from the set of "Trenches"

The behind the scene photos are courtesy of Stephen Lesnik, who has advised he has opened his pictures up to public and you can select and see them all here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/slesnik/

Enjoy the pics and I will update on the blog as I can. Only two more days to go for filming. At some point I am going to need to get the "Trenches" official film site up, uhh, only so many hours in the day.

Till that time comes just continue to check here on the director's blog and here pretty soon I should have some new news about "Revelations" I am hoping to share with you. Just a bit of a tease.

Here is Day 10 of TRENCHES

12 days in the can.. Seeing the light

2007-05-08T11:16:00.000-05:00

Well, I now have 12 days of shooting "Trenches" in the can!

It has been some hard work and I have to give great thanks to my wonderful cast and crew. Remarkable hard working people and the results of every one's effort really shows in what I am getting on film. I am very pleased with the performances and we are getting it all done. I have finished filming in the Quarry in Virginia, where we finally got to play with the creatures some, thanks to the designer and builder of the "Trenches" creatures Pete Mander.

I have also finished the bunker scenes and studio shoots in Maryland. So moving on.

Only 2 more days of filming and I will wrap principal photography and go heavy into post.

As always it has been a long hard road and some long hours, but 14 days to shoot a 55min film is really pretty damn good! Especially on the scope and scale for a film like "Trenches"

I will wrap filming on May 13, have a week break and then head to LA for the Star Wars Celebration IV event.

If you are interested here are some more BTS pics from day 7 of "Trenches" - CLICK HERE

Week Two of "Trenches"

2007-04-30T13:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I have finished my second week of filming "Trenches" and what a week it was. Rough. We had to do two splits. In case you are not sure what a split is.. it's when you split the day and start work on set at say 8pm and wrap at 9am. So you start in the night and work through a portion of the day. The trick and thing that sucks the most is that the day before you just worked 6pm to 6am, so the turn around can be kind of fast. We froze and got wet during the night, and then burned up during the day .. Ya got to love film making

For me it meant my first split day I had 5 hours of sleep and had to go 24hours awake. Not fun. I was pretty beat and still feeling a bit slow, but we got all our shots at the quarry and we have wrapped that location. Two weeks in on "Trenches" and moving on. We have been doing 12- 14 hour days. Pretty typical and really not to bad. Big films can go 14-15 for days sometimes killing it's cast and crew. We are trying to keep it down, but making days on a film this big is tough.

We start back up this week and go 5 days straight (4 day on the bunker set, and one in the studio) This week is going to be tough , aren't they all, as it is the meat of dialogue and still a lot of action. Action films are hard to do guys. They require a lot of setups, angles and time. A few lines of script description on action can take 2-4 hours to shoot.. Uhhh.

The cast and crew are doing great and so far we are getting some good stuff. I can not wait to get int the edit room and see what we can put together. I just need to get through this week and then one more and I am done filming. May 13th is my final wrap. Stay tuned.

Here are some more BTS pictures from day 3 & 4 on the set of Trenches

TRENCHES BTS DAY 3

TRENCHES BTS DAY 4

Thanks for all your support out there guys. I appreciate it and it really does help.

send money :)

- shane

Still standing

2007-04-25T15:17:00.000-05:00

Wow.. Hey gang. I am sure most of you have gone on and forgotten about me (all 5 of you) , as it has been a while, but I have not forgotten about you. I have just been slammed crazy busy! I am really busy. Busy with what?

Well as I had mentioned in past posts I have been been working on a new film deal with Stage 9, and waiting to see if the green light goes up for that.

The Green light went up and I yelled "OH crap, What the hell do I do now!?"

So I got the big thumbs up from the studio and within 7 weeks of pre-production I was rolling in a mire of tasks. All this while still working my 9-5 job and family of 3 kids. It has been hectic to say the least and my wife takes the blunt of it.

The end result is that I wrapped my first week of shooting last week, and then continue to shoot till May 13. A total of 14 days making a huge scifi adventure on a shoestring budget.

So I shot 4 days last week, went back to work Monday-Wednesday, and then back to shooting Thursday-Sunday and then do it again till I am done! Then comes post (sigh)

But my cast and crew are amazing and as always I am blessed with some of the best people and talent.

You want to see some pics from the first week? OK.. why not.

The film I am shooting is a Scifi action thrilled that is 55mins long and will be distributed into 13 episodes via the web. It's a broadband released pilot. The film is titled "Trenches"

here are some shots from the first week:

TRENCHES FIRST DAY SHOOT - pictures courtesy: Stephen Lesnik

How did the first week go? wow it was rough, fun and challenging but rough. This is the hardest film I have ever attempted. I say attempted as I am not even sure I can pull this off, but I will give it my all guys and hope you like the end result. The film is slated to release October '07. If it is well received and liked by you, audiences and fans it could have the potential to be a new TV show or feature. For me .. one bridge at a time and you know I don't hold my breath on things like that. I just hope to do the best I can on this project and then see where it goes, but man it is tough. The scope and scale is enormous and the pay is gas money, that is why I have not quit my 9-5 job.. I still have to pay the bills, but we are getting there.

Anyway, I have not forgotten you guys and I am still here (kind of, but holding on) and I will try and keep you updated. There is not an official website for the film yet (there is only so much I can do and I am working on it) but as soon as I have one up, you can be sure I will share it with you. Wish me luck, send me your blessings, and if you see me walking by on the street run me over and put me out of my misery :)

IN OTHER NEWS

I will be in LA for the 30 year special Star Wars celebration event as a guest. So I hope to see you guys there and you can check out the event here: STAR WARS CELEBRATION IV

the biggest Star Wars party ever held. Hope to see you there!

NY Press "Star Wars Revelations" & Fan Films

2007-02-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

The NY Press has just put out a new article about fan films and they cover such stories as "Revelations" among others like "Batman Deadend", "Grayson" "Troops", and "New Voyages" to name a few.

Reported by Curt Holman, he does a great job on this article and gives some good light to fan films, how they make an impact and the possible future. It says a lot that we still continue to make news and the little guy is still around. A good size article on the subject of Fan Films and well written, so for a good read go check it out. NY PRESS: FAN FILM ARTICLE

Shane On The Lot with Spielberg

2007-02-05T15:56:00.000-05:00

Ok gang, as some of you might recall a while back, I posted about a new Mark Burnett reality show coming up called "On The Lot" which is basically "The Apprentice" meets " American Idol" for film makers. It will have Steven Spielberg in which they will take 16 film makers from around the world and give them the chance to earn a $1-million development deal at DreamWorks. Some of you posted and said I should try out and go for it.

Ok, well I threw my hat into the mix and now let's see what happens.

I am now asking you guys to help me and get my "On The Lot" submission seen, supported and viewed as much as possible. If you are really interested in seeing me on this show as a possible entry then please post and share this news and my "On The Lot" submission link.
use this link and share as much as you can, get everyone to go and check it out.
http://films.thelot.com/films/4565
(not glad they took my 16,9 film and squished it to 4,3 .. but no control over that)

This is basically my latest music video "Liberty" which I wanted to hold off to release till it went up on the "Lot submission", but we just couldn't wait that long. So there you go guys. I threw my hat in the ring. Let's see what happens.

Here is also my 45second introduction clip On The Lot asked for, but have not posted yet (they are getting swapped with entries I am sure) but here is a look just for you guys:
http://panicstruckpro.com/onthelot/shane_felux_onthelot.mov

So again help support and get the world out. Show em' what he power of the fans is all about.
Use this link: http://films.thelot.com/films/4565

Back from travels and Star Wars Best of '06

2007-02-01T03:08:00.000-05:00

Well I am actually writing to you from the airport in Austria. I have sometime while I wait for my flight back home and this is a good way to pass the time and stay up on the blog. So I am simply sitting in a nice little pub in the Austrian airport with a cup of coffee, a smoke, and Internet access. Ya got to love Europe, as they drink and smoke everywhere! Even McDonald's has beer!

So Austria, Vienna, city of Music. A beautiful place though I did not get a chance to see much due to the weather being mainly snow/sleet/rain and bitter cold winds. The sun did peak out a few days so I did see a bit and the scenery is wonderful. Beautiful architecture in Vienna where I was staying on business. I got a chance to see a few museums and where Mozart lived, so pretty cool. I will also note to follow up on my London trip, the women here in Vienna are very pretty, from what I saw, and they have that whole exotic/mysterious euro look. So there ya go single guys. Between London or Vienna , go to Vienna.

One thing to also note that when you stay in Europe, for the most part, do not expect hotels to be like the states. The one I stayed in Vienna, was nice enough, but there is no gift shop to purchase drinks and snacks, no ice-machine, no room service, and the room is decorated like Ikea owned the place. The rooms are very small and my bed was the size for a child. Good thing I am not a big guy. But the stay was comfortable enough and the people kind and friendly. So yes I got to have good strudel, schnitzel, beer, and brats. I even went to one place that serves a meter beer and 2 meters of sausage, that's over 6 feet, and no I did not order that.. the result would be fat, bloated and drunk. Hmm, perhaps not a bad way to go, perhaps I should have order it. So Austria, Vienna, a great place to see and visit. I just wished I could have seen more but I was there on business and not pleasure.

IN OTHER NEWS- STARWARS.COM RANKS THE BEST OF 2006
This is kind of neat to share. The official website for Star Wars ranked their top events from 2006 and we are honored to be listed at#4 from our film "Pitching Lucas" winning at ComicCon. Check out the article here: STAR WARS BEST OF 2006 Also noted in the article was the exclusive first glimpse of the coming movie Fanboys, a film about four friends trying to steal a copy of The Phantom Menace from Skywalker Ranch, and the world premiere of Return of Pink Five Volume Two.

X-ILE PICTURES New Film Release

2007-01-27T11:22:00.000-05:00

Currently I am aboard overseas again on travels for business (I will blog about the trip when I get back to the states) but I have not forgotten about you guys and the neglect to my blog entries. So with that said I will post some new stuff for you.

I have been holding off to release this latest new film we completed, as I was hoping to post other news about it. But time catches up to me and I wanted to share the new film with you all and hopefully have your enjoy what we did again for so little as well as little time. Hopefully you will post and share it around and get some entertainment out of it.

I was approached some months back to make a music video for a young artist Margot MacDonald and the band Op-Critical.

It would have been my first paid gig for making film and I was excited by the challenge, so I agreed to do it. I then produced, directed and created the story idea for the music video you are about to see. It took two days to shoot the video up in the schizle of Baltimore, and you may notice familiar faces in the film such as Frank Hernandez, Holland Gedney, Mike Menez, Gina Hernandez, and others from my past films.

When a film project comes in you work with your friends and I have made a great deal while doing "Revelations" "Pitching Lucas" and others. Everyone on the project from cast and crew were part of the teams I used to make all my films and as always it was great to work with them again. I am fortunate to have a great many talented people around me.

So here is my latest film release of a music video called "Liberty" the entire thing was edited by myself and though the music and song may not be the greatest, I hope you like what we were able to do with the visuals, creating a semblance of a story and my quest to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. It was not easy, but I do like a challenge and I am very pleased with the results. I hope you do as well.

DOWNLOAD LIBERTY MUSIC VIDEO LARGE - QT player required (50MB)

WATCH FROM MYSPACE.COM

WATCH FROM YOUTUBE.COM

That is the latest and something to hopefully to keep your interest till the next post. Some of you have been writing "so what is this news of a new film project coming up Shane you keep hinting at!?"

Ok I will tell you this, I am in a development deal in creating a new original scifi short which will be distributed by a new division of Disney. The studio saw my past work, approached me and we have been talking since I was shooting "Pitching Lucas" in Feb '06. Now if all goes well and the green light goes up from the studio we plan to start shooting in late April '07 and releasing the film in the fall of '07. It's still a very small budget film, but this time it will not be my own money and a great stepping stone with studio backing to have it seen by a very large audience. If the film or idea is received well and there is interest it could have the potential of going to a TV series and possible feature film. Though I do not hold my breath for such things as you guys know and hope to only do the best possible film with this first task as I can.

That said, I will be giving more detailed news about this adventure soon, and posting requests for talent of all natures who want to help and be a part of the production. I am going to need as many talented individuals on this one as I can find. I will keep you posted. This is our shot and the door has been opened with what we have worked so hard to do with our past films. We are hoping to capitalize on it. We shall see. Till then enjoy the new music video.

Updates and welcome '07

2007-01-11T21:30:00.000-05:00

Well, the holidays are finally past us and the new year rolls in. I hope everyone had a good one and ready for the excitment of the new year. I have big news to share about our new film project we are looking to do this year, but I am going to hold off for a bit and tease you .. let you simmer.

I can tell you it's a good oppertunity for us and pretty soon I will be blasting the new and everywhere looking for people. So if you missed your chance to work with us in the past and have written in saying " Man Shane if I had known you were doing another film I so would have been there!" Well, you are going to get your chance again and pretty soon we will be calling for you and as many more.

In the meantime here is something fun. I was banging around on YouTube watching some stuff and I came across a music video someone did using footage from "Revelations"
Now when people start taking your films and making their own fan films or Vids that is a great compliment. So go check out what this guy did.

DARK DEN PRODUCTIONS "REVELATIONS" VID

His editing is a bit weak and off but it's the thought that counts, and his credit to us is wrong.. "Revelations" was done by Panic Struck Productions, not panic Struck Studios. Just spell my name right on a check and we will get along fine :) Thanks Dark Den Productions for the tip of the hat.. we are flattered.

If you do not know what a vid is .. it's when you take a subject like a movie and cut your own music video to it. It's fun and way back in the day I made a few myself when I was playing with editing software.

So as a sort of contest I challenge you to take anyone of my films and cut a music Vid to it. If enough of you enter and send something in (all 5 of you out there) then I will pick the very best one and post it here on my Director's blog for the whole world to see (all 5 of you) and even perhaps send the winner a signed "Revelations" poster and the 2 disk DVD set of "Revelations"
Wow! how can your refuse that prize.. so valued and coveted .. well you can have that or I will send you $5.

In the spirit of Vids and sharing here is a very old one I did from back in the day
"Interview with a Vampire"
WARNING CONTAINS VIOLENCE AND SOME SEXUAL CONTENT
(but we all know you like it that way)

So this was something I did when I was just a little baby editor learning learing his first keystrokes, and I calle dmyself Red Rogue Productions (my wife still teases me about my name, and I still like it) . Anyway, chack out the VAMPIRE VID .. ah the good ol days!

Happy Holidays to all!

2006-12-24T22:18:00.000-05:00

Wishing you all a happy and safe holiday season and the very best for the New Year. Thank you for all your support and we hope you will continue to join us for the adventures that lay ahead.

2007 looks to be a very exciting time.

Dare to dream and reach for the stars. Happy Holidays!

- card art courtesy of Greg Metcalf / Panic FX

Jolly Ol’ England and Back Again

2006-12-18T10:06:00.000-05:00

Well the latest is that I am back from a week ½ business trip from jolly ol’ England. It was a good trip if not wet and cold. My highlights of course were seeing the tourist sights such as Big Ben, Parliament, Tower of London, Buckingham, Trafalgar Square, Horse Guard, Changing of the Guard (and no I didn't do the ugly american) and so forth.

The one thing I enjoyed and found fascinating with London is the remarkable architecture. Here you have a mixture of different styles built on top of and around each other as the years change. Beautiful architecture and detailed work in Tutor, Stuart, Victorian, Regent, and more .. Just stunning to see, and all the history behind everything. It seems like everything in London has a story.

One night I went on a pub crawl tour which was most excellent and I highly recommend it to my (of age drinking) audience. The tour started at 4:30pm and we finished at about a half past midnight. By that time even the tour guide was pissed (British talk for drunk) and the group who went on the tour was whittled down to the hardcore drinkers and adventures.

It was a blast, as you start out in a group in which no one is talking to each other, by the end you are hugging each other, doing the whole drunk “ I love you man”, and buying rounds for each other. Our tour guide was a funny charming big Paddy (British for Irish.) and he took us to some of London’s best and most unique pubs in which we were told “ you will have 20-15 mins per pub, and I deem when we leave. My tour my rules. This is a pub crawl and by that name you may have guest it, we are going to pubs. Real men drink a pint, (at that time a feminine voice in the group yelled) “and real women”
At that our Irish guide smiled and said in a draw“ Ahh Lass. That they do! ”

Now, I can remember a few pub names we went to and the rest is kind of a nice blur. We visited: “ The Sherlock Holmes Pub” “Lyceum” “ The Ship and Shovell” “The Black Friar” “The Cockpit” “The Cheshire Cheese” and that is all I remember right now. This was a great tour and we walked along the dark cool streets of London in some of the same haunts that Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd would have been. I recommend the “ghost and gaslight pub crawl” done by the Big Bus Tours. Ask for Allen.

Now the other things I will say about London and the UK is that is it expensive! Especially for me as the US buck is weak right now and it takes two of them to make 1 pound (British money) So I am paying double the price, like a cab in London cost me 20 pounds.. That’s close to $40 for me.. Ouch!

Also food in England is very different then the states for the most part. It’s fairly bland and potato chips are called “Crisps” and fries are called “Chips” don’t confuse them J
Also in a pub a waiters does not seat you. You have to find a table on your own and then you walk up and order your food and drinks at the bar. Simply tell the bar tender your table number. You also pay at the bar as they generally do not bring you a bill to your table. Also Quid is slang for pound. Like our buck is for dollar. If someone says “ that’s 10 Quid” they are saying 10 pounds. But I am sure you all know this.

And people in London are not all nice British and friendly like on “ National Lampoon’s European Vacation” with Chevy Chase. Nope they can be pretty cold to you. They are not all out rude, New York is far worse.. or Jersey for god sakes .. Uhhh. (Love ya Frank and Gina) But for the most part the people are ok and pretty patient being in such a large city with so many people. And my last comment and no offense my UK friends but I do not think the UK has any pretty women.. At least I didn’t see any national pretty British woman. I do not think the country has any. Of course this is all a matter of opinion and I know I am nothing to brag about. But this is not about me and my sexiness, but the sad lack England has of pretty girls. I think they have to import them in from Scotland, Sweden, or the US or something. I am sorry Britain I didn’t see any good looking women while I was there and I wasn’t that drunk the whole time.

But the trip was fine and I learned that Brits party hard during the holiday season. From December to late January they pretty much party the whole time. Ya got to love em for that. So I had tea with the queen mum and she hit me with her hand bag, had drinks with Eddie Izzard and he showed me how to dress, and had a brilliant smashing good time in England (it was OK) . I am very glad to be back home.

And as we make it close to the holiday season let me say Happy Holidays to you and all. The New Year looks to be bringing us some large things to come which I will reveal as I can, and I hope you are still around reading here for the adventures we continue as we press on through. Till that time have a happy and safe holiday season!

The Fountain - a review & more

2006-11-27T11:57:00.000-05:00

OK, so over the Thanksgiving holiday ( I hope you had a good one btw) my inlaws were in town and they had the kindness to watch the kids for us and allow my wife and I to go out (something we have not done together in a long time as we have no family that lives near us)

Well one night my wife wants to go to the movies and she picks "The Fountain" starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. We already saw the new James Bond "Casino Royal" the other night (best Bond film ever and I am not a huge Bond fan.. this is an excellent movie!)
But we are talking about "The Fountain"

This was a painful, trite, poor film, that I even witnessed people walk out of. It's written and directed by Darren Aronofsky and I do not know who at Warner Brothers released this film, but man was it bad! On a $35M budget I could think of a lot better ways to spend the studios money. Like "why not we just go around the back, I kick you in the balls and then you just give me the money and we call it square" This would have been a deal compared to the outcome of "The Fountain".

Some like this film and state "it's to deep for most to understand"
It's not deep at all and I was upset at the director for hitting us over and over with his unimaginative repeated visual metaphors, overdone theories of life and death, and poor morality tale. the dialogue, even delivered by talented talent, came off like I was watching a high school one-act play. This was an artsy fartsy disaster. It was even billed as Scifi. terrible. The director is very over done and I do not care how many times you cry and blow up in anger (as they do this all through out the film over and over ) it does not make your acting great or your film deep, it just makes it tired, predictable, trite and dumb. The director obsessed with this film for 6 years, 6 years! and this is what you get when you have a director write the story, script and cast his fiance (Rachel Weisz) in the film. Jackman must have taken this film as a character study development in his career .. My films might be bad and I am not one to talk but man... I want my money back!

But here are what others had to say:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_fountain/

IN OTHER NEWS:
And in others news (as it's my blog and I can do anything I want, even terrible spelling and grammer I hear some of you cringe over.. to bad)
I finally got a MySpace thingy setup. I found you can load video to it and I am using it to finally cut down on the broadband we use from X-ILE PICTURES, and Panic Struck. So if you want and you have a MySpace thingy then check it out: SHANE'S MYSPACE THINGY

Returned Call .. LucasFilm LTD

2006-11-14T21:17:00.000-05:00

I thought this was kind of kewl to share with you guys, and to let you know there are good people out there and that calls do get returned sometimes, even from the busiest people. Discovery - There is goodness and real people in the world after all.

I was home outside on the deck a few weeks ago when my wife comes running up, opens the sliding glass door in a hurry with my cell phone ringing in hand (I left it inside the house charging) She hands me the phone with a look of energy and says " I think you will want to take this call" I look at her inquisitively and look at the ringing cell phone. The caller ID reads "Lucas Film"

Low and behold it is Rick McCallum (Producer of Star Wars) giving me a follow up courtesy call.

First off let me say Rick is one hell of a nice guy. To even take the time out of his busy schedule to even call me is very kind and generous. I have spoken briefly with Rick before in the past and he comes off as a very grounded, an all around nice guy that is no different then you and I.

I have found that most of the people at the top of their industry who are successful at what they do are actually some of the nicest common people. You know why? Because those who are talented, professional, kind and nice to work with are the ones who stay at the top. If you are a jerk eventually it's going to catch up to you and I do not care how talented you are, people will simply not want to work with you, and you will destroy yourself. This is what I have found and perhaps not 100% true but I would say 98% of the time. Successful talented people remain successful because not only are they good at what they do, but the love what they do and are enjoyable to work with. treat people well and YOU will go farther in life and your career. Try it!

(again, not always easy to do)

So we chatted for a bit and I even gave Rick a bit of a hard time asking "So, have you finally seen my films"? He said he enjoyed watching them. He saw "Pitching Lucas" before it came out and was even one of the people at Lucas Films to vote on it. He made the commend that my George Lucas office in the film is better then the real one. That made me laugh.

Rick was very kind and generous, easy to talk with, and his support was truly appreciated by me. We talked some of what I am currently working on and so forth and he gave some good advise which I will share with you, " Make your original films and go with it. Stand on your own two feet and go for it."

Well that is just what I have lined up next and we will see how it goes. He said they will be watching and if I ever needed any help I could always call. That is a very kind gesture and one that is kind of producer nicey PC talk, (kind of like .. "Let's do lunch) but someone like Rick does not need to make such a gesture so I can appreciate him even saying something like that.

I warned him "be careful what you say, as I could take you up on that offer"
he chuckled and said " Go ahead, it's no problem"

So there you have it gang, there is some goodness and rightness in the world sometimes and good people just like you and I. Sometimes calls do get returned. Never give up and never let someone say you can not accomplish anything. Just remain professional, courteous, gracious, and as kind as you can in your pursuits.

(not always easy to do)

And NO Rick did not call to offer me a job or anything like that, so come back down to the real world guys, but my name is known to them and I have a good relationship, and that is very good.

Contacts and friends in the industry, you are looking to stir, is a good thing, and it's from a force of talent I respect and a company that inspired me to pursue this crazy thought of a dream... LucasFilm Ltd. I am humbled, honored to even be known for my work thus far and hope I can continue to keep those guys over there, and you as well, impressed and awake. With your support there is no telling what we can do, or fail.