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Friends, I present to you the Director’s Cut of...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:44:31 -0500

Friends,

I present to you the Director’s Cut of ‘Premonition’, my first ever student film. Had a free second so I recut it with some changes I’ve been dying to make ever since the premiere during my Freshman year!

-P123

Theatrical Trailer for Simply C. Teens

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:20:38 -0500

Theatrical Trailer for Simply C. Teens:

Friends,

I proudly present to you the theatrical trailer for ‘Simply C. Teens’, a documentary about 9 positive and productive teens from around the Chicagoland area who can serve as role models for their ability to stay focused on their fu

tures and stay above the influence.

It is the second of two documentaries that I filmed over the Summer. Please check it out when you get a chance!

Thanks so much.

Talk soon,

P123

December 1st

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:18:07 -0500

Friends,
A lot of updates to share and I couldn’t be more proud of where I am now in my life professionally and as a person.

My year long term as Entertainment Director of CitrusTV began this morning at 12:01 AM and I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to expand the department by piloting new shows. I WILL have a lasting legacy as the ED who changed the department for the better and e

xpanded it for future generations to benefit from.

The comedian and teen documentaries are moving along nicely in the editing room. The editor that we hired is amazingly talented and I couldn’t be more confident about where these two documentaries are headed. Can’t wait to see the finished products. Both should be done by the end of the year and the trailer for the teen trailer should be available soon for the public. I’ve already screened the rough cut and am so excited about it. I hope that you all took the time to watch the trailer for the comedian documentary that I posted earlier to see just how exciting these movies are and will be.

Fairview’s music video is still scheduled for a mid December release, so stay excited and ready for that premiere. I am so excited for its release and still so proud to have been asked to produce it for the talented and amazing young band.

My internship at Disney/ABC is just about to end. My time at General Hospital has been amazing and incredibly rewarding and is will be sad to leave, but there is incredible potential to continue over the summer on the show. The internship has also allowed me to afford not only my new computer but also a new video camera, aptly named Jimmy 2.0. Named after my favorite actor Jimmy Stewart. it’s so amazing that I have been able to work for the money to purchase these items which will help me produce the best possible quality videos that I can from here on out.

With that being said, get pumped for Ethnically Challenged’s newest video which should be done by the beginning of February. The script is all but done and the rest of pre-production is moving along very well. It’s going to be by far the best EC short ever produced, not only visually but also content wise.

I hope that all of you are well and healthy and happy.

Talk soon my friends,

P123

Here’s the theatrical trailer for “Simply...

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:12:07 -0500

Here’s the theatrical trailer for “Simply Comedians,” a documentary about Chicago comedians trying to make their dreams come true. The film features 9 stand-ups who are trying to build their audience and who share they own stories about the struggles of trying to find success in today’s comedy landscape. Please help support by watching the link and showing it to friends. I hope you like it and are looking forward to the movie in its entirety.

Latest news from P123

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:07:30 -0500

Friends,

It’s been a few weeks since my last post but there are plenty of updates to make up for the time. Attached you will find the theatrical trailer for the comedian documentary, officially titled “Simply Comedians.” I’m very excited for how it looks so far and the editor that we hired is doing an AMAZING job so far. The trailer for the teen documentary should be ready by the end of the week.

I was also named the next Entertainment Director for CitrusTV and have many plans for expanding the department when my term officially begins at the end of this year.

And of course, now that P123 is officially Mac operated with Final Cut at my fingertips Fairview’s music video is finally back in full swing. The band is looking to couple the video with the release of their EP which should be mid-December. Stay tuned for updates here as it’s going to be awesome.

Other news, Ethnically Challenged’s next video, “The Boys are Back in Town: Part Deux”, is slated for an early 2013 release. There will also be a Director’s cut of my freshman year final film and a live performance of A.M. Edward Illustration singing Florence and the Machine’s “Shake it out.”

There’s lots to look forward to my friends.And after celebrating my birthday last Thursday, I can already say that this year might be my best yet.

Talk soon,

P123

SULA Blog Post #3- "Always Learning"

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 18:27:54 -0400

One of my core beliefs in life is that you’re always learning no matter what you’re doing. This has proved to be true for me as I stop to reflect on everything that I’ve done. Whether the activity was the most profound of my life or by far the most mundane thing that anyone has ever done, I have always learned from it. And the most important thing to do after you’ve allowed some time to pass, is to stop and appreciate the activity for what it is, compartmentalize it into the grand scheme of your life so that you will be able to appreciate it in comparison to other activities, and challenge yourself to answer the question “What did I learn?” I will start by naming a few activities, whether positive or negative, that I have done during my stay thus far in Hollywood that I have learned from. The minor car accident suffered during my first coffee run as intern, the time my classmates and I met Russell Brand at the Motion Picture and Television Fund, and when my pitch that had a four minute time limit ended up setting a record at eight minutes and thirty seven seconds.

The minor car accident… Let me set the scene for you. It’s the first day of a two-day shoot for a commercial being produced by a production company. Everything’s going well so far, and I want to keep it that way. Now, I had been in LA for not even two weeks at this point, and I had only heard about the horror stories of PA’s being asked to go on coffee run. That can’t really be a thing, can it? I’m wearing the headset. I’m good. They need me here. We ended up getting ahead of schedule and out comes the producer, “Hey Nate, can you go on a Starbucks run for the crew?” Of course I said yes. And thus began my journey to make my first ever coffee run as a bottom of the food chain PA/intern. Hey, it had to happen eventually. I’m in my car driving, he’s given me the directions and I’ve mapped it on my iPhone’s GPS. Everything’s good. I’m on the corner of Sunset and La Brea, and there’s the Starbucks. I pull into the parking lot, park, and walk in the front door. I pull out the piece of paper with all 8 orders; names are clearly associated with every drink. I made sure to repeat what everyone said. The barista smiles when I say that I need 8 drinks, “Intern?” I returned his smile with one of my own. This is LA and this happens every day; the drinks are ready, I can see the names clearly written on each cup, everything is good. I get in the car and all of the drinks are secured on the floor of the passenger seat so that I can see them. I test to make sure that they are stable, yup they’re good. I reverse out of my parking spot, and I look at the clock. I’ve timed this perfectly because I can go back with 15 minutes to spare before I have to leave for class. Pulling out of the parking lot, I notice that there’s an opportunity to pull out into the intersection. Crossing a double yellow line? I mean it is illegal, but I’m from New York and I do this all the time. I look to the right to make sure that I can continue to turn left and BOOM! I’ve been t-ed by a car that didn’t see me past the bus that gave me a lane; four of the coffees have spilled. The interaction with the other driver takes way too long, I finally get back into Starbucks to redo the four cups that had spilled and the barista gives them to me for free; they had heard the accident and were so very pleased to hear that everyone was okay. I get back in the car, turn RIGHT out of the parking lot, and get back to the studio with 3 minutes to spare. The crew had heard about the accident and they were all happy to see that I was alright. What did I learn? LA driving is exactly what everyone says about it; fast, ruthless, and unforgiving. People are actually nice; the barista didn’t have to give me the drinks for free, and the producer very well could’ve been upset with me for taking too long. I was lucky the other driver didn’t call the cops; apparently what was 35 minutes of back and forth banter could’ve taken upwards of 4 hours. Be ready for anything and everything; even when all seems to be “good”, there just might be that crash, whether physical or not, that brings you back down.

Russell Brand was five feet away from me… My class and I were taking a tour of the Motion Picture and Television Fund campus and as we were about to enter a building Mr. Brand emerged from a doorway. He was dressed as he was at the MTV Movie Awards, full beard, and the same person you see on camera in terms of mannerisms and cadence. He was producing a PSA for the MPTF and that’s why he was there and so very willing to address a group of future members of the entertainment industry. The MPTF being of course a charity organization that supports aging members of the industry by providing housing and medical support and the campus was where they lived and received this help. “Hello, beautiful Syracuse people,” was the first thing he said to us. It was surreal. He was surrounding by three cameras and a boom operator. What did I learn from this, you might be asking? Well, I learned that Russell Brand is an actual person because I could see him clearly right in front of me. I learned that he’s just as funny, just as clever, just as quick, and just as bizarre in person as he appears on screen or at live events. And the most important thing that I learned was that even this man, who is best known recently in the press for divorcing Katy Perry, takes time to acknowledge the importance of this organization. For almost 70 years, the MPTF has been helping members of the industry who are no longer able to care for themselves. Anyone can donate money to the fund or opt to volunteer in person, but regardless of the method of donation this is a fund that requires involvement from everyone in order to continue to help those who need it. And I’m happy to know now that Russell Brand is someone who acknowledges the importance of this place.

Last but certainly not least, I set a new record time for pitching a movie in class… The assignment was to pitch a movie in 4 minutes. It can be any movie; well known or not, produced or blacklisted. I was feeling quite ambitious as there was a story for a movie that is currently in the pre-written phase but is far along in terms of story development that I have created. This assignment challenged me to flesh out the storyline, further develop the characters, change some of the original plot points, and actually give it a three act structure. Not all of these things were missing from the original short story that I wrote over the summer, but this story was not ready just yet to be pitched. That wasn’t going to stop me however because this is a story that I wanted to tell and that I want to be one of my first feature films. It’s a strong, emotional, and character driven thriller with a surprise ending. And this assignment was a great opportunity for me to test the waters and see if I can sell this idea to “potential buyers.” Most people in my class pitched well known and iconic films which everyone had seen; in fact I was one of only two who pitched original content. I had spent the last week fleshing out the story over and over again from start to finish and I had note cards filled out to give me clues if I needed. I even consulted my fellow intern, a screenwriting senior at USC, about the story and pitched it to her several times. Finally it had gotten to be my turn, so I stood up, sat down in the chair and looked at my friends in the audience and began to address them. I felt myself being comfortable, I never looked at the note cards, and just simply told the story. I was feeling good about it until I looked at my professor who informed me that my time ended up being 8 minutes and 37 seconds. This of course shattered the previous record of 6 minutes and 23 seconds set in the previous semester. My professor didn’t have many nice things to say about the pitch, mostly because of the fact that it was more than twice as long as it should’ve been. I felt upset, and that I had failed. And it wasn’t until one of my friends reached out to me later, and told me how much he liked the story and how he’d love to hear more about it, that I began to reflect on the situation. This sentiment was echoed by more friends the next day. So what exactly did I learn from this experience? I learned that pitching is not so much telling the story but rather selling the movie as a whole by giving pieces but not the whole thing. I learned that I need to do more research into some of the issues in the story, I need to learn more about the characters, I need to practice pitching more, and I need to actually write the screenplay before I try to sell it again. I gained a new appreciation and respect for the art of pitching, I learned that your job is never done and that there’s always more that can and should be done, and I tried something that I had never truly done before and am better off because of it. I now know what must be done before I try to pitch again, and that knowledge is priceless. The embarrassing record was completely worth it.

It is true that in any situation you are always learning. And if, at the end of the day, you are able to acknowledge that you have learned something new, then you can consider that a good day.

Friends,My third blog post has now been posted to the SULA website. Please check it out and let me...

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 18:27:23 -0400

Friends,

My third blog post has now been posted to the SULA website. Please check it out and let me know what you think. Everything is going very well otherwise. I’ve got my hands in projects everywhere; two documentary feature films in Ch…

icago headed towards post-production, two sketch comedy groups/shows waiting for me back in Syracuse, a paid internship with Disney/ABC in LA currently and all but guaranteed for next summer, Fairview’s music video heading towards it’s release date, AND an all-new Ethnically Challenged original short planned for January. My friends, this is a great time in my life and I’m so happy to be sharing it with you.

Talk soon,

P123

Cleaning out the mail room at #generalhospital and came across...

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:26:47 -0400

Cleaning out the mail room at #generalhospital and came across this gem. Apparently he was here for a while doing research for a movie role and they gave him a part, whatever he wanted. #hollywood #starpower #lafall2012 (Taken with Instagram)

Official URL for Blog Post #1

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:54:10 -0400

Official URL for Blog Post #1

Official URL for Blog Post #2

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:53:29 -0400

Official URL for Blog Post #2

A night at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:03:40 -0400

Friends,

I went to a screening of Charlie Chaplin’s Limelight at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last Wednesday night, and I must say that it was an incredibly experience from start to finish. Two of the films original starts were in attendance as well and participated in a Q & A before the movie began. Keep in mind that 2012 marks the 60th anniversary of the release of the film. The male actor that was in attendance was Norman Lloyd, he’s turning 98 next week by the way. He was sharing his fondest memories with Chaplin which included playing 4 singles matches against him in tennis every week. And Claire Bloom spoke so well of Chaplin, noting his genius, passion, and work ethic. I can only hope that people will speak that highly of me some day.

I absolutely loved it and now I can say with confidence that I have a new hero and director/writer/actor to look up to and to draw inspiration from. My new goal is to watch his other three masterpieces, “Modern Times”, “The Dictator”, and “Gold Rush.” Luckily for me, I have them all in a 4 DVD box set, which includes “Limelight”, waiting for me when I return to NY in December.

P123

Friends, I hope that you’re all doing well. I have been extremely busy over the last two...

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 19:56:38 -0400

Friends,

I hope that you’re all doing well. I have been extremely busy over the last two weeks, as you can imagine. My internship is incredible and I’m loving very minute of it. I am one of 4 interns but I work by far the most hours and everyone seems to enjoy having me both on set and in the office. The Technical Director in the control booth knows the rest of the interns names but calls me “Sy

racuse” which I actually really like, haha. “Hey, how’re you doing Syracuse?” is the usual greeting. I am learning so much and can’t wait to see what the rest of the semester holds for me at General Hospital.

As far as next summer, it is official that I am a part of the Walt Disney Family and therefore will have no problem getting a paid summer internship for next summer. This concept is incredibly awesome, and to say that I am a part of the Walt Disney Family with 3 semesters left to go at SU is something to hang my hat on for sure. So it looks like I will be making my epic return to LA for the summer of 2013, and luckily for me A.M. Edward Illustrationwill be with me for my time. Another summer, another city is our motto now.

The documentaries for SimplyC360 are moving along well. Both are heading fast towards post-production and with an amazing new editor hired they are certainly heading in the right direction. Another conference call tomorrow should secure the beginning of the editing process. I’ll keep you posted on that as well.

Fairview is finishing up their recording of Leap of Faith and I’m working on securing my computer with editing software so the music video is on its way so don’t worry. I am still so excited to premiere it to the world.

My blog posts for SU should be avialable on their website soon. I’ll post the link when I have it.

For now I bid you adieu, friends. Stay happy and healthy.

P123

No where on here does it say intern. #waltdisneyemployee #disney...

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:23:33 -0400

No where on here does it say intern. #waltdisneyemployee #disney #lafall2012 (Taken with Instagram)

My heroes. #batman #robin #adamwest #burtward (Taken with...

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:21:15 -0400

My heroes. #batman #robin #adamwest #burtward (Taken with Instagram)

Friends, My internship at Disney/ABC officially starts tomorrow. On the set of General Hospital, and...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 20:04:30 -0400

Friends,

My internship at Disney/ABC officially starts tomorrow. On the set of General Hospital, and the mentality is “here’s to trying new things and gaining new skills.” You’re learning all the time, whether you acknowledge it or you don’t.

I also have a phone consultation with Vancouver Film School and a meeting with the admissions counselor to take a tour of the campus of the American Film Institute on Friday. I’m doing things today, so that I’ll be able to do things tomorrow.

Talk soon my friends,
P123

Latest news from Fairview friends!They just played their second live radio show and here’s the...

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:53:40 -0400

Latest news from Fairview friends!

They just played their second live radio show and here’s the recording. Make sure to check out their page right here on Facebook!

P123

FairviewUPDATED

Unknown Artist - Unknown Album

FairviewUPDATED

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Friends,It has been sometime since I have posted an update. A lot has happened in the last couple...

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:53:11 -0400

Friends,

It has been sometime since I have posted an update. A lot has happened in the last couple weeks as you can imagine! I was officially hired today to be a Production intern fro the Disney/ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital and couldn’t be more excited to get on set! It’s going to be high paced and high energy!

Since my first internship fell through because the production company had

to shelve their all but green lit movie, I had to find something new and this is it! In the meantime, I worked as a Production Assistant for a commercial shoot produced by Zach Snyder’s production company. That’s the director of 300 and Watchmen in case you don’t know. And then a week later I was hired to work as a Production Assistant for the preparation leading up to 64th Annual Creative Arts Emmy’s. I helped for 3 days including the day of the show, but it was awesome because SULA got us tickets to the show so we redcarpeted it and sat in the same audience as the likes of Lisa Kudrow, Seth Green, and Mathew J. Fox (just to name a few.)

But now it’s time for me to get started working full time and it’s going to be a great experience!

More updates to come soon. Getting a new computer and editing software so video production will be a lot easier from here on out. This of course means that we may just be seeing Fairview’s music video ahead of schedule.

I hope that you’re all doing well and can’t wait to share with you all new updates!

Talk soon,
P123

SULA Blog Post #2

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:05:15 -0400

Everything happens for a reason

I lived the first 20 or so years of my life not believing that events and actions were connected in any way. I believed that things just happened, and that there was no rhyme or reason for any of them to have occurred. I also realized that I wasn’t a very positive person. Fast forward to now, where I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. Whether the reason presents itself within the first hour or not for a few years after something happens, there is always a reason for something having had occurred. And I’ve learned that this thought process is the number one reason why I am an incredibly positive person now.

You’re probably asking yourself where this is going. And my answer for you is that this belief was applicable today when I was able to understand and appreciate the fact that the internship that I was supposed to be working at for the semester isn’t going to work out. That sounds like a pretty bad thing, doesn’t it? I mean, I should be pretty stressed out and worried about whether or not I am making the most of this semester, or whether or not I am missing out on opportunities to get valuable real world experience. But I’m not worried one bit, and here’s why:

First of all, if my internship had begun at the beginning of the semester, I would never had the opportunity to be a production assistant on a commercial produced by Zach Snyder (Director of 300 and Watchmen)’s production company. And if this hadn’t happened, then I wouldn’t have been able to be promoted to head PA for Day 2 of the shoot and I wouldn’t have been able to impress the producer of the shoot. And without that, I wouldn’t have been offered opportunities to work with the producer again later on during the semester. There’s no guarantee that my inaugural and inevitable Starbucks coffee run would have come any time soon. And anyone will tell you that, regardless of the stress level of your first coffee run, there’s nothing more liberating and relaxing than getting it out of the way.

Second of all, if my internship had begun at the beginning of the semester, then I would never have been able to accept the opportunity to work at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. I would never have met Spike Jones, Jr. The man that has served as executive producer for this ceremony every year for the last decade and was the executive producer for the 2012 Writer’s Guild of America Awards. His father was a famous Jazz musician and composer. And this man has endless amounts of connections within the film and television industries. I would never have been able to meet the production manager who would tell me, as I left the Nokia Center for the last time, that whenever I need a job he’ll have one for me.

And finally, if my internship had begun at the beginning of the semester, I would never have been able to learn as much as I have over my first 4 weeks here in Los Angeles. I have had the chance to meet and work with so many different people, to try new things that I would have never thought that I’d ever have the opportunity to try, and to learn skills that can be applied to all facets of my life (not just professional.)

Was it going to be an amazing internship? Yes, of course. And this is because there really are no bad internships. But is my life worse off because I didn’t get to actually intern at the company? Nope, not even close. The internship was going to be in production, and I was going to be on a movie set every day which is a dream come true. The reason why the internship fell through is because the movie that I was supposed to work on didn’t get the green light. What I learned from this is first-hand experience with the fact that it is incredibly difficult to get films green lit for production and therefore nothing is certain in this industry. Not even an internship. And this knowledge is incredibly useful moving forward, especially as I begin to develop realistic expectations for how my time in the industry will play out.

The real lesson here is to remain positive in all situations. Learn to roll with the punches, appreciate everything whether good or bad, and make the most of every situation. If you do these things then you too will realize that everything happens for a reason.

Blog Post #1 for SULA

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 19:33:36 -0400

Celebrities are people, too

Growing up, it was my belief that celebrities were the highest class of people. They were idolized for their talent, they had the nicest things (cars, clothes, houses, you get the picture), and they got to walk the red carpet. Side note: I always loved that no matter what the award ceremony was it was always called the red carpet, further adding to its wonder and exclusivity. I realize now, of course, that this idealistic belief that celebrities were gods among people was ignorant because as I have learned during my time in LA, no matter how brief, celebrities are people too.

Sure, they are on the TV screen and everyone knows their names. Their names and faces are on giant billboards, facing crowded streets and highways, advertising the next best movie. People flock to department stores to buy perfumes so that they can smell like them. But, they’re people too.

It wasn’t until the SULA group was invited to the taping of ‘Last Man Standing’ that I really got my first hand look at celebrities being themselves. Between takes the youngest daughter would dance to the music that played to keep the crowd hyped up. Hector Elizondo, realizing he had a few seconds before the next take, cleared his throat and then approached the crowd to dance salsa. And Tim Allen screwed up one of his lines with his co-star but was able to laugh it off and make fun himself when a writer offered him a script. And this gesture got the whole audience laughing as well.

The main difference between people and celebrities is that celebrities are performers. They can make it seem like they are the strongest, the smartest, the nicest, most confident, and most talented people in the world. When in reality, and anyone who’s been around them when the cameras are off can tell you this, they can actually be the rudest, most self-conscious, and most selfish people in the world. Celebrities aren’t perfect. They have needs, habits, desires, addictions, weaknesses, strengths, flaws, and imperfections just like the rest of us. But celebrities can also, and most times do whether positive or negative, serve as role models because of their work ethic, passion, and success during their lives.

Celebrity status isn’t unobtainable, as seen with the incredible and sometimes surprising, success of reality TV. It is something to be proud of, and something that should never be taken for granted as only a small percentage of people will ever have it. I’m just glad that I know that celebrities have problems too and that no one’s life is perfect.

Backstage at the #creativeartsemmys #credentials #backstagepass...

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 00:33:31 -0400

Backstage at the #creativeartsemmys #credentials #backstagepass #lafall2012 (Taken with Instagram)