The Fates have smiled on us! I am proud to announce (if you haven't heard it already) that The New Colony, the storefront theater company with big dreams that I joined in Chicago, won the first round of the Chase Community Giving campaign on Facebook! This means, as one of the top 100 not-for-profits in votes, we will be receiving at least $25,000 in grant money! That's a huge boost, and like I mentioned in my previous post, will be able to cover the costs of the rest of our season. Not only that, but it means the corners we had to cut in our budget can be resharpened--design budgets have been raised back to target!

But, of course, it's not over! We have a chance at another prize in the second round, this time for one of six prizes valued from $100,000 to $1,000,000! Yeah, you read that right--one million dollars! By Jan 8th, we have to submit a proposal outlining what we would do with a million dollar grant, our so-called "Big Idea" to benefit the community. We've got a lot of ideas kicking around for what to do, including resource-sharing inventories for Chicago theaters, film projects, building a theater, and outreach. But, we need your input! Are these good ideas? Terrible ones? What would you like to see? How should it be done? Leave comments here, or (while it's still active), comment on the status update at http://www.facebook.com/thenewcolony. We really want your ideas!

In other news...I live in Chicago now! Even though I've been here for around seven weeks, I still get hit at least once a day with the realization that I have made it! If you know me at all from before I came here, there's nothing you're more aware of about me than the fact that I want to be here in Chicago, and that I've been wanting that for almost two years.

I was talking with my friend Andy about this--he pointed out how interesting it is that a very specific story has unfolded with almost everyone he knows that moved to Chicago. First, Everyman hears about some cool things that happen in Chicago. Then, Everyman visits Chicago. And then Everyman falls in love with Chicago. Then, Everyman spends most of his energy from that point figuring out a way to start a life here.

Perhaps it's just a certain creative type that cannot resist the draw. There's a type of artist that dominates the scene here: a high-energy, high-dedication firebrand that has only faint dreams of stardom. This artist's goal is instead collaborative work--art for art, with the contributions of many other creatives. The New Colony is a great example of a collection of creatives who simply care the most for absolute expression and craft. The dedication I've seen here in Chicago, tempered by good dispositions and playful spirits, is absolutely incredible, and is not matched by most artists I've known in the other big cities.

So, I am glad to be here!

Future stuff to come: Chase Community Giving Round 2, my lighting design for 11:11, and possibly moving into a new, awesome apartment.

Oh, and by the way, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Your Adventurer,
Nick

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Labels: Big Ideas, Chase Community Giving, Chicago, collaborative, film, filmmaking, The New Colony, theater, theatre

So...I know it's been a while since I've written. I made it to Chicago and life changed forever.

Among many, many other crazy things I've been able to do, I somehow was lucky enough to join up with a company, The New Colony, out here. Right now, they are primarily a theater company, but as a registered not-for-profit with big dreams, they want to support and create films, music, and other arts, all in a new, ultra-collaborative, open-to-the-public style.

It's big stuff.

But right now, we're still a small, but successful company. But...if you're on Facebook, which I'm sure you are, you've got 20 seconds to spare to vote for us on Chase Giving! The link is below--and if you vote for us, we could get at least $25,000, which could easily pay for the rest of the current season. If you're already connected to me on Facebook, then you already have seen me flooding your Live Feed. This really does matter to me, so please take the moment to vote--and tell your friends!

http://bit.ly/5KrKct

-Sunshine

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Labels: art, arts, Chicago, Facebook, film, filmmaking, The New Colony, theater

So I'm not entirely sure why I haven't posted this yet, but the film Very Small Rooms I made a little while ago with Refractory Films is getting some movement these days, and we've got a trailer and clip available to check out. To save you some time, here they are!

Trailer:

Also on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP2zc00kAK4

Clip:

Also on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qaqCsLoSPY

Hope you enjoy!

Your Adventurer,
Nick

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Labels: alexandra petrova-emisti, amy rose capetta, film, filmmaking, jake lucas, julia jc blau, kevin tracy, Refractory Films, sean keane, sherry wong, very small rooms, youtube

Well, folks, today is the Monday of the first week of my life.

I mean, you know, my Chicago life. Dream-life.

We are all so motivated to do Something with our lives, that sometimes we get caught up in the wrong set of Somethings, and forget to just go and do the thing we wanted to do in the first place. I decided recently that there really was nothing stopping me from just going, jumping in the car (with 350 lbs of my belongings, of course) and just driving, driving, driving, until I reached my goal. I'm currently halfway there, staying with my friend in Pittsburgh.

Tonight, I will arrive in Chicago for what might be the grandest Adventure yet. It's an old story, really: twenty-something man with starry eyes moves to the big city to make it big. But it is my story.

Hopefully I'll be less delinquent than before in my posts, but I hope to tell my story here, from the shameless plugs on up to the day-to-day hum of a dream in motion.

So off I go, to my kind of town.

Your Adventurer,
Nick

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Labels: adventure, Chicago, dreams, filmmaking, road trip

Well, it's hard to complain about the one-hour flight delay I had. It's hard, because not only was my airport shuttle surprisingly effortless, but also because when I arrived at my hotel where I was getting a screaming deal already, I was greeted by a free upgrade from a two double bed room to a spacious, business-equipped room with a king-size bed. Better, too, it's an accessible room, so it has wide hallways and corners and a huge bathroom. That right there is a great start to the trip.

After a trip to the weird grocery/minimart/liquor store (think Bodega, with more dollar-store items and less organization) and the organization of my room and promotional materials, I met up with Billy Baraw, one of the leads in Boundaries of Attraction, for some promotion time. Since my hotel is so close to the event location, it makes both this property and the shopping areas nearby prime territory for talking up our screening. With quarter-page fliers in Billy's pocket and business cards in mine, we hit the streets, talking with cashiers at the Block at Orange and with bar patrons and bartenders up at the GardenWalk.

I've never done this kind of professional promo work before, but Billy does it for supplemental income, so he took the lead in most places we went. Basically the technique is a lot like flirting (which can be a nice side-effort, by the way) but near the end of your interaction, you hand a flier and a business card instead of just scribbling a number on the nearest available bar napkin. The real key is to connect with the people you're promoting to, and leave a positive impression. We want people to know that we are real indie filmmakers just spreading the word. If a cute girl gets my number from my card as a result, well, that's just a great bonus.

Did you make it here because you checked out the website on my business card? Please leave a comment, and let us know how you think we did. And again, we'd love to see you at the screening!

Tonight we're headed to the Disneyland Hotel for the opening night party and red carpet ceremonies. I am a bit nervous about the red carpet--my first one--but it should be fantastic anyways.

More to come, and as always, keep up to the minute on what's happening by following me on Twitter!

Your Adventurer,
Nicholas J. Carroll

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Labels: Anaheim, Billy Baraw, block at orange, filmmaking, gardenwalk, holiday inn, promotion, red carpet

This Friday at the glorious hour of 6AM, I'll board a plane headed for Anaheim, CA.

My film, Boundaries of Attraction, produced last summer with Dunkirk Studios, was selected for the Indie Fest USA International Film Festival, and has also been nominated for Best Short Film.

I am going to be working my butt off to promote and network while I'm there--from the Hollywood-style pool at my luxurious hotel to the very streets of Garden Grove, I'll be handing out business cards and making new contacts, as well as watching some other films and having just a generally amazing time.

With any luck (or spare time), I'll be updating this blog from California, but for up-to-the-minute info about my goings-on, you can also follow me on Twitter.

If you happen to be in the Anaheim area on Monday, August 24th, please do come down and see our film and others in the series at 7PM at the AMC Downtown Disney theater. Only $9 for adults for six shorts! (Ours plays in Shorts Program 3)

If you're feeling uber-supportive of your friendly neighborhood filmmaker, but can't make it to the screening, head to the film's listing on B-Side, and add it to your "screening calendar" anyways. The more folks that do that, the higher up on the main page our film will show.

I'm off to the Golden State!

Best,
Nicholas J. Carroll

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Labels: Anaheim, Billy Baraw, boundaries of attraction, California, Dina Baker, Dunkirk Studios, filmmaking, Greg Murphy, Indie Fest USA, Jamie Fessenden, Stephanie Aurora Long, Twitter, Xebic

Tomorrow morning, I will hop on the bus with my coursemates and make the day and a half drive down to southern Utah to begin our 30-day Canyon Section. We'll return on April 18th.

We spent all of yesterday in classes and meetings with many of NOLS' key departments and their leaders, including meeting with the Executive Director, Human Resources, Environmental Policy, Risk Management, NOLS Pro (professional development services), and a luncheon with many employees from both NOLS Rocky Mountain and the NOLS International Branch. As a result of all that, I met one of the interns working in the video department, and after sharing my love and passion for video and my desire to have a camera in the field, he arranged for NOLS to loan me one of their cameras for this section. Since it's a small digital media video camera, it can replace my still camera in my pack and won't even add much extra weight, but will allow me to get footage that NOLS and I can share. It also means the content from my canyon section here will be even richer than the photos I've already been able to get.

Today we packed up everything we need for the section in packs, including rations (and my extra food, thank goodness!). My pack, even with extra food and a few little extras I'll probably be able to eliminate, weighs in at 45 lbs, a respectably low weight for the section. Every day, it should get at least 2 lbs lighter, as well! Woohoo!

Our canyon section will bring us to southern Utah Canyonland, exploring natural and human history in areas such as the Mancos Mesa, Gravel & Long Canyons, and the Dark Canyon area. I've included here some Google Maps snapshots to give you a peek at what the terrain in those areas is like, and so you can see the general progression of the course.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

View Larger Map
When I return on April 18th, after some time catching up on things, I'll be sure to get another section recap blog up before I head out to our climbing section at Split Rock and Sinks Canyon.

Your Adventurer,
Nick

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Labels: adventure, canyonland, canyons, connections, creative process, equipment, film, filmmaking, NOLS, outdoor educator, outdoors, utah, wyoming, youtube

My latest project is just getting started! I met a woman named Cybil Lake, a filmmaker in SoHo, and started to work with her and a team on a double-whammy project. We're making a film, and making a reality show about the making of that film, with a focus on the crew. I've been cast and hired, I suppose that means.

A few days ago we met in TriBeCa to discuss roles and other pre-production details. Cybil had a nice useful white board in the cafe with us that Nick Eisenberg of Factor 8 Productions was kind enough to write on for us visual learners.

On the board I eventually got assigned two major production roles: Casting Director and Unit Production Manager. I volunteered for Casting Director since I've had experience doing it for Refractory Films, and Unit Production Manager, though I haven't done it before, is a lot like a line producer without fundraising, and I can handle that.

The show and film still need a BUNCH more crew members, and we're casting for the film very soon, so drop me a comment (or email me) if you're interested. Check out the link on Cybil's name above for more information.

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Labels: Casting Director, Factor 8 Productions, filmmaking, gun gang, Nick Eisenberg, Refractory Films, The Cybil Lake Show, Unit Production Manager

This is a draft of the teaser trailer for "Boundaries of Attraction", a short film I've posted about before. I was TD and lighting designer for this one.

Also on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lysT6thIGiY

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Labels: Ashley Caron, Billy Baraw, Dina Baker, Dunkirk Studios, film, filmmaking, Greg Murphy, Jamie Fessenden, Stephanie Aurora Long, teaser, trailer, video, Xebic Smith

This past semester I had the pleasure of being almost the entire crew, including editor, for a television show featuring Wilhelm Comedy, a four-man sketch group at UConn. This sketch is a good example of what I can do as a cameraman and editor with very little time and very funny people.



Wilhelm Comedy has their own blog at http://wilhelmcomedy.blogspot.com/ and can be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/wilhelmcomedy.

The four episodes of Wilhelm! can be found at http://uctv.uconn.edu/tag/wilhelm/.

Labels: Bob Dylan, comedy, Dan Gaewski, filmmaking, Sean Rose, Stephen Winchel, Steve Kress, televsion, UConn, UCTV, Wilhelm, Wilhelm Sketch Comedy

Hey there!

Your friendly neighborhood movie-making-kid here...just an update on Boundaries of Attraction, the 45 minute short produced by Dunkirk Studios, directed by Jamie Fessenden, with technical direction by yours truly.

Starring Billy Baraw, Robert Kersey, Stephanie Aurora Long, Dina Baker, Xebic Smith, Ashley Caron, and Greg Murphy.

Here's the trailer for your enjoyment, with a release hopefully before I disappear for NOLS in February:




Also find on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex_PWOItAx8

Labels: Ashley Caron, Billy Baraw, boundaries of attraction, Dina Baker, filmmaking, Greg Murphy, Jamie Fessenden, NOLS, Robert Kersey, Stephanie Aurora Long, trailer, Xebic Smith

Hey folks! Wondering what I've been up to? A few weeks before this semester started, I worked designing lights and as technical director on a shoot for a short titled Boundaries of Attraction in New Hampshire. The director released this clip a few days ago. It features both a crane shot and an all-in-one traveling camera shot directed by yours truly. I'm proud of it, and I want you to check it out!


Also goto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPMasQWUm34

Hope you enjoy! :-D

Nick

Labels: boundaries of attraction, filmmaking, movies, youtube

I have my first real job in this streak of freelancing!

Labels: connections, contributions, design, filmmaking, lighting, new hampshire