Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Hot Damn Tonight!

The DAY has arrived!

I am leaving work now to head to Mann's Chinese Theater and get in line for tonight's 10pm showing of "Superman Returns"! Can't wait!

Welcome To Superman Week!

Well here we are a little under 2 days to go until "Superman Returns"!

I've taken a half day off from work Tuesday because I get the impression there's going to be a party atmosphere over at Mann's Chinese Theatre and I don't want to miss it. Even during the daytime hours ramping up to the 10pm show. Tomorrow I'll get together supplies for the multi hour wait in line; food, a few unread magazines, plus my iPod which now has all 17 Max Fleischer "Superman" cartoons on it. Went to the Fleischer page on Kal-El.org where you could download all of them. Sweet! I do however want to pick up the new DVD that came out two weeks ago, but have been unable to find it anywhere. Hello?! This is a brand new collection created from the original negatives with remastered original audio. These downloads appear to be from just that. Not the public domain, Good Times video, badly dubbed crap that's been circulating for years. Must have!

"Superman Returns" in 7 Days!!!

Again STOP with all the goddamn footage!!! God almighty!

Kal-El.org recently posted a link to a page which contains 11 clips from the movie! 11!! Each at least a minute long and one of them is the ENTIRE plane rescue sequence featured so prominently in the first two full trailers! More and more and more and more TV spots (I think they're up to 13 now) are running constantly on the tube. GO...AWAY! Luckily for the Kal-El.org site reader they do have spoiler warnings. So many of the TV spots and clips that are posted online come with these movie ruining reminders. Ga-bye!!! Not for me, uh-uh, no way, get the fuck out of here! Still, Kal-El.org has been amazing in it's coverage of everything "Superman Returns". Just incredible stuff. I just keep my can of "Spoiler-Away" right by my side at all times. Then after next Tuesday it won't matter. I'll go in to check out everything I didn't want to see in advance and am sure I'll be blown away by the amount of spoilage.

I do glance at a few major publication reviews from the early June press screening, cautiously trying to avoid reading any line that gives plot info away. The critics all seem to be marveling at the film; spectacular, emotional, dramatic, awe inspiring. I like all of those words. One week from tomorrow I'll be standing in line at Mann's Chinese Theater.

In The Land Of Disney

Work at Sparkhill joyfully continues.

At the moment I am cutting a pod about Walt Disney (the man) as told by people who worked with him including a number of the original Mouseketeers from "The Mickey Mouse Club". This will be included on the "Walt Disney Treasures Volume 6" DVD. Not sure when the actual release date is yet. I'm also working on another piece focusing on Walt's early studio where he and brother Roy produced "Snow White", "Fantasia", and "Bambi".

Next up is an hour long documentary about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. However I am still in full gear to take on the DVD for "World Trade Center" after that. Last week there seemed to be a glitch in the road.

Due to the changing schedule for the Astaire/Rogers project, it seems they've had to hand "WTC" off to another editor. The plan is to have at least two editors cutting different pods for this. We had a meeting in the conference room Friday regarding Astaire/Rogers. There's a big dry erase board on the wall that shows all the editors and their current and near future projects. I noticed right away that because I was taking on Fred and Ginger a week and a half later than originally intended, they had me booked on that for the next month or so. Yikes! I like those classic movies but names and words like "Nicholas Cage", "Oliver Stone", and "Major Theatrical Studio Film" are a callin' me pretty loud. I knew I needed to make some more noise fast. Of course I knew the change had nothing to do with me. Just the company trying to tackle everything on it's plate the most efficient way. I also knew from what I was told two weeks prior that this scheduling board changed almost daily. Five minutes later I realized that I needed to be patient and chill.

Eric, the head of Sparkhill, came into this meeting somewhat annoyed. Apparently he was not happy with Warner Bros. who, despite wanting a number of special elements included in the Astaire/Rogers project, were not returning phone calls requesting said material. Basically they were giving him and the producer a bit of a runaround. Eric felt it was not worth all this effort, calling the project your 'basic run of the mill, done before a million times retrospective'. He expressed this very firmly to the producer who was on speaker phone during our meeting. And then he said the magic words; "...You know quite frankly I'd rather have David working on 'World Trade Center' than this thing". So now I knew we were both on the same page. Plus I knew the producer I've been working with on the "24" Season 5 DVD also had requested me for "WTC". To top things off, it turns out there's another editor who was very enthusiastic about working on the Astaire/Rogers project because she's a fan. She was a little dissapointed to learn of the change. O.K....switch? I think everything will work out alright in my favor. I'll be starting on the Astaire/Rogers project this Thursday. "World Trade Center" begins two weeks later. Something's going to give by then.

"Superman Returns" in 2 Weeks!!

The final countdown is drawing near. I've deliberately stayed away from all the TV promos after checking out the first one. Aside from that I've seen the first teaser and two subsequent trailers AND THAT'S IT! Do not want to spoil anything from this film in advance!

Several great reviews from the recent press screening. Thumbs way, way up! However Ain'tItCoolNews.com said Singer needed to let go of the Donner film a little. FUCK YOU!! Go back to your parents basement, you hairy fat ass!!

Happy 20th Anniversary, Ferris Bueller!

20 years ago today, Ferris, Cameron, and Sloan took the day off. The movie was released on June 11, 1986.

Of course this weekend (the official anniversary) I had a trip planned to go to Chicago and tour all of the Ferris Bueller filming sites, along with locations used in "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles". All of the addresses to places like Cameron's house, Shermer High School, and the church where Molly Ringwald is picked up by Jake Ryan, are online and easy to map out. Unfortunately due to the work situation earlier this year (which has finally and happily leveled off), I could not afford to go. Even after planning this for a little under a year. However I will be heading to the mythical land of Shermer, Illinois (John Hughes fictional suburb for most of his teen films in the 80's) very soon...sometime in the next month and a half in fact. Stay tuned for updates! I've officially named it "The John Hughes / Ferris Bueller Anniversary Tour".

In the meantime, check out John Hughes Shooting Locations (my location source) and The John Hughes Files, the best John Hughes site on the web!

Celebration IV And "Superman Returns" Anticipation

It's Official!! There will IN FACT be a Star Wars Celebration IV in May 2007 for the 30th Anniversary of the original "Star Wars". AND it will be held right here in Los Angeles!!! So I don't have to travel anywhere but my own back yard! Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

Soundtrack.net has posted a 'First Listen' of the upcoming "Superman Returns" soundtrack; samples of every track from the score. Breathtaking stuff with some wonderful inclusions of several themes from the Christopher Reeve movies. I'll be ready to click 'buy' on iTunes Music Store the minute it hits the street (or should I say The Web).

Work continues to be intensive at Sparkhill. Finished up the rough cuts of all the pieces I'm doing for the "24" Season 5 DVD. Right now I cutting a featurette on Walt Disney for one of the Disney Treasures DVD as well as another focusing on animating the character of Pluto.

The Cannery called again today to check on my availability after I get done with my current project. Unfortunately I'll have to continue turning them down due to my current and higher priority obligations.

I now have tickets to see "Superman Returns" at Mann's Chinese Theatre the night before the official opening. Normally you'd see a midnight show scheduled but Warner Bros. has decided to allow the film a 10pm slot on June 27th.

I'll also be checking out "Cars" this coming weekend at The El Capitan, Disney's premiere Hollywood theatre, right across the street.

The midnight showing of "X-Men: The Last Stand" last week was phenomenal!! Fantastic fan audience. As I entered the auditorium I could feel the party atmosphere. But the great thing was once the lights dimmed the crowd hushed right up in total respect of what we were about to see. Then a new trailer for "Superman Returns" came on and everyone screamed. This is what I love; an audience brimming with enthusiasm, emotionally flowing through every high and low of the movie. I wish I could've bottled it to take home. I'm anticipating the same affect in two and a half weeks during "Superman Returns" even more so.

Work, Work, Work,...And More Work!

A more lengthy update on what's been going on from the end of working with KO Creative.

Ultimately I ended up cutting two trailers at KO; "Venus & Vegas" and "Provoked", both for the Cannes Film Festival, as well as that piece for the anthology, "The Horror Chronicles". I was there for around 3 weeks, just enough time to really show my stuff which they and the client were very impressed with.

I just received an e-mail from Kristi, one of the two heads of KO. She wrote the following which I was very happy to read:

"I also wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for all your hard work during Cannes. The Venus and Vegas trailer turned out great and the client was extremely happy with the final product. We look forward to working with you again."

That just says it all right there! Now I have two trailers cut at a major trailer house on my resume. Very important steps in the continuation of my career goals.

Meanwhile I am about to start my 4th week at Sparkhill working on the DVD supplement for Season 5 of "24". Finished the first rough cut of the Sean Callery (music composer) piece as well as the featurette which will be on a DVD accompanying the forthcoming book, "24: Behind The Scenes". This past Friday I started working on the second pod for the Season 5 DVD which is about President Logan's Retreat. For future reference, here are the official names for all three of these pieces:

"24" Season 5 DVD:
"Music By Sean Callery"
"Logan's Retreat"

The "24: Behind The Scenes" Book DVD Companion:
"24: Behind The Book"

The name "Behind The Book" is actually something I came up with after the producer and I ran through a few shorter versions of what Fox had called it. Their original title was, "Family & Friends: Behind The Making Of '24: Behind The Scenes'. That was just too much of a mouth full as an on-screen title and had to go.

And yes I've worked my editing magic with several people at Sparkhill, including Eric, the head of the company, who I was informed can be very critical at times. One night after I'd gone home he stopped by to see my Sean Callery pod. I was told the next day by Jill, the producer I'm working with, that he loved it! My first cut of the "Behind The Book" featurette was also approved by Eric, as well as Fox and "24" director and co-executive producer Jon Cassar. In fact Jill came by on Friday to tell me he had personally told her to pass along his thanks to me and what a great job I did on the piece. Very nice! This along with that great nod from Kristi at KO has made this the week of kudos.

As they began to see the results of my work on several pieces I was told that they'd like me to continue working on more projects when I'm done with "24". This was the news I waited for with anticipation; they love my work and want to keep me on. So up next is a one hour supplemental featurette on Fred Astaire which will accompany a DVD boxed set of his films. They're also in the middle of nogotiating this running concurrently on Turner Classic Movies as well. I'll also be working on a piece for Disney's "Pluto" DVD, details of which I am still getting.

Then comes the DVD chest of gold.

As I was being lined up to work with Sparkhill, I checked out their web site as mentioned before. Most notably Among other things, they'd contracted to cut the supplement for Oliver Stone's forthcoming film, "World Trade Center". As I began working on the "24" DVD I saw a large dry erase board in the conference room which had upcoming projects mapped out for various editors. There it was starting near the end of June or beginning of July..."WTC". So now that my being 'in' confidence level was high, I went to Christine, the one who'd brought me on board, and said I was very interested in working on the DVD for "World Trade Center". Immediately she laughed, adding, "that's funny because we were actually just talking a short time ago about you doing just that!"

So...now I will officially be working on the supplement for Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" starring Nicholas Cage. Major Woohoo!

Now, after the drought which overtook much of the early part of this year, the phone keeps ringing. Precision Post continues it's momentum of more work. They had a trailer promoting all the "Rocky" movies in conjunction with the release of the forthcoming "Rocky 6". I couldn't work on this during the week but mentioned my availability over Memorial Day Weekend. That figured just fine for them so I put in two days cutting that project in between my work with Sparkhill. Let the paychecks start flying! I really do miss being at Precision like I was last year. Everyone's great to work with and they are probably the best, most consistent, and well organized post house I've encountered so far out here.

And if that wasn't enough, I received another call from Robert, my contact at The Cannery, who asked what my availability was starting next week. Of course I had to turn him down because of my follow up Fred Astaire project. He also said he wanted to talk to me about the possibility of coming on board there as a staff editor. Jeez! How popular can I get?!

Unfortunately I'd prefer not to take a staff position at The Cannery. This is the post house I did the "Ultimate Spider-Man" Activision project for right before and after Star Wars Celebration III. They do major studio projects, but the overall content is not exactly what I want to commit to in a staff capacity. A third of their work deals with companies outside of the entertainment industry. A recent project was with a major hotel company. Not exactly a direction I want to pursue. However I'd absolutely like to work with them again and would certainly book-in on a project if I'm not already signed with Sparkhill, Precision, or KO Creative for that matter. Yes, there's starting to be a line to wait in.

The Hollywood Bowl project is also coming up sometime in July. Right now I'm trying to figure out how that's going to mesh with my work at Sparkhill. I want to do it but also don't want to lose my space or momentum where I am at the moment.

"X-Men: The Last Stand" and "Over The Hedge" reviews coming shortly.