crewless news and notes

… check out the Interplanetary blog…

http://interplanetarymovie.blogspot.com

If you’re up late enough tonight (or early enough tomorrow), you can catch Hide and Creep on the Sci Fi channel at 3 a.m. Eastern time.

And you can catch it again in March. I’ll try to post another “news” item a little closer to that March date.

Hope you’re all having a good Valentine’s Day…

At least this one doesn’t. If I’m reading the Babelfish translation correctly, at least.

More importantly, Hide and Creep is for sale on DVD in Germany! Now I just have to figure out where to order a German edition…

I’ll quit apologizing for the infrequent updates – I guess I’m just not cut out for blogging. And I’ll keep this one short. I just wanted to let you know that we’re gearing up to start shooting a new feature soon. Real soon – seems like I’m already behind, actually. If things go as planned, we’ll have it done and show it somewhere before the end of 2007.

That’s all I’ll say for now. I’m planning to make a more “official” announcement in early January, after I have more details about the cast and crew.

This is groovy. Looks like we’re getting yet another late night encore on the Sci Fi channel – Sunday October 8 at 3 a.m. Eastern time. So, if you still haven’t seen the “TV Cut” of Hide and Creep, stay up late on Saturday – or get up really early on Sunday – and check it out.

Or just do like me and get your Tivo on.

Looks like Hide and Creep won’t be playing June 20 on the Sci Fi channel as originally scheduled. We did pick up two other screenings, though – July 1 at 9 a.m. and July 6 at 3 a.m.

I know – not exactly prime time hours. If you’re not a TV early bird or night owl, set your TiVo accordingly.

A couple of online items you might want to listen to:

1) Chuck and I interviewed on Tapestry, a local Public Radio show.

2) Episodes 28 and 29 of In the Can, featuring a two-part interview with me.

Warning: the In the Can interview features a lot of talk about cameras, lenses, and other stuff that fascinates me but bores the heck out of most folks.

If anybody out there is looking for a Hide and Creep DVD, I’d recommend going with DVDEmpire.com instead of the better-known Amazon.com. DVDEmpire has a much nicer price ($15.23), and they’ll ship it “immediately.” Amazon always seems to have Hide and Creep on backorder, so shipping from them is usually slow.

So, if you’re gonna buy, buy it here. If you’d rather try it first, there’s always Netflix.

In honor of Hide and Creep appearing on TV tonight, the guys at Revolution Science Fiction posted a nice article that features behind-the-scenes stories from a few members of the cast and crew. Do check it out.

Just got back from doing an interview on NBC 13. I was pimpin’ Hide and Creep, but managed to forget to mention the viewing party tomorrow night. I blame this oversight on being slightly hung over from last night’s gig at Bailey’s. Said viewing party is at Base Camp on Southside, Birmingham, May 11, 6 to 8 p.m. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by.

We’ve had a few other media/press appearances lately. As soon as I get a minute, I’ll try to do a round-up piece on them.

TV Guide (it’s not just a magazine, it’s an institution) has picked Hide and Creep as one of its “Highlights” for May 11! Our small-town zombies are sharing a sweet two-page spread with the likes of CSI, My Name Is Earl, and ER. The issue is on newsstands now (Lost is on the cover), but here’s a scan in case you can’t find a copy.

Oh, yeah – the page number? Sixty-nine, of course.

From the Sci Fi Channel’s “Movies” page for next Thursday:

SCI FI PREMIERE: HIDE AND CREEP
When an army of undead rises from its graves to siege a small town
whose sheriff is away, a ragtag band of locals takes up arms to dish out
some Southern-style justice on the zombies.
Thursday, May 11, at 7/6C

Latest ”Hide and Creep on TV” news: we’re getting a repeat!

According to the Sci Fi channel’s online schedule, they’ll be showing Hide and Creep on June 20 at 11 p.m. Eastern time. That’s in addition to our broadcast televesion premiere Sci Fi screening on May 11 at 7 p.m. Looks like June 20 is some kinda zombie night on Sci Fi – Hide and Creep follows Return of the Living Dead 3 and Dr. Uwe Boll’s infamous House of the Dead.

Unless someone at the Sci-Fi channel is playing a cruel trick on us…

Hide and Creep is coming to basic cable.

Thursday.

May 11.

7 p.m. Eastern time.

What are ya waiting for? Get to TiVo-ing.

Well, actually, I guess that was yesterday.

Regardless, Hide and Creep is now available on Netflix. So, what are you waiting for?

Get over there and add it to your queue. And, if you want to do us a really big favor, ask your friends to do the same.

Arrow In the Head, the horror division of JoBlo.com, just posted a Hide and Creep review. The verdict? Arrow writer Ammon Gilbert calls the movie “a triumph.”

For more, check out the complete review.

Hide and Creep! Yes, our zombie comedy will be taking yet another step towards the big time on March 28 when it becomes available for rental via Netflix, the world’s largest online DVD rental service.

Check out the Hide and Creep Netflix listing. And, if you’re a Netflix subscriber who hasn’t seen the movie yet, please add it to your queue.

Hide and Creep music-master Eric McGinty sent me a link to a new review of our little zombie opus at The Horror Newsletter. The review is on page 14 of this PDF file , part of the Newsletter’s archives. Reviewer “Creepy Kentuckian” rated the movie a 5 out of 5. Not too shabby…

Hide and Creep is all growed up, at least as far as Hollywood Video is concerned.

Quoth Hide and Creep thespian/Hollywood-Video-inside-man Chris Garrison: “I’ve been meaning to mention, Hide and Creep dropped off the new release wall a couple weeks ago… You can now find the movie in the horror section, nestled comfortably between Hellraiser: Inferno and The Hills Have Eyes. So cool!”

So cool, indeed.

This is cool – Hide and Creep is now listed at RottenTomatoes.com, king of the average-out-all-the-reviews websites (MetaCritic is the only other one I know of).

Only two reviews on out RT page so far – both from HorrorChannel.com and both positive – but it’s a start.

Just found out about a positive Hide and Creep review on the European website SplatterContainer.com. I think it’s an Italian site, but I’m an idiot about foreign languages, so I’m not sure.

Anyway, you can read the review even if you don’t speak Italian – just scroll down for the English translation at the bottom of the page.

I also just came across this article that looks at a slew of zombie flicks. It was published last October – just in time for Halloween ‘05.

The Cinematical piece, written by Robert Newton, called the Hide and Creep screenplay “wickedly funny” and said the flick is a nice addition to the genre.

Well, this might be the best piece of press we’ve ever received.

David Cornelius, writing for EFilmCritic.com, has named Hide and Creep the best direct-to-video film of 2005. Seriously. He’d already given our flick a good review, but I didn’t expect to make the top of his end-of-the-year list. Too cool.

Please check out the full story.

My New Year’s resolution – update the Crewless News page more than bi-monthly.

Also, a belated “Happy Holidays” to all you guys. And I hope you have a great 2006.

Chuck and I recently participated in a phone interview for a podcast called “In the Can,” put together by One Man Down Productions. The One Man Down team is just getting their site going, but they plan to cover several aspects of indie filmmaking. I thought it was very cool of them to ask Chuck and I to be their inagural interviewees.

You can download the podcast here. And I believe they will release more of the Crewless interview in the coming weeks.

Just saw this on the web – Hide and Creep mentioned (favorably) in the Illinois Times.

“The makers of this film have a great sense of humor. ” Thank you, kind reviewer. Thank you very much.

Read the rest of the review by “Marshal_Earp” at HorrorWatch.com.

Just found this short and sweet review of Hide and Creep at the Film Monthly web site.

Reviewer Barry Meyer says, “Zombie flicks are a dime a dozen, but this one is worth its weight in dimes.” Which begs the question, “How much does Hide and Creep weigh?” I dunno, but I think that was Meyer’s way of saying he liked the flick.

I’m happy to see Hide and Creep reviews continue to roll in. Like this one from Rogue Cinema.

An excerpt: ”…this film is absolutely bursting with energy and comic fun.”

To see what other nice things reviewer Timothy Martinez had to say about the movie, check out his complete review.

…not that you would know it from news postings (or, rather, lack thereof) on the good ol’ Crewless site.

Not much has been going on lately. Well, actually there’s been much plotting and scheming, but nothing I can really announce at this point.

Speaking of plotting and scheming, the FReD boys (Hide and Creep DP Robb Rugan, art director Mike Benson, and total spaceship guy Jimbo Roberson) just released a teaser trailer for their in-development feature, Limbo. It’s worth a look (or two), so check it out.

Speaking of Hide and Creep, I think it’s slowly finding an audience. Maybe more folks will check it out as Halloween approaches. I was glad to see Steve Anderson mention our movie in his recent review of The Beast of Bray Road. Specifically, he commented, ”Hide and Creep is a rebuilt Night of the Living Dead, now a bona fide classic and don’t you forget it.” Thanks for the vote of “classic-ness,” Mr. Anderson.

Florida-based reviewer Scott W. Davis writes, ”Hide and Creep is fun, progressive, and will hopefully convince the rest of the world that we didn’t all vote for Bush.”

Hmm. Maybe there’s more political subtext in the movie than I realized.

The complete review can be found here.

This is pretty groovy – there’s a nice Hide and Creep DVD review in the current issue (#246) of genre magazine Fangoria. And I quote…

Ack. I should have posted this earlier – there’s going to be a double-feature screening of Alice’s Misadventures in Wonderland and Hide and Creep tonight in Huntsville, Alabama. Details are available here.

Chuck and I will be attending, along with some of the Alice gang, so please stop by if you’re in the neighborhood.

1) A new review (you’ll have to scroll down a little ways).

2) Another new review.

3) Even more free Hide and Creep: MoviePoopShoot.com is running a contest in celebration of the site’s third anniversary. They’re giving away lots of fun stuff, including copies of Hide and Creep.

This is cool – the recently-released Hide and Creep DVD has made it all the way to Australia. And all the way to the review pages of Australian web site Terror Australis.

The good folks at the site call the movie “a minor zombie classic.” See for yourself in the full review.

Just found a little more online love for Hide and Creep.

David Cornelius, writing for HollywoodBitchslap.com called the movie “unexpectedly brilliant.” Please check out his full review and see what else he had to say about the flick.

If any Hide and Creep fans are looking for alternatives to Amazon.com…

The movie is available from DVDEmpire.com for $17.47.

Hide and Creep is also available at Buy.com for $21.10.

Finally, the real finale of my “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” series at MoviePoopShoot.com.

I think.

A pretty positive review, actually. From YourVideoStoreShelf.com.

I hit a few video stores at lunch. Of three Blockbuster stores, one had a copy or copies of Hide and Creep – not sure how many, as it/they were all rented. I also stopped by a Hollywood Video store, which had at least three copies.

So, the movie is out there, even if it’s not as visible as Hitch and Million Dollar Baby.

The movie is currently available for online rental via Blockbuster. I’m hoping that Netflix will pick it up at some point, but I haven’t heard anything about that yet.

If any of you out there spot a copy, I’d love it if you’d take a minute to drop me a line and let me know where you found it.

Hide and Creep will be hitting the “streets” of North America in less than eight hours.

To whet your appetite, check out Dread Central writer Johnny Butane’s review of the Asylum DVD.

Also, “Alien Redrum” at HorrorTalk.com updated his review to include his thoughts on the DVDs special features and stuff.

… to visit Movie Poop Shoot again, a new “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” column rears its ugly head.

Chris Ryall, Shoot editor-in-chief and all around good guy, is letting me write a couple of new columns to more properly wrap up my “This Movie…” series (which covers various behind-the-scenes aspects of Hide and Creep, in case you forgot).

This week’s column goes into some detail about how we ended up getting home video distribution for Hide and Creep. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, please check out “This Movie…” Part Twenty-one: Epilogue.

If you’d like to pre-order your very own copy of Hide and Creep, looks like the Asylum Store has the best price going at the moment – $17.99.

Hide and Creep has been rated “R” by the Motion Picture Association of America.

For “violence/gore, nudity, and some language.”

I must admit, though I don’t always agree with the MPAA, it’s kind of cool to have a movie with a “real” rating. Makes everything seem a little more official, somehow.

Dave Davis over at CHUD.com just started up a “Zombo Combo” contest. One of the prizes? Hide and Creep on DVD, of course. So, what are you waiting for? Get on over to CHUD.com and register to win some zombie stuff.

”…The single funniest full-length zombie movie I’ve ever seen.” That’s what syndicated web columnist Steve Anderson, AKA the “Video Store Guy,” had to say about Hide and Creep.

Please check out the the full review. Aside from being a very positive review, it’s a very entertaining one, as is just about everything that Anderson writes.

By the way, this is one of the first reviews of the “official” Hide and Creep DVD, which will be released by the Asylum on July 19. Exciting times…

Hide and Creep is now available for pre-order at MoviesUnlimited.com. The current price at MoviesUnlimited.com is $31.49.

Well, somebody’s giving it away, at least. Nix over at BeyondHollywood.com is having a little contest. The prize, you ask? Free Hide and Creep DVDs! Proceed to the contest page if you’d like a piece of the action.

Hmm. The pre-order price on Hide and Creep at Amazon.com went up to $22.45 at some point.

Amanda over at the Asylum just sent me the complete DVD cover art for the impending North American Hide and Creep DVD release.

I added a hi-res (862K) version of the artwork to Crewless.com web server – feel free to check it out.

Hide and Creep is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

For the very reasonable price of $17.47.

It’s a glorious day.

I posted an angry “letter never sent” earlier, complaining about film fests. But I deleted it. In hindsight, it was a bit petulant.

But I’d never complain about the best film festival ever, Birmingham’s own Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. Sidewalk #7 is coming up this fall, and I expect it to be 3 or 4 or 5 days of film, fun and… well, beer.

Don’t miss it.

If anyone out there plans to hunt down a copy of Hide and Creep on July 19 (less than two months from now!), they might want to check out our page on the Asylum’s web site. They’ve posted the “key art,” which is basically what the eventual DVD case will look like. The picture’s kind of small, but you’ll get the idea.

The good folks at Dead Planet just posted a review of Hide and Creep.

Reviewer Thea Zara called our little zombie flick ”…a helluva ride through a rural area, where you get to see the comedy and the crisis.”

See what else she had to say about the movie at DeadPlanet.info.

I just noticed that the Asylum’s web site has Hide and Creep listed as their release for July 19, so that day is looking more promising as our “street” date.

For anyone curious about the specifics of the Hide and Creep DVD, we’re working on the following:

• Widescreen presentation of the movie (1.85:1 aspect ratio, enhanced for 16x9 televisions)
• New audio mix (now in stereo!)
• Audio commentary with Chuck and me
• Remastered teaser trailer (16x9 enhanced)
• The super-cool trailer that Adam Wingard cut for us (16x9 enhanced)
• Birthday Call, the short movie that inspired Hide and Creep (presented for the first time in 2.35:1 aspect ratio! 16x9 enhanced!)
• Bob’s Live Bait, a look at the making of one of Hide and Creep’s most popular scenes

That’s about it, due to time and data constraints. Still, I hope it’ll be an entertaining package.

To sweeten the deal just a bit more, I also hope to include a web link on the DVD that’ll let you access some more exclusive bonus content via the ‘net. I’m still working out the kinks on that, though.

Stay tuned…

Well, this huge bit of Crewless news has been leaking out elsewhere on the web, but I’m finally announcing it here: Hide and Creep is coming to DVD. Coming pretty soon, actually. And to stores – we won’t just be selling copies out of the trunk of somebody’s car.

Home video distributor the Asylum has picked up Hide and Creep for DVD release in North America. The movie is tentatively scheduled to be released on July 19. The movie will hopefully be available for rental at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and/or Movie Gallery locations all over the U.S. and Canada.

As cool as this is, a lot of it is still up in the air (we just sent the Asylum the master tape of the movie yesterday). I’ll let you know more as soon as I do.

But, still, it’s pretty cool.

”Hide and Creep is a must for any zombie enthusiast.”

So said reviewer AJ Conforti in his review of the movie at Undead Films.

In addition to the Hide and Creep review I mentioned earlier today, The Other Review has posted an interview with yours truly.

Interviewer Lee had some interesting questions. Check out the link and see if I came up with any interesting answers.

Here’s another positive review of Hide and Creep from across the pond, courtesy of Lee Richards at relatively new movie site The Other Review.

The MoviesOnline.ca guys have been going crazy with the Hide and Creep coverage.

They posted a rave about the new trailer, some of my comments about the movie, some behind-the-scenes photos I sent them, and a couple of posters.

Whew.

They also added a Hide and Creep page to their gallery o’ movies.

Discover your cyborg name.

I know, I know – I’m a geek.

The B-Movie Theater Film Fest of Syracuse, NY, announced its 2005 award nominations today, and Hide and Creep received quite a few of them, including nods for directing, writing, acting and cinematography.

Read more about the award nominations and the festival schedule at B-Movie.com, and, if you’re in or near Syracuse on April 9, stop by and catch Hide and Creep on the big screen.

NixFlix.com recently published a nice interview with Chuck.

Check it out to read some of Chuck’s thoughts on the ending of Hide and Creep, the state of “guerrilla” filmmaking and, of course, lesbian zombies.

Hide and Creep is scheduled to screen at the Arlene’s Grocery Picture Show in New York City on May 7. See their web site for details, and stop by and catch the flick if you’re in the neighborhood.

Stacey and I should be there for the screening, so keep an eye out for us if you make it to the show.

It’s here. A shiny new Hide and Creep trailer, edited by Team Bloodjet!’s Adam Wingard. See it for yourself at the Hide and Creep web site’s trailer page.

Available in Small, Medium and bandwith-devouring Large.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to MoviePoopShoot.com, “Squib Central” writer Josh Jabcuga up and interviews me.

Adam Wingard, of Team Bloodjet! fame, has cut a new Hide and Creep trailer for us, and it is super-groovy. It’s got a nice mix of comedy and action and represents the movie much better than the old teaser trailer.

As soon as I can get Adam’s trailer digitized and whatnot, I’ll put it on the Hide and Creep site, and you can see it for yourselves.

There’s another zombie movie in the works, called Z. John McLean, the movie’s director, is writing a new column at Movie Poop Shoot called “Lights! Camera! Zombies!”

John’s column is a sort of sequel to “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself.” So, if you can’t get enough when it comes to reading about the making of zombie flicks, check out Mr. McLean’s take on the process.

A review of Hide and Creep just showed up on the UK web site The Spinning Image.

Reviewer Graeme Clark had some nice things to say about the movie, calling it “fine entertainment” and praising the “excellent” screenplay.

Please check out the full review if you’d like to read more.

“Don’t Feed the Dead” just posted his review of Hide and Creep at Horrorview.com. And I quote:

“These guys took a tired, over-used whore of a sub genre, gave it a new set of threads and injected a little southern charm, which in turn transformed Hide and Creep into the Daisy Duke of the undead realm.”

I’m pretty sure that’s a rave.

See for yourself – read the complete review.

Just realized I haven’t posted anything in a while. Not really a lot going on these days, movie-wise – mainly just sending out screeners of Hide and Creep to film fests and journalists.

Over the last few weeks, I did post the final two “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” columns over at MoviePoopShoot. Please check them out:

Part Nineteen: Festival Dance

Part Twenty: The End?

I had a great time with the “This Movie…” columns, but I finally ran out of things to say about Hide and Creep (as I explain in Part 20). Many thanks to Chris Ryall and the rest of the gang at MoviePoopShoot for giving my filmmaking rants a home.

Courtesy of Randy Robinson at Bare Nerve Magazine.

Check it out.

FilmThreat.com just posted their “Best and Worst” list for ‘04 and included both Hide and Creep and Alice’s Misadventures in Wonderland in their top 5 “Indies to Watch Out For in 2005.”

Many thanks to Eric Campos and the rest of the FilmThreat.com staff for the accolades!

There’s an excellent review of Hide and Creep, written by “Alien Redrum,” at HorrorTalk.com. It’s really detailed and very positive (the reviewer gave it an “A” grade). It also contains a little nudity (in the form of stills from the movie) and some spoilers, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I hope everyone out there has a great 2005.

I also hope you’ll check out the upgraded Hide and Creep web site.

Yet another positive review, this one from AllHorrorMovies.com.

Check it out.

Hope everyone out there is having a great time on this Christmas day.

Need some some last-minute gift ideas for the filmmakers on your Christmas list? Then check out today’s special holiday shopping edition of “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” at Movie Poop Shoot.

Also, in case you haven’t noticed, Crewless.com has a new look – hope you like it. The new version of the site has only been up for a couple of weeks, so there might be some bugs in it. If you find any problems, please let me know.

Dave Davis, over at movie site CHUD.com, just posted a very positive review of Hide and Creep as part of his latest “Dave’s Underground” column. An excerpt:

“The indie flick is making festival rounds, but it’d be nice to see someone like Lions Gate pick it up for distribution, since it’s a more than worthy addition to any zombie freak’s decomposing catalog. ”

Read the whole review here. Hide and Creep is the second movie reviewed in the column.

Johnny Butane over at DreadCentral.com just posted a really thorough (and positive) review of Hide and Creep.

Mr. Butane gave the flick a 3.5 “Mugs O’ Blood” (out of 5) rating and called it “damn funny.” Which is good, since Hide and Creep is supposed to be a comedy. Be sure to check out the DreadCentral review for all the details.

I don’t always agree with film critic Roger Ebert, but I read his stuff because the guy can write. His reviews of movies are often more entertaining than the movies themselves.

Case in point: Ebert’s National Treasure review. When I saw the Treasure trailer, I thought, “what a waste of money.” But it inspired a brilliant Ebert review, so I guess it wasn’t all for naught.

Chuck and I recently helped out the FReD guys with the latest Sidewalk Scramble, a contest where the goal is to write, shoot and edit a short movie in less than 48 hours. There were more than 20 movies entered in the Scramble, and the FReD team (AKA “Zing! Boing! Splat!") fared well, winning four awards with our entry, The Peanut Business.

You can see the movie for yourself in glorious QuickTime at the FReD web site, FullResolutionDesign.com.

As predicted in my previous post, today sees the release of a new “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” column at Movie Poop Shoot. Today’s episode: Part Sixteen: Mix Harder, the sequel to Fix It In the Mix from two weeks ago.

Wow. I just realized it’s been quite a while since I updated the ol’ Crewless news page. Not that anything too exciting has been going on, anyway. The short version…

• Sent Hide and Creep off to a few film distribution companies – no one has offered to release it. Yet.
• Submitted Hide and Creep to a few film festivals. Many more festivals on the “send to” list.
• Posted a new “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” column at the ‘Shoot on Oct. 30, right before hopping a plane to visit friends in New York City for Halloween.
• Worked last weekend with Robb and Jimbo of FReD fame on a 48-hour short movie that will premiere this weekend at the Alabama Theatre as part of Sidewalk’s Scramble Screening. I won’t be there, but the Exhibit(s) will be playing the post-screening party.
• Saw Pixar’s The Incredibles. It rocks, it’s one of the best movies of the year, and Pixar is now 6 for 6. Speaking of Pixar’s greatness – screw DreamWorks Animation. Film for film, Pixar consistently outdoes DreamWorks, Oscar awards be damned.

New review! And a good one, too – 4 out of 5 from Eric Campos at FilmThreat.com.

You can read the whole review here.

While you’re there, check out what Campos had to say about Alice. It’s even better than the Hide and Creep review…

My editor-in-chief at MoviePoopShoot.com, Chris Ryall, finally got to check out a screener of Hide and Creep and had some nice things to say about it.

You can read his comments in today’s edition of his weekly ‘Shoot column, “One Hand Clapping.”

After slacking last time, due to Hide and Creep stuff, I’m back this week with a new “This Movie Aint’ Gonna Shoot Itself” column at MoviePoopShoot.com.

So that happened. The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival wrapped up on Sunday, and I’m still recovering. It was an amazing fest. It started with a bang, especially for the cast and crew of Hide and Creep, on Thursday night when a standing-room-only crowd showed up for the movie’s world premiere at Sloss Furnace. The crowd was quite rowdy – it was almost like a rock show. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the zombie fun.

The fest ended with another bang – Hide and Creep DP Robb Rugan won the Sidewalk jury prize for best feature for Alice’s Misadventures in Wonderland, which he wrote and directed. Congrats to Robb and the rest of the Alice cast and crew, especially Jimbo Roberson and Mike Benson.

Rather than try to sum up the craziness myself, I’ve put a few links together. We’ve been fortunate to have lots of press coverage of Hide and Creep and Sidewalk ‘04 (shout out to Sidewalk PR goddess Kelly Marshall!). Happy reading and let me know if you find any other news stories about Hide and Creep that I missed.

Birmingham Post-Herald Sidewalk preview

FilmThreat.com coverage of Sidewalk

Birmingham News article about Alice (with a Hide and Creep mention!)

Two Ain’t It Cool News reader reviews

Hide and Creep IMDB.com listing, now featuring a reader review

Forgot to post this last week: The Birmingham News ran a nice story about Hide and Creep in their “City Scene” pullout last Friday.

Also, I just sent a copy of the movie to Sundance for consideration for their 2005 festival. Wish us luck – we’ll need it on that one.

If you somehow haven’t heard, the world premiere of Hide and Creep is tomorrow night at Sloss Furnace. Check out the Sidewalk site for more details.

Carey Norris over at the Kaleidoscope, UAB’s newspaper, wrote a really cool (and in-depth) story about Hide and Creep for today’s edition. Read it online here.

… we’re done. With the “premiere” cut of Hide and Creep, at least. I’m sure we’ll tweak it a little more before everything is said and done, but we just output to tape the version that will play at Sloss Furnace this coming Thursday as part of the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.

It’s been a little more than ten months since we started shooting Hide and Creep, and I’d be ecstatic about getting it done if I weren’t so tired – we’ve been working like crazy the last couple of weeks to get things wrapped up. I’d especially like to thank Robb Rugan and Jimbo Roberson over at FReD and music composer Eric McGinty for all of their extra hard work of late. They really knocked out some incredibly good stuff in a short amount of time.

So, if you’re looking for something to do Thursday, stop by Sloss and see what we’ve concocted. Also be sure to check out Alice’s Misadventures in Wonderland, written and directed by Robb, at the Alabama Theatre on Saturday. The Sidewalk fest is always a blast – definitely not to be missed.

Chuck got quoted talking about Hide and Creep in a recent issue of Kaleidoscope, UAB’s college newspaper. You can read an online version of the story here.

POST DELETED.

Had a busy weekend with Hide and Creep. On Saturday, we finished up the third rough cut, and it’s shaping up pretty nicely. It’s the first cut to include closing credits, and its running time is 84:21.

Speaking of closing credits, Eric McGinty, Kenn McCracken, and I went down to Walon Smith’s studio in Clanton, Alabama, on Sunday to record a couple of Avery Ellis Exhibit(s) songs that’ll be heard over said credits. We also recorded a couple of other rock-type music pieces to be used in other scenes. It turned into a late night, but we got a lot accomplished. Also, watching the movie with end credits is kind of cool. It makes it seem more like a “real movie.”

Next couple of weeks should be hectic, as we have to get the Sidewalk premiere cut turned in on September 15. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

There’s a really nice story about Hide and Creep over at the Creature Corner. I think this is the third time they’ve mentioned our little flick since we started production.

Everything they’ve written so far has been based on behind-the-scenes photos and the Poop Shoot column, so I’m really curious to see what they think of the finished product. Hopefully, we’ll get them an advance screener copy in the next couple of weeks, and maybe we’ll get some feedback from them shortly thereafter.

Hide and Creep is discussed in a Montgomery Advertiser article from a few days ago.

You can read it online here.

Jonathan Thornton, make-up effects genius, was nice enough to stop by and punch up a few scenes we were shooting on Sunday. Stacey captured some behind-the-scenes fun on film, and I’ve posted some of her pictures to the Crewless site. Check them out if you dare:

http://www.crewless.com/hideandcreep/fx/fx1.jpg
http://www.crewless.com/hideandcreep/fx/fx2.jpg
http://www.crewless.com/hideandcreep/fx/fx3.jpg
http://www.crewless.com/hideandcreep/fx/fx4.jpg
http://www.crewless.com/hideandcreep/fx/fx5jpg
http://www.crewless.com/hideandcreep/fx/fx6.jpg

Also, for anyone who’s interested… current Hide and Creep running time is 81 minutes, 27 seconds.

As Birmingham gears up for the Sidewalk film fest, the local press is starting to take notice. Hide and Creep is mentioned in a Birmingham Post-Herald story you can read here. The Sidewalk/Hide and Creep story is the second from the bottom of the page.

I’m not sure how long that link will last, so I’ll archive the story to the Crewless site as soon as possible.

We’ve got less than a month to finish up the “festival” cut of Hide and Creep, and the grind has got me feeling a bit like a zombie myself. If you’re interested in reading the specifics of what I’ve been up to lately, check out the latest edition of “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” at MoviePoopShoot.com.

Mark your calendars – the Sidewalk film fest happens in Birmingham September 23-26, and Hide and Creep will be showing – it’ll be the Hide and Creep world premiere, in fact.

Stay tuned to the Crewless news page and to the Sidewalk web site for the latest.

BrainFreeze is a comedy troupe based out of Montgomery, Alabama. Quite a few BrainFreeze members show up in Hide and Creep. Good thing we got them when we did, ‘cause now they’re going to New York for a show, after which they’ll probably be rich and famous and too busy for low-budget zombie movies.

Read all about their big trip here.

That Birmingham Weekly story about Hide and Creep I mentioned recently is now available on the Weekly web site.

That link should be good through Thursday or so. After that, you can view an archived version of the story on the Crewless site.

We’ve got a pick-up day of shooting planned for Sunday August 15. If any of you guys would like to be an extra that day, e-mail me at chance@crewless.com, and I’ll get you the details.

It’s another “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” Thursday, so head over to Movie Poop Shoot and check out today’s column, in which I discuss lots of the cool stuff I saw at the recent Comic-Con.

Also, if you live in the Birmingham, Alabama, area, be on the lookout for this week’s Birmingham Weekly newspaper. The cover story is about local filmmaking, and Hide and Creep is featured prominently.

Stacey and I are heading out for San Diego in the morning to attend the pop culture overdose that is Comic-Con. We’ll hopefully get the lowdown on some upcoming flicks (including Shaun of the Dead, which sounds like the British version of Hide and Creep) and meet some of the other folks who write for the Shoot in person.

Speaking of the Shoot, a new This Movie… column should be up in the morning, so please check it out.

And have a good weekend.

Just posted at Movie Poop Shoot: Part twelve of “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself.”

Finished the second rough cut of Hide and Creep Friday night. Still a lot of work to do, but we’re getting there. I think the pacing in this version is better, especially in the movie’s second half.

Running time (minus closing credits): 78 minutes, 42 seconds.

Current Hide and Creep running time: 80 minutes, 4 seconds.

Still working on the rough cut of Hide and Creep. We’re trying to get some scenes “locked,” so Eric can finish writing music cues and start recording. We’re also trying to shoot a few “pick up” shots, mostly outside stuff, but it won’t stop raining. Hopefully, I can make some good progress this weekend, since I’ve got an extra day off because of the holiday. And maybe one of those days will be sunny.

Happy Independence Day, by the way…

The number of spam e-mails I receive has gotten completely out-of-hand. Literally hundreds per day. And, lately, some of them are written in German.

The nerve of these people. Not only do they expect me to buy their (illegal, no doubt) prescription drugs and pay them to refinance my home, but I’ve gotta go out and learn a new language, too?

I was flipping channels on the radio while I was out for lunch today and heard Rush Limbaugh doing a parody of Michael Moore. Now, I know Moore stands for everything the Republicans hate, but Limbaugh’s parodies are usually reserved for high-ranking Democrat politicians, not indie filmmakers. I think a more effective strategy for the GOP would have been to ignore Moore and his movie. It was number one at the box office last weekend, and I’ll bet all the free hype (even if it was negative) from the Right had something to do with that.

Also, this is the second time this year I’ve heard Limbaugh and his imitators/comrades (O’Reilly, Hannity, etc.) get worked up over a movie. A few months ago, they were raving about The Passion. Unlike Moore’s flick, they liked that one. In fact, they were so hot for it, you’d have thought Jesus himself directed it.

Just for the record, I haven’t seen either of these movies yet. Just thought it was interesting that these jabber jocks can’t seem to get excited about a movie unless it’s pro-God or anti-Bush. If these guys were real patriots, I think they’d be giving up some love for Spider-man 2.

Slightly-related note: for a guy against gay marriage, Sean Hannity keeps his head awful far up George W. Bush’s ass.

Got my fingers in a couple of today’s columns over at Movie Poop Shoot. In Part Eleven of “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself,” I try to explain how to edit a movie in less than 2200 words. Do I succeed? You’ll have to read the column and see for yourself.

Also, Josh Jabcuga asked me and a bunch of other ‘Shoot writers to opine about summer blockbuster movies. He combined those opinions to create this week’s edition of “Squib Central.”

Just got back from playing drums with the Exhibit(s) at City Stages ‘04. They’d apparently managed to locate the 107.7 “the X” stage, where we were playing, about 10 feet from the sun, ‘cause it was hot. Like dementia-inducing hot.

Anyway, we had a good time and even played a couple of songs we’re working on for the Hide and Creep soundtrack.

I mainly wanted to post this as a public “thanks” to Mark, Smokey, Drew, and all the other guys working the “X” stage. They were 100% friendly and accomodating. I have a few issues with City Stages in general, but I’d gladly play for the “X” guys any time they’ll have us. Stand-up guys, each and every one.

Now, I’m going to try to get back out there and catch Lunasect…

Good friend Carol in New York turned me on to this site, which contains some shocking information about Dubya’s new plan for the 2004 presidential election.

Stacey, my girlfriend, roommate, and a Hide and Creep producer, has an interesting theory.

Ronald Reagan has been dead for years. His family waited until now to have the funeral, retrospectives, and celebrations of Republican-ism because Bush 2 needed a push, given his current poll numbers.

I would dismiss this as left-wing paranoia, but Stacey’s a card-carrying Republican.

Regardless, I bet Lee from Hide and Creep would be totally on board with this theory.

There’s a new “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” column up at Movie Poop Shoot. After taking a break from technical stuff in the last column, it’s back to business in today’s look at location audio.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned my first “director of photography” gig – shooting a short movie (Programming to Die For) for Sam Frazier on the Crewless Aaton 16mm camera. Yesterday, Sam and I went to CineFilm in Atlanta to get the film footage transferred to videotape.

We got to watch the footage during the transfer, and it looks pretty good. Aside from being my first DP job, we tried a filmstock I haven’t used before, Fuji’s 500T. Given all the “firsts” going on in and behind the camera, I’ll admit I was a little relieved to find out that everything came out okay.

Aside from getting the transfer done, we got to hang out with Ron and Mark, who work at CineFilm, and see their new Hi-Def setup, which I wonder if I’ll ever be able to afford (their Hi-Def rates are about twice those of their standard-def rates).

This has been a fun project so far. I’m looking forward to seeing what Sam does with the footage in the editing room.

Eric McGinty, who plays “Ned” in Hide and Creep, is currently performing in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Birmingham Festival Theatre. Eric’s also one of my best friends, leader of one of my bands (the Exhibit(s)), and the dude writing the music for Hide and Creep.

Anyway, I caught Hedwig Friday night, and I was totally blown away. Don’t be scared off by the fact they’re performing in a “theatre…” Hedwig is a full-on rock and roll show. It just happens to have a plot, too.

Really, I can’t recommend this thing enough. I’m going to try to go see it again this weekend.

For more raving, check out the review at AL.com.

Finished the (first) rough cut of Hide and Creep a few hours ago. Running time is 79 minutes, 24 seconds.

I’m currently working on getting the movie onto DVD so I can see how it plays out on a big(ger) screen.

I think things are about to get interesting…

Our good pal Ces Marciuliano (up in New York City), has been publishing an online daily comic strip for the past month or so that’s quite good. It’s called “MediumLarge,” and you can check it out at Ces’ DrinkAtWork web site, which also features various musings on the sad state of the modern American workplace.

Something a little different on today’s installment of ”This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” at Movie Poop Shoot. I took a break from the technical stuff and talked about some fun movies about movies.

Also, except for a couple of effects shots, we wrapped shooting on Sam Frazier’s Programming to Die For last night. We’ll be getting the footage back sometime next week. I think we got some good stuff and am looking forward to see what Sam does with it.

I’m taking the weekend off from editing to help Sam Frazier shoot a new short movie, starring Michael Shelton (star of Hide and Creep and just about every other movie Chuck and I have made). Sam’s last movie, Don’t Make Eye Contact, has played quite a few film fests and gotten some nice reviews – you can read more about it on the DTBD Films site.

Sam was looking to shoot on 16mm, so we’ll be using the beloved Crewless Aaton LTR-54 camera. A good time is almost certain…

I’m actually making pretty quick progress on the rough cut of Hide and Creep. At the moment, the running time is 75 minutes, 37 seconds, and I still have 5 or so scenes to go. The current plan is to have the rough cut done by mid-June, in time for the Sidewalk fest deadline, and this looks totally do-able at the moment. I might even manage to get the rough cut finished within the week. We’ll see…

Welcome to the new Crewless “news” page, courtesy of WordPress and a recommendation from Kenn McCracken (thanks, Kenn). The new ”‘blog-style” page should be easier for me to maintain, plus it’ll make it easy for Chuck and other Crewless folks to add items.

Just posted: “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself,” Part 8.

In today’s “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” column at MoviePoopShoot.com, we leave all the pre-production stuff behind and actually turn on the camera.

If you’ve missed any of the earlier ‘Shoot columns, you can get caught up via the archives.

I can’t believe I just said that. After what seems like forever (really only 5 months), we’ve finally wrapped principal photography on Hide and Creep. There’s still a lot of work to be done (editing, music, sound effects), but most of the heavy lifting is over.

To everyone – crew, cast, and otherwise – who’s worked on our little zombie flick – thanks so much. I hope you guys all had a great time shooting. I know I did.

Don’t miss part six of “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” at MoviePoopShoot.com.

You might remember that Chuck and I worked on a movie last summer with the Single Feather Pictures guys, Alice’s Misadventures in Wonderland. Well, the trailer for that movie is up at the Alice web site, and it’s pretty damn cool. Do check it out.

Birmingham, Alabama, expatriate Chris Mohney wrote a nice (and funny) piece about Hide and Creep in his web log yesterday.

Also found a link to our trailer at Screaming-Planet.com from March 24. This is another non-English site. I’m guessing… Russian.

Fellow MoviePoopShoot.com writer Christopher Stipp had some nice things to say about the Hide and Creep trailer in today’s installment of his Trailer Park column.

The latest installment in the continuing saga of This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself is now available at MoviePoopShoot.com. Today’s episode: Girls on Film.

Hide and Creep on Ain’t It Cool! Okay, this is pretty… well, cool. The Hide and Creep trailer and web site got a mention today from Ain’t It Cool News writer Elston Gunn in his “Weekly Recap” column.

A German web site called KillingRed.com has mentioned Hide and Creep on one of their news pages. I think. Most of the site is written in German, so I’m not sure exactly what they’re saying about the movie. They did link to the Hide and Creep web site and trailer, though, so “danke” to KillingRed.com.

Also, Undead Films added Hide and Creep to their “Upcoming Zombie Movies” page.

A few web sites have mentioned Hide and Creep lately. Creature Corner has a story up recommending our MoviePoopShoot.com column, along with a link to the teaser trailer. They also added our trailer to their trailers page. Our trailer is listed right after the one for Hellboy. That’s pretty cool.

Hide and Creep now has a page on the Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television site. They also mention Hide and Creep on their “2004: Year of the Zombie” page.

Finally, two mentions on “news” pages: one at Unfilmable.com, the other at AllThingsZombie.com.

Thanks to all these sites for spreading the word about the movie.

You might have heard about Hide and Creep, the feature-length movie we’re working on. Now you can see a little of it. I just posted the “teaser” trailer here. The Hide and Creep web site should also be fully functional now. Check it out and see what you think. And let me know if there are still some bugs in it.

If you’re wondering who did that cool music in the trailer, Kenn McCracken donated the creepy part at the first, and the rockin’ stuff at the end is from “Under the Radar Screen” by T-minus Band. Thanks to both for letting us use their sounds.

Also wanted to let you know that Barry Austin, one of the actors in Hide and Creep, currently has the lead in a play running in Birmingham. There’s an AL.com story about it if you’d like more info.

As of Monday, we’ve only got two shooting days left on Hide and Creep. Not counting re-shoots (which we’re actually doing a little of this weekend). We’re also working on a teaser trailer for the movie, which should be available on the Internet in the next couple of weeks.

If you haven’t seen it yet, head over to MoviePoopShoot.com and check out the just-posted installment of “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself.”

I’ve been writing a column for MoviePoopShoot.com, a really cool entertainment/pop culture web site. The column is called “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself,” and it deals with the various aspects of nearly-no-budget filmmaking. A new column goes up every other Thursday. Today’s discusses how we put the crew together for Hide and Creep. You can read the column at http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/shootitself/index.html.

Erik Jambor and the Sidewalk Film Fest guys were nice enough to have Chuck and I speak a bit at last night’s Sidewalk Salon. We talked about the pros and cons of shooting movies on film (as opposed to video). If you’re in the Birmingham, AL, area and are interested in movies, you should check out a Sidewalk Salon. They’re held the first Monday of every month at the Barking Kudu. Get more info. at the Sidewalk web site.

New stills from Hide and Creep are up at: www.crewless.com/hideandcreep/photo.php.

Hide and Creep star Melissa Bush is also currently playing the lead in Apartment 3A, running through March 20 at the Birmingham Festival Theatre. Pamela Morse of the Birmingham News gave the play a very positive review.

Today is the first day of shooting for the first feature-length movie from Crewless Productions, a comedy-horror flick called (for the moment, at least) Hide and Creep.

The almost-infamous Birthday Call is proving to be the little movie that could. It’ll be screening at Fright Fest on October 11, not even a month after its well-received screening at Sidewalk. The guys at FleaBomb.com called it “three of the most fun minutes you’ll spend at Sidewalk” in their festival preview.

On top of all that, FilmThreat.com just posted a glowing three-and-a-half star review of Birthday Call. FilmThreat writer Daniel Wible called the movie “brilliantly silly.” He also said Birthday Call is “hilarious, irreverent, and gleefully twisted.”

Chuck and I spent our summer vacation working on a movie with our pals from Single Feather Pictures, another Birmingham-based production company. The movie is called Alice’s Misadventures in Wonderland and you can read more about it here.

More Reciprocity screenings. Reciprocity is still on the road with “Flicker” and will be making three more stops in coming weeks: New Orleans on April 19, Auburn, AL, on April 30, and Huntsville, AL, on May 3. If you’re in one of these fine cities, stop by and catch Reciprocity and the rest of the groovy Flicker flicks.

For more information, check out www.ten18.org.

Birthday Call is one of ten flicks selected to screen at ZombieDance 2003. The film fest will be held on March 8 at Emo’s in Austin, Texas.

We’re honored to be included in a festival created to present “the very BEST in original rock n’ shock underground dementia and classic lo-budget, B-movie cinematic subversiveness.” Check out the ZombieDance web site and our ZombieDance acceptance letter for more info.

Reciprocity will be shown at WorkPlay as part of “Flicker,” a kind of touring film festival making a Birmingham stop tonight. The show starts at 8 p.m. See www.ten18.org for more info.

You can catch Reciprocity and the now-infamous Birthday Call on January 28 at the WorkPlay theatre in Birmingham, Alabama. On the big screen! The movies will be part of a program that also includes the critically acclaimed Johnny Flynton. Showtime is 8 p.m. See the Sidewalk Cinematheque site for more info.

See this press release for details.

Chuck and I plan to wrap shooting for Reciprocity tomorrow. Others working on the short movie include cinematographer Rick Snyder, co-stars Michael Shelton and Katarina Cole, sound dudes Patrick Sheehan and Wayne Reynolds, and production assistants Stacey Sessions, Caroline Huck, and Sandra Hartsell. Maybe it’s not such a crewless production after all.

We plan to have Reciprocity ready for a fall 2002 premiere. A preview of the short movie can be seen at the Reciprocityweb site.