From the Trenches

Whether you want to be a Hollywood producer, or just wonder what it’s like to work in the film and television business, these posts will lift the veil on the “black art” known as producing. In other words, you’ll finally know what a producer actually does.

Sold out Premiere. Standing Ovation. Dying to do Letterman.

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photo by studiomix The greatest feeling a filmmaker can have? For us, it may have been the moment we had to give our seats away because the screening completely sold out. Well, until 80 minutes later when we received a standing ovation at the world premiere of our film, Dying to do Letterman. Or, 30 … Read more

How to Hijack a Film Festival

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Okay, well, maybe “hijack” is a bit harsh…we’d never want to take anything away from the other great filmmakers we’re playing along side. But, in an attempt to stand out amongst the other 173 films playing at the Cinequest Film Festival, we’ve made an elaborate plan involving hospital scrubs, flyers, interactive buttons, and lots of … Read more

Michael Rooker Now Online

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You all know how we love our good pal and acting god Michael Rooker. Well, he’s online all over the place, and here’s a little video we put together so you can find him real easy. Props to Linda Webster at IJL Designs for making Michael’s new website.

Cut Notes for Final Cut Pro Rocks Post Production

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I still remember the day Nate Orloff, our assistant editor, came in with his iPad. It was geek-out-at-first-sight. Everyone in the office was excited, myself included. I am a geek, after all, and the iPad was truly Geek-a-licious.

Nate and I even put together a short video showing how to write a screenplay on an iPad using Pages and a screenwriting template we made (this was before there was a plethora of screenwriting apps on the App Store).

When Nate told me his idea for an iPad app called Cut Notes, I was jazzed. It’s only appropriate that Nate found Jon Chappell of Digital Rebellion the same way I found Nate, via Twitter. They partnered up last fall and a few weeks ago, released version v1.0 of Cut Notes for iPad.

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Jon Chappell and Nate Orloff found time to answer a few of my questions about the app and the process making it:

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A Little R and R in Rome

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Taking a little vacation to start the new year. Be back next week. Until then, hope you’re all having a great 2011. Best, Joke and Biagio

Happy Holidays: Stay Extraordinary

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Driving from a lunch pick-up for Biagio’s all day edit session, I passed the new Diet Coke billboards. Their new slogan is STAY EXTRAORDINARY, and maybe it is because I’m cheesy, or really like Diet Coke, but I love the slogan. So in the spirit of the holiday season, I hope you all take a … Read more

Seasons Greetings from the Dying to do Letterman Team

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Whoah, whoah, whoah…looks like there was too much egg nog at the Joke Productions holiday party. Anyway, here’s a wacky, quickly put together, and probably unwisely finished holiday greeting from the gang working on Dying to do Letterman.

Prove Dreams Matter

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Today We Launched the Dying to do Letterman Web Site Please come visit, watch the video, and leave your email. Not sure what the movie’s all about? Steve was told he had incurable liver cancer, and might only have five years to live. He gave the middle finger to cancer, and decided to live his … Read more

Dying to Tell You About Our Movie

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For the past six years we’ve been working on our passion project, a self-funded, feature-length documentary called Dying to do Letterman. Five years of shooting. One year of editing. Eighty minutes that represents our very best as filmmakers. The still frame above is from today’s shoot with Steve, in which he finally reveals what you … Read more

Dying to do Letterman Facebook Page

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Just a quick post to let you know that the Facebook page for our documentary, Dying to do Letterman, is up and live. We’re spilling our guts about all kinds of good, meaty, documentary-making gossip. Plus, the movie is something we hope anyone can feel good about. The message is simple: Live your dream, or … Read more