Sunrise, Sunset

I put in about ten hours this weekend finishing up the first draft of HELLSHOCK for the Polonia Brothers. They have secured locations and are working on casting, so they were glad to see it. Hopefully they'll feel the same way after they read it.

Already looking on to the next thing. I sent off some paperwork over lunch today for starting a potential rewrite on another project as soon as tomorrow. More on this hopefully soon.

Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Over There

I have really been putting the hammer down on my Polonia Brothers script, which may be called HELLSHOCK (my suggestion) or perhaps HELL'S HALF DOZEN (the Brothers' suggestion, which I like also because it's kinda like THE DIRTY DOZEN, only done cheaper!). I had this weird euphoria after knocking out fifteen pages the other night--I don't know if it was like a runner's high, or like the wooziness I hear you get after massive blood loss, like from a shark bite or something. I think it was because I found a good batch of muse songs, which I think helps me write. Usually good muse songs for me are things like "Time Has Come Today" by the Chambers Brothers and "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash and "Driver's Seat" by Sniff N The Tears and so on, but this script takes place in the 40s, so to get that groove on first I listened to a CD called "The Force's Sweethearts" which was a lot of songs like "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "White Christmas" and the like, but they were a little too romantic (natch) so I tried a bunch of old gospel stuff like The Carter Family's "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and the Stanley Brothers' "The Fields Have Turned Brown," and that's been the right note.

Definitely pounding the keyboard this weekend, as I have another project I need to start next week, details TBA.

Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

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An ad, created by Sheri Santo with photo courtesy Jon Ashby, that will be appearing on websites to promote this humble blog. Feel free to use at your own site, if there are not enough mentions of Bigfoot and shemps on there.

Hell is for Heroes (and Scriptwriters)

I've been working like a coal miner over the new Polonia Brothers script, a supernatural war story set during the War to End All Wars (until we started to fight in Korea, Viet Nam, Panama, Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq, Iraq again, Iran probably later, etc.); last night I talked to Mark Polonia, live from Wellsboro Pennsylvania, and heard some of their ideas for casting and a little bit more about the CGI work they want to do for the denouement of the piece, which hopefully I'll be writing before too much longer. The tentative start of shooting is the last of May, which ain't too far off pre-production-wise.

I promised to make this one, in my own words, more muscular and less cerebral. I think the Brothers are still having flashbacks to my lengthy soliloquies in AMONG US, as well as my propensity for writing lots and lots of supporting characters. Mark and John's worst nightmare, and probably any low-budget producer's as well, is having fifty characters walking in lockstep over a hill, each spouting a Shakespearean monologue.

I really have to get it cooked out, as it looks like I'll be starting on a rewrite the very next week after I promised the Polonia Brothers' project, more details on that to come. Maybe it's time to start that coke habit I hear all those high-falutin' Hollywood screenwriters have.

It's always funny to see what people google to find your page, like Daryn Kagan in leather and raspberry beret horse and Who Sang Billy Don't Be A Hero, but there's something that just got me laughing about the search query Bullshit in Wellsboro. Have to ask the Brothers about that one.

Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

The Vow, Pt. 8

Part 8 of my serialized comic strip "The Vow," where GameFace breaks the super-baddie code.

The Vow Pt. 7

Part Seven of my serialized comic strip from 2001, featuring the beginning of the end for "The Free Agents."

Flying Leathernecks

I've been cooking away on the new still untitled Polonia Brothers project, a supernatural horror outing in a historic setting. I was working so hard last night I even decided to pass on American Idol, though I stopped to watch the strange sight of a parallel-universe Ron Artest get convicted of murder on Law and Order. We still love our Pacers anyway.

All the hard work is worthwhile when you get nice emails like this one:

...My brother and I have loved low budget horror films forever. We rented the classic Cannibal Campout and were hooked back in high school. Anyway we haven't been able to find any good ones in a while, until my brother tried out netflix. About a month ago we had over a foot of snow and had nothing to do but check out these dvd's he lent me from the now FAMOUS POLONIA BROTHERS and JOHN OAK DALTON. We watched Feeders, Feeders 2 and Among Us. It was an eye opener, my wife was like whatever I'm going to bed, we've kind of abused her with cannibal campout for years. The extras on the dvd's were great, so he returned them and 2 days later we received HOLLA Back and PETER ROTTENTAIL. Now after seeing a couple they're all great but the best as far as I can tell is Among Us. Keep on writing and we'll keep our eye out for other films you've done.

Feel free to give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

TPK

All of a sudden I have a lot of projects in the hopper, and man do I have a lot of typin' to do. But of course I loafed off a bit on Valentine's Day and watched THE NOTEBOOK with my wife, which despite its continuity errors and leaps in logic and historical inaccuracies only subtracted a little bit of my soul.

Does anyone want to be my Netflix "friend?" I'm just curious to know how it works.

Does anybody using Blogger know why my sidebar keeps getting messed up?

Yeah, well I always figured it was all about this.

Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

My Bloody Valentine

I just posted my 100th review at Microcinema Scene, and that's a lot of micro. Here it is. I did a quick count, and think I have written one five star review (that was for NOTHING SO STRANGE, though I certainly would have given the nod to RED COCKROACHES as well if Pete Bauer hadn't beaten me to it), a half-dozen four star reviews (here's a good one), and a handful of one star reviews (here's a favorite, and this one) with about 90 percent falling somewhere between two and three stars. That means most everything I've seen falls slightly below average, was average, or slightly above average. I wonder what this says about the grassroots DV movement, or if it says something about me as a reviewer, or whether it says nothing.

A few years ago a local radio station had a Valentine's Day contest about the craziest way to meet your future spouse, and I called in about how my wife and I met on a blind date at an intersection in January of 1987 and were married about nine months later. Then some MF called in about how he met his future wife on an ambulance run and stole the prize right out from under me. Damn that paramedic!

This dude has some pretty cool ideas.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Back Home Again

Got a lot of catching up to do this weekend on scriptwriting and another proposal after being knocked out by the flu all week.

But first I'm going to have to start a Hoosier Anti-Defamation League after last night's episode of ER, which featured Dr. Weaver's long-lost birth mother visiting from Indiana, and naturally she got pregnant at fourteen, then became a born-again Christian and hates gays, and now runs an auto parts store. The Crossroads of America, indeed.

Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Rabid

I have been flat on my back over the last few days with the flu, loyal readers, but am trying to put feeble fingers to keyboard today to try and get caught up. I've fallen behind on the Polonia Brothers project as well as another pitch I was working up this week. Perhaps my technicolor Nyquil dreams will serve as my muse.

Somebody found my blog by typing in sex farm john oak dalton. I don't think I've ever worked at such a farm, nor have I had the opportunity to write a script based on this idea--yet. Somebody also found my blog by typing in Twas the Night Before Desperate Housewives, whatever that means.

Back at full strength tomorrow, but 'til then give me a holler at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

The Vow Pt. 6

The Vow Pt. 6, part of my ill-conceived serial comic from 2001. The title "Sanpin" comes from the Japanese word for a second-tier samurai, which our beloved Captain Gravity proves to be.

The Vow Pt. 5

My poorly-drawn serialized comic strip "The Vow," but one of my favorite outings, where a crazy homeless guy describes a superhero fight. Cleverly, I called this one "Hangnail's Prophesy" and forgot to call the character Hangnail in the story, nor show that he had a hook for a hand.

The Third Skull

Knocked out some pages for the Polonia Brothers' new horror feature, title TBA, last night, and talked to a new director about a rewrite that I might work on after finishing up the script for the Bros. It really is either feast or famine.

A great childhood pal of mine was on NPR about what's it's like being curator of the Vice President's Museum in Dan Quayle's hometown of Huntington, Indiana, on the "Highway of Vice Presidents," and for the curious you can hear all about it right here.

Somebody found my blog by typing in pictures of america's badasses (naturally) and movie tighty whities (um, thanks for playing).

Back to the keyboard, and more tomorrow. Until then, give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

The Night That The Lights Went Out In Georgia

The new page for Microcinema Fest 2005 is up. This was a really great fest last year. It looks like I'll also be teaching at another "Film Boot Camp," this one at the Palatine, Illinois Public Library.

My good friend Jon McBride, who gave me the best advice I ever got in the industry (recently reprinted here), has a new online interview here.

Hey, Leather Girl from Christopher Sharpe's SEX MACHINE has her own blog here!

What's with all these folks hitting my blog after searching for "sexy girls in Dalton, Georgia?!" Damn, people.

Give me a holler at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Sex Machine Update #3

Yeah, that looks like it stings. Our patched-up protagonist, Frank, getting a nicely-lit wake-up call in Christopher Sharpe's SEX MACHINE, with new updates at sexmachinemovie.com.