October 8 , 2005

Hello from the CrashCam Films Global HQ. Here’s what we’re up to:

Hell On Wheels
“Yo, that cut is fine!” Hell on Wheels fine cut
The total run time is 85 min! That’s right, you heard me. 85 minutes of butt kicking action and gripping drama.

We’ve also got a really bad ass band creating an original score for the film. We’re gonna keep our lips buttoned for now, but it’s a pretty big deal and we’re all riled up about it over here at the CCF HQ.
www.HellOnWheelsTheMovie.com

Rock Opera
“Rock Opera” DVD release in the UK? This just might happen… we’ll see.
www.RockOperaTheMovie.com

CrashCam and Maverick team up
Bob Ray & Jerry Clark (Toe from “Rock Opera”) signed a deal with Maverick to get APE SH!T up and running. That’s right, APE SH!T. It’s a super-secret animated project that’s been in the cooker for a lil’ while. We’re not prepared to divulge much info at this time, but it’s gonna be gut-busting, smart/low brow, down & dirty, pseudo-intelligent potty humor and well, it’s gonna be freakin’ funny.

Bob Ray and Jerry Clark created and developed characters, sketches and story-lines for an animated series and floated a few copies around a while back. Maverick (you know, Madonna’s company) bumped into a copy and decided to hop in bed with us. We’re officially teamed up in an effort to get this series made.

Hollywood is a fickle bitch, so who knows what will happen. But being the blind optimists that we are, we’re hoping to start making some cartoons in some sort of not-too-far-off-future (hopefully not the post-apocalyptic kind of future, though).

Bob Ray off to Ohio to screen flicks & lecture at Denison University
What are you laughing at? Bob has loads of experience educating the students and passing the wisdom on to the hordes of future filmmakers. To date, Bob has lectured at Cal Arts, The University of Kansas and The University of Texas (not to mention teaching Super 8 courses at Austin Children’s Museum, Center for Young Cinema and America YouthWorks). On top of that, they used to (or maybe still do?) screen “Night of the Kung Fu Zombie Bastards from Hell!” in the 308 film class at UT. So in your face you skeptic, you.

Denison University alumni include actor Hal Holbrook (1948), and Walt Disney Company president Michael Eisner (1964)… not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

The Down Side
There’s a chance that this hilariously tense, double-crossing caper script might be moving toward a 2006 production date. We’ll keep you posted.

The Down Side script has the Slamdance Film Festival saying:
“Hilarious and gut wrenching.”
“This script is incredibly engaging from the beginning… pure storytelling genius!”
“If this script hasn’t been passed around Hollywood by now, it would be wise to get it in the hands of an agent who can do just that.”
http://www.crashcamfilms.com/thedownside.htm

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July 17, 2005

Hello from the CrashCam Films Global HQ. Here’s what we’re up to:

Hell On Wheels
The 5-hour barrier has been broken!!!

At the end of June, on her way out of state for a previously scheduled (and much deserved) two-week vacation, “Hell on Wheels” editor Cory Ryan delivered the first rough assembly of the flick. Endless hours were spent in the editing room as we carved the story from a mountain of nearly 500 hours of footage spanning four years. We knew this first cut was going to be long and we expected a 9 hour film at this stage. Not far off the mark, it clocked in at 8 hours and 4 minutes.

At that point, Bob Ray stepped into the edit room for some shuffling and trimming. Over the past week and a half, he’s been slashing away chunks of the flick and paring it down to a leaner, meaner storytelling machine. The latest tally has the film clocking in at 4 hours 59 minutes and 45 seconds. Our goal is to have the run time between 90-120 minutes.

Cory returned on the 14th and we’re now back to full man/womanpower and continue to streamline this awesome and riveting documentary. We’ve only got to trim off another three to three and a half hours…

We had to put the cutting of a new trailer on the back burner for a while, but we’re getting that one fired up again now that Cory is back and Bob can focus on the task.

Werner Campbell, as always, continues to produce the hell out of this thing. That’s what producers do.

Viva la Roller Derby!
Thanks,
CrashCam Films

www.HellOnWheelsTheMovie.com

Rock Opera
ROCKET VIDEOS’ VSDA VEGAS KICK-OFF PARTY and IN-STORE EVENT – JULY 21ST – BE THERE!

Indie star and Go-Kart Films V.P. Will Keenan, known for his legendary pre-event kick-offs for Sundance, Cannes, and AFM, has announced a Los Angeles launch event (July 21st) to precede and celebrate the Video Software Dealer Association’s Home Entertainment conference (Las Vegas July 25-28). The event will take place at Hollywood’s legendary Rocket Video with many of the industry’s top distributors and retailers, with special performances and clips of new releases.

Rocket Video manager Jeff had this to say: “I’m calling the cops.” Go-Kart founder Greg Ross released in a statement that he “is in no way responsible for the actions of Will Keenan and will NOT be doing a strip-tease at the event” as previously reported.

VSDA KICK-OFF at ROCKET VIDEO!
WITH APPEARANCES BY RON JEREMY and PHOEBE DOLLAR! (from Charlie’s Death Wish), LEMMY FROM MOTORHEAD!, DIZZY FROM G’N’R!, MARY WORONOV!, WILL KEENAN! (Tromeo&Juliet, Trick, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Operation Midnight Climax), THE FROGGG! (from the hit indie “Frog-g-g!”), BONG-MAN! (from “Rock Opera”), CELEB BELLYDANCER MARYAM ASKAAR!, POP BAND “THE TEEN MACHINE”!, CHRISTINA PRIMA AND THE HOVERGIRLS,! DVD GIVEAWAYS,! DJ,! BANDS,! BYOB!

JULY 21ST 7PM
ROCKET VIDEO
726 N La Brea LA, CA 90036
HOLLYWOOD CA 90027
323.965.1100
http://www.rocketvideo.com


BongMan crashes the VSDA in Vegas!!!!

The Annual Video Software Associations’ Home Entertainment Convention

The Annual VSDA’s Home Entertainment 2005 Convention will be held on July 25 – 28 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, and is THE place to be if you’re a distributor, retailer, or indie filmmaker looking to sell a few dvd units to that fat cat in Texas who owns 25 video stores.

Visit http://www.vsda.org for more info

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May 25, 2005

Hell on Wheels UPDATE: Phase 7 complete!

We’ve watched and logged all the tapes! Okay, so that’s not entirely true. However, we have watched, logged and digitized just about every tape. Actually the only tapes left to watch are some bout footage. So what’s with all the hoopla? Well, since we’ve been logging tapes non-stop from December ’04 until late last night, it’s something of a milestone for us over here and we’re happy as can be.

But wait! There’s more. All the while this logging has been going on, our super-awesome editor Cory Ryan has been working her tail off on the first rough assembly of the film! Yeah, 2 birds!

We’re hoping to have the first rough cut by the end of next week!!!!!!!

Sure, it’ll run about 5-6 hours long, but considering that we started with a stack of nearly 500 hour-long tapes (spanning 3+ years), it’s one hell of a step in the right direction.

Up next is the paring down of the flick to under 2 hours. We’ll also be cutting a 3-5 min trailer telling what the story is about. We’re targeting some pretty sweet film fests for potential screenings in January and have 18 weeks until the deadline, so if you don’t see Bob, Werner or Cory out and about, rest assured that it’s because we’re working our fingers to the bone to make this the most ass kicking documentary ever!!!!

Viva la Roller Derby!
Thanks,
CrashCam Films

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April 05, 2005

Hello from the CrashCam Films Global HQ. Here’s what we’re up to:

Rock Opera DVD release date set: April 12, 2005!!!
Start planning your 4-20 party! The Rock Opera DVD will be out on 4-12 (April 12, 2005). Plenty of time to get your sticky lil’ fingers on a copy and gear up for a 4-20 celebration!

There are a couple of release parties planned, for info, go to: www.RockOperaTheMovie.com

Hell On Wheels
Yes… it is a project many years in the making. It’ll be worth the wait. We’re digging our heels into post production. We’re making some great headway, so be patient.

If you need a derby fix right now, just check out any of the 35 plus leagues popping up all across the nation. www.HellOnWheelsTheMovie.com

The Down Side
The first draft of this twisted dark comedy-caper flick is done!!! It’s 113 pages of ass kicking, double crossing, rock and roll fueled caper goodness. I’ve started a web page for it and it has limited info, but check it out at http://www.crashcamfilms.com/thedownside.htm

The Down Side script has the Slamdance Film Festival saying:
“Hilarious and gut wrenching.”
“This script is incredibly engaging from the beginning… pure storytelling genius!”
“If this script hasn’t been passed around Hollywood by now, it would be wise to get it in the hands of an agent who can do just that.”
So we’re passing The Down Side around Hollywood right now. The early word is out and there is some momentum building… I’ll keep you posted.

Look out for APE SH!T. You’d better watch your back.

Thanks for your support,
–bob ray

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January 19, 2005

Hello from the CrashCam Films Global HQ. Here’s what we’re up to:

New CrashCam Films Logo
Like the new logo on the home page? Thanks to Jared Conner for whipping that out. He also did the fancy new redesign of the Rock Opera packaging. Samples are up on the Rock Opera page. You can check out loads of Jared’s awesome art at: www.mexicanchocolatedesign.com

Riverboat Gamblers’ “What’s What” screening at SXSW in March
The Riverboat Gamblers video for “What’s What” that we shot at Beerland on super fine Super 8 film will be screening at this years South by Southwest Film Festival in March. Check out SXSW.com for details on the fest… we’ll keep you posted as we get the info.

Rock Opera DVD release date set: April 12, 2005!!!
Start planning your 4-20 party! The Rock Opera DVD will be out on 4-12 (April 12, 2005). Plenty of time to get your sticky lil’ fingers on a copy and gear up for a 4-20 celebration!

Like a gravity bong from hell, this DVD will blow your brain! That’s a threat and a promise…

The powerhouse team of GoKart Films, Hoverground and Koch Entertainment defeated all others in a heated battle for the Rock Opera DVD rights. The frenzied bidding war allowed us the leverage to demand that all kinds of weird and crazy stuff be included on the Rock Opera DVD. Little gems like “The Adventures of Donald Starkland” and “Night of the Kung Fu Zombie Bastards from Hell!” and several other kick ass shorts can be found in the jam packed “Old Stupid Shit” section of the DVD.

We’ve got some of those boring audio commentaries that all the kids are into these days. But we messed up again. We went and got all wacky and recorded the Rock Opera Drinking Game by mistake. Eight of the key players in the film gathered and followed these rules while watching the flick:
1. When you hear “Dude,” “Fuck,” or “Man” – you take one drink.
2. When you hear or see a band name – you take a bong hit (then pass the bong (you greedy bastard) so the next person can take a hit when another band name is mentioned).
3. Whenever Toe gets slapped around – you take a shot of booze.

Seconds after recording the drunk game we got the bright idea to record The Stoner Jam Track with Tia Carrera What happened was Austin’s heaviest instrumental combo came in and laid down a blistering 90 minute jam while watching the flick (sorta like The Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd thing, but all kick ass and shit).

But wait, there’s more… there are tons of music videos, behind the scenes featurettes, trailers and kick butt short films…
www.RockOperaTheMovie.com
www.GoKartFilms.com

Hell On Wheels
Yes… it is a project many years in the making. It’ll be worth the wait. We’re digging our heels into post production. We’re making some great headway, so be patient.

If you need a derby fix right now, just check out any of the 35 plus leagues popping up all across the nation. www.HellOnWheelsTheMovie.com

The Down Side
The first draft of this twisted dark comedy-caper flick is done!!! It’s 113 pages of ass kicking, double crossing, rock and roll fueled caper goodness. I’ve started a web page for it and it has limited info, but check it out at http://www.crashcamfilms.com/thedownside.htm

The Down Side script has the Slamdance Film Festival saying:
“Hilarious and gut wrenching.”
“This script is incredibly engaging from the beginning… pure storytelling genius!”
“If this script hasn’t been passed around Hollywood by now, it would be wise to get it in the hands of an agent who can do just that.”
So we’re passing The Down Side around Hollywood right now. The early word is out and there is some momentum building… I’ll keep you posted.

4 new script in the works:
While “The Down Side” is busy making waves of its own, there’s a new script in the works. The new one is called “Trike” and is a rowdy ass comedy. You know how we like to do it over here at CrashCam Films… we like the funny, we like the rowdy, we like the ass… you know… We’re also developing a few other scripts: “The Somethingorother Brothers,” “Reign in Blood,” and “Disasterbater.” Drop us a line if ya wanna know more…