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4-17-2009

Horror Comedy Premieres On Namesake "Earth Day".

“Earth Day” — an independent horror-comedy written, produced and directed by Eugene’s Mister Ooh-La-La — has its world premiere Wednesday at the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts, 110 W. Broadway.

Screenings begin at 5 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tickets are $5, available at www.myspace.com/fauxshowproductions or by calling 337-8283.

“Earth Day” tells the tale of a group of former eco-crusaders who find themselves being slaughtered systematically as the first anniversary of the tragic Earth Day death of their leader, Pixie, approaches.

The 98-minute movie features performances by number of Eugene area stage actors.

Among the cast are Adrian Salge as Hassan, real life twin sisters Daphne Danger and Koi O’Eltressiah as Priscilla and Pixie, Juilliard graduate and Actors Cabaret alum Gaylord Walker as Dr. Percival Peever, Bruce Lundy (seen in recent stage shows at Lord Leebrick) as Detective Trent Torrance, and Rebecca Teran as Simone.

Dustin Dybevik of Bloodtoe Media was editor and cinematographer. The original score was composed, produced and performed by Anthony McCarthy, the frontman of the Eugene-based Rhythm Pimps.

Eric Munch is the film’s sound designer.

The film features graphic violence, gore, frontal nudity and depictions of illicit drug use. It is not appropriate for viewers younger than 17.

 

Sergio Leone And The Infield Fly Rule 

3-30-2009

Forget The Whales, Save Yourself Man!  It's Earth Day!

By Dennis Cozzalio 

Eugene, Oregon, a place very near and dear to my heart, is known for many things, including ducks, Ducks, rain, Nike shoes, Steve Prefontaine, National Lampoon’s Animal House, strong support for local theater and the arts, and the peaceful co-existence of a rather Green, hippie-friendly vibe within the greater population of career-minded college students and a liberal-leaning citizenry which also manages to make room for those of a conservative stripe. And now, with any luck, Eugene may be on the brink of making a name for itself as a place where locally and independently produced feature filmmaking can thrive, that is, if Mr. Ooh La La has anything to say about the matter. Self-billed as Eugene’s answer to John Waters (the Pink Flamingos director is a friend as well as a conscious inspiration), the writer-director has produced the first feature from his Faux Show Productions and is readying to spring it on a hopefully eager audience.

The picture, a horror-comedy called Earth Day, is set to premiere—take a guess—on April 22, Earth Day, but worries about this film’s potential audience being cannibalized by the likes of the upcoming Disney/Nature documentary Earth are undoubtedly misplaced. As Mr. Ooh La La would have it, Earth Day, parodies the holiday-centric emphases of ‘80s slasher pics like Halloween, April Fool’s Day and My Bloody Valentine (as well as, one assumes, Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving) in telling the absurdly-tinged story of a group of eco-crusaders who find themselves being systematically slaughtered as the one-year anniversary of the tragic death of their leader approaches. It will be very interesting to see how the eclectic Eugene sensibility, one very sympathetic to the hugging of trees, gets treated in Mr. Ooh La La’s satirically frightening scenario. (“Forget the Whales. Don’t Worry About the Trees. Save Yourself!” begs the breathless tagline.) One also hopes that the movie’s intentionally broad tone (as evidenced in the trailer) will end up being as much fun for viewers outside the Emerald City as it looks to be for those who live (or once lived) there. Mr. Ooh La La hopes the Eugene screenings will garner the kind of attention that will lead to further bookings in Northwest theaters and eventually pave the way for the festival circuit.

But whatever the final verdict on the film, the movie’s happy, arduous and apparently hilarious journey from the mind of its director to the silver screen will end in Eugene on April 22, and if you happen to be in the area on that day you might want to consider taking in one of the three screenings (5:00, 7:00 and 9:00) at the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts, 110 West Broadway, that have been scheduled. I will be hitting the road to make the scene without a doubt—my best friend, Bruce Lundy, who has seen his acting career really start to take off since his move from the San Francisco Bay Area to Eugene three years ago, is featured in Earth Day, and in a juicy role too-- as the virulently racist cop tracking the bloody footprints of the killer. I’ll be there at the 7:00 show, my most impartial film critic hat perched squarely on my round and balding crown, but also in support my best friend and his associates in what one hopes, however Earth Day itself turns out, is the beginning of a long and happy ride with the movie, and with many others to come.

(Advance tickets for the April 22 premiere of Earth Day are available by calling 541-337-8283 or by visiting Mr. Ooh La La’s MySpace page.)

 

University Of Oregon School Of Journalism

6-8-2008

Local Filmmaker Keeps It Close To Home.

By Scott Younker

There is a history of terrible movies made in Oregon. Tommy Lee Jone's The Hunted and  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, for example. That hasn't stopped Oregonians from becoming famous for their additions to movie history, like Portlander Diablo Cody's Juno. One man from Eugene hopes to add his name to that list  – Mister Ooh-la-la.

            “I wanted something that would look good on a marquee,” he says of his self-selected name. “I'm embracing the art of self-promotion.”

            Ooh-la-la is currently in the pre-production phases of casting, scouting and planning a movie that he wrote. The movie, described as a horror-comedy by one of his actors and closest friends, Joe Swanson, is set to begin filming  after the University of Oregon closes for summer.

            The film – titled Earth Day – is Ooh-la-la's first feature-length film but he has been involved with movies for almost a decade. “I feel like the past 10 years have been life research,” he says.

            At one point, Ooh-la-la worked for the Cinemark a movie theater in Eugene. He describes the experience as a course in the final stages of filmmaking. He says, “I got to watch the films (and) splice the reels together out of the cases. ”Ooh-la-la doesn't feel like Cinemark taught him anything about making movies. For him  movie theaters are just another aspect of films.

            The Cinemark hasn't been Ooh-la-la's only connection to the movie business though. “I've met John Waters twice,” he says.

            The second time he met his favorite director they drank wine and discussed their shared Michael Jackson obsession. Ooh-la-la's love of Jackson is evidenced by the posters that cover the walls of his bedroom where he keeps his movie materials.

            Sitting in front of his computer, Ooh-la-la brushes his long bangs out of his eyes and stares at a shooting schedule that will last the month of August. “We'll probably start story-boarding in July,” he says.

            Everything for the film has been planned out on a month-to-month basis. May is for cinematography training when he plans to view movies in his living room with his cameramen and discuss various shooting techniques.

            In June, Ooh-la-la hopes to get the camera that he will shoot the movie with.  “I'm going to make a 10-minute short just to play with different shots,” he says. A few camera angles that Ooh-la-la plans to focus on include night, indoor, outdoor and crowd scenes.

            Although Ooh-la-la is staying off the screen for his movie, he's been in front of it before. In 1999, Mister Ooh-la-la and two friends, Courtney and Trisha (he did not want to use last names), created an act and went on the Jerry Springer show.

            “[Courtney and Trisha] were huge Jerry Springer fans. I came up with the story-line,” he remembers. “It all happened pretty fast. We called on Thursday and were on a plane to Chicago that Wednesday.”

            On the show Ooh-la-la used a French accent and pretended to live with the two girls. Courtney and Trisha were supposed to be his lovers.

            “There was a period of a month where I only spoke in the [French] accent. I was delving into true method acting, ya know,” he says.

            He doesn't see himself as an actor, though, and most of what he has learned about movies has come from watching them. He describes himself as an entertainer.
            “I see myself as a storyteller who happened to have chosen film as his medium,” he says.

            Ooh-la-la moves some incense next to an open window and continues working with his shooting schedule. He lives with five other people, so his bedroom has become his editing studio, contact center and sleeping quarters.

            Ooh-la-la is making the living room into a place to view his movie and the carport a special effects studio. “It's all about cutting costs,” he says.

            The aspiring director wants his film's budget to be between $8,000 and $12,000, with $5,000 coming from him. He said that a donor, whose name he did not give, added $1,000. Ooh-la-la will ask several wealthy people for donations and hopes host a fundraiser at Diablo's Downtown Lounge in Eugene sometime in May.

            Ooh-la-la has lived through quite a few interesting experiences in his 28 years. He met Charles Manson's brother once but he's never moved from Eugene.  At one point, he lived and worked five blocks from where he was born. His grandfather was the Eugene Chief of Police, and his great aunt was the first woman to be convicted to the death penalty in Oregon. He says that he would still live in Eugene if he had Steven Spielberg's fame.

            “I would be comfortable in Eugene even if I had a $5,000,000 budget,” he says.

            Ooh-la-la points out that Oregon has a variety of terrains from desert and mountains to the coast and forests. He hasn't left Eugene for  talent or equipment either. Several of the actors that Ooh-la-la has already cast are coworkers of his at the University of Oregon.

            His coworker and closest friend, Joe, is one of the main characters -- a perennially stoned pothead named Grid. “I get killed by a bong, how cool is that?” Joe says about his character.

            The two protagonists of the story, Hassam and Pixie, are also played by coworkers. “Adrian is very serious about Hassam. He's even doing a job-shadow with a women's  hairdresser,” Ooh-la-la says.

            He's not sticking to just coworkers for his movie. Ooh-la-la says that he wrote the role of the film's killer for a specific actor who is the Director of Children's Theater at the Actor's Cabaret in downtown Eugene.

            Most of the props and costumes come from things that Ooh-la-la and his crew already own. He describes it as a lot of scrimping and borrowing. “I want to try to network as much as possible to save on costs,” he says.

            That includes borrowing Middle Eastern outfits from a Phillipino coworker and trying to get a friend who owns a production company called Little Man films in Portland, to put his name behind the project.

            In trying to stay relatively local Ooh-la-la wants to use musicians he knows for the movie's soundtrack. He plans on using a coworker's band, Redox, for most of the music. “I'm hoping to put together a CD-soundtrack to sell at the premiere and let the musicians get some profit,” he says.

            Pulling up documents on his computer, Ooh-la-la describes the distribution plan. He wants to premiere the movie at the Bijou Art Cinema on Earth Day 2009.

            Ooh-la-la says the rest is like a waterfall effect. After the Bijou, he will try to release it to Northwest theaters and eventually enter it in film festivals. “This is mostly an introductory for my resume. A resume builder if you will,” he says.

            Ooh-la-la describes the movie as a horror-comedy that satires hippie culture. However, with pashminas covering the walls in the living room, incense and his own veganism Ooh-la-la exemplifies hippie.

            “The movie is a satire of hippie life, but I'm a closet hippie,” Ooh-la-la says, laughing. “It's a satire of things I secretly love. I'm a vegan, I don't drive a car and I think that my footprint is pretty small.”