Contemplate THIS!

THE MADNESS internet issue v.1.1.b	The Ocxim
July, 2003 vol.1.0.2003 Introduction ------------------------------------------------------ Hello, friends, family, neighbors, peers, and any other unwitting trespassers within my address book. I will try to make the experience of reading this as painlessly personal as possible. I've avoided this method of communication in the past, because I always felt it was obnoxiously impersonal, but as I get busier, and meet more people, I find myself forgetting to whom I've told what, and end up forgetting to pass on some interesting news or insight to close friends and family, after sharing it once with a complete stranger. So...hopefully, this compilation will serve as a useful and welcome supplement to the personal emails we already exchange. If you've received this, it's not by mistake; I have verified all addresses to which it's being sent. The format is a work in progress, so I'm hoping you'll bear with me, as I figure out the best way to impart the most salient information. If you are uninterested in receiving emails of this nature from me, just respond to this with some sort of indication for your desire to be removed from "the list", and I'll honor it without taking offense. You could just send a "remove" in the subject line, or send a detailed and expletive laden rant on the inappropriateness of my having sent even this initial Newsletter, and you won't have to worry about any further disturbance of this impersonal nature. So...on with it: Recently -- News ------------------------------------------------------ San Diego Comicon was last week, and was a relative success, though only through luck, and the kindness and support of friends and peers. Free lodging was provided through the largess of Landry Walker and Eric Jones, the creators of the soon-to-be-Empire of Little Gloomy ( http://www.littlegloomy.com ), staying at the Gaslamp Plaza Suites. It was similar to spending each night in an ice box littered with used socks, and pizza crusts, but Landry and Eric are two great guys, and I'm always honored to be in their presence (and I'm not just saying so because you guys are on this list). Table space was provided by Dylan Williams ( http://www.sparkplugcomicbooks.com ), who made the arrangements for our booth, and brought in a bunch of us to share in the cost of the display area. Thanks to Dylan for making everything possible. Two of the books published by Sparkplug (if you missed the implication above, Sparkplug is Dylan's publishing imprint) were up for two Eisner Awards, apiece. Most of you won't know that the Eisner's are the comicbook equivalent to the film industry's Oscar's. One of the books, Fleep, by Jason Shiga, was up for both Best Single Issue, and Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition, but Jason was unable or unwilling to attend, so Dylan asked me to give Jason's acceptance speech, should he win. The written rant that Jason provided was a bit caustic, though Jason meant it to be funny, and I didn't think I could pull it off. The award ceremony was Friday night, and that morning, while showering, I had an epiphany for a new speech (more of a story, really). I ran the new speech by Dylan, and he cautiously and nervously approved of it. That day, I pretended to be Jason (or an inaccurate version of Jason, anyhow), throughout the convention. I was dressed in a dark business suit, with a tie and New Balance running shoes, dark sunglasses, and a black, shaggy hair-do wig. I also tried, with uncertain success, to affect a demeanor of in-your-face introversion. As luck would have it, Jason won for the Talent category, and with arms raised in victory, I marched to the stage to be handed the award by Will Eisner (creator of THE SPIRIT) himself (you'll recall, the award is named "Eisner"), and made my way to the podium. What follows is an approximation: "Thank you. I'm so nervous I could throw up. Jason Shiga couldn't be here tonight, but he did have a speech prepared, and he asked me to give it. It's a story, and I hope you'll indulge me in allowing me to tell it. He also asked me to tell it in the first person, so.... Many of you know that my grandfather was a pilot in the Japanese airforce during World War Two. However, what most of you don't know, in fact, nobody knows, he was one of those legendary pilots who was shot down and landed on an uninhabited Pacific Island, where he lived out the remainder of his life believing that the war was still going on. However, he did not have to spend those remaining years alone, because the very next day, a lifeboat with two U.S. Army nurses washed ashore, and they eventually gave birth to my mother and my father. And, my mother and father then had me. I was an only child, on that island. My only source of entertainment was kicking cocoanuts up and down the length of the beach. I later came to know this as a sport called Soccer, and eventually learned that it's really Football (note to the reader: I was just babbling at this point, and had lost the thread of my narrative, but was working my way back). But who cares about that, because it's Soccer in America, where it counts, and America rules. Anyhow, one morning, while kicking cocoanuts, a wave came up, and engulfed me, and washed me out to sea. I was able to catch on to a bit of drift wood, and started paddling, kicking my little legs -- I was ten years old, but still my legs were very short -- kicking my stubby legs, and luckily enough was kicking in the right direction, because eventually I crawled out on the shores of Oakland. There I went to highschool, and attended college, and live there to this day. So, I want to dedicate this award to all of those kids growing up alone on desert islands, because one day you too can make it in the big world of comics. Thank you very much." It was a hit. I'm still not sure why, quite frankly, but many people really seemed to respond to it, going so far as to not only congratulate me on the win (as if I were Jason), but even thank me for the speech. Anyhow, I'm hoping to have access to a video of the event for you, soon. Sales were okay, which I attribute to sharing a table with such talented folks, who really seemed to draw in a crowd. Recently -- Jobs ------------------------------------------------------ In the past two months, work picked up quite a bit. I had my first stint as an Assistant Director, on a low budget Mexican Music Video (featuring Daniel Rene and Jennifer Pena), which went very well. It was non-union, which lessened the amount of work for which I was responsible (normally there's more paperwork to be done), but it was a good first job to help me ease my way in to the responsibilities to come. I went in for an interview to be a P.A. on I LOVE HUCKABEES, a new film starring Dustin Hoffman and some other people. They never got back to me, which was fine, really, because I wouldn't have gotten my comic finished for Comicon, otherwise. It would have been cool to work with the director, though. I forget his name, but it's the guy that did THREE KINGS. I created two new websites: http://www.absolutecustomlandscape.com for a local landscaper that was recently featured in several shows on HGTV. http://www.rellycoloma.com for a legendary keyboardist from the Philippines. And, the week just prior to Comicon, as I struggled to complete the final issue of Bainst, I was called in for three days of background "acting" on two different movies. The first was a low budget vampire flick, AS GOOD AS DEAD, featuring Kevin Dylan and Lance Henrikson. I was dressed up as a cop, but never got my cue to walk into the shot, so you won't be seeing my distant, blurry form in that one. However, in the next movie, THE HILLSIDE STRANGLER, I was used in the background often (they rotated four of us as uniformed officers to try and make the police station look as crowded as possible), and also managed to get a good bit of drawing done during the down time. September 22nd will be the first day of my next big trial as a 2nd Assistant Director, which is a month long film shoot in Las Vegas. It's a Hungarian film called GETNO, about a family that moves from Hungary to the U.S., and the script is actually pretty good, which is always a bonus. I still don't know when BRING IT ON AGAIN is due out, or if it's already out, but heard a second hand account of someone that saw a trailer for it on the BLUE CRUSH video. When it's out, I'm credited as Production Assistant, and you may also be able to see me in one or two of the stadium scenes, though most likely I'll just be a flesh colored dot in the background (look for a bald head in a tank top). Still, the version shown at the cast and crew screening was very entertaining, and I think most people will enjoy it as much as the first. Recently -- Comics ------------------------------------------------------ Other than having a well-received piece in a recent anthology, and completing the final issue of Bainst, there's not much I've been doing. Putting together that final issue was more time consuming than I'd expected, and culminated in several 18 hour days of drawing, and final production on the same day that I was leaving for Comicon. I was very pleased with it, though, and think the storyboarding I've been doing over the past couple of years is to be credited. With special thanks, of course, to the man who made it all possible, Josh Sheppard. Thanks, Josh! His website is linked through my site (though his seems to be currently down). I may be attending The Expo (also known as SPX) in Bethesda, Maryland, the first week in September, but this is still tentative. I have no table space, but wouldn't mind a sliver if anyone out there has any to spare. Coming Soon -- Projects ------------------------------------------------------ It seems each new excursion into the outside world causes me to rearrange my priorities, as new opportunities keep presenting themselves. I'm currently reworking "Angie's World" and "Far Flung" for submission to publishers other than myself, and have a tentative arrangement to begin artwork on a developing Science Fiction/Action comic called "Ristorante Paradiso". These three things have temporarily shunted my own film and video projects down a couple of rungs on the Ladder of Importance, but if I can get the money together before the summer is out, I'll be finalizing plans to shoot a speculative SUV commercial in mid-September (for which I'll be completing storyboards in the next few weeks). Also, I have a five minute short and a mocumentary planned, both of which were at the top of the list about two months ago, but have been postponed in favor of the aforementioned crapola. Lifestyles of the Poor and Struggling ------------------------------------------------------ I filed for unemployment this week, but hopefully won't have to depend upon it in the coming year. Still, as a first time user, last year, found it to be so helpful, given the sporadic nature of the low end of the entertainment industry, that I can't foresee not signing up for it while I continue pursue the Hollywood dreamsicle. Until next time, dear friends, I remain your humble servant, FC Brandt Want to receive this crap in your email inbox? Send me a note...