Movie Production Articles Archive

Lee Doll Film Productions and JBH Video presents a new indie musical comedy titled “Rise and Fall…in LOVE” starring Louanna Lee and Clear For Takeoff. Special Guest Star George Stover. Featuring Jason Brown, Sam Lukowski, Brendan Biondi, Marc LaMartina, Joey Enste, Joe Whiting, Alfred Guy, Kim Hoang, Earl Klemm, John Gray, Steve Rifkin, Bob Clark, Kate Jackson, Lauren Zimmerman Rifkin, Cameron Guy, Wayne Shipley, and Jennifer Rouse. Director of Photography and Editor- Jeff Herberger. Written by Steve Rifkin and Lee Doll. Makeup and Wardrobe by Kate Jackson. Assistant Director- Alfred Guy. Executive Producer- Earl Klemm. Produced and Directed by Lee Doll.

www.LeeDoll.com  www.LouannaLee.com  www.cftband.com

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George Stover Bone Garden

Baltimore actor George Stover kindly provided this candid shot of himself, Tracie Savage (Friday the 13th III) and Ron Millkie (Friday the 13th) on the set of THE BONE GARDEN. Stover plays Officer Ned Taylor.

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Director Mike Gutridge  (seen above with actor Paul Kratka) has gotten some great talent – both in front of and behind the camera – together for his latest motion picture. Posted here courtesy of Mr. Gutridge are some behind the scenes photos from the production. Below is the blurb he sent me about the movie. I really urge everyone to check out the fantastic facebook page he has set up. I believe the shooting locations include areas around Baltimore, as well as a lake in Pennsylvania. Check out the cast! Three veterans from the Friday the 13th series, PLUS local celebs George Stover and April “Chainsaw Sally” Monique Burril! I am really looking forward to seeing the final product once completed!

 April Monique Burril

The Bone Garden is a Hitchcockian thriller about how no one is ever what they seem and EVERYONE has something to hide.
“Alice Hardy” (Tracie Savage) suspects her husband “norman” (Paul Kratka), a college history professor of cheating on her. but, there have been a rash of missing persons around campus lately and she also wonders is norman is guilty of murder, too!!
The Bone Garden stars several Friday the 13th vets including Tracie Savage and Paul Kratka (part 3) and Ron Millkie (part one).

Here is the website LINK and the facebook LINK. CHECK IT OUT!

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Lee Doll Film Productions’ DANGEROUS DECEPTION (starring Alfred Guy and Paul R. Sieber) gets a Smash or Trash review. You can read about it HERE.  There will also be a giveaway of a DVD and poster from this movie on the site here very soon!

Recent birthdays! We had some late June birthdays and some upcoming July birthdays that deserve a shout out!

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 Filmmaker Mitch Klein (Left-June 30th) and actor George Stover (right July 3rd) also have celebrated recent birthdays. Both are super guys and great supporters of Smash or Trash. We wish them the happiest of birthdays!

Day of the Gun

Special thanks to Leanna Chamish for providing these photos (above). These were taken on location of Wayne Shipley’s new western DAY OF THE GUN.  Some familiar faces could be seen in the crowd and this particular day of shooting revolved around and old-time baseball game. I’m looking forward to more updates about this!

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CRAWLER UPDATE: The final timeline is in place and editing is in the works. What does this mean? This means while Mitch Klein concentrates on the visual effects, I have taken it upon myself to work on the credits, the editing, the audio, sound effects, and laying in the soundtrack by Justin Timpane. I showed a very, very rough cut of it to Mitch. We had a good laugh at my animatics (scenes in place for the real visual effects) but I got favorable feedback. Because of this I am tightening up everything. Progress folks – progress!

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 The Smash or Trash store now has a TON of new items available!  The only place to get your official Don Dohler and George Stover items. Even better, part of the proceeds go to charity!!! The link to these great grabs is right HERE.

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As of this evening, the horror web series MALICE only has 19 more days to reach their Kickstarter goal. YOU can help. Whether it is a dollar to 1000 dollars, you can become a backer to this incredible show. Click on this LINK, check out the show and the cool perks you can get. Then get off your fanny and back them. Remember – support independent productions!

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The new Canadian horror movie MORTAL REMAINS – by filmmakers Trevor Trombley and Dan Zachary – is in post! To learn more about this supernatural revenge thriller, click on the poster above.

Gothic Set

Filmmaker Karl Hopf wrote a great article on how to do Gothic period piece sets when dealing with an ultra low budget. Click on the image above to check it out!

Ted Bohus

February 6th marks a birthday for indie filmmaker Ted A. Bohus. Ted is a prolific filmmaker and editor and is probably best known for his cult classic THE DEADLY SPAWN. He also gave Smash or Trash some great insights into the hells of movie distribution. Make sure you read it!
      Smash or Trash now has a fan page on facebook!  Click HERE to become a fan and to check out what is new! Remember when I said I have some new articles going up soon? Well, I am right in the middle of doing them. Here is a sneak peek at the two soon to go up! The first is an article on blue screening and green screening:

Blue screening and green screening

Next is a two part article on how to safely light a Scream Queen on fire!  Joseph McClurkin was the special effects artist on the movie DEAD HUNT, and he and I will be showing the readers step-by-step how one of the most horrendous death scenes was done for the movie. Both of these articles will be posted in the very near future!

Burn Victim from DEAD HUNT

Dexter Bobble Head toy

It’s giveaway time again! Hollywood producer Edward L. Plumb of Irena Belle Films has donated a Dexter Bobble-Head, based on the lead character of the popular television series.  The rules for entering are simple: Send us an email with your name and address and it will be printed out and put into the big giveaway jar for the drawing. The actual drawing will take place on February 13th for this item. And yes, just like the last giveaway I will have to charge the minimum for shipping this item: $3.00 for US, and $7.00 for anywhere else in the world. This will be through my paypal account. It’s unfortunate that I cannot do the postage but times are really lean right now. Make sure you check out our great sponsor’s movies by clicking on the banner below!

Irena Belle Productions

Are you on Facebook? Well, Smash or Trash WILL be getting a page up there soon. In the meantime, Four-Fingered Films LLC wants to hear from you! They have their general information page HERE, Their movie Roulette HERE, and their other production The Devil’s Playthings HERE. Check them out and give them a holler!

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The anniversary of the site is just around the corner and we are closing in on 8,000 hits! Not bad for having been up just short of two years. I’ve tried to keep this as a non-profit site but may have to go to using banner ads to keep it up and running, if you like the site and want to donate a dollar or two to keep it going strong, please press the Paypal donation button on the left – it will be appreciated! Thanks for all your support.

Hazy Daze™ 1985 to 1986

The About This Site section has been filled in more detail, and you can check that out by  clicking HERE. Coming up in February I have an article on affordable green-screening coming up, as well as some new interviews. Stay tuned…

As Darkness Sets In 1984

I’m currently talking to filmmaker Erik Kristopher Myers of Four-Fingered Films, LLC recently about  cutting a retro 80s trailer for my cult slasher movie AS DARKNESS SETS IN. It is a typical whodunit slasher from that era that starred Tami S. Marshall, Anthony Chilla, Ann Ehlers, David Bretag, Kelly Clark, Tim Reed, Michael Gerischer, and Cliff McFerren. It was seen by 1,000s of people at various conventions, and I have hopes of eventually releasing it on DVD.

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Long story short: there was a preference turned on that should NOT have been turned on – which basically made this site invisible to the web! It is a very strange feeling to be both completely relieved and totally ticked off at the same time when I found this out. So without further ado, welcome back to the site and have fun getting to know it again!

INTERVIEWS!

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Stunt Performer Mark Bedell: Part One of a fantastic interview with professional stunt performer Mark Bedell is now up. He talks about his career as well as the DOs and the DON’Ts of stunts – regardless of what the budget of the movie is. Make sure to follow the updates for this in-depth interview.

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Filmmaker Ted A. Bohus: Independent Filmmaker Ted A. Bohus has done several movie productions. In his expansive career behind the camera, he has had to deal with his fair share of distribution hell in order to get his films released. Here at Smash or Trash, Bohus has kindly let us into some of his insights on film distribution; things to prepare yourself for and things to watch out for. His sage advice can save the indie filmmaker a lot of heartache and give them a better chance at a successful release of their project. The interview can be found HERE.

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Actress Leanna Chamish: Actress and Scream Queen Leanna Chamish gets interviewed about her illustrious career. Check out part one of the amazing in-depth article!

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Filmmaker Don Dohler: Producer/Director Don Dohler’s 2005 interview is now up in the interview section of the site. Don had been a mentor to several people in the motion picture industry, and was an inspirational person to many, including myself. There will be more photos added to this interview as time allows. The link to the interview can be found here.

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Filmmaker Donald F. Glut: My very first interview is up with legendary director Donald Glut. This gentleman inspired John Carpenter and also worked with George Lucas. This interview was so in-depth that I had to make a three-parter out of it. It makes for fascinating reading in the realm of low-budget movie-making.

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Filmmaker Kevin Kangas: An interview with director/screenwriter Kevin Kangas has been posted. He goes into detail about his first two movies – HUNTING HUMANS and FEAR OF CLOWNS. An excellent read complete with photos so check it out!

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Actress Lauren Pellegrino: A great in-depth interview that collaborator Leanna Chamish did with the talented actress/musician Lauren Pellegrino back in 2005 for my book. Among many national commercials and indie films, she is probably best known – acting wise – for her large supporting role in Kangas Kahn Films’ 2004 hit FEAR OF CLOWNS. This talented performer gives real insights on what she does to prepare and successfully land roles in top notch indie productions. To go to her interview click on the animated banner.

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Filmmaker Edward L. Plumb: The charismatic Hollywood Producer Edward L. Plumb shares his secrets of how to produce an affordable independent movie – with big stars – in tinseltown! Click here for the first part of his interview.

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Actress Jacky Reres: Smash or Trash contributor Leanna Chamish interviews the beautiful, talented star of the “Fear of Clowns” movie franchise about her career. If you are an aspiring actor or actress, you will want to pay close attention to her words of wisdom. You can get to it by clicking here.

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Actor Daniel Ross: Leanna Chamish does a two part interview with actor Daniel Ross about his long and successful career (and this guy is still under 30!). Ross talks about how he broke into the business, what it takes to be a successful actor, and the prep work he does to get into character. Ross also discusses appearing in such movies as CRAWLER, MRS. AMSWORTH, VAMPIRE SISTERS, NINJAS VS ZOMBIES, and LADDER 49. He is also the voice of Starscream on the Transformers video game!!!! To check out part one of this superb interview click HERE.

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Actor George Stover: Star of the small and large screen – veteran character actor George Stover – granted Smash or Trash an interview and we are happy to post in now complete with pics. Stover has appeared in countless movies (including ones for John Waters and Don Dohler), and gives a look into what it takes to become a successful actor. His interview can be found HERE.

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Filmmaker Dan Zachary: The interview I did with Filmmaker Dan Zachary of Moviehouse Pictures. He goes into detail on some of the behind-the-scenes info, struggles, and antics he ran into when getting his indie slasher DARKEST HOUR off the ground and finished. He also gives the reader a glimpse into what is coming up next with his company. To check out the cool interview and photos go HERE.

This has been a busy week. I am up to my elbows making props for Timewarp Films (we are in production for SEALED FATES) but this blog will get you up to date on the tons of stuff that has been going on.

Leanna Chamish with Count Gore T-shirt

As you can see from the photo above the lovely Leanna Chamish is holding up one of the Count Gore De Vol t-shirts that I designed. If you are interested in getting one for yourself, you can order it HERE.

I’m having a few problems with the email I set up for this site. I will let you know when that has been fixed.

Michael Baldwin of PHANTASM

A couple of week’s ago a successful indie film – PHANTASM – had a cast reunion in Chicago. Long time Phantasm phan and phriend Dustin McNeil was on hand and told me that there were people there with the limited-edition Phantasm poster I had put out several years ago. That was gratifying to say the least. Here is a photo of actor . Michael Baldwin and one of the posters. Thanks for sending the photo, Dustin!

Will miracles never cease!?!! I have the START of the Poor Man’s Process article up HERE. More photos and information will be added next week!

An article for selecting costumes for a low-budget independent movie is now up at the following link:

http://smashortrashindiefilmmaking.com/?page_id=133

I have used a few  photos from Timewarp Films, Irena Belle Films, Kangas Kahn Films, LLC., and PipeDreams Entertainment as visual aids. Check it out! Also, quite a few more links up in the LINKS section.