“WISP” Gets Picked Up for TV and Other Unexpected Updates.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t think “WISP” was going to happen this year. As the scope of the film got bigger, the budget drastically inflated, and we found ourselves in the unenviable position of having assembled all the makings of a fantastic film but only about half the money we needed to actually make it. After a relentless marketing campaign and a fund raiser that fell embarrassingly short, we were seriously looking at ‘Plan B’ options.

The money we did raise for “WISP” was dragged in on the heels of “Inked in Erie”, the TV Reality Show I’ve been producing for the I AM TV Cable Network. I’m proud to say, while the network is regional (they reach about 300,000 viewers in the Erie County PA area), the show has been very well received and has built a substantial audience.

Right now, independent networks like Hulu, Amazon and Netflix are all in a race to produce their own original series and I AM TV is no different. So when they talked to me about doing “WISP” as a TV Series with an offer to let us slow it down, and get into the back story and characters, and play out the suspense over 13 weeks… well, it wasn’t a tough decision to make.

Writer A.D. Moore has done a top to bottom re-envisioning  of the story, adding even more twists, turns and icky tingle sensations.

We begin principal photography on July 29th, when we’ll be shooting the Pilot, plus three more episodes. The show will begin airing this fall on I AM TV.

Since no one is going to be able to wait for glimpses of “WISP”, I AM TV will have a camera crew following around the production for their show “Erie on Set”. The show’s Executive Producer is Jeremy Korwek, and he’ll be documenting the production “Project Greenlight” style. Very cool.

In other news… the GMD Films web site is currently under a massive reconstruction. More than just a facelift, it will be a new site that reflects the new direction the company is heading in. I’m about halfway done building it, so please be patient.

I’m also knee-deep in pre-production for “WISP”, so I’ll be updating the production blog more often in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

- PG

It’s Time to Join the Hunt.

  None of us here at GMD Films ask for much more than an audience to gather around the fire to hear us weave our strange tales. So, our first fund raiser is unique in it’s purpose.

  We have not ever used ‘crowd funding’ to raise the budget for our films, not once – not ever. And we’re still not. Every GMD Films Production has raised it’s budget on the success of the films before it, and that’s something we take a certain pride in.

  What’s different about our first fund raising campaign, is we are asking you to help us make “WISP” better. We’re looking to cast a ‘Horror Icon’ as our Serial Killer (at a cost of $5,000 – $10,000), round out our cast with some ‘Indie Film Icons’ (these are people you already know and love) and we want to put more money on the screen.

 
  By ‘more money on the screen’, I’m talking about four Police Cars instead of two. An extra day on a killer location. Adding some additional hands to the FX Team, a dedicated Make Up Artist for the beautiful ladies on our cast, and being able to shut down a street corner for a car chase stunt.

  In short, a few smaller things in the background that add several thousand dollars to our budget but look like a million bucks on screen.

  Now, if you’re reading this blog, you’re a fan. You’ve been hanging around the GMD Films camp for awhile, and you know we’ve never once asked for anything from anyone.

  This fundraiser is important, or we wouldn’t ask. To show our gratitude, the cast and crew have come together to offer some pretty remarkable rewards for pitching in.

  A personal phone call from certified smoke show Paula Marcenaro Solinger? Yes. Screen used props from the movie? Of course. Autographed DVD’s, Scripts, and chance to be on screen with the best-of-the-best in Indie Film? You bet.

  And look, we know times are tough. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t be trying to raise the extra money we need to make “WISP” epic. Whatever you have, we’ll take it. Skip your Grande latte one day, a pack of smokes, or the change left over from a hard night of drinking. We’ll put it on the screen, and you can hate yourself in the morning.

  But don’t’ wait. We have deadlines on this. Contracts to sign, commitment checks to write, locations to book, flights to pay for. We have 14 days of food to prepare. Hotel rooms. Costumes to buy.

  Visit the “WISP” Fundraising Page right now and make a donation so big it feels like passing a kidney stone.

  I promise you, we won’t let you down. You won’t regret this.

- Paul

“Inked” Takes Off & “WISP” Casting News

If you’ve been following me on Facebook at all during the last 6 weeks, you’ve no doubt heard plenty about “Inked in Erie”.

It’s a Reality TV show we’ve been producing for start up Cable Network
I AM TV Erie, which can be found on the Time Warner Cable System at Channel 180 in Erie County.

It’s actually the reason it’s taken me awhile to get back to the Production Blog. I’ve been, well… in production.

The I AM TV Network went into ‘Soft Launch’ this week, testing the network and adding programming to the schedule. It’s a bit of Erie History happening right now, with a brand new Cable TV network launching. It’s not something you see every day around here, and it’s been an awesome experience to be involved.

I’m proud to say our show “Inked in Erie” was the first to air on the network during the initial test, so we made history once again.

If you don’t live in Erie, or don’t have Cable, don’t’ worry. You can check out the show at the Official Show Site on the web, and it will be coming to your usual ‘Digital Outlets’ soon.

While we’ve been busy producing the new show, we haven’t slowed progress on pre-production for “WISP”.

A casting change has just been made, with Paul Marcinaro Solinger taking the roll of not one – but TWO characters, playing both of the “Klem Sisters”.

And just as a bit of a tease, I’ll let you know that we’re on the trail of a Horror Movie Icon that will change our cast list from “Incredible” to “Unbelievable”.

Stay tuned… there’s lots more to come.

- Paul Gorman

Johnny Solinger Starts “WISP” Soundtrack

It’s a little early to be picking songs for the soundtrack, but Johnny Solinger sent me a wicked little tune in the mail that could have been written for “WISP”.

If you don’t recognize his name, you’ll recognize his voice as the long time front man for the infamous hard rock band Skid Row.

Having just completed the new Skid Row album “United World Rebellion Chapter 1” and embarking on a World Tour with ‘The Skids’ in April, Johnny Solinger has still managed to carve out a remarkable solo career with his own brand of gritty Country Rock.

The song is “F.U.C. Me Coming” off his recent solo CD “Chain Link Fence” and when you hear it, I think you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

You can check out the whole album on Spotify or you can buy the single now on Amazon.com for $0.99

Either way, give this one a listen. It kicks ass.

“F.U.C. Me Coming” is the beginning of a, uhm… killer soundtrack.

The shear volume of talent that is lining up for this film is already beyond my wildest expectations. “WISP” is going to be one for the record books.

- Paul

Another Field Test for Sony

If you’ve been following my Production Blog for awhile, you remember me building the 3D Camera Rig for “Blood of Ohma” that was more or less hand built. It was based on a pair of 2 little Sony Handycam’s.

To shoot True 3D, you have to capture a separate image for both the ‘Left Eye’, and the ‘Right Eye’. This process is different than “Converted 3D” which makes up about half the 3D movies Hollywood puts out. To do a “Conversion” essentially, in post production the 2D film is cut apart and digitally enhanced to create the illusion of depth that was not originally captured during photography. 

To capture depth in photography, you have to simulate how the human brain processes images, with two eyes.

The rig we built for ‘Ohma’ used two separate camera’s, which created a video file for each eye. During filming, I was only able to monitor the ‘Left Eye’ camera so the final result in 3D for each scene was an educated guess based on all the camera tests I did prior to the start of shooting.

Both video files then had to be synched in post and then converged into 3D using the 3D Toolset inside the Sony Vegas software I used to edit the film. The entire process was very time intensive and took a lot of tweaking.

To my surprise, this whole experience caught the eye of Sony Creative who contacted me during pre-production to offer their support and followed the film all the way thru our theatrical screenings for which Sony provided all the 3D glasses for.

About 6 months after I finished “Blood of Ohma” the Sony TD-10 camera arrived, which replaced every aspect of my hand built 3D rig into one camera set up.

The TD-10 has dual lenses which each capture full HD video at 32 mbs to it’s own imaging chip. Double the resolution I shot ‘Ohma’ with.

In addition, the camera has manual zoom, focus and convergence controls. The biggest trade off from my hand built rig, was I had ZERO control over zoom or focus. The camera’s were set zoomed full out, with ‘auto focus’ enabled. Zoom and Focus are the basic tools for a film maker, and I didn’t have any of them.

So seeing these features built into the camera felt like a gift. And lastly, the LCD screen displays the converged 3D image – without glasses – so I can now set set up the 3D shots on set, rather than guessing and fixing it in post.

I’ve only shot a few web series with this camera and have done a ton of tests, but “WISP” will be the big field test for Sony. I’ll be able to put the camera thru a full spectrum of situations and we’ll see how it does in the ‘real world’.

The TD-10 is the first in this series of Camera’s so if this one is any indication of where Sony is going to go with it, I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

- Paul

More “WISP” Casting News

I’m extremely proud to announce that Actress, Model and Artist
Paula Marcenaro Solinger has joined the cast of “WISP”.

Having trained since age 6 in her home town of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Paula has a long history on stage,  television and voice over work. She most recently appeared in Jim Devault’s “Blood Reunion” and 
Hernan Findling’s “Director’s Cut”.

And if her name sounds familiar, you’ve probably rocked out with her husband in an arena somewhere.

Paula will be playing the part of “Lana Klem”, a true crime journalist who is following the story of “The Tourist” with a personal vendetta, as her sister was among the first victims of the killer.

The addition of Mrs. Solinger now completes our Principal Cast for “WISP”.

Updates to the cast roster are at the official Wisp Web Site Here.

Lots of news still coming up, so stay tuned.

- Paul

Huge “WISP” Casting News

 

From Argentina, by way of Miami, I am thrilled to announce Model, Actress and Latin TV Star Deborah Funes has joined the cast of "WISP" as our female lead.

Deborah has appeared in TV Commercials, Lingerie Ads, on popular Latin TV shows, including shooting her own TV Pilot and most recently has appeared in feature films.

She’ll be joining the cast as female lead “Commissioner Gray Williams” who is working along side Larry Laverty and Joe Kelly to solve the case of what seems to be a Copy-Cat Serial Killer who has just shown up.

The addition of Ms. Funes locks down our ‘Principal Cast’ including Larry Laverty, Marie Madison and Jeremy Krukowski. The supporting rolls are next to cast and this part of the process takes the most time.

You can follow our progress at the Official “Wisp” Web Site here.

And speaking of progress, I’ve been working with CGI Artist Ginna Glaze on the Story Boards for this film, and the first batch of them are coming around.

Here’s a tease:

On “Blood of Ohma”, I did the story boards by hand, in sketches. I decided to take a different approach on “Wisp”, or rather a giant leap forward in technology.

The CGI Software not only creates a more rich and realistic scene, but it allows me to experiment with different camera lenses, depth of field, and even allows me to visualize and approximate the 3D effects in the film.

Yes, even my story boards are done in 3D now. I can already hear the scoffing from my detractors and cynics all waiting for me to get over the ‘3D Trend’. Even though “Texas Chainsaw 3D” made more money at the Box Office this weekend than the 2D version of “The Hobbit”.  But I digress…

Lots more news to come in the next few weeks and months as we ramp up to Principal Photography on “Wisp”, which is schedule to begin in July.

- Paul