"The Catalyst" Behind the Scenes Clip (click here) Click here to read other blog entries... Dear Investors, Fans, Friends and Family, “The Catalyst” has been pitched to the following finance and distribution companies: Voltage Pictures, Premiere Entertainment Group, Electric Entertainment, Film Mode, Automatic Entertainment and Highland Films, with Cinema Management Group to be seen in…

"The Catalyst" Behind the Scenes Clip (click here) Click here to read other blog entries... Dear Investors, Fans, Friends and Family, I am embarrassed by the time that has passed since the last blog entry. Most of it was spent obtaining the documentation to be described below, and three months of it was legal debate…

[et_pb_section admin_label="section"] [et_pb_row admin_label="row"] [et_pb_column type="4_4"] [et_pb_text admin_label="Text"] Once Moving Pictures Media Group joined forces with my production company, Monkey Brains LLC, to assist in developing and raising money for "The Catalyst" feature, we pulled the short from festivals due to their drain of time and money. I forgot there was one more festival way…

The first draft of this blog entry was too long. This draft is streamlined for people who just want the big picture, but with endnotes for those who really want to delve. Sharing and supporting others is an important part of this. Before introducing the new relationships "The Catalyst" has forged with FilmFundingLA and Moving Pictures…

What a wild ride “The Catalyst” has become! I have to pinch myself to believe that I am typing this entry while on a plane to Los Angeles and our third film festival since October 1st. Actually, I didn’t finish writing this on that plane ride. I’m continuing now on my way back to NY,…

(WAIT! If you are just joining us, you might want to read casting, pre-production and production blogs first.)  POST-PRODUCTION (AND SOME THOUGHTS ON IT) When I first became aware of movie making as a kid, it was strange to learn the actors were deep into other new projects and hadn't thought about the film they were promoting for…

I first started outlining "The Catalyst" feature script in the spring of 2009. The first draft was completed and registered with the Writers Guild of America on 9/18/09. So what happened? What took so long? I knew I could sell "The Catalyst." That wasn't the problem. It was a commercial script, written in a commercial…

Monday, January 18, 2016 Dear "Catalyst" Diary... Vol. 11 LIVE FROM THE SET! I was hoping it would be a great stepping stone --  and good training -- to make an all-out feature film-style short before trying to actually go the distance on a feature. I was right. This experience has given me the confidence…

Thursday, December 31, 2015 Dear "Catalyst" Diary... Vol. 10 Happy New Year, Everyone! It was a hard climb, but I am thrilled to say we hired a crew, cast our actors and will be shooting 1/10/16! And you will be able to watch live! We will be broadcasting from the set and you can see…

Sunday, November 29, 2015 Dear "Catalyst" Diary... Vol. 9 Happy Thanksgiving Weekend, Everyone! We had our first production meeting. Effects Supervisor Lucien Harriot hosted us at his Mechanism Digital facility and Producer Richard D'Angelo helped lead the meeting. One topic of discussion: to keep our talented Director of Photography, Andrew Pulaski, we would have to move our date from December to January so he could…

Happy Halloween, everyone! I wanted to use this appropriately spooky holiday to announce that December 1st will be our first day of Catalyst shooting! Richard D'Angelo, our Line Producer, teaches at the New York Film Academy. With a keen eye for new talent, he brought us our Director of Photography, Andrew Pulaski, who -- according…

Dear "Catalyst" Diary... Vol. 7 Hi everyone! Hope you had a great summer. We certainly did. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Actress Tiffany Hodges is still terrorized during our ghost camera tests.[/caption] Visual Effects Supervisor Lucien Harriot of Mechanism Digital worked hard with his crew to come up with an iconic look for what our ghost…

Dear "Catalyst" Diary... Vol. 6 - Ghost Camera Tests!   Hi everyone! Last week was a good one for "The Catalyst." Not only has our Producer Anthony Vorhies completed two full feature films, but he was fortunate enough to be pulled away yet again to produce an Alicia Keyes video! Hopefully that project is finished and he can…

Dear "Catalyst" Diary... Vol. 5 Thank you to anybody interested enough to read about our progress as we make the "The Catalyst." I've always been intrigued by the filmmaking process and how difficult it is. Now I am seeing this first hand and sharing it with you. (Maddening, isn't it?) It looks like the waiting phase…

Dear "Catalyst" Diary... Vol. 4 I've always been intrigued by the filmmaking process and how difficult it is. Now I am seeing this first hand and sharing it with you. In the last update, I said "The Catalyst" was in a hurry up and wait phase, partially due to the holiday weekend and partially due to our…

Dear "Catalyst" Diary... Vol.3 "The Catalyst" is in a hurry up and wait phase, partially due to the holiday weekend and partially due to our Director of Photography Timothy Naylor being out of the country until the first week in June. Then he will work with our special effects supervisor Lucien Harriot to shoot our…

    Dear "Catalyst" Diary... Vol. 2 Gratitude... I could actually stop and hit "send" now. None of that has changed since the last newsletter update. The short film -- our proof of concept scene from the feature film -- is now internationally funded as a check came this week from one of our dearest supporters in Canada. More…

Dear "Catalyst" Diary... by Alan Fine Gratitude... I could actually stop and hit "send" now. That one word says everything. My world is suddenly like Harry Bailey's at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life" when all his friends and family came to his rescue. I can't thank people enough for their kind investments; investments…

I wanted my standup act to get me on "The Tonight Show." I got "The Dating Game" instead. The invitation was a mixed bag, part cool, part square, but it was something at least, an acknowledgement of sorts. I was fresh out of Tufts, Boston and the Comedy Connection, and I had never been on…

I have been a writer, producer and director from the moment I picked up an 8mm camera. Before that actually. I wrote and performed comedy sketches with my brother, recording them on a reel-to-reel tape recorder my dad earned by buying Trojans for his pharmacy in Queens. And I have continued to write, produce and…