A Message From George Westberg: The Showing Blip

Tonight was The Showing at Ballard High School, which is held at the end of every semester to showcase the best short films made by the students in the BHS Video Production Program. Although I was unable to attend, I made a little cameo appearance via "satellite" to make a plug for the program (and to shamelessly plug NYZ!).

"The Showing" January 28 at 7pm

If you are in the Seattle area, please check out the first screening of the new decade featuring new and original work by students at the Ballard High School Video Production Program. The Showing will be Thursday, January 28th at 7pm in the BHS auditorium. Included will be news features, advertisements, anti-advertisements, public service announcements, and short comedies and dramas. Admission is free, but there is a suggested $5 donation. Be sure to arrive early--prior screenings have filled the auditorium and unfortunately people have been turned away.

Alas, I am in currently New York City and cannot make it, but I highly urge anyone and everyone who can to go see some fresh and exciting new short movies by young student filmmakers!

BHS is where I got my start in filmmaking, and the program there fosters a creative environment where students can collaborate on expressing their artistic talents in unique and liberating ways!

NYZ Update: 100 Fans!

Our Facebook fan page has finally gotten more than 100 fans!

NYZ Update: 38 Days Later

Winter break is over. Classes are about to start up again.

And NYZ is kicking into high gear.

With 38 days before the shoot begins, we're pulling out all the stops now with fundraising, auditioning, location scouting, and getting everything prepared for our first round of shooting.

The second half of principal photography will commence in April (when it's much warmer for the exterior scenes).

Also, NYZ is now on Facebook! Become a fan by joining here! So far, we have 91 fans (my goal is to break 100)! I want to thank everybody who has joined so far and would love it if you could extend the invitation to other people to spread the word about our upcoming film!

NYZ Update: Green Light!

It's official: NYZ has been green-lit into production! Earlier today, after ten weeks of work, we received the allotment from my Advanced Production class. Out of eighteen students in our class, only twelve could be granted allotments for producing their film next semester. While I am thrilled that this project has been chosen, I am sad that six other students in our class were not chosen. I really hope they find allotments somewhere because I'm really excited about their projects, and they all deserve to be made.

Until I have more information, please enjoy this new concept poster that Eric did in just three days! You can check out more of his art on his website!

Now the hard work truly begins...

NYZ Update: Makeup Test

Happy Halloween!

Today, Kristy Jordan -- dressed as an Inglorious Basterd -- worked her magic to turn me into a zombie! Enjoy!

NYZ Update

In less than one week I will present my final presentation for my Advanced Production. There are only twelve allotments for our class, so competition is already steep.

We get 45 minutes to make our case as to why we should be awarded the allotment, by providing concrete steps we've taken towards realizing our production, from location scouting, script breakdowns, budgets, concept art, storyboards... Pretty much anything that demonstrates that we're ready to go into production.

I'm putting together a DVD of everything I have to show my preparation, including my reel and a tear sheet of what I want my film to look like (which pretty much consists of just "Dawn of the Dead," "Shaun of the Dead," and "Spaced").

Eric did another mock-up drawing! It looks amazing!