Tuesday, June 30, 2009

MMSBC Lives!


I knew I had to make this announcement today, and I think that’s why I didn’t sleep very well. At 4AM this morning I was shuffling around words and phrases in my heard as to how I would open this letter. Sadly, I don’t quite remember exactly how it went, but I remember it being really good and telling myself not to forget it. I forgot most of it, but I’m pretty sure it was supposed to go something like this…

When you have children, you want what’s best for your them. You gave birth to them, you gave them life, and you want to see them grow and succeed. Imagine sending your child to college without knowing how to read…it’s backwards. That’s kind of a stupid example, but I swear I thought of something that sounded better as I was trying to force myself back to sleep this morning. What I’m trying to say is, I gave life to an idea, and I got way too far in over my head. I have a solution now, as to how O make things right, and give my child what I know is best. This is getting really stupid. Okay, what I’m saying is I had a great idea for a feature film, tried to make it on a shoestring budget, ran out of money, and realized two years later that it should have been a graphic novel all along.

There you have it folks, MMSBC is now under development as a graphic novel.

I guess there is no other way to put it. I did things backwards. Making movies has always been an extreme obsession of mine. Up until I was ready to make MMSBC, (which is Monster Management Security Bureau of Cincinnati, for those who do not know) the films of Main Moon (my production company) were just really silly at best. Our first flick, The Looney Norman Big Fish Movie, was a Blair Witch style mockumentary that was a joke about three years too late. Though only funny to about five people on the planet, the film stands out as a success to me because it was the first film that we actually completed. On top of that, we even managed to have a public screening. Following Looney were a couple of short black and white stories about girlfriends and working in arcades, which were met with open arms by a wider audience, and opened the door for me to meet some other fine film makers and actors.

MMSBC was the brainchild of myself and my good pal “Booty” Josh Treadway. I’m not 100 percent sure how, but we got to talking about Sentai as a television genre in Japan. For those uneducated to the brand, Sentai is what we know in the US as Power Rangers or Ultraman. Spandex clad heroes, giant robots, and giant monsters. By the time Power Rangers hit big in the US, I was honestly probably at an age where it wasn’t that cool to watch the show, but I was still hooked. I think it was around the time that a boy would begin taking an interest in ladies, and I was definitely interested in Amy Jo Johnson. I especially loved Power Rangers knock off shows like VR Troopers. My favorite is without a doubt the USA Networks Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills! Say that even one time fast! There was something undeniably charming about the mountain of cheese these shows put fourth, and I wanted in on it.

What if Sentai teams were a normal thing in Japan, and each major US city was beginning to adopt a squad?

That was my original outline for a Sentai film back in 2005, when pre production consisted of figuring out how to make helmets out of paper mache. As time passed, and the idea sat on the back burner, I pitched the idea to an actress who had worked on a short film I directed called Bizarre Love Triangle. Her brash and abrasive attitude and lust for success led me to hire her as my producer. This was a girl who got things done. She was rude, vulgar…what am I saying? Why did I feel like this would get me anywhere? It’s simple. She believed in me. She believed in me when no one else would. By 2006, Main Moon was suffering. We didn’t have a TV show anymore, Josh was moving to Florida, Andy was about to get married…it was truly on it’s last leg. I had felt all kinds of pressure coming at me to quit chasing my dreams and pack up everything and kick the Peter Pan syndrome. I was really torn at this point in my life, and because I suppose every good story pulls from real life, this turning point set the stage for the new and improved MMSBC screenplay. To save you from the boring real life version, I’ll just say, everything that was unfolding in the script, happened to manifest in real life as the movie was being made. The difference was I didn’t have super powers to fend off the evil, and I was somewhat defeated in the end. There are several reasons why the film was unable to be completed, and I could write a book on that problem alone.

This is the best possible way to tell my story, and I have met some amazing and talented artists to help me pull of this vision. Due to a few things still being finalized as far as my staff goes, I can tell you that I have done the appropriate edits to the screenplay, and the lead artist is my former student, the phenomenal Chad Schoettle. Chad is a Cincinnati native, who is hands down the most talented comic book artist I have ever met and had the privilege to call a friend. This is the best thing for my story, and the best thing for the fans, who after years of teases, will finally get to see this idea completed in some way shape or form. MMSBC lives. Now if only someone would buy the movie rights…

Friday, June 19, 2009

Ladies and gentlemen...

The future of Main Moon looks good on paper...




...really, really good!