Work confirmed with The Cannery

I am now officially booked with The Cannery to work on the DVD for the upcoming movie "The Other Boleyn Girl" starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, and Eric Bana. I'll be starting next Wednesday and am not sure at this point how long the project will last for. Hopefully a few weeks.

New project with The Cannery in the wings

Got a call from Jason, the new post production coordinator at The Cannery. Said there was a project coming up that he wanted to book me on the first week of February. Not sure what it will be yet or whether it's a definite booking. He's suppose to send me more info the beginning of this coming week.

An e-mail from him about two weeks ago said things would be picking up next month. Great timing because my holiday reserves are starting to run out. Bring on the bucks!

Counting down on my mark....and...MARK

The Holidays are over...

Now it's time to start the clock counting down to the most amazing event of the summer: Comic-Con 2008!

In general....as I'm sure you're probably tired of my repeating (but it's worth repeating!)...this summer is going to be truly spectacular. So much to see and do. All I need is for work to start for the year to start cranking in the cash to do all of these things and more.

Is it time yet...?

He's gone...

I think I am still in shock by yesterday's news that Heath Ledger had died.

What? WHAT?!

Bill D.'s text came in at 2pm saying, "Holy shit! The Joker is DEAD! Heath Ledger...". I was just getting home from running a few errands so I dashed upstairs to turn on my computer to get online. All the time thinking this can't be right, this can't be right. And then there it was...

Suddenly the phone was ringing and e-mails were coming in from other friends who were seeing if I'd heard yet.

Here was someone who was so talented and was just coming into his own as a serious and multi faceted actor. Fearlessly willing to take on very challenging roles instead of resting on his good looks to play hero or romantic leads. "Brokeback Mountain" was truly the beginning of that, and his turn as The Joker in this summer's "The Dark Knight" has been one of the most highly anticipated roles of the year for Heath. As well as being highly anticipated in general.

Now we will never see this incredible talent again. And I'm sure his riveting characterization of The Joker will be the fitting pinnacle to his all too short career. Watching "The Dark Knight" will be very different now.

Heath Ledger was a good soul, a man with an incredibly positive outlook on life which he shared with the people around him, and an actor who was constantly and passionately driven to perfecting his craft.

I am sure after the medical examinations are complete we will learn that his death was accidental. I don't believe he intentionally overdosed or intended to kill himself. Even though this past year had been very difficult.

...I am still speechless.

Possible new post house

Got a call two days ago from a company by the name of Lussier. I'd been in touch with them several months ago when they posted on media-match for freelance editors. Nothing became of that but I did talk to the post coordinator who said she'd be in touch down the road.

She was re-contacting me to discuss my availability and that they were getting busy. Believe or not, I just finished working on the affiliates version of the truTV promo. Jeez! But yes I need the money so work is good. Anyway I told her I was available from this Friday on. She asked if I could send an updated copy of my reel and resume which I dropped in the mail on tuesday. She received them yesterday and thought my reel was great. Now they have to go before a couple of people downstairs and I'm just waiting for her to get back to me today.

She didn't say how long this work would be for or any other details, so I'm not sure what's going to happen at this point. Should know by end of day today or tomorrow.

"Cloverfield"

Friday will finally unveil the secrets of J.J. Abrams giant monster movie. Ken and I have our tickets for the 7:20 show at the new Arclight Cinemas in Sherman Oaks. God bless reserved seating! This is one of the many things I always enjoyed about the original theater in Hollywood and how great it is now to have one about half the distance from my place.

They had a midnight showing Thursday night but I didn't think I needed to do that. "Indiana Jones", Iron Man", "The Dark Knight"...absolutely!

Giant car bumper attacks my MINI! F#@%&$K!!!!!

I was driving on The 101 near Van Nuys on Monday (the same day as the Britney sighting) when suddenly I saw this car bumper heading straight for me!

Unforutately I had little time to react because it flew out from under the car in front of me only 2 and a half car lengths away. I tried desperately to swirve in the left lane while trying to slow down. No time to even look in the rear view or side mirror to see if the way was clear. Just enough time to clear the left tires from running over it. However the right two did hit it and with a vile THUMP-THUMP! I screamed!

Immediately I noticed that she was stearing to the right, indicating that it had gone flat. Thank God I have those run flat tires on the MINI. In an accident like this they re-inflat within a few seconds and are good for at least 50 miles. I got off the freeway to inspect the damage. Yup, the back tire had blown. But the rim had also been damaged as was the lower black plastic side panel just below the door. Luckily none of the body had been touched...Jeez! That was a relief!

Took her back to the dealership yesterday for a full inspection and to repair the damaged parts. They'll do a full alignment and look for any other under carriage issues that might have been caused. Should be good as new by tomorrow. Right now it seems like those very replaceable parts took the brunt of the damage. Major Whew!

Oh my God, it's Britney, bitch!!!

I had the most surreal celebrity sighting on Monday.

My friend Ken and I were getting together to try out his latest video game, the PS2 "Ultimate Avengers", when we decided to get some lunch at a nearby restaurant. He suggested The Gaucho Grill in Studio City which I'd never been to before. Turns out it was in the same plaza on Ventura (The City Grill) I'd had lunch with Elizabeth from New York a few years back.

Two blocks out from the restaurant we started seeing three news choppers parked overhead. By the time we got to Ventura, we realized they were looking down on the very plaza we wanted to have lunch at. In the parking lot was a gathering of about a hundred people. A number of them with cameras. I rolled the window down to ask some guy what was going on and he said Britney Spears was in one of the restaurants. Ken and I looked at each other...expecting that there had been some shooting, but instead to find Miss Bipolar herself probably in the very restaurant we wanted to eat at.

Pushing our way through the small crowd, we made our way up the escalader. To our left was The Gaucho Grill where our feet led us while our eyes scanned about for Britney. As we entered the restaurant we noticed right away that there were maybe 10 people total in the place..including us! This is a small eatery with one semi private area directly behind the matrade's desk. As Ken and I followed the waitress to our table we both looked toward this area and quickly acknowledged that the woman in the white lace dress with long black hair and bug eyed sunglasses was in fact Britney Spears!

We were seated and handed our menus. Ken's back was mostly toward her, but I had a pretty full on view of Brit, her new boyfriend, ex-papperazzi photog. Adnan Ghalib, plus what looked like a bodyguard and a personal assistant. No crowds, no photographers, no fans. Just the 10 of us and Ms. Spears small entourage. It was so surreal. Kind of like we were part of the inner circle while all of the craziness was outside and down the escalader.

This is when I called Allen because I just had to pass on this amazingly strange moment with someone. While I was waiting for him to call back, Britney got up by herself to take a trip to the ladies room. She walked out from behind the semi partition, turned the corner and glanced out at us, then headed to the rear of the restaurant where the washrooms were. The boyfriend met her in the back when she was done.

Allen called back and while I was on the phone she and her crew got up to leave. I followed, while giving Allen a blow by blow description, shortly witnessing the insanity as they walked down the escalader to a waiting SUV. The one thing I had not heard was that today was suppose to be her big day in court to meet K-Fed regarding custody of her children. Of course she turned around and left the courthouse without going in, to later end up at a church and then where we had lunch.

As her SUV sped away, fifty papperazzi guys ran to their cars to join the pursuit, all honking their horns as they lined up to exit the parking lot...as if that was going to do any good.

Again, probably THE most surreal celebrity sighting I've had yet. Sitting there in the restaurant with Britney Spears just 25 feet away felt like I was in the presence of The Queen or a President. Not that I look at her that way. Just the insane amount of hype around her life made it seem like that.

I wanted to yell, "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!". But of course that was so five minutes ago and would have been pretty lame.

Post holiday cold

Right on schedule, my annual January sick phase has begun. After spending a whole year in summer conditions, those below zero temps from back East have me congested, coughing, and taking a lot of cold medication. Blah!

My truTV gig this week at Precision Post is coming to a close. And in fact the entire project will be finished by end of day today. Not sure what's next on the work horizon being that we're still in the latter stages of the holiday dry spell. Saw a job posting on media-match.com today for a trailer editor at a high end trailer house. Didn't say which one but I submitted my resume just the same.

Next step for me in this new year is to contact all of the trailer houses I sent reels and resumes to. Must push further to keep my name and work in front of each and every one of them on a monthly basis.

Back to work

Back in LA after two weeks of Christmas, New Year's, and some extensive packing. 'Shipment: Part One' of the last of my personal items from the Latham apartment took place over Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Five of the eight boxes arrived here on Friday and Saturday. Three more boxes and five poster tubes should be getting here tomorrow and my big projection screen will be bringing up the rear sometime Tuesday. The projector is here now. Woohoo! Can't wait to start enjoying those full time once again.

I'll be heading back to work tomorrow at Precision Post to pick up where I left off on the truTV project. Hey, right now it's work and very welcome. They predict this will go at least Monday and Tuesday. However with the way things went throughout the fall, I wouldn't be surprised if it lasted a full week.

And no I haven't washed away in a flood of water falling from the skies! Just glad to see some precipitation in a state that was never built for large amounts of rain. However after -1 degree weather back East, I'll be glad to see the sun and warm temperatures again in a day or two.

Last day to pack...this trip

Today is my last full day in Albany to pack up as much stuff as possible to continue those boxes flowing out to LA. A lot of major items will be prepped for taking to the post office...and I'll be carrying them to the car in minus 1 degree weather. That's right it's minus 1 out right now! These 'large' items include my projection screen and projector, computer with all the trimmings, and a number of electronics. My new home theater I'll be building in the 2nd bedroom will soon be complete. Joooooyyy!!!

When I return to LA tomorrow the boxes I shipped yesterday will start arriving, then I'll have the weekend to unpack. Time to really feel at home in the new apartment...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Talk about making up for last year! I'm loving the continued snow storms crossing through the Northeast this week. This is a big part of what coming back east is all about for me during the holidays. Especially when you have no where to go and can just watch it fly...

Oh yeah, I need to go out today. D'OH!

2008: the best, most amazing, incredibly fun year has arrived!!!

This is it! 2008 is here and I am ready! What with more exciting career opportunities closing in (I smell a New Wave Entertainment staff position possibly), plus the insane amount of highly anticipated event movies coming our way this summer AND Comic-Con (with special guests Allen and Bill B.!), I think it's safe to say this year is about to become a historical fact.

Oh yes. It will be ours.