Blaming George Romero

The BGR Cast & Crew: Updates

2011-10-24T12:35:00.000-04:00

Last week, we had our latest festival... This week, I want to fill you in on some opportunities to see what the cast and crew of BGR are up to now. Most of the BGR cast/crew worked on Red Scare, which should see its premiere in January 2012, but that's not all!

Loarina Gonzalez & Miriam Cortez: will be ASM'ing and AD'ing "Status Quo Vadis" at NJCU's West Side Theatre October 27th-29th & November 3rd-5th at 7:30pm. Free admission!

Congratulations to Sound Maestro, Joey Mosca, upon the successful filming (and funding) of his short film, Dark Wings. Also in the cast are BGR's Dan Gregory, Aaron Visco, and myself. Look for this short film to premiere directly in front of Red Scare at the first Red Scare screening (January 2012).

2/4 of the band Nothing But Robots wrote songs for BGR, and 1/4 of the band helped to record some of that. They will be having two shows coming up. On October 29th, they will be playing at Digiorgios Bar in Bayonne at 10pm. On Thursday, November 10th, they will be playing at the Whiskey Bar. Go to their facebook page to give them a listen and to stay updated on upcoming shows: http://www.facebook.com/nothingbutrobots.

Eva Visco will be performing in "Josefina & Minerva" 12/7 and 12/10 at 9pm and 12/11 at the Mnahattan Repertory Theatre. Check out www.manhattanrep.com for more details.

John Trigonis has been quite busy since BGR. His short film, Cerise, has been making the rounds at various film festivals throughout the world. He has just completed another short film, Mating Dome, which is in Post Production now. AND he has a book deal in "The Tao of Crowd Funding," a must read for anyone looking to crowd fund their projects. You can follow his adventures at http://johntrigonis.com/.

The Golden Door International Film Festival

2011-10-17T12:33:00.000-04:00

Another festival completed! The Golden Door International Film Festival is over, and as far as I am concerned, it was very successful.

The weekend started with an Opening Night Gala at the Loews Theatre in Journal Square. What a beautiful space! I can't believe I have never been there before. It was a nice night, and well set up, and I got to meet Paul Sorvino.

BGR screened on Sunday, and I was really happy with how it went. I actually haven't seen the movie in full since the February screening (I don't count the Bergenfield Film Festival, because it didn't play all the way through.) I gotta say, I was a little nervous... Not for crowd reaction, but for my own. I am far enough removed that I think I can give a pretty honest opinion of the movie now. And I liked it. I really do. Is it perfect? Not at all. I wish we had the cameras that we used on Red Scare when we filmed BGR; I think that alone would have made a much better movie. There are places I can nitpick, moments when I thought that I really could've trimmed a bit more of the talky talky, but those are just nitpicks. BGR is very much the movie I wrote for better or worse... and I like it. What's more, our crowd liked it too... And not just family and friends, but complete strangers... So, that is pretty cool, and a nice little validation of how we spent summer 2010. BGR is not for everybody, but it does have an audience that both appreciates and enjoys it.

I have to thank everyone who made it out to see the film (some for the 3rd or 4th time). I know people are busy and life gets in the way, and some people just flat out don't want to attend events like this... But the people that do make it worthwhile. I love making movies, but if there is no one to appreciate that, it kind of dilutes the whole experience.

Also, mighty big thanks to everyone at the Golden Door International Film Festival, specifically Bill Sorvino who put the thing together and did a fantastic job of things. I hope the GDIFF lasts for years and years to come, and I will gladly submit Red Scare in the hopes of getting into the fest again.

That is two festivals down. We got rejected from some, and we have some more to hear from. Who knows what'll happen? Maybe we'll get into some more, maybe we top out at 2... I don't know. It's gonna be fun to see though.

A final thought on this and all festivals... I have met people along the way... Other film makers who are just happy to be doing what they are doing... And I have met film makers who think that an entire festival should be all about them and their movie. The latter is a bit sad to me... I know I only make films because I love it, want to share my ideas with people, entertain, and maybe (hopefully) get to the point where I can do this for a living. When I see someone who is in it just for the praise or attention? There is something profoundly wrong with that as far as I can see. Maybe that is naive of me, but that is where I am at.

Regardless, it has been a hell of a ride, and I am happy to enter this whole film festival scene without thinking that it is all about me and my movies, but rather about all film makers who are trying to do the same thing. We got in this because we love it... I did, anyway.

Th-th-that's all for now.

Peace and also Love,

Sam

Buy BGR Merchandise (Among other things.)

2011-09-20T15:35:00.000-04:00

One of the things that I hear people ask me a lot post BGR is "where can I get a Blaming George Romero shirt?" We only made one order for everyone in the cast or who donated to indiegogo, so once we were out we were out. I felt bad, but I couldn't put in another order just for a few people at a time. So, I let it go, and moved on... Working on Red Scare, working on an upcoming webseries, etc... And then the thought occurred to me. What about cafe press? I had used the website to make gifts for people from time to time, and had always seen the option to sell your own merchandise, but I never used it.

So, for the last two days, I have been designing a Cafe Press store for Narrow Bridge Films. Now, you can purchase BGR, Red Scare, and Loster merchandise! (Loster is the webseries, by the way.) And not just tee-shirts, but bags, hoodies, and all kinds of assorted goodies.

We will get a small cut of the purchase, which will likely go towards future projects, but the main reason I wanted to put this store up was to give people the option to purchase stuff from our projects... Fans, cast & crew members, strangers. So, feel free to take a look at the page and buy stuff. Christmas is right around the corner: http://www.cafepress.com/narrowbridgefilms

Golden Door International Film Festival: Buy Tickets Today!

2011-09-19T12:19:00.000-04:00

Howdy, folks,

You can now purchase tickets to the GDIFF screening of BGR. BGR will screen on Sunday, October 16, from 3:15-4:45pm.

You can go to this link for a pdf of the full festival schedule, and click on BGR to reserve tickets: http://goldendoorfilmfestival.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/GDIFF-Schedule-9.92.pdf

OR you can just go to this link to purchase tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/200468

It should be a really great event. If enough people express interest, they may open up additional screenings as well, so reserve your tickets today!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
Blaming George Romero

Golden Door International Film Festival

2011-08-22T12:13:00.000-04:00

Things have been quiet on the BGR Film Festival quest... A little too quiet. We had our memorable experience at the Bergenfield International Film Festival, and... that was it? Could our little movie have stalled so quickly? Would we be forced to admit defeat and end our journey with one festival acceptance? And that one festival acceptance would have been riddled with so many problems that the movie barely finished playing?!?!?

The answer to that question is no. No, we do not end our journey with one acceptance. If nothing else, we will have two! And that is thanks to:

The Golden Door International Film Festival (http://goldendoorfilmfestival.org/) was one of the earlier film festivals I remember submitting to, so imagine my surprise when I received the acceptance email today. It felt really nice.

The festival is in October, and it looks to be a really great one. I will post more details when I have them. People are always asking me how to see BGR... Well, this will be a wonderful way to see it on the big screen.

So, yeah... That was some nice news to wake up to. Does this mean that other festivals we haven't heard from still haven't sent out their acceptance emails? I don't know... why am I asking myself so many questions?!?

That's all for now. Wish us luck on getting into even more festivals and stay tuned for more details.

Yours,

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
Blaming George Romero

Some late July BGR news

2011-07-27T14:32:00.001-04:00

So, we are in late July right now. A year ago this Saturday, we wrapped principle photography on BGR. There hasn't been much news lately, but here are a few updates.

*I have just submitted to Sundance & Slamdance, two pretty big festivals. No telling what will happen, but you never know.

*Last week I was in San Diego for the 2011 Comic Con. It was a fantastic geek filled week, and I was extremely fortunate to be able to give a copy of BGR to Max Brooks (World War Z, Zombie Survival Guide), Joe Hill (Horns, Locke & Key), and Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead). Those have always been three people that I wanted to get the movie to, and it was so much easier handing it to them rather than trying to go through their "people." I don't know if they'll watch it. If they do, I don't know if they will like it. But at the moment, they have it, and that is enough for me.

*I am always asked, how people can get a dvd of BGR. The answer is simply, wait a little bit longer. We are still going through the film festival period, but that will be over by the end of the year one way or the other. From there, we will have to decide how we want to proceed with distribution. So, stay tuned for that kind of information later in the year.

*In Red Scare news, we just wrapped principle photography last week, and are delving into post production now. We still need help with the fundraising, so if you or someone you know is feeling generous, we could use the help. www.indiegogo.com/red-scare. There are a lot of fantastic gifts for donors, and we expect to have a brand new trailer out within the week!

Yours,

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

Blaming George Romero

Meeting Simon Pegg

2011-06-13T23:07:00.000-04:00

Things have been quiet on the BGR front for the past few weeks. We are still waiting to hear back from some festivals, and have to enter more festivals as they open up their submissions. We are also hard at work on our next movie, Red Scare. You can see Red Scare information at www.indiegogo.com/red-scare. We have already raised over $3,000 and have some more to go to our goal. Please spread the word.

So, tonight, me, Isaac, Loarina, Tony, and Tony's girlfriend went to the Strand Bookstore in NY because Simon Pegg was signing his new book there. As soon as I heard that he was signing in NY, I knew I wanted to go. I have been a huge fan of Simon Pegg's since Shaun of the Dead, and have followed him since. I would be lying if I said that BGR wasn't at least slightly influenced by Shaun of the Dead... Everyone who made BGR LOVES Shaun of the Dead.

Since we have gotten our BGR DVD's I have sent a few copies of the movie to a few celebrities through their agents and production companies. But that's a gamble. Who knows if the people working there will pass the DVD's on. So, when I saw an opportunity to put the DVD into Simon Pegg's hands, I jumped at the chance.

We waited in line for awhile, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda. Eventually we were able to get the books signed. When I went up, I asked if I could give him a copy of the DVD. I told him how much of an influence he was on us, etc. He said he would give it a watch. He also said that I sort of looked like him on the BGR cover. I tried to explain that it wasn't intentional, but even my cast and crew never believed that one.

So, yeah, one of my favorite actors/filmmakers has a copy of my movie. That is a pretty big deal for me.

Some pictures!

BFF 2011: our first festival.

2011-05-07T16:04:00.000-04:00

I suppose I should preface this blog by telling you that I have never been to a film festival of any kind before, so not only was the Bergenfield Film Festival BGR's first... It was also my own. As first festivals go, it certainly was eventful.

The night had all the makings of a good one. Dinner with my parents and brother who were seeing the movie again. Then, the festival was going to feature BGR, John Trigonis' CERISE, and Blake Zawadzki and Dan Gregory's The Definitive Point. All in the same theatre!

The reality was somewhat different. We got there and got our VIP passes for directors and producers (picture below). We waited outside the theatre and first listened to one guest speaker who was involved in a documentary that was being shown that night. What followed him was the creator of one of the other movies at the festival who spoke (at length) and then introduced a singer who did one of the songs for his movie. This was strange to me. Why was the festival focusing so much on one of the films? Then, someone pointed out to me that the program listed only 3 of the many films as nominees for their "best all around film" award. The aforementioned film was one of the three, but none of our group's films were. That's cool. I don't mind not winning. BUT. What is the point of making a fuss of the "all around film" award when before the festival even begins three films are singled out? And no one at the festival is voting that night, so the choice has clearly been made already. That just feels like a slap in the face to every filmmaker not in that group of three. When so much energy and support is pushed towards three films (one in particular), where is the love for the rest of the films? I understand that festivals are political, and there will always be favorites... But show a little class, and don't broadcast the favoritism. It's classless, and just plain unprofessional.

So, there is disappointment #1. Then we get through the first few films, and get to CERISE. I have seen CERISE, and it's a good film, a fun film. If you have the chance, I recommend getting to see it. But during the movie, it started to skip and stop a bit. I really felt for John during this. I knew he would be pissed. (Not to mention the sound problems in the theatre and the aspect ratio fuck ups... The theatre's problem, not CERISE's.)

CERISE ended and BGR started. It was going really well. The comedy was playing, and we got tons of laughs. Then we had a little bit of the skipping and stopping that John's film had. Then a little more, and a little more.... Eventually, the film couldn't go on for more than a minute without skipping a little. (The theatre's fault, not BGR's... Also, the sound and aspect ratio sucked for us too.) That happened and was frustrating, but we are pushing through until we get to this dramatic bit where the group is arguing. And boom! Skip! Freeze! And it stayed frozen on this image:

Yup. I know, its an improvement, but there it stayed for awhile... A long while. A painful while. They stopped and restarted and struggled to get the thing moving, but the damage was done. The movie was not playing right at all, and the last 20 minutes must have taken an hour to get through. People who didn't know us must have been pissed. They were there seeing this movie and whatever reaction they might have had was soured because of this... I don't blame them... But it made us look bad. It made the film look bad. I still got compliments from people I didn't know and people I did about the acting and the story, etc. That felt good, but it did little to get rid of the sour taste the festival left in my mouth.

And that was our first festival... Hopefully, we have bigger and better in the future. I really hope this isn't it.

Anyways, I will update as we have updates as usual. Once again, check out www.indiegogo.com/red-scare to donate to our next project.

Below are more pictures from the BFF taken with my new t2i that will be used on Red Scare.

Stay Tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

Blaming George Romero

Bergenfield Film Festival

2011-04-28T15:45:00.002-04:00

Hey, folks! So, for anyone who asks me "How can I see BGR?" Well, on Thursday, May 5th you will have your chance. We are going to be a part of the Bergenfield Film Festival. It starts at 7pm at the Clearview Cinema 5 located at S. 58 Washington Avenue, Bergenfield, NJ. More details here: http://www.bergenfieldfilmfestival.org/

I'll be there along with some of the cast and crew. I actually haven't seen the movie since the 2/7 screening, so it should be like a whole new movie for me!

Also, screening are some of our friends' movies. John Trigonis' CERISE will be playing along with Dan Gregory & Blake Zawadzki's Definitive Point.

We are still waiting to hear back from the other festivals that we submitted to, and we continue submitting to other festivals all over the country.

In other news, you can check out my next film "Red Scare" which we are raising money for at www.indiegogo.com/red-scare. The pitch video is really great, and I have a good feeling about this hilarious follow up to BGR.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
Blaming George Romero

"Red Scare" Auditions

2011-03-09T12:50:00.003-05:00

Hello. So, first, some bad news. Got an email from the Festival de Cannes telling me that BGR was not accepted, blah blah blah, so many entries, blah blah blah, they can only select a very small number, yadda yadda yadda. Well, it's not like I wanted to go to an amazing festival in a beautiful part of France and hobnob with people who can advance my (and the rest of the BGR family's) career. Sigh. C'est la vie. We still have plenty more festivals to hear back from, and more that we haven't submitted to yet.

Next. Some better news. In April, we plan to hold auditions for several of the roles in:

If interested in auditioning for this movie, please email headshots and resumes to RedScareMovie@gmail.com.

The following parts need to be cast. Note: all roles must be comfortable wearing basic makeup. All principle roles must have great comic timing.

Principle Roles:

General Carter (Male, 30’s-40’s) The guy in charge. Strong presence, natural leader.

Miles O’Shaunnesey (Male, 20’s) Young, enthusiastic hero worshipper, but smarter than he seems.

Sasha (Female, 20’s-30’s) Gorgeous. Must be capable of an American accent and a Russian accent and everything in between the two. Russian accent doesn’t have to be accurate, can be over the top. Must be able to range from evil, to seductive, to slapstick comedy in the same scene.

Winston (Male, 20’s-30’s) Preppy, arrogant high schooler. Willing to cast older or younger.

Carl (Male teens-20's) African American High Schooler. Incredibly expressive face.

Lou (Male, 30’s and up) Older, but full of energy. Think Ed Asner from Mary Tyler Moore Show or J. Jonah Jameson from the Spiderman movies.

Stevie (teens-20’s) Must come off as young/easily frightened, enthusiastic intern/photographer. Willing to look at both men and women for this role. Must be excellent at slapstick comedy.

President of the United States (30’s and up) Leader of the free world, in a wheelchair. Commands attention. Calm and gentle one minute, ruthless the next.

Nurse (20’s-30’s) Sexy nurse. Not too bright, giggly, Marilyn Monroe type.

Secondary Roles

The biker gang:
Eyepatch (Male, late teens-20’s) Biker gang type, tough, but a follower. Must be comfortable in an eyepatch.
Tooty Fruity Judy (female, late teens-20’s) Female member of the gang. Tough. Character types welcome.
Slim (Male, late teens-20’s) Tough. Can be comically skinny or fat.
Rough Randy (Male, late teens-20’s) Short, lots of energy.

The minions: Russian soldiers. Capable of Russian accents, or cartoon versions of Russian accents.

The preppie gang: a group of both men and women to be Winston’s gang.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

More festivals and a Quick Update on "Red Scare"

2011-03-07T18:13:00.002-05:00

Howdy! Quick answer to a question I have gotten several times the past few weeks: "Have you heard back from any of the festivals?" Answer: No. We only started sending out to the festivals a few weeks ago. They copies need to arrive there, and then they need to be watched, and then judged, etc etc etc. No worries, as soon as we know, we will share that information.

In the meantime, we have submitted to several more festivals: Las Vegas Film Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, Hoboken International Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival, Arizona Underground Film Festival, NJ International Film Festival, American Independent Film Festival, and Bergenfield Film Festival.

We are now on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1842327/

That feels pretty great to see a movie that I wrote almost a year ago have its own page on IMDB. It also feels pretty great to be able to give some people their first ever IMDB Credit. Its not a huge deal really, but I remember how I felt when I got my first IMDB credit... I was really very happy. Its kind of a big deal, because even though it might not mean that you've made it (anyone can really set up an imdb page) to me it means that you're on your way. That's my opionion anyway.

Red Scare is proceeding very well. I have talked to many of our cast & crew, and we are all very excited to work together again on this project. For the time being, I will update you on Red Scare here. Eventually, we'll progress to where Red Scare has its own (slightly different) blog and various web presences. For now, I will tell you that we plan on holding auditions for some of the roles in the middle of April (likely a Wednesday & Thursday around 4pm or 5pm). Look for updates on that and all other things Red Scare & BGR coming soon.

Stay Tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

Where are we?

2011-02-25T13:32:00.002-05:00

Here is where things stand as of today:

We are hard at work looking at, and submitting to, festivals. We have submitted to three so far, and have more to go. So, far we have submitted to the Comic Con International Film Festival in San Diego, The Festival de Cannes, and the Cannes Independent International Film Festival. Question to anyone reading this: Would you like to see BGR, but aren't in the area? Are there any film festivals in your area that you would recommend?

Beyond that, things are a little more relaxed as far as BGR goes. We raised a good amount of money through the 2/7 Screening, so I thank everyone who participated in that. I also have to thank Frank Theatres for donating their share of the ticket sales to the future of BGR. That was incredibly generous, and we truly appreciate it.

Things are ramping up as far as "Red Scare" goes. Honestly, if you told me that we would have even made a full length trailer out of the small "Red Scare" scene from BGR, I would not believe it. So, imagine my surprise when last night I finished a feature length screenplay for a full "Red Scare" movie. Nothing is definite yet, but it looks like this BGR spinoff might be our next project... and that would make it Part 2 of Narrow Bridge Films/Lion Face Lemon Face Productions' Zombie Trilogy. I feel good about that. We learned so much working on BGR that I think/hope that "Red Scare" could/should be a much smoother shoot. More info on that to come.

Til then.

Stay Tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
Blaming George Romero

"Red Scare" & a few more things

2011-02-11T13:56:00.003-05:00

Above should be the trailer that ran before BGR on Monday (if it uploaded okay). The trailer for a movie called "Red Scare..." Except its not a real movie... yet. It could possibly be our next project. We are working that out.

Today, I submitted BGR to our first film festival: The Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival. This is it. We are officially getting into the film festival game. Wish us luck!

Finally, if you are on facebook, you can now review the movie by clicking on the review tab. If you are not on FB, but want to share your thoughts, feel free to email us at BlameRomero@gmail.com. We would love to see your thoughts.

Stay Tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
Blaming George Romero

Footage from the 2/7 Screening

2011-02-10T11:49:00.002-05:00

Here is some footage from the screening... Shot by Sean Feuer, it features people arriving and Billy Dautrick, Bobby Lise, and my opening speeches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgPzYaxqY4o

A second part is forthcoming and will have the Q&A and raffle along with a few other things.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
Blaming George Romero

... one more thing about last night...

2011-02-08T14:31:00.002-05:00

One more thing about the screening. My mind was so frazzled last night, that I completely forgot some people to thank. It happens, and I did my best. Liz White who worked on our most excellent cast party cake was there, and it completely skipped my mind to bring her up... Mike B who helped secure us with various equipment pieces... MandyJo, who did our modern zombie makeup left before I could thank her... but the one that stands out most to me right now is the person that we dedicated the movie to.

We have all lost people throughout the years... People who were huge influences on us... We lost grandparents, and friends... Billy lost his father.

But there was one loss that hit us all... One person who bound us together, and I have no doubt in my mind that without him, there would be no BGR. That person is Isaiah "Shia" Saltzman. He was my first director, and never showed me anything but the most amazing level of support. Without him, I don't know if I would have met Meg Z, Bobby, Billy, Matt H, and more... I certainly wouldn't enjoy the relationship that I currently have with all of them. And I am not sure where I would be without the support he gave me throughout my early years as an actor. I owe... We all owe Shia so much...

We lost Shia in 2008, but he remains with us in our hearts. He gave us so much, and asked for so little in return. We will always miss him, and we will never forget him.

And that is why "Blaming George Romero" is dedicated to his memory... Because whether or not he knew it at the time... He put us together... He put the pieces in motion.

זיכרונו לברכה
zikhrono livrakha
"May his memory be a blessing..."

I thank you.

2011-02-08T12:15:00.003-05:00

Phew. Well, that was fun. Last night's screening of "Blaming George Romero" was a huge success. We only really had a problem with the theatre once, and as far as things go that is a success for me. We had a great turnout, and a great audience. It was such a rush to see the cast, and crew, and people who support us... both family, friend, and stranger. Being able to finally share BGR with an audience has been a long time coming. And honestly, it feels like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders. And look at those pictures! Standing in front of a marquis with the BGR title... right next to an Oscar nominated flick! Its humbling, its amazing, and I am just so proud... of my cast, my crew, the movie, and of myself.

A bunch of the crew and I were nervous for the past few days... What if people don't like it? What if something goes wrong? What if, what if, what if... Well, that part is over, and people genuinely seemed to dig it. That means so much to me.

From here, we hit the festival scene, and hopefully people outside our circle dig it as well. Updates will be fewer at this point. There will still be updates, but they will be less now that we have a finished movie. When I started the blog, I said this would stick around throughout production, and as far as I am concerned that means through the festival world as well.

We also have some more footage to share with everyone. We had video taken of yesterday's intro, Q&A, and audience reaction, which we hope to splice together and share with everyone. So, that'll be coming some time in the next few weeks. I will also share the "Red Scare" trailer that premiered yesterday. And we are most certainly not done making movies... We will be doing other things in the future. Of that, there can be no doubt.

So, that is that. We learned an awful lot on this set. We forged our way through negativity and obstacles that none of us could have imagined, and we came out stronger for it. We learned what to do and what not to do. But best of all, we had a good time, and we have a movie to show for it. We actually made a fucking movie... I am still letting that sink in, honestly.

Another chapter in the BGR saga has closed... But this is only the beginning!

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
Blaming George Romero

BGR Heroes

2011-01-31T01:19:00.003-05:00

There have been many heroes of BGR... At different times, different people have risen up and really just stood apart and proved themselves as true BGR heroes. Tonight, with a week to go until the screening, my heroes are Meg Zervoulis and Joey Mosca.

Meg has been working on the BGR score for several months now, and tonight I received the last music file that we needed. She has created a really great score that takes the movie to a new level (all the while having to put up with my worries that we wouldn't make deadline). Well, we did, and quality was not sacrificed. BGR has the soundtrack that it so richly deserves, and it wouldn't be where it is today without Meg.

Joey came on as sound guy on day one... He never once quit. He has been working on this movie from production through post production and is on the very last step of his post sound work. Where I would be content with the audio from weeks ago, Joey wouldn't let me be... He has patiently worked on perfecting the audio to the very best that it can be.

Tomorrow (Monday) will be exactly one week until the screening, and you can be BGR heroes too. There are approximately 30 tickets left to sell. If you haven't bought tickets yet, then do it... Its gonna be a great movie. Tell friends, tell family... Post it on your Facebook and twitter and myspace (if anyone still uses that). Email people, call them. Do what you can! Get the word out! Let's sell that theatre out! And if you reserved but have not paid yet, then get payment to me by no later than Friday, 2/4.

On 2/7, the doors to the theatre will open at 6pm. There will be at least one list to check in with. For the first few to arrive there will be assorted goodies... Posters, WWBCD? Bracelets, etc. When they run out, that is it. There are no more. Seats are first come, first serve.

From 6pm-6:45pm, music will be provided courtesy of our own Billy Dautrick. At 6:45pm, there will be a brief welcome/introduction.

The movie will begin promptly at 7pm... There will be no holding the start for anyone.

The movie will end at 8:30pm, and will be followed by a raffle for movie memorabilia (more details at the screening) and a Q&A.

The event will end at 9pm.

That is all for now. Remember, help us sell some more tickets. Be a BGR hero. We are very nearly there.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

More Seats Now Available!

2011-01-22T21:23:00.004-05:00

I am in awe of our fans.

I don't think any of us were expecting the reaction we had to ticket sales for the 2/7 screening. I know I wasn''t. We sold out so quickly, but I figured that at least some of the people who reserved wouldn't pay... Well, just about everyone has. So, we had 199 seats available, and they all went quick. So, to his credit, while we were filming the "Red Scare" trailer Isaac asked, "Why not see if you can get a bigger theatre?" Naturally, I kicked snow at him and told him to mind his own business. That would show him... But he had a point. So, on Thursday night when it looked like we would barely manage to offer tickets to those in our standby list, I contacted the theatre to see what we could arrange.

Tonight I had a meeting with the manager, and told him our situation. And we upgraded from the 199 seat theatre to a 309 seat theatre. That means that we can accomodate everyone on our standby list, and beyond. So, if you haven't reserved a ticket, email Tickets@BlameRomero.com now!

Two other things:

(1) As if you needed more reason to want to see the movie, I have heard a good amount of Meg Zervoulis' music and it is great. It really makes the movie better.

(2) We are going to have a pre and post show thing at the screening. You can start arriving to the theatre by 6pm, and everything will be wrapped by 9pm. There will be special gifts for the first who arrive so make sure you show up early.

So, that's it. Make sure to email Tickets@BlameRomero.com to reserve your tickets today.

Stay Tuned,

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
Blaming George Romero

"Red Scare" and More

2011-01-16T18:41:00.004-05:00

Howdy, folks. A few things.

*If you have reserved a ticket, but haven't paid for it yet, the deadline is on 1/21/11. After that, I will remove the hold on the unpaid, reserved tickets, and begin selling them again.

*I posted the following on the BGR Facebook Page... I can't believe I have to post this. A little while ago, someone posted on this (FB) page that they had a comp ticket but couldn't attend, and they wanted to sell their tickets. I am not saying anyone would try to take that person up on their offer, but it is important to note the following. First off, the person was not on the comp list. Second, if you are on the comp list and for whatever reason cannot attend, just tell us. We will then attempt to sell the ticket to those on our standby list. There is really no need to try to scalp a ticket to this movie. Its unfair to those that are on the standby list and are patiently waiting for a ticket, and it literally is taking money away from the future of the movie... more directly, it is taking money directly from my wallet.

If you purchased a ticket outside of the comp list, and you can't attend, feel free to do whatever you like with the ticket... But inform us if there is a change in ticket ownership. In addition to the printable tickets that were sent to guests, there will also be a list of guests that will be checked.

The 2/7 screening should be a lot of fun. It is for our supporters, friends, families, etc. Please don't taint that by trying to make a profit off of the hard work that we have done.

Thank you.
____________________________________________________________________

Okay, now that that is over, here are some more pictures from "Red Scare." We wrapped shooting on that little project this past Friday. We had new actors Joey Mosca, Clover Zatz, and Tony Pineiro join returning actor Bobby Lise. Aaron Visco made a last minute cameo replacing an actor who didn't show up that worked out great. Billy Dautrick ran sound & Bosco... Loarina Gonzalez did makeup... and Sean Feuer essentially directed. I just came up with the ideas and chimed in from time to time.

Now, what exactly is "Red Scare?" Essentially it is a real trailer for a "fake" movie... like Grindhouse did. There are connections to BGR that you will see when you see the movie. Like the "Machete" trailer before Grindhouse, I really like what we did with "Red Scare." It never has to become a feature length film, like "Machete" did, but I was so happy with the results that I drafted a complete outline for the movie... in case we ever want to turn it into a real film.

Anyways, enjoy these pictures. We only have a few weeks to go before our big preview screening. Still plenty to do.

Stay Tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
Blaming George Romero

Sorry, Mario, the Princess is in another castle

2011-01-11T12:22:00.004-05:00

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BLOG CONTAINS VIDEO GAME METAPHORS, VENTING, INFORMATION ABOUT THE 2/7 SCREENING, AND A LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT A NEW BGR RELATED PROJECT CALLED "RED SCARE."

I don't want to get to spoiler-y on you all, but in the original Super Mario Bros game for the Nintendo, you go through a few levels, get to a castle, beat Bowser/Koopa/Dennis Hopper, and then you see the Princess... Only, wah wah, it isn't really the Princess. The Princess is in ANOTHER castle! This happens about 8 times before you get to the right castle. What does this have to do with BGR you might ask? See, you have to do a lot of work to get to the end of the castle and you may think you're close to victory, only to discover that you're not done!

This happened to me yesterday. See, we are really close... Damn close to being done with this movie. The only thing that needs doing is music and sound stuff, really. So, my sound guy (Joey Mosca) comes over and listens to the movie with a pair of headphones and adjusts any issues that he hears. (He did this from 4pm-9pm on Saturday! With only one break! The man is a trooper!)So, yesterday he tries to do this and the headphones don't work... No headphones work... Plug it in, and only the internal speakers work.

Its funny. I have had no problem with Apple products before. Any issues that I had were with human error (running with my iphone in the middle of a downpour, letting anyone else touch my ipad =P, etc.). I edited an entire movie on my iMac! It froze two or three times, but that was it. Now, when I just need the headphones to work (really the only time I need the headphones to work), they stop working. It could be worse, and I know that. Everything is backed up (twice), but its frustrating. I lose two-three days of work like this. "Sorry, Sam, the end of the movie is in a different week."

Went through a bunch of steps to see if it was a software thing (despite looking like a hardware thing)only to realize that it is, in fact, a hardware thing and needs to be repaired. Brought it in this morning, and should have it back by Friday.

But not all is bad. We have sold out our February 7th screening, and currently have 11 people signed up for our standby list. If you are one of our paying guests, I MUST receive your money by no later than January 21st. If I don't, I start selling to the standby list.

Also, we filmed a little something extra for the movie. It's a BGR-related little thing called "Red Scare." The initial idea to do it was my brother, Isaac's, but I took it and ran with it. Its a lot of fun. This past Sunday, we filmed myself, Isaac, Dan, Loarina, Bobby, Billy, and a new addition: Ahmed Elbabouhi. Sean Feuer graduated to camera guy/DP/etc. for this little extra. Joey continued on sound... etc etc etc. I got to have some locations that I wanted to use in BGR, but had no room for too. It was a freezing day. Isaac fell in the snow wearing just a tee shirt. Billy followed. Loarina toughed it out in seriously bitter wind wearing a skirt. It was cold, but really fun. We hope to premiere "Red Scare" along with BGR at the 2/7 screening... We may put it up on the various web pages afterwards.

Before I go, here are some pictures from the "Red Scare" shoot.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

So... People want to see this movie?

2011-01-08T14:36:00.002-05:00

Wow... So, we have a 199 seat theatre for the Bayonne Preview of "Blaming George Romero." Over the last two weeks or so, I have been confirming whether or not the people on my comp list would be attending. The people on the comp list are those who worked on the movie (cast/crew) and those who donated to the movie through Indiegogo.com. We then sold the remaining tickets for $15/person. I started selling to people on Wednesday or Thursday, and by last night we were sold out!

So, I guess there is some interest in the film.

Now, if you want to see the film but didn't manage to get a reservation never fear. There is still a chance to see the movie on February 7th. I have been collecting reservations, and then asking for payment. I have not received payment from everyone yet, so I need to establish January 21st as the cutoff for payment on the current reservations. If I do not receive payment from those who asked to reserve tickets by this time, I will begin re-selling those tickets.

What should you do? Continue to email Tickets@BlameRomero.com with the amount of tickets you want, and your name, and you will be placed on a standby list. Again, this is first come first serve. If someone drops out or does not pay for their ticket(s) by January 21, I will begin to go through the standby list.

Now, here is what I ask of people who have complimentary tickets or reserved tickets already. We all know things come up, and plans change, so if you for whatever reason feel that you cannot make the screening on February 7th, tell me as soon as humanly possible. There seems to be great demand to come to this preview, and it would really suck if we get to the preview and there are empty seats that could have gone to someone who would have attended. If you can't make it, or decide against coming, please email me at Tickets@BlameRomero.com.

I am going to send confirmations and personalized, printable tickets to those who are on the comp list and those who have paid shortly.

This is really exciting for me, and for the cast/crew. To have sold out so quickly, is just... Well, it makes me feel all good and stuff.

Stay Tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

Want to see "Blaming George Romero" on 2/7/11?

2011-01-06T11:22:00.002-05:00

Here is what you do: Email Tickets@BlameRomero.com with the number of tickets you want and the names for each of the tickets. You will then receive a reply email informing you of how to pay for said tickets. Tickets are $15/person.

There are 199 seats in the theatre, and we currently have 106 confirmed guests already. That leaves only 93 seats available! Tickets will be on a first come, first serve basis. Once we sell out, that will be it.

Yours,

Sam

approaching that finish line...

2011-01-03T14:14:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!

You know, between me and whoever is reading this, when we put our first teaser out and it said that BGR would be ready to be seen in 2011 that was just our best estimate. The fact that people are going to be seeing it so soon into 2011, is an amazing thing. Early in the post process, I heard fears that we wouldn't even have a rough cut until Spring '11. I am very glad those fears were put to rest.

Like I said in a prior blog, we had a test screening and got some invaluable critiques about the movie. Pacing was the biggest problem we had, so that was the main area that had to be focused on (besides other technical things like sound, music, & color). Happy to say our very own Shaun of the Dead (Sean Feuer) popped by the other day to adjust some of the trouble spots that we had with coloring. One more thing done.

I remember in the very early days of editing, Billy was worried that we might not have a full length movie... like what if after all that time, we put together a movie and it only came out to be an hour? Well, we put together a movie and we had more than enough. So, certain things needed to be cut just to help the pace... The comments we received on this were very helpful. We shot so much, and really, we shot so much good stuff that at first it was hard to decide what shouldn't be there. But seeing the movie several times, most recently with a fresh room of eyes really narrowed things down. Sometimes, the scenes did linger a bit too long. Its easy to just watch a scene and fall in love with what was done... the script, the shot, the acting, etc. But at the end of the day, its not all necessary, and sometimes what's not necessary can be detrimental to the whole.

So, that is what we are doing now. We have to look closely at what bits just overstay their welcome, and if they are removed, will anyone who doesn't know the movie notice? I did this to a scene or two and showed my brother (who has seen the movie at least twice right now) and he couldn't tell. And for the bits that are really good, well there are always deleted scenes on a DVD, right?

I really think that I am able to look at BGR as an objective outsider now. Hell, at the test screening, I caught a bit (from my own performance no less) that just made me sick. I must have heard it a hundred times by this point, but as I watched at the test I shook my head... This is too much exposition, I thought. There is no reason that my character needs to be saying all of this. If the movie does its job, the audience will get it.

At the same time, I noticed something in my character... not me.. but the character... In the writing, in the way my character acts... that I did not even see when I first wrote the script. It was an amazingly emotional bit of key information that was just there the whole time, and I didn't even know it was there.

When all is said and done, I really feel that the movie that will be shown on February 7th (and hopefully many festivals after that)is a good movie... Its the movie I set out to make, and I am at a loss for words on how to describe how that makes me feel.

So far, 74 guests have responded that they will be attending the screening. It is a 199 seat theatre. If you received your invite (from working on the film or donating to it), please make sure you RSVP by no later than Friday, January 7th or you will be taken off the comp list. If you are not one of those people, or are, but want to bring a guest, tickets will be on sale later this week. There will not be ticket sales at the door. More details coming soon.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

BGR First Test Audience

2010-12-23T23:19:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Last night, we held the first test screening for Blaming George Romero. About 20 people gathered together to watch as BGR was projected onto a small screen. The goal of this screening was to get an audience's feedback so that we would know what modifications, if any, to make. The audience was comprised of filmmakers and film lovers alike, so we could get both technical feedback as well as general feedback.

By and large, we seemed to get a lot of positive reactions. The main issue that we have to really deal with according to the feedback is tightening up the pace. Having seen the movie a few times, I understand this, and we are going to do our damnedest to make a tighter, better paced movie.

Below is some of the great feedback we received. Don't get me wrong, we did receive a few negative notes (it would appear that one of our jokes may have offended a small number of our audience), but any negative notes we got were not shared by people. For example, some people prefer Closeups, and some prefer wide shots... You really can't please everyone.

I was very happy with how everything went. People got the movie... People laughed... People enjoyed it. And thats what its all about. Without further ado, some of our feedback... Answers to the question: Overall, what did you think of the movie?

*i liked it. Interesting story. Nice change from the "traditional" kind of zombie movie.
*this early work is great. Humor, emotional roller coaster. I enjoyed it very much.
*great. Entertaining with a good theme of staying alive in the adult world.
*thought it was very good and really look forward to the finished product.
*pretty funny with a good message about life and Friendship.
*i thought it was great. The back and forth with the cast had me laughing the whole time.
*for a first feature i say BGR is a very well done and commercially (if not festival) viable. This has the goods. The characterization is great. The dialogue funny and poignant. The story is fun yet meaningful. I think your biggest concern will ultimately be pacing. Tighten the pace and the film will soar.
*a lot of fun, good dialogue, consistent pace, stayed funny.
*Awesome!
*kicked a shit ton of ass!
*great story. Great writing, Can't wait to see the finished film.
*loved it can't wait to see the finished piece.
*it was an entertaining film with good acting and a nice story.
*very good film, excellent job.

Some people have seen the movie.. More will see it in time.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

2/7/11

2010-12-19T18:27:00.003-05:00

"When can I see Blaming George Romero?"
I am very happy to say that "Blaming George Romero" will play on the big screen on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 7pm... A mere three days after the birthday of the great George Romero.

"Where can I see Blaming George Romero?"
On Monday, February 7, 2011 at 7pm, you will have the opportunity to see "Blaming George Romero" at Frank Theatres South Cove Cinema in Bayonne, NJ. I am very glad that this very Bayonne movie is going to be playing at Bayonne's movie theatre. The management at the theatre have been incredibly supportive, and I can't really thank them for the opportunity that they are giving us.

"How can I see Blaming George Romero?"
There are 199 seats in the theatre that we will be playing at. If you worked on the movie (cast and crew), you will receive a complimentary ticket to the screening. If you donated money to the film through indiegogo, you will receive a complimentary ticket to the screening. Very soon, I will send out an email to the aforementioned people asking for RSVP's to be sent back by a certain date. After I know how many people from this group will be attending (it will be fewer than 199... even if everyone from this group comes, it will be fewer than 199), I will then open up ticket sales to anyone else who wants to attend on a first come, first serve basis. I will explain how I will do this in a future blog post. Tickets will be $15 per person. There will be no ticket sales at the door. Once we have reached capacity, ticket sales will be closed.

"What can I expect from this screening?"
This screening is going to be designated as a "preview" and not a "premiere" as there are some film festivals that will not accept you if you have premiered anywhere already. Make no mistake, though, if you attend this screening you will be a part of the first audience to view the completed "Blaming George Romero."

For me, and for many of the cast and crew, this is a huge deal. I can't speak for everyone, but this is my first starring role that will be on a big screen... My first script to be on a big screen. This is an event, and it will be treated as such. I don't have details for you right now, but expect giveaways, raffles, and more. Expect a good time.

I am excited. :)

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

"Music is what feelings sound like."

2010-12-18T00:57:00.002-05:00

I don't know who said that quote above. I just googled "quotes about music" and liked what I read. I have said where we are at a couple of times... right now its all about the audio stuff... adjusting levels, sound fx, and music. (There are some other things, but right now the focus is pretty much on the audio.) And as you can tell from the picture and quote, this blog is going to be all about adjusting levels... So, sit back, relax, and get ready to read about making dialogue the right volume!

Just kidding. This blog will be about music. Specifically the music of "Blaming George Romero," which I haven't really gone into detail about. Movie music may be my favorite music of all... I was never really into the radio, so I would hear new songs in soundtracks to the movies I watched. My iphone is FILLED with the scores of various films and songs that I first heard in a movie.

Its important in a movie. Music can elevate a good movie to a great movie. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park... all great movies... But those movies (and more) would lose some of their greatness if it weren't for the score by John Williams. Up is a great cartoon... beautiful... but even moreso because of Michael Giacchino (who also did the music for Lost FYI). Actors and visuals can do so much, but the notes of a good composer can create (or bring about) emotions that words and visuals could not do alone. You get my point, I'm sure.

After the main production team came into being, one of the first things I looked into was music. What the hell would we do for music? I mean, yeah, I know some bands and whatnot but I needed more than that. And so, I went where I always go when I have any kind of question about music: Meg Zervoulis. I have known Meg since I was 13 years old and we did Oliver! at the BJCC under the direction of Shia Saltzman... but I digress... So, I have known her exactly half my life at this point. I am not exaggerating when I say that she is the most talented musician that I know. I mean no disrespect to any of the other musicians that I know, but if you know Meg, you would agree. So, I trust her when it comes to music.

I sent her an email telling her what I had planned, and then I asked her if she knew anyone who would be interested/available in scoring this little movie of mine. I honestly didn't even think to ask if she would want to... I knew that she was busy with a huge variety of musical things in her life... but I knew that she knows other musicians. She sent me back a prompt email with a list of other possible composers, and then at the end of it she added... "or me." Obviously, I knew what I wanted. I quickly sent an email back telling her that if she was willing to do this, I would always prefer working with her... And she agreed to come on board, which thrilled me. At that point, not only did I have world class actors, but I somehow got a world class musician to boot!

Last night, I heard where she is going with the score, and I am verrry happy. It is going to be oh so great, and I cannot wait to watch the whole movie with the music in it. Like I said, Meg is awesome.

Now, that is the score... At the moment, I plan to also some great songs by Max Arias Jr., Joe Timpanaro, Ramy Shedid, Sir Joey Mosca, and the now defunct band Guido the Killer Pimp.

With all the great pieces in the "Blaming George Romero" puzzle, I am very happy and look forward to watching it on the big screen...

That said, I keep getting asked "when can I see the movie?" Well, I am happy to report that as of today, I know when you will be able to see the movie... and I can do you one better... I know where you will be able to see the movie as well. And I will tell you... before the end of the weekend!

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

The BGR Q&A Blog

2010-12-12T17:23:00.004-05:00

A short while ago, I put out a request for questions for a BGR blog to see if there were any questions that any fans/readers had about the movie. There were several questions asked... Pretty sure only one question was a serious one, and that is the question I am asked most when it comes to BGR... but I figured since I asked for questions and said I would answer, I would answer all of the questions. And here they are.

Gary Wasilewski: Why wasn't I considered for the main role?
Answer: You weren't considered for the main role, because (as the writer) I wrote the main role for myself. Neither the producers nor the casting director had a problem with that... I am also the casting director and a producer. See? Its all who you know. Now, you may have been considered for a regular role, but there is no money in the budget to either fly out to Montana or fly you in from there.

Isaac Platizky: Why was the Isaac David courtroom subplot cut out of the movie?
Answer: Oh, so many reasons. Please choose the one(s) that suit you the best. (A) The movie would have lasted an extra hour; (B) When I was getting locations, they were all basically simple ones that I wouldn't have trouble securing. A courtroom would have been much more difficult; (C) A full courtroom scene would have required a number of more extras and other actors, and we were already over budget on catering; (D) The scene was never written. I hope one or more of these helps to answer your question.

Dan Gregory: Is it true that SP (Sam Platizky) might get an Oscar nod?
Answer: Hopefully someday! Really, anything can happen, but for this movie I wouldn't hold my breath. Regardless of the performance, the odds of a movie this independent getting close to that amount of attention would be a miracle in itself. That said, I would put my cast against any independent films'. It really is one of the best ensembles that I have seen put together. Even as the one who got everyone on board, I still have trouble believing it.

And then there is the big question, the one that I am asked the most. Mary Joyce Adie Kemp & Yochabel Ubiera both asked variations of this question: When can I see the movie?

Answer: This is a good question. I ask myself this question often. Not when can I see the movie... I can see it whenever I want. I mean when can you see the movie? The short answer is we are working on it, we are nearly finished, and just as soon as we are able to, I will announce through the blog, facebook, twitter, etc. a solid concrete answer on when you will be able to see the movie.

I was going to go into a little more detail about this one question, because there is a little more information I could share... BUT... I have been talking to some people, and rather than do that, I am going to make this a "To be continued..." blog because I should have some more concrete information sooner rather than later. So, I am going to devote an entire blog to this question, and that will hopefully be done by this time next week.

Sorry for the cop out, but you will have an answer soon and I am confident that it will be worth the wait.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

Can you spell Crowdfunding?

2010-12-02T17:04:00.004-05:00

Happy Chanukah to all of our Jewish fans! Happy Zombanukah to our Zombie fans! And Happy Thursday to everyone else!

Here's the deal. I hadn't planned on writing a blog tonight, but I felt this topic deserved it.

In a recent blog post, I talked about several factors that came together that really made "Blaming George Romero" from an unfinished screenplay into a full fledged feature length movie. One of those factors was "Cerise." "Cerise" is a short film that was created by a friend of mine, John Trigonis. John opened my eyes to the world of crowdfunding, indiegogo in particular. He was using this tool to fund his film, and it gave me the hope that maybe I could do the same. Through this, we were able to raise over $7,000 to help fund "Blaming George Romero."

And then, throughout production (and even into post) John has been a wonderful source of information and help, and if he ever gets tired of my many questions he never shows it. All that, and he even has a role in "Blaming George Romero" too!

So, it is pretty cool that tomorrow "Cerise" will have its "Big Apple Preview." What is even cooler is that John is including trailers before his film from other crowdfunded movies that filmed around the same time as "Cerise." One of those films is "Blaming George Romero." So, it should be a pretty cool night. I'll be there.

For more information: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139282889455578&index=1

In other news, I announced on our facebook/twitter pages that I am accepting questions regarding "Blaming George Romero" to answer in an upcoming blog. If you have any questions regarding the movie, any questions at all, just ask through Facebook, Twitter, or this blog, and you shall be answered!

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

Making the Movie Look/Sound Better

2010-11-30T23:56:00.003-05:00

Hello! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend.

Quick blog here. We are hard at work making the movie look and sound better, but I've been wanting to throw the following into a blog for awhile.

Note raw footage from a scene with John Trigonis and Loarina Gonzalez.

Now, that is not bad. It's HD. Nice location, great actors, good shot. But its raw footage, what we got right from the cameras. Now, I mentioned when I was talking about the theatrical trailer, a conversation I had with our PA/Editor/etc. Sean Feuer. While we were putting the scenes together, he asked if I wanted to make the footage look better, maybe more like film. Well, of course I wanted that! Who wouldn't? So, we treated that footage, and the trailer looks as good as it does, but it could look better...

And that is with just a bit of color correction. Its subtle, but its one of my favorite re-colorings in the movie so far.

With just a few clicks in Final Cut Pro, you can take something that looks good, and make it look great.

This has been done to the whole movie. Now, we are tweaking bits and pieces to make everything match just a bit better. Same with the audio (Thanks, Joey Mosca!).

Once that is done, as I said before, we are going to start holding test screenings to get opinions on the movie, and see what else if anything, we can adjust to make a better movie.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

The Genesis of Blaming George Romero

2010-11-20T15:12:00.005-05:00

It occurs to me that I have talked about the origins of BGR in minor detail, but I've never actually gone into too much depth about where the idea came from. I figure now that we have gotten as far as we have, I can go into more detail. So, here for the first time in complete detail is the genesis of Blaming George Romero. Some of this has been said before, whereas most of it should be new. Be forewarned, what follows is a very lengthy account.

The Beginning: I Heart Zombies

Best place to start is the beginning. There are plenty of movie monsters out there, but to me the scariest is the zombie. More so than vampires or werewolves or whatever else, zombies seem the most real... The scariest. There is something about their unstoppable-ness. I don't know, but of all the movie monsters, zombies are the only ones that I have ever had nightmares about.

For awhile now, I have devoured as many zombie movies as I could. Many are bad, but a good number are good, and some are even great. Hell, Shaun of the Dead is one of my favorite movies. It combines some great comedy with a genuinely interesting zombie movie.

Then I saw a "zombie" movie where the characters just didn't get it. Someone gets bit, they die, they come back and try biting you... They are a zombie! But the characters in this movie didn't get it, and they all died because of that. They didn't recognize a zombie outbreak when it happened, which seemed ridiculous to me, which seems ridiculous but as far as I'm concerned even if you don't watch zombie movies you should know what zombies are like. They've been a sub genre of horror since George Romero's Night of the Living Dead!

I think I saw the movie with my brother, and I told him that if it ever looked like a zombie apocalypse, I would be better prepared than the characters in the movie. I told a friend of mine that too... A friend of mine who I'd discussed "what to do in the midst of zombie apocalypse" before... And he laughed and agreed. And then he said, "But can you imagine if we were wrong, and hurt someone who just had some kind of rabies or something?"

So, I decided that I wanted to create a zombie movie where people knew what was going on... People who had a chance. And I did. In the summer of 2009, I wrote "Langsomer Tod," a zombie movie set in WW II. It covered two things that I wanted: 1) it was set prior to NOTLD, so it was believable that the characters wouldn't know what was going on, and 2) soldiers had a better chance of surviving than regular people. I like the script a lot, and want to get it made one day (anyone out there have a few hundred thousand dollars?).

When I was finished, I was very happy, but I wanted to write something else...

Something Else: The First Seeds of Blaming George Romero

I wanted to write something that I could film easily. But what? I had written a few things that could potentially be filmed before, but nothing that I really and truly believed in. "But can you imagine if we were wrong, and hurt someone who just had some kind of rabies or something?" and there it was...What if you had a group of people who knew how to react if there was a zombie outbreak... But what if they didn't know whether they were right or wrong? What happens next? Even if there is a zombie apocalypse, what does that doubt do to you?

The title came fairly easy. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I was asked who George Romero is, but if you know zombie movies, you know Romero. He basically created the genre of zombie films with "Night of the Living Dead." The "Blaming" part is a part of the overall plot, but it sounded good to me. I had a few suggestions that I should change the title to "Blame George Romero," but I liked the sound of Blaming... It had a nice ring to it.

I knew that I would be casting mainly actors I knew, because it would be easier to work with people I knew, and simpler than putting out a casting notice. I also believe in bringing people along with me. If I'm going to do something that even has a chance of success, I want to share that with friends, so I knew I would cast actors I knew, but I took this a step further. When I wrote "Langsomer Tod," I wrote a part for my brother and me. I found that actually writing with a specific actor in mind really helps when it comes to creating distinct character voices. I liked that so much, that I cast the majority of the movie before I even started writing.

The Initial Cast

I had been acting with Bobby Lise for nearly 11 years, and we had always talked about making a movie so he was a given. Not to get too attached to Shaun of the Dead, because BGR's similarities to that movie are few if any, but if my character was going to be a Simon Pegg-y character, then Bobby's would absolutely be the Nick Frost type.

I had also worked with his girlfriend, Loarina, several times and I knew that she would do an awesome job. She’s a strong actress and woman, and best of all she is amazingly reliable. I knew that if the other three leads were going to be guys, Lorain would be able to hold her own and present a strong female presence... And I was right.

Rounding out the main 4 parts, I decided to throw in something of a wild card by writing a role for Dan Gregory. I'd known Dan since High School, but he only started acting relatively recently. I worked on a film with him in the spring of 2009, and paid careful attention to what he was doing. I was most impressed in the moments when we weren't filming, and just started improv-ing back and forth. That project sadly never saw the light of day, but what I gleaned from my days on set through improv-ing with Dan was what kind of character I thought Dan would do the best... A character that honestly couldn't be further from the role he had just played.

The other roles that were written with specific actors in mind were Isaac (I'll always write a role for my brother, but when I'm also in the movie, I have a hard time casting him as anyone other than my brother... Hopefully, I over that someday), Ramy (this one was just a complete whim really... Not sure if I had the idea for the character before the actor or vice a versa. ), and AJ (I honestly didn't ask AJ if he would do the movie until spring of 2010, well after the first draft was written... I didn't think he would do it, but I wrote the part with him in mind).

Getting Started...

I decided at this point, before the script was ever written that I would have this filmed by September 2010. I didn't have a full cast... I had no crew... But I would get this shot! I remember one person in particular (Bobby Lise) who didn't believe it could happen.

I set myself to work, and within a few days, I was about 40 pages into a presumably 90-page screenplay when I stopped. Just stopped. Life got in the way, and I just let the screenplay languish. The fire I had to make this movie had seemingly faded.

Getting Re-Started

Then in the spring of 2010, a few things happened in pretty rapid succession. I got rejected from the grad schools that I applied to, and felt the desire to really do something.... To accomplish something significant. A friend of mine, John Trigonis, started funding his short film on a website called indiegogo.com. And I got an iPad. Indiegogo was something completely new to me... Money was always an issue, but through the use of this website I could potentially raise enough money to get this movie shot. The iPad may not seem to be a huge deal, but prior to it, I could only really type only desktop computer, which was in my room. With the iPad, I could type wherever I wanted to... And I did... Quickly. I finished a first draft within 24 hrs of starting to write again.

Whenever I finish a draft of something, I will always give it to a few people and get their opinion, critique, feedback, etc. This movie was no different. I sent the 1st draft to a few people, including the actors that I had already cast. I took that feedback, and went back to work... Wash, rinse, repeat, until I reached a final shooting script. I think the shooting script was draft 4 (which followed 1,2,3, and 3.5... Yes, I had a draft 3.5.) Between draft 1 and 4, entire subplots and character arcs were added... Jokes were included... More zombies were added. A fuller movie came into being.

The Production Team

While I wrote draft after draft, pieces started moving behind the scenes. I started to meet with, what I guess you would call my production team, which at the beginning consisted of Brad Resnick, Bobby, and Loarina.

I went to Brad, because I remembered that he had once told me that he wanted to get into the Producer game. We discussed what we would need to get this particular movie on its feet. We also discussed the ideas for the indiegogo site, including perks. Soon after, on a very nice afternoon, I sat down for lunch with Bobby and Loarina. We discussed areas of the film and the indiegogo pitch video that we planned to film later in the day, while we waited for the person we hoped would be our director. As it turned out, we learned that day that the director we had in mind wouldn't be able to be a part of every day of shooting... Very disappointing, but we started brainstorming other directors that we knew. I think, half jokingly, Bobby said at this point, "I could direct." not joking at all, I said, "No," but the idea floated in my head a bit.

We scouted the neighborhood as we waited for Dan to get out of work. Eventually, we settled on Bobby's house where we set up a few lamps, and a friend of mine's HD flip on a newly bought tripod. Dan came and we ran a few rehearsals of the pitch video script. Of the four of us, Bobby was the only one of us with directing experience... Theatrical directing... But still: directing. So, Bobby directed the short pitch, and I got the chance to see what Bobby as director would be like. We shot a fun video, I brought it home, edited it, and started coordinating with Brad the release of our various internet presences including: Facebook, Twitter, website, and indiegogo.

Around that time, I began to seriously talk to Bob about directing. At a certain point, half joking became serious, and he really seemed to want to do it. We hadn't found anyone else, but I still had my concerns and I voiced them. I trusted Bob with the directing of actors, but there were many technical aspects to being a director that he did not have the experience with. After some discussion, we agreed: he would direct the movie with the proviso that we get a damn good Director of Photography and strong Assistant Directors.

This was the point where we started trying to woo Raul Garcia. This was not easy. There was a lot of back and forth... He seemed interested, but did not commit. Finally, while shooting another project, I got an email from Bobby... It started: "Raul can't do it, so I decided that I won't act but just devote myself to directing..." Well, that wouldn't do. I was okay with Bob doing both as long as we had a good DP, but I had written the man a part, damn it! And then he continued, "..Just kidding! Raul's on board." Good news.

The rest of the team slowly came together. Doug Youmans, who had been the lighting guy on the project I worked on with Dan, had contacted me. Dan told him about the project, and he wanted in. He loved zombies and wanted to help out.

Sean, our PA turned invaluable assistant editor, contacted me through Facebook. He saw that we were making a movie, in one of my many indiegogo postings to a mutual friends' page. He had done a bunch of film work, and wanted to work on this in whatever capacity he could. I didn't know what would come of it, but as it turns out, it worked out for the best.

Little known BGR fact: we almost didn't have a sound guy. I was in touch with one guy who was interested in the project, but was offered paid work during our run and couldn't do it. Out of curiosity, I checked with another sound guy re: how much he would cost... If we hired him, the whole budget would've been going to sound. We had a line on another guy, but that didn't seem definite... Luckily, this last guy put us in touch with Joey Mosca while we were at our final pre production meeting.

Our AD's were Billy Dautrick and Miriam Cortez. Billy was actually the first choice at director mentioned earlier. For several years, we had talked about making a movie and whenever it was discussed, Bill was our go to director. Unfortunately for us, Bill had a job that occupied virtually every weekend, which made it impossible to direct, but he could be (and was) there whenever he could as 1st AD. Miriam was one of the greatest technical people I had worked with in theatre... A fantastic SM and ASM... So, luckily we were able to get her to come on whenever she could to be our 2nd AD.

And there it was... We had our team, our script, and our schedule. We were set to go, and go we went. Now, here we are with what I call a first draft of the movie finished. Like the script, it has some work that needs to be done, but it is amazing that what started as a small idea has come together as much as it has.

Where We Are Now

Since we started editing, I have watched as we went, and I watched the movie once straight through prior to color correction and end credits.

Recently, I watched it a second time straight through from beginning to end with color correction and end credits. Before watching, I was very nervous. Never mind the film festivals and outside critiques... Would I like the movie? Seems crazy, I know. I wrote it, I was on set every day, I saw the dailies, I worked on the edit, and I've seen it once straight through. Why be nervous now? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was watching on my TV instead of my computer... maybe it was the color changes, extra dialogue, SFX, and widescreen bars that make it look more like a movie. Maybe it's just the closer it comes to completion the more nervous I'll be. I really can't say.

But I watched. I noticed a few SFX that we still need to get, a bit of voiceover dialogue that I actually need to write from scratch, some audio issues that definitely need correcting, and of course we need music... I saw some bits of fat on the movie that I can potentially trim to enhance the flow if necessary. But overall... I like it. It's the movie I wanted to make. And at the end of the day, that is what matters.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

What's New?

2010-11-16T15:26:00.002-05:00

I have been wanting to post something new for awhile, but haven't been able to think of one big thing to justify a new blog. So, here are a few smaller bits of what is new:

*The movie has been color corrected and widescreen bars have been added to the whole shebang.

*On two separate days, we recorded some extra dialogue and SFX for the film. There is a Behind the Scenes Featurette on one of these days that is currently being worked on. Fortunately, we didn't have to re-record dialogue. We just had to record dialogue that we saved for post for various reasons. We also had some SFX to create, which was fun, messy, and really good once they were put in the film. Big thanks on these days to Mike Cutruff and his father at RuffCutt Studios along with Keith McCord for the use of their respective homes for our recording.

*The end credits have also been finished since last I blogged. They are a lot of fun, and I am really very proud that I figured out how to shrink video down in final cut so that the credits could play alongside extra footage. I also got to add a dedication that I wanted to add for awhile, which makes me happy.

*Speaking of credits, we are also working on an opening credit sequence that, if we can manage it, will be really really cool. I just spoke to Bob, who came to my office with terrible, terrible drawings to show me his ideas for this... Luckily, the ideas were way better than the drawings. =)

*I have begun work on the "Behind the Scenes" DVD that was a perk for anyone who donated $200 or more to indiegogo. Right now here is what will be on it:

(1) Behind the Scenes Featurettes (All the Behind the Scenes videos we have shown so far, and some more that we have not)
(2) Blooper Reel (There are plenty of hilarious outtakes from shooting that have not been seen yet and will be seen in this reel.)
(3) The original Indiegogo Pitch (Potentially with outtakes and an alternate version depending on if I still have those saved =))
(4) A Lecture on Zombie-ology with Professor (and DP) Raul Garcia
(5) The Theatrical Trailer

and more!!!

*The movie itself is in pretty good shape. Now that the extra dialogue has been added, and video has been adjusted, the next step is AUDIO. There are a few audio issues that need to be worked out, and will be. I have been assured that its just a matter of tweaking a few things here and there. The other audio issue is music. I have some, and more is being worked on as I write. I am very excited with where we are at. Pretty soon, we will be ready to test the film to gauge reaction from small audiences... Then, we can make whatever adjustments are necessary... and then... Well, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but after that point that will be that. The film will be ready to be submitted to festivals (and hopefully it will make it through), and for everyone who has asked "When can I see it?" I am very happy that people want to see this movie. We are working out the wheres and hows of a larger "preview" screening, and as soon as we have the details worked out, I will share them with you.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

Trick or Treat: A Trailer & Some Updates

2010-10-31T18:11:00.002-04:00

Ahhh... I said awhile back that I wanted a new trailer out by October 31, just in time for Halloween, and I was as good as my word. Late last night we put the finishing touches on our latest trailer. I can't thank Sean Feuer enough for his invaluable help in the trailer creation. He knows his stuff, and if you watch the trailer it shows.

So, the trailer is out now. You can view it on our facebook page, here on the blog, youtbe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY3rAHuUepY, and soon our website: www.BlameRomero.com.

I am very happy with the reaction that we have received so far. It has been very positive. One of my friends, upon watching the trailer, told me how everything he saw before looked like a movie his friends put together, but this latest trailer... Well, this looks like an actual movie. I couldn't agree more. See, I have mentioned before that I am relatively new to Final Cut, so many of its features are new to me. And so, all of our footage prior to now was raw footage... direct from the camera. Imagine my surprise when we started editing this trailer together, Sean looked at me and asked, "Do you want to adjust the colors to make it look better than raw footage? More like film?" The only thing I could say was, "Is that a possibility?" Apparently it was, and we did. I think this makes a world of difference as far as the visual quality goes, and I wouldn't really know about it without Sean's help, so big thanks to him for that bit of knowledge. I learn something new about Final Cut every day, it seems.

So, the trailer is out there. Besides just looking better, it has much more detail about the overall plot. We see new characters, and get a better idea of just what's going on in this movie without spoiling anything.

As for the status of the movie itself... The pieces are together for the first cut of the film. The scenes have all been cut together. It runs 94 minutes. Now, we still have plenty of work to do. The color correction we did for the 2 minute 45 second trailer? That has to be done to the entire movie now. We have some audio to tweak, along with a few things to record still. Then we have to add SFX and music. But we are on our way.

On behalf of the entire cast and crew of "Blaming George Romero," I truly hope you enjoy the latest look at our little film.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

Another BGR Milestone Achieved!

2010-10-26T01:16:00.003-04:00

Phew. When we started out, I think I mentioned before that I had no idea what went into audio for a movie. So, when we decided to go for external audio rather than hooking up a mic directly to the camera, I was warned by many people how hard it would be. I am very glad to say that those people were wrong. As of 1am, I have finished syncing audio for "Blaming George Romero." There are still a few voice over audio things to pick up, but all of the audio that we recorded along with the movie... has been synced. Again... Phew.

I owe big thanks to Sean Feuer for showing me how to sync up audio in Final Cut Pro. Once I saw how it was done, it was actually pretty easy. Tedious at times, but not difficult... Not at all really. SO, I am very thankful for that.

Instead of just syncing up all of the audio at once, I decided to sync while we went. So, I synced audio... We edited... When we finished editing the synced footage, back to audio sync. Today, as I said, I finished that. That should tell you a little something about how far along we are. There is still a load of work to do, even once we have our first rough cut... but are moving right along.

I am going to end this blog with a tease in picture form of something that you will be able to see very shortly. You will see it soon, and it will be really, really good.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

When things work out, and when they don't...

2010-10-19T21:29:00.003-04:00

I was working on a scene this week; a scene we shot the 2nd day of filming. It seems like so long ago, but watching that scene was interesting. Its funny... back then we had no idea what was going to happen. For all we knew back then, everything would fall apart at any minute. We got lucky. We passed that 2nd day and here we are now.

You never know what is going to happen. You can plan, and plan, and plan, but in the end you need to be able to adapt. For example, the initial screenplay called for a camp fire for the scene we shot in the woods. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) we shot in the summer. The woods were dry, and we couldn't start a fire without the very real risk of starting a much larger campfire than we had in mind. So, we adapted. I could be wrong, but I think I have to credit Bobby with the solution that saved us (I won't get into too many story points for fear of spoiling). Our lighting guy, Doug, created a lighting rig (and did an amazing job of it) and it fit the story!

Sometimes what was written on the page was filmed exactly as written, and sometimes it worked out very well. Sometimes it didn't, and I have had to cut some stuff that I had in my screenplay. Sometimes what was filmed went above and beyond what was in the script, and again... Sometimes it worked very well, and sometimes it did not. It's quite an experience going through all of the hours of footage, and shaping it into a movie. Seeing what worked, what didn't work... What surprised us, what disappointed us.

It makes the small stuff seem very small, knowing that the final product will be as good as it is. I have been slightly lazy with stills over the last two weeks, so below you will see a bunch of them.

Right now, the first cut of the movie is 1 hr and 10 minutes long. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

Who Wants a Shirt?

2010-10-18T16:31:00.002-04:00

It's getting cold outside, ain't it? What better prize than a tee shirt? And what better tee shirt than an official "Blaming George Romero" tee shirt?

Now, we have had minor contests in the past, but this one is going to be slightly more detailed. Ready?

We, at "Blaming George Romero" are artists, and we support the arts. So, we want you to do something artistic that is inspired by "Blaming George Romero." It can be anything from a painting, to a sketch, to a sculpture, to a cartoon, song, poem, short story, etc etc etc. If you want a BGR shirt, then be creative. Once you have created something, either post what you have created on the BGR Facebook Page or email it to me at splatizky@gmail.com.

I will assemble a panel of judges, and we will choose a winner who will receive their very own BGR shirt. If there are a number of great entries, then 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive a signed copy of the official "Blaming George Romero" poster.

Entries are due on October 31st at 11:59pm. If you already have a shirt you are ineligible.

Good luck!

Stay tuned,

Sam Platizky

Actor, writer, producer

"Blaming George Romero"

BGR Related News

2010-10-11T16:38:00.003-04:00

Here are just a few snippets of information that are related to BGR:

*We were all thrilled with the excellent work that Elizabeth White & Catherine Carlisle did on our wrap party cake. We were not the only ones. Their boss, Buddy, (who is also the boss of cakes apparently) liked the cake so much that he has put it in their display book of spooky themed cakes. What's more, at least one person has ordered it already! So, congrats to Liz and Catherine on having their beautiful work recognized by more than just the BGR family.

*Our very own DP, Raul Garcia, has completed work on a short film entitled "Crude Remains" that you can view here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16_NyF6GjZI.

*A significant portion of the cast/crew of BGR was involved in a production of "Play On" at the West Side Theatre in Jersey City over the last two weeks. I saw it last Thursday, and was very entertained. Congratulations on an excellent run!

*Below is a picture of the wonderful cake to remind you how great it looked, along with two pics that we are showing in honor of October and Halloween.

*Work continues both on the full cut of the movie (approximately at 53 minutes right now) and the "theatrical trailer." The goal for the latter is still to have it for your viewing pleasure within the month.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

Excitement & Tedium... Making a movie.

2010-10-01T23:42:00.003-04:00

When you're making a movie, things can go from incredibly exciting to downright tedious really quick. There is a lot of waiting around, before you can get to all the good stuff. Same with post. We have finished the first "Act" of the movie, and are going back through to adjust the audio so that it all matches, etc. Its all very necessary, but very tedious... And again, I am learning on the job.

But anyway, I've watched what we have of the movie several times, but today was the first time that I just watched it straight through and just watched instead of working on it... and I really like the movie. More, I am proud of it.

We are working on a full length, theatrical trailer now. I know that some of you may be confused at to what the movie is all about. Is it a horror? Comedy? Drama? Porn? If you've just been relying on the pictures, or the teaser trailer, I can understand why you would be confused. One of the things I am looking to do with this trailer is to give you all a taste of what this movie really is. After assembling some scenes for it (including some scenes we haven't edited yet), I am really happy with what the final product will be. In fact, I am so happy that below you will find some stills from the trailer. It is really exciting to see all of this footage come together. It makes all the stress and tedium that went along with the movie disappear.

Also, I get asked a lot: "When can I see the movie? Can I see it now?" No, you can't. The movie is not ready yet. We are working on it night & day (seriously, I am forgetting what sleep is like), and are creating the best possible movie that we can. Like I said before, 40 minutes are edited, and we are adjusting that to make sure it is polished before we jump ahead to the rest. I don't know when we will be done... I can tell you that I HOPE to have a first cut of the film finished prior to the end of 2010. Whether that is in November or December, I don't know... and it may take longer... But stay tuned to this blog, for information on future screenings.

The trailer, on the other hand, should be available within the next few weeks.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

Blaming George Romero

9/22/10 HAHAHAHA

2010-09-23T00:51:00.003-04:00

You know what's fun? Writing a movie, sure that's fun. Somehow managing to get the people needed to take the movie from the page to reality. Yep, that's fun too. It's full of stress, but it was fun. What's fun at the moment is to take all of that... Over 24 hours of footage... And assemble it into a real, honest to God movie. "Blaming George Romero" is approximately 38 minutes right now. (Slightly less than a page a minute for any of those who are curious... Final draft clocked in at 108 pages.)

But yeah... it's one thing to be on set and act and have to deal with all the craziness that goes on set. But between all of that, it is easy to not see what is going on. Everything is so in the moment. But having seen 38 minutes of this movie... I really like it... It is a fun, funny movie. The entire cast is just amazing (I know, I know, its been said, but I'll keep saying it). And its the small things too... Its the subtlest facial gesture, line emphasis... The things that weren't in the script... the things that noone told anyone else to do. The things that the actors themselves don't even know they did, probably! It really is great. And then, as great as they are, through the magic of editing we are able to make things even better... even more funny! (Billy Dautrick has been at the top of his game this week in the editing sessions.)

So, we are moving right along. Some stills from the past week are below. Meg Zervoulis is working on our score as we speak... We will need some songs too, so in addition to our search if you or someone you know is a musician and is interested in having one of their songs placed in the movie, feel free to contact me. If you don't have my contact information, feel free to contact me through this blog, my facebook page, or through my website: www.SamPlatizky.com.

That is all for now.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

9/13/10 Editing a mooooovie.

2010-09-13T21:55:00.002-04:00

Above is the first official still from "Blaming George Romero." I figured out how to create stills, while I was syncing audio, and I figured it was about time to start posting them.

Few points to mention:

*Major thanks to Billy Dautrick and Sean Feuer for their priceless assistance in the editing process. Prior to working with them, I had absolutely no experience with Final Cut Pro 7, but I am much more comfortable with it now and actually like syncing audio, a prospect that frightened me mere weeks ago. I am really learning so much through this whole process, and really appreciate everyone who is teaching me.

*We have a rough edit of approximately 20-23 minutes of the movie. It still needs work, but what we have so far makes me very optimistic for our final product.

*Tee shirts should be in this week. If you donated $100 or more, you will be getting one. We will also be having a giveaway for one or two on the blog/Facebook/Twitter... so stay tuned for that.

*I am going to work on some more videos for the website, so look out for those. They should be fun.

*Can't promise when the next trailer will be ready. At the moment, top priority goes to making the best movie possible... That said, it would be really cool if we had one in time for Halloween...

So, stay tuned! More news, stills, videos, and giveaways are coming soon.

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

9/1/10 Happy September, Everyone!

2010-09-01T11:45:00.002-04:00

Wow, now that we have finished filming things have slowed down on the blog front. Not too much to report, but there are a few things.

*We are hard at work editing the film, and the wonderful Meg Zervoulis is creating some great music for us. I don't have an exact date when the movie will be finished, but I will keep you informed.

*For those of you who donated $100 or more, your perks packages include a tee shirt and a short story. The shirts have been ordered and they should be in within two weeks. Once they are, I will send them out. I had a delay with the stories (writer's block, argh!) but I have recently begun to write again and am sending those stories out as they are written. If you are due one, you will receive it shortly. It is just a matter of time.

*We are going to have a few more giveaways that will be announced here, the FB page, and on the twitter page. Prizes will include WWBCD? Bracelets, Movie Posters, and Tee Shirts! More details to come soon.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

$7,825 ain't bad at all, folks.

2010-08-18T11:26:00.006-04:00

Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you. When Brad Resnick and I first started laying out the budget for "Blaming George Romero," we had no idea if we could make it to our goal budget of $9,000. But we did. I was always willing to throw my own money into the project, so considering that we managed to only miss our goal by $1,175 I am extremely happy.

Thanks to indiegogo for giving artists like us a place to do what we just did... Money's always the scariest factor, and having a place where we could raise funds in a fun way was amazing. Thanks to John Trigonis and his lovely better half, Marinell Montales for introducing me to indiegogo and giving me advice throughout. Really, indiegogo became the springboard that made this project possible... It was only when we saw that we had a possible way to raise money that the reality of making a movie seemed like... well, a reality.

But the biggest thanks of all goes to everyone who donated (sometimes more than once!!!) what they could. These are not easy times, economically, and that there are people who are willing to give... and give in large amounts... I really don't have the words to thank you properly. I am not that good a writer. =P I always relished getting an email telling me that I had a new contribution. Sometimes it was someone I knew, and that really made me happy... that my friends and family believed in me and this project enough to support us as they did. Sometimes it was someone that knew someone else in the cast... and that was cool too. And occasionally, we even got donations from people that none of us actually knows! It really is an amazing thing, and again... There are no words. So, thank you.

Below is a list of all of you who generously contributed to indiegogo over the last few months. If you do not see your name, and you contributed, please forgive me I copied and pasted from an excel sheet to a word document to here. Just give me a quick heads up and I will add you.

Executive Producers

Christopher Curtis Jr.
Augie Caamano Jr.
Donna Caamano
Andrew Riggs

Associate Producers

Antonio Hernandez
Marc Franco
Andrew Platizky
Charlene Platizky
Betty Kemp Lise
Blake Joseph Zawadzki
Jill Bilics
Eddie’s Bar

Special Thanks

Julie Ann Colon
Andrew Bichler
Erinmarie Ciallella
Amy DeGise
Jason Williams
Sal Pellitteri
Jeanette Pellitteri
Theresa Cooper
Ivan Rushfield
Judy Kuchler
Elba Martinez Hallihan and Carlos Diaz
Elizabeth Dautrick
Jose Gonzalez
Frank Ayala
Nancy Paino
Al Lise
Gerry Collins
Melissa Polowy
Eric Crafton
Roman Guadarrama
Jody Smith
Ellie Hernandez
Deena Parr
Max Arias
Jen & Eddie Cody
Thomas Zimmerman
Joe Carillo
Patty Bradley
Bernard Smalls
Quincy Spagnolo
Joe Moskowitz
Bob Thurston
Max Resnick
Al Resnick
Erica Resnick
Chandani Patel
Tim Lise
David Arce
Eric Levy
Sean Feuer
Devin Graham
Joyce Graham
Gary Wasilewski
Eva Visco
Lauren Bock Mullins
Michele Watson
Ahmed Elbabouhi
Tinea Plummer
Diana Plesniarski
Patrick Gallagher
Candice Fair
Wayne Crawford
Roger Platizky
Jeniffer Rueda
Mary Joyce Kemp
Catrina Ayala
Luisa Gomez
Christopher Korek
Arielle Brettler
Casey Okamoto
Anthony Fazio
Mike Cutruff
Isaac Platizky

That is a Wrap... Party!

2010-08-18T02:36:00.003-04:00

Tonight was the wrap party for "Blaming George Romero." Thanks to all the lovely people who came out tonight. It was a great feeling to be able to celebrate with you all... We missed a few who could not attend, but our thoughts were with them.

We had the delicious food of Hendrickson's and the waiting abilities of one Eric Dederding, which made for a very nice evening. We also lucked out incredibly... The amazing, amazing, incredible, talented, wonderful, lovely Elizabeth White & Catherine Carlisle of Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken (Cake Boss!!!) made us a delicious Red Velvet zombie cake based on one of the scenes in the movie. (See pictures below.) They did an amazing job, as you can see, and I cannot thank them enough for the terrific job they did for us. Seriously, that cake may have been the highlight of my night.

So, that is it. Wrap party finished. Indiegogo has a few more minutes, but it doesn't look like we'll make our goal... We did do an amazing job, though, and I will write a nice little thank you blog in a few hours.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

Blaming George Romero

8/13/10 "That teaser makes me want to see that movie."

2010-08-13T12:11:00.005-04:00

The title of this blog entry is paraphrasing Billy Dautrick upon seeing the "Blaming George Romero" Teaser.

That teaser has been several weeks in the making, let me tell you. This teaser was a collaboration of Brad Resnick, Sean Feuer, and myself. So, thank you, guys. Gotta give a special shoutout to Sean who really came through, not just this teaser but for the entire summer as well. The guy does amazing work, as you can see from looking at that teaser.

See Brad, my fellow producer, felt that we should get a teaser out ASAP. He wanted people to see the footage before indiegogo closes, to give them an idea of what they were donating to. I was a little hesitant... I didn't want to push anything until it was ready (and then later in the process we switched places, whereas I wanted it out there and Brad was cautioning me to wait until it was ready... its a good balance).

So, I was on Facebook one night, mindlessly pimping the movie most likely, when I started a conversation with Sean. The conversation quickly turned to trailers, and how much he loves making them, and we started brainstorming what should be in the teaser. I have to say, we were on the same page the entire time, feeding off each other's ideas until we had what could be a pretty cool little teaser for the movie.

So, I took some of the footage we talked about and imported it in iMovie (this was before I got Final Cut), and started to edit a teaser. Now, the teaser I made was an okay blueprint... don't get me wrong.. but it didn't make me want to really jump up and see the movie. The music, by the way, comes from the late band Guido the Killer Pimp. Long story short, cut to this week, and we have this teaser... a teaser that made Bill (and myself) actually want to see this movie.

I hope it makes you feel the same way. Go to www.indiegogo.com/Blame_Romero to get a look at the tease. It is replacing our pitch video (we only have 5 days left anyway), but that video is still on youtube if you get nostalgic. So, check out the teaser... and if you can, please give... we are less than $2K from our goal... and every little bit makes a difference.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

8/8/10: Sitting between Production & Post

2010-08-08T23:26:00.002-04:00

It is now August, and we have been done with principle photography for over a week. We have gotten some of the extra stuff that we needed to get, and unless I am wrong, we only have 2 things left to film. Post production is on the horizon, and it should be really exciting. A year ago, the script was just an idea that I had, and pretty soon the editing will begin, and my movie will take shape. It's been a long, hard process. Definitely not easy... As an actor, it is easy to take for granted all the moving parts involved in movie making (and I really miss being able to take all of that for granted), so if nothing else I will be coming away from this movie with a new appreciation for the process.

It has been pretty quiet lately on the blog front, in this in between time, but we are moving behind the scenes. I finished the final "Behind the Scenes" Video for Production and that should be up on the website soon. The teaser trailer is so very close to being finished, and so we hope to reveal that asap just to give you a taste of the movie.

And we are nearly at one final week of indiegogo donations. We haven't reached our goal yet, but we have done really well as far as things go, and want to make one final push before the donations close so:

*If you donate $250 or more, you still have the opportunity to play a zombie in a special scene of the movie (which will film shortly).

*If you donate $1,000, you will get to bring a guest to the wrap party for "Blaming George Romero (which is also coming up), which should be fun and delicious.

*Now, here is something new and special. We haven't started to edit yet, so we don't have a final movie. And we don't know exactly when everything will be done... And when that happens, we are not sure where and when we will have our first screening... but... How would you like to come to that first screening when that happens? Here's how that is going to work. People who worked on the movie will automatically be invited... Then, depending on the venue we will give away tickets to all of the people who generously donated to the film. Starting with those who donated the most and working backwards until the venue (wherever it is) is full. So, if you donate as little as $10, you will be in the running to receive a ticket, but the more you donate the better your chances of getting a seat. Make sense? Yes? No? That's okay, it makes sense to me, and I'm the one whose got to know what's going on. What you need to know is, if you donate you may be one of the first to see "Blaming George Romero." The more you donate, the better your chances.

So, go to www.indiegogo.com/Blame_Romero and give what you can, if you can. Trust me when I tell you that I appreciate every cent that gets donated to the film.

That's all for now. Hope to have new stuff soon.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero

7/30/10-7/31/10 That's a Wrap... on Principle Photography!!!!!

2010-07-31T11:58:00.005-04:00

Well, that is that. Principle photography is wrapped on "Blaming George Romero." Last night was it. Last night had its ups and downs, but the thing that counts is that we got our shots. So, rather than dwell on the negative (which I could easily do ad nauseum), I am going to accentuate the positive.

Thanks once again to our hosts, the Grahams. Devin, the travel minister of "Blaming George Romero," and his wife Joyce were amazing as always especially considering all that we have asked of them. His other wife, Max, was equally gracious. They are as vital member of the crew as anyone else as far as I am concerned.

Bill Marks, an old friend from my Rutgers days came all the way from Maryland... Maryland!!! To film a scene for the movie, and he did a great job. He sacrificed his hair, his clothes, and didn't mind getting a little dirty. Good times.

Isaac, Raul, & Joey were great as usual... Tim Gaffney was a life saver (quite possibly literally).

And that brings me to my fellow lead actors... Bobby, Loarina, & Dan... What a fucking journey it has been... We still have a little more to go before we are completely wrapped, but we have finished principle photography together. I love you all, and know that I made the right choice in writing these parts for you. Each and every one of you brought 180% to the table, and it will show in the final product.

That's it... After years of wanting to make a movie, we somehow went & did it. Look at us go. Like I said, we still have some pick ups and a reshoot to take care of, so production isn't over completely.

And neither is this blog... When I started this thing, I promised updates throughout production, and that includes post production (although I imagine there'll be slightly fewer updates) and beyond to wherever this movie goes. This blog follows the entire journey of "Blaming George Romero..." And that journey has just begun.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

7/29/10: Zombies!

2010-07-29T12:19:00.006-04:00

Well, here we are... One day away from wrapping principal photography on "Blaming George Romero." We have a few things left, but all in all, we are really close to that finish line. The outpouring of support from you all has been tremendous, and I can't really believe it myself. So many have given so much to help make my movie leap from the page to the screen, and I will never forget your generosity.

As a little token of my gratitude, I share with you this afternoon the first ever look at the "Blaming George Romero" zombies, created by the amazing Mandyjo Reinier. A gift to those who have given, and perhaps a little encouragement to those who have been on the fence about donating.

If you are thinking about donating, I encourage you to do it as soon as possible. There are only 19 days left to donate to www.indiegogo.com/Blame_Romero. Production may soon be over, but post production is an entirely different process filled with expenses. The better shape we are in financially, the better our product will be in the end.

Remember, there are some great perks available for those who give generously. Anything from a thank you in the credit, to the ability to become one of the awesome zombies seen below, to an invite to the film's wrap party (which should be a pretty great time BTW).

So, yeah... We are almost there... Help be a part of this.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

7/27/10: I'll sleep when I'm UNdead.

2010-07-27T20:21:00.005-04:00

Ahhh... Most ambitious shoot yet? Check.

Last night (into this morning), alongside the cast and crew of Blaming George Romero, we shot the big zombie scene in a cemetery that we were supposed to shoot two weeks ago, but couldn't because of rain. Well last night there was no percipitation at all. It was, all in all, a beautiful night weatherwise.

Now originally, the cemetery shoot was scheduled for two nights, but because of weather we shortened it to one... and then when we rescheduled we just carried that one night plan along with us. We all knew it would be a long night, and a long night it was.

We entered the woods/cemetery at approximately 7pm. I arrived home at 7am, and got an hour sleep before work. It's a funny thing... I love sleep... But I have no problem staying up until 7:30am if its for this kind of thing... Waking up for work an hour later? Ehhh.

I just watched the footage from last night after a nice little nap... and I am happy. There were some things that we had to adjust last minute... But watching what we got, well... It makes me happy. It wasn't an easy night by any means... One of the three generators we had was on the fritz, but we still managed to get some great looking footage.

So! Special thanks (in no particular order) to:

Bobby & Raul... great shots, and good adjustments made on the fly.

Doug... Our lighting commander did it again. Even with the generator issues we had, he still made it work. And work very well... The lights are great on this shoot.

Speaking of lights, we had many new lights brought in by Bill Dautrick and operated by him and Matt Hudjnacki. Really good effects.

Julie Colon... Coming in for a great cameo, when she is so busy... Just amazing.

Joey... Sticking it out in the middle of the woods to run our sound as usual... without a chair for most of the shoot... Awesome.

Mandyjo... Creating an army of the undead that look great.

And speaking of... Our zombies (who were also our crew members both returning and new): Billy Dautrick, Aaron Visco, Casey Okamoto, Jared Visco, Matt Hudjnacki, Tim Gaffney, Mike Crops, Blake Zawadzki, Kevin Lennon, Sean Feuer.

Resnick's True Value Hardware for the use of a lot of stuff from generators to tables and chairs and more. We would literally be in the dark if it weren't for them.

And of course, my main cast members.

These guys (and gals) stayed into the early morning with me... When the going got tough, these people did not get going. I couldn't ask for more from these people, and I am so happy to have such good, generous people working with me.

Few pictures below... A lot of pictures that we took, I can't show you yet (zombies), but I hope these wet your appetite.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

7/24/10 & 7/25/10: 18 has always been my lucky number.

2010-07-25T20:51:00.005-04:00

Days 17 & 18 are a wrap.

Day 17 consisted of finishing up the BBQ scene, so once again thanks to the Grahams for their hospitality. We brought in Cafe Notte again, cooked by our very own Matthew Hojanacki, and it was delicious. Seriously, I don't want to sound too much like a commercial, but if you're in the Bayonne area and want to order in... especially late at night... I'd go for Cafe Notte. http://cafenotteonline.com/

I got a call in the middle of the day from one of our crew members and then a text from our director basically telling me that we were racing the weather again. 30% chance of storm on Saturday night through Sunday. But as far as I am concerned, that's a 70% chance of no storm, and we got our stuff, and started to pack up just before it started to pour.

All that and Joey, our sound guy, created a little something that was pretty awesome... Maybe we'll give you a taste of that at some point. Really fun stuff.

I told everyone that I would see what it was like in the morning, whether or not we would cancel because of weather. Woke up at 8am and we had blue skies so Day 18 went without a hitch... in fact, it was the quickest shoot yet... and it was on Kennedy Blvd! Plus, we wrapped Ramy for the shoot. All in all a very good two days.

Now, the finish line of filming is in site... Tomorrow is a huge shoot. We are going to make our second attempt at that big zombie scene that had to be rescheduled. Incredibly ambitious...

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

7/23/10: Gym-ing in the rain.

2010-07-23T17:55:00.006-04:00

Day 16 is a wrap. We filmed at the park, a gym scene, as you will see from the pictures. Now, I know some people are going, "I have no idea what the hell is going on in this movie... A gym scene?" Yes. A gym scene. And just this once, I will tell you what's going on... Dan's character is a high school gym teacher. Boom... there you go. We had 4 students on hand, and they were all terrific: Sarah Gill, Rachel Canete, Colleen Mernar, and Sean Feuer. Thanks to them, and to Christina Garced for helping us book them.

The star of the day was, no doubt, Dan Gregory. I wrote the part for Dan, specifically, but I knew that Dan hadn't really played a part like this one before as far as I knew... So, I was thrilled to see him knock it out of the park on today's shoot especially. The footage is hysterical.

The end is in sight... 5 days of shooting left of principle photography in the next 7 days. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, & Friday. Some of those are, theoretically, our most difficult shoots. They are certainly our most ambitious. We are doing really well on indiegogo. We are up to $4,950, which is great. Seriously, we love our fans and are so grateful. There are about 26 days left to donate. So, please donate what you can to help us make the next five days and post production as great as possible. And I don't want to oversell it, but if you have the money, if you donate $1,000 you get two invites to the wrap party with a great group of people... which should be a blast.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

7/21/10 Shooting against a storm

2010-07-22T00:44:00.004-04:00

Day 15 has wrapped. Thanks to Eva Visco for her cameo. Also huge thanks to the incredibly gracious, John Shedd and his wife for their hospitality. We filmed outside his store in Rocky Hill, NJ and he was incredibly welcoming and went above and beyond for a couple of strangers. You should check out his website for a look at some of the things he makes... really nice stuff. http://www.johnshedd.com/

Tonight we raced against time, as a storm approached. When we first got there (after eating our dinner of Sonic) it started to rain. The forecasts called for a possibility of rain, but they said that it would be done by 9pm... perfect for us... Then when we got there, the forecast said that it was a 50% of thunderstorms alllll night. We waited the rain out, and then, by luck... by God... by chance... However you want to look at it, we had a solid chunk of time where there was no rain. We got our shots, and just as we approached the end... the thunder and lightning kicked up... It was time to pack up. But we got almost every single shot planned... We may need to do a pickup of something, but that will be minor.

All in all, another very smooth night... and I am thankful for that.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

Blaming George Romero

7/20/10: It's nice not being stopped by the police.

2010-07-21T01:02:00.004-04:00

Ahhh... Day 14 of shooting has wrapped, and what a day it was. We got to work with two great actors: Anderson Johnson & Chris Lucas... and we wrapped them both! It was an absolute pleasure to work with these two... What an honor... I can't tell you how good it feels when even your supporting actors, who are only in a scene or two, are so amazingly talented. Quick story, when I wrote the script, I wrote a part for AJ. I didn't tell him until it was done, and I had actually started to make the moves to actually get this thing shot. When I did, I asked him if he would do it... I don't know what he was thinking when I asked him... Did he actually think that we would get this up, or did he think it was a pipe dream? Maybe I should ask him one day. But he said yes, which was great. The part Chris plays was a little harder to nail down. It underwent several changes, as I didn't write it for any one person, but I couldn't think of someone to play the part. Then I thought to myself... What about Chris? Chris has always been one of my favorite actors, a true professional in every sense of the word. I didn't think he would say yes, but I had to ask... and he said yes, which thrilled me to no end. Cut to today, and he knocked the role out of the park. Seeing him and AJ act opposite of each other, even in this very brief scene, was one of the many highlights of this movie for me.

Also, we shot two other quick scenes at the same location, one of which we just let loose our DP, Raul Garcia... and he really came through. The footage I have seen so far was exactly what I wanted and more! So, here's to you, Mr. Garcia!

We shot in front of the ever gracious Pablo Caamano's house, so thanks to Pablo and his family for letting us shoot, and we had the delicious Cafe Notte pizza, which I am told was made by our very own Matt Hojnacki.

All in all, a very good shoot. Tomorrow we welcome Eva Visco to the set. Pray the weather is with us, as it keeps fluctuating.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

Blaming George Romero

7/16/10: Wait we shouldn't wield machetes on a crowded road?

2010-07-17T00:23:00.007-04:00

Day 13 has wrapped. Some say 13 is lucky... Some say its unlucky. I haven't made my mind up on that one. See, the original day 13 was the shoot we had to cancel... So, today was the 13th day we filmed... and we had to wrap early... Kind of.

We had the wonderful AJ on set today acting opposite of Isaac, which was good times. We had Mandyjo create another amazing looking zombie... Seriously... great looking. There are beginning zombie pics below, but no finished zombies for you... yet. Let's keep those donations coming... let's keep spreading the word, and you'll see sooner than later.

Long story short, we have a machete in this movie... and baseball bats (mini and otherwise). Today's scene called for a machete and bats outside. Now, we had them out for a few hours and nobody noticed or cared. My neighbors are cool like that. As we were on the very last shot of the night, a cop car pulled up... then another... then another... Apparently a worried passerby called them. I explained that we are shooting a film (its broad daylight and there is a camera clearly in view!) and they told us to take the weapons inside. If we want to shoot with them, it has to be in the backyard. See, the cop told us that there are gangs in Midtown Bayonne who fight with machetes and baseball bats... Now, I think that's the kind of thing that I would have/should have heard about prior to today... It sounds like a big deal. Certainly scarier than me, Bobby Lise, Loarina Gonzalez, Dan Gregory, and Ramy Shedid filming a movie in broad daylight. But whatever... we were about to wrap anyway. We could've used another take or two, but we got what we got. At the moment, I am not sure if it was a bad thing... it certainly caused us to rethink at least one of our future shoots. And hopefully, we are the better for the experience.

So, that was today... Some really good stuff was shot. And here's something exciting... There is a teaser trailer for the film in the works. I have showed a Rough, rough, rough, rough cut to a few people to positive reviews. We are going to continue working on it and then... Well, you shall see... But I will say this. Please keep those donations coming, and keep spreading the word.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

7/12/10: Win some, lose some.

2010-07-12T23:45:00.002-04:00

Let me tell you a little story. Today and tomorrow (Monday the 12th and Tuesday the 13th) we were supposed to shoot a huge scene... The biggest zombie scene in the movie. Over the weekend, my crew and I looked at the weather forecast and said, "Hmmm... Well, Tuesday looks like its gonna storm all day. Can we squeeze it all into Monday?" And it looked like we could. The shots could be had.. The weather called for cloudy skies.

On Sunday, Doug, Bobby, Raul, and I checked out the location and liked what we saw. We planned what we were going to do down to a science. We were all set.

Then, today arrives. I check the weather: cloudy. We get everything ready to go. We pick up the people who need picking up. Then, the weather starts to look funny. Like it may start storming any second. We check the reports, and now we are seeing possible thunderstorms for the evening. I have to make the call... Do we stay and cancel or go and risk it? I consult my people (I have people!). Weather says 30%... that's what we had when we went to Blairstown and we were okay then. We decide to go for it. Everyone seems really excited. This is a big endeavor we are about to undertake.

We all get to set, and start unloading. THUNDER. Fuck. Drizzle. Double fuck. The call has to be made. If we go for it, we risk the lighting/sound/camera equipment. If we cancel, we have to reschedule. There really wasn't much of a choice. Despite all of the work that went into prep, we had no room for error when it came to the equipment. I called it quits, we wrapped, and as we started taking the stuff off location it started to pour. We stood under tents, and ate the food we brought for the shoot, and bullshitted for a bit before calling it a night.

I could be much angrier... Much more upset... But I'm not. It's a weird thing. If it was a cast or crew problem, I would be pissed. This is the weather... weather that we literally had almost no time to prepare for. How can I get mad at that?

It also helps that I have such great people surrounding me. Seriously. The usual people: Bobby, Raul, Doug, Joey, Loarina, Dan, Billy, Miriam, Brad, and Sean were on set and their typical great selves. Returning friends of the shoot: Blake, Devin, Matt, and Kevin were great. Our great makeup artists: Mandyjo and Brittney came out and were ready to create awesomeness. Newcomers: Billy Farley, Katelyn Spinosa, Aaron Visco, Cassie Carelli, Doug's friend Tim (I think), and Billy's friend Austin, donator and friend of Loarina, Mark... All great sports, and big helps. I think that was everybody. Also, we have to thank Tim Lise and his fiance Jess for their assistance in finding the location and Resnick's True Value Hardware for all of their overwhelming, constant support.

So, that's it... our first (and hopefully last) canceled shoot. Hopefully, the rescheduling will go well and the shoot smooth.

Another reason to smile is that we finally broke $4,000 on www.indiegogo.com/Blame_Romero , which is a pretty nice thing to come home to.

9 more days...

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

7/9/10: Once more into the breach.

2010-07-09T23:44:00.005-04:00

Whew. So, last Friday was crazy, and a hard shoot and it doesn't get any worse, right? Tonight and last night, we filmed some of what I thought were going to be easy shoots. Unfortunately, when I said "Let's film in front of my house," neither I nor anyone else involved considered what that might be like in terms of the noises of traffic going by... on Kennedy Blvd. So, yeah, while there was a lot to be said for the troubles of last Friday, we didn't have any problem getting audio. Today and yesterday were an excercise in patience with getting the audio we needed.

Another good thing about filming in the woods is nobody was around us (except maybe bears... and spiders... and snakes...). When you film in a city like Bayonne, and need to get a shot of a single person walking down a street into a building... Well, Broadway is not the best place to be. People will walk right in front, and short of asking politely to wait two seconds... We can't do anything else. We can't stop traffic... foot or otherwise. Another thing to worry about are assholes. While filming in front of my house this afternoon, we had the aforementioned traffic... So, when a random person walks up to the camera and yells gibberish and then runs into a car, it ruins another take. Yes, that happened... The guy thought he was getting on camera... As he stared at the side of it... SO, no screen time for that jackass, but his voice ruined the take nontheless.

Then, there's the lights... The lights last night make the shot look great... But shining bright lights in the middle of the night on Kennedy? Well, thank God I have nice and patient neighbors.

I am learning a great deal on this shoot. One of the biggest lessons? Patience.

But we got what we needed to get... And it looks gooooooooood. Big old thanks to the Mayfair Deli in Bayonne (Ave B, on the corner of 56th), and John Trigonis and Mike Cuttroff for their most excellent cameos.

The next shoot is a doozy. Two days. Biggest zombie scene in the movie. Exciting. Nervewracking. Who knows what will happen? But thankfully, there won't be traffic rolling by or schmucks running by making noises.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

7/2/10 Production Blog/Photos: The Hardest Shoot Yet

2010-07-03T13:29:00.011-04:00

You know, last week we had a shoot and it was a pretty long, indoors one. There was one point where for whatever reason we were not getting the shot, and I was under the lights getting tired and frustrated at the loss of time... But that was nothing.

Yesterday, we had our "in the woods shoot." Spoiler alert! There is a scene that takes place in the woods! Well, we had secured the location in Stewartsville, NJ. My good friend, Devin's brother owns a big plot of land over there and was willing to let us use it for our woods scene. We had a lot to shoot... In fact, we scheduled 2 days at the location we had so much to shoot... some of it day stuff, and some of it night stuff.

When we got to the location we found out that a tree had fallen by the path... I found out later that this tree's falling had blocked the path that we would've taken to set and forced us to take a longer, harder, steeper path... By itself, it was treacherous... Climbing up and down with equipment? Well, I wouldn't recommend it. There were moments of tension on set... No one was happy with the prospect of the long climb up at night.

I am happy to report that we filmed not just the stuff we had scheduled, but everything that we needed to shoot in the woods. So no more trips down and up that godawful mountain... I say mountain and perhaps that is an exagerration, but it felt like a mountain and my legs agree with that statement right now. We had some new additions to the cast on set, making it the largest number of actors shot in one day, so special thanks to Myron Covington, Wanda Modzelewska (sp?), and Adam Lucas for joining the cast of "Blaming George Romero" for the day. We also had the special addition of Associate Producer, Blake Zawadzki helping out all over... Without his extra hands, the night would've been so much harder than it was... and it was hard to begin with!

We did a lot... at the end of the night (2am) everyone pitched in according to their own abilities and lugged heavy cumbersome equipment up a steep, treacherous incline. It was not easy, and I'd like to see Steven Spielberg join the crew and pitch in like everyone on set did last night. That said, I never... ever... want to do anything like that again.

But like I said... we got the shots... we got out of the woods in one piece (more or less) and I am home to write about it now.

11 more days of filming to go. Some will be easier than others, but hopefully none of them will require the amount of work that yesterday did.

Finally, I gotta give it up to my fanatastic cast and crew again... We did it... and we are so close to the finish line now.

Stay tuned!

Sam Platizky

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

Who is Bruce Campbell, and why you should care WWBCD?

2010-06-29T11:12:00.003-04:00

Hey, all. We, at Blaming George Romero, are in another break period. We resume filming on Friday.

And here I am, again, in the position to explain who someone is. The other night, I gave a friend of mine who donated $25 a "WWBCD?" Bracelet as her perk. As explained in the video, WWBCD? means "What Would Bruce Campbell Do?" Now, for me and my group of friends, that is enough. Not to sound blasphemous (but I do it so well), when we hear "What Would Bruce Campbell Do?" we don't hesitate any more than we would when we hear "What Would Jesus Do?" I am not saying that Bruce Campbell is any sort of religious figure, or messiah... If you feel that way, that's cool. I salute you. I am just saying that we take for granted that everyone should know Bruce Campbell much like everyone knows who Jesus is.

But, you know what? Not everyone knows who Bruce Campbell is. And that's cool too. The thing is, if you think you don't know Bruce Campbell, you probably know who he is but you don't know his name. He has been in many many movies and TV shows including: The Spiderman series, The Evil Dead Trilogy, Burn Notice, Xena, and many more.

Now, why is he any part of this movie, and why should you care WWBCD? Well, the protagonists of this movie are pop culture junkies, as previously mentioned... Their genre of choice is the horror genre, and there isn't really a bigger star than he is in this genre. For this type of film, he is as big if not bigger than your ordinary action star. So, when they find themselves in the position that they are in... Well, asking yourself "What Would Bruce Campbell Would Do?" isn't the worst thing in the world.

Now, the only way to get your very own "WWBCD?" bracelet is to donate $25 or more to www.indiegogo.com/Blame_Romero. It is a really cool perk among other great gifts, and as always we could use whatever help we can get.

That is all for now.

Stay tuned!

Sam Platizky
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

6/28/10 Production Journal/Photos: 1st Zombie Day

2010-06-28T22:37:00.007-04:00

Today just may have been the longest day of shooting yet... But we had a lot to do... and we finished everything. We wrapped the lovely and uber talented Christina Garced and Adria Firestone. And it also just happened to be the 1st zombie shoot. Below you will see some great shots, but we are not quite ready to show you our zombies yet. Don't worry we will, and they will look great, thanks to the talents of Mandyjo Reinier. She really did an awesome job today, and I can't wait to see what she does for the rest of the shoot.

Doug once again came through on so many levels, but excelled when we got to our zombie scene. Bobby & Raul came up with and executed one of the best shots so far involving Christina. It was a case where they took what I wrote, and just came up with an idea that I did not even imagine. It was a great idea when they told me, and even better when they shot it. (Don't tell Bob I am complimenting him... I have a reputation to uphold.)

That's all for today. It wasn't an easy shoot... It was stressful at times, but we got what we needed and thensome! Once again, I was able to go home happy that I am able to work with all of these fantastic people... and even happier to call them friends.

Awwwwe.... I'm sorry, that was too sweet. I am tired. Anyways, we have a few days off. Filming resumes on Friday, with what is sure to be one of our more difficult shoots... in the woods.

Stay tuned!

Sam Platizky

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

6/27/10 Production Blog/Photos: I Love Blairstown

2010-06-27T20:11:00.005-04:00

About a year ago, some friends and I took a drive out to a place in Western, NJ called "Blairstown." I'd never heard of it before, but it was where the first Friday the 13th was filmed. It was a dark and foggy night and the mood was perfect. Cut to location scouting for this movie. I was looking for a very specific location... Almost too specific... and my friend, Devin, says "What about Blairstown?" Beautiful location... may be a bit difficult because of the waterfall, but it was a great location. So, we decided we would go for it.

Enter today. June 27th... The one day our godsend sound guy, Joey Mosca said he couldn't come to. He said he would get a replacement, but the replacement fell through... So what happened? Joey, not wanting to leave us hanging, stepped up and came in on his one day off! His only condition... he had to leave by 4... or maybe 5... I honestly don't know which. So, I said (not knowing if we could pull it off at all) we will be done by 4pm. Oh, and the weather reports called for possible thunderstorms. Oh, and we were in a town that none of us knew all that well (where nobody knew us) on a Sunday morning shooting one of the most important scenes of the movie! Well, through some mix of sheer skill and dumb luck we did it. We didn't finish by 4pm though. We finished at 3:30pm... No rain... No problem from locals. I Love Blairstown.

Also, today we were able to welcome Ramy Shedid to set for the first time.

All in all, I was both amazed and pleased by what we did today. Very happy with everyone's hard work. If and when things get hard down the road, I will remember this day and smile.

Great pictures below... I have even more, but for some reason blogger is being a pain in the ass and not letting me upload them all. I'll post the rest on Facebook.

Tomorrow is another day of shooting... The first zombie day of shooting... Oooo...

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

Day 7 is a Wrap: Pictures & a Quick Word

2010-06-24T17:08:00.002-04:00

Howdy, y'all!

We have officially wrapped 7 days of shooting! Woo hoo! Today we were lucky enough to film in Digiorgios Bar ((990 Broadway Bayonne, NJ 07002). So a huge thanks to Glen Digiorgio and his family for the use of the bar this morning. And a special thanks to Glen, for his cameo in the film.

Speaking of cameos, we got the one and only Michael "Spanky" McCord to play the bartender in the scene. So, thank you, Spanky for coming in today. I have never acted opposite someone who received a single vote in a mayoral election before, so it was quite the thrill. You can see a few photos below. We were a bit understaffed today, so we didn't get as many as we usually do, but we still got some good ones.

I am not going to write a full on production journal today, because there's not too much to write. Here are a few things about today, though:

*The website is officially up and running. Check us out at www.BlameRomero.com, and thanks to Brad Resnick and Jason Goldstein for all their terrific work. There are a few cool sections. Make sure you check out the video section, where you will see a "Behind the scenes of BGR Week 1" Video, which I am a fan of. We will update the website with more photos and videos periodically. There's also a button marked "donate," which I am partial to... ;)

*The posters are in, and they look great. You may start seeing them around the area, and if you have a business in the area that is willing to put up the poster, be sure to contact us, and we will get you one.

That is all for now. Sunday is our 8th day of shooting, and it is going to be a doozy. One of the more dramatic scenes of the movie, in one of my favorite locations. Whatever happens, I am sure I will have something to write about the events of Sunday.

Stay Tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

Who is George Romero?

2010-06-23T12:53:00.002-04:00

Today is a day off from filming, but something occurred to me, that I felt like posting today.

There is a question that I have been asked several times in the last few weeks, that I wanted to address here. Who is George Romero? "Who is George Romero?" I thought, the first time I heard this question. "How does anyone not know who George Romero is?" I was even asked if that was the name of the character that I was playing in the movie... several times, by several different people. And I am not the only one who was asked this question, and we all had the same reaction: "How do you not know George Romero?"

But, you know, I suppose it is a valid question. I take the zombie genre for granted, and if you don't know zombie movies... I guess you wouldn't really know Romero.

SO! Here is a link to the wikipedia entry for George Romero: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_romero

But here is my short and sweet summary: George A. Romero is the father of the zombie genre of film. The creator of Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, and more. He is the one who basically created the zombie sub-genre of horror. His movies are fun to watch, but have a rich subtext that deal with racial prejudices, social issues, and more. He is creating movies to this day.

Now, why is the title "Blaming" George Romero? What are we "blaming" him for? Well... you'll have to watch the movie to find out.

Stay tuned!

Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
"Blaming George Romero"

6/22/10 Production Blog/Pictures: "Poor man's process... Not Easy Man's Process."

2010-06-22T18:00:00.008-04:00

Dear Friends,

Yawn. I just woke up from an hour long nap. That hour long nap was half as long as the amount of sleep I got last night.

At some point, last night, my friend and AD Billy Dautrick said to me: "This is the poor man's process... No one said it was the easy man's process." How right he was! He was referring to the scene we shot last night. We were shooting all of the interior car scenes. The entire process of this could be the subject of another blog, and you can see bits of how we did it in the photos below. But, here's the thing... It may not be the easy man's process, but it certainly was the lucky man's process. See, a few weeks before filming I was contacted by someone I did not know... This someone had read that I was making a movie, and wanted to work on it as well. The person in question is Sean Feuer. He has been our PA, and has been at every shoot so far. He has helped out a great deal, from carrying stuff to the not so great job of propping a door open from inside a dark room, but last night Sean really earned his keep. He brought in two friends, and in conjunction with light man extraordinairre, Doug Youmans, they created this entire rig that you will see below. And it was not an easy set up. We shot from 10pm-2:30am. But in the end it was so worth it.

And we, once again, enjoyed the hospitality of Augie Caamano Jr. and his wife Donna, as they let us film in their backyard. Fantastic people. SO generous. They really don't make 'em like that anymore.

After packing up, and getting home, most of us had two hours of sleep because we had a super early shoot this morning. But every single one of my crew and cast showed up, and worked as if we had full nights' sleeps. Professionals. Dedicated. Awesome. We also got to welcome my old Professor, Anderson Johnson, to the set today as it was his first day of shooting.

So, yeah. I am tired. But I'd have it no other way.

Pictures from both days of shooting are below. I hope you enjoy them. They detail some great people doing amazing work, as I am sure you know. We may be dealing with a "poor man's process..." It's the nature of a low budget film (of course, we'd have a larger budget if more people donated to www.indiegogo.com/Blame_Romero ;) ). But that doesn't mean that we aren't putting our blood, sweat, and tears into this film. And I am glad I have such a terrific group of people to do it with.

That's all for now, folks. Next day of shooting is Thursday, with a fun little cameo that Bayonne residents are sure to love. Until then...

Stay Tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"