Best Friends

I shot this PSA on Memorial Day, 10 years ago! You are probably familiar with my dogs Art and Print from the pop up bubbles on my blog. This video feature my previous pup, CUT. He was quite the ham, and loved being on camera. Especially when it was with my friend Roxanne Galla!

Not surprisingly, the entire thing was shot in at the BarnYard. Timothy Lee DePriest, the guy in the video, helped me build the "boardwalk", and the park lamp was a rental from Universal. All the flowers in the background are silk. I wanted a hot summer look, so this spot was the first time I tried the tobacco filter on film. i would later use it to capture the feel of a New Orleans summer in LABOU.

This whole concept was inspired by Cut's actual reaction to people smoking. He was always pretty clear on what was on his mind! I miss him dearly. He always made me smile. I hope watching this makes you smile, too!

Happy Memorial Day!

Babylon 5: The Gathering

You may think you recognize this image from the cover of the National Inquirer. Or maybe you think you saw it as a grainy 8mm film recovered from a lost Area 51 scouting party. Or perhaps you just dismiss it as a snapshot of Big Foot’s bald cousin. The reality is, believe it or not, it’s none of those things! This photo is actually me, on my one day off, during the making of the original pilot for the WB sci-fi series BABYLON 5.

In my previous blog entry, I mentioned that my last production, “How to Make Love to a Woman”, screened at the Los Angeles United Film Festival. Thank you to all who attended! We had a great audience, and it was an awesome festival. Last weekend I went to the closing night’s ceremony, where they screened “The Shark is Still Working”, a documentary on the making of Jaws. Seeing all the hardship that Spielberg and crew went through to make that amazing film inspired me to do the second entry on Labou. I could never compare my film to the majesty that is JAWS, but I can say that my little green guy will give Steven’s mechanical shark a run for his money in terms of being plagued with problems!

So why is this entry not entitled “LABOU BLOG PART 2”? Well, that would be because after the screening, I ran into an old friend, Joe Fordham. I hadn’t actually seen Joe in probably 15 years or more. But I have seen a lot of his work, as I am sure many of you have, in the pages of CINEFEX. Still the best behind the scenes magazine out there. Joe has been writing articles for them for years, and his knowledge of the filmmaking process and the art of effects warranted him an appearance in the Jaws documentary sighting the still present influence of Steven’s masterpiece on audiences and filmmakers alike.

We exchanged emails, having not been in touch for years, and within a few days, Joe forwarded me a link to the past, one I would like to share with you below:

Seeing this really brought back some memories! It was so long ago. To be honest, I don’t think I had ever seen the end result of our day out in Vasquez Rocks until I received this link!

As Joe explains in the video, the concept was that there would be monitors all around the B5 space station (and by monitors I mean heavy-ass tube televisions mounted behind holes cut in the set walls to simulate the flat screens of the future. Kind of like the LCD I am typing on now. Hello, future!) and the monitors would constantly be playing newsreels, product commercials and station updates. Sounds like a good plan. But even after all the monitors were installed in the central hub set, and all the VCRs (Yeah, VCRs. Ask you parents) were synced to 24P, no one scheduled filming any of the content. I’m not really sure how the producers came to this conclusion, but it was decided that my creature FX team would join up with Ron Thornton’s VFX team and head out to the desert to film hours worth of content on our one and only free day of the entire 3 month filming process!

So there I am, fully made up as an alien. Rob Sherwood did the application. I was wearing an old “space suit” left over from ROBOJOX or some such 80’s Empire film. Snow boots and winter gloves. In the desert. In August. Did I mention full head prosthetic, snow boots, gloves and padded jumpsuit in the middle of the hottest August in California history? Now that’s how you spend your day off! And to make it even more interesting, I was wearing full scleral contact lenses that I could barely see out off. And there’s my buddy Joe, in a Next Gen uniform, asking, “Can you see that really treacherous rocky peak up there?” Me: “No, I can’t see anything!” Joe: “Okay, go climb up on I and run around!” And I still live to tell the tale!

The on-the-scene reporter was played by Edwin Rosell. Edwin and I would later go on to create the Image comic “BLUE”, with Jason Johnson and Drew Struzan. But that future was not even a thought in his head while standing in front of the famous landscape where Captain Kirk fought the Gorn so many years ago. Edwin toughed out a few hours of shooting in that polyfoam suit and fish head sculpted by Aso Gotto.

Why a few hours shooting if the clip was only 2 minutes long, you ask? Well, for one thing, it always takes longer to film something than you would think. Every action has to be filmed several times to get the perfect one, and lots of little changes are made between each take. But in this case, it was mostly because we filmed other clips, too. We did a few more bits in the desert, then we drove to Foundation Imaging in Valencia to do some of the product commercials on stage. I’m not really sure where any of that footage is, but hopefully it will turn up one day, just as Joe so kindly brought this clip to my attention.

This photo is one of the few I have from that day, as we were all to busy to be taking pictures. But it is from one of my favorite gags: Sherwood and I puppeteered this alien as it brushed its teeth with a 3 pronged toothbrush attached to a cordless drill. We kept it going until its mouth got so sudsy you couldn’t even see its face! I don’t think any of the commercials they had us do ever got used in the show.

The same can be said for so many of the 60-some-odd aliens we created for “The Gathering”. Many of them were puppets, since JMS was adamant about the “Not Star Trek” clause, which stated that not all beings in the universe resembled human form. As ground breaking as Ron’s Foundation Imaging CGI was, the Amiga Video Toasters did not have the capability to create convincing living organisms yet. The show runners wanted aliens that were obviously not people in makeup or suits. So we took what little budget we had and made some crazy alien puppets. This photo shows a handful of them in our make-up trailer at Santa Clarita Studios. That’s Edwin working lower center. But my favorite part of this pic is Criswell, to the left, talking on the MASSIVE cell phone. That thing weight like 10 pounds, and probably cost $20 a minute! Cool t-shirt, though…

Years before we had access to “cellular phone” tech, Criz and I started doing concept designs to help JMS sell the show to a network. It was a very different show then. For one thing, Delenn was a MAN! He was supposed to be a mystic from a peaceful race, with giant black eyes and an elongated body. We were going to do a mechanized makeup, with the actor looking through vacuum formed lenses and servo controlled eyelids. It was going to require someone who was fully prepared to deal with such a contraption glued to his face all day. At some point early on, I was volunteered! So for the early stages of B5, I was destined to be a Minbari ambassador. This was one of the first maquettes I did with that in mind. I still have it in storage somewhere…

As we got closer to actually making the pilot, JMS decided he wanted Delenn to have a major story arc. Physically as well as character wise. HE would become a SHE! Suddenly the execs became uncomfortable with a guy playing a character that ultimately would be a woman. They felt it should be the other way around. So over the span of one short phone call to my giant wireless brick, I was no longer a mystical alien lead in a revolutionary sci-fi drama.

Trust me, in the end, that was a good thing for both me and YOU! I am NOT an actor! I was just young and eager, and somehow everyone felt my ability to endure the torture of servos buzzing around my head all day to equal the ability to deliver a captivating performance. Luckily, within the scramble to change the direction of the character, WB brought in a pro: Mira Furlan. Mira was a famous theatre actor from Yugoslavia, and she came over to do her first American production. I think I ended up doing her head cast just hours after she arrived in the country! She looked at the maquettes and sketches, and was shocked to find that she would be wearing so much make-up! This freaked the producers out, and they instantly retracted their approval on the mechanical eyes. So the designing process started all over again, just weeks from the beginning of principal photography!

Some of you may recognize Mira from her most recent sci-fi series,LOST. She was a French scientist on that show, which was probably much more to her satisfaction than full head prosthetics!

Drawings were done. Color tests approved. Very expensive full sclera black contacts were custom made. The make-up “tests” were scheduled for 5am the first day of shooting. Sherwood helmed G’Kar in the creature trailer, and I handled Delenn in the make-up trailer. Over the course of the next two hours, Babylon 5 was changed forever.

And I’m not making that as a statement to show how I feel our work cemented itself into sci-fi history. I wish I could be so proud of that test. I actually mean that B5 was literally changed. The suits from WB made an appearance to see what was actually going to be filmed, and suddenly realized that they had committed to a sci-fi show! They were appalled at the fact that the aliens really looked…well…alien! They panicked. This photo is what Delenn looked like at 6:30am on the first day of application. Just like the drawings, just like the approved color tests. I was going for an underwater feel. Years later, Jim Henson productions would use a very similar paint scheme on a fan favorite series called FARSCAPE, but for the bigwigs at WB, my design was “To alien”. That’s an exact quote. I know, I STILL don ‘t understand it, either. Then they said, “Make him more human, flesh color.” Two very important things evolved from that statement. The first was that I ended up having to surrender weeks of design to a makeup sponge full of Patricia Tallman’s foundation, covering up as much of my blue paint job as possible and still getting Mira to set on time.

But it was the second result of that statement that really changed things. Mira suddenly shot up and said,” HIM!?! Did you say make HIM more human?” For the first time, Mira discovered that Delenn was supposed to be a man. I guess all of the descriptions in the script stated “frail alien” and “wise mystic”, but never really called out a sex. The gender change was something JMS was going to keep secret till the series needed the curve, but I guess it was kept TOO secret!

So as I’m trying to sponge BK-5 tone all over her head, Mira is having furious words with the executives, getting angrier as she learns more and more of the plan for her character, such as the fact that she was going to be overdubbed with a man’s voice! Needless to say, by the time I got to the last step, putting in the large black contacts, Mira wasn’t having it. She could not believe that the production would fly her all the way to America, completely cover her face in an androgynous make-up, give her a male voice, and hide her eyes behind black lenses. We were asked to leave the trailer, and when they let us back in, Delenn was to be a flesh colored female alien with eyes that looked like Mira Furlan’s!

I have to give her credit, there are very few actors that can take a stand like that and have so much be changed to accommodate their view of the character! True fans of the show will recognize Mira’s continuous push to have Delenn be more human, as with each passing season, there was less make up, more hair, and my alien antler design merely became a tiara!

I didn’t get completely left out in the Minbari cold, though! There were several test make-ups done on me when I was still the contender for Delenn, and I guess I proved myself worthy enough to land the role of the Minbari assassin, of whom the entire pilot plot revolves around. Which lead to a whopping one line! But I got my trading card out of it, and lots of good stories, so I can’t complain. And there are some good stories! But they might be too gossipy for my art blog. Ask me at a convention some time!

Of course, just because I got to be an actor for a day didn’t mean I was allowed to shun my FX duties. I still had to spend 8 hours painting the G’Kar appliance, and a few more prepping the next day’s Delenn. If you are curious as to why I am still painting him, er, her, blue, it’s because MJS and I decided we couldn’t completely bail on the alien factor. So pay close attention next time you watch “Babylon 5: The Gathering”. Delenn has pale undertones of blue under her fleshy skin, getting subtly brighter as they reach her antlers.

The assassin wasn’t my only on-screen appearance for B5. I also played the assassin’s first victim! How’s that for a mind bender. Again, not sure who made this decision, but it came to be that instead of us making a dummy for the dead body found in a fish tank, I would be a dummy! I had a pruned face make up, and my lame long hair was pinned up to make me look more like the actor I was doubling. Then I had to squeeze through the small openings in the top of a saltwater fish tank and hold my breath as the 1^st AD held me under. The water was freezing, and the fish wouldn’t go near me. But somehow I ended up making more money for that hour of work than I did for the entire rest of the show combined! Plus, for no real reason I can pinpoint, I got to keep the giant fish tank at the end of the show! It’s still in my house to this day…

The assassin was on B5 to eliminate Ambassador Kosh and cause another great war. I love all of the B5 aliens we created, but I think Kosh will always be my favorite.

One of these days I will do a step by step on how I created the Vorlon, along with my buddy Ron Mendell. This photo shows my WED clay sculpture of the collar, with the Bondo original of the helmet. Sadly, the finished Kosh no longer exists. But the original hard casts are tucked safely away, so fans may get a chance to see him again someday!

I have endless hours of stories to tell about making Babylon 5, and so many center around my dear friend Andreas Katsulas. He brought so much life to G’Kar, and he is missed dearly. I will definitely take the time to talk about him and our adventures on board the B5 in the near future…

I would love to get some questions about the show from fans, so ask below and I will tell you what I can about this sci-fi milestone! And thanks, Joe, for bringing back some great memories!

How to Make Love to a Woman

Well, I'm sure that title got your attention! But, no, this is not a blog entry on pick up lines or scented oils! This is an announcement and an invitation to everyone interested in seeing Dog & Rooster Production's latest feature film!

I executive produced this film last year, and it will out this summer. But it has it's LA premier this week, and I would love for all of you to attend! It's a romantic comedy about, well, how to make love to a woman! It was a script my producing partner, Sheri Bryant, fell in love with a few years back, and we are so excited to finally have it hit the big screen. We have a stellar cast, including Josh Meyers (That '70s Show) Krysten Ritter (She's Out of My League) Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries) Eugene Byrd (Bones) James Kyson Lee (Heroes) Ken Jeong (The Hangover) James Hong ( Balls of Fury, and of course, Blade Runner and Big Trouble in Little China!) and Jenna Jameson (Yeah, the REAL Jenna Jameson!)

We also amassed a killer soundtrack, with many of the bands actually appearing in the film! It was great to hang out with all of them and watch them perform. The line up includes Yellowcard, Ludo, Hello, Goodbye, and Mayday Parade, just to name a few!

Watch the trailer here:

Our movie is the "kick off film" for their Los Angeles United Film Festival, Thursday, April 29th, at 7:00pm. It will screen at the Los Feliz 3 Cinemas. Click here for additional details!

Hope to see you all there!

And I apologize for not updating my blog more this month. I have been extremely busy on Legend of Neil, season 3! I can't wait to tell you all about it! I have had the opportunity to get some new blog videos shot, including one with James Kyson Lee, and another with the beautiful America Young! As soon as we wrap next week, I am going to get in the editing room and have those ready to upload.

Gotta go! We are filming today!

Lil' Guildies

Greg's Latest Project.



And a Deleted Scene

Labou Blog Part 1

Wow! What a week already! And it’s only Tuesday!

I’d like to start by thanking the winning bidder of the Codex Staff that Felicia Day and I made in my first video blog. The auction closed at an astounding $5,319.00! The full amount went to the Red Cross to help in the effort to aid Haiti, Chile, and other places around the world that have suffered from recent natural disasters.

I would also like to thank all of the competing bidders who help get the final donation up so high. I’m sorry you didn’t win the prop, but the fact that you all valued it as much as you did means the world to me. I intend to do future projects like the Codex video blog, and donate the proceeds to charities in need, so hopefully some of those items will be of equal interest to you.

Along those lines, I am prepping for several new video blogs, featuring interesting projects and very exciting guests. But as you may have guessed, the video blogs take a lot of time to set up, shoot, and post. I will need to space them out a bit, or this blog will become a full time job! So, for the moment, I’ll post copy and pictures to show you what I’m up to.

There are all kinds of new things going on. I can’t wait to talk about them! But unfortunately I can’t talk about them yet. But if you liked what you saw in the last few videos, you are going to love what I’m up to next!

OK, time to focus on this blog. Looking at the clock, it’s an hour before my birthday! Which means, by the time I post this, it WILL BE my birthday! And I believe that means I can talk about anything I want to!

I know I have a list of open topics, like SPD, Guild Xmas props, and BarnYard History. @geekyfanboy will have to figure out how to link all the parts together, since I seem to enjoy skipping around so much! But, hopefully, it keeps it more interesting that way!

I thought about all of the new things I have to talk about, but since it is my birthday, I’ve been thinking about all of the things I have done. Maybe I’ve had TOO MANY birthdays, but it seems that gifts and parties aren’t as important anymore. What really matters are the things you do in life that make you happy, and the people that you do them with. I thought about writing a blog about all of the people that are so important to my life, the people that make me who I am, and KEEP me who I am, and help me do what I do so I can show you all of these cool projects. But I realized that that list would be way too long for a blog, and I still would end up leaving people out. And that is truly the best birthday gift I could ever ask for.

Since I wrapped up BarnYard History Part 1 with Labou, I’d like to spend the first few hours of my new year talking about that. The film was one of the most interesting experiences of my life, and it will always be near and dear to my heart.

Photo #1: Labou’s First Trip

This image is one of the reasons I decided to write this blog tonight. I was looking through some photos earlier today, and came across this. That’s a very early rough sculpture of Labou, strapped into my jeep for one of the first meetings with potential financiers. As with most of my writing, I usually lock onto several visuals within the story and start developing them visually as I am putting the words onto paper. The physical realization of the elements in the story help me wrap my mind around what I am trying to say, and usually help me understand the characters and setting better. They also help others understand what’s in my head, hence why Labou is going for a ride!

Photo #2: BFFs

I know, that’s a ridiculous caption, but its true. The story of Labou is about friendship, and it got made because of friendship. That’s Sheri Bryant, my actual best friend in the world. She is also my producing partner. We have a company together, Dog & Rooster Productions. We met at San Diego Comicon many moons ago, and we share a common geek interest in all things alien, futuristic, and cartoon. We have stacks of scripts and stories to produce, but when we put our heads together and tried to boil down what elements really made us respond to the movies we loved as kids, Labou was the end result.

Photo #3: Producer Rooster

Sheri studied business at Stanford, so she is obviously the brains of the group! (I got a t-shirt from the gift shop there once. But I don’t think that qualifies for anything) While I wrote the script and started designing the look of the film, Sheri wrote the business plan and created a strategy for getting the movie made, and more importantly, SOLD!

Photo #4: Monitoring the situation

The single greatest thing about making Labou was that I got to do it with my friends. We had all talked for ages about someday breaking away from the studio pictures we all worked on and forging out on our own to create something that was ours. It was a great honor for me to be able to make those calls and tell my friends that the time had come. And it was so very fortunate for me that so many of them came! But it was a whole different world making a movie as opposed to working on a movie. Even the past things that I directed or produced had infrastructure above me. This time, Sheri and I WERE the infrastructure! Everyday, people would come to me with problems, and I would say, “Well, who do we talk to about this?” and they would say, “YOU!”

Photo #5: Suiting up

There are so many components to putting together a feature film. What I’ve learned is that each next part is the hardest part! Coming up with a winning idea seems so hard, until you begin writing the script, which you tell yourself will be the biggest hurdle. But it pales in comparison to raising the money, which seems easy when you haven’t slept more than a few hours during 20 days of production, which becomes child’s play in the eye of the distribution deal storm. To make it worse, a good friend and famous director once told me, “By the end of a production, you learn everything you should have known to do that movie better, and none of it will apply to your next film!” Unfortunately, he was right! Fortunately, that doesn’t stop Sheri and I from making more movies. There is always more to learn, and greater challenges to take on. But working with Sheri and our amazing team always makes it worthwhile. I couldn’t imagine doing a movie without her. Here we are with Zack Ward, suited up in the desert . But that’s another story…

Photo #6: The Main Man

I don’t think there will be any way I could ever say thank you enough to Mr. TG Solomon. He was the gentleman that financed Labou. He wrote the check and let Sheri and I do our thing, and for that I will be eternally grateful. TG loved visiting the set and socializing with the cast and crew. Here he is with Kelson Henderson, in character as Clayton LeRouge.

Photo #7: Clay Basics

With money in the bank and a script in hand, the next step for me was to finish Labou himself. Wow, my studio looks empty and clean here. It’s kind of freaking me out…

Photo #8: Parting Lines

Once the sculpt was done, my buddy Scot Erb helped me make a silicone matrix mold on Labou. The finished mold went to Mark for foam, and Scot packed up a 5-ton truck with props and junk from the yard and drove off to New Orleans.

Photo #9: Whistling Dixie!

Labou communicates through whistling. I wanted his whistle face to be very distinct, so John Criswell suggested that I have a separate “whistle head”. Here’s the sculpt in progress.

Photo #10: Kisses for Labou

To make sure Labou’s whistle lips were right, I had a very dear friend model for me. Can anyone guess whose lips are whistling in this photo?

Photo #11: The Eyes Have It

Next up were the eyes. They weren’t modeled after anybody! But they were a very difficult part of the process. The “white” of the eye is cast first, and the pupil and iris get painted onto it by hand. Then that is put into a second mold, and the clear "lens" is cast around it. They often get ruined during that last part, so you have to make a lot of extras. It’s hard to paint them all so meticulously knowing that every other one won’t make it!

The funny part of this photo to me is the Santa sculpture to the right. I did a few side projects during Labou to make some money! (The perils of low budget filmmaking!) This one was a Santa popcorn bucket for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show. I know, you threw yours out!

Photo #12: Eyes Wide Open

Here is the prototype Labou almost completely assembled. I used this model to help me keep all the various versions of puppets looking uniform. This fiberglass copy still sits in the main room of BarnYard FX. Maybe one of these days I’ll give you a tour!

Photo #13: It’s A Sign!

We are finally in New Orleans. Well, at least Sheri and I are! The first big hurdle is to set up a functioning production office. We were lucky enough to get space at the Nims Center, New Orleans’s largest production facility. I remember having butterflies in my stomach as I took this photo of Sheri putting our production company name on the marquee. It was finally all real! We were making a movie!

Photo #14: Drew drew that!

Speaking of butterflies, as I was setting up my office, I got this piece of artwork in the mail. Drew Struzan had done this for a prop in the film, but it was first used as a sign on my door. If I had ever dreamed a dream, this was it.

Photo #15: The ONE Sheet

Drew also did the original poster for Labou. This is kind of skipping to the end of the filmmaking process, but I was excited to show you since I already brought him up! I will hold back from what I want to say about Drew Struzan until I can give him his proper forum. I could do a whole series of blogs on this man and his art and still not cover everything I would want to. In short, Drew is a great friend, the most amazing artist I have ever seen, and the single most influential person in my life. I have known Drew personally for more than half my life now, but his art inspired me to take the path I chose even a decade before that. Drew has the uncanny ability to capture all of the excitement, emotion, and splendor of a 2-hour film in a single, perfectly composed image. I consider the quality of his art to be my brass ring, and although I may never be able to grab it myself, it is just as satisfying to sit and stare at it and warm in its brilliance.

If you think I’m exaggerating, go check out his site. There’s a link to the right. Don’t worry, this blog will still be here when you get back. Although, I assure you, you will be on his site for hours once you discover the mass amount of incredible work he has done!

Photo #16: New Orleans is Big

Back in the Crescent City, Sheri and I started scouting for possible locations. It was hot! Like 100 degrees, 98% humidity hot! We had to comb through the city to find all of the different sets, and locations that looked like locations we wanted but couldn’t shoot at. For instance, we needed a city hall for all the stuff with the mayor. Although we actually had the REAL mayor, we couldn’t use the real city hall. There was too much traffic and business going on. We ended up shooting at Gallier Hall, an old courthouse on Poydras St. I liked the look of the giant columns out front, and the statues of Justice on the stairs.

Photo # 16a: Not So Ittsy Bittsy!

We also had to spend a lot of time outside the city, scouting the swamps and bayous. There is a lot of wildlife out there! A lot of wildlife that wants to eat you! And it’s not even the big things, like alligators, that are the creepiest! These Banana spiders were my personal phobia. Sheri discovered she was allergic to mosquitoes! And, man, did they love her!

Photo #17: Blass from the Past!

No, not a spelling error. That’s Dave Blass. If anyone is responsible for me being alive today, it’s Dave Blass! We have know each other for a very, very long time, and Dave has been one of the biggest supporters of my career. He got me my first professional directing gig. He has kept projects flowing through the BarnYard continuously for 15 years. When you look at my IMDB and go, wow, that guy’s worked on a lot of stuff!, most of those projects were by recommendation of Dave Blass. And how do I repay such a great friend? By dragging him down to New Orleans for a fun filled art directing adventure featuring swamps, heat stroke, mosquitoes, and hurricanes! In this photo, Dave is very intrigued by an alligator. Later that summer, when Dave accidentally found himself chest deep in a swamp, the tables had turned. I still so owe you!

Photo #18: Plush Bandit

Sheri found a critter of her own in the swamps. I love this photo. We had so much fun with that raccoon. He was super playful, and made a habit of sleeping ON my head while I walked around. I felt like Daniel Boone. I really wanted to take him back to the BarnYard, but raccoons like to, well, break things. I had flashes of him getting into my MOC original Star Wars 12 back case, and decided he was better of in the wild were he belonged. But, in the meantime, he was very inspirational in terms of movement study for Labou!

Photo #19: In the Bag

This was the first day I met Marissa Cuevas. She was a 12-year-old New Orleans local, auditioning for the role of Emily. I know it sounds like a made up after-the-fact story, but I swear I knew we were going to cast her from the second she walked in the room. She just looked like everything I had imagined Emily to be. At first Sheri wasn’t sold, because as good of an actress as Marissa was, she towered over the potential costars. Eventually, as we narrowed it down to Bryan Kitto and Darnell Hamilton, the height difference help fortify the awkwardness of being early teen friends.

Photo #20: Poised to Strike

Marissa rocked the part of Emily, and the role brought her a lot of attention. She moved to LA to pursue her acting career full time, and I am thrilled to be able to still be a part of it. Marissa has acted in several of my other projects, and not always as the sassy teenager. Here she is in a costume fitting for the 100 year old Alien Shaman from Battle Planet. You would never guess it was her!

Photo #21: Coat LeRouge

Every story has a villain, and in Labou, there is LeRouge. Captain LeRouge! He is a pirate, sailing the seven seas in search of heirlooms stolen from his family generations ago. Unfortunately, his journey comes to an untimely end. He is forced to haunt the bayous of Louisiana, trying to prevent others from stealing his treasure. I wanted the pirate to have a familiar yet unique look. Costumer Pam Robertson crafted these brilliant costumes for us. One hero, one to be distressed for the “ghost” look. Kinda broke my heart to tear it up!

Photo #22: Ahoy, Matey!

Where there are pirates, there be treasure. I wanted a very specific looking treasure, something harking back to Disney’s pirate ride. Yes, there actually was a ride before there was a movie. And when I was a kid, seeing those skeletons sitting on piles of gold and gems was the most amazing thing in the world. None of the prop houses had exactly what I wanted, so in typical BarnYard fashion, we made it! Here’s Scot creating some giant gemstones. He ended up making a few hundred of them. They looked amazing. The kids actually thought they were real!

Photo #23: Little Big Trouble

The other villains in the story are oil tycoons trying to tear down the swamps for a refinery. I knew we would never see the refinery for real, but I wanted to sell how ominous it would be if it ever got built. I had this idea that it would be like a giant metal spider, with legs sticking out everywhere, and a skull made of pipes for a face. I decided to make a “presentation model” of it for the scene in the mayor’s office. Timothy Lee Depriest came in and helped me make it. It had tons of animated parts, and smoke puffed out of the stacks!

Photo #24: Small Moving Parts

John Criswell helmed the animatronic front. There were six hero Labou puppets in all, and John machined hundreds of parts for each one. He packed over 20 servos inside each of Labou’s tiny heads.

Photo #25: Peas in a Pod

Yeah, that’s Labou and me. We both look pretty happy. For the moment! Wait till you see the photos from the next week! This is two days before filming. I was running some mechanical tests on this stand up puppet before spending the next 40 hours painting all of the Labous.

Photo #26: And Action!

We finally start filming. For most of the Labou shots in the film, I would control Labou’s body, and Sheri would puppeteer his face. Being that hands-on is the best part of this kind of filmmaking. I couldn’t imagine being behind a desk and just filtering and relaying information about a project. I like being in the trenches, making the film frame by frame, and I love that my producer is there with me!

Photo #27: And cut!

That’s Adam Lawson, my A.D. When he looks at his watch like that, it means it’s time to go! So, on that note, I will leave the rest of the story to future Labou entries. Believe me, this is just the set up to what becomes a very interesting story! And if you haven’t seen the movie yet, click on the image below and get a copy! Or go to the Labou stuff link to the right and buy some merchandise. It will be like my birthday present!