"The Grover Complex" official site

Hey all, the official site for "The Grover Complex" is up and running.  It features cast and crew bios and original music from the film.  We hope you enjoy!

www.thegrovercomplex.com

What's new?

I like Twitter.  I was down on it for a bit a month ago until I actually figured out how it worked.  Imagine that.

People are friendly.  People are freindly on Twitter, people are friendly on Myspace.  Not so much Facebook.  Some people might disagree, go ahead.

Anyway, genuine interest for The Grover Complex and DTA has come from Twitter (and Myspace for Grover).  I figured I should update.

Grover has been doing well.  I say this after getting less than positive news from the monster festivals.  But, as it's been explained to us it's a teen comedy about a guy and his penis and it has no names... were we expecting a miracle?

Yes.

But we've moved on from help from the Divine.

We're now going towards smaller more appropriate festivals.  We've also been talking to publicists.  We've received requests from people to review the film which is exciting.  We're a little back and forth on whether or not we should do this yet before we actually premiere...  I will keep you updated.  I will definitely let you know when we're accepted.

Regardless, the support we've received from people has been exciting.  We do get down on days when it feels like no one cares but thankfully a day or two later we can count on a boost from some unexpected source.

Has what we want to happen happened yet?  No.  But we're learning a lot and we're happy for that, lame as that sounds.  I'm being sincere there.

Several people on Twitter have asked if there will be a second season of DTA.  No.  DTA was a fun project with a great cast and crew but there will not be a continuation.

I do have another web-show that I'm working on getting going.  YES, in my previous post I said I wasn't doing web.  Now I think it might actually be the way to go with this project.  There's been a push to have longer episodes for web-series and this one would work very well in the range of 15-20 minute episodes.

I will talk endlessly about it when it happens.

Thanks to everyone interested! Very appreciated. :)

Recent news!

To start off with some pretty good news the web-series I created and wrote (Delayed Teen Angst) won two merit awards from the Accolade Competition.  It won for the series and for the writing.  I was told by the competition president that they have several web-series entering the competition but I only saw DTA as a winner in that category. Considering how people usually view web-series (not very seriously), I’m happy with the results.  That it won an award for the writing definitely makes me feel pretty happy.

Another positive is that the project should now be eligible to go up on IMDb. That concern might sound lame to some, hey, we’ve all got our priorities.  People like IMDb credits here; they use it to measure success/value/ are-you-worth-their-time/etc. I did projects for free in order to get IMDb credits… sadly they never panned out so all I pulled from them was experience.  EXPERIENCE, bleh. ;)  As I’ve applied for other jobs in entertainment I have gotten the question 95% of the time, “how many IMDb credits do you have?”  Is it sad that things seem to operate that way?  It’s life. 

Web-series are notoriously hard to get up on IMDb because IMDb is pretty wary of them. I’m mixed on this.  I’m well aware that the web is over-saturated with series that easily show why these people haven’t yet found jobs in tv or film.  There are, however, great series on the web where people put even more effort into them than short films/tv pilots that seem to go up so easily.  With so few competitions that judge web-series there’s sadly not an easy way for series to gain credibility. 

Some of the latest series that were picked up by web-series stations seemed to have been picked up solely for the number of hits.  I won’t use names and I’m well aware people can just say I’m jealous/bitter but a lot of them simply seem limited to crass humor/recycled gags.  There are great series out there!  Many, many great series where the cast and crew work their asses off but if they don’t get over 10,000 hits then forget about it, no station will be open to negotiating with you.  That’s unfortunate but I suppose that’s every other medium as well.  The web does feel a little bit more like a high school popularity contest than film or tv though. 

I’m glad DTA has received two awards and I’m glad to have learned from it as I begin work on my next few projects which won’t be web-related.  Do I sound prickly?  My apologies.  I did just sort of bitch for a paragraph because I failed to properly market a series. ;) 

For those wondering Fernando and I are hoping to begin pre-production on a feature length script of mine in spring by the latest. I’m also very set on a pilot for a television series I’ve plotted out.  This one we are sort of thinking of shooting in a way that would allow it to be converted to a web-series if it fails to get picked up.  I don't mean to diminish the web to fall-back status, I do think there is a future in web entertainment, I just haven’t figured out how to make it work for me yet.  For those who have, congrats!

Congrats to all the friends and acquaintances who’ve had luck with festivals and competitions lately. I don’t think people in independent film/web-tv/tv ever get the pat on the back that they deserve.  Too many people look at the arts and think “free-spirited slacker” instead of thinking about the 12+ hour days people pull out here.

Best of luck to all!

A Poetry Update

I'm happy to announce that two of my poems, "Proposing to a Young Man with a Ring Pop" and "1-800-Flowers" will be appearing in an issue of the poetry magazine "Breadcrumb Scabs".  http://www.breadcrumbscabs.com/current.html
The magazine is available in print.

I'll be sure to update with further details.

What is the meaning of this?

Didn't I already have a blog???

I've realized it may not be the best idea to direct people to a blog that's half personal ramblings/half business so I've created this one for project updates.

If you want to read paragraphs of occasionally funny but self-indulgent bullshit then head on over to my other blog Wazikaze.

The other blogs I manage for my movie The Grover Complex and my web series Delayed Teen Angst are linked here as well.

Enjoy!

A post from a film blog I enjoy

I just found this to be a good post. Enjoy.

http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2009/08/revolution-within-revolution-is-still.html#links

Reposting my web series

Click To Play

I've been trying to get this into a few contests. The majority of web-content... well... some people work really hard sub-conscientiously to let you know why they're stuck doing only web-content.

I just sounded like an arrogant bitch. I'm not. Or maybe I sounded like one but it doesn't mean I am one.

Of course I'd advise anyone who hasn't watched the web-series to get to episode 5, that seems to be a favorite. Don't skip to episode 5, watch them all through (and 6 too).

Enjoy.

A screening!

We had the cast and crew screening for The Grover Complex!

You know that indie movie I've been talking about;) (By the way, you can find the teaser here: YouTube, Yahoo, MySpace, DailyMotion and Veoh
and the trailer here:YouTube, Yahoo, MySpace, DailyMotion and Veoh )

Now that that's out of the way... ;p

I think the cast and crew were really surprised with how well it turned out. We filmed it so quickly there was little time to think and with the surface subject matter I know a lot of people thought it would be this raunchy little flick but it's actually quite sweet.

It was quite kick ass to see everyone again. Several people I'd love to work with another time as we try and get our next project moving.

The Grover Complex Teaser!

Here's the teaser to the independent movie I produced called The Grover Complex. This teaser was edited by Michael Darrow, features music from Brandon K. Verrett, and has voice over from Tony Azzolino. Enjoy!

The Grover Complex Teaser

Getting published!

Yay! An article I wrote for Indie Slate Magazine on our movie The Grover Complex is being published in their #59 issue!

In this article I go into the production of The Grover Complex in some sort of plea for sympathy. I ask everyone to acknowledge how hard I worked in hopes of getting some long desired pat on the back. I also make an attempt to get some praise for most of the other people involved. That's what I'm here for. ;)

In all seriousness I'm really pleased about this. I'm hoping it will get the movie some well deserved publicity that we're not going to have to pay for.

This week I'm working hard on some interviews and another article for some more magazines. I'd like to interview Fernando, Heather (who played "Bambi"), and our editor Michael Darrow.

I'm also trying to get our web series Delayed Teen Angst some more publicity through some planned press releases, reviews, and good-old-fashioned mass emails.

With the last several months (year maybe) of insanity from bad roommates, bad friends, bad economy, it definitely creates an urgency in trying to get as much done as possible.

At the moment I'd love to do a second season of Delayed Teen Angst or possibly tweak it into a more sitcom style show. I also have my elf drama and then of course the screenplay I've been kicking around forever.

Eh, we'll see. We'll see. :)

Delayed Teen Angst news

We've added Delayed Teen Angst to Blip.tv. You can find it here:

http://delayedteenangst.blip.tv/

We unfortunately ran into trouble with the Youtube counter for our DTA page there and Youtube hasn't been very helpful in correcting this.

Through Blip.tv the plan is to get DTA on iTunes for free podcast download. It's a project we're proud of and the more we can get it out the better.

There's also a blog up for DTA so you can find all DTA links in one spot. I was pretty slow in getting this up but it seemed like a nice way to sort of organize all the different sites we dot out there.
http://delayedteenangst.blogspot.com/

Check us out and of course pass us on!

The Grover Complex trailer 1 in HD

Check out our first trailer for The Grover Complex!

The Grover Complex trailer 1 from The Grover Complex on Vimeo.

After a year of working on this movie I'm glad we have something we can show people. Our editor Mike Darrow did a great job on this trailer and it's made even better with the music by Brandon K. Verrett.

Delayed Teen Angst now on this blog

Hey all!

Delayed Teen Angst, (DTA), starring Tristan Scott, Fernando Noor, and Amy Vorpahl is now on this blog through youtube. The series written by me (Claire L. Wasmund) and directed by Karen Bullis is a six episode web series.

Check out he actual site for it as well: http://www.moctod.com/dta

Amy Vorpahl also has her own web series out: www.chaoticgoodonline.com. Be sure to check that out as well!

Delayed Teen Angst

I’m very excited to announce that our web series “Delayed Teen Angst” is now up and running on its own site (designed by Karen Bullis): http://www.moctod.com/dta

And you can find it on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3C3618508D599A9E&search_query=delayed+teen+angst

We worked long and hard on this web series and pulled off the amazing feat of filming all six episodes in two days with a two person crew, Karen Bullis and me.

Our three actors are pretty phenomenal, Tristan Scott as Lionel, Fernando Noor as Damian, and Amy Vorpahl as Evie.

Here’s a reminder as to what our series is about:

DTA: Delayed Teen Angst is the tale of the noble Lionel (TRISTAN SCOTT); his no-nonsense sister, Evie (AMY VORPAHL); and his lovelorn friend, Damian (FERNANDO NOOR), as they straddle adulthood during summer vacation. When Evie entertains the affections of Damian, Lionel struggles with the fact that his partner in chromosomes may be violated by his long-time friend.

Examining the intricacies of “Guy code”, Tony Montana, and the hybridization of sea horses and telepaths, the series poses the question of “does growing up stop when classes do?”

As Evie says, “Summer vacation allows for certain lapses in judgment. Lethargy causes insanity. Be responsible and cure your boredom.”