Trailers, Websites, YouTube Channels, Oh My!

This week, we're taking a break from introducing the cast of Hold My Beer to bring you some special announcements. First: the official trailer for the film has been released! Check it out below:

Next, the official website for the film is now live! Check it out here. It includes bios for the cast and crew, map locations of the places that appear in the film, and more. It's a living document that will continue to be updated regularly, so keep checking back.

And finally, the film now has its own YouTube channel, where you can not only watch (and rewatch) the trailer, but you can also check out exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, as well as a series of short videos called "Hold My Beer Moments" in which we ask people - mostly members of our cast and crew, but also other people within the Vancouver, Washington community - about something bold or daring that they had the courage and confidence to do, despite what naysayers, or perhaps their own self-doubt, were telling them.

More to come!

Meet The Cast Of Hold My Beer: Ian Engelsman

This week, I'd like you to meet another cast member of Hold My Beer: Ian Engelsman!

Ian is playing Jess, a friend of Val (the lead character). Jess introduces Val to beer on Val's twenty-first birthday by taking him to Loowit Brewing in scenic downtown Vancouver, WA. Jess is the kind of friend you want to have in that he's - as described in the film - "brutally honest." He's not afraid to tell it like it is, but you know that he cares and always has your best interests at heart. Oh, and he also refers to himself in the third person (for reasons not made clear in the film, but will be explored more if - I mean, when - Hold My Beer becomes an ongoing series).

Fun fact: I actually met Ian way back in February 2013, an experience that I documented in this blog post. He was already a very talented drummer - check out this YouTube video where he played with us at the relaunch party for Joel Suzuki, Volume One - and continues to be an accomplished musician to this day. One of his current bands, Atomic Terror, even has a song on Hold My Beer's soundtrack!

Here's his bio:

Ian is a musician and part-time actor based in the Vancouver/Portland area. He is currently the drummer for the thrash metal band Atomic Terror and has played guitar and drums for other acts and groups such as Saint John the Baptist Church, Al Perez, Matthieu Raney, and Metropolitan Performing Arts. His previous acting experience includes roles with American Immersion Theatre, Murder Mystery Company, and Cinema of Horrors from Treadway Events.

Thanks for being part of our cast, Ian!

Much more to come...

Meet The Cast Of Hold My Beer: Rich Ray

Last week, you met the lead actor of Hold My Beer, Andrew York. This week, I'd like to introduce you to Rich Ray!

Rich is playing Doug, the father of Andrew's character, Val. Doug is divorced from Val's mom and he and Val have been estranged for several years. During the events of the film, the two of them reconnect because of Doug's homebrewing experience, but will that be enough to fully mend their relationship? You'll have to wait and see when the film comes out early next year!

Fun fact: Rich and I used to play together in a couple of bands years ago, which is how I first met him. He also sang the national anthem at an Autism Empowerment egg hunt back when we used to do such things.

Here's his bio:

Rich Ray has lived in Portland, OR for 24 years. During that time, he has been steadily active as a performer, having played a lead in a local production of HAIR as well as a leading role in Hold My Beer, along with being a vocalist in several rock tribute bands. By day Rich is an Early Intervention Specialist, serving as a teacher and parent coach for young children with special needs and developmental delays.

Thanks for being a part of our cast, Rich!

Much more to come...

Meet The Cast Of Hold My Beer: Andrew York

In the weeks leading up to the premiere of Hold My Beer, I'm going to be spotlighting members of our awesome cast and crew. This week, I'd like to introduce our lead actor, Andrew York!

Andrew is playing Val, the main character of the story who discovers an interest in craft beer and decides that his life's goal is to open his own brewpub. Andrew has some big-time prior acting experience (see his bio below) and came to my attention via his mom, Karen (who is also part of our crew and will be featured in a future post) and her connection to Autism Empowerment.

Although! Our paths actually crossed years ago, back in 2016, when I did an author visit to Shahala Middle School and Andrew, who was a student there at the time, was in attendance (a visit that is chronicled in this blog post)! Funny how life works.

Here's Andrew's bio:

Andrew is a 21-year-old from Vancouver, Washington with a passion for acting. He began his acting career at a young age and has since worked on such television shows as Portlandia and The Librarians. A recent college graduate in English and Psychology, Andrew hopes to soon attain his master's degree and become a high school English teacher. His hobbies include fencing, reading classic literature, Dungeons and Dragons, Street Fighter, and competitive board games.

And here's his IMDB page.

I and the other producers of Hold My Beer are so happy and grateful to have such a talented and experienced actor as the star of our film. We're sure you're going to love his performance!

Echoes Of Wisdom! Today!

Today! This game is out today!

The Legend of Zelda! Echoes of Wisdom! Is out today!

Did I mention that this game is out today?

Because it is! Out! Today!

Can't blog...must go pick up pre-ordered copy...today...

Today!

Final Footage

Although principal photography for Hold My Beer wrapped two months ago, we still had a little bit of camera work left to do. You may recall reading in this blog post from last month the details of when we shot some B-Roll footage in and around downtown Vancouver. One thing we had on our shot list for that day was a bird's-eye-view of the city skyline, featuring Smith Tower, the convention center, and the its-days-are-numbered (probably) I-5 bridge. Unfortunately, we couldn't access any of the taller buildings, because they were mostly all closed on Sunday.

One place that we really wanted to get into was the historic Arts Building on Main Street, which was once, about a century ago, the largest building in Clark County (Washington, not Nevada or Ohio). It was in a good position to get the shot we wanted, and there appeared to be what looked like a nice rooftop area from where to shoot. It too, however, was closed. But after a few weeks of having to do other things, we found ourselves with a day where the stars aligned: it was a weekday so the building would be open, we had a free hour, and it was nice and sunny (to match the scene, shot in June, that this footage would serve as an establishing shot for). And, as luck would have it, the stars further aligned when the property manager graciously allowed us access to what we thought was the roof but was actually a deck area adjoining her office (Her: "I can't let you on the roof, but you can use this spot." Us: "Oh, um...great!")

So we got the footage we wanted. Yatta (yay!) And that, combined with a very brief pickup shot we did a day earlier (we'll let you guess which one it is when the film comes out - we're hoping no one can tell), puts a definite bow on filming. Now, back to the edit bay!

Anime Roundup

That's right, it's time for another Anime Roundup! Let's see, the last one was in...October of last year?? How can that be? I mean, I feel like I've been watching just as much anime as I always do, although I guess based on the fact that I only have four of them to talk about this time around, maybe not. After all, I have been a little busy with a film project you might've heard of...

Tonikaku (anyway), here we go!

Delicious in Dungeon

A D&D-style party of adventurers go into a dungeon and fight monsters and then...eat them? Yup, you heard that right. A lot of the episodes end with them going through the steps of preparing and cooking the various creatures they just vanquished, with recipes that seem like they could actually work in real life. In fact, I think my bass player/director of photography even tried one out, using chicken or beef instead of harpy or basilisk meat. Oh yeah, there's also a plot involving a rescue mission - the party isn't simply on a dinner run (even though that part alone is fun to watch).

The Quintessential Quintuplets

Another entry in the "multiple girls inexplicably fall for the same boring dude" sub-genre of anime, in this one the girls are quintuplets, and the guy is their classmate who is initially hired to tutor them but then ends up becoming their object of affection despite his apparent lack of interest. Maybe it's that lack that makes him attractive to them? Who knows. Anyway, it's a light-hearted, fun rom-com that eventually had me asking my TV "who will Futaro choose??" (if you watch this show - there's two seasons plus a full-length movie - mild spoiler: the answer may shock you. Or not.)

Rising Impact

Like Naruto, but with golf! Seriously. The main protagonist is a short blond boy who has a seemingly unrealistic goal (Naruto: to become the leader of his village, Gawain, from this show: to be the world's best golfer), there's a brooding friend/rival (Naruto: Sasuke, this show: Lancelot), people have individual specialty powers (Naruto: various jutsus, this show: various unbelievable golf shots), and the hero, as he progresses in his journey, encounters other groups of people who are like him but their strengths escalate along the way (Naruto: other villages, this show: the other golf schools). As a big fan of both Naruto and golf, I approve this message.

The Rising of the Shield Hero

Netflix: You're gonna love this one.

Me: I dunno...it looks like a standard paint-by-numbers isekai portal fantasy where some average dude gets transported to a D&D-type world and then fights monsters and saves the day.

Netflix: Trust us.

Me: It doesn't seem like anything special. Plus, I already have a show with the word "Rising" in the title lined up for the next Anime Roundup. Why don't I check out Terminator Zero instead?

Netflix: Sure, but believe us, you'll want to come back to this.

Me: (sighs) Fine.

* watches show *

Me: Whoa...I can't stop watching this! But, I mean, why? It's basically what I thought it would be. And yet, it's so compelling. Is it because of the protagonist's chilly, anti-hero personality that he develops only after being wrongfully accused? The underdog nature of him being the only hero without an offensive weapon? (By the way, Captain America might have something to say about shields being non-offensive weapons.) Could it be the catchy and awesome theme song that I'd heard before in anime song mixes? No idea, but - you were right, Netflix. I'm not sure how you do it. It's pretty scary, actually.

Netflix: You're welcome.

Hold My Beer Poster

Hold My Beer now has an official poster!

Big thanks to graphic designer extraordinaire Dave Born (whose other projects have included the Beer & Ramen EP cover and Spectrum Life Magazine) for doing an awesome job!

Fun fact that I learned during this process: the standard size for movie posters is 27"x40". Apparently, this has been the official size since around 1990 (it was 27"x41" before that) and is so because it's large enough to draw attention without being overly expensive. Or something like that. Either way, it bugs my OCD-brain because it's not evenly divisible by any common factor (is that the right way to word it? I haven't done real math in years) besides one.

Show Recap

We (Second Player Score, that is) had a great time playing our first show in (checks notes) over a year?? at Ole's Outpost, Loowit Brewing's second location this past Saturday.

Big thanks to Tom and everyone at Loowit for inviting us to be part of the festivities, and also to our friends who came out! It was a little different from most of our shows in that we were playing with our garage setup, with Kyle on his electric drum kit and me and Dan on our smaller practice amps. But it was still a lot of fun, and actually sounded better to my ears than a number of other shows I've played in the past - I could hear everything, especially my own guitar (people in the crowd kept telling me to turn the guitar UP, which, to a guitar player, is like a "Whaaat? Seriously? You're giving me free beer?*" kind of situation).

* And speaking of free beer, the bands had open tabs at the bar, which was a total chef's kiss situation seeing as how Loowit beer is so darn good

For posterity's sake, here's the set list from the evening, which consisted mainly of SPS "standards" (i.e., songs that we remembered better than others):

Liberty's End

Daily Grind

Ragged Town

Winner Takes It All

Demon's Kiss

Game On

Falling Forever

Eye of the Needle

Comets

And as a bonus, we started around 8pm, played until 9pm (which is when most bar shows begin), and got home at an hour that is much more compatible with my cat-affected sleep schedule.

Hopefully it won't be another year before we play again!**

** It won't be. We're scheduled to perform at Loowit's original downtown Vancouver location in a few months for an exciting special event. More details on that to come!

SPS @ Ole's Outpost

A reminder, in case you needed it (we kind of did): Second Player Score, in addition to being a multimedia production team, is also - gasp - a band!

Yes, after literally months of not picking up our instruments due to being busy with Hold My Beer, we are once again going to be cranking out some tunes. And what better occasion to dust off the cobwebs than the grand opening of Ole's Outpost, Loowit Brewery's second location!

If you're in the Vancouver area, check it out this Saturday, August 24th, starting at 6pm (we'll be going on at around 8pm, but come early for the beer, food and raffle). Ole's Outpost is located at 11202 Fourth Plain Blvd, Vancouver WA 98662. Hope to see you there!

B-Roll For Hold My Beer

Well, now, that didn't take too long to get back to Hold My Beer, did it?

This past Sunday, my bandmates/production team partners in Second Player Score went around downtown Vancouver, getting shots of various Vancouver landmarks for use as opening credits background scenes as well as other establishing shots (meant to orient the viewer as to where the characters are).

We started out by driving up the I-5 freeway and getting footage of the "Welcome to Washington" sign that motorists see shortly after they cross over the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. We then got off on Exit 2, turned back around, and headed for Fort Vancouver where we filmed a sign that says "Fort Vancouver" as well as some drive-by scenes of Officer's Row.

From there, we headed into downtown proper, where we shot the "Vancouver" sign you see above as well as a nearby mural at the corner of C and 6th Streets. After that, we drove up to Main Street where we got shots of Kiggins Theatre and a couple of brewpub storefronts. We tried to get into one of the taller buildings nearby to shoot a bird's-eye-view of the area from the roof, but we discovered that all the taller buildings in downtown Vancouver are closed on Sundays (except one, see below).

It was a nice and sunny day, so then we decided to walk instead of drive down to the area near Smith Tower, where we took shots of it as well as the clock tower at Esther Short Park. The Hilton Hotel and Convention Center across the street from Loowit Brewing was open, but they wouldn't let us up past the second floor despite our best Axel Foley-ish attempts at talking our way up to the top floor. Oh well.

After that, we figured we each needed to get more exercise, so we continued walking all the way down to the Waterfront, where we got some great footage of the, well, water (Columbia River) as well as the I-5 bridge between Vancouver and Portland, of which some local official had recently said we all should take some last good looks at before it's demolished to make way for a new bridge.

And that was our Sunday afternoon, capped off by (what else) a couple of beers. More updates to come!

Synchronized Sleeping

For your Olympic medal consideration:

10/10,  but I'm biased.

8/10, the head positions are not quite matched up. I blame the coach (me). Because cats are always guiltless.

(P.S. Happy International Cat Day!)

Hold My Beer Official Facebook Page

Now that filming for Hold My Beer is done, this blog will be returning to its regularly-scheduled programming (mostly, anyway - there will obviously still be Hold My Beer posts when appropriate). But! If you want to get regular doses of Hold My Beer-related content, you can follow the newly-created official Facebook page for the film here.

We'll be posting all kinds of fun stuff, like behind-the-scenes videos, bloopers, and more. So check it out! And keep coming back here for more Anime Roundups, random haikus, and cat pictures.

Cheers!

Hold My Beer Made The News!

Specifically, Vancouver, WA's very own local paper, The Columbian.

Big thanks to reporter Scott Hewitt for the terrific write-up, and photographer Taylor Balkom for taking some great pictures at our Pearson shoot (the one above isn't his, it's ours. Didn't want to step on any copyright toes). If you subscribe to The Columbian, you can read the online version of the article here. And I know you're a subscriber, right? Right?

Day Six Is A Wrap!

Day Six of filming - and principal photography in general - for Hold My Beer is officially a wrap!

Huge thanks go out to Hailey and Xavier from Pearson Air Museum and to all the wonderful people who participated as extras, braving the heat and the tedium (spoiler alert: filmmaking is not as glamorous as it looks) while helping to make the afternoon a resounding success.

Also, the publicity machine for the film is charging up! Check out this article in the Summer 2024 issue of Spectrum Life Magazine, and also the official Hold My Beer website.

Now, on to post-production...

Day Five Is A Wrap!

Day Five of filming for Hold My Beer was a success!

Yes, we braved the triple-digit temperatures and managed to get all the shots we needed. Fortunately, both locations that we were at for the day were nicely air-conditioned: my house, where we recorded ADR ("automated dialogue replacement" - another odd filmmaking term, because nothing about the process is automated) tracks for both Days Five and Six, and Bader's Beer & Wine Supply, where we shot one scene plus part of a montage.

As usual, our cast and crew did a fantastic job, and big thanks goes to Quintin Murchison, owner of Bader's, for graciously allowing us to use his store.

Up next: Day Six, the final boss battle!

Even More Location Scouting

More recon missions! This time, my band-slash-production team took a field trip to Bader Beer and Wine Supply in preparation for our upcoming Day Five of filming for Hold My Beer.

Of course, we've been there before (or in our drummer/brewmaster Kyle's case, many, many times before), but this time was to take establishing shots of the exterior, buy some grain to be used as a prop, and to map out a part of the scene that will be taking place there.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Day Four Is A Wrap!

Day Four of filming for Hold My Beer was a success!

As I mentioned in the Day Three recap, it took place at one of our favorite locations in town - Loowit Brewing Company. Big thanks to owner Thomas Poffenroth for hosting us, and also for being an extra!

Speaking of extras, we had some additional friends come out to play bar patrons (and a bartender!) - shout-outs go to Cody and Missy Fant, Jake Bestgen, Jason Wall, and Jon Fisher.

Thanks to them, as well as the usual stellar efforts of our brilliant cast and crew (which included Kevin Coy, trading in his actor's card for a Production Assistant credit), we got all the shots we needed and had a lot of fun doing it (although I have to admit, this was my first time spending several hours in a bar while NOT drinking beer).

Two more Days to go!

Wardrobe Fitting

Because the film Hold My Beer is a story about normal people set in present-day (well, 2018, to be exact) Vancouver, Washington, we have no need for elaborate period costumes or superhero spandex. However, that doesn't mean we don't require at least some pieces of wardrobe that the cast doesn't already have in their drawers or closets.

And so, based on a recommendation from good friend, coproducer, and local icon Elizabeth Holmes (check out her amazing podcast here), we enlisted the aid of Center Stage Clothiers, a costume rental store based right here in Vancouver. Thanks to store owner Diana Kirkpatrick (pictured above, left), we were able to secure what we needed for our actress Lydia Pentz (pictured above, right) at a very reasonable rate. If you're in the area and you find yourself needing specific clothing for a play, film, or anything else - including elaborate period costumes or superhero spandex! - we strongly recommend checking them out.

Oh, and what did we rent for Lydia? No spoilers - you'll just have to watch the film when it comes out and take a guess!

More Location Scouting

This past weekend, my band-slash-production team did an advance recon mission to Loowit Brewing Company in advance of our Day Four of filming there later this month.

Of course, this was not our first time at Loowit; we've been there many times before, mostly just for fun, but also once to shoot workprint footage late last year. This time, though, we went in with our real gear to scout out camera angles, lighting, and other logistics (like which table would be best to use for the scene - the winner being the Bicycle Chain Table pictured above). And, of course, since we were there, we treated ourselves to a couple of rounds of amazing Loowit beer.

Stay tuned for a recap of Day Four in a few weeks!

Location Scouting

As part of the preproduction process for the Hold My Beer film project, I recently got to do a walk-through visitation of the Pearson Air Museum's Historic Hangar.

This is where the big climactic set piece of the film will take place. When we made our workprint (a rough draft of the film), we didn't have access to the hangar (you have to rent it way in advance, and it's expensive), so we used Lego pieces on my kitchen island instead. But next month, it'll be the real deal! And with two fairly complex scenes, dozens of extras, a bunch of props, and limited time, it's going to be quite an experience. But I'm confident that with the help of our amazing cast and crew, it will turn out great. So in just a few weeks, expect to see another picture like the one above, just filled with people, tables, and (fake) beer!

Day Three Is A Wrap!

Production on Hold My Beer continued this past Sunday, with fun and successful shoots taking place at my house (for a montage scene) as well as Seize the Bagel's Cascade Park location (a place you might have seen in these previous posts).

Big thanks to Seize the Bagel owners Cindy and Bruce Yamamura for generously allowing us to use their space, and also for being extras in the scene!

And so with that, we are now halfway done with principal photography. Day Four is scheduled for next month and will take place at another of our most favorite places in town. Stay tuned...

Second Player Software

Guess what? In addition to music, novels, comics, podcasts, beer, and film, my band-slash-multimedia production team Second Player Score is now getting into (insert drum roll here)...video game development!

That's right, video game development. More specifically, we're developing a video game that will be a tie-in to the Hold My Beer film project. We have a concept and a storyline for an old-school Zelda-style adventure game that isn't a direct adaptation of the film itself but is still tangentially connected to it.

However, we don't have the resources to develop that entire idea right now, so what we're doing instead is making one of the minigames that will be part of the larger game. It's an arcade-style game where the player, an apprentice beer-brewer, needs to earn their stripes by washing kegs. The picture you see above is an early prototype of the player character (the final version will be a bit different).

The goal is to have this game completed and ready for launch at the same time as the film. Keep watching this space for updates!

Movie Roundup: Rom-Com Edition

Confession: I am an unapologetic fan of the romantic comedy/dramedy genre (if you've been following this blog, then you probably already knew that). Have any other fellow fans noticed that there seems to have been an uptick in new movies of this ilk recently? Or does it just seem like that to me? Anyway, here's a bunch that I've watched:

The Idea of You

Haiku commentary:

Divorced single mom

Dates younger boy band member

Unlikely meet-cute

Anyone But You

Loosely based on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, this was predictable but fun, which, really, is kind of the point. Also, I said out loud to my TV, "Hey, that's President Ritson from the MCU!" 

Irish Wish

This one got bonus points in my book for being publishing-industry-adjacent (the main character is a book editor), having a light magical element, and showing scenes of people drinking Guinness. Mmm, Guinness.

Upgraded

This one (loosely based on Cinderella) kind of confused me a little at first, because the promo materials seemed to imply that the plot was airport/airplane-centric, when in fact an airport/airplane was just the location of the meet-cute. Oh well, whatever. Also, I said out loud to my TV, "Hey, that's Mal from Shadow and Bone!"

Yesterday

Not really a new movie (it's from 2019), but relatively-recently released on Netflix, so it's new to me. Delightful premise (struggling musician wakes up to an alternate reality where he's the only one who remembers the Beatles), and yes, it's a romantic comedy. Wikipedia says so!

Plus One

Not really a new movie (like Yesterday, it's also from 2019), but relatively-recently released on Netflix, so it's new to me. Predictable but fun, which, really, is kind of the point. Also, as I've said before, Maya Erskine is hilarious and amazing. Also also, I said out loud to my TV, "Hey, that's Hughie from The Boys!"

Day Two Is A Wrap!

A fun and successful day of shooting a couple of scenes (plus parts of two montages) for Hold My Beer was had this past Sunday!

("Look into the light!")

Thanks again to our amazing cast and crew, we had a lot of fun and everything went quite smoothly, despite the fact that the director/producer (ahem) budgeted too little time for one big scene and too much time for the montages, causing one of our actors to have to sit around doing nothing for longer than was expected (sorry, Rich!) Still, we managed to wrap an hour early, and the food was excellent once again (thanks, Bobbie!)

Day Three is scheduled for later this month, and will be our first shoot at a commercial location. Wish us luck! In the meantime, besides doing editing and pre-production, I'll also be heading up the development of a video game that will be a tie-in to the film. More on that to come!

Behind The Scenes

Filming for Hold My Beer resumes this weekend! And in preparation, we did some preproduction work on location this past Sunday, which included moving lights around, figuring out how to manually open a garage door, and pretending to drink beer samples (pictured below).

Ah, the glamour of show business. Stay tuned for another update next week!

I'm Back At READCON!

A couple of days ago I had the privilege of participating in READCON 2024, an annual (except when pre-empted by random global pandemics) book-centric pop culture festival organized by Vancouver, WA-based teacher/librarian/Jedi Master Paul Warner.

This was not my first rodeo, er, READCON; long-time readers of this blog may remember that I participated back in 2016 and also in 2018. Back then it was held at Shahala Middle School, but this year it was at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, where Master Warner is now employed.

Like in those previous years, this year's festival also helped to support Autism Empowerment, which is always a good thing. Here I am with John Krejcha (who blog readers will recognize as one of Autism Empowerment's cofounders).

Another cool thing this year was that there was a fellow author there! Jace Schwartz launched his debut novel, The Caverns of Cracklemore, last December, and it was fun chatting with him and sharing my experiences as a grizzled veteran of the publishing industry.

One not-so-cool thing was that unfortunately, this may be the last year READCON takes place, due to staffing shortages. Hopefully the situation changes for the better, because the event was really popular and successful, and it would be great to see it continue!

A Nerd's List Of Things To Look Forward To

Hello there! I'm Art, filling in this week for Brian while he works on some film project called "Hold My Beer." It's been a while since I've done this, but if you're a long-term follower of this blog, you might remember me from a series of posts titled "A Nerd's List of Reasons to Keep On Going," last seen in (gasp) May 2021.

Since then, the series has been rebranded as "A Nerd's List of Things to Look Forward To," in order to give it a more uplifting spin. Because, really, through the practice of gratitude, you can always find reasons to keep on going, no matter how hard things may seem at the time.

Anyway, if you're a fan of pop culture like I am, here are some fun things coming up within the next few months (although of course, if you are such a fan, you probably already know most or all of this).

May

Tales of the Empire (May 4th)

Doctor Who Season 14 (BBC-copyrighted picture above, May 11th)

Furiosa (May 24th)

More filming dates for Hold My Beer (Brian asked me to include this)

June

The Acolyte (June 4th)

July

Deadpool & Wolverine (July 26th)

Filming on Hold My Beer wraps (again, Brian asked me to include this)

I'm sure I've missed a few - or maybe a lot - of things. Let me know in the comments!

-- Art

(Editor's note: you can read more of Art's wisdom in the Joel Suzuki series, all seven volumes of which are currently available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.)

Real-Life Side Quests

If you've been following this blog, you probably know that I harbor a belief that we might be living in a simulation; i.e., a big, complicated video game. And, like in a video game a la The Legend of Zelda series, life seems to have both main story quests along with side quests/adventures.

For me, while my current main story quest is "Production of the Hold My Beer Film Project," I also recently completed a side quest called "Blender Replacement," which ended up being structured so much like a Zelda-style side quest that I found it quite uncanny.

It all started when, one day, I was informed by a company I had purchased a blender from that my particular model had a defect that could cause potentially severe injuries, and that I should destroy the unit (by taking it apart and cutting up a washer-style plastic ring, pictured above) and request a replacement part.

So I did. Quest complete? Not even close. During the replacement request process, I discovered that the replacement part could only be sent to a street address, not a P.O. box, despite the original unit having been delivered to my P.O. box. The problem with that is, due to various interdimensional vagaries*, I'm unable to receive mail at my street address unless certain specific conditions are met.

* the actual explanation is much more mundane and boring; I won't go into it here

So, I informed the blender company about this, and they assured me that the specific conditions would be met, so there shouldn't be any issues. Quest complete? Not even close.

As it turned out, the conditions were not met, and the replacement part ended up in a form of postal purgatory that required me to drive to a location several miles away and fill out a bunch of paperwork. I was told that doing so would lead to the replacement part being returned to the location and that I should come back in several days to pick it up.

Quest complete? Not even close.

I returned to the location several miles away several days later, but there was no replacement part to be found. As it turned out, filling out the paperwork did not result in the part being returned to the location; instead, it had been returned to the blender company.

So, I contacted the blender company and told them what had happened. After some back-and-forth, they told me that while they still could not re-send the replacement part to a P.O. box, they could send it to an alternate destination that would work for both of us. I agreed to this, and the delivery was finally, successfully received.

Quest complete.

Now, if you've played a Zelda game before, I'm sure you've encountered quests like this, where you do one thing that you think completes the quest, but instead, it leads you to having to do something else, which leads to something else, and so on. I find that thinking of these real-life adventures in that way makes the whole process more enjoyable than annoying (mostly, anyway). It's like a fun challenge. So, the next time you encounter a situation like this in your own life, hopefully this blog post will encourage you to view it in a similar, positive light.

P.S. To their credit, the blender company was very professional and responsive, and I ended up with a brand-new unit rather than just a replacement part. So, everything worked out for the best.

Kitty In The Window

The next filming day for Hold My Beer is scheduled for early May. In the meantime, I will be editing the Day One footage, planning out shot lists, and working on general production tasks. While I'm doing that, please enjoy this picture of a cat in a window.

Yup, he's enjoying a sunny Spring day!

Bringing A Film To Life

The life cycle of a film, in pictures:

The Script

This is when it goes from an idea in the writer's head to words on a page.

The Storyboard

This is when the writer, who in this particular case has very limited artistic skills, draws a stick figure picture to illustrate the image that they see in their head, based on the script they wrote.

The Workprint

This is a rough demo of the film where the writers are playing the parts of the characters, just to get an idea of what the scene might look like.

The Actual Footage

This is when the real actors are being filmed actually performing the scene.

Filmmaking! Fun, huh?

Day One Of Filming Is A Wrap!

A fun and successful day of shooting two scenes (plus part of a montage) for Hold My Beer was had this past Sunday!

(That's me on the right side of the picture, practicing my "film-bending" moves.)

Thanks to our talented cast and crew, everything went smoothly (despite a few Living In Oblivion-type moments) and we were able to wrap an hour-and-a-half earlier than expected. We were also treated to a delicious lunch! Day Two is scheduled for early May, so in the meantime, I'll be holed up in the editing bay...

More updates to come!

Exclusive Sneak Peek: Props For Hold My Beer

That's right, dear readers - as followers of this blog, you are being treated to an exclusive sneak peek at props for Hold My Beer (props as in objects for use in a film, not props as in "respect," or whatever the kids say. Do kids still use "props" in that way? I'm guessing not, but who knows, I'm old).

Here is a book titled "So You Want to Brew Beer?" by the esteemed and award-winning homebrewing expert Elyk Treblig. Unusual name; I think he's from somewhere in Eastern Europe? Actually, no, this is not a "real" book. It's a fake jacket over a hardcover book that, while real, has nothing whatsoever to do with beer.

And here is a fake homebrewing kit that is basically a poster made from a picture of my stovetop slapped on to the front of a random cardboard box. Show business!

These props will be used in a few scenes of Hold My Beer that we're going to start shooting... this weekend?! Anyway, when the film comes out, you can say that you saw these here first!

TV Roundup, Episode Seven

Holy recaps, it's been about twenty months since the last episode of TV Roundup! Volumes Six and Seven of the Joel Suzuki series hadn't even come out yet. But don't worry, I've been watching lots of TV shows during that time. Here are some of the most recent (beware mild spoilers):

Resident Alien

Dear Show,

Where have you been all my life?* Now that we've met, I can't imagine being without you. You're witty and funny and you do a masterful job of balancing your wacky sci-fi plot with heartfelt human interest morals and side-stories. Your writing is sharp, your acting is impeccable, and your cameos are to die for ("Oh, my!"). Your title card gags are on par with the Simpsons couch gags and always make me laugh out loud. Even your occasional continuity errors are adorable. Also, I am super impressed by how you're able to juggle and intertwine so many different themes and threads - it's an alien invasion! it's a murder mystery! it's a family drama! - in such an effortless and engaging manner. Sometimes I imagine your writers playing a game where the writer of one episode will introduce a storyline and then hand it off to the writer of the next episode while saying "try to resolve this!" and the other writer says "challenge accepted!" Anyway, I hope you go on for a long, long, long time. Just, please, don't jump the shark.

Love,

A Guy Who Writes Love Letters to TV Shows

* The bass player in my band recommended this show to me when it first came out back in 2021, but due to silliness/laziness on my part, I never got around to checking it out until the first two seasons recently dropped on Netflix. And thank the Alpha Draconians they did.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix Live-Action Version)

Look, I understand why some people didn't like it. But that's not a debate I'm going to get into here; there are plenty of other places on the internet for that. Suffice it to say that I, as a huge fan of the original animated show (watching this adaptation reminded me of just how huge an influence the original show was on the Joel Suzuki series), really enjoyed it. And thank you, Show, for the "my cabbages!" and "Pipinpadaloxicopolis" references. Looking forward to Seasons 2 and 3, which are apparently going to happen. Yay, Toph!

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

I'm a fan of romantic comedies. And James Bond movies (mostly the Daniel Craig era). So I figured I would like this show. And I did. Even though I haven't seen the original 2005 movie. Maybe I should. Also, Maya Erskine is hilarious and amazing.

Hazbin Hotel

An animated show about the princess of Hell running a rehab hotel for sinners that started as an indie production and is now on Amazon Prime? And it's a musical? Yes, please! Every time the characters broke out into song (with lyrics that usually included a fair amount of swear words), I always said out loud to my TV, "this show is delightful."

Star Trek: Prodigy

To me, this show started out more Star Wars than Star Trek, but then eventually became much more "trekky" as it went along - maybe even sometimes too much, with generous helpings of fan-service-y references to previous Trek series and a sense that it's almost a continuation of Voyager. But I still liked it anyway.

Until next time!