Screening to 500+ folks, Believers won two awards at the Solstice Film Festival in St. Paul. One for best Narrative and one for Best Actor (Johnny Messner). The DVD is slated to launch on October 16th.

…the film that never was.

Ever wondered what occurs to the site of a cancelled motion picture?

For every film site that is launched, there are several more in the making to be launched at a future date.  Some are conceptual only, awaiting a potential option from a distributor, some are locked up in NDA’s (Non – Disclosure Agreements), others are in production and often are released before the film is.

Sometimes – rarely, but sometimes – one is made for a motion picture that is… cancelled.

Wardrobe is put away, props are stored for another use, production staff and talent move on to the next gig. But what happens to the site?

Here is one such example.  Strip it of all content, retype all copy using Lorem Ipsum dummy text, rename it “Eighty Six” and relaunch it as a composite of something that, well… doesn’t exist.

I nearly named it “Lorem Ipsum” considering the circumstances. Though Lorem Ipsum is simply the dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry, and what is commonly used when “filling gaps” in production copy.

This endeavor, however, was not an example. Rather, it was ready to launch when suddenly the film was cancelled.  86′d if you will. Thus the title I have given to this “relaunch.”

In retrospect, “Eighty Six” is an interesting example of just how much goes into creating a motion picture site before there’s even a film that the site is for.  It totally seperates the two mediums and reveals just how much influence the designer has.

That said, you’re welcome to visit the “official site” of a film that does not exist.  As usual, there’s plenty of mystery-meat navigation to keep one busy for a while.

Now online for Warner Home Video’s “Raw Feed” series – the Believers (www.believersmovie.com).

Believers, a modern day psychological thriller, is set to be released mid-2007. While on duty, David Vaughn (Messner) and Victor Hernandez (Huertas), two emergency paramedics receive a call from a young girl whose mother has lost consciousness in a deserted area, but they soon discover that the life they have to save may be their own. Kidnapped and locked in an isolated building, David tries to discover the truth behind a secret cult and their beliefs. As Victor’s beliefs are challenged and the fine-line between religion and science are crossed, David must find a way to escape and get out, before they get him.

In a society where beliefs in religion and beliefs in science are constantly challenged, Believers explores the manipulative measures some use to take advantage of lost souls.

Two very confused white guys…

Now online – Lion’s Gate Film’s “The Bros” (www.thebrosmovie.com)

Underachieving misfits Pete and Lanny are wannabe “gangsta rappers,” who find the constraints of suburbia stifling to their artistic goals. Faced with the obstacle of needing “ten large” to finance a studio recording session, The Bros resort to an all-night crime spree that nets them a ten thousand dollar reward for their own crimes… thanks to a bizarre twist of fate.

“The Bros” features a heavy dose of special appearances, including Ludacris, Shaquille O’Neal, Vanilla Ice, Scott ‘Carrot Top’ Thompson, Joey Fatone and others.

“It was as if the men had been snatched off the earth. A terror slowly descended on the countryside. It seemed that death stalked the highway, and men began to fear darkness and night.”  – J.E. McDowell, Bender historian.

The Bloody Benders, now online.  www.bloodybenders.com

First launch for 2007 – Oblivion.

Long time friend Ben Rock is assembling the production to direct “Oblivion,” a supernatural thriller written by “Strand” veteran Bob DeRosa, who has also just wrapped up “The Air I Breathe,” a feature Bob wrote that includes a very impressive cast and crew including Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Sarah Michelle Gellar and many others.

Oblivion itself not yet cast and is just now in its infancy of production, so much so – Ben and Alicia are currently at Sundance to round up interest and get the word out.

Oblivion tells the story of a young schoolteacher named Mary, who suspects that she may have a terrible power.  Every man she sleeps with ceases to exist.  As she searches for the truth, Mary finds herself on a collision course with both the abusive father of a beloved student and a mysterious drifter who may hold the key to her salvation.

Aside from days of Blair Witch and other assorted oddities, this will mark Ben’s debut as a feature director.  Those familiar may recall his short, “Conversations” (which will be available here for iPod in the near future).

Obviously with the site’s launch in such an early phase of production, it is created to be an ongoing project as the year progresses, beginning as a production site (same as we did for Altered).

Production site now online at www.oblivionthemovie.com

Fifteen years ago, five men were abducted by aliens. Only four returned. Now, these same four men have managed to capture one of the creatures who killed their friend and ruined their lives. It’s time for payback. But payback swings both ways.

Now online at www.alteredmovie.com.

Take Alex to Work Day (Behind the Scenes of Family Guy).

Albeit it is a short. Very short. And as a special feature on the release of Drop Dead Gorgeous in a Down to Earth Bombshell Sort of Way.

One has to begin somewhere.

Fiction – What could possibly go wrong on the set of a shlock horror flick organized by a volatile mix of desperate has-beens and quirky first time wannabes, filmed on a possessed sound stage and financed by the mafia?

B-movie extraordinaire Charles Drake and neophte writer/director Ed Smith learn first hand that life imitates art when a real-life serial killer disposes of people one by one in gruesome ways on the set of their low budget production, “Curse of the Killer.”

Fact – Ian Truitner’s latest film, written and directed by Ian and starring the ever-so-brilliant Weetus Cren.

Now online at www.cuttingroommovie.com.

Adult Behavior marks Gregory Ekmekjian’s directorial debut, befriended via “The Youth Is Us” writer Loren Marsh. To say Gregory’s enthusiastic would be an understatement, Adult Behavior is a story about what happens when a 35 year old goes to meet his 19 year old girlfriend’s attractive mother, who is only two years older than he is.

The film was shot in two days in Pasadena, California.

Online at www.adultbehavior.com