Dumbworld: A Sacramento Based Blog on Entertainment, Media and Art

I first met Mike Carroll about a year into my own attempt at becoming a filmmaker.  He came out and did a story for KCRA 3 on a feature film that I was camera operator on.  I never saw the story but I remember my mom calling and leaving a frantic message on my voicemail that she had seen me on the news.  You have to love moms.  Without my mom, I don’t think I would have any fans.  But I digress.

After the feature wrapped, I came across Mike’s first “one man” film, Year.  I was blown away.  Here was an excellent film, shot on the same camera that I owned (a DVX-100B), on a very small budget, by one person.  I emailed Mike, and he was very cool and down to earth. He was very forthcoming and helpful with advice.  We stayed in touch, he sent me the script for his second feature, Nightbeats before he started shooting it, and he even had me out to shoot some behind the scenes for Nightbeats (part of the making of Nightbeats is here). Both Year and Nightbeats are available on Amazon.

Mike recently released a book on his “one man” filmmaking process called Naked Filmmaking: How To Make A Feature-Length Film – Without A Crew – For $10,000 Or Less.  I haven’t got a chance to check the book out yet, but it is available on Amazon.com.  See the video below for an interview with Mike about the book on KCRA Channel 3.

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Also, Mike is leading a Sacramento Filmmaker- Cameraman Meetup on Sunday, June 27th on the west steps of the capitol, with the goal of people bringing their cameras or interest in cameras and sharing information.  Go to his website nakedfilmmaking.com for more information.

Every year, the first Saturday in May is Free Comic Book Day.  Participating stores give out free comics to anybody who comes in.  See the Free Comic Book Day site to find a store near you.

Here at Dumbworld, some would say we are lowdown cheapskates.  We prefer frugal- so this deal sounds like the new black to us.  Moviemaker magazine lifetime subscription for $49.

I followed Josh Fernadez’s writing in the Sacramento News and Review for some time (it was the first thing I read in every isssue, OK– I’m lying– the spicy personals were the first thing, but I digress), but who knew he was a pretty good poet too. 

You can read some of his stuff here.  Josh will read from his latest collection on Thursday, August 20 at Luna’s Café, 1414 16th Street at 8 p.m.

No really!  The only catch is that you have to get a library card.  In fact, you can order the DVDs online and pick them up at that branch of your choice (and there are lots of branches).  Elizabeth from examiner.com has the scoop.

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