First, Happy 30th Birthday to Ernie's lovely wife, Ant! Also, their 4th anniversary just passed. Ant is often Emerald Productions' special make-up effects person and still photographer. She is amazing!
Onto news... We have been hunting for the perfect web guy to host our HAUNTED, INC. (our first feature film) official website and we have finally found him. The new member to our team is JOE TAYLOR, who runs an amazing web design company called SITES BY JOE. He is awesome and we are stoked to have him on the team! Expect the announcement of the website launch in the near future. Check out Joe's site and recent work HERE.
Local artist, CARA BOILER, has just finished some paintings and illustrations for HAUNTED, INC. Cara and her family were kind enough to allow us to use their humble abode for the haunted house in our film. A lot of her art is featured throughout the house in the movie and it seemed befitting to approach her about painting the dwelling for the film. She did an extraordinary job and we are psyched to use them.
HAUNTED, INC.'s facebook page is starting to heat up and, if you are not a fan already, you should head over there and click on the LIKE button. There is also an option to SUGGEST TO FRIENDS, which will allow you to let your friends know that your down with us. Click HERE to visit the facebook page (it has exclusive photos and stuff).
Finished another video skit for Kumar Dari and his comedy troupe, THE SIMIAN INSTITUTE. Very funny stuff. Expect to see the video posted in the very near future. This one finds Kumar dressed as a mime, which is worth the price of admission alone. Check out their first video, GUN, HERE (also produced by EP).
Finally, the Emerald Productions' Vimeo page is up and running and, right now, we have Kent and Ernie's first post-college award-winning short films. Next week we will be uploading two more classic EP shorts. Stay tuned. Click HERE to watch our films or follow the MEDIA link on this site.
NEWS 7/1/10
Saturday proved productive for the EP team as we worked with a number of the Haunted, Inc. cast to capture production stills to be utilized for print advertising for the film. We also shot our first 3 HI webisodes – each will hopefully be downloadable in the near future on the upcoming Haunted, Inc. website. Check back for more info.
Thank you to the dozens of fans who have visited our vimeo site. If you haven’t already, click on the media link to access our early works. Currently streaming are Dead Within and Dead Tired – Kent's and Ernie's first short films respectively.
Also, we are in the process of printing our very first Haunted, Inc. t-shirts and other movie merchandise. Check back to see how you can get your hands on these much sought-after items.
NEWS 6/23/10
TWO BIG ITEMS!
1. This weekend Ernie and I will be working with photographer (and our make-up guru on Haunted, Inc.) Ant Falvo to get some promo stills for our upcoming feature, HAUNTED, INC.. Jason Plum (who plays James Patton) , Justin Plum (who plays Oscar Bathhouse), and Erikka Walsh (who plays Wendy) will be gracing us with their presence and modeling skills. Besides the stills, we will be shooting footage for some future webisodes for the film.
2. If you head over to our MEDIA page we have a new treat. We now have a Vimeo Pro account that allows us to put longer (and higher quality) films online without having to meet the 10-minute-and-under demands of Youtube. We still have our Youtube page, but the Vimeo page is allowing us to screen all our shorts that were breaking the 10-minute mark.
To kick things off, we have uploaded our first two shorts (done before there was even an Emerald Productions) that we each made right after graduating from the university. Ernie's zombie-fun gore-fest DEAD TIRED and my flick DEAD WITHIN. Yes, they both have the word "dead" in the titles. We were lame. Ernie was not involved with DEAD WITHIN, but I did get to know him on the set of his flick as a Best Boy and, eventually, the soundtrack guy.
Please swing by the MEDIA page and check them out. More to come!
Here is the official logo to Haunted, Inc., Emerald Productions' first feature film!
Haunted, Inc., Emerald Productions' first feature film, now has its own Facebook page. If you are on Facebook come swing on by and become a friend. We have exclusive photos from the shoot up now and will continue to update the page with funness... if that counts as a word.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Haunted-Inc/125621560810760
Spoke to the director of the Collingswood Library, Brett Bonfield, Thursday night and he said the ribbon-cutting ceremony was a smashing success! Cheers came from the crowd as they watched local teens and librarians fight their way through zombies in the new promo video EAT THE DIRECTOR'S BRAIN which was produced by us. The promo is for an upcoming 5K marathon that will be announced in the near future that is meant to raise funds for the new Teen Area that our last video helped build. The official launch of the new video online will be announced soon as well.
Ernie Rockelman (co-owner of Emerald Productions) hosted his first screening for his film students at Absegami High School last night. Besides making horror films, Ernie works full time as a film teacher at the high school. His students make films throughout the year and yesterday's event played select films from the school year. Pretty cool. Read this article to know more.
EP will be filming yet another video for the hilarious SIMIAN INSTITUTE comedy troupe (featuring none other than our favorite actor, KUMAR DARI) this Sunday. They are in post-production currently for the one they shot a few weeks ago. We'll let you know when both videos are available online.
In HAUNTED, INC. news, I (Kent) am officially done the soundtrack and Ernie and I are awaiting the final special effects from the uber-talented RICH NEHMAD. We are also gathering materials for HAUNTED, INC.'s very own website. Expect a bunch of cool stuff coming soon. Including T-Shirts, podcasts, trailers, posters, the whole shi-bang. Is that how you spell shi-bang? Whatever!
EP completed work on a promotional video for the Collingswood Library and their upcoming "Eat the Director's Brain" fundraiser. The video will premiere Thursday, June 10 as part of a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the library's new teen section. For more information, visit www.collingswoodlib.org.
Kent is currently en route to Lollipop Recording Studio to record lyrics for the Haunted Inc. theme song.
95% of the effects work for HI is complete. For such a dialogue-driven story there really are a large number of subtle effects throughout.
EP spent the weekend developing potential artwork for the upcoming Haunted Inc. website. Stay tuned for an official launch date.
NEWS 5/20/10
The EP boys spent the weekend filming another somewhat funny, I guess it's funny, yeah it's funny, skit for the Simian Institute. Look for a link to the video soon.
We've also begun editing the new Collingswood library promo. This year's video features teenage zombies - nice.
Haunted Inc. is one step closer to completion. Jay Ruch of Lollipop Recordings dropped the completed soundtrack and audio track in our laps and Ernie spent the last week mixing it down. We're meeting with Rich Nehmad this weekend to hopefully look at a few (most) of the finished fx. Also, we're still planning the September premiere. Keep checking back for more news.
It's official. We are once again signed up for Projecttwenty1 - the festival where we took home the prize for best film and best direction last year (Ghost Light). Jay Ruch of Lollipop recordings has agreed to compose the score and possibly run on-set sound. We've got a few ideas churning and can't wait to get that element on July 31.
NEWS 05-10-10
Shot a lecture for HABITAT FOR HUMANITY on Saturday night. We're hoping helping these charities will eventually dig Ernie and I out of poor standing when it comes to the Afterlife. I think it's so amazing that people are willing to give so much time, money, and energy to help our society! I personally don't even like people that much - including myself. I wonder how much of "charity" is inspired by guilt, fear, and the uncertainty of the Afterlife?
With that said, though, who cares? Even if it is something like "fear" that gets humans to do good deeds, isn't that an excellent consequence? We NEED people to want to help no matter what the reason. If not, we'd be even more screwed up than we are now! My motivation is mostly "guilt". I feel bad that I don't do enough but I am too lazy and self-serving to do much about it. Well, more self-serving than lazy. Hell, I don't even want kids because of the time and energy it takes to make sure they don't grow up to be serial killers!
This is another reason why I am pro-religion even though I am not personally "religious". I think religion does a good job of trying to teach morals using stories and stuff, especially if you are a young child that can suspend disbelief enough to swallow some of the tall tales. Even more so, I think it works because people need fear and guilt in their lives - especially if they are not inherently good. Religion can amplify these "feelings" (using hell, karma, reincarnation) and can "inspire" us, as people, to do better than we would normally do or want to do.
Wow. Not only does this have nothing to do with film but it is also not very PC. Sorry about that!
The soundtrack to Haunted, INC. is unofficially officially done! Jay has mixed it all down and I am heading into Lollipop Recording Studio tonight to pick it up. I will then take it from Jay's hands and hand it over to Ernie who is editing the film. He will drop the new cleaned-up audio and the full soundtrack into his edit and delete his old audio.
From there, Ernie and I will do a final mix of the audio and soundtrack and make sure we are happy with all the levels. Also, we will re-watch the whole film to reconfirm that we love all the soundtrack and we don't have any slight tweaks we might want to do. This is why I say it is "unofficially officially done".
So, the soundtrack seemed to take awhile. This is true. The scary thing is that this felt rushed to Jay and I. At first, our plan was for me to come in with sketches of music and then have Jay and I re-record all the music and tweak it as we saw fit during that recording process. The first day I stepped into the studio, it took us hours just to finish the tiniest piece! Finding the right sounds, agreeing on each move, getting that perfect take, each of these things swallowed up our minutes like an Ernie eating Doritos. It was just too time consuming.
From that first day, we decided that the rough sketches I was going to make at home would be better suited as finished sketches. We could build on and effect these sketches, but they should be more or less almost done. This meant a lot more homework for me. We'd hit the studio every Tuesday and Thursday night. This would leave me the other days to write enough material for us to work on during those sessions.
It also proved more difficult than usual because Ernie specifically wanted a "big sound". We decided, instead of my original idea of doing a beat-centric score, that it should be written for an orchestra. The negative side to this is that I needed to learn how to write music with an orchestra in mind. I eventually figured that out (the punk rock way, at least) and started recording and writing as much music as possible - while still working on an array of EP projects.
After doing my basic mix, I would then un-mix it and export it one track at a time so I could bring the piece to Lollipop for Jay to clean up and remix it together. Seems like a lot of doing things twice, but Jay's additional touch and ideas would end up adding so much to the final product!
That's my story behind that. I should also mention that Ernie is trying to color-correct the film as we speak. This will hopefully give the mini-DV shot video a much more "film-like" look. Rich is also still working on the special visual effects and is coming along with that. Oi! Making movies is too damn hard!
GHOST LIGHT played at the Norristown Arts Festival in Norristown, PA this weekend. They had a first annual film festival there and GHOST LIGHT was one of several short films to be highlighted. Ernie and I unfortunately could not attend because we were busy seeing loud punk rock this weekend (Screeching Weasel at the Troc on Friday and The Riverdales at the Church on Saturday). Shouts out to all the folks that ran the film festival and to the Project Twenty1 team for suggesting our film play there.
Happy Anniversary to Jeremy and Lindy. Jeremy Cloutier was briefly our producer here at Emerald Productions and managed to produce THE TAKE OUT and HAUNTED, INC before he was swept away to a land of physical therapy classes and changing diapers. We love you guys!
We have officially had meetings with a theater about the HAUNTED, INC premiere that will happen sometime in August or September. Holy crap, that is right. Emerald Productions FIRST FEATURE!!!!!!!!!!! Did I say Holy Crap already? Well, just in case - HOLY CRAP!
The SORTA LIKE A ROCKSTAR book trailer is officially up on Youtube. Check it out here.
We were honored to have it screened at the book signing/ pre-release party on Wednesday night. Everyone seemed to dig. We'd like to thank Matthew Quick, his wife, Alicia, and all the great people we met and hung with that night for making it so special !
Busy weekend. Ernie and I hit up Jay Ruch's studio, Lollipop Recording, to give Ernie a listen to the soundtrack that I've been pounding away at for... well.. let's just say months. Very positive feedback from Ernie and we fixed some things and tweaked some things and it is time for Jay and I to just start mixing and mastering. Should be done in the next few weeks.
Look forward to a HAUNTED, INC premiere some time this summer! Holy freaking crap - our first feature!
Also met up with the amazing author Matthew Quick this weekend to discuss an upcoming project. He may be lending his writing skills to an anthology we plan on shooting. We'll leak more information out to you guys as soon as things start moving forward a bit.
Oh, and I finally did my freaking taxes! Oh, and I was on the radio promoting the music I do with my man Dale Pantalione and Liquid Eclipse - and promoting EP a bit. Rick and Michelle have invited Ernie and I to come in and plug HAUNTED, INC and all things EP in the very near future. We'll keep you posted on that.
Happy Birthday to Kumar- actor extraordinaire. You rock!
NEWS 4-6-10
Kent is in the studio putting the final touches on the Haunted Inc. soundtrack as this post is being printed.
Ernie made a few minor tweaks to the HI edit this past weekend. The picture is now a lock and awaiting the finished soundtrack and fx sequences.
The boys will be visiting Lollipop Studios this coming Saturday to hear the cleaned up audio track for HI. Thanks again Jay.
K & E have also decided to stop waiting for the big bucks and have begun to plan for the next low budget feature - which will hopefully get off the ground this summer.
Stay tuned for news regarding the HI premiere. The goal is August.
The pre-release party for Matthew Quicks new YA novel Sorta Like a Rock Star is this Wednesday, April 14, 2010 from 6-8 pm at Treno in Westmont, NJ. Come eat, drink and check out the premiere of the trailer for the book lensed by the EP boys. For more info visit www.matthewquickwriter.com
NEWS 03-30-10
If Emerald Productions kinda like anything, they kinda like helping the people. Ernie Rockelman once called himself the "Gandhi of Filmmakers" shortly after wrapping on the first Collingswood Library promo that they shot last year for a 5K run that benefited a new Teen Area for the building.
Kent Green was quoted, saying "We like to give back to the community because it makes them think we are good people. Eventually, when we do our inevitable criminal mischief around the town, the jury may be swayed by the fact that we did something good in the past." He then maniacally laughed, called everyone “suckers”, and then asked it all to be stricken from the record... it wasn’t.
Well, being the good Samaritans that they are, the EP Boys helped out once again this past Sunday, March 28, 2010 by filming another Collingswood Promo Video. Brett Bonfield, the Director of the Library, was so happy with the last one that he said it would be worth dealing with those guys again. You see, Bonfield was hesitant because of an incident that occurred last year. Green and Rockelman kept complaining about Bonfield having the nerve to call himself the “Director” of the Library.
“He doesn’t even have film equipment in the library!” Kent exclaimed. Ernie added, “Yea. And all the employees are actually librarians. They’re not even actors!” They finally dropped it after Bonfield promised never to wear poofy pants or a beret. He is also not to sit on one of those “comfy director chairs” you see on movie sets. “Especially if his name is on the back of it!” Green furthered. Later, it was explained to the two what his title actually means. They seemed to understand, but still stood by their ridiculous demands.
This year, the theme of the video is Zombies. Teens from all around Collingswood participated in the video and everyone had a blast. When it was all said and done, Rockelman said “It’s nice working with teens and helping the community. I am like the “Mother Teresa of Filmmakers”. That you are, Ernie Rockelman, that you are.
Here is a link to last years if you haven't seen it. CLICK ME TO PLAY
NEWS 03-23-10
EP will be shooting a promo for the Collingswood Library this weekend.
The EP boys will be releasing the Sorta Like a Rockstar book trailer on the world at next month's release party. Purchase tickets or get info at http://www.sbcs.us/rockstar.asp#TIX. Author Matthew Quick will be in attendance to sign autographs.
The Haunted Inc. soundtrack is about 75% complete. We got a few glimpses of the FX shots - the ghost looks great. Check back for updates.
NEWS 03-10-10
The Ghost Light IMDB page is now live. Check it out at www.imdb.com.
The Haunted Inc. edit may be finalized. The soundtrack is around 50% complete. Jay Ruch of Lollipop Recording Studio (www.lollipoprecording.com) is currently working to clean up the audio (damn those airplanes). Rich Nehmad has designed a number of fx to jazz up the movie. EP is also working to color correct the pic so that it can be the best it can be. Look for a screening early this summer.
Ernie Rockelman (that's me) was interviewed by the Press of Atlantic City regarding his oscar predictions and his thoughts behind the move back to 10 nominees. Though not heavily quoted you may want to check out the article at www.pressofac.com.
Look for the EP produced book trailer for Matthew Quick's newest YA novel Sorta Like a RockStar late March/early April. Little Brown will be using the preview to boost excitement prior to an official release of the book.
EP is set to produce a second promotional video for the Collingswood Library. The first is currently nominated for a library video award (who knew?).
Check out our blogs to see our thoughts on this year's releases and other useless junk.
NEWS 02-05-10
The SORTA LIKE A ROCKSTAR book trailer is more or less complete and we are just waiting for the word from Matthew Quick, the book's author, to upload it to that crazy thing known as "the internet". We are very proud of the trailer and look forward to showing it off. Making a trailer instead of a whole feature is much more fun and quick. Perhaps Ernie and I will just embrace the concept and make trailers for the films we wish to shoot rather than bothering with the mess of doing the whole thing. It's like writing Cliff Notes for a book idea instead of writing the whole damn book. Matt, you can take that idea if you'd like. Perhaps challenge the reader/viewer to fill in the blanks. I like it!
Believe it or not, we are gearing up to donate another short promo for the Collingswood Library! We had so much fun the last time and it is rewarding to know that we are helping our community. Well, that's at least what I tell myself so I can sleep through the night. So many projects, such little time. And this "charitable" attitude is for the birds. How can we buy drugs and women? With karma?! No. It's time Ernie and I start selling our souls.
Ernie and I are trying to stay on top of the blogs, too. If you're a reader, let us know by leaving a comment. We'd love to hear from ya!
Finally, last night Ernie, Dale, Kumar and I saw the world premiere of Ron DiPrimio's SORROW HILL. Ron is a fellow local filmmaker in the area and runs Grindhouse Pictures. A salute to him and his team for finishing an independent feature film without losing their minds... too much. We have a feature called HAUNTED, INC that might be done someday, too. Someday.
The image above is the new front cover for the book SORTA LIKE A ROCKSTAR, the upcoming novel by MATTHEW QUICK. Emerald Productions is producing the book trailer. There was a different text-only cover that was approved, but when the publishing house, Little Brown & Company, saw the still photos of our star, Annie Hubbs, take by the talented photographer Dave Tavani they decided to change it. Now our featured star in the trailer is also on the book. We are in post-production for the book trailer.
In other EP news, more pre-production work is being done on THE LAST DAYS OF TOM FORGOTTEN, which is hopefully going to be our next feature film. Our first professional read-through of the script will be held on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at the Collingswood Library. Kumar Dari, our casting director/script supervisor, has gathered a handful of talented actors and actresses to help us flesh out the script. We are very excited to have the opportunity to hear the film acted out for the first time live!
We are also working on the artwork and special effects for our first feature, HAUNTED, INC. Kudos to Justin Plum and Rich Nehmad for their immense talents in these departments. Ernie and I are also still working on post-production for the film.
NEWS 12-29-09
We, at Emerald Productions, hope everyone had a nice holiday and will continue to have an awesome New Year! If you haven't swung by the Blogging 'Til It Hurts section in awhile, swing on by. We have some new fun stuff up there.
Also, we just got the word that we are nominated for the LibVid Award for Best Public Library Video (whatever the hell that is) for the Collingswood Library Promo we did over the summer. We are honored and sincerely hope to get some cash out of the whole thing (I got thugs hounding to break Ernie's legs if we don't pay off some Vegas mess we got into).
In other news, I'm still working on soundtrack stuff and Ernie is tweaking his edit on Haunted, INC and we are editing the Sorta Like A Rockstar book trailer. We also just finished up the long version of GHOST LIGHT.
NEWS 12-19-09
Sorry. Ernie and I have been pretty busy and that always means less updates. We finished shooting the trailer for Matthew Quick's awesome book SORTA LIKE A ROCKSTAR and will begin editing next week. We will keep you posted as to when that is complete.
Ernie and I have been updating our blogs on the BLOGGING 'TIL IT HURTS page. Check them out if you get the chance.
This is very late news, but I stumbled upon an Channel 10 News Interview about the Collingswood Library Promo video that we produced that aired back in September. You can check it out here... http://www.blip.tv/file/2646036
NEWS 12-07-09
Shot about half of the SORTA LIKE A ROCKSTAR book trailer with author Matthew Quick. Had to stop because of nasty weather. Production will most likely be finished this coming weekend. Thanks to all that helped with the shoot thus far (Annie, Tito the Dog, Alicia, Dave, and Mark). Once again, EP is blessed and lucky to be working with a great group of people.
NEWS 12-03-09
Ernie's TV blew up, so we couldn't screen the rough soundtrack version of HAUNTED, INC on his lovely big ass Sony television. We decided not to take that as a sign and watched it on his computer in his office. Not as impressive, but it got the job done.
We both have some work to do. Ernie dug a lot of the soundtrack but wants me to fix some parts and try some new things on other parts. This, I fully expected. We both spoke extensively about how to tighten up the edit of the film and even threw around the possibility of one day of re-shoots. Luckily, both parts we may need to re-shoot just have our two main stars. It might be tough to try and gather some of the other actors.
Also, the audio (location sound) is all over the place and we need to clean that up. We may even decide to send it into a proper sound studio to do these fixes. We also are still waiting on the special effects - which are coming soon.
So, we have a long journey ahead of us. I would say that we are at the very beginning of the end. How is that for an estimated time frame?
I think I'll start writing all the HAUNTED, INC updates on the new HAUNTED, INC page. So, try to check there in the future.
NEWS 12-02-09
Ernie and I are getting together tonight to watch a rough cut / rough soundtrack version of our first feature film, HAUNTED, INC. After writing and directing the film together, we decided to split up post-production duties. Ernie took on the daunting task of editing a rough version of the film together. When that was complete, I began working on the soundtrack.
Well, between tackling full-time jobs and a steady work flow from Emerald Productions (Ghost Light, the Collingswood Library Promo, some weddings videos (I swear, Jeremy, you will see yours some day), Simian Institute's Gun video, ect.) and my own music crap (two full-length albums and a brief live stint with Liquid Eclipse) I think Ernie and I are ready to finish this freaking thing. Our friend Rich will be showing us some special effects after Christmas and Ern and I will be tightening up things on our end.
To all that was involved in the shooting of Haunted, INC, don't be surprised if you get some phone calls about over-dubs or other post-production needs. Let's finish this damn thing. I think I am going to take down the EP Forum (no one is using it - so, screw you guys, we're taking our page and going home). It will be replaced by a proper Haunted, INC page. Pics and things are coming soon!
If you're excited, let us know on the message board. We love hearing from everyone but Paul and Kumar. Naaa, we love those guys too (more Paul than Kumar, though)!
To tie you over while your waiting for the film to be finished, have a nice, tasty squirrel sandwich...
NEWS 12-01-09
First off, happy birthday to my sister, Debbie.
Now...
Do you know a cute little dog that has always wanted to be a movie star?
Emerald Productions and Q are filming the SORTA LIKE A ROCK STAR book trailer on Saturday December 5th.
We have our human star, now we need our canine star to play Bobby Big
Boy, aka Triple B, aka B Thrice, aka BBB. We are looking for a small brown and white
dog that could fit into a large bike basket. Preferably a mutt. Would have to be
available on December 5th all day to shoot in and around Collingswood. Great fun for
the dog and the owner. Will pay with a gift certificate to the dog’s favorite pet
store. The owner will also receive a super secret advanced reading copy of SORTA
LIKE A ROCK STAR. If your dog is interested in being famous, please contact us at kentgreen@emerald-productions.com or ernierockelman@emerald-productions.com or contact the author, Matthew Quick, ASAP. And please attach a photo of your doggie if possible.
matthew@matthewquickwriter.com
Also, feel free to forward and repost this message.
Thanks!
NEWS 11-16-09
Kumar Dari, star of many Emerald Productions films, has started his own comedy troupe called THE SIMIAN INSTITUTE. You can see their first short, GUN, produced by Emerald Productions, here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0gfLE3UhTk
NEWS 11-13-09
Emerald Productions were asked to speak to students at Rowan University about the ups and downs of independent filmmaking. A screening of their newest short, GHOST LIGHT, played and then was followed with a Q&A. Ernie Rockelman took on the task of visiting his Alma Mater and touching the students there (he was slapped with a lawsuit shortly after). Kent could not attend due to a lack of caring.
NEWS 11-08-09
Author MATTEW QUICK hires Emerald Productions to make a trailer for his new book, SORTA LIKE A ROCKSTAR.
Matthew Quick’s debut novel THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (Sarah Crichton Books / Farrar, Straus & Giroux) was short-listed for the PEN/Hemingway Award and lauded by People, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Publishers Weekly, and others. For NPR, Nancy Pearl picked TSLP as one of ‘Summer’s Best Books’ (2009). The movie rights have been optioned by The Weinstein Company, and David O. Russell has written the screenplay adaptation. TSLP has been translated into Italian, Spanish, and Chinese (forthcoming); it was also published in the UK by Picador. Matthew’s debut young adult novel SORTA LIKE A ROCK STAR (Little, Brown & Co.) will be published in May 2010. Matthew earned his BA through La Salle University and his MFA through Goddard College. He lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife, novelist Alicia Bessette.
Expect the trailer sometime early next year. Check out www.matthewquickwriter.com for more information on the author.
NEWS 11-03-09
Feel free to participate in THE E.P. FORUM, an open dialogue page for our friends to talk about movies and whatever. Also, Ernie and I have blogs up on the BLOGGING 'TIL IT HURTS page. Check 'em out if you get a second. Thanks!
NEWS 10-31-09
This is our favorite time of the year, hands down. To celebrate the holiday and the fact that Ernie and I now have blogs for all to read and comment upon, I will be writing in The Kent Green Blog of Mystery and Love a list of (what I think are) some of the scariest movies of cinematic history (sounds epic). Ernie will also write up his list of scariest movies in cinematic history, as well.
Neither of us will check each others list until our own is complete. Let's see how many are the same and which are different. You folks playing at home, please comment on our blogs (or in our new EP forum!!) about what films you think are some of the scariest... MOVIES IN CINEMATIC HISTORY (add echo for effect). Should be fun. Make your own list. Let's go!
And HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NEWS 10-30-09
I don't know if you know this, but we love the Collingswood Library and the Collingswood Library loves us. We shot them a promo video, they let us shoot some of HAUNTED, INC in their joint, my girlfriend volunteered there and now works there part time. In other words, we have developed a bit of a relationship with the Collingswood Library. Well, the relationship continues to blossom...
If you live in the area and have a library card, you can now check out an Emerald Productions DVD from their movie section! The horror anthology INN FOR THE NIGHT and the compilation FOUR FILMS BY EP (featuring DEAD WITHIN, CARVER, BROWN BOX, & DEAD TIRED) are all available to rent. So, throw down that book you've been learning from and pick up a kick-ass EP horror flick at the Collingswood Library!!
NEWS 10-28-09
So, the GHOST LIGHT screening in Philly was fun. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us - Sean O'Leary, Kumar Dari, and Dale Pantalione. No future screenings are set for Ghost Light and we have no plans on releasing it online. As previously mentioned, we aim to get the extended version of the film completed and then to send the short out to as many film festivals as we financially can (film festivals charge up to $65 in entry fees just to be considered for their festival!!). Lucky for us, Project Twenty1 still has our backs and will be submitting our film for us to a handfull of participating fests.
The soundtrack for HAUNTED, INC is coming together and will be done by December. There is still a lot more to do, but that will be a huge step. We are also slowly stepping into the pre-production stage for our next feature. Scary.
Lastly, we, at Emerald Productions, are hoping to embrace the blog. Yes, you may have noticed that we changed some of the pages on the EP site. Well, Ernie and I have talked awhile about having more of a web presence and connecting more with our fans (the people that are nice enough to pretend that they dig us). Ernie was a film critic for the Atlantic City Press for many years and is also a hell of a writer. So, I am trying to force him to get back into writing reviews and stuff. And I just want to rant about crap. Should be fun. Both of our blogs should be up and running in the near future. Please comment, email, and argue with us as much as you want or can.
NEWS 10-23-09
Ghost Light plays tonight at 10PM at the Franlin Theater in Philly. Catch the award-winning film on the big screen before the Halloween season is over! Check out www.firstglancefilms.com for more information. A lot of the cast and crew will be there so make sure you say "Hi" if you roll out.
The shorter, ten minute version of the film, is being screened. There will be a longer, director's cut, coming soon (about three minutes longer). My appologies to the wonderful actors and actresses that are in the long version and not the shorter one. Due to the rules of the festival, the film could only be ten minutes and the only part we felt we could scale down (while keeping the story intact) was the beginning and end. We wound up re-writing and shooting whole new parts for the festival but look forward to having a proper long version screened in the near future.
NEWS 10-20-09
The EP Boys screened three of their four INN FOR THE NIGHT shorts at the Atlantic City Cinefest Downbeach Film Festival this past Sunday, October 18 2009. Their films were received with great enthusiasm by both the audience and the judges.
Ernie's NIGHTMARES OF DEATH AND DYING won him a BEST LOCAL SHORT FILM award &
Kent's NEIGHBORS won him a BEST DIRECTING award and his star, Paule Turner, a BEST ACTOR IN A SHORT award.
Also, in GHOST LIGHT news, a screening at the Franklin Theater in the Franklin Institute will happen this Friday, October 23, 2009 at 10PM. This is part of the FirstGlance Film Festival, whom ASKED US to play our film. Pretty cool. Any questions, check out their site... www.firstglancefilms.com
NEWS 10-13-09
GHOST LIGHT, Emerald Productions' newest short, just got into the FirstGlance Film Festival in Philadelphia! It will be playing Friday, October 23, 2009 at 10PM at the Franklin Theater in Philly. This may be your last chance to see the multi-award winning film on the big screen while it is still the season - Halloween, that is. We will be there. We'd love to see you there!
NEWS 10-06-09
Also just found out that we won the AUDIENCE AWARD at the Project Twenty1 Film Festival. The good news just keeps coming! Thanks to all the other filmmakers and volunteers for showing us such a great time at the fest!
NEWS 10-05-09
Holy crap. Team Emerald Productions were haunted by the right spirits last night at the Project Twenty1 Film Festival in Philadelphia, PA. GHOST LIGHT was nominated for BEST SOUNDTRACK (kudos to Ryan and Dale on a great job), nominated for BEST ACTING (Bruce, Kumar, Paul, Roberta, Kim, Rick, Jessica, Mark and Ginna - you guys are awesome!) and won for BEST DIRECTING and BEST PICTURE.
Special thanks to Justin Plum for being Ernie and my right-hand man. Ant, your make-up was amazing and you should be proud of all your hard work (we are). Ryan and Dale, your soundtrack brought the picture to the next level. Carissa, we would of eaten Doritos the whole time if it weren't for you - and your additional assistance on set was greatly appreciated! Trish for the help with the wonderful constumes. Lastly, Kumar, we will be arriving unexpected at your doorstep with some Arbor Mist and a smile. You helped guide the script and wore many hats throughout production.
We love you all. We would be lost without the talent around us. Ernie and I are in awe of what you all brought to this little film. Thank you. Thank you.
P.S. There is a longer version of this film that contains the hardwork of actors that put in a long night worth of excellent work. We haven't forgotten you. We just had to cut out a lot to make the ten minute festival cut-off. You will make the final cut. Stay tuned!
Here is the trailer to Ghost Light, if you haven't seen it.
NEWS 09-15-09
Emerald Productions participated in this year's Philadelphia Project Twenty1 Film Festival. Their short film is entitled "Ghost Light" and will be screening at the International House on Sunday, October 4 at 3:30PM.
Tickets are $8 and are likely to sell out. You can purchase them online here...
http://www.projecttwenty1.com/Default.aspx?tabid=238
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Project Twenty1's flagship screenings conclude with the final 10 World Premiere shorts, all made in 21 days this summer, all involving this year's Element: "Key." This screening features filmmakers from the tri-state area, as well as entries from Michigan, Arizona, and Hawaii!
These films include gripping film noir, hilarious mockumentary, tense mafia films, and creepy science fiction. And let's not forget some comedy and family-friendly horror. The Green screening has all this and more! We highly recommend attending as many of the 21-Day screenings as you can... they're always a highlight!
3:30 pm - 21-DAY COMPETITION: GREEN SCREENING (85 mins.)
Tickets are $8 and can be purchased online or at the door. Tickets may sell out.
More information to come. Thanks!!
NEWS 07-27-09
The EP boys donated their talents to the Collingswood Library by writing and producing a video promo for their upcoming "Beat The Director" 5K Race. It takes place on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 8:30AM in Collingswood, NJ (Kent's town). Registration is $15 if you beat the library's director, Brett Bonfield, $25 if you finish after him. Should be fun and it benefits the new "Teen Area" of the library.
Check out the video...
Ernie Rockelman lent a hand to Center City Film and Video in creating a short Jersey Devil docu for Comcast On Demand. You can see his camera work by accessing the Cutting Edge menu. Click on Paranormal TV and then American Monsters.
In other news, EP spent the weekend shooting a video to promote a 5-K run to benefit the Collingswood Library. The finished product should be hitting youtube shortly.
Also, rough edits of the Simian Institute short, "Gun," and the "E-Babe" webisode are near completion. Check back for further info.
Thanks again,
- Ernie
NEWS 05-12-09
A (very) rough cut of HAUNTED, INC will be completed by June. There is still a lot to do after that step, but it is a step that has been... stepped. The soundtrack is slowly coming to life like a Chia Pet that you keep forgetting to water and we are about to approach our friend, RICH NEHMAD, about the special fx.
In the meantime, we have shot a few weddings, including the executive producer of HAUNTED, INC, JEREMY CLOUTIER and his lovely wife, LINDY. Congratulations to the happy couple. Emerald Productions and the city of Philadelphia quickly disillusioned Jeremy of his hopes and dreams to make films and be happy on the east coast. So, he is moving to Washington state with his family and is breaking up with our company. We are broken-hearted, to say the least.
We also are in the post-production stage on one of our key player's, KUMAR DARI, newest comedy troupe project, THE SIMIAN INSTITUTE. The Institute is a group of actor's that allow Kumar and his partner in crime, Woody Hasselhoff, to write and star in comedy skits that will appear online and, eventually, DVD. We will announce when the first short, GUN, is available to see online. Due to time constraints, E.P. wil probably just produce the first couple of these until Dari finds a permanent video team to help support the ongoing project. However, we do love Kumar. So, whenever he calls, we come with cameras rolling. Best of luck to them.
This weekend, Emerald Productions is about to move forward on producing a webisode entitled EBabe, starring Brianna Brown. We will also keep you posted on that project. It is about a woman that is hooked on online bidding and finds herself getting into whacky adventures because of her E-Bay fixation. The folks that are hiring us plan on doing a whole series, but we are only set to do this first one thus far. Should be a fun gig.
E.P. was not able to participate in this year's 48 Hour Film Project. We had a former commitment on the weekend of the festival and could not break it. It was a production job, so that was good, but it is a shame to miss out on the fun. We participated the past two years and won the Audience Award this last year. Check out our Video / Audio page if you would like to watch them.
Summer is here, and Ernie and I both hope to shoot a new short film. Ernie may even do two! He's a bit crazier than me. And, besides, we are still trying to move forward on our second feature. I hope to shoot the next feature during the summer of 2010. But, we shall see.
If you read this, sign our guestbook and say "hi". Even if you did already in the past. We are lonely guys and need the love. Thanks.
-Kent
NEWS 4-15-09
We are about eighty percent done the rough edit of our first feature film! Most credit goes to the talented Ernie Rockelman and his countless nights editing like a son of a bitch. I show up once a week to complain and comment and then leave him, once again, to his madness.
To keep the madness self-contained, however, Ernie and I decided that it'd be best for me to do the soundtrack. It is a daunting task and all the musician friends we typically tap into are busy with their own albums, hookers, and drugs. The film, for those that do not know, is called HAUNTED, INC and will be done by the summer. Our first cut will be done (hopefully) by June.
So, while Ernie edits and I musicate (not a word), let us all cross our universal fingers and wish the best to a film that was shot with no budget, a three person crew, and a lot of heart.
Stay tuned.
-Kent
NEWS 3-1-09
Here's the article written by Ernie Rockelman andprinted in the press oscar morning...
Oscar snubs:
BEST ANYTHING: PARANOID PARK
Director Gus Van Sant’s often stylized yet always unflinching exploration of teen angst has resulted in a few of the most potent depictions of adolescence offered via American cinema. Though I question its eligibility (it was screened at the New York Film Festival in late 2007), I am in agreement with a number of top critics in claiming his Paranoid Park to be the best picture of 2008. Contrarily, his other 2008 effort, Milk, while exceptionally directed and a good movie, ultimately fails to achieve its goal.
BEST ACTOR: CLINT EASTWOOD (GRAN TORINO)
From his role as drover Rowdy Yates in TV’s Rawhide, to his portrayal of disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski in this year’s Gran Torino, actor Clint Eastwood has spent half a century bouncing between laconic anti-heros and thematically compelling characters. While he received flack for his decision to surround himself with a handful of non-actors in his most recent film endeavor, his affecting delivery and comic timing have never been more evident.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
A vampiric romance infinitely more sophisticated and entertaining than that other one, Let the Right One In proves the Academy’s disdain for horror cinema. Despite its distinguished score on Rotten Tomatoes’s Tomatometer, the picture has been discarded by American distributors so as to accommodate Matt Reeves’s (Cloverfield) already in development remake.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (THE WRESTLER)
The raspy voice and somber lyrics of the Jersey-born singer consistently add to the allure of the pictures to which he is attached. While I could argue for The Wrestler being nominated in any of the Academy’s major categories, I can’t comprehend the limiting of best song to three nominees and feel that the film’s evocation of pathos owes nearly as much to Springsteen’s tune as it does to Darren Aronofsky’s subtle direction and Mickey Rourke’s heroic performance.
BEST ACTRESS: MICHELLE WILLIAMS (WENDY AND LUCY)
The death of Heath Ledger has weighed heavy on this award’s season. While the spotlight has shined brightly on his lauded portrayal of the Joker, lost in the shadows is the melancholy performance of his long-time fiancé Michelle Williams in Wendy and Lucy. While critics will persist in ogling over the emotional triumphs of Kate Winslet, it is the remarkable achievement of Williams to sell desolation that is more commendable.
NEWS - 2-19-09
Look in this Sunday's Press of Atlantic City for an article by our very own Ernie Rockelman detailing the year's top five oscar snubs (in his not-so-humble opinion).
NEWS - 02-04-09
Happy New Year! Yes, we realize it is February... but you'll be happy to know that our tardy Season Greeting is due to us being very busy. Ernie and I (mostly Ernie) have been editing away at our upcoming feature, Haunted, INC. We are aiming to have it done and ready for the world by June 2009. That is an ambitious deadline but we will do our best to reach it.
Besides editing, we have to do sound design (foley art, fixing bad location audio, overdubs), add any special effects and not-so-special effects (ghosts, tv monitors with nothing on them in need of images, other cine-magic), color correction, soundtrack and title sequences. And probably a ton of other stuff I can't think of at the moment. So, June will be tight... but I have faith.
We are also in pre-pre-pre-production for our next feature film. It's a little early to get too excited about anything now, but this Saturday will be our first official meeting of the minds for that huge endevour. We'll keep you posted.
No screenings coming up anytime soon, but our short films are always available to order. We are in the process of setting up an online store. However, for now, we can do it the old fashioned way. Just contact us via e-mail with the titles you are interested in.
NEWS - 12-19-08
What a great screening last night! Thanks to all that could attend and support our shorts. A lot of the cast and crew were there (and we love our cast and crew!!!!) so I wanted to give a special "shout out" to them and thank them again for all their help. Kent and Ernie of E.P. will be on the Rick and Ron Show tonight at 11PM. You can listen online streamed live at http://www.grindhouse-radio.com/ or, if you live in the South Jersey area, you can listen to Cruisin' 92.1 FM.
The EP boys will discuss their love of cinema and touch on some of their future projects. Ernie also has a HUGE announcement to make. So, tune in.
NEWS - 11-28-08
Welcome to the new version of the E.P. Website. I (Kent) am the webmaster and I know hardly anything about web design. That being said, somehow I messed up the original home page and it magically disappeared. So, instead of trying to fix what we had, I thought it was a good time to just start fresh. The old site looked kinda clunky anyway. So, here we go...
We have a huge screening coming up on Thursday, December 18 2008 at the Ritz Theatre Company in Haddon Township, NJ (the Arts District). *Not to be confused with the Ritz Movie Theater in Vorhees*. The address is 915 White Horse Pike, Haddon Township, NJ 08107. Their website is www.ritztheatreco.org and you can purchase tickets throught their site as well as at the door. Due to popular demand (our last screening pulled in about 180 people on a rainy night in Galloway Township), this is an encore screening of our latest batch of eight short films. The nice thing is that the theater is right outside of Philadelphia, whereas the last one was near the Jersey shore. So, hopefully it will be more convenient for people from the Philadelphia area to come out.
Here are some flyers we whipped up for the occasion...
And here's another...
OTHER NEWS
This summer, EP (Emerald Productions) finished their first feature film, HAUNTED, INC. The film was originally written as a pilot to a series of the same nomenclature. However, the EP Boys decided to shoot the pilot as a feature and see where it goes from there. The movie is currently in post-production and will hopefully be done... well... soon.
A webpage on this site will be dedicated to HAUNTED, INC in the very near future. Stay tuned.