There is a reason I was named Katie Valentine.  I am one of the few people I know who can claim that middle name.  So, I bring you this, from the bottom of my heart, Tacoma.  I love you.

To let you know, I run Sabotage & Dialogue Productions as my own production company.  But for larger projects, I am a member of Zombie Orpheus Entertainment (ZOE) a Seattle based, multimedia production company.  The other company members are Matt Vancil and Ben Dobyns of Dead Gentlemen.

Our first project, JourneyQuest, is in preproduction.  Location scouts are completed, as are the Seattle area casting calls.  Los Angeles area casting calls are next week.  See the press release below!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

28 November 2009

ZOMBIE ORPHEUS ENTERTAINMENT AND DEAD GENTLEMEN PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCE JOURNEYQUEST: SEASON ONE

From Matt Vancil, writer and director of cult hits THE GAMERS and THE GAMERS: DORKNESS RISING, comes a new fantasy comedy web series, JOURNEYQUEST. Developed and distributed by Zombie Orpheus Entertainment (ZOE), and produced by Dead Gentlemen Productions, JOURNEYQUEST: SEASON ONE will begin production in March of 2010. Free episodes will be released online weekly beginning the following July.

Following a group of dysfunctional adventurers on a quest to discover and destroy the mythical Sword of Fighting, JOURNEYQUEST: SEASON ONE is a comedic adventure through the world of Fartherall, where intellectual orcs, seductive dwarves, lying gargoyles, and holy zombies form the living (and not-so-living) backdrop to an epic story of unrequited love, burning passions, and severely reluctant heroism. And running away. Lots of running away.

In addition to JOURNEYQUEST: SEASON ONE, Vancil will also direct a bonus featurette entitled JOURNEYQUEST: UNDERQUEST, which will be available exclusively on DVD and through several online digital download markets.

JOURNEYQUEST: SEASON ONE will be released online under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike license. Fans will be encouraged to play and create their own stories and art in the JOURNEYQUEST sandbox.

ZOE is partnering with Dead Gentlemen Productions (DGP) and Kairos Productions to create and promote JOURNEYQUEST: SEASON ONE. The show will be featured content at deadgentlemen.com and throughout DGP’s online syndication network.

JOURNEYQUEST is executive produced by Ben Dobyns and Matt Vancil, produced by Jeremy Spray and Kat Ogden, co-produced by Cornelia D. Moore, and the Production Manager is Elizabeth Heile. It will be shot entirely in the Pacific Northwest.

ABOUT ZOE:

ZOE develops and distributes original web content directly to fandom, including especially the fantasy, science fiction, and horror markets. By focusing on building long-term relationships with core fans, ZOE aims to establish a model of sustainable independent filmmaking outside of the studio system. The company is also developing a modern steampunk web series entitled STROWLERS.

ABOUT DG:

Dead Gentlemen Productions is a group of filmmakers with roots in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Their recent film, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, is currently distributed by Anthem Pictures.

In addition to ongoing comedy sketches and short films, Dead Gentlemen recently produced the high definition feature The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, and co-produced the Demon Hunters Roleplaying Game with Margaret Weis Productions, which introduced the newly canonized world of their original Demon Hunters and a short film entitled: The Brotherhood Orientation Video. To this very day the Dead Gentlemen exercise their super power of unmatched collaboration to create projects together.

www.deadgentlemen.com

ABOUT KAIROS:

Kairos Productions is a reverently irreverent film development and production company based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently developing numerous book-to-film properties based on several works by Newbery Award-winning novelist Madeleine L’Engle. Kairos’ next project is a motion picture adaptation of L’Engle’s novel CAMILLA. Additionally, Kairos is working on HAIRSTORY, a documentary, and a feature entitled THE CURSE OF THE SCOTTISH PLAY.

www.kairos-productions.com

ZOMBIE ORPHEUS ENTERTAINMENT: ZombieOrpheus@gmail.com (206) 552-8194

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I did two versions of this trailer.  The first version was Ms Hobb’s, with a voiceover that she wrote.  The second is mine, with title cards, so that the cards may be easily translated into other languages if she so chooses. I’ve included both below.  The Voiceover cut is currently up at Voyager Online.

Voiceover cut:

Title cards:

Many thanks to our two actors, who were exceedingly patient and to the production assistant, who managed, of all things, to find a secret hidden box in a tree with a tiny notebook in it, asking those who found it to leave a note.  We filled it out appropriately, so somewhere in the woods near Tacoma, there is a notebook in a tiny box that says, “Book trailer for Robin Hobb” and contains this website’s url.

I really look forward to doing more book trailers.  I really enjoy the creative aspect.  Writers so rarely get any sizable input in the visual representations of their characters.  They do not have a large voice in book covers.  It was fascinating to me to watch Tim Peirson and Robin Hobb bring the people of the Rain Wild to life and strange to have a real Rain Wilder sitting in my living room.

Hope this finds you all well and rested after the summer holiday-

Kat

I am still editing the piece for The Grand’s 72 Hour Film Festival.  I will put the director’s cut up here in a week or so- the five minute version is available on Tacoma’s Click! Network.  

To ease the nerves of the festival, and to keep in practice, we shot this piece in about an hour and a half.  It is highly imperfect, but as a collaborative piece, I think it holds its own.  The children were full of input-but somehow every piece they collaborate on turns into a horror piece.

Well, it makes sense.  Fairy tales were originally written for children, after all.

Not to sound like a fifteen year old girl, but it was completely awesome.

It was an exciting process, Vonda came up with a script idea very quickly and delivered it within a few hours. I wish I had a writer like this all the time but I imagine she has more things to do than live at my house and write scripts. But for one weekend I got to live the dream. It was not without obstacles… production sputtered when my son, who manages to get sick every year on the weekend of The 72 Hour Film Festival (”Next year just tell him it is on a different weekend,” his doctor suggested) spiked a fever and had to be taken in to the doctor. No one was deterred and soon we were back on path to production, though I wish I could have had those hours in post. My primary concern right now is that the soundtrack was imported into the film and the volumes are not adjusted. For the actual screening at The Rialto, I am not sure how much dialogue you will be able to hear. But my plan is to spend the next week making changes and adjustments and to hold a second, informal screening at my new favourite local wine shop, Winestyles with a few tasty bottles of wine. And of course, I’m nervous as anything because I am a perfectionist, and 72 Hours, well, 32 Hours doesn’t allow you to be a perfectionist. It makes you someone who finishes something but not a perfectionist.

I had a wonderful time, and I hope some of that is evident in what you see on the screen. Having a writer on the set proved invaluable asset, both for continuity and the spirit of the project (I now firmly believe that if Robin and Vonda set their minds to it, they could talk anyone, into anything. Beware their jedi mind tricks.)

If anything, I think the festival is to push home just what can be accomplished in a weekend. Which in our case, was a lot, and of course, leads to the question, what could we have done with a week?

And that is exactly how people get suckered into this madness, ladies and gentle readers. Exactly and precisely.

Yours from the grey city,

K.

The Tollbooth Gallery is just one example of the kind of art that Tacoma is known for. It is often called “the world’s smallest gallery” and is open on the street to all who wish to come by and watch. We attended the opening and enjoyed an urban campsite, complete with BBQ and lawn chairs to view the various videos depicting Galen’s bike jump.

Happy and proud to be part of this. If you get a chance, go by and check out the gallery.

Best,
Kat

Galen’s footage was too fun to resist and just leave at that one little cut.  Here is a longer piece with the neon tube set up and bike jump from start to finish. Galen McCarty Turner is a Tacoma based neon glass artist who performed his Bike Jump Stunt as a benefit for Second Cycle, a part of the Tacoma Bike Co-op.  

There was a good crowd and a lot of good cheer.  Amazingly it DID get completely cleaned up. 

I think I’m calling it a day. I’m beat.

K.

This was fun.  Galen McCarty Turner is a local Tacoma neon artist who performed a stunt bike jump through a wall of neon tubes for charity. I’m waiting for him to call me back so I can list the charity name. This cut is just for fun, and I’m hardly a musician so forgive me, but I had fun doing this.

From the editing mines, yours in the rainy city,

K.