this last New Year’s I was fortunate enough to go to New York City and visit my good friends Troy & Daisy (you may remember her from this interview). earlier this year they left Hollywood and headed to the “Big City” and this was my first visit at their new home.

it was still very much the Holidays in NYC. there were lights and decorations up all over. I especially enjoyed the Christmas Trees that some residents of Brooklyn had made. it’s not visible in this picture, but there’s an extension cord running from an upper story window to the top of the tree.

it’s a really gigantic city and in some ways feels bigger than LA. I suppose that’s a bit of what the VERTICAL nature of it imparts. we rode a LOT of different subways around the city. Troy knew the routes quite well, which was good because there are so many ups & downs, different platforms & different train lines it could get quite confusing! the subway system really wonderful and amazing. so easy to get from one place to another…and I’m sure you know how much I enjoy a good public transit system.

one thing I especially enjoyed was the art work in the subways. there were sculptures, mosaics, stained glass, and even a few un commissioned pieces.

we did a lot of walking as well. the weather really cooperated with that. on only one day did it got down to below 30 degrees. and for the most part it was sunny. the idea of the City covered in snow is compelling, but at the same time – not freezing at all times was pleasant as well.

of course, no trip to a new city would be complete for me without sampling the local cuisine. we had pizza, mexican (go figure), street dogs, cannoli, pastrami, egg creme, and an amazing dinner at the restaurant Marlow & Sons. it’s one of those places that is constantly changing up their menu as they secure new, fresh ingredients. it was remarkable food. we all ordered different dishes and each was amazing. I imagine it’s quite fun to be a chef at a place like that.

Egg Creme Soda (no egg included)

the museums were also incredible. I think one could easily spend a week doing nothing put exploring them and STILL not see everything they have to offer. the MET had an incredible collection of Impressionist works. and an amazing amount of Monet’s…since that is my favorite movement AND my favorite artist I was in heaven. I can’t wait to go back and spend more time with their collection.

here is one of my favorites.

however, I can’t say the same for this kid – who was content to play a game on his iPad, surrounded by one of the most impressive collections of art I’ve ever seen.

KIDS THESE DAYS!!! (amiright???)

it was a really great trip. so much fun to explore a new city and spend time with my good friends. I can’t wait to go back.

lots more pictures on my flickr right here.

-Luke

p.s. check out my winter beard! it’s back =)

hope the new year is off to a smashing start for you. I’m on the tail end of a work trip that took me from Pheonix to New Orleans. I was hoping we’d end up somewhere colder, but hey I can’t complain about going to New Orleans. I really love LOVE this city and have gotten to eat some amazing food.

here’s my “edit suite” in the Big Easy….

it’s time for my yearly “Top 10.” in case you’re new to my blog, I like to do a random sort of collection for a top 10. there will be music, projects, food, films, travel, and so on…here’s 2010 and 2009. in this list there will be a LOT of links, including many to past blogs where I go more in depth…so feel free to click through for longer stories and more pictures.

honorable mention: SHERLOCK
my good friend Micah recommended this BBC mini-series to me and it sat in my netflix queue for FAR too long. when I finally got around to watching it I was astounded. I love everything about it; the music, the way it was shot, the pacing, the cast, the story, the acting, the and marvelous modernization of the story.

if you have netflix, you MUST watch it. here’s a little taste – the first meeting between Sherlock & Dr. Watson.

10.) Apache – Milky Way
I really don’t watch a lot of music videos anymore, but this one has stuck in my head all year. there’s something really amazing about it’s simplicity and playfulness…yet it goes deeper than that. I get goosebumps when I watch it. and for some reason, it makes me think of traveling east to live in NYC.

Apache from oneedo on Vimeo.

9.) Continuing the Lunch Tradition
after going freelance one of things I missed the most were my lunches with my fellow editor Bruce and our client Davis. it’s a little harder for us to schedule now, but we’ve kept meeting up for lunches. one of our favorites has been Sri Siam in North Hollywood. they have a crispy rice salad that is spicy, sweet, salty, and sour. it’s soft, crunchy, and fresh. probably one of the most amazing dishes I’ve ever had.

8.) DRIVE
this was THE movie of the year. much like INCEPTION last year – it was the film that everyone in my peer group was obsessed with. we talked about it, we listened to the soundtrack, we visited the locations…and I often found myself driving around with a toothpick.

take a look at this amazing opening scene here.

(side note: the location where he pulls behind the truck and turns off his lights is in my Sing It Loud video.)

7.) Wood & Vine
I’ve never really had a local spot until this place…it quickly became my “Cheers.” (you know, everyone knows my name.) great food, delicious drinks, and an amazing staff. I really love hanging out there.

6.) Snowboarding in June
the winter of 2010/11 was a great one. I had SO many good days on the hill…at least by weekend-warrior status. one of the most memorable was from a June trip to Mammoth Mountain. I was expecting warm sunny days – t-shirt weather, but instead we got fresh snow. it was really remarkable.

5.) Film Critic HULK
earlier this year I read a tweet from @mrbeaks about how everyone should read this essay about editing action movies. since I’m interested in editing & action movies started in on the essay. little did I know that it would be 120 pages of ALL CAPS HULK SPEAK.

for example:

SO WHAT MAKES ACTION WORK?

THE BEST PHRASE TO NARROW IT DOWN = AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION.

THE AUDIENCE DOES NOT SIMPLY “WATCH” ACTION. EVERY SINGLE BEAT SHOULD IDEALLY WORK AS A 4 PART PROCESS: AN AUDIENCE MUST FIRST ANTICIPATE THE ACTION, THEN THE AUDIENCE MUST UNDERSTAND THE ACTION (WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SEEING), THEN THE AUDIENCE MUST FEEL THE ACTION, AND ULTIMATELY REACT TO THE ACTION. AND WHEN YOU DO THAT? THE ACTION BEAT WILL WORK LIKE FREAKIN’ GANGBUSTERS.(1)

that’s correct, the author writes in the voice of the Marvel character The Hulk. and quite simply, Hulk’s writings have had a profound effect on my creative process. they were extremely instrumental as I wrote a new screenplay at the end of the year…

if you like film and care about making better stories, you NEED to read Hulk’s work. anycrap, don’t just take my word for it, find out for yourself here.

4.) Trips Home & Carpentry
another advantage of freelance is the ability to go home more often and for longer. I spent more time in WA this year than…well probably since I first moved to LA. it was great getting to spend more time with my family and help with their remodel. I also got to spend more time with my Grandparents.

this was my reward after spending a day painting their deck in the hot summer sun.

keeping with the whole manual labor thing, I went to our place in Sheep Ranch and did some work on the house there. it was the largest project I’ve undertaken absent my Dad or Grandpa… and while I was working on it I also started a new screenplay. more about that trip here.

3.) Writing a Screenplay
with each screenplay that I write I feel like I learn so much. each time it becomes a little less of a mystery. or maybe I just realize how much of a mystery the last one was? heh. at any rate, this year was the first time I was able to REALLY focus and write something. all my other writing been done after work, on the weekends, etc. this time I was able to focus soley writing. aside from the aforementioned carpentry, all I did was work on NIGHT HAUL. I didn’t know what it would be like writing for 4+ hours a day when I was used to just writing for about 1. would I be able to maintain creativity & focus for that long each day? I have to say, I was beyond stoked to find out that I could. I wrote the first draft, 117 pages in 15 days.

2.) touring with CERTIFIED
last year was all about making the film, this year was about getting it out there. I was very fortunate to get to travel all around with it. this past year I went to Atlanta (GE), Bend (OR), Eerie (PA), Big Bear Lake (CA), as well as a few festivals and screenings in the Los Angeles area. the most incredible place I travelled was definitely Cannes, France. what an amazing experience that was. it was so busy, so glamorous, and gave me so much to strive for. aside from the film stuff, I became better friends with the cinematographer of CERTIFIED, John Matysiak. and I got the chance to visit my cousins.

1.) Visiting My French Relatives
my Corsican relatives moved to the United States in the early 1900′s. and thankfully, they kept in touch with the “old world.” when our family went to Europe in 1999 we were able to meet some of the relatives who still lived in Corsica. since then my Dad has been writing letters and emailing with several other relatives who live on the mainland of France. one such family lives just outside of Montpellier in the South of France. well, I was going to be going to the South of France. it seemed silly to travel halfway around the world and then not go the last 300km to visit them.

I am SO glad we did. it’s almost hard to put into words how welcoming the Casanovas were to us. we aren’t the closest relations, but they treated us like we were as close of family as you could be. it was amazing. I was reminded what it truly meant to be “welcomed with open arms.” here I was with people that I’d never met, in a different country, that had a separate life – but yet we were FAMILY. that made the world feel a little smaller. it made me feel connected to something larger than my own day-to-day existence and that my friends was really awesome.

last week I missed out posting because well…I was in “the land without internet”!!! haha as strange and removed as that might sound, it was actually just in Northern California. And I was only a 20 minute drive or so from actually having internet.

going from “always connected” to without cell, internet, and even regular phone service was a bit of a system shock. not only that, but I was the only one staying at the house…so I was super isolated in general.

which was ok. I had two main goals for the trip.

1.) Install banisters on the front porch
2.) write a new screenplay

and for the next 4 days, I ate, slept, wrote, and carpentered (is that even a word??).

here’s what I started out with:

original

and here’s what I ended with:

final

the writing was all done in the kitchen. it is after all, closest to the food…and coffee. also, the nook was right next to the wall heater and was probably the warmest parts of the house.

the kitchen

I didn’t do my writing on this…but you gotta love seeing a Candy iMac still around. reminds me of an Apple Jolly Rancher.

overall, the writing actually went really well. it took a couple days to get into the story, but after that it really started to flow.

my schedule would be something like:

wakeup
coffee/write
breakfast
carpentry
lunch
nap
carpentry
write
dinner
write
sleep.

I should have liked to do an after-nap writing session, but two things prevented this.

1.) it got dark at 5pm
2.) I’m not a very fast carpenter – so I needed as much daylight as possible.

the trip taught me a few things. first off, if I really truly dedicate myself to writing I can get a whole lot done. but, being alone in Sheep Ranch gets lonely! I’d love to go back with a group of writers. during the day we could all split off and do our own thing then meet up for meals. hmmm…

it was great being cut off from the distractions of the modern age, but at the same time I missed the social aspects of being so connected. perhaps having a few friends up there would be the best of both worlds.

an added bonus was that early December is a very beautiful time to be in the foothills of Northern California. colors in the trees, blue skies, crisp air, and guests of wind would send leaves showing down all around you. plus the roads are really fun to drive.

-Luke

wanted to share some pictures from my recent trip to the Midwest!

first stop was Erie, PA for the Eerie Horror Festival.

it was held inside of the amazingly restored Warner Theatre.

they projected onto the vintage silver screen that has been used for many a year. it was very cool to see films in such a classic environment.

Erie was pretty cold…but the cold weather made for some great Fall leaves.

and it wouldn’t be a trip without a little clowning around… this “authentic cobblestone” street was built in the 1960′s…

next up was Toledo, OH. Angel was nice enough to join me for the festival and we drove back to Toledo together. along the way we stopped in the Tremont district of Cleveland and had a great dinner at a place called Southside. during our dinner the 49er’s were in the midst of trouncing the Browns… we tried to not cheer too loudly =)

Toledo had even more fall colors! it was great to see Fall again… it’s definitely something that I miss living in Southern California.

lots of good food, hikes through the woods, and bike rides through piles of leaves in that city. also had a quick visit to their fine art museum. would love to spend more time exploring there collection sometime in the future.

well, that’s it for now. I’m pretty tired from installing windows all day… manual labor is tough! (says the desk jockey…)

but before I go, one more festival annoucement for CERTIFIED. we are an Official Selection at the Fancine Festival De Cine Fantastico in Malaga, Spain!

-Luke

it’s been an exciting last couple of weeks for CERTIFIED. we had a really amazing time at Shriekfest. (we being Kimberley and I… not the “royal” we. haha)

there was an interesting mix of films ranging from the intellectually driven sci-fi PIG to the mocumentary-thriller THE FEED to the normal blood & guts sort of fare that one would expect at a “horror” film festival. the festival did a great job of programming a diverse and interesting group of films.

with the Festival Director Denise Gossett at the Opening Night party.

there were a few shorts that I particularly enjoyed including SUMMER OF THE ZOMBIES a comedic tale about a Vegetarian girl that when turned to a zombie craves only…..produce.

you thought I was going to say “Graaaaaaaaains” didn’t you? =)

it also features the wonderful Barak Hardley – who you may recognize as “Carl” from UPDATING PAIGE.

another one we enjoyed was MY UNDEADLY by Dave Reda. it’s an un unconventional tale of a zombie that craves more than brains. I really can’t tell you too much more than that without spoiling the film… so I won’t.

but what I can do is show you this mocummercial for a zombie fighting product called “The Zomb-Ez.”

… and to top it all off, CERTIFIED won Best Super Short! (film under 10min)

here’s a picture of Kimberley and I with the trophy.

—

then this last weekend we went to the BEND Film Festival in… you guessed it, Bend, OR.

this was a pretty amazing festival. there was great food, the staff went out of their way to help the filmmakers, the screenings were good, and the town really does love film. I got the chance to chat with so many locales who really enjoy being a part of the festival.

some filmmaker friends

while I was there I got the chance to explore the area a bit, including a walk by the Deschutes river and a hike up a local peak.

here are some pictures:

and of course, I watched a lot of movies. Some of my favorites included AN ORDINARY FAMILY, DARWIN, and KINYARWANDA.

here’s the trailer for DARWIN.

Darwin – Trailer from Darwin Documentary on Vimeo.

—

and I’ve very pleased to announce that we’ve been accepted to the Eerie Horror Film Festival!

October 27th-30th in Erie, PA.

should be a pretty great way to spend the Halloween Weekend!!!

-Luke

later today the producer of CERTIFIED, Kimberley Browning and I will be headed up to the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival. I’ve never been to Big Bear when it’s not Winter or Spring, so this should be a fun trip just for that reason. I wonder if the leaves have started to change yet?

so Dragon*Con was pretty amazing. after 5 years of going to Comic-Con in San Diego, I thought I had a pretty good idea what to expect. and I guess for the most part my expectations were correct. but with a few differences.

first off, the Cosplay (“costume play”) where people dress up as characters from movies, tv shows, comics, video games, the “internet”, etc. is WAY more important at Dragon*Con. I’m not sure if there are actually more people who are dressed up, but definitely the percentage of people in costume is much, much higher than SDCC.

Saturday starts off with a giant parade of people in costume. I heard someone saw there were over 3000 people in it this year. and as you can see, a LOT of people come out to watch it. in fact it draws regular Atlantanians(?) as well as convention goers.

The Costume Parade

there were a LOT of people in Steampunk costumes. and a lot of dudes in kilts. apparently it’s a D*Con thing?

Snape & a Steampunk Airship

this guy is from a popular video game… I think.

Minecraft

Indy!

aside from the costumes, Dragon*Con also has a greater variety of panels. it breaks them into “tracts.” and they cover almost every concievable part of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy. for example there were tracts on: Space, Paranormal, Sceptics, Alternate History, Armory, Film, and Dark Fantasy. this is just to name a few! it was actually kind of hard to pick what to attend – there were SO many interesting sessions.

so in between film screenings I hustled around to a variety of panels. among the ones I attended were “Steampunk & Orientalism,” “Dark Fairy Tales” and “Stunt work and fighting for film.” I missed the one on “Nasa: What’s next” and a ton of other ones that looked interesting.

I have a bunch of notes from these – and I think next week I’ll go in depth on a couple of the panels… right now I need to finish packing for this weekend.

but before I leave, I’m happy to announce that CERTIFIED is an Official Selection at 2 more festivals!

Shriekfest – Los Angeles, CA

BendFilm Festival – Bend, OR

-Luke

hope everyone is enjoying the first week of summer! here in Los Angeles it’s finally starting to get hot. it actually rained a couple of times in June! *gasp* personally, I don’t mind the slightly cooler weather. but I do feel bad as it usually extends up to Washington and it’s even colder there… anyoooo, speaking of nice weather. how about spring time in the South of France???

did I mention that the cinematographer of Certified went with me to France? well, Mr. John Matysiak did indeed make the trip. it’s always good to have a traveling companion …but you never really know how well you’ll click with someone until you are actually “on the road.” well, we didn’t hate each other after 10 days together – so I’d say we’re pretty good travel buddies.

our first stop was Nice. we wandered around town, had a bite to eat, a drink at the hotel’s bar and when we’d finally stayed up late enough crashed out. it’s always important to power through those first couple of days. you may want a nap sooooo bad. but you can’t have one! you must stay up!

the next morning we took the train to Montpellier. I have to say, it was way easier to figure out the whole train thing this time than when my family and I were there in 1999. I guess traveling in new cities on 4 continents since then helped a bit=)

In Montpellier my Corsican Cousins, the Cassanovas picked us up. we were going to be staying with them through the weekend. after a couple of phone calls we found each other in the station. hugs, kisses (3!), and a short drive later we were eating bread and cheese at their home in Assas.

this Castle is about two city blocks from their home. two!

we had a really great time with them. they were very hospitable to us and we felt right at home. it was a good start to the trip. we brushed up on our French (very minimal), got our internal clocks set to the right time, and made great progress in building up our bread/cheese/wine tolerance.

then it was on to Cannes!

the first few days were a total blur. so much to see and to learn, so many people! so many! it was a madhouse. I really stick by my “Comic Con” analogy from before. and we had a LOT to learn. the festival & market are pretty complicated…at least at first.

one thing we learned quickly was that you don’t need to wear formal wear to the early screenings…even though the ticket says you DO. (and our American Pavilion liaison also told us to). consequently John and I were among the 6 best dressed men in a crowd of about 1000. it was alright…as the day went on we progressed from being the oddly best dressed guys, to being the dashingly best dressed guys. but really, Cannes is one place where you can’t really be “over dressed.”

John on the Red Carpet

taking a break from the Vanity Fair party and watching the sun set.

I really enjoyed seeing the different sorts of grates and panel coverings on the ground. almost as interesting as Japan.

finally it was time for our screening! it was pretty exciting, so great to get to show the film to an entirely new audience…and in France no less! the film was very well received and John and I got to talk to a bunch of people afterwards. I’m still waiting for the AmPav to send the group photos from the event…when they do I’ll make sure and post ‘em.

one of the great things about the festival was getting to meet filmmakers from other countries. a friend of a friend introduced me to a Brit named Jimmy Thompson. we corresponded over the internets before the festival, then met in person at the short film corner.

he was doing a photo competition with a camera that took a sequence of shots. here’s one of me he took post screening. part of his “peek-a-boo” series.

the next few days were filled with meetings, screenings, networking, rosé drinking, champagne, late nights and early morning. one such night John and I were walking home along the beach road when we stumbled across a group of young French/Algerian/Sicilians hanging out and partying. well, two Americans in tuxes walking home at 5 in the morning must have been interesting to them – cause they offered us a drink. for the next hour or so, we laughed, drank, and talked as best we could. a couple of them spoke fairly good English and the rest…well we communicated as much as we needed to.

station 18 party.

as the sun came up, we goofed around. by the time we got back to the hotel we were laughing so much. various things may or may not have been thrown from our balcony. I can neither confirm nor deny any such mayhem. hehe.

pwn’ing the road.

the next day started our epic journey back to the States. there was a pretty darn long night without dinner at Heathrow airport. who knew a major international airport would stop serving food at 10pm??? not me, that’s for sure.

all in all it was an amazing trip. we made new friends, met interesting people, had good food, screened our film, and learned a lot. I look forward to my next trip to Cannes!

I know this was a pretty quick overview, so if you have any specific questions – let me know. I’ll do my best to answer them in another blog…

and there are plenty more pictures on my flickr, www.flickr.com/lukeasa, so check them out!

-Luke

ca va? I hope you are all doing well. earlier this week we returned from our trip to France.

we had a great time visiting relatives in Assas for a couple days, then went to Cannes. wow, what a thing that is. it’s pretty hard to explain really – but for those of you that have read my blogs about Comic Con I will make this analogy.

replace San Diego Bay with The Mediterranean. replace Fan Boys with really attractive and well dressed Europeans. replace soda with Champagne. replace Cosplay with Formal ware and viola! You have the Cannes Film Festival. haha. well, that’s simplifying things a little bit but it gives a good generally idea. I’ll have more extensive stories in the next few weeks.

until then, here are some photos!

a street in the “old town” part of Assas.

John and the remains of a castle.

an AMAZING sign that reminds me of Lofty from “Bob The Builder”

a Pigeon!

you know I love this sort of thing…

-Luke

in moments I’ll be leaving for Cannes…it’s going to be my first time going and I’m pretty excited.

I’ll be tweeting updates and pics at twitter.com/lukeguidici.

and in honor of Certified’s WORLD PREMIERE – here is the trailer!

-Luke

so I’m excited to announce that my film CERTIFIED is a Finalist in the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at the American Pavilion in Cannes!

we are part of a select group that gets to be featured in the American Pavilion’s section of the Short Film Corner in Canne’s marketplace. AND as a finalist, we are part of special screening.

needless to say, I’m extremely excited. in just over a month I’ll be traveling to the south of France!

here are a couple links:

info on the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase

our listing in the Short Film Corner’s catalog

see you on the Croisette!*

-Luke

*I don’t know what that is yet…but people keep saying they will “see me” there. haha