LABOR DAY FUN

Over Labor Day, the family and I went to two places. First we went to Pine Valley, Utah. Where is Pine Valley you ask? In the 20 years I have lived here, I didn't know either. Until my parents, who now live in Las Vegas, tried to find a place close by where they can get out of the heat.

They proposed buying a home there and giving it to the kids. I jumped on that and we now go down about every month or two. (More on Pine Valley in another blog).

We spent 3 days there with Stephanie's kids and Parke and I. It was a little learning experience, driving with the kids. I have gotten spoiled with the two boys I have (Parke now 16 and Forrest almost 20) not having attention spans that are the length of a 30 second commercial.

But it was fun. Then after that 3 days, we dropped Parke off in Orem, then proceeded to Island Park, Idaho and Yellowstone for 3 more days. It was great to see the wild life with Stephanie's family (I mean the wildlife out in the forest, not in our car).

With all the 20 plus hours of driving, Stephanie's kids enjoyed going through almost the entire Battlestar Galactica 1978 series on DVD. It helped going through the long roads without getting too bored.

I will post more photos on a new facebook album.

WILL IT BLEND - Top Viral Ad of All Time

According to MSNBC, (my favorite network... not) has released an article on successful viral videos ads. We have been lucky to be chosen as number one.

Take a look.

LONGEST PINEWOOD DERBY TRACK

Tom (Dickson, of "Will it Blend" fame) came running up to me telling me I HAVE to spend my Saturday on August 28th with him at the Pinewood Derby Track. I was not excited to spend my Saturday at "work", but realized since we are currently without some key marketing employees, including a marketing director, I better fill in.

What I witnessed was at Rio Tinto stadium in Sandy, Utah, the longest Pinewood Derby track in the world. An average Pinewood Derby track is about 40 feet. The previous recored was about 268 feet. Tom's track was measured at 336 feet. The local BSA Chapter, Utah National Parks Council, did the work to get Guinness Book of World Records to record this event.

My objective was to set up artwork signage that represented Blendtec and videotape the event. Scouts were invited from all over Utah to try out their car on the track. I noticed for most of the cars, the real competition was can it even make it through the whole race.

Some "kids" (I use that term loosely, since many of the fathers probably pitched in and helped) came with the official weight and design that make it legal to participate (5 ounces). Many came with altered cars (motors, etc) and obviously would not count, but were allowed to test the track anyway.

The only drawback was the wind was terrible. My hat kept falling off. Speakers that were hanging on stands were falling. The tents were toppling over. It was also a cool image next to the conssession stand when the napkin box fell over and there was a whirl wind of napkins in the air. I think next year Blendtec is thinking of using Energy Solutions Arena (formerly the Delta Center) along with a longer track to help with not interrupting the air flow of the cars.

Here are a few links. We made it on KSL, Deseret News, Salt Lake Tribune and other publications.

WILL IT BLEND on "The View"... whoopteedoo

Ok that didn't sound very convincing. It could just me my "outsider" mentality toward things. I have been known to be a sour-puss toward "popular" events. I guess I look at the eternal perspective things. Part of why I don't like reality shows. They make celebrities out of beautiful people that just sit around in coffee shops and bitch about the environment, or whatever shallow topic is cool to complain about that week.

Ok, ok, not ALL reality shows are like that. But you know what I mean. So when the opportunity came for me to provide footage and information about our popular viral website, I was a little hesitant.

On the day"The View" asked me for footage from WILL IT BLEND, they just had their biggest show ever last week when Barak Hussein Obama was on, and the ladies lovingly asked their softball questions about "the issues" in their shallow-topic manor. So how could I resist...

I got a call from what sounded like a kid who might have been an intern... simply because he was nice. He told me that the Executive Producer of The View "specifically" asked for WILL IT BLEND. As I was returning the information along with the overnight shipment of videos, I sent an e-mail to this young man known as "The Tape Coordinator" for The View. I just told him that if a credit is given on the screen to credit "Kels Goodman/Blendtec".

What I didn't know was that I was CCing (that means copying to another address) the Producer and another crew person from the show, both were ladies. All of a sudden I got an e-mail back from the producer in bold:

No!… we are only crediting the websites…that’s what the seg is about… websites…so we will credit willitblend.com….if pple want info on it they can log onto your website.

I wasn't sure, did that sound like anger? It did to me.

Well I was this close (holding two fingers close together) to saying "Ok, no credit, no video" (after all, isn't that was famous people do?). I already knew by this time that our segment was going to be lame. But I remained optimistic, after all, the Executive Producer "specifically" asked for Will it Blend videos, right?

Then, I got another e-mail from the other lady on the copy list:

Just want to make sure the tape will come tomorrow or Monday morning the LATEST...

That one didn't seem too bad. But after the first one, I figured the ladies at The View were ganging up on me. Just like that poor intern "tape coordinator". (Now I remember why I hate working on live events) My only thought was that he is a young guy trying to "make it" in the biz, and the only way he can is to be castrated by a couple of powerful producer/decision makers.

Just like the castration that was done to Will it Blend when it finally made it on the show. A whopping 53.5 seconds of pure viral goodness. Yeah, we got on and yeah we got talked about. (They showed the iPhone 4 being blended.) The ladies brought on guests who were "experts" in viral material, one who talked about WIB was a guy from the show G4 (don't know where it plays).

He really downplayed WIB (we were last on the list, you can tell we were "squeezed" in). I emailed facts about WIB, but he got it all wrong. He made it sound like Tom Dickson just messed around one day and made this hot blender and decided to film it blending all kinds of things. I tried to tell them it was a campaign for the blender that has already been around for years. A real blender you can purchase. And that the result of WIB was a dramatic increase in sales. But obviously, he missed that.

The ladies all sat around saying "who would want to watch that". Only Whoopee had the balls to say that "some of these video are actually funny". (Joy concluded with, "and many are not"). Leave it to Joy for the final word.

Anyway, my conclusion from this whole event was this: Filmmakers shouldn't make films for filmmakers, for they never pay the bill. Meaning, who gives a crap what programmers and decision-makers say. They may be the one's who get it in the theater, get it on TV, get it on the radio. But it's the everyday people who make the final decision on what works and what doesn't.

There is much more to learn about the entertainment industry.

MINIATURES AND DIGITAL FUN!

It looks like we are delaying the release of The Last Eagle Scout, but not for too long. Things have been crazy and with a few recent showings of the film to closed groups, we have found some changes we would like to make.

With that in mind, we have to opportunity to make the film better and close any gaps we have seen. We also got into finishing some special effects that were not done yet. Clark Schaffer has been patient enough with us in his busy schedule to come finish this scale model of the Knight Building that sits in the city center of Downtown Provo.

We filmed all around the building a chase scene between Cliff and Zeke. It was pretty fun. When I see Clark work, I get a sense of all kinds of things I would want to do with effects and miniatures. I can see a "high" coming from making effect films.

The Knight building has a little significance in my life. It's where I had my office while making Handcart 8 years ago. It is where the first of my favorite sub franchise began, Gandolfos. It is also the building named after the father of my dad's old business partner, Glade Knight, who founded Southern Virginia University (ironically, the mascot of SVU is "The Knights").

It is also the home of the oldest elevator in Utah (as seen in the film). Excited to finish this film.

Vacation and Candida

What is Candida you say? You would think it is another country, or a foreign fruit. Actually, I call it "you-can't-eat-a". I'll explain why.

First, let me say, we had a great two weeks. Stephanie, Parke, Truxton (a friend of Parke's) and I went down to South Padre Island, TX for the first week. The last few times we have gone down, it was either business or too short of a trip. This time I made a point of doing nothing but playing. I could and I did! I had been spending the last few months stressing over finishing up "The Last Eagle Scout" as well as Blendtec stuff, blending the last two Apple iJunk (I admit, I got my own iPad and iPhone 4) and everything else going on.

We went down, stayed at a condo, and did everything from the Schlitterbahn, to ATVs, to parasailing, to watching dolphins and eating lots of sea food. It was a great time. It was also good to see my brother Tom, his wife Melinda and my niece Lori. We also went to my 25th high school reunion. It was a smaller, yet older crowd then last time... plus, I came with a different woman, so a lot has changed. But it was a good experience.

In the midst of it all, Stephanie started to get sick. She got a stomach ache that she could not fend off. It was happening after every meal. Her tummy has been an issue since we have been married, so I seemed to be part of the problem. She finally pieced together she had candida. It has something to do with too much yeast in her body (fun).

The second week of vacation (not really a vacation) I spent at scout camp. We went up to Mount Timpanogos and camped at Timpanookee camp ground for the week and had our own camp (since I am the scout master). It was a great experience.

While I was away, Stephanie consulted her friends who went through the same situation and finally started a diet she has to live by for three weeks. It is a strict diet... I mean, strict! No sugar, no bread, no fruit. "How do you live with that?" I asked. You just have to be creative.

I found that out when I realized that I had to live the diet also. As long as we are husband and wife (very husband and wife) I have to eat the same crappy things that she has to eat.

Actually the truth is, the things I normally eat are what's crappy. What I have to eat on this diet are actually really good for you, but very restrictive. You live off of it strictly for 3 weeks then re-introduce other foods slowly, lasting 3 months. It sucks! Try spending your day eating eggs for breakfast (just eggs, no cheese, no butter on the pan, no bacon, no toast) with water. Then for a snack cucumbers, broccoli, spinach and cashews. You can have meat, but nothing on it. Mostly chicken, beef and seafood. Try eating a dry, non-marinated chicken. And it can't be the quickie pre-processed stuff.

I have also lost some weight on this diet. Not because of the food, but the lack of desiring to eat it. I have to have my cheese, sauce and dressing. My junk food and Sobe (I don't drink soda anymore, unless there's nothing else). I saw my belt buckle go to the next hole.

With all this, I know that it is no fun seeing Stephanie in pain. And Stephanie would probably do the same thing for me, bless her heart. We have both been fairly weak and depressed over this situation. I especially have found myself with little energy. But, we mostly look at it as a challenge and often laugh about it, especially when one of us says "what's for dinner tonight", it usually causes us to burst into laughter. That's my Stephanie. I love her so.

BEEN A WHILE...

I have been drowned in work, between working for Blendtec, finishing up The Last Eagle Scout and taking on a few other things, I haven't had time to sit and think... which is what I usually do before writing a blog.

First, I have finally accepted the fact that The Last Eagle Scout will not officially be released in September. Still more to do and the time will not allow it. That's what happens when you produce things on such a tight budget.

Second, I have finally gone to see the film RUSH: BEHIND THE LIGHTED STAGE. I have gained a new perspective of one of the hardest working bands I have ever known. The same 3 guys for the past 30+ years and still making albums with the highest level of musical excellence and not selling out. It was also amazing to see all the bands that were inspired by Rush. The whole story focused on this band that focused more on music and not on what happens after the concert. It made me look at my work as a filmmaker and see where I can improve and strive for a little more excellence.

Third, my mother has successfully gone thought the chemotherapy to help get rid of the cancer she had. She is obviously on the watch-list, but that evil chemo is past us for now. In the meantime, my father bought another home. This time, a summer home in the mountains of Pine Valley, Utah. Didn't know where the heck that was when they told me. It's so they can get out of the heat in Vegas and not drive too far (about 2 hours away). I guess as siblings we will part-own the house. Stephanie and I have not seen the house yet, Parke, Forrest and us will be going down for Father's Day to see it for the first time.

Distribution... I am having that dilemma as to how to release this film. (I am already looking at the next project, so I am thinking ahead). I can't publicly say what exactly I am planning (my producer Danna doesn't even know). But I am going to look into as many options so as to stay away from the DVD moratorium as long as possible. Don't mind a DVD release, but it can't be dead on arrival. It needs to have some life. Will get back with ya....

Finally got new carpet in the house and tile. Looks like a different house. Steph has been such the trooper making the house look great. She went to Pier 1 Imports and (another store, I can't remember the name) and bought me a bunch of film related art work for the walls. Things like a couple of old film reels, big sized tickets, popcorn boxes and other paintings with film "stuff" on it. It looks great and I love that she celebrates my profession. I hope to do the same for her.

Later this summer is a trip to South Padre Island (for my 25th high school reunion, can you believe it) and scout camp. And lot's of Orem Owlz baseball.