I realize that I didn’t place the website for the film festival where Mr. Holloway’s Toy Company will be shown:
Information on my film and other films at the festival is on this site. Be sure to check it out if you are in the area. You will be the bomb if you do so.
No one uses the ol’ “slip on a banana peel” routine anymore. Used to be that a stunt like that would serve as a pivotal point in a plot.
Same thing can be said for rotten vegetables being thrown at a stage performer. You may see it now, but it used to be a monumental, emotional moment for the character who is on the receiving end of the fruit. 
A performer on stage. Exposing their naked soul for all the world to see, only to have it splattered by running tomato juice.
Come to think of it, how many artists expose their soul these days. Plenty do, but you don’t hear about them as often as you should. Why is that?
Maybe we’ve discovered everything as humans that we can at this point, and are waiting on a new awakening of sorts. But in the meanwhile, it is difficult to open ourselves knowing that we only experience the same results over and over again.
Pain can be numbing after awhile, but so can happiness for that matter. Fruit comes from the earth, maybe that is where the new awakening will come from as well.
Hey, all. Make sure to check out the premiere of the film I wrote/produced last fall, Mr. Holloway’s Toy Company, at the Crossroads Film Festival in Madison, Mississippi. The showing is Friday, April 16th, at 7:00 P.M. 
The film was directed by Amile Wilson and stars BJ Johnston, Libby Mille and yours truly. All of these people are good friends of mine and it was a pleasure working with them.
Here is a link if you want more info on the film:
The film will be shown at Madison, Mississippi’s Malco Theatre.
Support the art of independent filmmaking. That’s my motto.
Peace.
All’s well that ends well, the Bard once said. Nothing could be further from the truth as it concerns the shoot of our film Mr. Holloway’s Toy Company. It was a somewhat sane and calm process. No major drama flaring through the ranks. 
Not backbiting, no tempers colliding. It makes for a boring read from a journalistic point-of-view, but on the set, peace is always welcome.
On the final day, we shot in two locations respectively: St. Richard’s, a Catholic school/chapel, and Caribbean Cafe, a new restaurant in Downtown Jackson. The first scene were shots of Mr. Holloway and Glenfeld (my character) visiting the orphanage and Mr. Holloway meeting with his psuedo protege, Carmen. (This will all make sense once you see the film).
One element that I haven’t mentioned, and was to our benefit, was the fantastic weather that was provided for us. High of the low 70s. Can’t ask for much better than that. 
The odd thing is that severe storms stretched throughout the sky in Mississippi right before the dates of the shoot, and the day immediately following. Great timing. Perhaps the film gods are in our favor.
After the final take, the cast and crew of MHTC met at Julep, a local favorite in Jackson, and wined and dined for our wrap party. It was a treat to work with EVERYONE on the set; a very talented and amicable group, to say the least. I look forward to working with them again in the future. 
Below are photos. Enjoy, and more will come as the editing and scoring processes are undertaken. Cheers!
The first day of shooting went off without hardly any hitches, and by that I mean almost everything that we planned to do, we did. Almost is the key word.
A bit of panic set in when one of the locations we planned to shoot at called us last night and informed us that it would not be possible for us to shoot there. Thanks for the warning, right? 
Our solution to the problem was shifting our schedule, which resulted in shooting the afternoon shoot in the morning, and the morning shoot in the afternoon. Crazy? You betcha.
Thus, our day began once again at Pickenpaugh Pottery, and it was quite an eventful day. For starters, we shot all of the exterior (outdoor) shots, which gave me the opportunity to drive a Mercedes convertible, as it was my character’s car. (I could get used to being in character) 
We received a visit from the mayor of Madison, Mary Hawkins, when she came to greet the cast and crew of our film. A very nice gesture indeed. 
Also, we were granted assistance from the Madison Police Department in blocking the road so we could use it for our purposes. (A special thanks to Sgt. Steve Patrick and Officers Jamie Brooks and Jimmy Brooks.)
Today also marked the day that our leading actress, Libby Mille, arrived on the set from Pennsylvania, and she arrived in style. Check out the photo below:
After finishing our exterior shots at Pickenpaugh Pottery, we went to the Mississippi Arts Center to shoot the interior for the orphanage, and we were blessed to have eager and well-behaved orphan actors. (Were they actors pretending to be orphans, or orphans pretending to be actors? You decide.)
Fortunately, I was able to relax during the afternoon session, 
and took off my acting cap and put on the producer hat, which included organizing lunch with Kate, our associate producer.
It was during lunch that I was able to sit back and observe everyone having a good time. Cast and crew. Parents to the child actors. Random people who were mooching our food. This may have been my favorite part of the entire day, because it dawned on me that the reason everyone had gathered was from a script that I wrote.
People were meeting new friends, reacquainting with old ones. Making connections; making memories. This was a positive experience for everyone involved and for me personally, it was truly witnessing the fruits of my labor. It makes me want to make more movies.
Tomorrow is third, and last, day of shooting. Photos below are from today; more tomorrow. Peace.
