mullet toss - behind the scenes.

we just finished a commercial (or rather 3 commercials) for the mullet toss at the flora-bama. 

the mullet toss is a BIG event down here at the beach...it involves throwing a dead fish over the inter-state line of alabama and florida. 

sounds exciting, huh?

well, it's considered to be the largest beach party on the gulf.

a lot of people show up, they drink, they dress silly/outrageous or wear basically nothing, and then they see who can throw their mullet the farthest.

and it lasts for three days.

anyway, dusty was hired to write, produce, direct, and edit together commercials for the event.

in addition to helping in any way i could, i was also the set photographer.

over on our photography blog, i posted 'behind the scene' photos from the shoot.

and also over there, you can check out the final product on the commercials!

what we've been up to...

1. working...it's exhausting, i tell ya.

 

2. painting...and lots of it.

we said goodbye to a wood paneled filled hallway.

 

and we also said hello to a...

...chalkboard wall.

chalkboard walls are fun.

and our living room used to be an obnoxious yellow...now it's the light gray color pictured above.

 

3. other house projects, such as ordering prints, painting frames, painting canvases, organizing, etc.

i'm ready to make this a place i love.

each little project we complete, makes me even more happy.

 

4. editing scripts.

dusty has been making some final changes to what was called 'dickhead', but has now been changed to 'big man'.

'big man' is currently in the hands of producers in california and we're hoping for good news.

the ultimate goal is for one of the production companies to love the script and want to finance it entirely.

fingers are crossed.

 

while we wait to hear news on 'big man', i've started to edit a script dusty wrote in 2005 called 'the proposal'.

i've been editing a little bit each day - it's more time consuming than i was expecting.

grammar is not dusty's strong point - you should see how covered in red each page is :)

dusty would like to sell this script and has no interest in being the one who makes the movie.

just an update for y'all on the movie things.

 

oh, and dusty has started to write a new film, titled 'north plains'.

he's feeling motivated, and i like it.

 

5. beach days.

 

trains are essential for gray's beach days.

 

sometimes, after the beach, we grab some food and listen to live music.

gray surprised us this last time and was a dancing fool...who knew he had it in him?

 



Dickhead.

Dusty's new film = Dickhead.

Things are in the works as we speak to make this film happen...exciting things are happening!

The crew is coming along and actors are being cast.

I'm thrilled to be a part of this entire process - it's going to be quite the experience and I am more than ready for it :)

Here are the tagline and synopsis to give you an idea of what Dickhead is about:

Tagline:

Two wrongs don’t make a right and Dick & Mary are a whole bucket of wrong.

Synopsis: 

Dick is a self-appointed border patrolman and all around son-of-a-bitch living in the wide-open spaces of Southwest Texas with his wife Mary and her mousy sex addicted sister.  Desperate to find a way out of her loveless marriage, Mary has been secretly and methodically poisoning Dick's food.  Meanwhile, Dick begins to have some success in his campaign for a "true and pure America." With the help of an eccentric cowboy called The Horseman, he captures a Mexican trying to cross the border.  Against all odds, a friendship blossoms between Dick and the Mexican that remind Dick of the better angle of his nature that he had thought was all but lost.  Made aware of his imminent demise, Dick, in a frenzied race for a cure, experiences a true change of heart.  As he and Mary start to fall for each other all over again, they find themselves in a sobering situation: will they be able to make amends before it's too late?

I can't wait to fill y'all in as things progress!

*Photos taken by Ted Speaker (producer) while they were on location scouting in Texas.

Sunday.

Our Sunday morning began with coffee (for me), diet coke (for Dusty), crafts (for me), and writing (for Dusty).

1) Dusty has never tasted coffee and never will...ever...which means Dusty's coffee = diet coke.

2) I love when I'm able to get into crafting mode...I wouldn't mind at all if it happened more often.

3) Dusty accomplished a lot of writing this weekend for a new film...he's almost finished, and I'm so very proud of him.

And when I'm proud of Dusty and his productivity, I do things for him.

Such as...

riding my bike to McDonald's for his favorite - breakfast burritos.

Before the writing, crafting, and biking began, Dusty had a vision.

And it involved ribs, pork shoulder, barbeque, slow cooking ALL day, and a charcoal grill.

I'm not even kidding - Dusty woke up at 6:30 a.m. and had the grill ready with meat on it by 7:00 a.m.

We had supper at 7:45 p.m....I'll go ahead and let you calculate the hours that meat was on the grill.

Was it worth it?

Ehhhh

Okay, that was unnecesary...supper was 'delicious'.

While our meal was simmering on the grill, we played a little bean bag toss.

How fun is this game?

We split games...in case you were wondering.

And we ended the night with the Academy Awards as per Dusty's request.

Fun day yesterday.

Prairie Love and Love Potion

I'm going into work today for Dusty.

I will be helping with Prairie Love PR work and will be contacting everyone - companies, schools, individuals, radio stations...whomever we can think of.

Luckily, I get to do this all via email...using Dusty's name and email address...thank goodness, otherwise, I would be stressing. out.

Isn't it funny how you feel so much more comfortable contacting someone when you get to be incognito?

I'm actually looking forward to this challenge.

I will be going in and working in the extra workspace at Dusty's office.

On the days I'm not subbing, this girl will be putting in a full day to help Prairie Love :)

I am going to help make things happen.

Okay, time to get on subject - Valentine's Day.

Well, I was kind of on subject.

I was going to share with you the little gift I'm giving my 'co-workers' today.

 A little love potion (diet root beer) and almond bark covered pretzels with red sprinkles.

I think the boys at work are going to like it :)

Love Potion labels can be found here.

Friday Five - Vol. 3

1.  My boyfriend Dusty's film, Prairie Love, is now available for everyone to watch online!

It can be viewed through Prescreen.

The process is simple:

Step 1) go to this website: click here

Step 2) sign up/register for free on Prescreen

Step 3) pay a small fee and watch Prairie Love :)

Your support is more appreciated than you realize...

2.  In addition to being a filmmaker, Dusty works for a local production company to help pay the bills :)

Filmmaking doesn't pay much until you make it big, thus the reason your support of Prairie Love means the world to us.

So, I was lucky enough to tag along yesterday to help with a shoot.

Alabama's star running back, Trent Richardson, spoke to the students of Orange Beach Elementary.

He finished 3rd for the Heisman Trophy...you should have seen the kids erupt in applause and excitement when they saw him walk into the gymnasium.

Richardson is projected to be a top 10 draft pick this year for the NFL...keep your eye out for him :)

3.  Yesterday sure was an eventful day.

We also got the opportunity to take professional photos of a beach house.

I always want to explore the homes around here, so I loved this opportunity.

4. It is time to get organized!

I was at Target the other day & came across a lot of storage/organization things on clearance.

You know, they had a green or red handle so they were considered 'Christmas items', therefore, they were marked down - love it. 

I recently acquired a craft closet & my new purchases will work perfectly.

5.  Ms. Krebsbach broke out and substitute taught two days this week..holla!

South Alabama Film Festival

This past weekend we drove to Mobile for the South Alabama Film Festival.

We had a blast!

The festival was kind enough to put us up in a Bed and Breakfast (Fort Conde Inn) - neither of us had ever stayed in one.

It was really neat - newly renovated, jacuzzi bath tub (yes please!), fire place, really comfortable beds, and we woke up to the smell of breakfast being cooked by their chef...it was so cozy.

(I borrowed the pictures of the inn and our room from their website)

We were able to walk everywhere, which led to the exploration of downtown Mobile.

I like downtown Mobile.

It's old and has character - I like that.

Before the screening of Prairie Love, we spent some time at Heroe's...

and had a couple beers.

We also watched part of the Alabama vs. LSU game - it's crazy how much college football means to the people down here...I'm not ready to jump on that bandwagon.

So, the screening of Prairie Love went really well - quite a few of Dusty's friends and co-workers made it...and for me, this time seeing the film was my favorite - I seem to like it more and more each time I watch it.

After hearing the various Q & A sessions, I have really grown to appreciate the film and how much work goes into every little detail.

We really had a great weekend - lots of fun and laughter :)

The big night.

Prairie Love premiered at the Friar's Comedy Club Festival on Saturday night, but the excitement began in the morning.

We stayed at Holly's (I may have mentioned that before) - she was the lead actress in the film.

Anyways, she was prepared.

She had champagne and orange juice on hand and suggested mimosas almost the instant we woke up.

And she made muffins for us...great way to start the day :)

After breakfast, we were off to find Dusty an outfit for the premiere.

It makes perfect sense to wait until the last minute, right?

We hit up lots of thrift stores and finally found what we thought would be the perfect jacket for the night.

We went back to Holly's to get ready and then we went to The Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Station to have a drink before the screening.

After some encouragement from the group, I decided to rock my natural, curly, frizzy, wavy hair.

Good decision?  still not sure...

The film played at the Lighthouse International Theater.

The screening went great.

The audience laughed when they were supposed to, there were questions during the q & a session after the film, and people were coming up to Dusty afterwards with words of praise - I love hearing the kind things people have to say to him.

I kind of feel like I have to toot Dusty's horn sometimes because he never does it himself, which is something I really admire about him :)

The above picture is Dusty with Eric who was the head programmer of the festival.

One of Dusty's friends from high school even made it to the screening :)

After the screening, we went to the after-party at the Friar's Club.

We had a great evening.

 I am so proud of Dusty.

We have arrived.

We made it to New York!

Some shots from the airplane...

After we landed, we took a taxi to Holly's office, dropped off our bags, and had lunch.

We didn't have much time before we had to get ready - we saw a California Pizza Kitchen and went for it.

It was a wonderful decision.

Dusty lets me pick what we order when we go out to eat - isn't that so sweet of him?

Anyways, I would normally order a Hawaiian pizza, but went a little crazy since we were in NY and ordered the spinach and artichoke pizza....mmmmmmmmmmm...it was so good. 

I want more right now.

After lunch, we took the subway to Holly's apartment to get ready for the opening night film and party.

All of our subway experiences have been interesting - all I'm going to say is that when it should take us 30 minutes to get somewhere, it takes us about an hour and a half.  I guess neither of us have much of a sense of direction.

Getting ready to go out...

Excited for our evening out!

Our first picture from downtown...

After the screening of Natural Selection (the opening night film, which we were an hour late for because we SUCK at the subway system), we went for dinner and drinks.

The opening party was at the Friars Comedy Club, so we headed there after dinner.

The space was so cool...unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures...but I think we will be there again another night.

We had a really fun day.

We were exhausted by the end of the day and it felt oh so good to get some sleep.

Today, we are going to be tourists and explore the city :)