My first year living in Orlando, Florida I remember watching An Evening with Kevin Smith and getting CRAZY inspired... my roommate, Rob, in the background saying "Dude, don't go burying yourself in credit card debt just because Kevin Smith told you to." I didn't listen. It was about two weeks later that our new film equipment and computer arrived via my shiny new credit card and we'd start producing The Orlando Show.
The Orlando Show went over fairly well considering there was no You Tube or Facebook yet for us to showcase it on. We were actually being recognized around town for the retarded videos we were pumping weekly into MySpace once a week, and working on that show was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had! It consumed our lives. Every day was about thinking up new ways to make people laugh, and being kicked out of Walt Disney World (and shamed out of the Holy Land Experience) in the process. This wasn't my first experience in creating mindless, shamefully low budget videos, though...
The Wetlands was my first BIG film project with Paul Cloud, and I bit off A LOT more than I could chew with a 90 minute feature comedy about an alliGAYtor that attacks a small Louisiana town. It starred just about our entire high school and we premiered it on the BIG SCREEN (aka video projector at a local church)... it felt very familiar to the scene in Ed Wood where they are watching their masterpiece of shit in total awe of their achievement. Only Plan 9 From Outer Space was much better than our film.
I followed THE WETLANDS with The Lonesome Ghosts of New Orleans, a documentary about paranormal activity in Louisiana which ended up being more about the weird people of New Orleans than the actual dead people. It was ultimately a major fail, but the poster looks pretty awesome, right?
Se Separer came after THE ORLANDO SHOW, a short film about the first 24 hours that follow a break-up. It's still my FAVORITE thing I've made. Megan DeCosta and I attempted working on other projects together that ultimately went nowhere, like a live action version of Penelope Pitstop and a horror short called Beacon which accidentally played out as a comedy.
Eventually I ended up becoming roommates with Megan and new internet video crap-fest was born! BUDDIES! A puppet show about a bunch of puppets who are... buddies.
Once the creative juices started flowing it seems like there was something new every week- Some that went nowhere...
... and some that DID...
(Above) My FIRST published article, An Oral History of Ren & Stimpy, is published by Hogan's Alley Magazine! (Below) is a sample page of the article which you can purchase HERE.
I also worked with actress Nicki Clyne from Battlestar Galactica to produce a ZINE, inspired by MAD and CRACKED MAGAZINE, which features interviews, games, articles, and even a spot for her to autograph it for you! It's a Limited Edition that is still on sale HERE.
(Below is my introduction to the Nicki Clyne Fan 'Zine)
In all the COUNTLESS numbers of projects I've either completed or abandoned, NOTHING has been more successful for me than FulleCircle.com It's the result of ONE conversation with my friend Ryan Cipriani that changed my life. It's a site inspired by the curiosity I share with William Miller from Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous where I've been lucky enough to interview actors, writers, directors, musicians, artists, and others that have inspired me growing up. A lot of friendships have been the result of FULLE CIRCLE, as well as a few paying jobs... and this is JUST the beginning...
This new blog is an invitation to join me on PART 2 of the journey, the second chapter where I apply EVERYTHING I've learned so far and plow FULLE steam ahead into the unknown, but this time with a little more solid direction. 2012 is going to be devoted to noticeable change, at the end of the year I want to be able to look back at Mt. Everest knowing we just climbed it... TOGETHER. The fact is, anything I create is NOTHING if you don't devour it, so THANK YOU for being on this page. You could be doing anything right now, and you're here with me, helping gear up to prove that your wildest dreams can come true.
There are three BIG projects for 2012 that I'm really excited about. #1 is the Fulle Circle Podcast which will be continuing in "Asking Interesting People Interesting Questions" in interviews with celebrity guests on iTunes & You Tube. #2 is The Orlando Show Podcast which will showcase everything we love about O-Town. No, not the band. whoreLANDO! There's SO MUCH here beyond Disney and Universal that tourists don't know about, and we're going to showcase the REAL side of Orlando with a new comedy podcast that debuts on iTunes in February. Yes... just in time for Valentines Day, ladies. And #3 is my novel, Forever Dick, which I want to see completed AND published before the year is up!
It's going to be a year without sleep. I sincerely hope you join me for the insomnia adventure.
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