prop-aganza!

“hands off the prop table!” in all my days of theater, i’ve surely had a handful of acerbic stage managers throw that exclamation at me. but. with the short film we’re planning on shooting day 1 of tomorrow [but expecting thunderstorms…yikes!], i’m the director, and thus, i get to touch all the props. power is my friend.

in theater, and i don’t believe this is the case with film, the person in charge of acquiring and maintaining the props is professionally called the prop master. i love this title. it’s nice to be a master of something. and if that aforementioned person is a female, she is denoted the prop mistress. that’s supreme. right?

anyway…

want to know the name of this film? okay. the true-love tale of Boyfriend and Girlfriend. you already know that Hilarie is playing Boyfriend, and yessir, that is her name. so, who’s playing Girlfriend? not telling. instead, i thought i’d give you a peek at some of our props. piece the puzzle…

.dollhouse.

.note.

.gator.

.sword.

.bubblegum.

.nametag.

.jackknife.

.cigarettes.

.lipstick.

.peacock.

.cherry pie.

.sparklers.

.tuba.

.rat.

.moustache.

speculate away!

yours.
n.gray

SOGOPRO BOOK CLUB

The Pillowman is a 2003 play by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. An especially dark black comedy, it tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a police state who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories, and their similarities to a number of bizarre child murders occurring in his town….

I think it’s perfect bedtime reading material… YIKES!!!

Enjoy Hilarie and Nick,
kt

THE MAN IN BLACK

We got married in a fever
Hotter than a pepper sprout
We’ve been talkin’ about Jackson
Ever since the fire went out

I’m goin’ to Jackson
I’m gonna mess around
Look out Jackson Town

-Rodgers, Wheeler

I feel some connection to the man in black. Johnny Cash.
J.C. Jesus Christo. I usually wear black myself.
Every car I ever owned was black. I like fast cars and
faster women.

Guitars slung around the back.

And women named after months.

Mr. Cash has become incredibly inspirational to
me for Lincoln Booth.

I don’t know why.

It doesn’t really make sense. And it doesn’t have to.
People often ask me why I feel a certain way.

Why? Why? Why? And nowadays, my answer is…

“IT DOESN’T MATTER. I JUST DO!!”

“How do you know?” That’s my other favorite
question these days. My answer…

“I JUST KNOW!!!!”

But something about that song JACKSON,
when John and June sang it, there is something in
there that knocks me out. It’s like a bolt of lightning
struck my skull and penetrated straight to my heart.

Did a song ever do that to you?

What is it?

Name it.

It makes me want to cry and scream and laugh
and love a woman real real hard. All at once.

It makes me want to scream from the rooftops.
I hope everybody’s been doin’ some of that lately.

Get to it.

But more and more, people ask me questions and
I have learned to not answer them. Cause I can’t
really speak the answer. But I feel it. And I do know it.

When something inspires you, it just does.
You don’t have to describe it. In fact, I say, DON’T!!!!!

your faithful servant,

austin nichols

Poems in the tree

Hi guys!
So this is long overdue, as things have been busy, busy, busy round these parts… but I want to deeply thank all of you who contributed to the “Inspiration” video that was posted on St. Patricks Day! Honestly, you guys know how much I cry at work, so it takes a lot to get me worked up on the homefront….and you did it.
I am so moved by the hope and optimism and loyalty you all have nestled our little company with. It’s like walking through a field of fireflies….every little vote of confidence is a spark in the dark that is dazzling.
I am inspired by strangers.
Every person I have ever loved has begun as a stranger.
It’s staggering to think that every intense influence on my life was once just a face in the crowd. A random pedestrian. A number.
But this place….this ever growing cyber clubhouse, is something new. Names attached to faces. Kindness. Great distances are being bridged by a similar outlook on life….a bright belief that we are meant to rush out into the sunlight of each day and attack the world…explore, invent, uplift…so that on the day that we die, we will be fat with experience and love.
Kelly and I are blown away. You guys are like an army, and we feel safe and capable in your hands. So again, thank you. Thank you. Thank. YOU.

As a little return gift, we have the infamous note that was found in the tree for you. Now, Nick and I left it in it’s original place. There is such a story there. Someone…someone with imagination and heart…took the time to write down beautiful things and place them in a secret nook. But the heartbreaking thing, is that it’s still there. Whoever it was intended for never retrieved it. I ask that no one goes looking for it. It isn’t ours. But the words that were written are important, so we copied them down to share. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.
Finding this note is just proof that there is magic in the world.

And as a side note, a member of our local Southern Gothic club is going to be playing a few shows in the Northeast this weekend. This is the man that is going to be scoring our short film. The very sweet Andy Bilinski is going to be upstairs at the Living Room in NYC on the 27th at 9:30 and the 28th at 11:30. And then for those of you in the Philly area, there’s a new place called (get this!!!)…the Blinkin Lincoln. How Pedestrian! He’ll be there Sunday night. So show a little love if you’re in the neighborhood, and go meet some strangers.

Till next time my lovelies….
xoxo
Hil

lincoln’s the photog. not i.

more location scouting for our short…
here’s a few photos i was able to get before the data card on my camera conked out on me…

what the heck is this little ol’ film about? hm.

yours.
n.gray

My First Project

Sooo, we’re going to make a short film.

Nick and I were out one night, dancing….or just gyrating…doing that awkward shoulder shimmy that sober people do in bars before it gets crowded and there are other bodies to sway with. We were bored. Antsy. So naturally, “What can we go shoot?” popped into our heads. (film, not firearms, my friends. ha)

It will be a love story, as Nick is Dr. Romance. But it will be off kilter, because regular love stories are too vanilla for our Southern Gothic sensibilities.

Nick painted the script. I’ll let him tell you about it. Or just hint about it.

But this weekend we went on a location scout and scoured the underbelly of Wilmington. Unfortunately, my little Flip camera broke so I was left shooting all of this on my tiny little digital still camera. You will laugh as Nick and I try to figure that device out. Sound is bad at times, so I threw some captions up. Overall, I just wanted to show you guys a little bit of how we are going to put this thing together.

And just wait for the cliffhanger at the end of this vid! I couldn’t believe it myself.
xoxo
hil

Q & A with Austin….

Austin shares a little about why he likes the role of Lincoln… plus
a bonus feature…his secret power animal… ha
Xoxo
hil

eureka!

earlier this week on the day of st. patrick, the sogopro team was gifted a video collabo from the fans. i’ll tell you what. that video was a real ace.

so it seems we have inspired you. wowsa! we love that. a lot. here’s some things that have inspired me of late. i like things.

1. hilarie lent me a copy of les fleurs du mal, a collection of dark and stirring poems from charles baudelaire. she told me with a stern hand not to let anything happen to it. i definitely didn’t let anything happen to it. on the darkness meter, the one below is a mid-grade, but still my favorite of the bunch. owls are the new it animal.

2. the movie blindness. i believe this movie had some poor reviews [yep. only 40% on the tomato-meter], but i liked it immensely. this will sound strange coming from a screenwriter i imagine, but i have a really hard time watching movies. at home, at least. it takes a lot to make me watch a film in one sitting. it takes snacks, definitely. i’m a snack master. but, yes, blindness. i watched it in one fluid sitting. i’ll recommend it. mark ruffalo is usually representing, and this is no exception. i’d also equally recommend synecdoche, new york, even though i still haven’t finished it, and have been watching in twenty minute intervals over the past three days. monster cast. nuanced performances. and it’s written and directed by charlie kaufman; he wrote and directed eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.

3. i first caught wind of the photographer chris anthony during his series “victims and avengers,” for which both emily and zooey deschanel were models. his prints are spellbinding, and truly, my cup of tea.

4. one of my new year’s resolutions [i’ve already completed two] is to get some art on my walls. i haven’t been anywhere near successful on this task yet, so i ordered a book online called between the lines: a coloring book of drawings by contemporary artists. i figure that while my friends are just trying to watch my television, i’ll throw the book and a box of crayons in front of them, and eventually i’ll have a fine collection of contemporary art for the kitchen. here’s a creeeeeepy one i did…

5. one last little crumb, here’s a snap of me looking real suspicious in my new tee, my ode to lincoln b.

This is Linda.

Linda is so pretty, right?

Austin and I were scouring the beach, searching
for inspiration. And then she appeared.

She was a dream Pedestrian.

Briskly walking against the ocean’s sharp winter wind.
She was kind enough to not run off when two rowdy
kids sprinted at her with a camera.

Later, as Austin and I drove away from the
beach to go to lunch, we saw her again.
We tooted the horn and and hollered out the window.

She is a friend now.
Sometimes strangers make the best friends.
Xoxox
Hil

Storytime!!

Austin has totally one-upped Nick and me with his
book club vlog.

He had his mind made up that he wanted to read a
passage from the book for everyone…..and so here you are.
A dazzling, fast paced piece of performance
art. There’s one little flub, where he lost his place
in the book. But I left it in because error makes a
man like Austin that much more endearing. The only
thing he needs now is a pipe, a cardigan, and a
roaring fireplace. Perhaps next time.
Enjoy!
xo hil