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SPRING 2004
MOVING TO HAWAII
Yeah, believe it or not, after months of job searching in Chicago and LA it became quite clear that it’s a tough marketplace in the entertainment industry right now. Then Hawaii came along. In the span of two days I got two full-time job offers. The one I am going to accept is at Film Works Pacific, the only full production company on the islands (as far as handling their own ideas from conception, sheparding them through production, post production, and distribution). Primarily they create original documentaries, but they have also produced their own television pilots.
filmworkspacific.com

I have been put into the best position to fully utilize my talents. I primarily will be an editor and writer, but I will also assist with production. I will also have the honor of working alongside Edgy Lee, who has won multiple awards including being the New York Film Critic’s Association’s pick for best editor.

WORLD’S SCARIEST MODEL TRAIN WRECKS – FESTIVAL PREMIERE!
A few years ago, John Champion & Les Muntz had an idea to spoof police chase shows by getting a bunch of toy trains, wrecking them and filming the results. This short film sat on a shelf collecting dust after I completed an initial in edit 2000, but now it's going to the Hawaiian Digital Film Festival.

Over the last several days, Ryan Myers, John and I have been giving this short the "director's cut" treatment in preparation for the Hawaii premiere, and you can get a sneak peak before the festival! Crank up the speakers, and enjoy. Send it to your friends.
http://homepage.mac.com/doubleo/iMovieTheater9.html

SLIMPICTURES.COM PICKING UP SPEED
Ever since the Slim Pictures web site was remodeled and expanded it’s been getting quite a number of visitors. In January we accumulated over 10,000 hits for just the second time followed by 10,800 in February. Initially I credited this to the particularly harsh winter we had (keeping people in doors and online). However, the following month we broke our record with over 15,200 hits in one month.

Currently we are on pace to surpass 10,000 hits for the fourth straight month. Most people find the site while searching for information on ghosts or stand up comedy.

ZANIES COMEDY NIGHT CLUB
Due to the upcoming move, sadly, my second stint at Zanies Vernon Hills came to a close. The manager, Liz Long, has got to be the best boss I’ve ever had, creating more of a family environment between coworkers than I’ve ever experienced before. Being involved of the wealth of talent in the Chicago comedy scene was also a major plus. Check out www.zaniesvernonhills.com for more – in the coming weeks they’ll have Dom Irrera, Robert Schimmel, Judy Gold and Otto & George. Also check out the comedy section of slimpictures.com for some great pictures – more pictures added regularly.

WEB SITE OF THE MONTH - theunexplainedworld.com
Ed Shanahan has put together “The Unexplained World,” a pretty fun web site and local (Chicago area) television show on ghosts in Chicago. He recently had me as a guest on his show to promote my book (Voices from the Chicago Grave). For those of you who own the book you may recognize his name as he contributed stories and pictures to it. He has shown great enthusiasm in helping this book become a success.

Check out his site and if you haven’t gotten one yet, learn more about my book here: www.slimpictures.com/ghost.htm

MUSIC
I’m proud to say I’m a music geek. A new feature that I think I’ll start is identifying the next big acts in music. Joss Stone, a young European soul singer is currently becoming a fan favorite on VH1. Unfortunately, due to the genre of music she plays, her marketability may be limited (as Johnny Lang is to blues), but her talent is limitless. Next, Katy Rose has a poppy sounding first single, but her life story has lead to lyric writing on par with the first Tori Amos albums.  If the public finds her, she'll be around for a long time. Finally, The Ghettobillies have got to be the most funny rock band in existence, however they are largely unknown outside of the Midwest and Europe (odd mix, huh?). The Ghettobillies are the cover story on the web site, so check them out at slimpictures.com.