(In the picture below, @alexiskn shows the first and second best uses for my book – as a placeholder for real books, and as the Tobey Maguire to her Joan Allen home.** You can see that it’s already infected that sad-face copy of Lord of the Flies.)
I was on IMDB looking up information on Robert Downey Jr, and came across 2006′s The Shaggy Dog. From the message board:
I saw this movie about six months ago on a field trip. The only reason that I chose this movie was that I only had four options. There was this girl from my group that was laughing every five minutes. Clearly she has no taste. Anyway, did Tim Allen have to be naked? I mean, what is so wrong with a dog with clothes on?
Someone follows up by pointing out that dogs don’t wear clothes. It turns into a heated discussion about who’s more stupid, and the scientific logic of a human turning into a dog in real life, and whether said dog would wear clothes or not.
This all brings me back to late 2004 or so, a time wherein I didn’t have a blog at all, and occasionally did background work in TV and movies.
You see, I spent about two weeks on The Shaggy Dog, and if you listen really closely, you might hear myself and some girl (as “Courtroom Gallery Members”) screaming, “OH F–K!!! WE’RE ALL GONNA GET AIDS!!! AAAHHHH!!!!!” when we were supposed to be “confused and a little surprised” regarding Tim Allen barking in the middle of court.
I’m not actually onscreen there as more than a shoulder, but I did make it in during the restaurant scene, when Kristin Davis is stood up by her naked dog husband. I’m the guy in the v-neck sweater fake-eating salmon. The twist is that I real-ate five plates of that stuff, and that’s because I was hungry.
I’m sure I have a ton of stories like this, but I’ve largely blocked out the +/-6 months I spent doing background actoring – it’s an awful way to spend time, although highly educational with regard to how sets work.
You can also meet lots of girls, and learn the delicate art of not committing suicide after spending a day around little kids who have better careers than you.
I’ll be at the doctor this afternoon, and will do my best to Tweet the entire thing, as mentioned the other day. First person to correctly guess what the appointment is for wins their own colorful and lifesaving copy of PTSA.
**Reading it is actually the tenth best utilization of the book.
(Follow me on Twitter here.)
(Download the first 55 pages of my epic, pretentious, and stupid book, Prelude to a Super Airplane, here – it’s available in paperback, or iPhone/Kindle for only 1.99.)
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by Brian on March 24, 2009
in Actoring,Authors,Books,Brad Radby,Bruce Willis,Cars,Celebrities,Movies,Super Airplane,Will Smith
So this is book number two: Brad Radby’s Brad Radby: The Complete Filmography (1999-2023).
In the spring of 1998, an unknown director named Brad Radby quietly directed his first movie.
Titled The Exploders, it starred Bruce Willis, Will Smith, and Keanu Reeves…and it went unseen for 15 years.
When it was finally released in May of 2013 as Brad Radby’s The Exploders, the film industry was changed forever.
In the years between, Mr. Radby directed thirty-six other movies, before his alleged death aboard the famed Super Airplane in December of 2012.
Inside these pages, in his own words, Mr. Radby walks you through each of these films, giving valuable insights into the stories, and the stories behind the stories.
Brad loves Mustangs.
Brad Radby’s work has touched us all in some way, and he’s finally returned to tell us how he did it.
A few quick facts, although I’m not going heavy into this until the paperback version is available, which should be Monday or so. (The Kindle version is up and running now, for those of you who have one, or like to read on an iPhone/iTouch.)
1) This is a Prelude to a Super Airplane tie-in, but stands completely on its own. BRBR is extremely accessible to anyone, and if you love movies and/or pop culture of the 90s and ’00s, you’ll love this book.
2) If you’ve read PTSA, then you can stop complaining that it left things hanging. PTSA took place in 2012 – Brad Radby’s Brad Radby takes place in 2023, about a month after the ending of Flight of a Super Airplane, which is a book I will never write.
3) Also for PTSA readers – yes, you’re going to read Brad’s full synopsis and production notes for such works as Brad Radby’s Secret Father, Brad Radby’s The Dating Pill, Spacemappers, and all the rest that were mentioned in there, including what exactly happened when Brad took on the Andreanna Marsupial series.
The best thing is that this book is 100% completely free – you can download a pdf or the full html right now, or you can read it in blog format over there, for those of you who find excessive amounts of Brian Spaeth in one sitting a bit too much.
The blog portion will be rolled out piece-by-piece, and nine such pieces are up right now – I’ll be going through each entry starting next week, and you’ll get what’s essentially a commentary track right here. (Don’t worry, this won’t dominate the site – it’ll be an addendum to each post.)
So why am I giving away an entire book for free? I’ll try and explain that sometime, as well.
Anyway, go over to BRAD RADBY DOT COM and muck around – it’s all really simply set-up and nice and such and such, although I am messing with the format on the blog still.
(Follow me on Twitter here.)
(Download the first 55 pages of my epic, pretentious, and stupid book, Prelude to a Super Airplane, here.)
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So one of the cool things about Twitter is the meeting of people.
I’ve been very deliberate about trying to actually build a base of people who I’m interested in, and vice versa, rather than just blast up as many followers as possible.
(I’ll delve into this in my next Twitter-usage update analysis.)
Obviously, fellow filmmakers, writers, and people who do actoring have been high on that list of people-types, and one such person is Alejandro Adams, whose new film, Canary, is debuting at Cinequest Film Festival on March 1st, with another screening scheduled for March 7th.
This is the brief synopsis of what Canary is about, from the film’s website:
Canary is an intellectually daring dystopian thriller set in a not-so-alternate universe in which organ harvesting is commonplace. While a mute organ redistribution specialist stalks unsuspecting citizens of every socioeconomic stripe, a rag-tag news crew investigates various conspiracy theories and inches closer to discovering the cause of epidemic organ failure.
That type of world-next-door sci-fi is just the type of thing I’m into, and we got to talking and such, and so I decided I wanted to ask him some questions for here on the site.
This is not a joke-filled, stupid question interview. (Well, not fully.) It’s also quite long – if you’re into this type of film, or filmmaking in general, or just a conversation with a really interesting guy, dive in after the break.
[Like here is how to read the rest.]
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(I’m interviewing the readership.
The main goal is to never ask the same question twice. If you’d like to be interviewed, please shoot me an email, and I’ll send you 3 questions asap.
Please note if you want/need me to link to your website or whatever, and also if you are one of my stalkers, because if so, I don’t want to interview you.)
1) Ben, like Sam, you are an official Roundie Henchman, and appear onscreen in WSM?. You’re also friends with “Inspired Fan”, Nick Arsena. Comments on the overall experience?
- Fun. (I get to be in a movie! Also, Nick is one of my oldest friends and I had no idea he would be there.)
- Eye opening. (Making movies = boring.)
- Tiring. (Shooting til 4 am while playing basketball with the crew every chance I got.)
- Weird. (Shooting til 4 am while playing basketball with the crew every chance I got… in my old highschool.)
- Thrilling. (Not only did I get to participate in the YAYsports! blog suicide, I also got to be in a movie that will never be released. Who Shot Mamba? is the blogosphere equivalent to Brian Wilson’s Smile.)
- Ultimately frustrating. (Where is said movie? The fact that your book is available before the movie boggles my mind. I’d like to watch this movie I was barely in, please.)
To answer your question, if you go look at the site, you’ll notice that there’s a distinct hole in the credit block. As soon as I’m allowed to fill that in publicly, I can tell you when the movie will be out. (Passwordish hint: Not Home Depot, but…)
Read the rest after the break – it gets longish.
[Like here is how to read the rest.]
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(I’m interviewing the readership.
The main goal is to never ask the same question twice. If you’d like to be interviewed, please shoot me an email, and I’ll send you 3-5 questions asap.
Please note if you want/need me to link to your website or whatever, and also if you’re afraid of ghosts.)
1) Sam, you’ve stated in no uncertain terms that you like questions. How much do you like questions on a scale of 1-10? Justify your answer with facts.
I like questions most of the time, so I’ll say an 8. I always respond to those “answer these things about yourself” or “have you ever” chain mails, and that’s factual.
2) Sam, we’ve actually met before and I’m fingering these questions into my Blackberry while driving – does this frighten you and why?
I’m a little concerned for you, if you don’t post on the blog after I send this e-mail I will suspect you hit a semi-truck and send flowers to your family.
3) Sam, what do you want to be when you grow up, and what kind of chances do you think you have of becoming it?
An A&R in the music business. Or a [person who does actoring]. Neither of the two is likely. I would move out to Cali and act in online shorts with you if my plans don’t go accordingly though. Then all my dreams would come true!
4) Sam, you are one of the 19 actual, official, initiated Roundie Henchman, and appear onscreen in WSM?, during a crucial moment. What are your impressions of what people can expect?
Well, that’s the last time anyone will see me in a film with semi-long hair. I started getting haircuts more regularly after that. People will get to witness my skills of standing, walking, and handing out things, too!
Being that Sam wants to do actoring, and I put him onscreen in a real movie, I am officially a dream-giver.
Thanks for making me that, and for handing Dylan Mooney the most iconic piece of clothing he will ever wear.
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(The following is an excerpt from my book, Prelude to a Super Airplane. It can be purchased by clicking on any of the roughly 400 banners adorning this site, or by clicking here. It’s also available on Amazon.
I’ve posted the first 20 chapters (roughly 55 pages of PTSA) on this site. Links to each of those are at the end of this post, or you can download all of them as a pdf by clicking here.
Wearing my Producer Hat is the hardest, most complex thing I have to do when working in the entertainment industry.
Ironically, there’s a simple reason for this: answering the question “What does a producer actually do?” is nearly impossible, and it’s asked of me more than any other thing.
My dad will ask me this question at least once, without fail, on the rare occasion we speak. My usual answer is, “The producer makes the project happen. He gets it done. Goodbye.” It’s vague, but also the truth.
The Producer Hat is a “no matter what” hat, and usually involves either asking for money to get a project made, or screwing people over. Often both. For example, let’s say you needed a music track for a project, and knew of two composers who could do the job.
The first step is simple in concept, but difficult in execution: you have to get an investor to give you the money you need to fund the production of your project. (Without the project, you don’t need the music.)
[Like here is how to read the rest.]
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(The following is an excerpt from my book, Prelude to a Super Airplane. It can be purchased by clicking on any of the roughly 400 banners adorning this site, or by clicking here. It’s also available on Amazon.
I’ve posted the first 20 chapters (roughly 55 pages of PTSA) on this site. Links to each of those are at the end of this post, or you can download all of them as a pdf by clicking here.
The Actoring Hat is probably my favorite hat to wear in the entertainment industry.
There are lots of reasons for this, but most of them come down to more money, more girls, and more fun. Now, a singularly unique actor is difficult to cultivate, which is why people trying to do actoring should perfect the two techniques I use in my work.
The first of these techniques is to not blink at all after the director screams ‘action’.
The second technique is something I call the “slow head turn to camera, with an angry/confused/amazed-to-be-in-this-situation squint, dramatic and slow head turn”. This isn’t an easy maneuver to execute, but the good thing is you can practice this in your real life, even when you’re not doing your actoring. It looks that natural.
[Like here is how to read the rest.]
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