The Room Screening featuring Tommy Wiseau - April 25, 2014

OH HAI MARK!!!

On Friday night I had the opportunity to go to my first screening of Tommy Wiseau's 2003 film, The Room.  If you have never heard of this movie, then you are seriously missing out on one of the best worst films ever made.  Below you will find Cinema Sins video on the film:

The movie is actually quite enjoyable because of the absurdity of it.  The film has gained notoriety for being one of the worst films ever made.

Prior to the screening of the film Tommy Wiseau himself made an appearance for a meet and greet and Q+A.  Fans were able to purchase everything from Johnny bobbleheads and DVDs to T-Shirts and even Tommy Wiseau underwear!  Wiseau signed anything and posed with fans. 

 

Some fans, including my friends and I decided to dress up for the occasion.  Tommy Wiseau himself loved the costumes so much that he decided to pull my group up in the front of the audience during the Q+A.  I decided to ask him who his favorite Superhero is and he responded Superman... so now we know.

 

 

The screening itself was unforgettable.  The crowd jeered every second of the film yelling things at the screen.  There is also a tradition during the screening to throw plastic spoons whenever a picture of spoons is seen during the film, which happens a lot.  When I say there were around 3000 spoons thrown, I mean it!  I was hit many times with spoons and was more than happy to throw my share. 

The film is shown one weekend a month at the Ritz at the Bourse.  If you are looking for a good time, be sure to attend the next screening of the film.

For more information about the film be sure to check out http://theroommovie.com/  The next screening in Philadelphia will be May 9 at the Ritz at the Bourse... be sure to bring your own spoons!

Quick Update March 2014

Hey guys sorry I haven't been around much to update you on whats filming in Philadelphia but I have been extremely busy lately.  I have seen so much filming during my hiatus but I haven't found time to share with you all or go to any sets.  I was recently married to a Marine and military life has encompassed my life for the past year.  Every time I get a chance I will try to update you all on whats filming in the city or at least direct you to places where you can find out more information.

Currently in production in Philadelphia is a new pilot starring Viola Davis entitled "How to Get Away With Murder".  I found a few pictures to share with you from PhillyChitChat who is always on the scene. 

For any and the best information on movies filming in the city since I have been seriously slacking is always PhillyChitChat's blog.  HughE Dillion runs the site and is always at the foreground for the best gossip news in Philadelphia.  Anytime I am available I will attempt to report on sets, but for now... I will just give you all small tidbits on whats going on in the city!  But as always I am so excited to report from this years Wizard World Philadelphia June 19-22!!

Wizard World 2013 - A Fan's Story and Adventure

Hey everyone welcome back!  I know I haven't been on too much which is due to many personal reasons, but I am here to tell you all about Philadelphia Wizard World 2013! In case you guys weren't following me on twitter @phillyfilmgurl  I have some reporting from the convention for you guys now!  I was tweeting the entire time I was there and this report just expands my experience so enjoy!

I was unable to attend the convention on Thursday and Friday, but I did get to go on Saturday and Sunday.  Might I just say that this year the convention was bigger and better than ever.  Sure lines to meet and greet celebrities were long, but fans braved the lines to speak to their favorite actors and actresses for a couple of minutes.  All of the celebrities were very gracious and happy to be there for their fans.  From what I heard, the photo op line for Norman Reedus / Michael Rooker (Walking Dead) was two and a half hours, but I did not see one person leaving upset. 

 

Unfortunately I was too busy reporting live from the convention floor to wait to meet my favorite actors and actresses, but I did manage to attend a few amazing panels.  On Saturday I went to the Charmed panel, a show which I absolutely loved growing up.  In attendance for the panel were Holly Marie Combs and Brian Krause (whose name tag read 'Brain').  Sadly, Shannon Doherty had to cancel last minute citing medical reasons which Combs and Krause graciously wished her a speedy recovery.  Both actors were very appreciative to their fans and spoke about their favorite and least favorite memories from set.  Combs stated that her perfect ending for the show is that it would never end.  Combs also mentioned that her least favorite memory from set was donning the giant Glinda the good witch costume and said she thought the writers wanted to torture her on that episode.  Krause on the other hand said that he enjoyed portraying the evil side of his character because they gave him spikey hair.  The chemistry between the two actors was palpable and you can tell that they remained friends today even after working on screen as a married couple for eight years.

On Saturday I was hard at work costuming for you guys.  I began the day dressed as a Tardis, well ok it was just a dress I bought at Hot Topic, but it still counts.

 Around 1pm I changed into my second costume, Supergirl. 

I then changed a third time around 5pm into a Honey Boo Boo costume for fun, mainly because I wanted Pixie Sticks and to tell people that I'm sassy! 

The main costumes this year were from Doctor Who.  This is actually really great because back in 2010, I was one of the five people dressed in a Doctor Who costume.  I'm glad that the show has finally reached so many people.  The second most prevalent costumes I would say were obviously comic book characters from Marvel and DC.  There was a lot of Banes, Green Lanterns, X-Men, and Batmen.

On Sunday I opted to go with a classic Doctor Who costume and dressed up like Romana II from the Tom Baker era.  Many people knew who I was but I could tell some of the newer fans had no idea. 

 

On Sunday was also another big event, the John Barrowman panel which was amazing.  Barrowman decided to wear some attractive superhero sleep pants which he was very excited about.  Make sure you check out Wizard World's Youtube account because they are uploading a lot of the panels.  He even sang for the crowd, however he refused to sing Springtime For Hitler.  Even though his panel was only scheduled for 45 minutes, he asked if he could stay longer to answer questions for fans and actually held the Q+A for closer to an hour.  Every minute of the panel was entertaining.  Barrowman said that if he could play any Superhero he would choose Aquaman.  John Barrowman's panel was the highlight of the weekend and keep an eye out for it.  Barrowman even took time to invite a young fan up on stage with him.  Sadly no video could be taken of the panels, but there are some clips on youtube already so look out for that.

The best part about the Con this year is that it was held in a new part of the Convention Center and it was absolutely massive.  Lanes were no longer jammed with people and you could actually move through the crowds with ease.  Every year the convention doubles in fun and excitement.  Check out below for some great photos of the convention and see you all next year!  Thanks for reading and for the continued support!

Do No Harm Related Information

So sorry I haven't posted much in the blog for the past few months.  I have been extremely busy lately with so many things.  I am back now with all your filming information and I hope to make at least a few posts a month!

First of all in between the time I stopped posting on a regular basis and now, I had the opportunity to act in a television show entitled Do No Harm.  Since the show was sadly cancelled after two episodes over two months ago I figured it would be alright to discuss some of the information about the behind the scenes.

Here is the description of the show as taken from Wikipedia:

The series focuses on Dr. Jason Cole (Steven Pasquale), a successful neurosurgeon with a secret. Every night at 8:25 p.m., and lasting exactly 12 hours, Cole is switched into an alternate, evil personality  named Ian Price. Cole has been able to suppress Price by injecting a strong pharmaceutical  mixture that sedates their shared body, rendering it impossible for the evil alter-ego to function. But one night Cole discovers that their body has grown immune to the drug and Price has emerged in a rage. Angry at having been suppressed, Cole's alternate personality is focused on wreaking havoc on Cole's life, creating problems which could cost him his life, romance and career.

I got to act in the show on fou separate days.  The main actors were very friendly.  In the first episode that aired I am seen in one of the first shots when the main actor comes out of an elevator.  A fun behind the scenes secret is that on the first take, before exiting the elevator the main actor did something that lets just say made everyone laugh a lot.  Steven Pasquale is a very fun guy to be around and in between takes made everyone laugh.  The set was really like a family and I enjoyed it.

One of the days that I was on set I was set to play a mom and they gave me a 9 year old son.  It was a little weird, but the kid was very sweet and nice.  Sadly that episode did not air, but it was still a fun day.  Later in the day we went outside for a stunt scene that can actually be seen in the trailer when they push a gurney down the street.  I don't want to discuss certain characters involved just in case they decide to burn off the remaining episodes in the summer, which I hear may happen (yay!).  I was standing outside of the bar on a corner wearing a yoga type outfit.  My friend had given me a stuffed dog earlier that day as a present so I made sure to sneak him into the scene sticking out of my yoga bag.  I think we were on set that day until midnight.

There was another outside scene we filmed that it really felt like Groundhog's Day.  Typically, well all the time really, multiple takes of a shot are made and people have to continuously do the same action over and over.  Some of the extras were really getting into character and it was funny.  One guy kept running to catch a SEPTA bus every time it would go by and the bus would actually stop only for the guy to shoo them along.  Another guy almost got run over while screaming on a cell phone because he kept crossing the street back and forth.  It was also freezing out, luckily craft services handed out cream of broccoli soup with was really good.

The set that they used for the show was the best that I had ever seen.  They made an entire hospital inside of a Philadelphia building.  It was a permanent set that was extremely expensive to construct.  There were about 4 wings created including two administrative wings, a hospital wing, and a ER type wing.  The ER room was really creepy... there was a lot of fake blood everywhere.  The set was just amazing and I am glad I got the opportunity to see it.  Both of my scenes that appear on air where filmed in the administrative wings.  I was only in about three scenes in the hospital wing.  I was also in about 2 scenes in the downstairs area.

 

 

It is really a shame the show had such low ratings.  I really wanted to see more episodes.  I actually have a friend who genuinely liked the show before she even knew I was in it.  I hope that they at least air the remaining episodes in the Summer.  I really want to know what happens in the series.

McCannick Filming in Philadelphia

A new movie has recently begun production in Philadelphia entitled McCannick.  The film is set to film in the city for the month of September and some of October.  David Morse, Brandon Routh, and Glee's Cory Monteith have all been filming in the city over the past few weeks.  Since most of the film is being done through volunteer work there is not a lot know about the upcoming locations.  Cory Montieth was spotted filming scenes over the past week.  I do not know a lot about this project, but if I hear any news about the film I will be sure to share with you all.

Do No Harm Filming Update

So I wanted to give you guys an update about the NBC show, Do No Harm currently filming in Philadelphia.  I was selected as an extra and of course can't say too much about the filming so this entry will be cryptic.  It was a long day on set since we were there for twelve hours.  I can't say what I was playing in the background but I can say that my 'props' were a 9 year old kid and a coffee cup.  The set was really neat. The production made a permanent set in a building with various different settings in the set itself if that makes sense.  Since it has already been mentioned that this is a Jekyll and Hyde type medical drama I can discuss a little about that.  While I was on set the main character portrayed both his Jekyll and Hyde-esque counterparts which was interesting to see.  The best was seeing him as 'Jekyll' in an outdoor scene where he did something that looked really fun, again can't say.  The series will be filming until the end of January. Sorry I could not reveal much about the filming, but just know that this show looks like its going to be really good.  You can catch it on NBC this January. For more information and some clips head on over to http://www.nbc.com/do-no-harm/.  Thanks for reading!!!

Backwards the Movie: Detailed Report

If anyone has been keeping up with this blog over the past year you may have noticed that I was in a locally shot film last year entitled Backwards. The movie tells the story of Abby Brooks, a competitive rower who misses her chance to be on an Olympic team and becomes a rowing teacher in a prep school and helps inspire two young rowers accomplish their dreams. The movie was released over the weekend in select cities and I went and saw it on Friday. I really enjoyed the story line and it was especially cool seeing myself in all my blurry glory in the background of about ten scenes. Seeing the film brought back a lot of memories of shooting and I figured I could share a few insider secrets about the filming since the movie is now out.  In all of the pictures below I am visible.

This scene was shot at a bar on the Main Line.  I had to drink 'movie beer' which can be described as carbonated apple juice that sat out for three days and went flat mixed with water. It did not taste that great obviously. I got to sit right next to the leads which was cool. That entire scene I think I kept repeating 'Pizza, French Fries' to my friend that came to meet me and made it look like we were having a conversation. We can't really talk while filming so we did a lot of pantamiming. There was a girl on set that day that yelled 'Hey Dawson can I get a picture?' to James Van Der Beek. He took a picture with her, but I did not see her after that since background cannot approach the actors. I tried to warn her not to do it, but she did not know set etiquette.

 This was my first day on set for the cafeteria scene. I had to pick up a brownie about five times and walk to my seat. Production told me not to eat the brownie for continuity reasons, but of course I ate it. In fact you can see me eating in the scene. That was also the day I approached the two female leads and started a conversation thinking they were also background. They did not mind my mistake and talked to me for about five minutes during their lunch. Both girls were extremely nice and did not mind discussing their film making experiences.

The prom scene was a long shoot. I was a little jealous of the one lead girl because they basically told her to pick out a guy from a line up that she would kiss in the prom scene because there were so many good looking guys there. The night we filmed I almost passed out because wearing a heavy prom dress on a freak 107 degree day was not fun and I was very dehydrated. Luckily craft services brought gatorade. I was actually right behind the two leads while they were slow dancing, but that was cut. Luckily, you can still see me in this little scene in my prom dress from 10 years ago, I do not grow.

This day we filmed the big race sequence. It was really weird pantamiming yelling and screaming, but we did it for many of the shots so the leads could say their lines. I actually brought HughE Dillon with me to this scene and he was in the background of this shot as well which was new for him being that he is typically on the outside looking in with a lot of productions.

 The day that we filmed on the Waterworks and inside the Art Museum was especially painful. We were told to be there at 8am and we were used for the scene in the picture at 9am which was fine.  In this scene is that I was told to act like a tourist and take a picture with two girls.  The funny thing is we had to take the picture about four times so I had four versions of the same photo taken for the scene.  One of those four photos is below.  We were then brought back to holding to change our looks to go inside the Museum to film. We were stuck in a small room with no air conditioning for about 8 hours until they finally brought us to the Museum around 6pm and you can barely see any of us in the Museum scene. It was all in good fun though as we just sat there and talked to each other about our lives and movies and pop culture. I would have done it again if given the chance. Plus we got to plank inside the Art Museum on a day that it was actually closed.

 

 

The pizza party scene was actually filmed the same day as the bar scene that I was in. We had to literally be taken back to holding where we were given about 5 minutes to change our looks. I put pigtails in my hair for some reason and a skirt. We did not do much except try to make each other laugh in this scene. I think one of the other girls at my table starting laughing really loud, we did not get in trouble though.

The airport scene was great to film. I arrived late because I was working late the night before and had to arrive an hour late. I was taken over in the car with David Allen Bosche and he actually lifted my bag out of the van for me. He seemed like a really cool guy on the ride over. They actually placed me in that location so my butt was toward the camera. They switched me with another girl so that my butt was the first thing that you could see in the line. I guess I should be flattered. Suprisingly I was in a lot of the airport sequence. They must have liked me! No I'm just kidding. This was probably the longest scene that you could clearly see me in the background. Suprisingly my feet did not hurt too much later even though I was wearing those huge heels.

The final scene that I was in was shot outside the Vesper boathouse on Boathouse Row. For the one portion of the scene I was talking with one of the principles and she hugged me in the first take. I had to hug her about four more times for the other takes, but it was not shown in the final scene. Mainly you can see me laughing at them in the background. One of the other extras was told to stand by the grill but at the beginning of every take he would walk down with tongs in hand to the front of the action and he ended up right in the center of the shot. It was just funny because he said that he did not want to be left out of the shot. I think I was laughing about that in the scene. Even better my prop that day was cake, yum!

Now that you have heard my behind the scenes insights I highly recommend you go see the film. It is a great family film that focuses on how sometimes putting others dreams in front of your own is the better option. The movie is available on itunes and video on demand if it is not showing in a city near you. Go to backwardsthemovie.com for more information! Thanks for reading!