I stole the Electric Car

VLOG #14

2008-05-18T02:51:00.000-07:00

VLOG #13

2008-05-17T03:29:00.000-07:00

The first of five vlogs showing the Black and White 8mm footage shot on the set of Who Stole the Electric Car?

Point#8

2008-05-16T21:14:00.001-07:00

Returning shit at stores.

The real bitch work of a no budget movie. So Dastolis bought a bunch of shit for the movie. Nothing crazy there. But here's where the "producing" comes in.

I have to go back to whatever store they had gone to (Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Michaels) and return what they bought. Everything was meticulously put back into the bags they purchased from and given to me with a receipt.

I was told I needed to do this because brothers Dastoli were paranoid of being found out by the obvious geniuses that work at these establishments.

An example of a return went something like this.

Home Depot: Is anything wrong with it?

Brett: No.

Home Depot: Ok.

(They process the return)

Home Depot: Here you go.

(They hand me the cash)

Pretty much every transaction went like that.

VLOG#12

2008-04-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

Carl Fieler Interview. Enjoy.

I stole the Electric Car Podcast!

2008-04-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

Finally! Take I stole the Electric Car with you on your iPod or iPhone. Subscribe to the I stole the Electric Car Podcast on iTunes! Just search for I stole the Electric Car! Here you can find the latest five episodes of the podcast which will be updated weekly.

VLOG#11

2008-04-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

Robert (in nightvision) tells the tale of students encountering the car.

In other news I've now been back in Florida for nearly a week and have started the process of moving my materials to boxes for the big move to Los Angeles.

Point #7

2008-04-11T02:44:00.000-07:00

Here I am. Hoisting a fucking watering can while on a step ladder not meant to support my weight. What was I doing? I was making it rain on the cheap. Arms hoisted above my head, at any point the ladder could've broken, I would have fallen, cracked my skull, damaged the car and died. This of course didn't happen, and I was free to go on collecting the remainder of my 12 points in the movie.

VLOG#10

2008-04-11T02:21:00.000-07:00

A Writer's Struggle. Here Diego and Alejandro attempt to get a line reinstated. Watch the true process of how cinema is made!

Australia

2008-04-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I received this in my spam folder (I later marked it as "Not Spam")

Hello BRBonowicz

My Name is *******, I live in Australia and am currently working on a project that will make the electric
car more easily accessible to the public plus lots more…

I am putting on an advent soon and would love to air your film “i stole the electric car”, is this possible?

Plus share thoughts, ideas and laughs…?

…the night is a fundraiser to begin raising the necessary funds to buy the solar panels.

You can contact me on: e********sc************@yahoo.com

Thanking and appreciating you

*******

I don't even know how to respond to this. Flattering (if real) sure but this is just weird. Thanking and appreciating me? WTF? I can only wonder again how this person found the blog.

VLOG#9

2008-04-09T23:42:00.000-07:00

In the first of a series, Interviews with participants of WSTEC. The first: Jeffrey Ashkin.

VLOG#8

2008-04-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

An intimate look at the directing stylings of James and Robert Dastoli.
Also the debut of www.youtube.com/istoletheelectriccar
All past, present and future blogs can be found here.

My Tarantino Night

2008-04-08T18:53:00.000-07:00

I watched a movie with Quentin Tarantino. Kind of. Sort of.

When I was much younger maybe 13 or 14 (now just about 10 years ago) I rented the movie Chungking Express. I remember I rented it almost exclusively for the reason that Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Pictures had released it on VHS. At the time I had been reading an unauthorized biography about Tarantino called Quentin Tarantino: The Man and His Movies. I had an affinity for Tarantino's writing habits (they were somewhat comparable to mine, and that's never changed) and his confidence made me feel confident about becoming a filmmaker at a very awkward time in my life when I was moving to a new state (from New York to Florida) and entering High School. I became a big fan of his films (at the time he had only made three) and his referential filmmaking made me seek the films that inspired him. This last bit ended up creating a much better film school then my eventual Five Year Jaunt at UCF (which was more painful then inspiring) And it wasn't just Tarantino. I learned to find films I love, learn about the filmmakers, trace their influences and watch all that I could. It's still the way I try to learn. (I'm currently attempting to memorize the U.S. Presidents and can only remember them backwards in time)

At the beginning and end of these special Rolling Thunder VHS releases, Tarantino would come on and give some trivia and some reasons why he had picked this film to be released on this label of his. Chungking Express was the first Wong Kar Wai film I had ever seen and is still my favorite film of his. A few years ago I had actually written a feature that I later figured out I had kinda sorta maybe ripped off from Chungking. His latest film My Blueberry Nights was playing at the Arclight and I wanted to see something that I could only see in LA (It's currently in six theatres) Chris, Sheldon and I planned on seeing the 5:15 show.

A couple weeks ago Chris and others went to the New Beverly Cinema to see a double feature of The Monster Squad and Night of the Creeps. While there he met Julia. From best I can tell Julia to some extent runs the New Beverly. I'll assume they exchanged numbers or something and hung out a few times in that week where I left.

At around 5 I got a call from Chris (I just assumed he couldn't make it) and he said Julia would be coming to the movie and they were parking. I was excited to meet this person. Somehow shorter then I expected, and I couldn't tell you why I ever expected someone taller, Julia exceeded my expectations in levels of cool. And just when I thought it couldn't stop at the end of the night I saw she had given Chris a copy of The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis to read (Ellis is BY FAR my favorite author) Before the movie started Julia dropped the fact that Quentin Tarantino was going to be at the New Beverly tonight because they were showing The Fastest Gun Alive. I immediately thought about going. The following dialogue is verbatim:

Chris: Do you want to go? We can go.
Julia: I could introduce you to Quentin.
Brett: Yes.

Then a beat.

Brett: Yes let's do it.

I then had to think of how to maybe re-arrange the dinner plans, see how long the movie at the New Beverly was and to pack before dinner so that we could leave directly for the airport after eating.

Tonight (Chris and I's last night in town) we had originally planned to see the movie and then go to dinner around 7, get back to the Dastoli's and pack, leaving for the airport with plenty of time. We ended up getting out of Blueberry around 6:55, I found out The Fastest Gun Alive was approximately 90 minutes and then figured we'd have to absolutely at the latest leave for LAX at 11:15 to allow 30 minutes of drive time and get there one hour before our 12:45 flight to Houston.

Sheldon and I left for the New Beverly and arrived a few minutes after Julia and Chris. We were able to walk right in, and first ones in the theatre, I was able to see what a great place it is. Julia showed us the projection room that has a VAST collection of 35mm trailers (I own about four, they have about a thousand) A few moments before the scheduled start, Tarantino came in and did an intro for the film. Say what you want about his films (Reiber I'm looking at you) but this is a man who loves film and he can love any film. He can find something in it that excites, inspires and moves him and by extension anyone around him. In such a fucking cynical narcissitic shithole of a society we've been dealt, it's refreshing to see someone so positive. Watching him talk about The Fastest Gun Alive made me really curious to see the film (I knew literally nothing about it) and it felt exactly like one of his old intros he did for the Rolling Thunder Collection. The film started and he sat right behind us (technically right behind Julia) She managed to introduce Chris to him right before the credits started and they made some chit-chat about the trailers that showed before the film.

Throughout the film (which was really pretty incredible) Tarantino's laugh would occasionally startle me for no other reason then the fact that I had to keep reminding myself that Quentin Tarantino was watching the movie I was watching and he was right behind me. A few times I would turn my head slightly just to see he was there and he was enjoying himself.

I don't really get starstruck. I've realized a long time ago that celebrities are people too and that the only difference between them and normal people is they're on TV or in a movie or elsewhere in publication somehow. I like to leave celebrities alone. But Julia had said she could introduce me to him as she had known him as a frequent goer to the New Beverly. After the film ended a few weirdos approached Tarantino giving him books and assorted other crud, Chris got to chat with him a little bit again about some of the upcoming films Joe Dante(!) is programming and then he walked towards the lobby. Julia apologized to me for not getting to properly introduce me and we headed out.

But really, having him watch the movie behind me was so much better then any introduction (I'm half serious, a real intro would be great someday)

We hurried and packed and somehow made it to the 101 coffee shop by 10 and like every other fucking place in Los Angeles parts of Swingers was shot there. I got to see Justin Lader for the first time in a blue moon and I must report his ass is perhaps even better then it was two years ago. GLORIOUS. Service took longer then I would've liked, only because we were trying to catch a plane and at 11:15 we got the fuck outta there.

On the car car ride to the airport, I kept thinking of how strange the day had been. Most of my days in Los Angeles had been spent with the Dastolis couped up in their apartment dissecting different aspects of Who Stole the Electric Car? This was the nicest change of pace. And it made me sorely want to watch Chungking Express. Even now if you buy the DVD of Chungking Express the film is only available as part of the Rolling Thunder catalog. I'd never tell Tarantino (You know, because we're best friends now) of this weird connection (mostly due to my fanboy paranoia) but it was amazing I went from seeing the newest Wong Kar Wai movie to seeing the man that essentially introduced me to him.

It's pretty outrageous to think that in less then a month (and while shooting a movie) Chris met someone (who is pretty awesome on her own accord) has been offered a job doing something he would love (Julia has given him an open offer to work for the New Beverly) and casually got to speak to Clu Gulager (Chris wrote a blog on MySpace about this) and Quentin Tarantino not as a fanboy but as a regular moviegoer. I've known people out here for years that haven't been able to do this, that haven't been able to even be offered a job and are barely scrapping by.

I now look forward to Los Angeles more now then ever. Tarantino and the day in general reminded of of the way I used to feel SO INSPIRED to write. The way I felt I could do almost anything when I was in High School and the way I dreamed of directing my own films. It all started to feel in reach again. It made those useless fucking has-beens at UCF look like what they are: TRASH. This could change tomorrow but I want to remember the moment when I felt like this could be great. I hope Chris moves here...I'm okay with writing that and posting it because the evidence is overwhelming that it would be the best thing for him; and that's all I've ever wanted for him. Danny would be a fucking idiot to convince him otherwise.

Underage Girls, Medical Marijuana and the rise and fall of Jeffrey Ashkin

2008-04-07T02:19:00.001-07:00

A really long blog...Coming Soon!

That's a wrap for Chris Shields

2008-04-07T02:04:00.001-07:00

March 12th 2008-April 7th 2008

Guy and Chelsea: Together for the First Time

2008-04-07T01:58:00.001-07:00

Phone Calls

2008-04-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

I hate making phone calls. Even to friends. Most of my calls last about a minute. Most of the time it's even less then that. I've made more calls this month then any other in recent memory. The thing i probably hate even more then making a phone call is trying to end one.

Luckily the people involved with making this movie (for the purpose of this blog I'll limit it to James, Robert and Chris) know how to end these phone calls for me.

Examples:

Robert: Ok, so that's it. Tell Anne I respect women. Bye.

Pretty simple.

Brett: So...ok.
James: Yeah. Buuuuhhh-byyyee.

And Chris. Chris is big on wrapping up a conversation by addressing the next point of contact you have with him. I'll show a few examples.

Chris: Ok. So I'll go to the airport tomorrow and...
Or:
Chris: Ok. I'll give you a call tomorrow or you give me a call.

See how he preempts the goodbye by talking about the future. Coincidently there are a lot of Okay's in conversation wrapup.

I'm getting on a plane this afternoon going back for LA, Take Two. It's been a good week of rest, being sick for a few of the days and generally not wanting to leave the apartment for the other days. But I'm ready for the final push, then Chris and I leave on the 8th...and get back on the 9th.

I was 6 years old in 1990

2008-04-02T02:01:00.000-07:00

From best I can tell the copyright on this video is 1990 (It's pretty fucking blurry) and you know it really gets me down when I think of the innovation that was taking place so long ago and where we are today. So much of our lives are focused on trends and money we forget that innovation might be the most important and lasting impact we can leave to future generations.

The Many Faces of Us

2008-04-02T00:22:00.001-07:00

After my previous comparison photo Diego sent me these.

Production Stills

2008-04-01T17:43:00.001-07:00

James (or Robert, I can't tell) tries to flap his wings before a take.

Robert runs away from the production. Look closely. He's in Mid-air.

Attempting to dismantle the production.

The Many Faces of Me

2008-03-31T01:29:00.000-07:00

Just a still collage of me through the webdocs.
This is me over 5 months. Interesting to see.

Contacting Chris Paine, Part Two

2008-03-31T01:17:00.001-07:00

Months after initially contacting Chris Paine, the Dastolis told me of an interesting development. They were doing visual effects for a project that was directed by a guy who knew Chris Paine. The guy even said he had worked on Who Killed the Electric Car? at a very early point in its development. He gave the Dastolis Chris' e-mail address. It was then my job to contact him. This is the e-mail that was sent:

Chris,

Last year, you visited the UCF campus to show Who Killed the Electric Car. I introduced myself to you, I was a film major at the school. A few classmates and I graduated in May and have been since working on a film called Who Stole the Electric Car. I've tried to contact you in various ways through various e-mail addresses and websites to no avail.

I only today obtained your e-mail address after the directors of the film James and Robert Dastoli told me they've been working on a freelance project for **u* *ih*****.

Attached I've included an e-mail I sent Plug In America in October in an effort to contact you. Please take a look at our website electriccar.dastolidigital.com

We look forward to being in contact with you.

To my amazement, Chris responded:

Brett- Thanks for your email. Not sure what to make of this except it sounds like the producers are trading on the name of our film for their project.

CHRIS

To my disappointment, this is the way he saw the film. I also felt I didn't explain the project well enough. So I sent him this response:

Re-reading my last e-mail to you I'm not sure if it was entirely clear as to who we are and how we're approaching the making of this film.

From what I wrote I feel like I gave you the impression that maybe I'm working on this film with some large company, perhaps the same company that made Snakes on a Train or that Zodiac movie that came out on DVD the same time Fincher's came out in theatres.

That's not the case. We're a group of young filmmakers (none of us over 25) making this movie for nothing. We have zero money and we're working hard for this movie to come to light. We believe in the film and it's message. The last thing we want is for you to think we're trading on your name to make a quick buck, that's just simply not the case.

The event at UCF, meeting you, and seeing your film have all been direct inspirations in the making of this film. And actually have all been documented in this video : http://electriccar.dastolidigital.com/Webdoc1.mov

We're about to shoot for the next 4 weeks a large bulk of this film in the Los Angeles area and we would love to meet with you and maybe discuss the project if possible; if anything maybe just to get your blessing on the project.

Please let us know.

www.electriccar.dastolidigital.com

I never heard back.

P.S. My last Chris Paine post received this comment from Felix Kramer: I hope you can be understanding: Chris Paine is just one person, who gets many unsolicited requests of all sorts.

That certainly applies to me and CalCars--when I got your email, saying,

"Who Stole the Electric Car is a new independent film of which I am the Executive Producer. We are currently trying to spread awareness of the film and are accepting donations via paypal. A teaser trailer is currently available.
If this is of interest to your newsgroup (of which I am an avid reader and subscriber) please post this.

I saw that email, but didn't respond because I wasnt in a position to support the effort, and the newsgroup is pretty much focused on the plug-in hybrid campaign.

Good luck in your efforts!

-- Felix Kramer, Founder, CalCars.org

I left a comment asking how he found the blog, seeing as how it was only a few hours after posting that he responded. Felix is yet to respond to that.

VLOG #7 or Conspiracy#1

2008-03-30T02:05:00.000-07:00

After watching the third webdoc I noticed something strange...

Just Another Production Still

2008-03-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

Carl Fieler (Guy Fox) and Chris Shields (Vance) rehearse before shooting a scene.

Extras Casting Call

2008-03-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

In response to my Craigslist ad for extras next weekend I received the following response:

To whom it may concern:

Why do filmmakers (both students and professionals) insist on requesting
actors to work for nothing? It doesn't matter how long the shoot is or what might be your situation.
All movies have budgets and actors have a skill that should be appreciated
(even if it IS nominally...that means "a little bit").

I have an idea: I am writing a script that I need brought to life.
To me you are "just a filmmaker" (how hard could THAT be?)
so how about doing the job for let's say...a sandwich and a "copy for your reel"
Sounds like a good deal...what do YOU think?

We BOTH have a skill and should be treated accordingly.

Mike

I responded:

In a perfect world, sure everyone would be paid. Blame the Bush administration for the failing economy. Would it be more or less insulting to give one dollar to each extra, as opposed to no money and only food.

Let me know. I assume I'll see you on set.

Here's another thing. I'm not getting paid for this film either. We do it because we love it. If you don't have the time, if you don't have the drive, you should get off of craigslist looking to harass producers.

Brett

In 5 minutes I had a response:

Dear Mr. Bonowicz

Anything can be justified with a little imagination.
Mutual respect goes a long way in this business...talk to me
after you've tried treating your colleagues as you would like to be treated
then tell me if there is a difference. Thanks.

Mike

My last words to him were:

Dear Joe,

I treat each and every person I work with, with the greatest respect and admiration. To presume that I don't, based off of speculation from a craigslist ad is not something you should be doing.

I'm sure the offers must be piling in for you.

Mr. Bonowicz

Point #6

2008-03-29T01:15:00.001-07:00

Pretty short, pretty simple. I'm the one who submitted this.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1205543/

My gosh I looked all over for you people where the hell were you.

2008-03-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

When I posted the initial extras casting there were a couple of other roles that needed to be cast. These were roles that at 8pm needed to be filled by 8am the next morning. I contacted each actor and essentially told them please respond if you can make it. It's at this place and that time and blah.

I received responses from a couple of people and the roles were filled. We shot the next morning and everything worked out well enough.

Upon which two days later, I received this e-mail: My gosh I looked all over for you people where the hell were you. Anyway let me know if you are filming again sometime always interested. I definatly went to the wrong place. I ended up at a casting agency and the were as confused as I was. What a strange day that was.
Steve

So the last contact I had with this guy was: Please confirm this ASAP as we are filling the part with the first responder.

Never heard anything beyond that from this dude.

So let's really examine this e-mail. First sentence: My gosh I looked all over for you people where the hell were you. Here he uses "My Gosh" and "Where the hell were you" all in a sentence void of punctuation. Not sure what tone this guy is going for, angry, happy, melancholy? No idea. Second sentence: Anyway let me know if you are filming again sometime always interested.
Again leaving punctuation to the Gods, Steve says that even though there was apparent confusion over this he's still "always interested" in getting into these sort of problems. Analysis of the remainder isn't worth it. It just denigrates into apologies for where he was and the inexplicable inclusion of a casting agency. How he got there, I might never know.

Add another layer on top of this, there was extreme confusion over this dude's name. The e-mail was signed Steve but then his subject header was Keith Quain Headshots. His actual e-mail address listed his name as Quain Keith. Attached to his resume it said his name was Steve Quain.

Let's not forget his signature was this: Take the L out of Lover and it's Over.

I'm thinking about contacting him again just to see how he made it to that casting office.

How Green Was My Movie

2008-03-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

Introducing the third webdoc: How Green Was My Movie. To see the two previous webdocs go to electriccar.dastolidigital.com

Live From Las Vegas

2008-03-26T23:12:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas waiting for a connecting flight to Orlando. I'm taking a one week break from Los Angeles and Electric Car to spend some much needed time with my fiance. (As of this writing, this won't be posted until tomorrow) she doesn't know I'm on my way. I had a flight scheduled for Friday and at the last minute changed it to surprise her. I hope it shocks the fuck out of her, if only because she's scared me so many times. I guess there's a big difference between scare and surprise.

So when you exit the plane coming to Las Vegas you IMMEDIATELY see slot machines. I can't tell you how immediate it is. It's as you're going down that long hallway off the plane you can already hear the sounds of the slots. A surprising amount of Wheel of Fortune slots here (I'm getting really tired of hearing WHEEL! OF! FORTUNE! do do do, do do do do do do...) I guess because of the appearance of Vegas in the airport I thought I could leave the airport and immediately be on the Las Vegas Strip. No such luck. I left the terminal, went outside and saw some stuff in the distance and a lot of parking structures. After a second strip search through security I was back where I started and back to the sounds of the slots.

A lot of CSI shirts in the airport, I guess that's all Vegas has going for it right now.
The guy next to me has now dropped his phone twice. He looks like a fucking idiot. Wait. Now three times. Geez.

Time to piss, and then on the plane. Because I bought this last minute I will be sitting in a MIDDLE seat for the first time in the last 15 years. 5 hour flight...and I'm in the middle. Anne, I love you.

VLOG #6

2008-03-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you for watching the premiere of JAMES DASTOLI: COMPLETE BREAKFAST! Look for a special cameo by Mr. Chris Shields!

Each day I've been here the Dastolis wake up before me and wake me by eating a very loud breakfast. Coincidently they also made a film called Complete Breakfast a few years ago, this is my response film to that.

Watching Dailies

2008-03-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Last night, after a lot cajoling, Dastolis showed Chris and I some of the dailies from yesterday's shoot.

We start watching and Chris and I ask some fairly normal questions. One of them was: "What are you gonna change the name of the gas station to?"

Answer: "Oh, well you're not gonna see that in the shot." The shot we saw had the sign PROMINENTLY featured. It wasn't in the background or just part of it in the frame, it essentially was the frame. This made us re-think everything. We don't even know what the movie is at this point. But I trust these little fucks.

VLOG#5

2008-03-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

EXCLUSIVE BOOTLEGGED DAILIES FROM WSTEC?

Random Dastoli Picture

2008-03-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

Point #5 or 46 Phone Calls

2008-03-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made 46 phone calls. As a producer one of the things you do a lot (I'm only explaining it because no one ever knows what a producer does) is call people. I call people when people don't want to call people. I figure out weird solutions to strange problems that probably shouldn't exist anyway. I will cite a specific example.

We were running late yesterday because of the need to build Burger Chef upon arrival (see previous posts) so I was needed to call the 2 actors we had scheduled for later in the afternoon. I had to tell them that call time would be pushed back by 2 hours.

After calling the first actor, it turned out that I didn't have the second actor's phone number (for some reason we don't have a contact sheet listing all the actors...) Anywho I texted Tom who I figured would have the actors phone number (since he had essentially been the liaison to the actors before I arrived) and he said "I don't have a number for him on hand what's the problem ? Did he not show ? I have a confirmation email so he should be there" This of course was not helpful. I texted back "We need to change his calltime." Within two hours the actor would be at Casa de Dastoli and no one would even be there to tell him. Robert then had the idea to use my iPhone to check nowcasting.com and look up the actor's phone number. This worked. It took a couple minutes (thanks EDGE network) but we got the number and contacted him in time.

VLOG #4

2008-03-24T22:15:00.001-07:00

In my never ending quest to show that film production is one of the most boring things in the world, Vlog#4 shows one solid minute of setup time for a scene shot tonight. To further demonstrate how tedious and boring movie production is, this Vlog was shot thru the window of the Dastoli apartment as I baby-sat a light that was placed outside. That's right. I just sat there (actually I was standing) and made sure a light didn't get touched or fall or shit on or what have you.

Random Dastoli Quotes Volume 5

2008-03-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

"That's a good idea...they're pissing in the desert..."

"Not good suction today. I think it's because the hood is dirty.

"I gotta get this big stuff in your back."

"I just think there should be more **z ***n** references on a daily basis."

"We always talked about the concept of backing everything up and sending it to Florida because, you know, when the big one hits..."

VLOG #3

2008-03-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

In this episode, one side of coverage of a police station scene is shot with James reading Carl's lines. Carl was unavailable due to a "wreck" on the highway. This is take 4, the last take. I was hiding in Robert's room and recorded this.

"What format did you shoot?" "I printed my movie out on an HP Inkjet Printer!"

2008-03-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

I'm on Robert's bed now (if these sheets could talk...or cry) while a police station is built in the living room. Nearly all aspects of this station are being constructed out of 8 1/2" x 11"paper. Somehow it works on camera. I remember Last March when I came out to LA with Sheldon we took the Warners studio tour. Forty dollars later, a tour guide showed us the reception area of ER and one of the walls was made completely out of this printed out monstrosity. I was amazed. Never would I ever think a show on a major network would do this; but there it was.

Now watching the Dastoli's print their whole movie out on various types of paper just shows how far the form has come. What reads on camera and what doesn't. It reminds me of my favorite episode of The Simpsons. The Radioactive Movie is being shot and a teamster is being asked why they paint horses to look like cows.

STOLEN FROM WIKIPEDIA (the definitive information source)

[A prop man is painting black spots onto horses.]
Martin Prince: Uh, sir, why don't you just use real cows?
Painter: Cows don't look like cows on film. You got to use horses.
Ralph Wiggum: What do you do if you want something that looks like a horse?
Painter: Usually we just tape a bunch of cats together.

Movie Magic.

Point #4

2008-03-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

This is a simple point. In addition to producing duties, I am also the set photographer. I've worked on many sets for the last few years and have amassed a large portfolio. Here are a few stills from today's shoot.

Craigslist

2008-03-23T23:19:00.001-07:00

A role was never cast. The role of the three card monty sucker. Being on set all day, I thought I'd have to wait until getting home at 10pm to post a casting notice for role to be filled less then 15 hours later. I attempted to use my iPhone to post to craigslist (which if you haven't tried...don't. It doesn't fucking work. It asks for the code to prove you're not a bot or whatever and it just keeps telling me everything's wrong.)

Moments later Carl told me that wireless exists in the CalArts library. We walk to the Library and I sign in using my laptop (Incidentally the library is closed and i have to sign in to the Wi-Fi from outside the doors) I post to Craigslist:

actor needed for non-speaking role

Male actor needed for featured extra role tomorrow (3/24) from 11am to 2pm at CalArts. Lunch and Credit will be provided!

Please respond with headshot! Thanks!

it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: no pay

Within 30 minutes, I had my first response.

And then I received 5 or 6 more. Craiglist is an interesting place. Many of the responses included things like: Where is this being filmed? What time is this being shot? E-mails with resumes and no headshots. A female responded for this male part and best of all an acoustic hard rock band volunteered to give us music for the film by responding to the above ad. I'm pretty sure no one reads the details of these posts, they just see "actor needed for non-speaking role" and reply. I could've said "actor needed for speaking role" and then in the details written "must be willing to be raped and murdered in real time" or "must be willing to shave genitals and eyebrows for 1 frame flash in experimental video project" Either way these people would respond with "When? Where?"

I can't tell if this is an LA thing or a Craigslist thing.

Guy and Hubert: Together for the First Time

2008-03-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

Guy: It only makes sense to open up a hole to a pocket dimension; send our waste there.

Hubert: No. What? No.

The Longest Day of my Life

2008-03-22T23:57:00.001-07:00

6:15am

2008-03-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

Been up since 530am. No word from Diego, Carl or Alejandro. They could be dead, they could be alive...either way they're not fucking picking up their phones. Note to self for tomorrow: Only wake up when Carl's horn honks for Chris and I. WTF. I know at least Diego reads this. Do a dude a favor and pick up the phone.

Contacting Chris Paine, Part One

2008-03-22T01:35:00.000-07:00

At the very beginning of production (right about when Diego and Alejandro finished the script) I began a long process of trying to contact Chris Paine, the director of Who Killed the Electric Car? Ostensibly the contact was to make him aware of the project and hear his thoughts (if he had any) about the film. I began by contacting organizations he had been affiliated with: the first was contacting Plug-in Partners.com and Chelsea Sexton. Here is the e-mail.

Early this year you and Director Chris Paine came to the University of Central Florida to speak after a screening of Who Killed the Electric Car? It was soon after this screening that the idea came to a few of the film students to make the film Who Stole the Electric Car? Who Stole the Electric Car is a new independent film of which I am the Executive Producer. We are currently trying to spread awareness of the film and are accepting donations via paypal. A teaser trailer is currently available along with a webdoc chronicling production.

We have been trying to contact Director Chris Paine as it was the visit to UCF (University of Central Florida) of Paine and yourself that sparked the idea for this independent film.

Thank you for your time,
Brett Ryan Bonowicz

I never received a response.

I next contacted through Cal-Cars run by Felix Kramer. I received no response. I found a few e-mails that purported to be Paine's personal inbox only to discover if it was his e-mail address, he never found the time to respond.

I've seen Who Killed the Electric Car? probably close to 25 times. It's not an amazing movie, it lacks depth in a lot of it's subject matter and skims through a lot of material, but it is an amazing story. This is what drove me to it again and again. To realize that in my lifetime the electric car was released without me ever knowing about it, and without it ever having a fighting chance just killed me inside. To see technological progress just stopped dead in it's tracks without any of the public even giving a shit, makes it a story for the ages. It's a tragedy and a marvel, sad and hopeful for the things that are yet to come to fruition. To me Chris Paine represented someone who brought light to something in a way maybe no one else could have done.

Part Two of this blog will appear later this month.

The Casino gets a Reprieve

2008-03-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

So after living with this fucking thing for a week, it continues to haunt my dreams.

The casino is still here. Apparently the actor didn't get call sheets or something so he wasn't able to make it. I had to make an awkward phone call to him where I had to assure him it wasn't his fault he never received a call sheet and that we would reschedule.

I realize that problems like this arise, but this is just a giant fucking blunder. Long day tomorrow, gotta sleep soon...probably won't. I finished Matt Taibbi's book Spanking the Donkey this morning. Good read...damn he hates everyone.

Random Dastoli Quotes Volume 4

2008-03-21T18:33:00.001-07:00

"Shake the mouse, see what the render's doing."

"If you're shoving it down my throat Chris, I'm not gonna say no."

"Gotta take that ice and put it in something...in the freezer obviously."

"I need your ass up against the wall."

"The video poker was held up by a box of Smiert Spionam VHS."

Diet for 3/21/08

2008-03-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

So Chris wrote down everything he ate for a day yesterday and i figured i'd try it out.

1 Apple
21 Jelly Beans
1 Onion Bagel
4 Slices of Cheddar Cheese
10 oz. of Apple Juice
26 Pretzels
47 oz. of Water
Rabbit Ears from Chocolate Easter Bunny
1 Peanut Butter Kudos Bar
1 and a half bowls of Pasta
7 pieces of Mentos Gum
8 oz. of Orange Juice

I'm not gonna hide it. I'm pretty disgusted by this. This is just gross. I gotta eat less, and with no exercise around here...the pounds are waiting to pile on

I'm living in a paper Casino

2008-03-21T02:27:00.001-07:00

For the last week I've been living amongst the slot machines and the blackjack tables. With Texas hold'em and a change machine fighting for my money, it's been a crazy eight(s?) days in the Smiert hotel and casino.

But tonight it will be demolished. Sad to see it go, but it's time.

Chris and I have been sleeping in this casino and we'll have no choice now but to move into the Dastoli's living room.

Ok this isn't working. Dastoli's built a casino in the living room, Chris and I have been sleeping there. Tonight we finally shoot the scenes, we tear it down and build a Sheriff's office.

That's the reality I'm living in.

A Day Off

2008-03-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

Gearing up towards our long hectic weekend shoot (2-20 hour days) I took the day off. Slowly waking this morning to the sounds of James and Robert jovially getting ready for a meeting for a freelance project they've been working on, I was then fully awoken when Anne called. After getting off the phone, I took a shit and went back to sleep. Upon their return, The Dastolis informed me I'd be "choppin' wood."

What this meant was that I would take a large assembled piece of wood (that they apparently found) and disassemble it for later use in the movie. It was an arduous (and tedious) task as I literally sawed through nails and it made me sweat much more then I anticipated. After that I attempted to take a nap, only to have my sleep infiltrated by random Dastoli words and the audio of the soon to be posted third webdoc which was being edited while I slept. I had had plans with Sheldon tonight that I cancelled so that I would have the night to watch Return of the Fly (not nearly as haunting as The Fly), watch Lost (a good not great episode) and generally organize and sort through my life for the next week. It's 10:30pm right now and I'm alone here in the Dastoli apartment. James, Robert and Chris all went to see The Monster Squad with Reiber tonight...I'm glad I passed. I needed the breather.

Point #3 or 50,000 Skymiles

2008-03-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

As the Dastoli's were hemorrhaging money at some point I brought up an interesting way to save money. Chris and I were coming out to LA for a month and it was always assumed I would pay for my own ticket but Chris' ticket would be taken care of by the Dastolis. Looking at a $300 hole in their wallet, I offered up 50,000 of my Delta Skymiles to pay for the tickets for myself and Chris. Having amassed nearly 100,000 Skymiles during my vast travels of this great nation, I was finally able to part with them in what I thought was a good cause.

And with this $300 saved in the budget, I earn one more point in the production.

Mailman's on the Move

2008-03-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Today we shot in Tom's apartment parking lot with no permits, insurance or permission of course. Tom was also not there, so that was a plus in the case that anyone stopped us. Luckily no one did. Here is a still. This still does not show any of the sound problems we had and we had many, including a noisy mailman, UPS truck driver, random other drivers, bike riders, landscaping people and the radio in the UPS truck.

Random Dastoli Quotes Volume 3

2008-03-19T16:41:00.001-07:00

"What am I writing again? Cards and Burlap."

"So Robert the solar cop is supposed to be in..."

"Can't fuck it up Brett, It's all on you..."

"Okay so from I hope he gets heat stroke bastard."

"We're gonna need the power of the resurrected Christ to get through that day."

Vance and Guy: Together for the First Time

2008-03-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Mr. Paul

2008-03-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is a conversation I had with the owner of a gas station. We were looking to get the location for the film. Please read the part of Paul with a non desrcript middle eastern accent.

Brett: Hi, is Paul there?

Paul: *Unintelligible* ...speaking.

Brett: Hi, I came into your business yesterday and had asked about filming something there...

Paul: Uh huh...

Brett: Is that a possibility?

Paul: Who do you repre....*Unintelligible*

Brett: Excuse me?

Paul: Who do you represent?

Brett: Um...its an independent film. We would be shooting this Monday at 7am.

Paul: How many people are we? Are you taking up a lot of room or what?

Brett: It would be about five people, we won't be taking up a lot of space and we'll be there for three hours.

Paul: And what are we talking about money?

Brett: 100 dollars.

Paul: 100 DOLLARS!!!

Brett: 125?

Paul: No, we're talking 500 dollars.

Brett: Why?

Paul: Monday morning, we're talkin about my busiest time. Take away from my business.

Brett: Well what would be a time you're not busy?

Paul: Tuesday morning.

Brett: Around what time?

Paul: 9 o'clock.

Brett: Ok and how much would that be?

Paul: 300.

At this point James came out the door and was listening to my conversation.

Brett: Can you hold on a second?

Paul: Yeah, ok.

I then talked to James and he okayed me for the 300. I said I'd try to get him to 250.

Brett: Hello?

Paul: Yeah?

Brett: So it would be Tuesday at what time?

Paul: 9 o'clock.

Brett: Ok, could it be 10 to 1?

Paul: Sure.

Brett: How much would that be?

Paul: 350

Brett: It was just 300. What changed?

Paul: You said 3 hours, now it's 4.

Brett: Ok...so if it's from 9-12, can I get that for 250?

Paul: 250?

Brett: Yeah for the three hours.

Paul: Yeah ok, we can do that.

Brett: My name is Brett. We'll see you Tuesday morning and we'll pay you then.

Paul: Ok.

Brett: And you're Paul?

Paul: Yes.

Brett: Thank you. Buh-Bye.

So we then locked this location and had to call a bunch of people to switch the date for the Burger Chef. Hopefully that pans out.

Point #2

2008-03-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Many months ago, I skipped Capstone to go drive an electric Toyota Rav4 EV. The car was there as part of a screening of the film Who Killed the Electric Car? There in attendance were Director Chris Paine and Chelsea Sexton, who appeared in the film. I drove the car, for the first time drove a Prius, introduced myself to Chris Paine and also managed to ride a segway. Neither Dastoli brother joined me for this nor did any of my classmates, but it still managed to be one of the best and consequently most significant days in my life.

You see without going to this event at UCF Chris never would have said anything about stealing an electric car, James and Robert never would have become enamored with electric vehicle technology and never would have asked Diego and Alejandro to write the film Who Stole the Electric Car?

Many times I think where my life might have gone had I never gone to the event that day (I came very close to not going) I wouldn't be here now, the Dastoli's would be working on their Indiana Jones rip-off movie, Tom would be rip-roaring down the 101 with a 1000 Watts of Mustang Fever and Diego and Alejandro could be consuming even more of popular culture.

Supplemented with Webdoc #1 (available at electriccar.dastolidigital.com) I have clearly demonstrated another point of this movie is mine because of my clear influence in the creation of this film.

Random Dastoli Quotes Volume 2

2008-03-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

"11:30 I start folding the towels."

"The stench of the car paint is permeating everything, all over the laundry room."

"So Brett, What's vegan food?"

"I like old guys sitting in chairs."

"We still have to have the Donny Copeland memorial tournament." Robert responds "I don't understand how to do it now."

Random Errands in LA

2008-03-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

Purchasing some food and a wardrobe Change for Mr. Shields was by far the most out and out joyous thing I've done in LA so far. Thrift stores in LA are interesting, you find a lot of things in there that are promotional items that people on eBay pay 20 or 30 dollars for. I bought a WGA hat for 1.99 and a few t-shirts: a vote green party shirt, a Google Desktop Search Developer shirt (That I'm pretty sure I could only get by actually BEING one of the developers), and a Big Lebowski shirt with Walter on it) Pretty awesome findings.

We then went to this 99 Cent Store.

Pretty awesome store. They only had one bag of Twerpz (a favorite OOP candy of mine) that seemed to be about 3 years old (probably accurate based on when they were last in production.) I also discovered at this 99 Cent Store where VHS has gone to die.

Pretty great day of discovery overall.

Point#1

2008-03-18T00:39:00.000-07:00

Every now and again the Dastoli's will tell me to do something and "earn my points." You see i technically own a piece of the movie and i suppose in some circles it's been whispered that perhaps it can't be figured out exactly "what i do" for the movie. In an ongoing series of posts I will write about some of the things I do on an everyday basis that will eventually make up my to be determined credit on the film.

Point #1

Today I helped Robert get a piece of transparency paper out of the printer.
I approached a man at a gas station about a location for the film.
I looked up locations at which to purchase a police patch and a tree sapling in the Los Angeles area.
The other day I saved the budget a few dollars by not purchasing additional drinks at lunch.

Additional blog points to follow.

Random Dastoli Quotes

2008-03-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

"Gotta break down this casino on Friday night, then build a police station right there."

"Alright, Friday we get bananas!"

"Got the Burger Chef hat?"

"So you got 25500 and 255000 right?"

Too Much Bullshit

2008-03-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

I notice around myself that there's a lot of bullshit to contend with during a production. A lot of GIANT EGOS to be massaged (what i wouldn't give for them to be giant eggos) and it's a pain in the ass. It just gives me tension headaches and makes me feel sick. This person doesn't like this. This person doesn't like this, someone feels left out or hurt. It's all just so fucking dumb. People should just try to understand what's trying to get accomplished and SHUT THE FUCK UP.

It's just so absurd to think about stepping on someone's toes by making a phone call or just the littlest thing. People need to grow up, grow some balls and stop being so fucking hurt by every little thing. It's just insufferable, we're making a MOVIE. At the end of the day, it's important to realize there are a lot of people involved in this, a lot of people are dedicating not only a lot of money but a lot of time into this project and when things get fucked, it's not usually the project that suffers the most, it's the people.

The movie will be fine no matter what happens. But this is some bullshit.

More Set Photos

2008-03-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

Don't have much to write about. Here are a few set photos.
Tom hangs his head in shame.
Chris frolics in between takes with Heleya.
James looks at his brother lovingly while playing with their new favorite toy, the jib.

Vance and Daisy: Together for the Second Time

2008-03-16T19:32:00.001-07:00

A quick addendum before bed

2008-03-16T00:24:00.000-07:00

Today I explained to the Dastolis what a superdelegate was and it made me think about how being here and being here specifically for this movie has kept me from reading the everyday news and I can easily see how the everyman misses the fact that Obama picked up 14 more delegates in Iowa today or that Clinton is focusing more on Superdelegate votes then she is on Pennsylvania (Both headlines today) If I was an Average American, underpaid, trying to make things just a little bit better in my own world, why would i care? It's a bigger picture I can't see. It's like being at an art museum and being forced to look at each piece two inches from your nose. You can't see it all, you're too close, the impact it might have on you is silenced because on the most basic level it might never matter who the president is if the country doesn't give a shit.

There's such an emphasis on the individual in our culture, that to think as a community is looked at as weak. And though some people might want the strength of the individual to be total and comprehensive, nothing can be successful if driven by one human being. Everything is collaborative if only by the means of influence others have on you.

Good Night

The End of the Drought

2008-03-15T23:17:00.000-07:00

I'm listening to music for the first time in 5 days. It's nice. It's quiet right now, Chris is sleeping and James and Robert are seeing Never Back Down (a movie that supposedly takes place in Orlando according to Diego)

Went over to Sheldon's place before and watched an episode of The Universe in HD. That was followed by watching True Lies. If you haven't experienced True Lies, you haven't lived. It's really Cameron firing on all cylinders. Fuck Titanic, this is the man's masterpiece. It was also Marielou's birthday...a late Happy Birthday to her. Spending sometime over there was the perfect cure to an all day tension headache caused by the day's stresses. It's really easy to lose your inspiration with all the elements around you but remembering why you're doing it, or remembering what the moment of inspiration felt like, can give you enough passion to get you through the day.

Shoot today went well, Chris is really gonna nail this. The actress playing Daisy brings so much life to the role and their chemistry together surprised me. I was amazed at how well it all just clicked. I know it won't all be like this, but the fact that things went well today was a nice surprise.

Chris wrote me a note that I'll never forget and came at the perfect time. He's really the closest thing I've ever had to a brother.

Eye of the Tiger

2008-03-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

I've tried to write this blog a few different ways and nothing seems to stick. I just watched the most amazing thing in the world. It was a Film School collection (2 discs each, 1 Volume for each year) in which the Tall Fuck in question made self-reflective featurettes in which he is the center of the world. I have a hard time expressing the strange chills in my body that occurred as I endured this. I think cancer is growing inside of me right now. He describes himself as a visionary, shoots himself holding an 8mm camera (when he's never shot anything on 8mm) It's just the most insulting panderous, pretentious masturbatory soul crushing slime I've ever watched.

I just don't think he likes people. These people in the featurettes are meant to be his friends but he treats them like piles of shit, scripting what he believes fits into his memories of the time. He uses them until he has no use for them and then throws away, he's just awful.

I hope my brain gradually forgets all memories of the Tall Fuck as I want to believe in a world where people like him are exposed for what they are.

I wonder if when he watches this alone at night he thinks he still has friends.

Daisy and Vance: Together for the First Time

2008-03-15T14:05:00.001-07:00

Best photo caption comment wins one dollar.

VLOG #2

2008-03-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

Last night's rehearsal is captured here in a 106 second video of my reactions. I gave little input as I thought the rehearsal was going well and therefore didn't need much direction. I think the Dastolis sometimes over-direct certain emotions and I think it can be confusing for the actors. Diego and to a much lesser extent Alejandro (since he never speaks) are also guilty of this. I am just not a fan of elaborate backstory, if it's not on the page, it's not important.

Sometimes the actors just need to be given room to grow and expand their characters themselves without having to be spoon-fed everything.

VLOG #1

2008-03-15T02:07:00.000-07:00

This is the first of what will be many VLOG posts recorded directly from my laptop. My hope is that what is shown is raw and uncensored moments of time that represent this production. Enjoy part one.

Where in the World is Carl Fieler?

2008-03-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

Where are you? Later I want Carl to tell me what he was doing at the time this blog was posted.

And don't tell me he's at CalArts...I want a more detailed explanation.

Rehearsal #1

2008-03-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

In about 40 minutes the first rehearsal begins. Dastolis are eating some meat, Chris is on the phone with his quasi-former landlords. I'm feeling pretty useless out here honestly, not really doing much. I just described my self as the guy behind the guy which is pretty true. I do a lot of tasks in which no credit could ever be given. Ex. I just came up with a plan for where to shoot Diego and/or Alejandro's Webdoc things. Things like this...there's no kind of credit to throw out there for that.

Anyway, it's been good out here, I feel good about living here, kind of annoying how I keep trying to debate my way to a producer credit. Hopefully, I can somehow impress them in my skills to work up to that.

In this picture we are admiring the local pool at their apartment. It's a real shithole, covered in dirt and leaves...only a brave soul would jump into that.

Today we went to Griffith Park, i almost passed out from climbing up such a steep fucking mountain. I've been going to the gym but it hasn't prepared me for real world terrain, it's just made me read the CNN crawl faster.

Waking up to Tape

2008-03-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

This morning Chris and I woke to the sounds of James taping up some contraption involving a soda machine.

Silence. Tape. Silence then tape.

I can't tell if it's their passive-aggressive way of waking us up or they're just that socially inept. It seems logical if I had guests in my home for an extended amount of time I'd try to extend them the courtesy of sleeping until they wanted to...or you know just wake them with a "Hey, time to wake up kind of thing." I wouldn't be building things two feet away and then smiling and laughing when i slowly open one eye to signify my anger over this whole mess.

Chris is now walking to get coffee. Dastolis are at Home Depot. I'm gonna take a shit.

Wrapping up Day Two

2008-03-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

Things happening. Children with candy bars waking me up. It's been a fuck of a time over at Casa de Dastoli.

This morning we drove to CalArts to location scout. Dastoli's walk around like they own the place.

I had to keep peeing today, not sure why, I think I was drinking a lot of water.

Got really nauseous in the car with Robert driving. Note to self: Don't let Robert drive.

Took a nap today for a few hours, that was nice. Till the kids came to the door with candy bars and woke me up. At first I thought it was a dream.

Hung out with Reiber and Ashkin, good to see them. Jeff looks slightly malnourished, remember to give him a vitamin.

We went to this Burbank Bar and Grill, pretty nice place till they fucking started playing loud music and doing karaoke.

Chris says: Sometimes...No, I have nothing.

Good Morning Day Two

2008-03-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Woke this morning to find James eating cereal without Robert.

This was a first. It was 9am and like everytime i've been to LA, I woke up on the second day with a headache. Chris was still sleeping on the floor (somehow he was able to put up with the foley-ed Dastoli breakfast) Moments later Robert woke up and ate breakfast.

I woke up knowing exactly where I was (pretty much the first time that's ever happened) Today we scout locations at CalArts, a thrilling undertaking.

Giving me a strange tinge of hope for the future, yesterday at LAX we saw a whole row of electric car charging stations with a few Toyota Rav4 EV's charging.

As I write this, I'm listening to James talk to Chris about the history of Burger Chef (He's such a trooper for listening) so if a lot of this is unfocused and rambling, I'm gonna blame him for that.

Welcome to Las Vegas

2008-03-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here I am. On the set of Who Stole the Electric Car? Take a look. You got your buffet, you got your black jack table, slot machines, the whole works. Incredible.

Live Blogging from the Airplane

2008-03-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

For the first time in my life, I can’t move my fucking seat back. I’m on the flight to LA and both Chris and I ( a combined decade worth of college experience can’t move our seats. The woman in front of me has conveniently figured out how to move her seat back, much to the dismay of my laptop screen. But I feel weird asking how she did it. I’m pretty sure I can’t ask it without sounding too much like a dick.

“Hey, how’d you move the seat in front of me so far back? How can I be like you?”

Turns out I’m not an idiot. We’re sitting in the row in front of an emergency row, evidently those seats don’t go back at all. I had looked at the website Seatguru.com a few weeks ago about finding a power port for my laptop and they had said our seats were the worst on the plane. At the point I have to believe them. Add to that the fact that the power port is currently not functioning at all and this has just turned into the best flight of my life.

Chris says:

This is not a good picture of me.

Just Saw Pomeranz at the Airport

2008-03-12T03:33:00.000-07:00

Just saw Pomeranz at the Starbucks in the B terminal. He says he just came back from LA (who isn't these days!?) He says he heard Chris and I were going out there. I thought it was weird that he had actually heard this till he told he had been hanging out with Diego. Makes sense now. I thought maybe all of LA had been waiting for our arrival. What the fuck was I thinking.

Chris has added these thoughts:
Chris is very excited. Things going good.

Gattaca

2008-03-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

I just bought Gattaca Blu-ray and for the first time I got to see Ethan Hawke plug in his electric car. Though I've seen the movie probably a good 15 times, I never saw it for some reason. Anne pointed it out to me this time. And sure enough, there it is. He's using a paddle, EV-1 style which makes sense as the movie came out in 1997.

The depressing thing now is to know 11 years after the movie we don't even have the vehicles we had then. And in a lot of ways (the HUMMER) we've actually taken a few (maybe more) steps back.

It's time to check in

2008-03-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

was the subject of the e-mail I got from Delta this morning. That makes it pretty real, going to LA and whatnot. I still haven't finished packing and for the first time I feel like I haven't packed enough and I have two giant bags packed already. The only other time I packed this much was when I went to NY for the summer after ninth grade. I was there for a month then too.

I keep thinking about what it would be like if the plane went down tomorrow. Would the movie sell faster? Would this give us the media explosion we need? Who would they get to replace Chris? Ashkin? I think if a plane crash is just a purely mechanical failure post 9/11, it receives five minutes of news coverage. We'd have to go down in a huge terrorist attack for any of this to help the movie. That isn't likely to happen.

Anne was nice enough to get me breakfast this morning. I just wish I didn't feel so fucking tired. I seem to go through periods of time where I'm really just tired no matter how much i sleep and then periods of time where I barely sleep at all and I'm fine. Fuck this awful body of mine.

T Minus Two

2008-03-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

So Chris and I met for the first time in what seems to be weeks (probably not true) It was good to hang around him and actually be engaged by other people in reality again. We leave Wednesday morning and honestly I'm not looking forward to the way the fuck early flight we have. I'd love to be productive and write or something on the flight but I'll probably just read for 20 minutes and pass out before we ever take off. This'll be the first time (that I'm aware of) that Chris will see me sleeping, I only hope I don't drool on him in the cramped coach seats we have.

Dastoli called today while getting his oil changed (wouldn't have that problem in an electric car) to tell me he's concerned about a million things and everything is going to go horribly violently wrong with the movie. For me the chief concern would be this new found love of carpentry the brothers Dastoli have found themselves in: THEY BUILD EVERYTHING. Sheriffs office. Casino. Now they tell me they might have to build a fast food drive thru window. BUILD IT. IN THEIR APARTMENT.

This behavior is insane. There has to be one non-chain fast food restaurant that would love for some little kids to come in and film a grossly under budget movie (that's what I'm going to call it from now on...not low budget, under budget, feels more appropriate.) If you are this restaurant, please call me or something. We need you.

I think I've packed everything and I feel mostly set. It feels shittily trendy to say I'm going to LA to work on a movie but its just true in this case. It's the location I'm going to and there's a movie being shot in that location.

Still doesn't mean it doesn't sound like hipster ass-speak.