Lower the Curtain Down on Memphis

 This post first appeared, in a slightly different form, in my e-newsletter I WAS BIGFOOT'S SHEMP.

My new film SMART HOUSE has hit streaming platforms; I will suggest catching it right here on Tubi, since you can see all three of my films there for free (including one in a Spanish dub).  And finally, my wife's colleague's teenaged kid likes one of my movies, even if it was made by an old person.  Won over one of my harshest critics.

I am thankful to director Joe Swanberg's microcinema in Chicago; "Late Shift at the Grindhouse" at Film Scene in Iowa City, Iowa; and the Englewood Theater in Englewood, Ohio for providing screenings of my movie before its street date.

I talked my wife into watching ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS, a box set of folk horror, during October, and we had a lot of fun with it.  Start with the Eastern European ones that lean into the folk more than the horror to see some unique and offbeat films.

My reading is finally picking up again and if you like my newsletter you'll probably like THE MILITIA HOUSE by John Milas.  It's about a couple of soldiers at a base in Afghanistan who get bored and decide to visit a spooky abandoned house they can see just outside the wire, a bad idea.  It absolutely scared the fire out of me, and I don't get scared very easily.  I'm about halfway through SILVER NITRATE by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and I can tell it'll be recommended by me as well.  It's all about the occult and old Mexican horror movies so you know I'm going to be down for that.

The last time I sent a newsletter I had knuckled down and bought a Mac Mini tricked out with Final Cut to re-learn editing, but it's all still in the box.  The truth is I've been struggling with depression and have had to enter an outpatient program that involves medication, therapy, and coursework.  Having untreated depression has derailed a lot of my day job and b-movie night life, as well as everything else, so if you are reading this and in the same boat as me, I encourage you to seek help before you hit the guard rail and spin out like I did.

Hoping to re-enter the b-movie world again with new projects before long, but until then, thanks for reading.

Sixteen Going On Seventeen

 June's been a wild ride, and it's only half over.

Me and my SMART HOUSE producer Henrique Couto went to Chicago to screen the movie for the first time, in director Joe Swanberg's secret VHS store/screening venue.

Strange but true!  Swanberg (HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS, DRINKING BUDDIES, DIGGING FOR FIRE) opened a video store in Chicago, made up of his own VHS collection, and firmly and defiantly lodged in 1998.  So no social media, no email, no cell phones allowed.  As well as being able to rent VHS tapes two at a time, every month Joe snail mails a flier to card-carrying members (their photos taken with what looks like an old license branch camera) with everything going on there.  

Henrique and I were directed to a pizza place down the street from the venue, where we were met by our Chicago film programming friend Jason.  After a good Chicago cracker crust pie he escorted us to the location, which really is a blank door in the side of an unassuming building.

The front room is pretty small, with a lot of VHS categorized on shelves, then you enter a larger room with even more tapes and areas for old magazines and current zines, old books on a table and vintage clothes on a rack, all for sale.

The back room is larger yet and the only nod to the modern world, with a nice projector and sound system, but the decor is somewhere between speakeasy and all the basements I hung out in in middle school.  Joe spins records and audience members BYOB until the movie starts.

We had about 25 people there, a receptive crowd, and I was extremely flattered when Joe asked me up to do a Q&A afterwards.  Unlike what you'd imagine Hollywood people to be, he was extremely gracious and generous with his time and attention.  I think more people wanted to hear Joe Swanberg ask questions than wanted to hear my answers, but it was an attentive group and then after Joe said people could hang out for a while.

Which probably half the people did, until about one in the morning, and I found out it was pretty much a gaggle of film students, other filmmakers, and film-adjacent people, a good group to listen to records with and talk about movies to.

A memorable night indeed, and left with an offer to come back for something else one day, a good reason to keep making movies.

Just a few weeks before Chicago, I got a surprise email from the people who have been getting a ton of buzz for WINNIE THE POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY, a horror movie made when this sharp-eyed British production company saw Pooh falling into the public domain.  Like all overnight sensations in the movie biz, they've been grinding for a number of years with all kinds of other franchises to see what sticks, like the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Medusa, Humpty Dumpty, and one called simply THE BAD NUN.

Now the bell tolls on BAD NUN 3, and they asked if I could write a script for them quickly--really, really quickly, faster than I ever have written, but of course I said yes because suddenly these folks are on a rocket, and it never hurts to be standing around when one takes off.

Friday was the first day of shooting, and it's been crazy watching it unfold five hours in the future in England,  just a few weeks from my keyboard.  Eager to see what happens with that.

On Wednesday Henrique Couto and I are heading back to another fantastic film venue, this time Film Scene in Iowa City.  This is a really, really nice theater with very articulate film fans, and it's a cool town to boot. 

Can't wait to fill you in on this, and the set of BAD NUN 3, very soon.

Suds and Soda

This post first appeared in my e-newsletter I WAS BIGFOOT'S SHEMP.

 Heading to Dayton Saturday to put the final touches on SMART HOUSE, which needs to be done because we already have a screening, and it's back at the great venue Film Scene in Iowa City, Iowa.  We will be at "Late Shift at the Grindhouse" Wednesday June 21 at 10 p.m., and me and hopefully producer Henrique Couto will be on hand to answer questions after.  This is always a great, literate film crowd and the people who run the screenings are top-notch.

We have another screening in the offing, and it is a genuine surprise I think, so as soon as it is locked in I will have the info right here first.

A new Belgian website must not understand the U.S. film world too well, because they actually asked me to contribute to a series called "The Five Hidden Movie Gems of..."  It was flattering to be asked, and I thought you might want to read what I sent before the Belgians.  These are The Five Hidden Movie Gems of John Oak Dalton.
 

DEAD MOUNTAINEER'S HOTEL. I am curiously partial to Soviet-era science fiction but find many haven't seen Estonian director Grigori Kromanov's genre-bender, based on the book by the Strugatsky Brothers.

TATTOOED LIFE. I'm a huge fan of Japanese auteur Seijun Suzuki and although this isn't my favorite, it's one I've felt like I would like to remake, and is a good entry point for viewers new to his style.

THE RED CIRCLE. Again a huge fan of French director Jean-Pierre Melville and also sorely wish I could remake this one day. Fantastic noir.

ALPHAVILLE. The perfect film for my sensibilities, an insouciant genre movie through a New Wave filter with unapologetic DIY sensibilities, directed by Jean-Luc Godard to boot.

RED COCKROACHES. Cuban filmmaker Miguel Coyula's entirely original philosophical science-fiction film is a masterpiece of DIY filmmaking, looking like a 20 million dollar film but made for $2K, with ideas enough for a hundred movies.

My biggest regret in leaving the television and video world behind for marketing is that I have lost track of my editing sensibilities.  I feel like I was a pretty good editor back in the day, and in fact that was my entry point into the industry--assistant editing on Ivan Roger's priest-turned-hitman movie FORGIVE ME FATHER, editing all the action scenes such that I didn't see any scenes with anyone alive until I went to the premiere.

So I knuckled down and bought a Mac Mini installed with Final Cut X a few weeks ago.  I'm hoping it's like riding a bike, but I have to get it out of the box first and set it up.  I have a little low-level anxiety about it because my last true job in the video business was 2005, but I guess I can get on YouTube like everybody else and figure out how to do it again.  And I hope I still have a little magic left.  Tips from Final Cut X editors welcome.

Thanks for reading and I will have updates on SMART HOUSE again soon.

Like Dylan in the Movies

 

Slowly chugging through post on SMART HOUSE for a end-of-March deadline.  Got a picture lock in and sent to the composer, with the color timing, sound mix, and some effects to put in.  Really happy with this one.

Some sweet merch from SMART HOUSE, print run of two, came out from Ashlee Britt, who did script supervision on the film and also designed the Mothman tee shirt you see in the movie.  It memorializes the image she drew on the slate, and one of her favorite lines.  I got one and co-writer Richard Pierce got the other.

I just use a whiteboard for a slate.  I don't need to use a fancy clapboard with my name written on it, and the DP, and whoever else.  We know who worked on it.  It seems like people like to have clapboards with their names written on it so maybe this is sacrilege.

Production on my new grandbaby wrapped up a few weeks ago as well.  Her name is Amelia Rose and she is keeping everyone pretty busy.  She cries whenever her Boompa looks at her so she may end up being pretty smart.  Her great-grandma worked in the costume department on this project, as seen here.

Just got back from England, where I went on a field study with my wife and a group of students to learn more about Jane Austen.  I read PERSUASION to prepare, which is about a dried-up spinster of 27 who tries to find love again.  It actually would make a pretty good contemporary Lifetime movie.  It would be fun to do a modern adaptation.  I'm going to read NORTHANGER ABBEY next, which apparently is more of a Gothic and might also have trappings to do a b-movie version, you never know.  I'd like to go more highbrow, at some point.

Best of all my week-long search to find my favorite comic 2000 A.D. ended at the airport, with a good story from Judge Dredd in it.

I've got another recommendation for those who follow this e-newsletter, and it's THE SORCERER OF PYONGYANG by Marcel Theroux.  It's about a kid in North Korea who finds a D&D Dungeon Master's Guide a delegation from the West accidentally leaves behind, and everything that happens to him as a result of it.  Someday I'd like to write a D&D adventure based on what's going on in the novel.

As far as my own writing, I'd like to pitch a new movie to shoot in the spring after we wrap SMART HOUSE for well and for good.  I've got two things cooking and maybe will pitch both and see what happens.

Thanks for sticking around; a lot coming down the pike soon.

Welcome to 2023

This post first appeared in my e-newsletter I WAS BIGFOOT'S SHEMP.

 I hope all of my readers enjoyed their holidays.  My holiday filmmaking season ended strong, landing legendary b-movie actress Brinke Stevens to voice the sinister A.I. "Cassandra" in my new movie SMART HOUSE.  Probably the first thing I ever saw her in was this, and she has worked steadily in the decades since.  I was extremely flattered that first she read the script, and second that she liked it and wanted to participate.  It should add a lot of value to the film.

And you can catch an exclusive secret teaser trailer featuring Brinke and lead Iabou Windimere right here.

I didn't quite make my goal of reading 50 books in 2022, what with my beloved dog dying, a health scare, my son's wedding, shooting this movie, and a new granddaughter (I think in that order), but a handful I did read that I can recommend to anybody include THE EMPLOYEES by Olga Ravn, SLEEPWALK by Dan Chaon, THE HEAP by Sean Adams, and PATRICIA WANTS TO CUDDLE by Samantha Allen.

I'm almost done reading something right now I think will be on my 2023 list for sure, and it's AN HONEST LIVING by Dwyer Murphy.  So that gives you a top five to choose from.

My resolutions for 2023 are pretty much my usual ones; take care of my health, help shepherd my kids and grandkids through the world, be creative.  Hoping you all can meet your goals for 2023 as well.  Take care.

My Head is Stuck on Something Precious

This post first appeared, in a slightly different form, in my e-newsletter I WAS BIGFOOT'S SHEMP.

Had a brisk 42-page three-day weekend to wrap SMART HOUSE, including a 27-page shooting day.  It helps that we were mostly shooting a single person in one location.  I had much of the crew from the first weekend plus a few old friends, which also helps.

We didn't write it as a Christmas movie, but as the fates would have it we were shooting at various homes at Christmastime, so I thought we might as well lean into it.  The DP, Henrique Couto, has a snow machine, and when Iabou Windimere is outside at the denouement after REDACTED, we decided it should start snowing.  We both recognized it also snows when Jimmy Stewart comes back to the real world at the end of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, so if we accidentally made a Christmas movie, at least those have legs.

There were a number of difficult shots, but I left a close-up for the very last one, in film production called "the martini shot."  Simple enough, Iabou gets startled and drops a plate.  I thought I was set by going to Dollar Tree and buying two matching 99-cent plates; we could drop one on a pillow in a wider shot and the other we could drop on the floor in close-up. 

But damned if that 99-cent ceramic plate didn't bounce three times in a row, clanging like a frying pan.  So Henrique ended up banging on it with a hammer for while, then roughly super-gluing the pieces back together until it was loosely assembled and somewhat dry.  Then it broke in one more take, and we were done with SMART HOUSE and even finished a little early.

It doesn't seem like a huge accomplishment right now because there is so much more work to do, and I'll update you on that as we go along.  Thank you for following this adventure.  Here are a few fresh screen caps to wrap this one up.

A Hole in the Sock Of

This post first appeared, in a slightly different form, in my e-newsletter I WAS BIGFOOT'S SHEMP.

 I was a little worried about jumping back into the director's chair after over two years out, especially when the air sort of went out of me after COVID put the brakes on my last project, literally the night before principal photography.  But it turns out it's like riding a bike--a large, multi-gear bike that is speeding on a downhill road faster and faster, with that rock from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK closing behind, and people along that road shouting out questions that need answered as you go past.

Since me and the writing team of Richard Pierce and Luka Nikolic first put pen to paper in September, with a December production date looming quickly, I knew I would have to load up cast and crew with people I've gone to war with before, like director of photography Henrique Couto, actors Tom Cherry and Iabou Windimere (and her husband Joe), make-up artist Chelsea Swinford, and utility players like Eric Widing, Erin Hoodlebrink, Andy Britt, and Ashlee Brown, who can all do a little of everything.

I was happy with how the first weekend went.  I purposefully loaded the schedule with easier things up front; one location and two actors and not too many set-ups.  I thought we had a rather breezy 16 page day and 17 page day, ending early both times. 

Mentioning this on social brought a small ripple of shock from people who wondered how we were shooting so quickly.  I remembered that when I was girding up to shoot THE GIRL IN THE CRAWLSPACE a friend who was making his first movie at the same time told me he was worn out from shooting ten-page days, and I had a sinking feeling realizing I had scheduled a couple of 20-page days.  But that one worked out, and the next one, and half (or maybe 40%) of this one so far.

New crew member Jake Baker told me he had worked on two 14-day sets this past summer in a variety of roles, and I had to tell him this was my third film, but only my eleventh day of directing.

I think it certainly helps that I started volunteering at the local PBS TV station in Muncie, Indiana (the home of Bob Ross) in I think 1981, and got my first part-time paid production job around 1985, going full-time in 1988 and working in various video and IT jobs clear through to 2009. 

It definitely helps that I have worked a lot with Henrique Couto as a DP and he pretty much knows what I like--which is rooted in the 70s auteur style that I drone on about--and I have a shorthand with several crew people who have been on sets with me before, as well as cast people who always come prepared.

I think I'm still a good live TV director, and I feel like I used to be a really good linear editor, but the tech goes by in dog years so I don't know anything anymore really; though I think I still have that feeling for it, which helps you shoot if you know how it needs to cut together.

But it really starts with writing a super-tight script with minimal actors and locations, just knowing what can be done easily and what is difficult, what has to be real and what can be shemped, what is expensive and what is cheap, overall thinking about what resources you have on hand.  And I have written A LOT of screenplays like that.

Today I am headed to Dayton to shoot the other 43 pages over three days, and there is a lot of running around and spooks and jump scares and such so we will really have to knuckle down and grind this one out.  Watch along on social to see how we are doing, and thanks for following along so far. 

Here are a couple of EXCLUSIVE screen caps from the first weekend that you won't see on social media, including that split diopter shot I always try to figure out where to drop in.

Tora, Tora, Taxi

This post appeared, in a slightly different form, first in my e-newsletter I WAS BIGFOOT'S SHEMP. 

Although principal photography on my new feature SMART HOUSE really starts on Saturday, I feel like I pre-gamed a bit this past weekend.  I drove to the Farmland Community Center, where I shot scenes for both THE GIRL IN THE CRAWLSPACE and SCARECROW COUNTY, to record some voice over with Katy Wolfe. I got to see that the Cake Walk, which my late beloved dog once won a cake for me on, is still there; that this exists confounded many of my Ohio cast and crew, who could not understand our ways.

It was neat to be back in that space where I had several long days but good memories.  Katy and several people from the cast of both of those previous movies perform in plays and recreate old time radio shows there, and I arrived on a performance day and got to catch up with some familiar faces.

You only hear Katy on the phone, but she has a big role.  A lot of SMART HOUSE is about people trapped in various circumstances, physical and psychological, but even though Katy's character Alicia is blind and seems housebound she in fact galvanizes the other characters into action.  Naturally, she is named after Alicia Masters, the blind sculptor in the FANTASTIC FOUR comics.

Then I raced over to Dayton for a last-minute production meeting with producer/director of photography Henrique Couto to go over gear and crunch the production schedule, even though the main thing is that I wanted to eat at Marion's, the legendary Dayton pizzeria.

I've been getting up early, working through lunch, and working every night (while my wife is working out some Hank Williams Jr. on the guitar) so we can go straight to post and deliver this film sooner than I have my previous two.  The main reason is we have been fortunate to already secure streaming and physical media distribution for the film, based on the strength of our previous films under the Midwest Film Venture banner, so not only are you loyal readers hopefully eager to see this movie, but some people who are giving us money are, too.

I updated the production schedule Sunday, based on notes from that glorious pizza meeting, wrote out a prop list Monday, figured out the food for the weekend last night, and still have a ton of things to do. 

Tonight I want to spray paint a coffee can to hide the logo and then find a bunch of old thumb drives to put in it (IT MAKES SENSE IN THE MOVIE--maybe).  Then tomorrow I'll go hunting two cheap, identical plates, one I can smash on the floor, for another scene.  I've got dinner with writer/producer Richard Pierce on Friday, all the way from Vegas with his family, and some of the crew is coming in to sleep in my grandsons' room.  We will have a lot to talk about, for sure.

Speaking of props, I like including art from people I know in my movies.  In CRAWLSPACE, all of the "Outcast Swords" RPG art was from my friends Ray Otus and Dyson Logos as well as actor Tom Cherry.  There was a tee shirt from Tim Shrum (who did the killer's mask) and one from Steven Paul Judd.  They are all blink or you miss it things, but I was glad to have friends represented in there.  Same with SCARECROW COUNTY, with cartooning from actors Tom Cherry and Rachael Redolfi as well as director Joe Sherlock and screenwriter Dan Wilder.

For this one I decided to use a shirt designed by Ashlee Britt, who worked on the crew of SCARECROW.  It just sort of caught my eye, and I am going to have Tom Cherry wear it throughout.  If you think it is cool also you can get it on sale right here.

Speaking if shirts, if you want to look hip in front of all of your friends this holiday season you can also grab this boss Midwest Film Venture tee now.

If you don't already follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, go hunt me down at @johnoakdalton to ride along with all of our adventures, big and small, this first weekend of shooting.  And I will check back in with more secret content, on the other side.  Thanks for reading.

In the Middle of the Street

This blog post first appeared in my e-newsletter I WAS BIGFOOT'S SHEMP. 

We just fit in one more (snowy) camping weekend this season before girding up for shooting my next movie, a thriller called SMART HOUSE.  Hopefully the weather can stay relatively mild through then.

Pre-production means there are a million little things to do.  Bought an ankle monitor security bracelet cover for a character to wear (a used real monitor is too expensive on eBay, so I'll just put a block of wood in the holder).  Found a used copy of The Great Gatsby at a book sale to use as a prop.  Talked to an actor back and forth about whether he could wear a pink bathrobe in the whole movie.  Told another I hoped she could dress like Grace Kelly in REAR WINDOW.  Compiled my "Secret Soundtrack," all of the songs that inspired me when I was writing the movie with Richard Pierce and Luka Nikolic, but could never afford to put in the movie:


Peter Schilling, Major Tom

The Fifth Dimension, (Last Night) I Didn't Get To Sleep At All 

The Vogues, Turn Around, Look At Me

The Police, Every Breath You Take

Blondie, One Way or Another

Death Cab for Cutie, I Will Possess Your Heart

Duran Duran, Planet Earth

Rainbow, Stone Cold

Flock of Seagulls, Space Age Love Song

The Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter

I asked my old friend, legendary b-movie director Mark Polonia, if he would do a voice cameo, and like a true pro he recorded and uploaded it within 48 hours.

I have been getting up early, working at lunch, and trying to grab an hour at night, breaking down the script and hunting out PAs and combing through sound effects and all that I can to be ready for December 3 for the first of five days of shooting.  Join me here for more exclusive updates in the coming weeks.

Until then thanks for riding along.

Monster Mash

This blog post first appeared in my e-newsletter I WAS BIGFOOT'S SHEMP. 

It's Halloween season, but I've fallen behind on all the spooky movies and spent a couple of pretty fall weekends camping instead, a fair enough trade.  But if you are behind yourself, and want to catch up, you still have time to watch at least one of the ten movies I've written for other directors that are currently free on Tubi:

REEL MONSTERS
 

NOAH'S SHARK

SAND WORLD

ALONE IN THE GHOST HOUSE

JURASSIC PREY

AMITYVILLE ISLAND

SHARK ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

AMITYVILLE DEATH HOUSE

RAZORTEETH

PETER ROTTENTAIL
 
Or to make it a true devil's dozen, here are both of my directorial efforts as well.

This one isn't out yet, but the trailer for JESSE JAMES UNCHAINED dropped, a film I wrote and helped produce during COVID.

I finally caught up to BROADCAST SIGNAL INTERRUPTED which I liked a lot, and you will too if you get kind of spooked thinking about that weird Max Headroom thing that happened in Chicago way back when.  Also caught NOPE and BARBARIAN, both of which I enjoyed for originality even if I thought they unraveled a bit at the end.  That's light for me but not bad overall.

I have a really excellent book recommendation for my readers, one I have told everyone I know IRL to read and sent to a friend for his birthday:  THE EMPLOYEES by Olga Ravn.  It's like if the Strugatsky Brothers were showrunners for THE OFFICE and that's all I will say about it.

Longtime readers know that both me and this guy Tom Cruise and a couple other people had movies grind to a halt during COVID.  It's been hard to get the machine running to get back to it.  But slowly, and then quickly, I'm working on a new movie to shoot in December.

Way back in October 2013, a young writer named Richard Pierce, eager to break into the b-movie world, wrote me an email.  Fortunately for him he didn't follow my advice too closely and is now living the sweet life in Vegas writing Lifetime movies like KILLER PROFILE and STUDENT SEDUCTION.  But fortunately for me he can't shake his love for really cheap b-movies, so when Lifetime rejected his pitch for a movie called SMART HOUSE he asked if I was interested in working on it with him.

It's about an influencer trapped in a smart house seemingly gone crazy, and I have to say it really kindled my interest, and we kicked ideas back and forth and started writing the first of five drafts on September 14th, and now Richard is flying out here the first weekend in December and we are starting production December 3rd with my great movie partner Henrique Couto.  Richard had all the good ideas, and I wrote all the eccentric characters and took out everything that costs actual money.  We may end up a dangerous combo.

Hopefully the weather holds, and I can assemble the cast and crew I put it together for.  For various reasons this is kind of a secret project, so the only place you can get real updates is right here.

Although I am still working through a cocktail of various pills for hypertension, we have had a beautiful fall in Indiana.  Wishing the best wherever you are--and Happy Halloween!