Just heard from Ed who’s at the The Ranch with Gregg working on the sound mix for Altered. Sounds like everything is going really well. He wanted me to let y’all know about American Movie Classics documentary on The Blair Witch Project airing next week:

Jeff Goldblum hosts Movies That Shook the World: The Blair Witch Project on AMC on Fri., Dec. 9 at 10:00 PM / EST, Sun., Dec. 11 at 10:00 AM / EST, Mon., Dec. 12 at 10:30 AM / EST, and Wed., Dec. 14 at 9:45 AM / EST.

Click here for more info on the show. I don’t know anything about it so I’ll TiVo it, but I think they talked to Ed, Dan, Gregg, Mike Williams and Joshua Leonard so check it out.

Just got informed that ‘Say Yes Quickly’ won Best Feature at the 2005 IndieMemphis Film Festival. That’s all I know for now. More later . . . .

Short notice, I know, but I will be giving a presentation on Branded Entertainment with a focus on interactive storytelling and Alternate Reality Gaming for Ad 2 tonight. Here are the details:

Date: Thursday, August 4
Location: Rhythm & Flow, 2 S. Orange Ave., Downtown Orlando (Between Central Blvd. & Pine St.)
Cost: Free
Time: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Click here to visit their website for more information.

Hope to see you there!

Okay, here is a full credit list for the recently completed “Art of the Heist” campaign I promised weeks ago.

I just want everyone on the list below to know how thankful I am for giving up so much time and creativity to this project.

Titles are often misleading, and in a project like this people jump around and handle a wide variety of tasks. To the best of my knowledge this is complete, but if anyone is missing or wrongly credited please let me know and I’ll change it right away.

First — agency credits. Big props to Jason Musante, who really pushed and fought for this project on the agency side. Without a champion like Jason on the inside, projects that push beyond the boundaries of traditional advertising would never get off the ground.

AGENCY: MCKINNEY + SILVER
Vice President - ROD BROWN
Head of Production - REGINA BRIZZOLARA
Broadcast Production Coord. - THOM HUTCHENS
Director of Communications - JANET NORTHEN
Creative Director - JONATHAN CUDE
Art Director - JASON MUSANTE
Writer - MATT FISCHVOGT

THE ART OF THE HEIST

CAST
Nisha Roberts – NICOLE BARRÉ
Ian Yarbrough – JOE SIKORA
Virgil Tatum – DAVID MEUNIER
Emile Smithson – BEN ROCK
Trent Caldonte - ISAAC C. SINGLETON, JR.
Roger Mestrum - NICK GRANADO
Gunter Banderwine– ANDREW ABLESON
Will Star - WILL STAR

And of course, you — the audience and participants of Art of the Heist!

NOTE: most of the people below also appeared in stills or as voices on the recorded phone calls and messages. I do not, unfortunately, have a complete list for these “cameos.”

STORY/CREATIVE
Original story developed by GREGG HALE, MICHAEL MONELLO, BRIAN CLARK, and STEVE WAX

Director - MIKE MONELLO
Co-Director/Writer - BRIAN CAIN
Writer - JIM GUNSHANAN
Writer - ERNIE LARSON
Creative Director - GREGG HALE
Puzzle Master - DAVE SZULBORSKI
Executive Producer - STEVE WAX
Producer - ILENE RICHARDSON
Production Manager - JENN MANN
Production Coordinator - KEAYR BRAXTON
In-House Production Coordinator - MYKE GERSTEIN
Accounts Payable - RICH CRUZ
Production Manager - RAMON RICARD
Production Manager - LUIS DE LEON

Graphic Artist - MAI CHAN
Graphic Artist - JOE NGUYEN
Graphic Designer - MICHAEL MOREL
Graphic Designer - PAL MOORE
Graphic Artist - JESSICA BERNSTEIN-WAX
Graphic Artist - ALEXI MASCHAS
Graphic Artist - EVAN SEPLOW
Additional Graphic Design - JOSH TULMAN
“Ian’s Music” Composer/Performer - WILL STAR
Image Coordinator - BRANDON BOGAJEWICZ
Production Assistant - VERONICA BAILEY
Production Assistant - ADAM SINGER
Production Assistant - DAWN LEUCHTER

DIGITAL PRODUCTION
GMD STUDIOS
CEO/Partner - BRIAN CLARK
CFO/Partner – TAMMY J. KEARNS
CTO/Partner – ANDREW COWAN
Creative Director - JUSTICE MITCHELL
General Manager - J. D. ASHCROFT
Senior Production Supervisor - JIM RHOADES
Production Supervisor - JAMIE MILLER

Flash Game Development - DAVID KRAFTSOW

MACHINIMA PRODUCTION
FRANK DELLARIO (President & co-founder, ILL Clan)
PAUL MARINO (Executive Director, Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences),
MATT DOMINIANNI (Machinima Director & co-founder, ILL Clan) and team

BUZZ TRACKING
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
PETE SNYDER
SARAH GRACE MCCANDLESS
KRISTEN RUDZKI

EASTER EGG FILMS
WRITER – BRIAN CAIN
VISIBLE MAN PRODUCTIONS
Producer - MATT COMPTON
Producer - MICHAEL CUDDY
Director - BEN ROCK
Writer - BRIAN CAIN
Original Music & Sound - KAYS
Production Coordinator - ANDREA McDOWELL
Office Production Asst. - AARON BILLET

ART DEPARTMENT
Production Designer - FRED ANDREWS
Art Director - RUSSELL M. JAEGER
Prop Master/ Set Dresser - JON HAAZ
Leadman - MARTIN MCCOY
Swing - MARIO OSUNA

ASSISTANT DIRECTORS
1st AD - COLLEEN WASSEL
2nd AD - DAVIS PRIESTLEY
Key Set PA - BRANDON GONSALVES
Production Assistant - JOSH SMITH

CAMERA DEPARTMENT
DP - FRAZER BRADSHAW
2nd Unit DP/ B Cam Operator - MARK ATKINS
1st AC - DANI TSUBOI

CASTING
Casting Director - LEAH STANKO-MAGNUM

CATERING
Caterer - FOUR SEASONS CATERING

COSTUME DEPARTMENT
Costume Designer - KEVER ACKERMAN
Costume Assistant - SHAWNELLE CHERRY

CRAFT SERVICE
Craft Service - LISA LOU COTA

GRIP/ ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT
Gaffer/ Key Grip - ZACK RICHARD
Griptician - AARON PLATT
Griptician - ROCKY RODRIGUEZ
Griptician - NATE YOLLES
Griptician - DUSTIN SANCHEZ
Griptician - RICH BOTCHLET

LOCATION DEPARTMENT
Location Manager - TERRY WONG

MAKEUP/ HAIR
Key Makeup/ Hair - KIMBERLY ECKHOUT

POST PRODUCTION
Editor - TAYLOR MARR
Editor – BEN ROCK

SCRIPT SUPERVISOR
Script Supervisor - SHEA BUTLER
Script Supervisor - KRIS SMITH

SOUND DEPARTMENT
Sound Mixer - WILL HANSEN

SPECIAL EFFECTS DEPARTMENT
SFX Coordinator - MARK KOIVU

STUNT DEPARTMENT
Stunt Coordinator - RUDY WEBER
Utility Stunts - EDDIE FIOLA
Utility Stunts - LORI BROWN
Utility Stunts - TIM”BUBBA” SITARZ

DESIGN FOR VIRGILKINGOFCODE.COM, LASTRESORTRETRIEVAL.COM, AND SD CARD FILES
JUICY TEMPLES
Art Director/Designer/Illustrator - KLAUS HEESCH
Designer/Flash Developer/Ilustrator/Photographer - ANTHONY DELAURA
Designer/Illustrator - AMANDA HUTTON
Designer/Illustrator - ADAM WAUGH
Developer - BILL EVANS
Account Coordinator - HEATHER GOLDEN
Traffic Manager - LISA HEESCH

WEBCASTING
ABACUS VIDEO PRODUCTIONS
Director of Production - GABRIEL GEORGEIAN
Network Engineer - MICHAEL VESPOLI

CHELSEA DIGITAL
Producer - THOR RAXLEN
Editor (FinaleVideo Loop) - LINDA PETERS
Editor (Early Security Cam) - MARK FRANKS

VOICE OVER CALL-IN RECORDINGS
Call-In recorder & editor - KENNY KILFARA
Call-In recorder & editor - JOHNNY RICE

AUDI FORUM BREAK-IN VIDEO
Director - MIKE MONELLO
Writer - BRIAN CAIN
Production Company BUNGALOW 7
Executive Producer - JESSE SCOLARO
Executive Producer - ALLEN BAIN
Executive Producer - DARREN GOLDBERG
Producer - CHRISTOPHER MARSH
AD - BRUCE HALL
Production Assistant - NICHOLAS ALLEN
Production Assistant - STEPHEN BIRDSONG

CAMERA DEPARTMENT
DP - WILLIAM REXER

CASTING DEPARTMENT
EXTRAS CASTING - TONI CONSUMANO

SPECIAL EFFECTS
SFX Coordinator - DREW JIRITANO c/o DJFX
On-Site SFX Coordinator - NEIL RUDDY
Glass Specialist - CAPITOL GLASS & SASH CO.

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator - MANNY SIVERIO
Stunt Double - MARIO GODOI

TALENT
Thug - FRANKLIN ARCHER WHITE

LIVE EVENT PRODUCTION CREW: ATLANTA, GA 04/16/05
Atlanta Coordinator - JOHNNY RICE

LIVE EVENT PRODUCTION CREW: COACHELLA, CA 04/30/05
Coachella Coordinator - DAVIS PRIESTLEY
Event Planner - STEPHANIE MEYERS c/o MVP Collaborative
Production Assistant - TOM HUFFMAN
Technician - DAVE MOORE
Webcasting - GABRIEL GEORGIAN c/o ABACUS VIDEO
Prop (Fake VIN#) - DENNIS CURTAIN PROPS
Wardrobe Supervisor - SHAWNELLE CHERRY
Background Casting - LORETTA SHREVE
Teamster - MIKE BONNISON c/o HOLLYWOOD HONEYWAGON

LIVE EVENT PRODUCTION CREW: E3, LOS ANGELES CA 05/19/05
LA Coordinator - DAVIS PRIESTLEY
Production Assistant - TOM HUFFMAN
Production Assistant - JESUS CAMERON
E3 Contact - GOGI GUPTA
E3 FanCam Operator - JIM FLIS
VH-1 - CHRIS FICARRA

LIVE EVENT PRODUCTION CREW: AFI PARTY, NEW YORK NY 05/25/05
Production Assistant - BRANDON BOGAJEWICZ
Production Assistant - NYIA HAWKINS
AFI Event Contact - MICHELLE SPRANGER
On-Site Audio Editor - ANTONIO AROYYA
Talent Security - TOTAL SECURITY INC.
Event Security - STRATEGIC SECURITY
Teamster - JOE/ JLS WHEELS

LIVE EVENT PRODUCTION CREW: CHICAGO, IL 06/04/05
Chicago Coordinator - OAK PORCELLI
Production Assistant - TONY FAVARULA
Location Scout - DAVE SMALLEY
Boat Owner - CHRIS SAVIDES
Sound Operator - CLARK MICHAELS
On-Site Editor - MICHELLE ORZECHOWSKI
Edit Supervisor - JOE OTTING
Security - JAMES MILLER c/o INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES AGENCY

LIVE EVENT PRODUCTION CREW: FINALE, LOS ANGELES CA 06/29/05
Event Producer - ROCKY BICE
Event Production Manager - JAMES GRAVES
Event Coordinator - HEATHER ELERY
Viceroy Hotel Events Producer - FAWN WEAVER
Art Director - DREW DALTON
Webcasting - GABRIEL GEORGIAN c/o ABACUS VIDEO

EVENT PLANNER
MVP COLLABORATIVE
National Events Manager - MONICA JARVIS
AUDI Event Marketing Manager (WEST) - STEPHANIE MEYERS
AUDI Event Marketing Manager (EAST) - CHUCK TEDRICK
Communications Director - SUSAN SCARLET
Technical Director - SCOTT VACEK
Logistics Manager - SARA ATKINSON

LEGAL
DAVIS & GILBERT LLP
Legal - ASHIMA DAYAL
Legal - HOWARD WEINGRAD

Busy times at Haxan indeed.

Most of you know that anything we touch is going to have a serious internet component to it, whether it’s feature films like ‘Altered‘, or Dan’s webisode project ‘The Strand’. Ever since The Blair Witch Project’s wildly successful website it is what we are known for, of course.

What you may not know, however, is that we also do quite a bit of envelope-pushing interactive narrative work that is sponsored by advertising clients.

Currently, I have a major piece running right now, sponsored by Audi and called ‘The Art of the Heist’.

‘The Art of the Heist’ is a completely interactive story about two art-retrieval experts, Ian and Nisha, caught in mystery surrounding stolen cars and plans for one of the largest art heists ever conceived. The security of their company’s website, Last Resort Retrieval, has been compromised (just click on the box to enter a “name” and gain access to their intranet), and regular people are crawling through their personal files, trying to figure out who is responsible.

Meanwhile, famous video game designer Virgil Tatum is in the process of designing a new game based on Nisha’s real-life exploits, and this most recent adventure is causing him serious trouble.

It’s all being documented on StolenA3.com by a guy who witnessed a strange event in New York last April and has been compiling the known facts as they come in.

There are mysteries to ponder, puzzles to solve, and as an audience member you can interact with the main characters via email or leave a message on their answering service for them. What information you choose to share with them could change the direction of the story, as it has multiple times.

And if you are lucky, you might even get to work alongside Nisha, as many already have in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

If you want to come along for the ride, these chapter synopses are a great place to start. It’s a completely new type of entertainment experience, a hybrid between story and game, really, and since it’s sponsored by Audi it doesn’t cost you a thing to experience it.

I’ll be writing more about these projects right here — one thing you might want to know is how many longtime Haxan collaborators are working on this project, not just Gregg and I from Haxan but also Brian Clark and GMD Studios, Steve Wax and the gang at Chelsea Pictures, Brian Cain, who ran the Freakylinks website back in the day, Jim Gunshanan who worked on the award winning ‘Beta-7′ project we did back in 2003, Ben Rock, who worked on Blair Witch and many other projects too numerous to mention, our pals at Juicy Temples, who have done such amazing work on Altered, and more.

The agency is an excellent group of folks from McKinney+Silver. Projects like ‘The Art of the Heist’ that push the envelope are incredibly difficult, as you can imagine, and they have been really great — their willingness (and that of Audi, of course), to jump into spaces where others fear to tread is what makes projects like this possible.

There are so many more people to name and I will do that in another post, but I hope you take some time to check out The Art of the Heist and let me know what you think.

FROM AN EMAIL, 9-12-03:

Ed,
This is a GOOD one. It is called PROBED and it was written by that Jamie Nash guy who was on the film panel with you in MD.
It is about a group of rednecks who were once abducted by aliens. Years later they manage to catch one and all hell breaks loose. It is really funny, has good suspense and is amazingly sick.
Please make this a priority and read it as soon as you can. This could be a very cool little movie to make.
Jeff

And that’s how it all started. An email from Jeff Johnsen. As soon as I read the script I knew that I wanted to make PROBED. I met Jamie soon after this and he started pumping out new drafts and here we are, less than two years later, three weeks away from principal photography.

Three weeks!

Crazy how things happen. Here’s an official list of the craziness up to now:

PROBED has been changed to ALTERED. We all loved the original title but thought that ALTERED fit better as a horror film title. I think the change was the right thing to do.

ROGUE PICTURES will be distributing the film. This is pretty damn cool since ROGUE and its parent FOCUS FEATURES have both done some of our favorite films in the last few years. SHAUN OF THE DEAD, the new DAWN OF THE DEAD, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, LOST IN TRANSLATION, THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR, MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, 21 GRAMS, THE PIANIST, FAR FROM HEAVEN – these people are on a serious roll! We hope to be part of the continuing rolling effect of ROGUE and FOCUS with ALTERED. I’m not sure that makes sense but you know what I’m talking about.

Gregg Hale and Rob Cowie are producing. Nothing would’ve happened without these guys and it’s amazing how fast we went from just a script to a full-blown production as soon as they got involved. Sure, they’re ugly. One looks like a white ape and the other is as hairless and smooth as any man I’ve seen, but they sure can make things happen.

Mike Monello, Matt Compton and Jeff Johnsen are co-producing.

You all know Mike from the BLAIR days. He’s been a friend and filmmaking partner since film school and is a marketing genius. He’s a really good kisser, too.

You might know Matt from his early days as a rapper when he was called MC WHITEY. His first and only album, NONE WHITER, came out and did nothing. He’s a good guy and a friend and was one of the first people to get involved in ALTERED.

And we all know Jeff Johnsen. Not much more I can say there without incriminating myself and other so-called innocent people and animals.

We have an amazing cast:

ADAM KAUFMAN will play WYATT. Adam blew my socks of on TAKEN. He’s the lead so we definitely needed an actor with “sock-blowing-off” abilities. He’s going to rock my world.

BRAD HENKE will play DUKE. Brad knocked me out at his audition. As soon as he left the room I turned to our casting director LINDA PHILLIPS-PALO and said, “there’s DUKE.” He’s going to have hair-extensions put in so that DUKE can sport a mullet. He won’t be able to take them off while he’s not shooting. I can’t wait to make fun of him.

CATHERINE MANGAN will play HOPE. Catherine is an Orlando native who had to move all the way to LA to get a part in a movie that is shooting in Orlando. She’s so cool as Hope. She’s hot and strong and brought an originality to the role that I didn’t see in anybody else.

PAUL MCCARTHY-BOYINGTON will play CODY. Cody is a really angry character, which isn’t too hard to do for most actors. The key to Paul’s audition was that he brought a sadness to Cody that I didn’t see in any others. I can’t wait for you all to see this guy on the screen.

JAMES GAMMON will play the SHERIFF. James lives close to ORLANDO so we were really happy when he agreed to be in our film. We were really honored that he’d even consider being in our film, really. Check out this dude’s resume if you get a chance. You’ll see what I mean.

MISTY ROSAS will play THE CHARACTER THAT I CAN’T REALLY MENTION. She is an incredible actress/stunt person/gymnast and is going to be crazy as THE CHARACTER THAT I CAN’T REALLY MENTION. Check out her resume on IMDB for a clue to THE CHARACTER THAT I CAN’T REALLY MENTION.

JOE UNGER will play MR. TOWNE. Check out Joe’s big scene in SOUTH OF HEAVEN, WEST OF HELL. You’ll know the scene I’m talking about when you see it.

And last but not least, MIKE WILLIAMS will play OTIS. I offered Mike the part while we were still working on the script so he’s been working on this character for many months now. He’s going to be so cool as OTIS. Can’t wait to see him get his XXXXXXXXXX ripped out.

SPECTRAL MOTION is doing our effects. Not only are these dudes super-talented but they are nice as hell, too. And sexy. Just check out HELL BOY or BLADE: TRINITY or FANTASTIC FOUR (when it comes out) to see some of their amazing work. They’re doing some crazy shit for us. Can’t wait for you all to see it. Hell, I can’t wait to see it, either!

TONY CORA and X are composing the music. Tony did the creepy-ass piece at the end of BLAIR (as well as some of the music for CURSE OF THE BLAIR WITCH) and has partnered up with a mysterious musician who simply likes to be called X. Not much is known about X except his CUBAN ancestry and that he walks with a limp. Actually, X’s name is EXIQUIO TALAVERA and he is Tony’s cousin who lives in LA. It’s going to be cool for them because there’s actually going to be a real movie to score on ALTERED, not just the end credits.

Anyway, enough of this. We’ve got a film to make here!

Keep in touch on the boards. We’ll all check them out whenever we can. Also, check out the ALTERED website for more info. Jeff gets here when shooting begins so he’ll be updating stuff daily, if not hourly, knowing him.

Be good and please wish us luck!