2023 – Once More Into the Fray…

I have not been a big fan of the 2020’s on a global and historical level. It’s been a bit of a scary shitshow of a decade so far. On a personal level however, it’s been an invigorating period. In 2023 I managed to get closer to the kind of creative life that I prefer to live, but was elusive to me for some years. There had been flashes of projects here and there through the years; the random art exhibition or acting gig, but I was too occupied with the “rat race” to be fully engaged in my creative life until now. Settling into a new life in Riga, Latvia, I have found the time and space I need to circle back around to unfinished creative pursuits. Maybe this is just a bit of a middle-life crisis playing out to re-embrace the comix, movies and art I was obsessed with as a teenager or maybe it’s a proper second (third?, fourth?) chance to once more live that creative life I had in my twenties, whatever it is I am grateful for the opportunity.

So the year that was 2023 and what did I accomplish? First big achievement was designing a new Weaverwerx logo and website, something that had been on my mind for an embarrassingly long time. I have more plans for the logo; animation, stickers, and more. To go with this new virtual space, I also secured a dedicated physical office/studio, something I haven’t had (outside of regular jobs) in a very long time. The coffee shop or kitchen table was no longer cutting it for a workspace. I need to spread my stuff out. It’s working for me.

COMIX
I finally got back into making comix again after a thirteen year absence. I wrote and drew three new comix stories; “Burls & Gnarls”, “THAT HAT” and “RESPECTO!” and submitted them to various publishers. A British annual anthology called “UGLY MUG” included “RESPECTO!” in their seventh issue, which has also been reviewed and mentioned in a variety of podcasts and blogs. The other stories will be part of the next issue of my own zine “RELUCTANT SADIST”, which was last published in 1989 (no, really), so look for that soon!

ACTING

I registered with a few of the local casting agencies and picked up my first three paid European acting gigs this year including my first bit of ADR work on the feature film “Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie” and a great role as an 18th century professor for an upcoming episode of the German TV show “Terra X” about Laura Bassi, the the first woman to have a doctorate in science. I also had the lead role in a student film called “The Road” that I have yet to see.

ART

My artistic output last year was focused on drawing, lots of drawing, more than I’ve done in years. I also was hired to paint two murals. The first one was at an annual international art exhibition in Riga called "SurvivalKit" and the second was at the National Library of Latvia (Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka), both for the Latvian alternative comics publisher kuš! komikss.

FILM

I completed one music video project called “Space and Darkness” in collaboration with my friend Neil Bruce (Light B4 Sound). We have another project in the works, so stay tuned.

One final note, this post’s title is a quote from the film “The Grey” and was written by the director Joe Carnahan. Here’s the full quote that the protagonist played by Liam Neeson uses a mantra to keep going despite a bleak future, “Once more into the fray, into the last good fight I’ll ever know. Live and die on this day, live and die on this day”. That is on the wall next to my desk and will be my mantra for 2024. Never stop fighting for your creative soul.

OK HW

My Life as a Village Person on The Walking Dead: World Beyond

Happy Friday! This week's creativity post is about my time on the set of The Walking Dead: World Beyond season two as an extra playing one of the "Village People" in The Perimeter. I worked on and off from February through the beginning of June of 2021, getting about a week's worth of production days and lots of COVID-19 testing appointments, as the production had a rigorist safety protocols to protect the cast and crew, which gave me peace of mind. 

Nicolas Cantu (Elton) reflecting as Herbie and I take a walk...
copyright AMC Productions

I've done a bit of acting in the past, once as an extra on "The Box" (2009) and a couple of independent features, "Cold Readings" (2004) and the lead role as Happy Walter, in "Happy Walter" (2007). I've had one acting class some years ago and really enjoyed it, so have decided look for new opportunities to act. Now being an extra is barely acting as we are literally considered to be "background", moving props filling in space to make things look more natural, but even so, this show was different as they reused many of us to provide some background continuity. I found the gig through Kendall Cooper Casting after some friends saw a local TV news report that they were casting for WDWB, so I submitted my info and was surprised to hear back the same day with an offer to be a "back-up extra", which consisted of getting tested and being ready for production on short notice. After a short time, I was upgraded to an extra and started getting set calls. Anyone who has done this kind of work knows that it's not as glamorous as most people think as there is a lot of waiting around for shots to be lit and rehearsed and often only a few of us would get used in the shot while the others stayed in the holding area. There were a couple of newbie extras who were bored and complained and never came back, I guess it wasn't their cup of tea. For the rest of us, it was wonderful just being on set and getting to learn about production. There were some small moments to interact with the principal actors and found them all to be respectful and encouraging of us background folks. I'm particularly pleased that I'm in a shot with Nicolas Cantu as he and I had a small chat early on in the testing line and after that whenever we crossed paths,  he always gave me a friendly greeting. Another good memory was standing around a campfire at two in the morning trying to keep warm in the sub-freezing February night chatting with Nico Tortorella. One production day begin with Jelani Alladin high-fiving all the background actors and sharing his positive, pumped-up energy. And the last one I'll share was Pollyanna McIntosh greeting us with, "Good morning hard-working background actors!". All kind and generous gestures that were not necessary, but were noticed and made those long production days better. 

In the end, the best takeaway from this experience was meeting and getting to work with so many cool, creative and interesting people, some of whom have become friends. Great to work with Herbie, T.K., Rob, Josh (The Super-PA's), Bernard, Simmie, Barefoot Joe, Catlin, David, Ahmad, Andrew, Patrick, Diana, Rayleen, Brian, and I know I'm forgetting some folks, so all the other extras and crew too!

Here's a short clip of my big moment from episode three! 

(note - short clip, no audio - copyright AMC Productions)

Night Vision

"Night Vision" was my second student film made as a final project for Film Making 102 at TCC Virginia Beach. This time we had to edit and have sound. This was back in the late 1980s, so editing meant physically cutting the film and using either tape or cement splices to join the new pieces. If you made a mistake, you were screwed, especially if you were working on your only copy of the film as all the students doing this project were. There was no "undo", no easy to make digital back-up. You rolled the film back and forth in the moviola and thought very carefully about the artistic choice you were about to make because there might not be any going back. Of course it was easier to think back then because there wasn't the consistent interruptions of Facebook or e-mail or cell phones, etc. The sound was accomplished by laying down all the music and dialogue to cassette tape and playing it back while projecting the film. It was closer to performance art, then cinema.

The original story of "Night Vision" was taken from an underground comic book that I published for awhile called "Reluctant Sadist". I had a ready made story already storyboarded so that gave me a big head start for this project. I also had an advantage in my then room friend and long time friend Colin Martin as he was (still is) a gifted musician and willing to take a run at acting, so I also had a star and music composer in house. Colin played "Sam" the nightmare-suffering lead and I took on the role of "Speed", his less-than-helpful, hyperactive roommate donning the hair farm. We shot all the interiors in our apartment with the black & and white dream sequences shot in and around the abandoned waterfront warehouses (long since torn down for luxury condominiums) in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. I couldn't afford the time or money for black white film, so I hit upon the idea of shooting the dream sequences on video, then filming them off the TV screen. This also allowed me to play with the brightness and contrast to give the footage a more dream-like quality. The final touch was looping the dialogue and Colin's fantastic music. As I recall, the student audience responded very well and the teacher was thrilled. Ah, glory days....

OK HW

The Last Piece

I recently dug out some old film and video projects I did way back in the 1980s and transferred them to the digital realm. This first one, "The Last Piece" was a final project for a filmmaking 101 class I took at Tidewater Community College. Originally it was an in-camera edit and I got an A, mostly because you could actually tell what was going on. A lot of folks' films were very dark and out-of-focus. One was even completely black, but that student had dropped out, so we all speculated that maybe he was making a statement. I eventually transferred mine to video and added the soundtrack by playing "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" soundtrack and voicing all the dialogue and sound effects. I also tightened up the editing just a bit and fixed one axis crossing mistake.

I had some good help getting this thing done. My sister Shyla ran camera and my good friend John Verhulst played one the pizza duelists. I was the other. Sadly, John passed on last year much too early at the young age of 45. As far as I know, this is the only film (or video) shot of him. He was quite a wild man in his day and looked good with a gun belt on even if it was a toy. Here's to you my friend. You are missed and remembered. OK HW

 

Background for "The Box"

Last month a big time Hollywood production was using NASA Langley as a location. The film, "The Box", is Richard Kelly of "Donnie Darko" fame's latest and is based on a Richard Matheson story about a couple that receive a mysterious box. There is one button on the box and instructions explaining that they will be gifted with one million dollars if they push the button, but someone they do not know will die. The film expands on that theme in ways that, for the moment, are under wraps , but what we do know is the story takes place in the 1970s and the lead character, played by James Marsden, is a NASA scientist. Richard Kelly choose NASA Langley for a location because his father worked there in the 70s as a researcher.

A call went out for extras, especially men with long hair and sideburns, so I threw my application in and landed one day of work playing a member of the press. Instantly I envisioned getting a tiny, but nevertheless, critical speaking bit and hobnobbing with the stars. I was ready for my close up.

The first taste of Hollywood was the costume fitting. On the application we had to fill-in all of our measurements, many of which I had no clue (hat size?) and had to have my wife break out the tape measure. The day of the fitting, I arrived, filled out more paperwork and was handed a suit matched to my size (sort of). It was a fine polyester relic from a simpler time and fit me like a glove, a small, rubber glove that only allowed for some breathing and movement. I joked with the costume person that I hoped my character didn't have to do any action scenes or even bend over quickly, as the suit was likely to explode at the seams. She failed to see the humor in that idea and assured me that I would probably be standing still.

For shoot day, we were warned that it could go as long as fourteen hours and with an 11 am start time that would mean up until 1 am. I arrived a little early and was glad I did as there was quite a large throng of folks there all ready for their fifteen seconds of fame. The extras were herded into a gym that was the holding area. First order of business was to check in, fill out more paperwork, get your costume, then get into the very long hair and make up line. While making my way through this obstacle course, I ran into an old friend, Tom Nuckols, who had caught the extras bug while working on the HBO series "John Adams" and jumped at the chance to further his craft when he heard about "The Box". Here's a shot of Tom and I, a picture that always makes me think, "would you buy a car from these men?". Tom said that he modeled his 70s look after Tony Orlando and I think he nailed it.

Tom had worked on "John Adams" for weeks and had played a variety of background characters. He knew the ins and outs of the extras scene and helped me navigate my way through the maze. He was through hair and make-up and sitting down eating a doughnut, while I was still trying to shimmy into my threads. I waited for a couple of hours in the hair and make-up line only to get to the end and receive no make-up and just a comb pulled through my hair. After seeing lots of other extras, especially the women, getting really cool hair-do's, I was a tad disappointed, but that's show biz.

We waited for a couple of hours before anything happened , snacking from the craft table and meeting other extras. I was surprised at the number of NASA people there, lots of closet actors on center. The first scene requiring extras, or "background" as we were referred to, was an outdoor scene showing scientist arriving at a building. Tom and loads of 'scientist' extras were herded away and not soon after it began to rain. HARD. After a couple of hours, they all came back soaking wet.

More soon....

Happy Walter Gets Cred and More

Happy Walter has gone legit with an official IMDB listing. That gives me my second acting credit, may have to get a head shot and pay the money to post it there. IMDB is the standard and the first place people go to research films and filmmakers. Folks know you're "for real" if they find your work listed there, so this will only help Zoje in her efforts to get HW screened else where.

Speaking of which, the other big HW news is the film has also been accepted into the The Directors Chair Film Festival (Oct. 4-7) at Staten Island, NY. Apparently they screen the festival selections on Staten Island Community Television, so for those in that part of the world you wouldn't even have to venture out of your house to attend the festival. Not sure if I'll be able to attend, but I will try and hit it if possible.

OK HW

Happy Does NYC

Happy Walter had it's second public screening at the Two Boots Pioneer in Greenwich Village in the fair city of New York. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but Zoje Stage, the fearless writer/director of HW was on hand and recounts the experience on her own blog. It sounds like it was a fine time and congrats to Zoje for the getting some attention from a production company. I am still working on getting a screening here in Virginia and will post with the news ASAP.

OK HW

Vimeo

I recently found this cool site to upload video clips called "VIMEO". It's slightly different from YouTube in that the posted clips have to be original, no old TV shows or clips from Hollywood films. VIMEO clips lean more towards the "Artsy-fartsy" end of the scale which is fine by me. So far I have posted "ZANK" and the trailer for "Happy Walter" and "ZANK" has really taken off with 427 "viewings" (the quotes are because I don't know what constitutes a viewing, clicking on the page? clicking the play button? does the video have to run until the end?) in the first two weeks. Compared to YouTube, where "ZANK" was uploaded four months ago and has only been "viewed" 127 times. I'm afraid the HW trailer hasn't caught on much yet with the either site with only 3 viewings on VIMEO and 9 on YouTube so far. Check out the clips:





ZANK from Weaverwerx on Vimeo







"Happy Walter" trailer from Weaverwerx on Vimeo


OK HW

Happy Walter to screen in the city that never sleeps...

Recently got word from Zoje that "Happy Walter" will be screening NYC in June. For those who haven't been reading along up till now, "Happy Walter" is Zoje Stage's feature length mocumentary about a famous, fictional artist named Happy Walter. I played the lead. Here's more information on the screening from the last Masterbuilder Films newsletter.

=========================================================

My feature film HAPPY WALTER will be screening at the
Two Boots Pioneer Theater in New York City - Monday,
June 25 @ 7pm!!!

This is my first ever theatrical booking (as opposed
to a fest or screening series) and as such I need to
grow my own audience. PLEASE COME OUT and see the
film - it promises to be a fun time!

Please forward this email to everyone you know, and
please ask them to forward it to everyone they know -
especially if they are in NYC and/or love independent
film! If you have a website or blog - or know anyone
who has a website or blog - please post there as well.

The Pioneer Theater strongly prefers that people buy
their tickets ahead of time:
http://www.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=98786
In fact, if 94 people buy tickets within the next week
I will be guaranteed a second showing of the film!

ABOUT THE FILM:

HAPPY WALTER (79 minutes): The daughter of an
eccentric Andy Warhol-meets-Homer Simpson artist tries
to reconnect with her wayward father in this
mockumentary about art, fame, and dysfunctional
families.

For more info:
http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer/#HappyWalter

============================================================

She has also cut a trailer for the film that I have posted over on Vimeo and, of course, on YouTube, check it out:

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:193992

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imzv2IUmVtw

Spread word and let's try and fill all those seats.

OK HW

Happy Walter Premiere

Here's where it went down, the first public screening of "Happy Walter" anywhere on planet Earth. Whee-Haw! The Melwood Screening Room is located in a suitably funky and urban part of town, down a street that is more pothole than asphalt. Guess they put all the money into the football stadium. The theater itself has a laidback, academic feeling to it and when we arrived the spacious lobby was packed with folks woofing down the free eats and drinks (as in beer and wine). Zoje and her sister Dev were already there with a group of friends and Pittsburgh-based cast members from HW. A woman I have never seen before walked up to me and said, "Hi, I believe I'm your ex-wife.". This was Vivienne Shaffer, who portrays "Laura Kimball", Happy Walter's first wife and mother of Jr. (Zoje's part). Viv's real husband Frank Carr was there too, also a cast member, he got the plum role of Dave Wisniewski, Happy's childhood friend. I say plum as that character got some of the biggests laughs. Viv and Frank's son, Woody, was there too and when he say me he threw up his hands and yelled, "Happy"! Fun stuff. It was wonderful to finally get to meet some of the other cast members and talk about the film. More and more people poured into the lobby and I was glad to know that the first showing of HW would be for a good size audience of mostly strangers, so for good or for ill we would be able to honestly gauge how it would play. The time finally came to get in the theater, which was a decent size room with good seats and an overall homey feel. It reminded me of some of the boutique style movie theaters I've seen in Europe. The lights went down and the opening short film, "The Loves of S.D. Hawkingson." (director Marc Roman Czornij), lit up the screen. It was a good appetizer before the main course as it featured some quirky humor and art was a major plot element, a good compliment to HW. There was a brief Q&A with the director after the short, then on to the main course, "Happy Walter".

What can I say? From the title shot of Happy rolling some toilet paper into the camera accompanied by Joanthan Young's bouncy, hobo guitar soundtrack to the end credits, "Happy Walter" delivered the goods. The audience laughed in the right places and genuinely seemed to be engaged by the story. Overall, I was pleased at how well acted the piece was, Viv and Frank both did a wonderful job, particularly Viv as her character displays a wide range of emotions, which Viv convincingly pulled off. Besides being my first time on the big screen, actually that's not true as I had a very small part in "Cold Readings", a film that played at the Virginia Film Festival, so to be accurate, the first time with a speaking role on the big screen, it was also my wife Janet's. She plays, "Tatiana Chichikova", an art collector and dealer and she made fine work of the cerebral and spacey dialogue, threatening my role as the "family ham". And what of my performance? I'll leave it to others to judge, but I will say that I am proud of the work I did and it makes me want to do more acting. Look out world! I did find it difficult to watch myself at times and it makes me understand now when I've heard actors say that they don't watch their own films. What winds up on the screen is quite different from the experience of creating that moment on set. The illusion on the screen is both a reminder of that moment, but also, for me seems to lessen the purity of my own memory. The two illusions collide in a weird way , and I felt caught between the two. I got to say that I feel real damn lucky that Zoje gave me this shot, trusted me with such a big role and gave me such useful direction. Where I see other folks try, she has succeed and my hat is off to her. Well done my friend.

So what's next? I hear that HW is being submitted to film festivals and Zoje is working on getting it screened in Rochester, where most of the cast lives. Somewhere down the line, I hope the DVD is available for folks to buy and I'll certainly be posting that news if/when it happens.

And for me, well I've recently found an acting school in my town and I think it's time to get more serious about this acting thing. I would love to do a Sci-Fi or Horror flick, so you never know.

Stay tuned.

OK HW

I'm Big in Pittsburgh...

In anticipation of the premiere screening of "Happy Walter" this coming Tuesday (March 13, 8pm), there is a friendly article in The Pittsburgh City Paper. Read Article. Is this the beginning of fame and fortune? Shall I quit my day job? Nahhhh, but it's a real hoot to be part of the buzz and it should help with turning more folks out that night. One minor correction to the story, Bill O'Driscoll refers to Zoje's character as "Happy Walter IV", actually she portrays "Happy Walter Jr.".

OK HW

"Happy Walter" Coming Soon to a Theater Probably No Where Near You

"Happy Walter" is headed for a big screen premiere in Pittsburgh, Pa. of all places. Zoje Stage, the writer/director/actor/producer/editor/etc of "Happy Walter" has a strong connection to the town and has shown work before through the Film Kitchen organization. I lifted this from the Master Builder newsletter:

"The main news I have to report is that my
feature-length mockumentary HAPPY WALTER will be
screening at Film Kitchen (Pittsburgh, PA) on March
13. Reception with free food & beer at 7pm, followed
by the movie at 8pm -- all at the Melwood Screening
Room in Oakland. "

My wife, who also has a small acting role in the film, and myself will be making the drive up that day to attend the world premiere. I'm really excited to see the final cut, I've only seen a few bits and pieces and I'm also looking forward to visiting Pittsburgh for the first time. We'll only be staying the one night unfortunately, but I have my sight-seeing priorities and plan on paying a visit to the Monroeville Mall. Now I'm not a mall guy, in fact go out of my way to avoid those places, but Monroeville Mall has history as it was the shooting location for the original "Dawn of the Dead". As a teenager, my friends and I would catch DotD whenever it played at the midnight movies on the weekend. You see this was back in the pre-video days where if you wanted to see a particular film, you had to either catch in the theaters or on TV were it was heavily edited and if Dawn of the Dead ever was shown on TV back then, it would have been about 12 minutes long. I'm sure there's lots of great stuff to see in Pittsburgh, but I'll be checking it out after I go to the mall.

OK HW

The Happy Wire

photo courtesy of Master Builder Films copyright 2006

More "Happy Walter" news. Zoje, the director, has finished the film and has been submitted to the following film festivals: Sundance, SXSW (Austin, TX), Birds Eye View Film Festival (London), Silver Lake Film Festival (Los Angeles), and The World of Comedy International Film Festival (Toronto). Best of luck (sorry, couldn't resist Z) to Zoje and I'll be anxious to hear which festivals have the intelligence and fine taste to program this little gem. Would you like to get a little sneak peak of the flick? Well now you can, as the first two clips have been posted on The Master Builder Films web site.

Clip One is a brief introduction to Happy Walter. Note; yours truly created the magazine covers that trace Happy's career.

Clip Two is a chase sequence. Who is chasing whom and why? Well, that's where the drama part comes in. Watch the clip and decide for yourself.

More news as it becomes less available...

OK HW

Happy Days are Here Again

Zoje Stage, the writer/director of "Happy Walter", has recently
updated the HW production blog, check it out:

Masterbuilder films blog

Quite a nail biter of an entry there, but all (so far) ends well.
Computers have made some tasks much easier and cheaper then before, film/video work being a perfect example. It's amazing to me the amount of control and power a computer gives one when it comes to
creating a movie and once you have the essential equipment and software, your major financial costs are covered and then it's just a matter of coming up with the idea and finding some actors (both tasks
easier said then done). Zoje just got a taste of the other side of technology, when computers go bad and all the ones and zeroes spill all over the floor, it's a shocking reminder of just how dependent we have all become on those glorified toasters. Unfortunately, we got the wolf by the ears now and it's hard to go back, but when the power goes off, what will we do without our Google?

OK HW
--

Swinging the Hammer

Tangled up in blue? Why am I blue? Hammer, please don't hurt'em. Wha?

So why am I blue and swinging a hammer. That's me acting in a indie feature called "Cold Readings" IMDB listing that premiered at the Virginia Film Festival back in 2004. Doug Bari wrote, directed and starred in this satirical look at the world of commercial psychics. I had a very small part as a murderous drifter named Bickerman, who (in a flashback, hence the tinting) kills an old man with, you guessed it, a hammer. I also got to do a little voice over work and run the camera a couple of times. It was a fun experience that delivered my first IMDB credit Unfortunately I missed the mentioned premiere as I was living in Ireland at the time and after that I heard nothing else about the project. Recently I contacted actor/writer/director Doug Bari to see what was going on and ask for a copy of the film as I still had not had a chance to see it. A few days later, I had a freshly burned copy spinning in the DVD player. So how is it? Not bad, in fact, much better then many direct to DVD efforts that I have paid to rent or buy. The story is interesting, entertaining with decent photography and generally very fine acting. "Cold Readings" breaks many of the no-budget rules, featuring a large cast and many locations. I wish I could link you to it's Netflix listing so you could check it out for yourself, but as far as I know, "Cold Readings" isn't available, in fact hasn't even been screened again publicly since 2004. And that is a damn shame as it is worthy of a bowl of popcorn. Maybe one day.

OK HW

The Happy Update

The Happy log is rolling along. Talked with Zoje Stage, the writer/director of "Happy Walter" and she was heading off to Pittsburgh to shot the last few feet of Happy tape. Zoje is on a tight, high pressure deadline to get the thing finished so it will be ready for entry into a well-known film festival. Can't say which one, as this is, as I have to remind myself often, her "baby" and so have to respect which and what news to divulge. At any rate, she has updated the Master Builder web site with some cast shots, check it out:

Master Builder's Happy Walter page

Also, some of you are wondering what old Happy Walter is all about, so I've copied the synopsis from Zoje's site for you to read here:

Happy Walter is an artist renowned for making temporary sculptures out of toilet paper and art films featuring unmoving images. Though he is revered in the art world, the thirteen children who bear his name have rarely spoken with him. Wanting a father - and an explanation for his inexplicable success - Happy Walter, Jr. conceives of a documentary that gives her not only access to her father, but to his self-declared experts as well. The results: a hilarious look at a man who unintentionally spins straw into gold, and the eccentric array of people who don't - and do - see him as a naked emperor.

Lots of stuff to chew on for sure.

To the future-

OK HW

Happy No More

Finished my acting commitment to the "Happy Walter" project. This was the third Sunday in a row of shooting and I'm sad it's over as I was getting used to putting on the wacky clothes and slipping into Mr. Walter's skin for a few hours. Zoje Stage, the writer/director of this flick really made it easy for me, exhibiting buckets of patiences and providing lots of guidance to help me be "Happy". She's a great person to work with. I salute you Zoje! I haven't seen any of the footage yet, actually avoided watching any of the dailies while we were shooting as I feared seeing myself being "Happy" might throw me into a self-conscious zombie meltdown the next time I had to be on camera. Now that I have finished my bit, I'm going to check out some of the footage later this week. I got to say that I've really enjoyed getting to take on such a substantial and colorful role. It was a good opportunity to stretch my acting legs and see what I could really do. I feel satisfied with the work that I did, satisfied because it has fed a part of my creative soul that has gone hungry too long. I am at my best when I'm creating something, when I'm stepping into the arena and accepting the challenge of simply living my life as close to my true nature as I can.

zahdah

OK HW

I AM HAPPY

Today was the first day of production for "Happy Walter". I was pretty nervous as this was the biggest acting gig I have ever attempted and I had a fair chunk of dialogue to work with today. I worked hard to know my lines and it paid off when the camera rolled I was able to deliver the goods. It was a great way to begin the production. We had some minor drama early in the day when we were politely ejected from what we thought was a public park but turned out to be private property for an institution that will remain nameless. It probably provided the old security a good opportunity to use the golf cart and drive out and "handle a situation", though to his credit, he was respectful and patient. Hopefully that will be the last of the reality intrusions to the shoot, but you never know. Back to my lines studying lines.

OK HW

Who is Happy Walter?

This is the biggest film making news that I've had to share in a long time. I've been invited to play the lead role in a film called "Happy Walter", a Master Builder Production written and directed by Zoje Stage. Here's the official announcement from Zoje's site:

"- I am currently in production on a new feature-length film, a mockumentary called "Happy Walter"!!! Hal Weaver stars in the leading role, along with more than a dozen other Rochester & Pittsburgh residents (shooting will take place in both cities). The film will feature original music by Jonathan Young. This is a very exciting time for us! Check the website for more info."

I don't want to give anything away, but it's a cool idea with plenty of room for humor, commentary on the art world and dissection of Daddy issues. I'll keep you posted as more details come to light. Maybe Zoje will let me post a clip or two up here. I'm really looking forward to having another acting role and this one is the biggest yet. Although I have had a little acting experience (heck I even have an IMDB credit page), I'm glad that Zoje has an acting background and will be able to coach me if I start ACTING too much (gotta keep my Shatner under control).

OK, nuff said. I got to go practice being Happy.

OK HW