Joey Walker – Camera Cranes

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting up with Joey Walker to talk shop. He is one of a handful of crane owners on the east coast. Specifically, we talked about Joey Walker’s 32 foot crane with a remote head and his recent addition of a 4 foot wide steel golf cart. This 1800 lb steel golf cart houses the crane and allows for excellent mobility, which creates a great efficency. Now instead of getting 2 to 3 set-ups a day with talent, you can get around 15!

This picture really gives you a good idea of how big Joey Walker’s 32 foot crane really is! Joey Walker has all kinds of experience with a resume that includes capturing the crane shot for NBC at the inauguration as president Barack Obama waved goodbye to president Bush as he boarded the helicopter.

“Funny The Way It Is…”

“Funny the way it is,” was shot a couple weeks ago by a good friend of mine Johnny St. Ours. He is an extremely talented Director of Photography and knows how to work the RED ONE. It has been a pleasure working with Johnny St. Ours for the past couple months and it gives me great confidence knowing that Johnny St. Ours will be the Director of Photography for the short motion picture I’m working on producing with Shelina Merchant (McIntire 09′) and Ronald Lee Washington set on UVA Grounds. 

“Funny the way it is…”

Rishi & Valerie Adhikari

Rishi & Valerie from Bryan Ross Bieber on Vimeo.

Here is the motion picture highlight reel for Rishi and Valerie’s special day, I say motion picture because, this is not just another wedding video. Hope you like it!

Sarah Tiana – Reno 911

I haven’t posted anything in a while because I have been assisting in the production for a 5 week shoot of a feature motion picture in Charlottesville that is being kept under wraps. However, I recently just finished a website for Reno 911’s own Sarah Tiana. She was on a total of four episodes this season. Sarah Tiana is one of the Southern Belles of Comedy and on tour with Brett Butler. Not only is Sarah Tiana extremely funny and easy to talk to, she is hard worker and has built quite a following. I look forward to working with her in the future.

Mieka Pauley “All The Same Mistakes”

Here is the music video for Mieka Pauley directed by Eric Hurt and shot by Johnny St. Ours that I was a Production Assistant on. The video came out great and it’s always a pleasure working with such talented people!

By the way, Mieka Pauley was named Cosmopolitan’s “Fun Fearless Female Rockstar of the Year”

Virginia Festival of Student Film

Last weekend, I attended the Virginia Festival of Student Film, hosted by Reno 911’s Sarah Tiana. The festival was coordinated by Zac Fabian, a friend of mine at the University, and put on by the Virginia Filmmakers Society. 

I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Lowell, writer/director of John Tucker Must Die, Over Her Dead Body, and Hotel for Dogs. Jeff Lowell has been living in Charlottesville for 5 years now, he is a great guy and very funny (he is a comedy writer). Also, I had a good chance to talk with Barry Sisson, owner of Cavalier Films, his best suggestion for independent filmmakers is “know your audience.”

I raised the question, during a panel discussion on “The Future of Film,” to  Lane Kneedler, a programmer for the American Film Institute, who watched 899 films last year, “have you seen more films being made for specific audiences, and do you predict more film’s being produced with the intent of self-distribution?” His reply was that he has definitely seen more films made for a niche audience, however, they were not particularly better, like WWII films for example. After speaking with Jeff Lowell, after the panel, he said, film’s that are set in actual towns are more specific, and people can relate to them better than just setting a film in “Small-Town America” My conclusions, shoot a film in a city that has never been shot before, you’ll know your audience, and it will relate to those people.

Money Ain’t A Thing – Entire Short

Today, I have uploaded the entire short film entitled, “Money Ain’t A Thing” that was shot in March 2008 with NO BUDGET. I password protected this film because it’s not redemptive media, and its slightly over 15 minutes long. Therefore, if you serious about watching “Money Ain’t A Thing”, I’ll give you the password or mail you the DVD. Most people don’t watch a video online that is over 10 minutes and I don’t want to promote media thats not redemptive.

The story for the full-feature which is based strictly on the “Money Ain’t A Thing” – First 5 min. (no password needed), has been co-written by Heather Hummel, UVA alumni and published author. Her book “Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age” appeared on the Today Show three times and in the USA Today.

Analysis of the Independent Film Industry

Written by: Bryan Ross Bieber

A. What is Independent Film & How Does It Relate to the Motion Picture Industry?              

While there is no true definition for an independent film, a true independent film is any film that is produced outside of a major Hollywood studio. A major Hollywood studio is defined as a motion picture and distribution company. “The US Motion picture industry generates close to $100 Billion in revenues, is one of the country’s largest exporters, and enormous cultural influences worldwide” (Young, “Making”). There are six major Hollywood studios currently in the United States that command approximately 90 percent of the U.S. and Canadian box office. These companies have many subsidiaries and include formerly independent companies that have been acquired. The major Hollywood studios that currently exist are Warner Bros. Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney, Universal Studios, and 20^th Century Fox.  

The major studios today are primarily backers and distributors of films whose actual production is mostly handled by independent companies including their own. However, the specialty divisions often acquire distributions rights to pictures with which the studio has had no prior involvement. LionsGate and The Weinstein Company are the two largest independent producer/distributors.

B. Strengths:  Distribution, Social Networks, Digital Cinema, & Growing Taste

The major strengths now in the independent film industry are new distribution channels via the Internet, and Video-On-Demand. This in turn allows the producers more control over their work. With the development of social networks, marketing a product through word-of-mouth (WOM) can have a significantly larger impact.  Digital Cinema has also dramatically reduced the price of prints making it significantly less expensive to display a product in multiple venues, giving digital filmmakers the same opportunities as the majors. Also, the growing taste of the new baby boomers prefers deeper meaningful independent films. Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Sigman – Republic Pictures

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Sigman. Bob Sigman was the president of Republic Pictures before it was bought out by Paramount. Republic Pictures was an independent film and distribution company that specialized in lower budget movies and the heart of the company was it’s B-westerns. John Wayne and Roy Rogers became recognizable stars at Republic. Bob Sigman, was in-charge during the later years and responsible for green-lighting 40 full-feature films.

Currenlty, Bob Sigman has a couple side businesses, including a video-rental store in Lake Monticello called “I Love Movies.” It was good talking movies with Bob Sigman and he gave me some invaluable advice and direction on my specific project. We also talked about the changing international market for films and how Horror films are flooding the market.

Here is a list of movies that Bob Sigman recommend that I haven’t seen:

(1) Into The Wild

(2) The Great Debators

(3) Gone Baby Gone

(4) Mr. Brooks

(5) Eastern Promises

(6) History of Violence

Fred Rubin – Comedy Writing

Currently, Fred Rubin teaches classes at UCLA in comedy writing and screen writing. Fred Rubin is also an on-going instructor for the Warner Brothers Writer’s Workshop, the Disney Writer’s Fellowship, the Nickelodeon Writer’s Fellowship, Columbia College at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood and the ABC Talent Development Program. Here are the main points I took away from Fred Rubin’s Comedy Writing Workshop:

(1) Anybody with a sense of humor can be taught how to be funny

(2) Humor requires rhythm – a joke can be funny if you remove a syllable

(3) Rule of 3: the unfunny thing, the unfunny thing, the funny thing

(4) Negative emotions and dark-side are what comedy needs to exist

(5) “We laugh because we know”

(6) Best jokes come from character (obsessions, quirks, hobbies)

(7) Scatological, Vulgar, Profane, & Sex jokes are NOT CLEVER and anybody can write that
Read the rest of this entry »

Fred Rubin – Family Matters

On Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of meeting and attending a lecture by Fred Rubin. Fred Rubin graduated from the University of Illinois in 1972 with a BFA in directing and playwriting. After graduating Fred Rubin spent a couple years in Chicago as a social worker, columnist, stand-up comedian and jingle writer. Fred Rubin moved to Los Angeles in 1976 and began working full time in network television.

Since 1977 Fred Rubin has served as a writer on fifteen network series and has been the producer of such shows as, “Different Strokes,” “Archie Bunker’s Place,” “Mama’s Family,” “Webster,” “Night Court,” “Family Matters,” “Step by Step” and “Two of A Kind.” His career has included writing sixty episodes of prime time TV, ten pilots and two made-for-TV movies. Fred Rubin’s lecture entitled, “Navigating & Succeeding in Hollywood” was geared more towards TV writers but he still made good points that can relate to any industry. Here are some key points I took away from Fred Rubin:

(1) Compare your skills with people around you, and with professionals

(2) Focus your skills and know what you do best

(3) Networking is everything, and be prepared to be helped (by pre-work)

(4) Have realistic expectations, everything takes longer than you think

(5) Work for FREE and always do more then is necessary

Marley Sims – Home Improvement

A couple days ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Marly Sims, who wrote over 23 episodes for Home Improvement in the period of 7 years, full-time. Marly Sims was here in Charlottesville at UVA speaking about “Gender and the Politics of writing in Hollywood.” Marly Sims is from Brooklyn, NY where she got her start in acting on Broadway then moved on to writing. 

A couple interesting points that I took away from Marly Sims lecture are;

(1) Basic Comedy Writing: always write the funniest line at the end

(2) Write with a partner and you need others because you lose perspective

(3) Basic Comedy Writing: too may “the’s” will kill the joke, rhythm is everything

(4)  As far as writing Actions for TV series, only write the comedic action

(5) If an Actor/Actress can’t remember a line, it shouldn’t have been in the script

Brandon London Miami Dolphins

Currently, I am working on producing a reality pilot for a good friend of mine, Brandon London, wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins. I just got back from New York last week as I was there with Brandon London behind the scenes at BET’s “Rip the Runway.” This was Brandon London’s second year participating in the fashion show. The concept of the show is a young NFL player coming up in the league and also pursuing a modeling/acting career during the offseason.

While we were up there I filmed and put together a video for his fans, to show his dedication to working out in the off season. Click here to watch Brandon London’s workout on 2-20-09 at the Gold’s Gym in New Jersey.

Here are a couple articles that the Sun-Sentinel and ThePhinsider wrote about Brandon featuring the video.

“Through Hazel Eyes”

I recently finished a book trailer for Heather Hummel’s new novel “Through Hazel Eyes.” Heather Hummel is a published author who specialized in the genre of Body, Mind, and Soul. Heather Hummel is a fellow UVA alumni and my screenwriting partner. Her last book, “Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age” appeared on the Today Show three times and in the USA Today.

“Through Hazel Eyes” is Heather Hummel’s first novel and was inspired by her students, from when she taught high school english. Not only is Heather Hummel a very talented writer, she is a pleasure to work with. Click here to purchase the book at www.Amazon.com. We are still working together to come up with a title for our screenplay which takes place almost entirely on UVA Grounds and in the City of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Monkeyclaus Studio

Last Week, I took a nice ride out to Monkeyclaus Studio in Nelson County, Virginia. This is an actual picture of the studio itself. I like to refer to this place as the 007 studio because it doesn’t look so hot on the outside, but brand new on the inside with a design that delivers outstanding acoustics.

It was my second trip to Monkeyclaus Studio and I worked with cheif sound engineer Abel Okugawa to help Heather Hummel with a voiceover for her latest novel, “Through Hazel Eyes,” book trailer. I got a good chance to speak again with the founder, Peter Agelasto, and I wanted to pass along a couple inspirational quotes I remember from our conversation:

(1) “We overestimate what we can do in 1 year, and underestimate what we can do in 10 years.”

(2) “If Friday night feels different from Sunday night, you’re not doing what you love to do.”