Actor of the Month: Darian Futch May 26, 2012
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Congratulations to this month’s Actor of the Month — Darian Futch!
Darian Futch joined the company in the fall of 2001 when he was visiting a cast member of The Gift Bearer, then decided to help out on set at a film shoot and was thrown into a costume and shoved in front of the camera – I mean “volunteered” to play Henry in Episode 14. He was a real trouper, considering that most of his time on screen was spent face down in dirt and weeds playing a corpse. Thank you so much for being a part of the cast and crew Darian!
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Techie of the Month: Rob Rion May 25, 2012
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Congratulations to this month’s Techie of the Month — Rob Rion!
Rob Rion is a great guy who volunteered his time to help out on set as well as act. He provided transportation and did general crew work on The Curse (primarily in Episodes 3-4), and took care of props and operated the boom mic for Episodes 3-4 of The Gift Bearer. Thank you so much Rob for giving your time behind the scenes as well as on screen and helping out with these productions.
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Location of the Month: WIDB May 24, 2012
Posted by sinefine in of the month.Tags: carbondale, illinois, location of the month, SIUC, wibd
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When we needed a space that looked like an office but had places to take cover and where we could film a big shoot out scene, we had a little trouble finding one. Luckily WIDB, the student radio station at SIUC, agreed to let us use their station as a filming location for Episode 16 of The Gift Bearer. I can’t thank them enough for allowing us to shoot there and I can only imagine what the DJs working at the time were thinking as they watched people attacked with phone books and shooting each other with fake guns.
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Location of the Month: The Chancellor Hotel and The Sunshine Dinner Playhouse April 4, 2012
Posted by sinefine in of the month.Tags: champaign, chancellor hotel, illinois, location of the month, sunshine dinner playhouse
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Filming a sci-fi thriller that takes place completely on a space ship is not easy when you have no money to build sets. The space ship in Mind Games was created using hallways and rooms from many different places in and around Champaign-Urbana, IL. One of my personal favorite locations used in this movie was a strange, out of place hallway that connected part of the Chancellor Hotel to the Sunshine Dinner Playhouse Theatre on the 4th floor. With triangular windows and white siding it looked like a hallway from a sci-fi movie and was perfect for Mind Games. Only a few scenes were filmed here but it was a fun space to work in.
Sadly most of the Chancellor Hotel, including this hallway, was torn down many years ago. It’s actually hard to even figure out where it was once located. It will live on forever as a corridor in Mind Games. Many thanks to the hotel staff, the Sunshine Dinner Playhouse, and Rodney Woodworth for letting us film there!
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Actor of the Month: Adam Parker April 3, 2012
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Congratulations to this month’s Actor of the Month — Adam Parker!
Adam Parker joined the company in the spring of 2001 during filming for The Curse. He appeared at the end of the first episode as a disembodied head/bodiless ghost. That was a last minute casting choice because he was there when I was filming the shot. However he also provided the voice of Zandra’s classmate Jeremy on her answering machine, and was supposed to appear in at least one episode in Season, which was sadly never filmed. I wish I had the chance to work more with this funny and talented guy. Good luck Adam, wherever you are, and thank you!
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Techie of the Month: Ryan Homberg April 2, 2012
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Congratulations to this month’s Techie of the Month — Ryan Homberg!
Ryan Homberg has been a dedicated crew member as well as an actor on every production he’s participated in. Several filming days he joined in as crew even though he wasn’t scheduled to act. From boom mic operator in Gift Bearer to prop master in Cursed Destiny, Ryan has done all kinds of behind the scenes work. He’s a fantastic, fun guy and great to worth with both in front of and behind the camera. I hope to work with him again soon. Thanks for everything Ryan!
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Location of the Month: The Virginia Theatre March 7, 2012
Posted by sinefine in of the month.Tags: champaign, illinois, location of the month, virginia theatre
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The Virginia Theatre is one of the most beautiful buildings in Champaign, IL. It was first used as a location in Destiny II when the upper lobby was converted into Queen Lavinia’s Sitting Room. It was used again the following summer for Destiny III. The small building/office next door served as part of Balthazar’s abode in Destiny III, as well as the stage itself. The Long Take, a short film, was also filmed in the upper lobby.
In 1999, I decided to use the theatre as the main rebel base in Pandora’s Box and almost every episode had at least one scene filmed there. Many rooms were used including the balcony in the theater, the main lobby, concessions area, and the dressing rooms in the basement.
This was a wonderful location, a fantastic building, and I am so glad we were able to film in it as much as we were. Special Thanks to John Ebby who let us film there. If you’re ever in Champaign you should stop by and catch a movie or show.
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Techie of the Month: Chris Lamb March 6, 2012
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Congratulations to this month’s Techie of the Month — Chris Lamb!
Chris Lamb has always been great as a co-choreographer for fight scenes, being willing and able to give it his all. He helped to choreograph several fights in Pandora’s Box, most notably the awesome fight between Turlo and Alban in the final episode. He was volunteered to do the morphing effect needed for Mind Games and helped out with the special effects on the Mind Games set. Thanks for everything Chris!
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Actors of the Month: Kendra and Rhonda Harris March 5, 2012
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Congratulations to this month’s Actors of the Month — Kendra and Rhonda Harris!
Kendra and Rhonda joined the company in the summer of 1999. They were walking in Busey Woods where we were shooting scenes from Episode 1 of Pandora’s Box and asked if they could be in the movie too. Always short on extras I was happy to oblige. The did a great job as part of the angry peasant mob and random people on a road. Thank you so much for wanting to be a part of our company and joining in the fun!
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Happy Valentine’s Day! (only slightly late) February 16, 2012
Posted by sinefine in site updates.Tags: holiday, valentine's day
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