wow, that was an intense weekend. we shot from early morning Saturday through the end of the day; I worked on storyboards until past midnight; then another shoot from yesterday (Sunday) morning until the day ended. But we're done! (with the shooting, that is). this was it guys--the first production for Ai-Land Chronicles. While the film itself won't use this footage (this is used for a pilot to secure our financing), it was more or less a rehearsal of the real deal.

and what an experience it was! i had the BEST crew~! Everyone was so cool, so cooperative, such hard workers--and of course full of TALENT! Kim handled costume, make-up, hair and various fire-fighting; Josh and Brett on the lights were stars in their own right; Chris--a kick-ass director himself--stood in to support me and the whole process and wound up handling the slate, camera measurements, shot descriptions and various AD stuff; Dice was acting as Line Producer in his own right; Ben not only provided all the audio set-up and playback but doubled as PA; Candice supported Kim and other production needs on Sunday when we had our star in (Skye!); Joey came by and threw his hat in the ring as PA and shot some "making of" footage as well; and of course David--my kick-ass DP as well as green screen studio owner--without him directing the lighting and the camera set-up I couldn't have done shit. So basically I had an incredible team allowing me to do the only thing I really know how to do--visualize the story and capture it on film.

well, i'm beat and have to run over to tokyopop's offices while i'm in LA (here for a couple more days) but as soon as photos come in, i will post.

any questions, send them over! i think we're planning something for an upcoming Manga Magazine, and probably the web, so please don't be shy.

just wanted to share with all of u. without u, doing this would be pointless.

happy new year, everyone!! finally it's 2006. as if we've all been waiting for 2006--is it really any different than 2005? well, i honestly hope it is because 2005 kinda sucked.

so, yeah, ok, i haven't been updating my blog. i have to admit i'm thinking seriously about just switching over to myspace. anyone think that's a good idea? something about blogger that bugs me.

but enough of that. the important thing is to let you know that we were in the studio here in LA this week recording Broken Leash for the 3-minute Ai-Land Chronicles pilot I'm shooting next weekend. we had a local band Nuda play with a great singer Skye (I think that's her name) on the vocals. i like their sound--the recording went pretty well. other than some piece of shit headphones and a long time waiting for wiring, things went off without a hitch. so today ben (aka b_nchant_d) and i were in the studio all day arranging the tracks, producing and adding in some new sound. i think (and hope) everyone will like the song. it's a funky combo of pop and hardcore. i think it will really work for the pilot well.

i shot some photos on heather's (that's Skye's real name) digital camera so i should be able to post soon. and next week during our green screen shoot i'll post again. then it's back to tokyo (finally).

so thx to those of you who have been e-mailing me lately. my next task is to reply. also, i have to get ben to post up the various Milky songs onto either the TP website or here on my site. or if i switch over to myspace, i'll do it there. (in particular, the initial D theme seems to be requested the most, along with anything from Princess Ai).

what's up w/ all of u? lmk!!

peace,
mlk (btw, monday is MLK day!!)