Wednesday, September 30, 2009

BillMillios.com now online

Thanks to all of you who've visited this blog since its inception in April of 2006. This will be the final post on this blog as I will now be posting on an entirely new site - BillMillios.com. At the new site I plan to focus primarily on my individual creative work, be it past films or new projects. Information related to my company’s corporate video work will be posted on the Back Lot Films website.

I've appreciated your past support and I hope to see you on the new site in the days ahead...

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Back Lot Films in new issue of P3 Update Magazine

There's a brief but nice mention of our next two feature-length films (both currently in pre-production) in the new issue of P3 Update Magazine. Click on the image below to read:

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Trailer for Nick Purcell's 'The Troop'

Courtesy of Nick.com here's the official trailer(The Troop Nick.com) for the upcoming TV show The Troop starring Concord, NH's Nick Purcell. As many of you know, Nick portrayed 'Grits' in our 2005 feature-length film Dangerous Crosswinds and it's really awesome seeing him break onto national television like this. The show's tag line is "they're normal high school kids...with a secret" and the trailer looks amazing. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy as Nick worked so hard on our film during production as well as, along with his mother Duvene, being a big advocate of our Dangerous Crosswinds upon its release. Keep up the great work Nick, we're all every proud of you back here and are definitely looking forward to the series premiere next month!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

The failure of Food, Inc.

I was pretty disappointed in the documentary 'Food Inc.'. In fact, I have a hard time believing anyone can be a fan of a film that champions a woman who makes her living torturing chickens as well as trying to make us feel sorry for the plight of illegal alien slaughterhouse workers. The most incredulous part is the 'intellectural cowboy' talking on-camera like a seasoned politician while chickens are being killed ten feet behind him. And, to top it off, the film's end titles urge us to be sure we 'treat animals with respect'. I guess that only includes dogs and cats...

Friday, June 05, 2009

Gina Lee Kim Watercolors

Our friend Gina Lee Kim is a very talented (and prolific!) artist who recently opened a show of her work at Starbucks in downtown Newburyport, MA. The exhibit features one painting, in particular, which is very special to me and my wife Valerie. Painted as a birthday present for Valerie and entitled 'Missy & Molly', the piece above is of the two pets who we lost earlier this year, our dog Molly in January and our cat Missy just two months later in March. Gina writes on her blog that 'art heals' and I couldn't agree more.

Gina specializes in watercolor, acrylic & mixed-media collage. The photo below is of the new Starbucks exhibit and be sure to check out her blog at http://ginaleekim.blogspot.com/ - keep up the awesome work Gina and thank you again for your wonderful gift!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Don LaBranche R.I.P. 1932-2009

Learning of the sudden passing this past Friday of actor Don LaBranche at the age of 76 was particularly saddening not only to myself but to so many others who worked with him. As many of you know, Don was, besides being a well-known stage actor throughout New Hampshire, in some ways the 'face' of both of my feature-length films, Old Man Dogs (1997) and Dangerous Crosswinds (2005).

In Old Man Dogs Don portrayed 'Ned Noonan', an elderly hermit who went by the nickname of 'Old Man Dogs', and spent his days digging up holes all over Mount Penobscot, looking for the remains of his long-deceased wife and daughter.

To this day, whenever Don would call me on the phone, he would start off with 'Hi Bill, it's Dogs'' which, of course, would always make me smile. You couldn't compare him to anyone else. He was dependable, relentlessly loyal to the material and his acting abilities gave me, as a first-time feature-film director, an enormous boost of confidence in what we were attempting to accomplish with this film. Low-budget independent films endlessly strive for authenticity and from the very first moment Don appears onscreen (with shovel in hand and walking away from the camera) our film had achieved that.

Eight years later I had the privilege to work with Don again on Dangerous Crosswinds and this time he played a completely different character, the multi-layered seasoned attorney 'Alec Holbrook'. I remember driving to the Dunkin Donuts in Straham, NH with Bill McNally (the lead actor in Old Man Dogs) to offer Don the part. I wanted to have my 'act' together when I explained the new production to Don and having Bill with me ensured that I did. I respected Don so much as a person that I'd be furious with myself if I wasn't prepared and ending up wasting his time.

The last time I saw Don was this past August when I interviewed him for a documentary that we're currently producing on the making of Old Man Dogs (to be included with the upcoming DVD re-issue). He was in wonderful spirits that day and especially upbeat when we discussed our next film, Death & Glory, and how I was determined to cast Don in a comic role as I knew how terrific and unique he could be in such a role. Unfortunately, that will never happen.

It was during those interviews for the Dogs documentary that I was especially struck (though I can't say surprised) by the nonstop praise heaped on Don by his fellow cast & crew members. Lead Actress Julia Radochia said, with no room for debate, 'Well Don, he's simply the best." Production Manager Paul Foster commented that he thought Don's performance in the film was 'tremendous' and added how much it meant to him getting to know Don during the production. Wendell Goodrum mentioned how he, like Don, had appeared in both of my films but how they had yet to appear in a same together. Wendell hoped that this would change in Death & Glory. Bill McNally, in particular, was very emotional in describing his time working with Don, how he's forever indebted to Don for being patient, generous with his time and guiding him in all of their scenes together (as Old Man Dogs was Bill's first film).

Don LaBranche was more than just an actor who gave arguably two of the most memorable performances in New Hampshire filmmaking history. For me, Don was a good friend - who also happened to be a wonderfully talented and unique actor. Rest in peace Don, one thing I know for sure is that we will all be thinking of you when the time comes to start our next film and seeing how well we can move forward without the dependable safety net which you were to all of us.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Hollywood Reporter article on The Troop

There's a nice article in this week's Hollywood Reporter on the upcoming Nickelodeon TV show The Troop. The comic/action series stars Nick Purcell (who portrayed 'Grits' in our 2005 feature Dangerous Crosswinds) and is currently in production in Vancouver, BC. The show received a 26-episode order from Nickelodeon and will premiere this fall. Keep up the great work Nick and we're all really looking forward to it! Click on the image to the left to read the article.