We’re back at it again! And this time, you can check out this month’s Top Ten video RIGHT HERE!

Typically the Troupe Dynamic video’s run exclusively on thrivedecatur.com for the duration of their namesake month. This month we decided to try and spread it out a bit, so check it out – along with some thoughts on this go round – right after the bump!

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I love ABC’s ‘Lost’.

From Day 1 it has captured my imagination in a way few others have. Is it perfect? No (Hello, “Sayid falling in love with Shannon” on, like, Day 6 island time, even though he was on his way to L.A. to find his one true love, Nadia…). But overall this show has been an experience like no other, and for that, I can’t thank the creators and magic-makers involved enough.

In honor of this most awesome of awesomest shows coming to an end (and my steadfast devotion to it), I wanted to brand myself a lover of Lost in a fun, simple way. So, without further ado…

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Have I mentioned lately how much fun I have with my comedy group Troupe Dynamic? Oh yes, I have. Oh well, I’m gonna do it again anyway, because this was TOO MUCH FUN!

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Yep, that’s me and fellow Troupe Dynamic member Tim Haworth in “boy band” mode.

Guyliner and hair gel aside, we’re wearing basic shirts and ties. What’s up with the mashup of styles? Where are we? What in the world was this for?

The easy answer is that it is a commercial I just wrote, directed, and co-produced through Falcon MultiMedia (we have yet to enter post-production). Of the many projects I’m juggling right now, this may well be the most fun. Deets and the full picture after the jump…

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I recently had the pleasure of creating a new business card for Teddi Lucas, an area style consultant who formerly showed off her fashion know-how with her much-missed clothing boutique, Teddi’s Body Shop. Teddi now provides image and style solutions to a number of clients, covering everything from hair, makeup, and nails, to building fashionable (and practical) wardrobes unique to the personalities she works with. She has both male and female clients, with no age limit – she’s built awesome wardrobes for infants! Keep reading →

Yes, we really do have this much fun in Troupe Dynamic.

After the jump you can see exclusively on this site a bit more of the pic (though not the whole tamale – it would give too much away!). The above banner is being used over on troupedynamic.com to tease our December Top Ten vid, scheduled to be posted December 1st on thrivedecatur.com. I wanted to post it here because I believe it perfectly showcases why I enjoy working with my merry band of Troupers so much. Keep reading →

I’ve just posted the first of two blogs about John Mayer over at Jay Droppings. The second will be posted Tuesday when his latest album, “Battle Studies” is officially released.

So I can finally talk about one of those “secret” projects I referred to in a previous post!

Myself and a very talented cast and crew came together to film an entry for the “Doritos Crash the Superbowl” contest. And our spot is now LIVE for you to check out!

This was all thrown together very quickly, so naturally it was a lot of fun. Jim Cloney – who I co-produced the spot with – came up with the original concept, which I then took and polished into our script. I then threw together an animatic (animated storyboard) just to get a feel for how it could be edited together. Time being limited, I only drew a handful of sketches, so the animation is very basic and not quite exactly what I was visualizing. It was just to give us a sense of how the spot might play.

From this, I then created an actual storyboard that we could have on set to help guide us through the filming.

Casting-wise, I knew from the get-go who I wanted involved. I am blessed to have a stable of very gifted actors that I regularly work with, so casting this thing was a breeze. Funny side note: if you look to the left of our opening shot you’ll see Jim making a cameo. I too was supposed to be in that shot, but the house we filmed in (Jim’s) had dogs, and I am allergic to dogs, so my face was not quite camera ready by any means that night (neither was my breathing. Thank you, Asthma!). Hugh’s lovely wife Alida – who originally was just my stand-in while I set up the shot – ended up making her commercial debut in my place. And she rocked it!

Hugh is the bearded fellow reacting to the off-camera fight, along with Doug. Hopefully you recognize these two from my comedy group, Troupe Dynamic. They were the faces I saw in my brain from the get-go. Its not hard to see why; their reactions to the fight speak for themselves!

Brett is a long-time friend who I have worked with off and on throughout the years, and he was perfect as our Doritos guy. His brother Jake is our muscle man, who also blew this sucker up (and totally Hulked it out). Jason rounds out our cast, and is a face Jim brought to the spot. He did just fine getting the Hell outta harm’s way, yes?

The spot itself looks so awesome thanks to the crew at Heroic Age Studios. We filmed this sucker on the Red One digital camera, which, for those of you who have read my articles on “The Informant!” is the same camera Steven Soderbergh used on that film. I can’t tell you  - as the spot’s director – how great working with this crew was, and how sincerely hopeful I am that we get the opportunity to work together again at some point!

Tim Lynn, our Director of Photography, additionally came and helped import the HUGE files into our editing software and tweaked all the colors after our edit so they looked their best.

Jim and I co-edited this puppy, along with some helpful feedback from Hugh, and I additionally had the pleasure of working on the sound mix. Mixing the fight alone was a blast! Jim engineered the whole thing and, after some last minute tweaking I felt was needed to bring it all home, submitted it. As of this writing there are only 4000 and some entries…!

So without further ado, check the spot out!

Hugh is working on putting together a breezy “Behind the Scenes” look at the filming of this thing. Hopefully I’ll get that posted soon for you to check out, too!

The only other thing I can think of saying right now is: WHOO HOO!

I took photos of my cousin Will and his fiance Lindsey this past weekend, capturing several really nice moments. I have yet to spend a lot of time with the pics (editing), but couldn’t wait to share one of my faves. This is Will and Lindsey as I know them best: playful, a little bit goofy, and a whole lot of fun!

Thought I’d write a bit on Troupe Dynamic.

Troupe Dynamic is, for those who may not be aware, my comedy group. We focus on character-based comedy, typically playing somewhat exaggerated versions of ourselves in various situations. The best example of this is in the monthly Top Ten videos we produce for thrivedecatur.com. Our November video is on their site now (exclusively till December) and I urge you to go and check it out! Older Top Ten vids can be found on troupedynamic.com.

I love the versions of ourselves that we play, and I’ve made no secret of the fact that we have organically morphed into a Muppet dynamic: me = Kermit; resident diva Janet = Piggy; loveable loser Timmy = Fozzie; nutty-to-the-core Doug = Gonzo; and Hugh is sort of a combo Rizzo/Pepe/Bean Bunny (Shawn, when around, is our untethered Id, Animal). These versions really are characters unto themselves, and it’s a blast playing ourselves in this way.

But its just not the same as completely losing yourself in a different personality, which is what we built Troupe Dynamic on.

Enter Milt.

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