Holiday Filler Post

This is a week in which not much is happening SPS-Verse-wise due to it being the holiday season. Also, I'm too lazy to write anything of any substance. So instead, I present you with this random picture of cheap pasta:

Things will ramp back up next week, I promise. In the meantime, Happy Holidays!

More Hold My Beer Updates

The Hold My Beer production train keeps rolling along!

On December 10th, we shot test footage at Bader Beer & Wine Supply, a brewing supply shop here in Vancouver where one of the scenes will take place. Big thanks to owner Quintin Murchison and the Bader staff for their support! (we'll be back...)

Then on December 17th, we had our first meeting with film industry veteran and all-around cool person Jennie Greb (at Loowit, naturally), who will be the sound mixer on set and will also help with post-production. We're so grateful to have her as part of our crew!

Lastly (for now), we made our first official purchase with our grant funds from Vancouver's Culture, Arts, and Heritage Commission: a clapperboard (aka slate).

That's right, things are getting real. Stay tuned for more updates!

Hold My Beer Casting Announcement!

In my recent Thanksgiving post, I mentioned in passing that the cast for Hold My Beer was complete. But unless you follow Second Player Score and/or Autism Empowerment on Facebook (or are on my personal friends list), that is all you would have known! So, I'm rectifying that this week...

There are nine primary speaking roles, filled by the awesome and talented people listed in the picture. Here are more details:

Andrew York - Val (the lead character)

Ian Engelsman - Jess (Val's friend)

Ethan Blackwelder - Sky (Val's friend)

Lydia Pearl Pentz - Shannon (a commercial loan officer)

Rich Ray - Doug (Val's biological father)

Karen Krejcha - Ellen (Val's biological mother)

Kevin Coy - Carl (Val's stepdad)

Eric Holmes - Roger (owner of a brewing supply shop)

Anne McEnerny-Ogle - Amber (an investment banker and Shannon's mother)

Also, in case you didn't know, Anne McEnerny-Ogle is the mayor of Vancouver, and Eric Holmes is the city manager! All of us in the production team are so grateful to have them and everyone else on board.

More to come!

Author Talk

My recent mini-resurgence in doing live Joel Suzuki-related events came to a close this past Tuesday with a presentation for the Washington State University Vancouver Creative Writing Club. As I was walking to the room where the event was to take place, I witnessed this awesome bit of signage:

And not once, but twice! (I didn't take a picture of the second sign because I was too busy admiring the beautiful WSU-V campus.)

Anyway, I had a great time meeting and speaking with the club members, passing on what I've learned from my twelve-ish years of being involved in the publishing industry. Big thanks to Andrew York (the lead actor of Hold My Beer) for setting it all up!