About Me
For those who don't know, here is some things about Mind-Films
Productions (to the best of my memory):- The name "Mind-Films" comes from sometime around 1985 or so. I
used to imagine full-fledged movie ideas and "present" them to my
good friend Neil Coates and his brother Chip. I would act out every
scene, plunk out the soundtrack music on Neil's keyboard, visualize
the opening credit animations and describe the trailer that would be
on TV. Neil called these ideas my Mind-Films. Chip & Neil always
suggested that I somehow actually make these movies that were so
clear in my head. At the time, I had no means at my disposal.
Although I always dreamed that someday I would.- Around 1988 or so, my friends and I discovered that you could rent
a video camera for a week for about $20.00 (These friends were Jim
Worline, Neil Coates, Don Curtis, Joe Inman, Debbie Thomas and Gregg
Hart.) We would take turns keeping the rented camera at each
other's houses until the week was up. Using this rented camera, we
produced some goofy sketches and at least 2 complete story ideas.
("Awesome Man" and our "Dragnet" parody). Gregg Hart supplied
keyboard music for a soundtrack. We compiled all of these items
onto one video tape and called it "Video Fun". This was the first
ever Mind-Film.- Sometime later, we compiled enough additional sketches to fill a
second tape and called it "Video Fun 2". Although, some of our
favorite footage was lost during the time I moved from my parents
house to Monroe & beyond. Jim Worline and I taped tons of top-notch
comedy when we would spend the night at each other's houses. This
footage too was lost/recorded over. This seemed to be a repeated
problem. We weren't very good at labeling tapes back then. It was
around this time that I created the official Mind-Films Productions
logo at my job as a graphic artist with a defunct company called
Micro-Graphics.- During the 90s, I began writing down a lot of these Mind-Film
ideas. I kept a list of the titles and a brief synopsis of each
story. These early stories were mostly Star Wars rip-offs and
later, Indiana Jones rip-offs. But hey, you gotta start somewhere.
Some of these early titles were: "The Blades of Kharmo Tharn", "The
X-13", "Earth: The Movie", "Sumaka Tar'in", "Like a Diamond in the
Sky", "The Pull of Gravity", "Q-Squad", "Splinters of
Glass", "Freelancer", "Signals", "The North Side of
Hell", "Bingo's", "Wedding Bells" "Eons" and "Traveling Light".- As my tastes matured (yeah, right) I began to make-up more and
more comedies. (Although I have never stopped imagining sci-
fi/fantasy films.) Around 1994-95 I got my first video camera. It
was a Sony that my parents bought for me for Christmas. Jim Worline
and I were sharing an apartment in Belleville at the time. Jim also
had just aquired a video camera. We had grand plans of making
movies every day. But we were both very lazy. Me more than Jim,
honestly. We taped a few sketches that were actually very good. We
then promptly accidently recorded over them.- Don Curtis and I wrote & directed a sketch comedy show at Monroe
County Community College called "It's a Mad World After All".
Portions of the sketch show featured short videotaped segments that
were truly the highlights of the show. The show featured John
Pasko, Ronda McHenry and Gregg Hart (who provided live music). The
video segments further fed my desire to make real movies.- Liz and I were married in 1995. We lived in an apartment in Ann
Arbor. It was here that I began to really pursue the idea of making
a movie. AFI (The American Film Institute) was having a film/video
competition. They were looking for videos that were 20 minutes in
length. It was free to enter so I began working on a short film for
submission. The idea was one that I was going to turn into an
illustrated booklet back in the 80s, but never got around to it.
(Dang laziness stricks again). It was originally called "Spanky the
Squirrel: Cartoon Stunt Double".- "Spanky" was to be about the missadventures of an ambitious
squirrel who was the stunt double for Bugs Bunny. I had drawn up
some simple sketches and a basic storyline then tossed it into
my "Idea Box" (a metal box in which I throw nearly every half-baked
creative idea I've ever had). It remained in that box until the AFI
competition sparked my memory of it.- In 1998, I re-worked the idea of "Spanky" and it became "I Was a
Cartoon Stunt Man" (aka, "The Delbert Birchfield Story"). The cast
included Joe Inman, Lauren Pillarelli and John Pasko. Here's where
the Delbert name came from: I have two distant relatives in
Kentucky. One is Blackie Birchfield and the other is Delbert
Browning. They are somehow related to me through my grandparents.
To the best of my memory, I have never met them. But their names
are forever associated with the first OFFICIAL Mind-Films
Productions project, "I Was a Cartoon Stunt Man" a mockumentary
about Delbert Birchfield. I called upon my friends to help and the
cast assembled quickly.- After being rejected from the AFI contest, I had been severely
bitten by the moviemaking bug. I submitted "Delbert" to Ann Arbor's
public access TV station where it continues to periodically run
today. Next, I began to mine story ideas and concepts from my Idea
Box and turn them into screenplays. The next was "The Bastards
Called Me Smootches" featuring myself, Troy D. Sill and a puppet.
This film (also a mockumentary) was submitted, and rejected by, the
AFI contest the following year.- In 1999, I wrote a screenplay called "Bill's Imaginary
Tale". "Bill" was the most ambitious project I had ever attempted.
I utilized equipment at Ann Arbor's public access TV studio to
professionally edit it. I asked musician Dean Houser to provide
music as he was dating my good friend Lauren Pillarelli. I created
promotional materials and professional graphics for the VHS cover
box and soundtrack tape. The cast consisted of folks who'd worked
on "Delbert" along with new faces, Larry Rusinksy & Sherry
Sidick. "Bill" was yet another mockumentary style movie. (I really
like Christopher Guest's work. "Waiting for Guffman" is pure
genius.)- We moved to L.A. in October of 1999. While there, I never once
picked up my video camera.- We moved back home to Michigan in October of 2001.- In 2003 I wrote and filmed another mockumentary called "Excused
from Gym" (EXFROG). The first Mind-Films Production that featured
my wife Liz in a leading role. Clocking in at 1 hour in length, it
was the longest project we had done yet. The cast grew again and
now featured "cameos" by family members and friends short on time.
(Cathy Brown, Liz Garcia, Gregg & Renee Hart and Dean Houser all
appear.) It was in the pre-production days of this project that I
re-found Kay Kobylarz (now Kefalas). Kay and I had gone to MCCC
together and lost touch after. 10 years later, she happened to
catch "Bill's Imaginary Tale" On public access and contacted me thru
my email that I included in the closing credits. Now married to
Jason, Kay and I quickly rekindled our previous friendship.- Kay's musician husband Jason and I found we had much in common.
We began exchanging ideas and eventually I asked him to help with
the "Excused from Gym" soundtrack. He and Dean Houser worked
together and created some of the most professional sounding music we
had yet. Jason & Dean both also had cameos in the film and Kay had
a featured role.- As my friendship with Jason grew, so did his interest in helping
with Mind-Films projects. He is now the musical director and
producer for all of our projects. We are now partners in creating
these movies and split the duties as follows: I write 'em &
direct 'em, Jason makes the music and produces 'em and together we
do the "post" work. (Editing, sound mixing, etc.)- In 2004, we completed "Glamorous Prizes". This was our first non-
mockumentary effort. It was shot in one day and with even more cast
members. Wendy Wright, James Kelly and Kris Fox to name a few.- Jason and I ARE Mind-Films Productions. Between the two of us, we have several project ideas in the works.- 2008 marks the ten year anniversary of Mind-Films Productions. We updated our logo for the ocassion and plan to release our latest production, "2298" later in 2008. Gregg Hart is creating a brand new score for the project and it should prove to be our most ambitious project to date.Mind-Films Productions Trivia:- The Mind-Films color scheme of black, white & gray is an homage to
the silent film era.- In every production, there is at least one character who has no
lines. This is also a tribute to the great silent film actors.- Every character's name in "Glamorous Prizes" ("GlamP") is a character name from the original film production of "Planet of the Apes". Including Fran Schaffner who's name is taken from Franklin Schaffner, the director of "Planet of the Apes".- The radio station call letters in "GlamP" are WSLB. Which stands
for Simon LeBon, the lead singer of Duran Duran. The music played
during the news segment on the radio is a re-working of "A View to a
Kill" by Duran Duran, re-worked and performed by Gregg Hart.- The TV studio call letters in "GlamP" are Q-PUB and are exactly
one letter off from POTA, "Planet Of The Apes".- In "Bill's Imaginary Tale", during Lauren Pillarelli's scene, a
drawing of Delbert Birchfield can be seen on the chalkboard behind
her.- In Joe Inman's scene in "Bill", the words "Smootches Lives!" are
seen on the chalkboard behind him.- In "Bill" it is stated that Bill attended the Dave Lavoy Memorial
High School and Ferret Farm. Dave Lavoy is a past co-worker friend
of mine from when I was a bag boy at Foodtown. He and I used to
make up surreal stories about a fictious man named Bill.- Jim Worline was to make a cameo in "I Was a Cartoon Stunt Man".
he was to portray a TV commercial spokesman for "Delbert Birchfield-
Os" breakfast cereal. However we ran out of time and the scene had
to be scrapped.- In "Bill" during the Nee-Whomp music video, John Pasko is wearing
his Delbert Birchfield pajamas.- In "Bill" when John Pasko and I are in bed together (eww), I am
now wearing the Delbert Birchfield pajamas.- The scene in "Bill" in which I am reporting from in a tree took
nearly two hours to shoot. Traffic noises and the fact that we were
near a public pool where children were playing made it nearly
impossible to get good audio.- The names Fingermarks & Smootches from "The Bastards Called Me
Smootches" was a line from the play "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest". (Liz assistant directed the A2 Civic Production and I was an
extra.) The line was in reference to the pane of glass that
separated visitors from the inmates. While cleaning it off, one
janitor remarks "Dang. Sure is dirty. Fingermarks & smootches all
over it."- Don Curtis's segment in "Bill's Imaginary Tale" was shot several
months before anyone elses. In fact, at the time of his
performance, the script was only half done.- The photo of Sidney Thurman's studio in "Cartoon Stunt Man" was
actually my first apartment in Monroe MI.- In "Cartoon Stunt Man", the still photo of Sidney Thurman is
actually Don Curtis. The photo was taken while we were shooting a
video sequence for "It's a Mad World After All".- TV equipment seen between scenes in "Glamorous Prizes" was shot at
Ann Arbor's public access TV studio and inserted in post-production.- The soundtrack to "Glamorous Prizes" is perfomed by The So & Sos.
The So & Sos are me and Jason Kefalas. (http://devoted.to/soandsos)- In 2006, production began on "The Adventures of Spatular" a super-hero spoof about a hero with a magic spatula. The production had to be shut down do to some unforeseen circumstances. Footage from this production still exists as well as props, music and marketing merchandise. The production has since become known as The Lost Mind-Films Project.- A music video was shot for "Glamorous Prizes" and may be seen here:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&am
p;videoid=9146530Visit Mind-Films Productions YouTube site:
http://www.youtube.com/mindfilms
