Category Discussion

This week we wanted to share our experience participating in a video contest. These types of contests are generally open to the public and can be a great way to test your production skills in number of areas such as budget, schedule, cinematography and creativity. Incentives for participating in these types of contests include cash prizes, merchandise and of course bragging rights. To see a full list of video contests available at any time visit onlinevideocontests.com.

While we’ve participated in competitions before, this was our first video contest that carried a $10,000 grand prize. One of our hurdles  was that we didn’t find out about it until 2 weeks prior to the submission date. If two weeks sounds like a lot of time, it isn’t. Think about making a video for $10,000, how much time would you need to plan, shoot and edit that video?

The good news for us is that we’ve been working as a team for years so dividing up tasks and streamlining our process. Our reasons to participate in this contest were not just about the possibility of winning a prize. We do them to sharpen our skill set or push us to do something more creativity and adhering to parameters like you would if you were doing commercial video production for a client.

Genie Garage Door Video Contest Submission

The video was submitted on February 4th, 2018 and we’d love feedback from other filmmakers. What would you have done? How could you improve this video? Leave us feedback in the comments.

The Parameters

While some may feel like parameters are a hindrance to creativity, I would suggest that parameters spawn creativity by making you think clearly about achieving certain objectives or goals. Here are the requirements for the Genie Garage Door video contest we entered.

ENTRY, VIDEO AND FINALIST VIDEO REQUIREMENTS & CONDITIONS: All Entries, Videos and Finalist Videos must comply with the following minimum guidelines to be eligible: (this is just a summary, there were 25 conditions that had to be met)

• Video and Finalist Videos must feature or describe a Genie Garage Door Opener and/or its features or capabilities.
• Video and Finalist Videos must include a standard size single or double residential garage door that is compatible with any Genie Garage Door Opener models
• Entrant must have express written permission from the owner of the garage to use the owner’s property in the Video/Finalist Video.
• Individuals other than the entrant may not appear in the Video or Finalist Video, without express written permission.
• The maximum file size is 150MB for videos submitted to the Contest Website. Video/Finalist Video must not exceed 90 seconds in length.
• Entry and Video/Finalist Video cannot contain or depict visible phone numbers, website links, street addresses, e-mail addresses or license plate numbers.

Discussion Highlights

• Pre-Production including scripts
• Casting for the role quickly
• Selecting a location
• Three different set designs
• Creating a shot list
• Getting voice over work completed
• Editing and throwing out the script
• Submitting a completed video

Special Thanks

• Actress Rand Sloane – http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7249700/
• Voice Over Actor Todd Myers – https://www.quadrant904.com

The Imperfect Podcast kicked off of its new season with a Facebook Live event that recaps the show’s most memorable moments and behind the scenes from Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire.

September 11th & Hurricane Irma Relief

We take a moment to remember September 11th and those who bravely gave their lives as well as the friends and famlies that were effected. We will also donate $1 to Hurricane Irma Relief for every new YouTube subscriber until Sunday September 17, 2017. Subscribe at http://youtube.com/hecklerkanecreations.

We’ve Moved to Blog Talk Radio

The other piece of news to share is our new home. The Imperfect Podcast is excited to announce its move Blog Talk Radio as a Prime host. Be sure to get over there and subscribe!

Top 10 Episodes

Interviewing over 40 guests the past year, made for great memories. We discuss our most memorable moments in this episode. Here’s a list of the 10 that made the cut!

Inside The Killing Season with Josh Zeman

Veteran Actor Marshall R. Teague

The Neverending Story Childlike Empress Tami Stronach 

Green Day Music Video Animator Ariel Costa

Cast & Creator of Indie Film Eyes of the Roshi

General Hospital’s Robert Palmer Watkins

Short Film Swivel Shot Actor Rick Ravanello

Indie Punk Rock Band Bad Mary 

Scream Queen in the Making, Actress Gabrielle Stone

The Simpsons and F is for Family Writer Michael Price

Behind the Scenes of Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire

For more about Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire and behind the scenes access, listen to our episode. We discuss working with Marshall Teague as Chester the Werewolf, Ethan Marten doing what he does best in front and behind the camera and the camaraderie formed shooting an entire series on a micro budget.

This past year has been a really cool run for Heckler Kane Creations and the Imperfect Podcast. We’ve been committed to bring you weekly interviews with indie film makers, actors and creative talent that helps support the indie film community. In this episode we have some really cool announcements we can’t wait to share about our new home for the podcast at Blog Talk Radio, crowdfunding our web series Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire and shout outs to our supporters and guests who made all of this possible!

We are Moving to Blog Talk Radio

First things first. The Imperfect Podcast is moving! We will have a new home at Blog Talk Radio very soon. This summer we will be re-releasing our best podcasts from the past year. In the meantime follow us on twitter @hecklerkaneinc or sign up for our mailing list to become an Imperfect Podcast Insider.

If you’d like to be considered as a guest for the next round of interviews coming in September 2017 fill out the form on our contact page.

Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire

This summer we are taking on our biggest film making challenge yet. We will be filming an 8 episode web series called Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire. A supernatural comedy that follows the story of Seymour, who is trying to put the pieces of his life back together after being turned into a vampire. Visit http://hecklerkane.com/seymour for updates about the crowdfunding campaign that will be launching this summer.

Lookout for More Summer Releases

We’ve been filming a ton of content over the past few years and now is the time to release it! We have a number of titles coming your way that we know you’ll enjoy. Please like, comment and share to #SupportIndieFilm. Here’s the releases with dates to follow soon.

• Foley – A short film that pays homage to foley artists in our own twisted way.
• Jump – A short film about a man transported after encountering the ancient traveler’s stone.
• Fight Reel – Watch Joe show off his Taekwondo skills and the rest of our fight scenes from the films we’ve made.
• Hollywood Know How – More film making tips, how to videos and film gear.

Shoutouts and Many Thanks!

We’ve made some amazing friends, colleagues, fans and more this past year. We’d like to take a moment and say thanks to as many as we can.

• #PodernFamily – An amazing network of podcasters that’s been so supportive. Go to twitter and use hashtag #PodernFamily to find new podcasts to listen to, retweet other podcasts and join in the conversation
• David & Juliette – Juliette is the host of the Unwritable Rant podcast with her producer David. They’ve both been supportive since the beginning and generous with their time. We can’t thank them enough.
• Wendy Shepherd – Wendy is the founder of Studio Matrix and has been instrumental in helping us secure many interviews this year, such as Tony Germinario, the award winning film maker and writer of Bad Frank.
• October Coast Publicity – A great PR firm who’s helped us secure some fabulous interviews with film makers and in particular actress Tami Stronach who played the Childlike Empress in the Neverending Story.
• Carolyn Sames – An indie film supporter and effortlessly donates her time and resources to film makers and actors and was kind of enough to setup an interview with actor Rich Graff. Connect with Carolyn Sames on twitter at https://twitter.com/SamesCarolyn.
• Ethan Marten – Ethan has become a good friend since his interview with us and the Eyes of the Roshi cast. We even had the chance to meet up at the Soho International Film Festival for a screening of the film here in New York.
• Ruth Hill – She is an indie film blogger who has supported us from the beginning and introduced us to actor Marshall Teague. Ruth conducts wonderful interviews of her own at mydevotionalthoughts.net. See our interview with Ruth Hill here or connect with her on twitter at http://twitter.com/ruthhill74
• Twitter Friends: We can’t thank our daily coffee support group enough and I’m sure I missed many! Thank you all, Lisa, Mary, Angela, Laura Potter, Skip Bolden, Debbi Mack, Chris Twomey, K Maria Frascona

On this week’s Imperfect Podcast, we discuss the films of Martin Scorcese and Tim Burton. We focus on the common thread of actors each director hires for most of their films. Scorcese tends to favor Harvey Keitel, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Leonardo DiCaprio, while Burton tends to favor Johnny Depp.

We also discuss the style of music each director favors, such as Scorcese’s use of rock and roll music, specifically the Rolling Stones and Burton’s use of the eerie scores of Danny Elfman. We chronicle each director’s films, from their first feature to their new releases.

Scorcese is releasing several films in 2017, two of which he directed; Sinatra and Silence. Burton is set to release Alice Through the Looking Glass later this month and has also agreed to create a live action Dumbo for Disney, with a release date sometime in 2017. The long awaited BEETLEJUICE 2 remains a possibility, but not anytime soon.

Download the Scorsese & Burton Discussion:

Watch the entire Scorsese & Burton Discussion on YouTube

Us creative types can be really insecure and we need to know you care. Please Take some time to show us how much we mean to you. If you like what you see hit us up at Twitter, check out our behind the scenes at Instagram, and our YouTube is the best place to find all of our videos. If you don’t like what you see, mamma always said if you cant say something nice…