Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Production Update - June 29, 2011

Good evening...  (Now just imagine that as if Bela Lugosi or Vincent Price said that.)

Just wanted to give you all an update as to what was going on with the pre-production of Late Nite Creature Feature.  We are working hard on costuming and writing, so to say we are out of Development Hell and neck deep in Development would be accurate.  We've been meeting often and the ideas we have, as influenced by the movies we've selected already to show, are truly hilarious.  Our writers cover just about the whole of the comedic spectrum and we're all on the same page as to what we're trying to accomplish to entertain our audience (which hopefully you will be one of them).

With that in mind, the key word we have to focus on is "pre-production".  This is one of the most feared words in any filmed project.  It's a process most of us never had to deal with before, so, therefore, didn't know what it would entail.  As I reported last time, we were still looking for a location.  This past weekend, I was given a possible solution that is truly amazing and would give us so many options that we hadn't thought about before.  The only thing is that we have to delay our filming for a couple months.  That's not detrimental at all because the reason for waiting will definitely be worth it if it all works out!

That means I need to update what the plan will be for episodes.  We will still shoot to premiere in mid October.  My eventual goal would be to debut new episodes on a weekly basis, but that's not a reality at the beginning of the run.  Right now, we're looking at a bi-weekly schedule for new episodes at the most.  As we continue production, that should roll into a weekly schedule down the line.  Still, if all goes the way it appears to be, we'll still get to air two episodes before Halloween which, of course, is prime monster movie time.  So, look for our first episode, The Killer Shrews, and the second, Werewolf of Washington, to premiere in October with more episode announcements to come!

Keep checking back for new  updates as they become available!

Pleasant nightmares and horrible dreams,
Geoff Arbuckle
Your friendly neighborhood Late Nite Creature Feature host 

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Production Update: 6/4/2011

After a brief vacation, I thought I'd update everyone on what's happening with Late Nite Creature Feature!

Right now, the crew is looking for a location to shoot.  We've been in contact with a particular theater in Shelbyville, IN.  Ultimately, it would be ideal to be able to film inside an actual theater since that's really the setting for our haunted, and haunting, hosts.  However, using a real theater comes with a few negatives along with all the positives.  While the theater is very excited about working with us, not to mention what kind of exposure we offer them, our production would be rather low on the pecking order.  My hopes of having access for a few hours every other week during weekends isn't all that likely.  They would need to have staff there with us, there are bills to pay, and so on.  Nothing too terrible, but it puts some things into perspective a little better.

So, our crew is assembled, our costumes are pretty well set, the characters are coming into clear view, and we know a lot about what we are wanting to do and accomplish, but there are still some challenges we still need to conquer, aside from doing this on as little money as possible.  Once that last piece falls into place, we're ready to set sail!

I can give you a bit of a heads up about what is coming down the pike.  We're looking to have a pilot online by the end of July.  I'd like it to be out there as early as possible, so we can build interest, and give everyone out there a taste of what to expect, but, of course it still comes down to having a location.  Come early to mid October, we will kick the series off in its regular schedule.  We're still weighing the possibility of whether this can be a weekly series out of the box, or if we need to go to a bi-weekly schedule for a bit until a catalog of episodes has been built.  So, we're definitely on our way!

What are we looking at for the movies that we're launching the series with?  Our pilot will be The Killer Shrews.  When the series starts in earnest, we'll premiere with the 1973 classic Werewolf of Washington.  What will come after the series premiere?  You'll know soon enough!

Lastly, I have to say we've got some great ideas for our skits woven into the movies.  We've got so many great people working on this.  Our production meeting this evening was full of so much laughter and camp and puns that the excitement for this to all get going is even larger than it ever had been.  I'll look to continue give updates as the production crew nears the premieres of the pilot and the first, "true" episode of the series.