Break a Leg

So here I am in lovely Lafayette, basking in the 76-degree heat (not too bad!) and waiting for my chance to sell a fruity carbonated beverage to a foreign nation.

I am on set for a commercial for some French soft drink. No, I haven't had any yet. No I don't think I want to. Let me put it another way: I've probably already had it, and so have you. Only maybe you called it Fresca or something.

Anyway, I have two big scenes that I think will steal the show, much like in every project I do. There's this one where I get out of bed, and then this other where I take out the garbage. Imagine watching a 30-second commercial where you see someone get out of bed and take out the garbage (amongst several other scenes of other people doing other things), then imagine yourself thinking “Wow, that guy totally made me want to buy that soft drink.” Can't do it, can you? That, my friends, is the magnitude of the task I have set before me.

Don't worry, you'll never see this commercial. It's only for French eyes, though through the magic of YouTube I'm sure it will make its way over here. Only you won't know what the hell anyone is talking about, because it's in French.

If you follow me on Twitter then you know that I got here around 330 PM and have to work tomorrow. Bitchin'. The life of a working actor is awesome, and by working actor I mean an actor who has a day job too.

We're shooting today at a private residence, which when you're shooting a professional thing is galaxies apart from shooting in a private residence with Yuri. Listen up Yuri, this is where I tell everyone how much better you are than anyone else.

We shot this thing a couple weekends ago at Daniela's house, though she was still in England. Yuri, Justin, Dashiell, and I. Daniela's parents were there, which is fun because her Dad treats Justin like the son he never wanted. Yuri said before we walked in that Daniela's father looks like Mario, which is totally wrong because he looks like Ron Jeremy.

So it's about 120,000 degrees there in Novato and Daniela's father is apparently doing laps around the house in nothing but what I hope are shorts, just walking around the place endlessly. Then they stick me in a hole in the floor and have me pop out like a Drew-In-The-Box, and then we head over to their middle school and we take turns manhole-diving for the perfect shot. See Justin:

So we're all planning on just hitting a chinese place before heading home but Daniela's father will have nothing of that. He whips together a meal for us (which is 4 more people than they were expecting to feed), which is quite possibly one of the best meals I've ever eaten. The block of Romano cheese the size of my head alone would have been plenty for me. There's fine wine and good conversation, and then Justin goes and takes his shirt off. See Justin:

And here I am today in Lafayette and one of the production assistants just asked me not to sit on the chairs that belong to the homeowners... because they may not like that.  

I'm pretty sure I've written about opening nights for other shows before, and, though each show is very different from the last, it's always a very exciting time.  The opening for All The Great Books (Abridged) certainly was not different.

The show was sold out for the entire weekend before opening night even rolled around, which is pretty awesome.  Granted: it's only a 96-seat house, so filling it isn't all that difficult, but it's also in the middle of Sebastopol, CA which is somewhat off the beaten path.  Most of the people showing up would naturally be friends, regular patrons of the theater, board members, etc... What we didn't know what that a writer for The Bohemian (a Sonoma County newspaper that talks about the latest social events) was there to review the show...and this guy NEVER reviews shows for this particular theater.  Anyway, we were excited.  We were also exhausted from having 4 hour rehearsals every day for the past several weeks with barely a moment to rest.  But opening night tends to stave off fatigue until, well, usually the next night.  The Second Night Lull is a pretty common occurence in the theater world.

But opening night was awesome.  Everybody was there because they A) wanted to support us and B) wanted to laugh, and I will toot my own horn enough to say that we didn't leave them wanting.  There were a couple slight bumbles here and there, but nothing major, and we generally just mowed right over anything that got in our way.  By intermission our stage manager was telling us that people were already complaining of having sore sides.  By the end of the show, they were weazing and trying to keep their insides inside.  In fact, for the first time in my life, we got a standing ovation BEFORE WE WERE EVEN DONE WITH THE SHOW.  We couldn't even finish, they were cheering so loud.  It was awesome!

I'm not sure how to relate how it feels to do a show like this, but I'll try.  Imagine having something you really want to do, but at the same time are dreadfully afraid of because of the sheer amount of work that it will require and the fact that if you fail, you fail HARD.  Then it starts and you are FLYING; not a moment to stop, not a moment to breathe, not a moment to enjoy the moment: just go as fast and as hard as you can until it's done.  And you make it.  And you can raise your hand in the air and say "I have fought the giant."  "I have ridden the shark." "I have looked over the precipice into the abyss and I flipped it the bird."

And then you have to go do it all over again at least 18 more times.

It's a hell of a ride.

Happy Jenday!

Hi Mom! How are Gary and Magic? It's slow today at work so I thought I'd let you know what's up.

So for the last couple of days Yuri and I have been kicking around some ideas, because you know, that's what we do? 

To be more accurate, Yuri bounces ideas off of me and I let him know how they feel. 

If you really want to get technical we should say that Yuri gives me tiny microscopic germs of ideas and my job is to flesh them out into something actually workable. Most of Break A Leg wouldn't have happened without me, it really took off after I came on board.

See, Yuri and I have this relationship. Not a bromance per se, though at times I feel the tension in the air between us and I wonder how he can possibly control himself. No, it's more like an animal lust, but not of the physical sort. It's mental.

Wait, that sounds like we're crazy or something. 

We have this mind-mind connection, you know? Sure, he and Justin and Dustin and Dashiell and Hillary and whoever-fuck-all have known each other forever. Sure, he's probably in love with Daniella. But Yuri and Drew? That's man-love Shawshank Redemption style. 

But not physically! I know, that movie took place in a prison, but Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins never did... that, did they? They didn't show it in the movie if they did. Maybe they did? Morgan Freeman did go all the way to Zihuatanejo just to be with him. Wow, I never really thought about it. 

Anyway, the point is that Yuri and I were having this chat through Gmail, but not using the email. Using the chat part? Which is almost exactly like emailing someone back and forth anyway, so what's the point? So we're chatting and he's showing me this (practically unreadable) script of his, which has some really good ideas in it that we could really do something with, you know? The only problem is all the characters are in their early twenties, so I need to get him to skew the ages up a... I don't know, like a decade or two?

Not much else going on, just the usual work-home-acting-whatever nonsense. I haven't seen Ronin for like a week, I don't know what's going on there. I'm sure he'll turn up, when he does we'll come down and visit.

Gotta go, I haven't written on the Break A Leg blog for like two weeks, I need to jam something out real quick or Yuri might stop paying me.

I have been extremely busy the last couple weeks and haven't really had time to write a blog and most of the stuff I've been going through wasn't really blog-worthy in my opinion.  I've been in rehearsals for The Great Books (Abridged), which opens this Friday, so I invite everybody to come see it.  Thursdays are pay what you can night, so you have one less excuse there, but it IS in Sebastopol which is a bit of a hike.  Still, it's going to be a pretty awesome show if I do say so myself, and will be well worth the trip. 

I've also been doing a bit of car shopping, which has taken up the rest of my time that hasn't been spent working or sleeping.  So far I haven't been able to find the car I'm looking for, either because it was already sold by the time I got to the lot or it wasn't there to begin with.  Or in one case, the car was there but it was dead and the mechanic was still working on it when I left the lot 15 minutes later.  The only really interesting thing that happened while out on my quest for vehicular acquisition was that I was driving down the freeway when a car swearved across several lanes and then chucked a cup of soda at another car 2 lanes over.  The driver then proceeded to flip off the driver of the newly moist car and take the next exit. 

Anywho, I just wanted to let all of you wonderful people know that I hadn't forgoten about you, and I'll be back to regale you with my amazing anecdotes soon.

Happy Jenday!

Hi all!

Yuri here. I know, I know -- you haven't heard from me in a while. Well, I'm alive! Kind of. After a two week sinus infection ravaged my mind and body, I am, generally, back to being okay.

That said, I wanted to finally reveal to you that project that both Drew and I have mentioned in passing but that we couldn't name as it was TOP SECRET. Well, the secret is out and...

We did a branded entertainment series for Camacho Cigars called, "The Black Band Project." I think the press release does a great job of explaining what it is, so I pasted it below.

Just to give you a reason to watch the videos -- it's co-written by me, directed by me, and the same team worked on it as the one that worked on Break a Leg. Meaning, Daniela, Dashiell, Justin, Hillary, Hugo and Dustin all took part (Daniela was our Stylist, Justin as the Director of Photography, Dash the editor, Hillary was the Production Manager, Hugo was the PA, and Dustin was Sound Supervisor).

More importantly, you can see your favorite Break a Leg actors doing different roles, as the four episodes star: Flynn (Larry), Skip (Sebastian), Drew (Jimmy Scotch) and Claudio (Stan Marley). Also, if you watch the intro/kidnappings closely, you'll notice that me, Chase Cougar and Dashiell ("Crew Guy") play the kidnappers.

Okay! Without further ado, the press release:

CREATORS OF ACCLAIMED WEB SERIES "BREAK A LEG" TEAM UP WITH CAMACHO CIGARS, BRANDED EVOLUTION TO CREATE SUCCESSFUL ONLINE BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT CAMPAIGN


SAN FRANCISCO, April 27th, 2009 -- Happy Little Guillotine Films, a production company specializing in online entertainment and the creators of the groundbreaking web series, Break a Leg (www.breakaleg.tv) today announced the launching of "The Black Band Project." The integrated marketing campaign, launched with leading cigar manufacturer Camacho Cigars as well as Branded Evolution, the digitally branded entertainment company, exceeded its sign-up goals by more than 500%. "We constantly hear people ask -- how do you make money in online entertainment? You start like this. You take a quality production team and a company like Camacho, who is willing to spend on real marketing, and you can create massively successful campaigns like this one that achieve all the goals of a TV campaign with a third of the budget," Said Yuri Baranovsky, the director and co- writer on the project, "Except a third of a TV budget easily pays our bills."

The success of "The Black Band Project" was due in large part to HLG Films' engaging series of episodic content that drove 63% of initial viewers to watch the entire four-part web series.

Happy Little Guillotine Films was first approached by Branded Evolution in late 2008, and was hired to help develop and produce the Black Band Project. "Bringing on the team that created Break a Leg was my 1st priority," says Gino Tomac, Branded Evolution’s creative director who co-wrote and co-produced the Black Band Project with HLG Films, "Their track record in creating strong, engaging content is stellar. The moment Yuri and I began writing the series together, I knew that I had made the right decision."

The marketing objectives for Camacho included the creation of an engaging, opt-in viral marketing campaign and a successful permission-marketing opportunity that would double their age-verified electronic and home mailing lists. A four-part web-series was created without mention of Camacho until the final “reveal” episode. The viewers followed the satirical Independent Cigar Review Bureau, a fictional agency, whose sole purpose was to educate the world about cigar selection, as they used humorous, guerilla-style tactics to enlighten three characters that represented the most common cigar misconceptions.

“We tried to create a series that not only catered to Camacho's very specific requests but one that was also entertaining to a wider audience," says Baranovsky, "We think this kind of advertising is the first step toward legitimizing online entertainment -- the next step is product placement, much like in television or film -- when companies feel safe to advertise with shows like Break a Leg, that's when shows like Break a Leg can give networks a run for their money."

From day one, the campaign captivated the cigar industry and generated sweeping buzz across the country, with thousands of cigar enthusiasts discussing who was behind "The Black Band Project" on social media outlets, including Twitter, Facebook, and cigar-industry message boards and blogs.

To view the video case study and all The Black Band Project episodes please visit:
http://www.blackbandproject.com.


PRESS RELEASE

Happy Little Guillotine Films (http://www.hlgfilms.com) created the groundbreaking series, BREAK A LEG. One of the first fully scripted, plot-driven shows, BREAK A LEG garnered rave reviews from such publications as the Wall Street Journal, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Times [London], Slate Magazine, Huffington Post and many, many more. It has, in two years, garnered nearly five million views and was nominated for a Streamy Award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series with such prestigious company as Joss Whedon, creator of Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Aside from Break a Leg, HLG Films has created numerous short films, features, and various branded entertainment campaigns. The company is based in San Francisco, for more information, job requests and more please visit www.hlgfilms.com.

Camacho Cigars (http://www.camachocigars.com) founded in 1961 by Simon Camacho, was acquired by the Eiroa family in 1995. Now part of the Oettinger Davidoff Group, Camacho Cigars is one of the key players in the international cigar market. The flagship Camacho brand, made at Rancho Jamastran in Danli, Honduras, is comprised of 9 premium and super-premium line extensions: (Super-Premium: Diploma, 10th Anniversary Corojo, Liberty Series, Triple Maduro, Select) (Premium: Corojo, Coyolar, Havana, SLR). Camacho Cigars also has 7 core brands, including Baccarat The Game, America's #1 selling premium cigar. For more information, please visit www.camachocigars.com.

Branded Evolution (http://www.brandedevolution.com) is a digital branded entertainment agency that works retainer-free, providing high-value, cost-effective marketing solutions to national advertisers. They create fresh, online entertainment using brand-integrated web video, or by coordinating sponsorship and/or product placement in pre-existing content. Branded Evolution also develops strategic distribution plans that can guarantee viewership by using measurable in-banner video advertisements. They manage brand-to-consumer interactions on popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace, and through outreach to relevant social media influencers. Branded Evolution is comprised of a talented sales force from traditional and new media and is led by Founder and Managing Partner, Dave Ford. The company is based in New York City. For more information, please visit www.brandedevolution.com or call 212-388-9123.