Supporting Film and Television Crew during Covid-19

With all the stress and chaos, self-care and dealing with core issues are more important than ever. It's easy to talk the talk, but walking that path takes discipline, courage and a snarky sense of humor. On April 18, 2020, at 4:30 pm eastern at https://www.blogtalkradio.com/messagesfromtheuniverse/2020/04/18/messages-from-the-universe  Messages from the universe will host, Elizabeth Blake-Thomas as she speaks about how Project Phoenix will help those in the entertainment industry, who are financially challenged by Corvid 19. To speak with Blake-Thomas or to ask her questions call (845) 241-9942 during the live show.  After the show, the interview will be available at the same link.

Director Elizabeth Blake-Thomas is a British award-winning filmmaker and philanthropist based in Los Angeles, having recently completed her 8th feature film. Her latest feature Evie Rose, starring Oscar-nominated actress Terry Moore, follows the heartwarming story of an unusual friendship during the final days of a 100-year-old woman’s life. Elizabeth is the founder and resident director of entertainment company Mother & Daughter Entertainment, whose motto is “Making Content That Matters”, putting the focus on each project starting a conversation amongst viewers. Her most recent project, Project Phoenix, is a campaign to help support struggling crewmembers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Official Ambassador of Awareness Ties for Human Trafficking, Elizabeth hopes to raise more awareness of the horrific nature of human trafficking and help put a stop to it. Her award-winning short film UNSEEN, which addresses the role technology plays in the facilitation of child trafficking, was awarded "Best Short Film" by Film Threat's Award This! and is currently available on all platforms. Being a female director, Elizabeth strives to make projects with at least a 50/50 female cast and crew. A regular on panels at Sundance, Cannes and Toronto International Film Festival, Elizabeth mentors wherever possible, ensuring she sends the elevator back down to all other female directors and filmmakers.

https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/projectphoenix#story

Directing Showreel: https://vimeo.com/401574242

Awareness Ties Ambassador Page: https://www.awarenessties.us/elizabethblakethomas.html

Tune in April 18, 2020, at 4:30 eastern at

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/messagesfromtheuniverse/2020/04/18/messages-from-the-universe to learn more about why Elizabeth Blake-Thomas created the Phoenix Project and how it will be helping those in the entertainment industry, who have been financially challenged by the Corvid 19. To speak with Blake-Thomas or to ask her questions call (845) 241-9942 during the live show.  After the show, the interview will be available at the same link.

Horses and Heroes will tell veterans' stories as they work together t find new coping skills for their physical and emotional challenges. Veterans will be given priority for jobs both in front of and behind the cameras. Go to the website to learn more.

Horses and Heroes' website

How to reduce stress by living a mindful life

With all the stress and chaos, self-care and dealing with core issues are more important than ever. It's easy to talk the talk, but walking that path takes discipline, courage and a snarky sense of humor. Messages from the universe will be hosting, Anne Nadel on Friday, April 17, 2020, at 3 pm eastern as she talks about how living a mindful life reduces stress on a personal and professional level. Live listeners can ask questions by calling (845) 241-9942

Anne Nadel is a business executive with over 18 years of experience in operations and finance with a focus on manufacturing. She began her career in the fashion industry at Marc Jacobs where she learned the ins and outs of apparel and accessory production. From there she went on to manage over $80m in retail for Diane von Furstenburg Studio and solidified an understanding of international and domestic production. At the age of 26, Anne co-founded her own fashion line, Keep Me, with Alison Kay, which was sold in over 100 retail locations across the globe, at major department stores in the US, and on the largest women's fashion site, ShopBop.com. After learning how to build and maintain a business, Anne began to consult with companies on their own operation and manufacturing processes. Anne's leadership skills are rooted in a deep understanding of day-to-day business flow and how each area of a company affects the others and the bottom line. Anne's strategies have helped companies increase efficiency, profitability, and enjoyment.

https://medium.com/@anne.nadel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/annenadel/.

Join Anne Nadel on April 17, 2020, at 3 pm eastern as she shares how living a mindful life will reduce your stress and improve your quality of life at https://www.blogtalkradio.com/messagesfromtheuniverse/2020/04/17/messages-from-the-universe

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Horses and Heroes will tell veterans' stories as they work together t find new coping skills for their physical and emotional challenges. Veterans will be given priority for jobs both in front of and behind the cameras. Go to the website to learn more.

Horses and Heroes Website

African American Historical Fiction

Buffalo Soldier: Park Patrol is a fictional account of this period in history, based upon the actual historical events. In Park Patrol, First Sergeant Ben Carter and his special detachment are dispatched to the Presidio of San Francisco to begin advance operations for the deployment of units of the Ninth to Yosemite. In carrying out their duties to protect the park from illegal logging, grazing, mining, and commercial trespass, they must contend with racial prejudice, inclement weather, and corporate greed. Success requires that they be tough, tenacious and tactful. This fictionalized account gives you a glimpse into a little-known aspect of American history, and an entertaining story of how the American West was won.

Charles Ray: Buffalo Soldiers: Park Patrol from Theresa Chaze on Vimeo.

Website

Charles Ray: Buffalo Soldiers: Park Patrol from Theresa Chaze on Vimeo.

Breaking down a script to generate a film budget

Film/television budgets cannot be arbitrary decided upon. They are based on the number of filming days needed to produce the project. Nor can breaking down the script into “eights” accurately determine how many days will be required. The script must first be broken down scene by scene according to the characters, location, daypart, VFX, etc It is the only way to determine who and what needs to be wear and for how long. 

No matter which script program is used, more detailed information needs to be manually entered for the reports to be generated. Unless a character has dialog the program will not recognize it as being part of the scene. Scene headings will describe the place and daypart, but neither will register as locations on the reports, yet both are vital pieces of information. Any unusual props, SFX, stunts, or any time-consuming production aspect needs to be logged so that it will be listed in the reports.

Once the script has been broken down, the information is put into a spreadsheet with the locations listed at the top. Each column will further be broken down by daypart (IE day or night). Each scene is logged in by its scene number (IE scene 1) under its in the location and in which daypart it will be filmed The characters are listed beneath the scene number. Leaving an empty column between each location makes it easy to log in the estimated shoot time of each scene and to tally the total at the bottom.

When it comes to timings, scenes are not equal. A full page of dialogue between two characters will take less time to film than one with a big fight scene that is described in three sentences or one that takes place in a vehicle on the open road. When estimating how long to schedule for each scene the producer must factor in:

Travel time between locations

Day or night scene

Setup/wrap/clean up time

The experience level of the cast and crew

Animals and children

Number of outdoor scenes

weather

Visual effects

makeup/hair effects

costume changes

stunts/fights/action scenes

moving vehicles

Once this time frame has been determined for each scene, the totals are summed up at the bottom of the column to get a ballpark figure of how long the production will need to remain at each location. Union regulations and the exhaustion of cast/crew must be factored in when determining the length of the workday. A tired team is more likely to make mistakes which wastes time and could get someone hurt. Although it is not uncommon to have long workdays, the double-time,which will need to be paid after 12 hours, makes it more expensive than just adding another day at the location Additionally, it would be wise to add 1-2 extra days to the overall schedule for illness, weather, or an unseen event. However, if the script leans heavily toward outdoor scenes or those with a great deal of action, SFX, or has a large cast, it would be wise to add 2-3 days. It's better to have budgeted for them and not need than to need the time and not have room in the budget.

Theresa Chaze is available for hire to generate film/television business plans and budgets by calling 231-943-3298.

Website

Film Comparables in Business Plans

Comparables give plot, genre, and rating reference points for investors and distributors. It's not enough to state the genre. Comparing it to specific films gives details that will tell others what to expect. To say that your project is a horror film, even if you qualify it with a sub-category, such as occult, suspense, slasher, etc, still lacks important details. However, comparing it to the Exorcist will elicit images of possession, devils, and exorcisms. Amityville Horror conjurers haunting, violence, and family betrayal. Ghost brings to mind ghosts, romance, untimely death, and karmic justice. The Others also contains ghostly and untimely death elements, yet its focus remains on other aspects such as the house, mental illness, and children. Texas Chainsaw Massacre creates images of violence, blood, and gore. All of them are considered to be in the Horror genre, yet each of them has specific elements that evoke a specific response from the audience. However, the comparables also invoke levels of language, violence, and sexuality perimeters. Ghost has more sexual elements than The Others. The Exorcist has more graphic violence than Amityville Horror. When properly used, comparables can be an effective asset. Within a few words, an expectation will be set that will attract the interest of some investors and distributors, while others will give it a pass. However, using inaccurate comparables will do more harm than good. Each movie that is referenced creates a presumption that if not met will reflect poorly on the project that is being promoted.

Website

Film Business Plan

The biggest fallacy in the film industry and in the business world as a whole is that if you write up a business plan, all you have to do is present it to investors and they will write you a check. Even if you have the greatest of all business plans in all of history, that's not going to happen. Business plans tell investors what you are going to do. The meeting and subsequent paperwork tell them how you are going to do it. The reality is that the business plan only gains the investors' interest; it is the presenter, in this case, producer, who gives them the confidence to cut checks. Whether the producers write the plan themselves or hire someone to do it, the greatest selling point is how well they know the material and how they present it.

Website

Not For Ourselves is a robust novel that spans lifetimes in the most unique way possible by weaving a tale of revolving reincarnation.

Not For Ourselves

A Book Review

By Cate Cavanagh

Theresa Chaze has once again proven herself to be a premier Wiccan author of amazing skill and creativity! Not For Ourselves is a robust novel that spans lifetimes in the most unique way possible by weaving a tale of revolving reincarnation.

Readers knowledgeable of the Craft will find this approach familiar yet refreshing in depiction as we witness the flashing back and forth of a character in the present reliving moments of a previous life whose errors have followed her through many incarnations including the present.

Through Alyssa’s eyes we see how conflicted relationships are fast forwarded to the present as she comes to recognize antagonists of her past life tormenting her in the present. Alyssa’s biggest challenge is to rejoin her past self and seek to correct the error that sent her span of lives into the condemnation of karmic debt.

A victim of stalking and terrorism by a local police officer Alyssa is forced to send her cats to live with her sister, Michelle. Reporting this officer (Nevel) is useless as the blue wall converges about him, rendering him protected against prosecution. As her torment continues week after week and month after month the result is the loss of her job as well what has become her fragile sanity. Despite this she fosters enough strength to vlog a diary of what is happening as well as publishing his threatening phone calls. When he and a fellow officer come to her house with false charges and threats, Alyssa finds her cause has been followed by the FBI for some time. Angry that they allowed her to live in constant fear she searches for a way to find peace again and to come away with her goddess given power once more!

Complicating matters is James, the FBI agent that rescues her and Wayne the attorney helping his father deliver hay to the reclaimed horse farm that Alyssa resumes on her path to recovery. But is Wayne in town to defend her tormentors?

So thorough is Theresa’s research she writes of how Alyssa houses an injured possum rather than have him free to roam the stable because its feces can cause serious, life threatening illness. As a horsewoman, I was very impressed with this authenticity.

Authentic as well as her description of projecting oneself into a past life and back again. Authentic as well is how she depicts the physical, mental, and emotional turmoil that rapid astral traveling can be. Those of us of the Craft have experienced this and it is very impressive that Theresa set before her the daunting challenge to recreate not just the physical sensations of trying to undo past errors but the very important tenets of the Wiccan path.

Upon completion of Not For Ourselves, those of the Craft will be sated knowing that someone like Theresa writes a true representation of this treasured belief system while opening a whole new realm of reading experience for the average reader.

Kudos to you Theresa Chaze! Well done!

Available on Amazon as a Kindle and in paperback as well as a PDF on the author's website.

Website