Blog Posts

Alien Country Film

10/21/2024

Alien Country film

Alien Country is a fun, amusing and likeable romp of a film. Campy and reminiscent of Mars Attacks, it's a cowboy and aliens tale of aliens taking over a small town, and has got a few laughs, a few chills, and some sweet romantic moments. It looks like it was a hoot to make, too!

Coming out on Oct. 22 on digital and streaming platforms, including iTunes/Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and local cable & satellite, etc. This could be just the silly thing to take your mind off the Presidential Election, or anything else troubling you for a bit.

Fun fact, the director, and co-writer and producer Boston McConnaughey sounds like he could very well be Matthew McConnaughey's brother, but according to my research, he is not.

American Film Convention Wrap Up

10/17/2024

Talent Representation Panel moderated by Mark Litwak, 10/17/24 at the American Film Convention, Los Angeles

Today I attended the last day of the American Film Convention in Downtown Los Angeles. First I sat in on the Talent Representation panel, above, which was most helpful and informative. Next I picked up my headshot photos by Mark Edwards, who proved to be a terrific headshot photographer. He's very friendly and moderately priced as well. Lastly, I stopped by the Cinapse.io booth, they have a wonderful platform available for scheduling filming for productions of all sizes and types.

Below is an interview of the Cinapse Founder and CEO Herman Phillips I interviewed briefly yesterday. Such a great fellow, and very dedicated to his project! (I apologize for the background noise on these audio interviews, recording conditions in the middle of a lively convention were far from ideal.)

I saw Henry Priest and Mitesh Patel on my way out, and congratulated them on a most successful debut film convention. They have said they plan on having AFC every year in October in Los Angeles, for more information visit americanfilmconvention.com. Until next year!

American Film Convention Day 2

10/17/2024

Henry K. Priest (left) Advisory Board Member of American Film Convention, and Mitesh Patel, American Film Convention CEO and Founder

Yesterday I had another wonderful day at the American Film Convention in downtown Los Angeles. I had my head shots done by a really friendly, easy to work with professional photographer named Mark Edwards (markedwardsphotos.com) they had set up right there at the convention.

Next I met with more industry experts, including Herman Phillips, Founder and CEO of Cinapse. Cinapse is a great sounding company that schedules film, TV series, and commercial shoots collaborately, and has iCloud backup so you are secure that your filming project will go smoothly. For more information visit cinapse.io. Herman's a super fellow and very passionate about his platform. It's also quite reasonably priced at just $10/month. Next I stopped by and listened to some acting workshops on improv and such held by the very impressive Devorah Cutler.

Lastly, I was thrilled to briefly interview both the AFC Founder and CEO Mitesh Patel; and Henry K. Priest (both pictured above) who is on the AFC Advisory Board. The interviews are below, enjoy!

Today is sadly the last day of AFC. Tickets are still available, for more information and tickets visit americanfilmconvention.com.

American Film Convention Opens

10/15/2024

Elizabeth Blake-Thomas (left) and Isabella Blake-Thomas, founders of Mother and Daughter Entertainment at AFC today

Today was day one of the first American Film Convention held in downtown Los Angeles and it was terrific. Tons of actors, directors, producers, writers, and others involved in the independent filmmaking industry are gathering to learn, connect, share ideas, network and generally have great time while doing it. If you have even a passing interest in the fascinating world of film and entertainment, I urge you to look into it. You never know, you just might make a connection that could change your life!

They have tons of workshops, break out sessions, talks and exhibits about everything to do with filmmaking, from acting and writing to financing and distribution. Then in the evening they have a huge party to relax and kick back and hang out with like-minded folks. It runs through this Thursday at the Magic Box at The Reef in Downtown Los Angeles. AFC is filled with dozens of friendly, like-minded folks that are way fun to talk to.

This morning I heard an extremely informative talk by Peter Broderick, pictured to the right, a distribution expert and former attorney. He discussed the ins and outs of the new style of film distribution, where the filmmakers remain in control how and where their work is distributed, as opposed to the old distribution style, where the filmmakers handed over control to a distributor, for better or worse!

My friend Henry K. Priest, a producer, actor, and film expert who is on the Advisory Board of AFC today at the convention. 

A robot dog one of the exhibitors had in their area today at AFC

I'll be returning for the next two days to explore more. For information and tickets to AFC visit americanfilmconvention.com. Enjoy!

Episode 14 is Up!

10/9/2024

Just dropped Episode 14 of A Word with Joy, with more on How to Podcast. An update to our original How to Podcast Episode 5. If you're interested in learning the nuts and bolts of Podcasting 101, here 'ya go! If not, don't say I didn't warn you! awordwithjoy.com

Dick Wybrow

10/3/2024

The latest episode of my podcast A Word with Joy just dropped with Dick Wybrow, pictured above, a radio personality, TV producer and author. Enjoy! awordwithjoy.com

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