For all things latest Hero Tomorrow DVD and 'Apama-The Undiscovered Animal' web comic news please follow my Twitter updates.

www.twitter.com/tedsikora 

Apama - The Undiscovered Animal Preview Images

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Comic Related Review!

New York Comic Con was too cool for words. I'll report more later. Here's a review from Comic Related.

Comic Related Hero Tomorrow Review

Making of Hero Tomorrow Part 1

New York Comic Con!

Hero Tomorrow is heading to New York Comic Con.  The largest on the East Coast!   Saturday February 7th at 1:30 in room 1A04.

Kurt and I are going, and it looks like Perren will make it as well.   There's oodles of HT stuff in the works, I'll hopefully update more regularly in '09. 

Fist Bump Cartoon by Jeff Darcy - Cleveland Plain Dealer

ITALY!!!

Hero Tomorrow will be showing at Suburbia! Film Festival in Rome on September 26th! We're one of 6 films from the United States. The Festival, presented by KaosHaus, promotes the fruition and the realization of independent and self-produced movies. KaosHaus’ intent is to give visibility to this parallel universe, which -thanks to new digital technologies- is increasingly growing.

Register to Vote Online

My Shoot with LeBron James and Jill Greenberg

And now for something completely different...

On June 18th Time Magazine came to Akron Ohio to do an interview with LeBron James about his captaining the US Olympic Men's Basketball team. Through an amazing series of last minute phone calls (both to Telos Productions and Commercial Recording,) yours truly got to watch the whole thing from behind the video camera.

LeBron is such an impressive dude. He knocks down questions - tough questions - completely unfazed, and seems extremely grounded for his over-abundance of athletic gifts. At one point he even offered to grab Jeff and I a couple Vitamin Waters.

They also requested filming/documenting the still photo shoot session with Lebron for the cover of the mag (on sale now.) The unexpected bonus to that was witnessing mega-prolific photographer Jill Greenberg in action. The shoot was fun on exponential levels. Check out manipulator.com for numerous examples of Jill's amazingly slick work.

When I sent the raw footage to Time I pleaded with them to let me cut a featurette version of the cover shoot. The four minute result titled "Making the Shot" is now online at the Time website.
Please shekidoout.

"Making the Shot"

LeBron James - Leader of the Redeem Team.

Hero Tomorrow is in Brazil

HT has been accepted into Fantaspoa- Brazil's premiere genre film festival. We are one of 42 films in the International Competition; and this version of Hero Tomorrow (subtitled in Portuguese) is one of only four films from the United States!

The festival takes place in six different cinemas over fourteen days and HT will show on July 29th, August 2nd and 4th. We're extremely bummed to not be making the trek on this one, but honored to be included- especially when looking at the other films in competition.

The Pullbox Review

The Pullbox is a great comics site. "Our goal is to share information about the great comic gems out there that you aren’t reading and perhaps save you some of your hard earned cash by warning you about the comics not worth their ink."

They were on hand at Motor City Con and Hero Tomorrow got a nice review.

Oddity Cinema Review

Oddity Cinema is a news and review site dedicated to weird and obscure cinema.

Hero Tomorrow Review

Apama - The Comic Book!

The seed for this idea came when we were first talking to publishers about showing their work in the Hero Tomorrow store scenes. We were asked if we were interested in creating a comic version of the Hero Tomorrow movie.  At first we were somewhat indifferent to the idea.  In our experience comic adaptations of films don't really seem to work all that well.   But once we started thinking about it, we realized that we have a unique situation with Hero Tomorrow as it's partially about David trying to get his Apama comic book published, and it might be really fun to present the actual comic David's trying to create.

The notion stayed on the back burner for a couple years as we produced and finished the film. The big stumbling block was figuring out the logistics of time and finding the right artist. Enter Eddy Newell.

Eddy is best known for his work on Black Lightening and Werewolf of the Apocalypse among many others. His work is very diverse, and he often employs a painterly style that feels very film noir-esque. Gary Hermann set up meeting and showing of Hero Tomorrow for Eddy, and after a few brainstorming sessions Eddy joined the team. We're truly honored to have him.
Apama the superhero is based on an animal that has never been discovered, so one of the first challenges was to create the animal. Eddy, keeping in mind the costume, crossed a possum with a werewolf to create the concept art above.

Gary Hermann will be handling the editing chores, and Milo and I will be scribing the piece. As anyone who knows us knows... we are first and foremost comic book fans. There would be no Hero Tomorrow without the love we have for those countless boxes in the attic. That said, we're doing this because we truly believe that we have a very fresh and original character with a story that hasn't been told before.

We've been doing tons of backstory and foundation work for what we hope will be an ongoing series. I've even been doing location scouting around Cleveland for neighborhoods and buildings. This is so much fun. We're aiming for September with the first online issue.

That's what I should have said...!

So I'm sitting in the Crown Plaza Hotel for breakfast at Motor City Con, and who enters but the Margot Kidder. She looks at the buffet and asks the host, "Is it possible to get a banana or just some fruit?" I looked up at her, straightened my tie and said, "Ahem, wouldn't you rather have orange juice - freshly squeezed?" at which point the entire crowd fell out of their chairs in laughter.

Okay, maybe I didn't actually say those exact words. Nor was I wearing a tie. Maybe, in fact, all I did was tell the guy next to me, "Um... I think that's Lois Lane." picking my chin up from the floor.

Highlights from Motor City Con included Gary Hermann showing up with a broken nose; Jocelyn Wrzosek beating some kid bloody all over the convention floor; me purchasing the long coveted Bowens Mysterio statue (Diane was so impressed she asked if I still had the sales receipt); Gary introducing us to Mr. Lou Ferigno; Knocking down many drinks with the guys from The Bastard Squad; Jocelyn tearing down the house down with her Karaoke version of "White Rabbit, and myself subsequently clearing the room with a gag-reflex version of The Lady is a Tramp; Margot Kidder actually stopping at the Hero Tomorrow table complimenting us on our trailer; And all those fantastic costumes!

Motor City Con

Hero Tomorrow's next screening will be Friday May 16th at 4:30 PM at Motor City Con. The Con is one of the largest in the midwest region of the U.S., and it looks like its shaping up to be major fun with oodles of creators and media guests on hand. Thanks to Gary Herrmann for getting us on board.

Milo, Jocelyn, and myself will be heading out for this one, and we'll be making a pretty cool announcement about a new HT project which has all of us at camp Apama very excited. ;-l

Host of the Motor City Comic Con is the Rock Financial Showplace.

46100 Grand River Ave.,
Novi, MI 48374.
Novi is a suburb of Detroit in Oakland county.

By the power of Greyskull....

Showing at the 2380 Project

As a result of our win at the AIFF we've been invited to screen here at the 2380 Project .

Saturday, April 26th, 6PM

Gardner Student Union Theater

303 Carroll St,

Akron, OH

Winner Jury Prize - Best Feature

This year the Akron Independent Film Festival had over 155 feature submissions which were narrowed down to 5 features that actually screened at the festival (along with about thirty shorts.) I'm very pleased to say that Hero Tomorrow won the Jury's prize for Best Feature.  

Our screening on Thursday was jam packed with rows of chairs being added at the last minute to accommodate everyone in the supremely superb audience.  Jocelyn Wrzosek truly graced us with her presence, and helped me with the Q & A session -- umm... apologies for the rant about the status of Spider-Man, and the ridiculous, ludicrous, asinine path that Marvel has chosen to break up the marriage of its flagship character. 

Thanks so very much to AIFF staffers Mike Honeck, Rob Lucas, Steve Felix, Sara Lucas, Rob Heinen, Kendra Minadeo, all the jurors, and everyone who turned out to see the latest cut of HT.

About that New Cut...

Over the past six months I've learned a ton about color correction and different techniques for changing the mood and technical problems within scenes. Even though I'm truly -God knows - ready to be done with HT post production, I knew it would be an incredible diservice if I didn't go back to the workstation one more time and add some 'shrimp' to the Apama pasta.

Example 1 shows the actor Nathan Gurr in a shot where he's clearly underexposed compared to his mask. This was partially intentional, but it's a bit farther apart than I would have liked. In the past I might have tried to brighten the whole image to compensate for the problem which would have made the mask way too bright. Some of the new tools allow for selective brightening of areas which help the second shot in a nice subtle way.

Example 2 is from a fantasy sequence. Here I was able to push the look of the whole scene into a more comic book looking motif.

Examples 3 and 4 feature the lovely and talented John Persuric and Jocelyn Wrzosek. In this scene I was able to take footage that was a bit too realistic looking and turn it into something far more fitting for a nightmare.

At some point this year I vow to be DONE with this film, and a DVD will be out. Sorry for all these delays, but it's been an incredible education at every possible turn. Almost every scene has undergone a bit of a facelift, so for now we're quite anxious to show it to an audience on the big screen in Akron.

Best wishes!

Akron Independent Film Festival

We're finally returning to the original scene of the crime. Thursday April 3rd at 6PM Hero Tomorrow will be the opening film at the Akron Independent Film Festival.

Milo and I met way back in 1988 at the University of Akron in a TV production class. One day, as I recall, Milo showed up in a Captain America shirt. We commenced with the obligatory rabid conversation about comics and films which months later evolved into joking about how we were gonna make a movie some day. Mr. Miller will also be conducting a screenwriting workshop on Saturday April 5th at 10:30 AM.

And AS ALWAYS this will be the debut of yet another cut of the film. I'll talk more about that with some examples in my next entry.

Hope to see you there.

Applause Interview

If you missed it, you can check out the interview I did with Dee Perry of WVIZ's Applause.

There's a scene from HT on the show, and it starts at about the halfway point.

Webcast Santa Fe

The Santa Fe Film Fest has uploaded the webcast from the festival. Perren and I were interviewed by Pasha Hogan in part three.

Santa Fe Recap

Santa Fe is a gorgeous place. The fest was great. The parties were even better. Hangin' with Mr. Perren Hedderson is always a pleasure, but adding Perren's father Bruce, who also made the trek, was a double hoot. Met a lot of very talented folks including the great Alan Cumming. He received a Maverick Award this year, and his new film Suffering Man's Charity was one of the few flicks I actually got to see on this short trip - a crazy wonderful film. He was gracious enough to spend almost 40 minutes in Q & A with the audience after the piece. It was there I got an autograph for my wife who considers Alan one of - if not the - best male actors in the biz right now - tough to argue that one. Then... our film's second screening was happening during the last part of the award ceremony, and when I walked out he was standing right there. I got to give him a copy of HT, and told him how especially moved I was by his film's nutty reference to Akron - and of course his Nightcrawler which was spot on.

One of the craziest cooincidences in history came about when I ran into a former bandmate named Jeremy Bleich. Jeremy and I used to play together in a Cleveland pop-hard rock band in the late 80's early 90s called Shyboy. I'm tempted to post the band photo as I have absolutely no shame, but that would require digging it out - so we're all safe for the moment. It was fantastic reconnecting with him again. Perren and Jeremy are in this photo showing the international sign for the 2-1-6, natch.

Quote of the trip:
Perren Hedderson: Mr. Alan Cummings is there any way you'd be able to attend our screening?
AC: "Actually it's CUMMING."

Santa Fe Film Festival

The next stop for Hero Tomorrow will be Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Check out the Santa Fe Film Festival website for more details.

Our screenings will be in the Film Center.
Thursday November 29th at 12:45PM
Saturday December 1st, 5:45 PM.

Comic Book Bin Review

Click Here

Cool Cleveland Review

Hero Tomorrow @ CIFF, Tower City 3/24 Like all previous years, the 31st-annual Cleveland International Film Festival was full of thought-provoking and perceptive works that examine the world we live in with the precise emotional detail of an electron microscope. In all the years I’ve participated, I’ve been clued into movies about family ties, world poverty, crime, political rhetoric and metaphorical journeys to the outer reaches of psyche and motivation. My experience with Hero Tomorrow definitely put me into that latter-mentioned category, even though I was compelled by the comic book angle.

Created by Cle filmmaker Ted Sikora, Hero Tomorrow centers on a ganja-lovin’, dreadlocked comic-book artist named David (Perren Hedderson) who brings his creation – a masked crusader called Apama – to life. The Cleveland-based artist is somewhat lackadaisical and unmotivated, mowing lawns and doing odd jobs for a living - all because he’s just not terribly successful at marketing himself or his work. But things change once he dons the suit... Hero Tomorrow starts out as a precise view into David’s world and expands into a comical pseudo-superhero flick, one that ends up being more gratifying and genuinely comical than anything else attempted before it – take that, Greatest American Hero and Superman III.

David seems to believe in Apama’s future as a character, explaining in a pitch that “It’s not offensive, it’s a homage.” He also sees Apama’s future as an “icon” and protector in the fight against evil, though it was odd and expectedly quirky to see just how Apama comes to life and how heroic he ends up becoming once he does. I even liked Apama’s sort of Derek Hess-inspired, pencil-sketchy look (replete with messy mohawk) for David’s real life Apama costume made by girlfriend Robyn (Jocelyn Wrzosek). And lastly, on-again, off-again Cle native Ray McNiece as the comic shop owner was a perfect casting choice. Props to Sikora and the entire cast credit: Hero Tomorrow made for a compelling view. If you missed out on this off-beat comic book quirkfest, check out the trailer at

http://www.herotomorrow.com and keep an eye out for a future screening around town.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian

European Debut in the Netherlands

The Netherlands' annual B-Movie, Underground & Trash Film Festival has invited Hero Tomorrow to screen as part of their seventh edition. HT is one of about twenty features to be in this year's showcase of some of the most utterly insane, sick, & sleazy films from around the globe. If you don't believe me just click on some of the trailer pages - IF YOU DARE..!

Hero Tomorrow is playing on Saturday the 29th of September, 10PM, in the large auditorium followed immediately by performances from Diktat - Doctor Bibber - Doodle in a Cocoon. The complete schedule is also downloaded on the film’s website.

Even though we won’t be able to attend the festivities it is a great feeling to be extending the Apama Nation beyond North America for the first time. We took great care to create HT with what we consider to be a sort of foreign film sensibility.

From the BUTFF website:
"Again Breda will be infested with bizarre, strange, experimental or other kinds of remarkable cinema thanks to the B-Movie Underground & Trash Film Festival. The festival will take place in Electron, a former industrial building. This year the program will be enhanced by performances, music and art in appropriate BUTFF style. An exhibition on Outsiders art can be visited, with work from the French collective 'Le Dernier Cri' and several Dutch artists, including Jeroen de Leijer, Jan van Nuenen and Barend van Hoek."

Peace, love and nasty films for all.

Ted Sikora
(This festival… are we in the ‘underground’ category? hmmm…)

Fanboy Theatre Review

We just got a great review from Will at Fanboy Theatre. The full review is at Fanboy Theatre Website, and I've posted the second half which is pretty much spoiler free.

"...At the center of every great superhero style story, in this Fanboy's humblest of opinions, is a main character with heart and determination, "Hero Tomorrow" is a perfect example of this type of story and scores a direct hit using the formula. Not to say that this is your average superhero type film, "Hero Tomorrow" has a unique charm all it's own including some funny and emotional moments which could almost categorize the film as a Comedy/Drama of sorts. The icing on the cake is the fantastic performances from the main cast. Perren Hedderson, who stars as David/Apama in the film, is not your typical leading man, with his long dreadlocks and unique fashion sense Hedderson eliminates the geeky alter ego stereotype making way for a new breed of men behind the mask. Hedderson is fantastic in this film, and a perfect fit for the role of a peculiar superhero daydreamer. Jocelyn Wrzosek, who plays David's main squeeze Robyn in the film also shines as the icy comic shop girl struggling with mental illness, yet strong enough to persue Her own career goals while, at the same time, pushing David in what she feels is the right direction in life. Other notable performance honors in the film go to Bryan Jalovec, who plays Greg in the movie, Jalovec is perfect as the "big jerk" personality in the film, you'd think He was born to play the role. His performance brought the character of Biff from "Back To the Future" to mind. And rounding out the job well doner's is Ray McNiece as Larry, the stoner comic shop owner. So whether or not your'e in the mood for a good indie, comic book, romance, or comedy film, Hero Tomorrow has got you covered. One of the best original films I've had the pleasure to review in quite some time, and a definite must see."

Comic Book Bin Interview

The Comic Book Bin recently posted an interview with Brian, Milo, and I from Fantasia.

Hero Tomorrow Saturday at the Cinematheque

On August 17 and 18, 2007, the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque will hold its first-ever “Think Local” Film Festival, a weekend of five feature-length movies from Northeast Ohio. This series is a unique foray for the Cinematheque, which specializes in independent, foreign and revival films.

Admission to each film is $8, Cinematheque members and CIA students and staff $6. Tickets for two films on the same night are $14 ($12 for members), and tickets for three films are $20 ($18 for members). Admission to all five films costs only $25 by buying a “Think Local” weekend pass (on sale starting July 16 at the Cinematheque).
There is free parking in the Institute lot.

Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque
11141 East Boulevard (in University Circle)
Cleveland, Ohio 44106

Schedule:

August 17th
7:00 p.m.
Cordoba Nights – http://www.cordobanights.com/ - Luke and Andy Campbell – Action/Comedy
Finn, a young man content with his directionless life as a pizza delivery guy, works the late shift in a lively city. On a delivery that starts out like any other, Finn comes across a mysterious girl named Allie who will make his night anything but ordinary. As Finn delivers to surf rockers, car thieves and the mob, Shit-eye, Old Dad and the other thugs are in pursuits to bring Allie back to her volatile boyfriend Darren.

9:00 p.m.
Madness – http://www.wheremadnesslies.com/ – Bill Johns – Thriller
Alex has been a very bad boy, and when his sister drops in unexpectedly with four of her
college friends, the Madness begins. Trapped in their mansion during a blizzard, the girls start dying off one by one as Alex tries to conceal a terrifying secret. Starring local pop singer, Jami Ross, Madness was awarded four stars at FilmThreat.com and was called, “a spectacular suspense thriller with all the makings of a first-rate horror film.”

August 18th
6:00 p.m.
American Stories – http://www.americanstoriesmovie.com/ – Rob Lucas – Comedy
With only a few hours to go on the final leg of their Ohio tour, the indie rock group The Little Devils find themselves stranded in a no-name Ohio town. Tim, Jeff, Rick and Ben pass the hours waiting for a mechanic by revealing a little more about themselves through true, yet unbelievable stories. American Stories has been produced by The 2380 Project, a University of Akron student/alumni organization dedicated to creating a feature-length movie every year.

8:00 p.m.
Hero Tomorrow – Dark Comedy

10:00 p.m.
The Horror Convention Massacre – http://www.oldschoolsinema.com/ – Joe Ostrica – Horror/Thriller
In The Horror Convention Massacre—an homage to B-movie exploitation slasher films of the ‘70s and ‘80s—a crazed killer is on the loose at a hotel hosting a horror convention, knocking off the guests and the hotel staff. Filled with colorful characters, lots of humor, and cameos by Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger), Ari Lehman (Jason from Friday the 13th) and Lew Temple (The Devil's Rejects and Rob Zombie's upcoming Halloween remake), The Horror Convention Massacre was awarded Best Horror Film at the Miami Underground Film Festival. With an upcoming sequel prepared for a fall release,The Horror Convention Massacre has sold out every screening it's had in Cleveland thus far.

Delusions to Premiere at LA Shorts Fest!

We just found out that Delusions is going have its world premiere at the LA SHORTS FEST. This is the project from several blog entries ago by Darlena Roberts that I had the pleasure of DP'ing with the beloved HT crew. Congrats Darlena!

See ya at the Indie Gathering this Saturday

I'll be on two panels at the Indie Gathering this Saturday. In past years it's been a great way for indie filmmakers in Northeast Ohio gather and network. The IG also has a film festival attached to it, and you can see the full schedule on their website.

1 PM - Marketing and Publicity for your film
3 PM - Directing

Holiday Inn Cleveland
Independence, Ohio
I-77 & Rockside Road

Report from Fantasia

What an experience this was. It was our first time to Montreal, and for starters Milo and I were picked up at the airport with indie film legend Lloyd (Toxic Avenger) Kaufman. Meeting Lloyd was an honor, and he's a super nice guy. Mr. Kaufman was showing a film entitled Poultrygeist as well as hosting the Troma Show Varietease.

Our first night I would've been happy to just hit the hotel and grab some z's, but luckily Milo and I decided to check out this cool little first feature gem from Austrian director Peter Koller titled On Evil Grounds. The film was equal parts horror film and wigged out comedy, mixing over-the-top Looney Tune violence with some survival/torture film staples.

The second and third day we saw four or five films a day including the Japanese box office champ Death Note (Parts 1 & 2,) The Fox Family, Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater, 13 Beloved, and a documentary entitled King of Kong which probably made me laugh harder than I have at a theater in over ten years.

After seeing so many back-to-back overwhelmingly stellar flicks with amazing production values Milo and I were starting to feel a bit queasy about our upcoming screening. I guess you get used to your film after you’ve seen it so many times. The odd things begin to feel normal, and everything at Fantasia was proving to be so fresh and imaginative.

As my anxiety was reaching its peak I ran into Lloyd Kaufman again. It was Saturday night before his screening of Poultrygeist (which rocked!) and he asked how things were going. When I told him I was getting a bit nerved up he said, "Look, I've come to this festival for years. These programmers know what they're doing, and if they selected your film I'm sure it's brilliant.” I took a deep breath and hoped he was right.

So the next day we had our screening and it was great. The crowd seemed to respond favorably, the projection was by far the best we've ever had, and the Q&A and feedback afterwards was just right. A print review in BangBang Montreal came out and they said our film was “Twisted, unconventional, diverting, inventive and creative.” TwitchFilm also posted an entry on their site. We were interviewed several times, so we expect a few more articles and reviews to post in the forthcoming weeks. It was also brought to our attention that HT was screened and programmed by the man who founded Fantasia - Pierre Corbiel.

Our trip was capped off with a ride to the airport with Mulberry Street director Jim Mickle. I didn't see Mulberry Street, but Milo did, and he said it's gonna be huge. You gotta trust Milo on this as he knows his horror shit (the geeks’s got the full run of Fangoria magazine.) Jim was down-to-earth and gave us some more great advice.

Montreal was amazingly beautiful. We hung out with terrific folks - I absolutely can't wait to go back. Thanks to our Fantasia publicist Ryan Bruce Levey for all his efforts -including suggesting we actually submit to Fantasia in the first place. And biggest thanks of all to the Fantasia staff especially Pierre, Mitch, Phillipe, and Simone.

Merci Gents, we hope to see you again soon!

.....................................what a bunch a jerks..............................

KURT & HEATHER...!!!

My brother Kurt and his fiance Heather got hitched in Las Vegas on Wednesday, July 11th. I couldn't be happier for the two of them, and I'm so grateful to have a brand new sister as sweet and cool as Heather. Way to go Kurt-O! You two make the dashingest couple this side of the Luxor.

God bless and best wishes.

International Debut - MONTREAL'S FANTASIA

Hero Tomorrow will show on July 15th at this year's Fantasia Film Festival. Fantasia is the largest genre festival in North America. Milo and I will be present to present; and in four words - we are beyond stoked.

Full list of Features
Hero Tomorrow Listing - en français

"Since its inception in 1996, FanTasia has been an event hell-bent on showcasing the most exciting, innovative and individualistic examples of contemporary international genre cinema, with an emphasis on unveiling films very rarely seen in North America. It has become a hugely popular Montreal summer tradition for roughly 70 000 festival-goers to spend three weeks being amazed by sensational celluloid from Japan, Spain, South Korea, Italy, Hong Kong, Germany, Thailand, Denmark, France, Russia, India, New Zealand, Chile, Brazil, Australia, Holland, Scotland, Belgium, Sweden, Great Britain, the US and of course, Quebec and Canada. As fellow film fanatics, we pride ourselves on getting the works that we love in front of an enthusiastic and knowledgeable audience. We also do everything possible to bring these films to the attention of potential distributors and the international media."

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL PROMO VIDEO

IFC Media Lab Shorts Uploaded

The IFC channel is running a piece on HT this month on their Media Lab Shorts Uploaded program. "This program highlights not only the top, viewer-ranked films, but also films IFC thinks you shouldn't miss. Unfiltered, uncensored, and absolutely uncut."

Monday, June 4 - 8:30 PM
Saturday, June 16 - 5:30 AM
Tuesday, June 19 - 12:05 AM
Tuesday, June 26 - 11:40 AM

Our trailer is shown in its entirety, and our next screening - which is our international debut - is also mentioned. Details on that one are coming soon.

I just flew in from Vegas...

and boy am I sick. every time I get on a frickin’ airplane...

The annual NAB Show wrapped up on Thursday, and Commercial Recording sent me down to sheckidout. Thousands of exhibitors were at the Las Vegas Convention Center showing off their wares. It’s a great opportunity for gearheads like myself to get our grubby mits on all kinds of brand new cameras, software, gadgetry and such. It's brings in about as many people as Comic Con.

The new Final Cut Studio Pro 2 is extremely impressive. It’s the biggest upgrade in the company’s history. Panasonic had some great stuff as always, and it looks like CRS will be adding a high def AJ-HPC-2000 camera package to our arsenal. I also got to meet editing legend Walter Murch who gave a very inspiring talk.

The biggest buzz came from the RED Digital Cinema booth. Those who attended the Digital Production seminar at the Cleveland Int. Film Fest will recall that I was suggesting that RED will change the industry as we know it. After sticking my neck out on that one I feel completely vindicated after having experienced their booth.

Until NAB 2007 the Red One Camera was a concept and promise. The concept was based on the premise that - if we have digital still cameras that can create 11 megapixel images that are superior to 35mm, why can’t we take that same technology and apply it to sequencial video frames? It's important to note that they didn’t set out to make something as good as 35mm - they set out to make something better.

This year they were promising to show actual footage. And not just any footage – this was ‘12 minute short film shot by Mr. Peter Jackson starring Kevin Dillon’ footage.

The line to see the film really felt like the wait at an amusement park for the hot new ride. People from all over the globe waited hours to see what this small company from the U.S. of A (that’s right, America) developed. (Cap would be so proud.)

When I finally saw it I can tell you honestly that I was FLOORED. It has well over 4 times the pixels/definition of most current hi-def cameras. I couldn’t believe I was watching digital video, AND it gets even better because this footage was shot with a prototype camera that had NO internal settings and only one shutter speed. Much of the film was shot in the daylight and bright sun which is always the worst condition for digital video, but somehow these bastards actually pulled it off. Don’t take my word for it. Check out still frames and footage on their site.

This is a really hip company, and they really care about keeping this stuff affordable. The price point on the camera is around 18k - I don't know how they can do that. They're also in the process of developing the world's first mini-professional video camera ("not prosumer, mind you") as well as a 4k digital projector. I spoke briefly with company spokesman Ted Schilowitz at a Final Cut Users Group, and basically thanked him for what they are doing for us indie guys.

To date this is probably the most powerful tool digital filmmakers have ever seen. The camera comes out later this year and the worlds of 35mm and digital are about to level out considerably.

God bless you Red people.

Cleveland Recap

What a blast! This was really my first festival experience from the inside. I never realized how many people are brought into town for this. Being one of the only local directors I was able to spend time almost every day at the fest chatting and networking with many very cool and creative people from all over the world. Gigantic thanks to Bill Guentzler and the diligent, friendly staff and volunteers of the Cleveland Film Society.

The party at the View was sweet. Both our screenings sold out, and second theaters were added for overflow. We nearly broke the record for a Midnight showing. On Sunday we had an even bigger audience and a great Q & A discussion afterwards (pics here.) As is always the case - had a blast with our crew and cast - Perren, Jocelyn, Bryan, Rick Montgomery, Pat Milo, Adam Muskiewicz, George David Phillips, John Chaffee Jr., Larry Zjaba, many others including Shelley Delaney who was in two films at the fest -- nice reviews and articles from Cool Cleveland, Scene, Akron Beacon Journal, The Plain Dealer, and The Sun.

I was on two educational panels at Cleveland State University. The first was "Regional Filmmaking" with Tyler Davidson - producer of the opening night film Swedish Auto; and Relative Obscurity director Jeff Rosenberg. The second was a "Digital Technologies in Filmmaking" with Punk's Not Dead director Susan Dynner; Kurt Cobain - About a Son director AJ Schnack; and Deadpan Valentine director Robin Lindsey. We got great questions from the audience, so major thanks to moderator Evan Lieberman for the invite.

Milo and I sat in the audience for the panel on distribution which featured The Ten director and Shaker Heights native David Wain; indie distribution maverick and director of Flannel Pajamas Jeffrey Lipsky who gave us some very specific advice about how to move HT forward; as well as distributor Ryan Bruce Levey who became my drinking buddy and gave us a plethora of good advice. We also gave a Hero Tomorrow screener to Shaker Heights native Jamie Babbit (pictured above) who was there with her new film Itty Bitty Titty Committee. I missed her film as it was playing opposite ours, but I did catch a peak, and really dug what I saw – Milo loved it.

Besides the folks mentioned above I highly suggest checking out super-nice guy Brooke Silva’s A Map For Saturday, Tayor Neary's Liquid Vinyl, Joanna Kohler's Boxers, Kruti Majmudar's Memsahib and Jesse Block's Brotherly Jazz, and I was blown away by Manufactured Landscapes and Transylvania.

It was just an amazing week, and to top it all off my dear Mom managed to put a copy of Hero Tomorrow into the very hands of Halle Berry, but that tale must be told by Mom.

Later.

CIFF Parties and Panels

Friday, March 16th

The big Hero Tomorrow bash will be held at the View Ultralounge at 9PM right before the Midnight Screening. The list of people not coming seems to grow ever shorter. Our technical aficionado Joe Reboudo will be roaming around with a camera for possible DVD extras. All you need for entry is an advance ticket to the show. I’ve never been to the View, but it sure looks hip from the pix. Thanks so much to Kelly Wiggins from Cleveland Magazine, The Cleveland Film Society, and The View for putting it all together.

www.viewnightclub.com

618 Prospect Avenue - Second Floor - East 4th Street District - Cleveland 44113

Sunday, March 18th
After the HT screening at 11:45 AM we’ll be headed over to the Hard Rock Café at 2PM for “Meet the Filmmakers.”

Saturday, March 24th
From 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM I’ll be a panelist on
Local Heroes: The Importance of Regional Filmmaking.

Saturday, March 24th
Meet the Filmmakers II
Hard Rock Café from 2-4PM

Sunday, March 25th
2:00 to 3:30 PM I'm a panelist on
Old and New Media: The intersection of film and digital technology.

Captain America - Rest in Peace

Last Wednesday the comic book nation was shocked when Captain America was assassinated. I’m really pissed that they would do this, and I get a sick feeling that Steve Rogers' death might be permanent, unlike the so-called ‘Death of Super-Man.’

I've been reading comics for over 30 years, and my favorite Captain America moment came just two months ago during the Marvel Comics Civil War. It was a moment in Amazing Spider-Man 537 - no big battle, no feats of strength - just a conversation between Cap and Spidey penned brilliantly by J.M Straczynski.

During the Civil War individuals with super powers were forced to choose between registering with the government or being outlaws. Captain America was surprisingly against the government.

Spider-Man: “How does someone like you - who practically is the country… react when the county goes a different way?”

Cap: I remember the first time I really understood what it was to be an American… what it was to be a patriot. I was just a kid… a million years ago, it seems sometimes. Maybe twelve. I was reading Mark Twain, and he wrote something that struck me right down to my core… something so powerful, so true, that it changed my life. I memorized it so I could repeat it to myself, over and over across the years.. He wrote ---

“In a republic, who is ‘the country?’ Is it the government which is for the moment in the saddle? Why, the government is merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.

Who, then, is ‘the country?’ Is it the newspaper? Is it the pulpit? Why, these are mere parts of the county, not the whole of it; they have not command, they have only their little share in the command.

In a monarchy, the king and his family are the country; in a republic it is the common voice of the people. Each of you, for himself, by himself and on his own responsibility, must speak. It is a solemn and weighty responsibility, and not lightly to be flung aside at the bullying of pulpit, press, government, or the empty catchphrases of politicians.

Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man.

To decide it against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may.

If you alone of all the nation shall decide one way, and that way be the right way according to our convictions of the right, you have done your duty by yourself and by your country. Hold up your head, you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Cap then closed with “When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth and tell the whole world –- no you move.”

Cleveland International Film Festival

Hero Tomorrow will have its hometown debut at the 31st annual Cleveland International Film Festival.

This year the fest will be showing over 120 features and more than 110 shorts, representing nearly 60 countries. We are so honored to be included, and can’t wait to get this cast & crew together for an ultra cool midnight screening.

If you go to the Festival website at www.clevelandfilm.org our entry can be found under the categories, American Independents, Local Heroes, & Midnight Snacks.

Tickets go on sale today for Cleveland Film Society members, and on March 2nd for non-members.

Contact Info:
Cleveland Film Society
866.865.3456

HT Screening Times
Friday, March 16
Midnight – Code HERT16

Sunday, March 18
11:45 AM – Code HERT18
Running Time 93 Minutes

Tower City Cinemas
230 West Huron Road,
Cleveland, Ohio 44113

See you in Cleveland, and please keep an eye right here on the blog and myspace page for the latest news and party info!

YouTube Page - Save the Squid...

We finally added some new videos online, and you can see them all on our new Youtube page www.youtube.com/herotomorrow

1. The Hero Tomorrow Trailer

2. ManiaTV interview from Comic Con International. This piece still runs periodically on the ManiaTV live channel, and now features a new opening scene with dozens of new HT shots peppered throughout. (All these vids are also available on our Hero Tomorrow ManiaTV Channel.)

3. G4 Network’s Attack of the Show Comic Con HT segment.

4. In one of our early focus groups Cleveland filmmaker Robert Banks thought it might be a good idea to start the film with this next scene. We decided to leave it where it was, but then at MidOhioCon there was high demand for us to put it online. So now - for those who choose to click - it can be that first moment.
Hero Tomorrow - The Squid Scene

Ray McNiece on the Jamden

At Commercial Recording Studios we’ve began a live original music podcast show entitled THE JAMDEN. We recently had Ray McNiece, who plays HT’s Larry – the comic shop owner, perform with his band Tongue-N-Groove.

Ray is an incredible wordsmith, and when you hear him spin yarns on Cleveland, New Orleans, Iraq, and Jack Kerouac you can’t help but be entertained, inspired, sometimes angered, but always impressed. It's an awesome performance, and the only snag was that the regular JAMDEN host had a family emergency, and yours truly ended up filling in - but check it out anyway!

Also click on the Episode 003 which features Hero Tomorrow’s house band Anti-Septic and their manager Zeke played by Adam Muskiewicz.

Delusions Shoot

Several weeks ago the Hero Tomorrow crew got together to shoot something besides Hero Tomorrow. Actress/writer Darlena Roberts, who has worked on various Hollywood productions (including stunt double for Donna Murphy in Spider-Man 2), wrote a short screenplay entitled “Delusions.” She was planning to shoot in Cleveland, but ran into a scheduling conflict with the intended crew. A series of calls wove it’s way from her Aunt to my Mom, and we ended up connecting on the project.

It's a really cool film, and the knockout cast also included HT's Brian Richeson (congrats on the engagement), and another very talented actress in Peggy Gibbons. The film is currently in the editing stage, but Darlena was kind enough to zap us out some stills and a very nice email.

“The film looks amazing!! It looks like we spent a million dollars. I couldn't be happier about the whole experience.”
~ Darlena Roberts

Delusions synopsis:
Renowned child psychiatrist Judith Morgan lives the perfect life in the perfect house with her perfect daughter and is perfectly unaware that she is losing her mind. When an unexpected visitor on their doorstep breaks the facade of perfection, Judith thinks she has no choice but to demand complete control over her daughter…No matter what the cost.

Comic Buyer's Guide Review of HT

By Tony Isabella

One of the highlights of Mid-Ohio-Con was an evening screening of Hero Tomorrow by co-writer/director Ted Sikora. This indy film belies its low budget as it tells its engaging tale of a comic-book creator getting too close to his creation and the spiraling impact this has on his life and the lives of those around him. I’ve seen the movie a couple times now and I’m always impressed by how good it looks. The story is solid, the comics-related stuff rings true, the acting is never less than good and often superb. The direction and cinematography hold the film together very well. The surprises - character and plot revelations - are truly surprising, but they never come out of nowhere.

Perren Henderson’s portrayal of the struggling comics creator David is excellent, revealing the character’s passion and problems. David’s creation is actually a pretty good super-hero; I could see an ongoing Apama comic. With a hero inspired by Native American culture, such a series could have a nice "urban animal" feel to it. I’d be interested in reading it.

Jocelyn Wrzosek is the cast’s stand-out performer. As Robyn, David’s girlfriend, she pushes darn near every emotional button you can imagine. She’s got what it takes to be a genuine comics fandom heartthrob. Other exceptional performances include Shelley Delaney as Robyn’s mom, and Ray McNiece as the owner of the Hero Tomorrow comic-book shop. In fact, my favorite scene in the movie, running during the end credits, is a hilarious vignette between McNiece and a sharp-talking Texan with rare comic books to sell.

Note should also be made of the many comics creators who made their characters and comics available to Sikora and co-writer/co-producer Milo Miller. Comics fans will delight in the mentions of Kurt Busiek’s Astro City, The Frankenstein Mobster, Hip Flask, El Mucho Grande, and others. Full disclosure demands I mention that I get a "thanks" in the
end-credits, though all I did was let some comics people know Ted and Milo needed help and have the good sense to turn down Ted’s offer to cast me in the movie.

Hero Tomorrow is not currently available on DVD, but you can get a taste of the movie at:
www.herotomorrow.com

Me, I’m hoping some movie distributor catches this review and signs up Sikora and Miller. Their film is definitely worthy of a wider audience. On our usual scale of zero to five, Hero Tomorrow earns an impressive four Tonys.

Christmas 2006

For those who don't know Moon Knight he originally appeared as a villain in the 70s series Werewolf By Night. His 80s spin off series "MOON KNIGHT" (Not 'Marc Spector - Moon Knight'- or 'Moon Knight - The Fist of Konshu') was my ALL TIME favorite comic book run. In fact if you're ever in a comic shop looking for a really good - cheap read, pick up any of those original Moon Knight issues between 1-30 that had art by Bill Sienkiewicz - especially 11, 12, 15, 24, 25, 26.

I'd been looking for his first appearance in WBN 32 for quite a while with no luck. At Mid Ohio Con last month I was asking around and one dealer told me, "That book doesn't exist on this entire floor."

My dear wife heard me grumbling in frustration as I browsed through auction prices. Days later she apparently called a comic shop and said, "I'm looking for a Moon Knight comic that has something to do with... a wolf-man?" I don't know how she pulled it off, but she ended up surprising me at Christmas with a really nice copy.

This is right up there with the year she scored an actual 35mm print of the first Spider-Man trailer that was pulled because it featured the World Trade Center.

Thanks Diane.

Happy New Year Everyone and CONGRATS TO MY BROTHER KURT WHO JUST GOT ENGAGED!

2 Awards at North Texas Festival

Hero Tomorrow won for best Cinematography, and Perren Hedderson won for best actor at the North Texas Film Festival IFFYNTX. We're in great company with Purgatory House and Ten Til Noon. Both films have played and won awards in many major fests this past year.

Report from Columbus

Mid Ohio Con was a blast - great people - great comics -- a terrific screening of our brand new cut -- the best projection and sound system yet. I even found the killer deal on some bronze age issues of Amazing Spider-Man. Thanks so much to all who attended, to all who made it happen, and to all who stopped by to say hello at the HT booth.

I also shared many laughs with writer Chris Yambar and his Mucho Grande Posse who informed me that I'm a dead ringer for some Helix comic book character named Spider-Jeruselum.

Well... maybe a little bit.





or a lot - yeesh.

Interview with THE PULSE

I just had a very nice interview with Jennifer M. Contino of THE PULSE. We went deep into the makings of Hero Tomorrow. The link below will take you to the article.

HERO TOMORROW - COMIC BOOK FILM FOR TODAY

Mid Ohio Con

Hero Tomorrow will be shown at the first ever Movie Night in this year's MID OHIO CON Saturday, November 25th at 7:30PM in Columbus. Our film will be double-billing with Nathan Quinn’s UNCONVENTIONAL - an indy movie about two pals who make outrageous bets at conventions. Then on Sunday at 3:00 PM the Plasticine Doll known as Jocelyn Wrzosek will be joining me and the some of the cast and crew from Unconventional to do a panel on Filmmaking in the Midwest.

Please check out Mid Ohio Con programmer, Tony Isabella’s site WORLD FAMOUS COMICS for the lowdown on how Hero Tomorrow came to be part of the festivities.

Hope to see you there, and thanks big time to Gary Herrmann for all his extra efforts in putting this together.

Milo and I thought it might be kinda cool to do a comic book sized flyer for our table at Mid Ohio Con. We chose to 'pay homage' to the 70s Marvel style as we hold that era very responsible -- in a blame kind of way -- for the whole HT thing.

Party at Spaces - Shag & Stripes

On an unrelated Hero Tomorrow note:

SPACES annual benefit party and auction always proves to be one of the year's most colorful, outrageous and creative events in Cleveland.

Based on a theme, guests come dressed in varying degrees of that theme, from mild to wild. And its silent art auction has consistently been recognized as one of the best opportunities to get great work by emerging and established regional artists.

This year's theme is SHAG & STRIPES - Saturday November 4th, 2006.

Shag: Think 70s bungalow. Austin Powers. Or a small water bird.

Stripes: As in "stars and. . ." Or maybe pinstripes. Animal stripes (zebra, tiger, skunk?).

Tickets range from $40 to $125. I'll be there all night with my wife Diane-Davis Sikora who is co-chairing the event this year. Hope to see some of you there. Please try to request a seat at our table if you're attending the Penthouse Party.

All the info is at the SPACES website

SPACES
2220 Superior Viaduct
Cleveland OH 44113
216-621-2314

Color Correction & Mastering

I haven’t really found much on this subject, so I thought I’d share this for those in a perhaps similar quandary.

I spent seven years as a mastering engineer at a fine audio duplication facility in Fairview Park called A to Z Audio. A mastering engineer basically takes audio mixes from studios, bands – anyone really - and equalizes, enhances, and compresses the mix so that it will sound as nice as it can for the client. One of the challenges of mastering is keeping in mind all of the possible ways that the mix might be played – car stereos, home systems, radio airwaves, walkmans, etc.

Most clients would come in and immediately want to boost the bass and treble because that’s how they like their music. I had to often explain to them that if I boost it mastering, and the listener boosts it on their stereo (as most people do – - as do the radio stations) it’s going to have twice the ‘preferred’ bass and treble. Mastering, therefore involves the unsung art of allowing a person to crank up the bass without turning their woofers to confetti.

So last week I’m working on color correction for HERO TOMORROW, and on a nicely calibrated video monitor I boosted the color and brightness so everything looked really sweet. I rendered it out, burned a DVD, took it down to the TV, and was quite bummed to see how over-saturated and bright the whole thing looked. I spent the better part of a day puzzled until I started remembering my days at A to Z. Applying the 'audio bass and treble' boost to the 'TV saturation-brightness' boost, I figured out the source of my problem. TV manufacturers want their sets to look more colorful and vibrant than the 90 other sets on display at Best Buy, so they calibrate their TVs with far more color volume than what is recommended in a professional viewing environment.

So color correction, like mastering, is really not only a matter of making the film look great in a monitor setting. It’s also making it clean, safe, and workable for all systems. A bit of a setback - yes, but another great lesson learned.

Hero Tomorrow - Chicago Wednesday

IFP CHICAGO "Meet the Filmmaker Series" Presents
HERO TOMORROW
Wed. September 13, 7:00PM
FACETS MULTIMEDIA
1517 W. Fullerton
Q & A with Director/Co-Writer Ted Sikora & Co-Writer Milo Miller to follow
Admission: Free for IFP/Chicago and Facets members, $5.00 all others

IFP (Independent Feature Project) was founded in 1979 on a belief that a truly vital American cinema must include the personal, idiosyncratic, and sometimes controversial voices of filmmakers working outside of the established studio system. As a not-for-profit organization, its mission is to foster a more sustainable infrastructure that supports independent filmmaking and ensures that the public has the opportunity to see films that more accurately reflect the full diversity of the American culture.

Thanks so much for the support, and we hope to see you in Chicago.

Internet Movie Database

Hero Tomorrow Listing

Myley Blog

If you're looking for a good read check out the blog from Myley. They've had some great success with their 'el pajaro' line of women's clothes, and it's fun to get their take on happenings in the world of fashion. Check 'em out here. myley.blogspot.com

Mania TV - Online!

Perren, Jocelyn, Milo and I were interviewed by CJ Christy at the Con for ManiaTV. The segment aired on their live channel on Monday August 7th during the "The Daily Independent."

In case you missed it, Chad at Mania TV was kind enough to upload it for us, and you can watch it right here on the Hero Tomorrow Channel.

You'll need to have at least Windows Media Player 9 installed on your computer to view the spot.

COHHNNN!!

We had an amazing time at Comic Con 2006, and were thrilled to be part of the Independent Film Festival. It was an fantastic opportunity to showcase our movie along with some excellent work from other filmmakers. With it's huge attendance, media attention, and comic book focus, the Con was the perfect place for Hero Tomorrow to launch it's festival run.

I thought the screening went well - even though the picture quality wasn't ideal -people seemed to enjoy HT which really is the most important thing. The Q & A that followed was fun, and a big thanks to everyone who attended and spoke with us afterwards. On the PR side we got coverage from Newsarama, ManiaTV, G4TV, IFC, Alter Ego Comic Cast, Comic Geek Speak, PopCultureShock, HeroSpy, BamKapow, Komikazee, World Famous Comics, and ScurvyDawg among others. It was no doubt a good start to getting our publicity machine in motion.

Beyond all that – just going to the Con for the first time was incredible. Aside from the being a fan of it all - it's really a perfect place to network. We met a lot of people in the film biz, and were also able to reconnect with many of the comic writers, artists, and creators that helped us along the way. Guys like Mark Wheatley, Bob Burden, Chris Yambar, Richard Starkings. I also met one of my idols - artist Neal Adams, and was extremely shocked to see Electro. (ooh sorry about that)

One of the highlights had to be meeting with Chris Gore. Chris really is the ambassador of Indie Filmmaking. He literally wrote the book on Film Festivals, and started the magazine and website Film Threat back in the 80s. We had a chance to chat with him at the Con, and he, being a judge of the festival, had some really great advice for us. Chris also hosts the segment DVDuesday on Attack of the Show, and we’re very grateful that he included us in his top picks from the festival.

Thanks to everyone who helped us out in San Diego. Thanks to the CCIIFF for all the work in setting up the screenings. Hope we're back next year!

His work and the work of his friends are all over the Hero Tomorrow Shop - Creator of Frankenstein Mobster, Radical Dreamer, & Hammer of the Gods - Mark Wheatley. Sitting behind him is writer/artist Marc Hemple.

Now appearing on MySpace - Milo

Another guy who helped us out in a big way - creator of Flaming Carrot and Mystery Men - Mr. Bob Burden.

The Legendary Neal Adams.

SHAG!

Mr. Rob Sikora in the HT-T

No, my name's not baby it's Joe E. Reboudo - Joey Bear if you're nasty.

Kurt's Flint Marko impression

Attack of the Show

I got in late last night. A full report from the Con is forthcoming.

Meanwhile, if you have the G4 Network be sure to catch ATTACK OF THE SHOW which airs tonight . Hero Tomorrow is included in Chris Gore's top picks from the Comic Con Film Fest.

UPDATE:
The clip is on the G4TV website.
DVDuesday
Click on 'Comic Con 06 Edition of DVDuesday'

Comic Geek Speak Interview

Right before leaving for San Diego, Milo and I did an in-depth podcast interview with Peter Rios of Comic Geek Speak. Our segment starts at about 41 minutes .

Click here to listen - Episode 160

MySpace Page

I'm just getting the hang of this, so here goes friends...

myspace.com/herotomorrowmovie

At the myspace page I uploaded another alternate concept Hero Tomorrow poster from a couple of years ago. This one featured Perren Hedderson.

It's in the 'pics' section on the site ; - l

First Review!

NEWSARAMA - One of the biggest sites on Comic Book news - just posted a review by writer/reviewer Michael San Giacomo. Check it out!

JOURNEY INTO COMICS: HERO TOMORROW

WORLD PREMIERE - COMIC CON INTERNATIONAL!!

Hero Tomorrow will have its world premiere at Comic Con International in San Diego on Thursday, July 20th, 2006 at 8:55 PM. Comic Con International is the 'largest popular culture gathering in the United States, attracting both fans and professionals from all facets of entertainment media. In 2005 the Comic Con saw over 104,000 individual attendees, professionals and exhibitors at the big show."

We’re extremely excited to premiere HT in front of a crowd that is as passionate about comics as we are, and we're also humbly honored to be the only full-length narrative to be shown in this year's entire festival!

If you are unfamilier with the Con please take a look at last year's highlight video.

Saw Some Spider-Man Action in Cleveland Today

A co-worker and I saw some pretty cool stuff when we went downtown around noon to take a peek at the Euclid Avenue film shoot for Spider-Man 3. I sent our fortuitous tale to SuperheroHype.com.

Sheckidout.

Alexandra Underhill

Mere weeks before shooting began on Hero Tomorrow we were absolutely blessed to cross paths with Alexandra Underhill. She quickly became our principal costume designer, and made a tremendous contribution in finishing the uniform for APAMA. Her radical costume designs will be seen throughout the Halloween scenes, and her funky house/studio became the perfect setting for our character Robyn.

She’s waaayy multi-talented and creative beyond description. The Cleveland Plain Dealer's website recently featured Xan in an interview and slide show. Please check it out, and WOW to Gus Chan with the camera work - justice is served!
Click here -----> XAN SHOW

If clicking the link doesn't start the show go to www.cleveland.com/slideshows , answer the three questions, then select "Groovy UV Fashion."

Feedback

We had two fantastic focus groups in April. The first was held on April 5th at the Massillon Museum, and was set up by Alex Nicholas and moderated by filmmaker Mandy Altimus. The showing put HT in front of a very hip and informed film group that meets once a month. Individual questionnaires, recordings of the discussion, and a brief Q&A combined to give us invaluable information about HT.

With that feedback in hand we were then able to do some fixes for the next focus group held at the IFP Chicago. The viewing's discussion proved to be very insightful as well. Our thanks goes out to Molly Hansen, the outreach coordinator at IFP, who has been extremely supportive of HERO TOMORROW since she first checked it out a couple of months ago. It was also great to see in attendance comic book artist Art Baltazaar. Art donated some comics for the HT comic shop scenes. You can see Art’s work here. Patrick the Wolf Boy

Next for HT...

We're as anxious as anyone to get this thing finito, but we realize it's going to be well worth the extra time and energy to finish it proper. Overall we’re extremely happy with the feedback we received – the majority of it was positive, but we also see some opportunities to smooth the flow and convey information differently in several areas. Milo and I had a great and rare chance to brainstorm for 12 plus hours on the car ride to and from Chicago, and we’re looking forward to implementing a few new ideas.

Thanks to everyone who has voted us into the top ranked trailers on the IFC ;- l

Rough Cut Focus Group in Chicago at IFP

IFP Chicago will be hosting a "Rough Cut" screening of Hero Tomorrow, Thursday April 20th at 6:30 PM.

IFP CHICAGO
1104 South Wabash, Room 302
Chicago, Illinois 60605

Free for members, $5 for all others.

Details: IFP/HT SCREENING

IFP (Independent Feature Project) is the leading resource of the American independent film movement today. Its 9,000 filmmaker and film industry members participate year-round in activities ranging from popular screenings to cutting-edge workshops and seminars. Offering invaluable assistance, information and access to the world of independent film, IFP programs help members make connections, and find out the latest on who's who, who's buying, who's financing and who's making what features, shorts and documentaries.

Last year IFP Chicago started a program called "ROUGH CUTS" which offers members a chance to screen near-completed projects for the Chicago filmmaking community. After the screening, the filmmaker will have a chance to receive audience feedback. The program seeks to nourish talented artists, and to encourage them in realizing their projects' fullest potentials through critique and collaboration with the audience.

Hero Tomorrow is the sixth feature to be selected since the program began last August.

See ya there! ;-l

HT Trailer is up on the IFC Channel Website!

The IFC Channel has started a program called MEDIA LAB. It’s mission… ‘View and rank films from independent filmmakers, upload your own films, compete for a chance to screen your film on IFC, and much more!’ Please take a moment to log in and vote for the HT Trailer! ;- l
Main site: IFC Media Lab
IFC Hero Tomorrow Page

We’re also honored to be included in a very cool Italian website “SUPERHEROES LIVES.” This is probably most comprehensive comic-book film oriented website ever made. Click on the “ORIGINALS” section and then scroll to the bottom. We’re in the ‘COMING SOON’ area, and there’s a whole page on HT with screen grabs from the trailer. The rest of the site offers a glorious stroll down memory lane. Ah yes, the 1979 made-for-TV Captain America movie - where his mask was basically a motorcycle helmet, and his shield looked like tupperware. I cried myself to sleep that night.

The Comic Shop

B&L Comics in Parma was initially chosen as the place to shoot the store scenes in Hero Tomorrow, but a problem quickly arose. When we asked two of the major comic book publishers for permission to show their books and characters, they flat out rejected the notion of being seen in an indie film – they didn’t even want to read the script.

Instead of trying to cover/dodge/replace everything in B&L, we began to consider renting out a vacant storefront and potentially filling it with comics, posters and artwork that we could license or make ourselves.

I next sent an email to comic book writer Tony Isabella -- the former owner of downtown Cleveland’s legendary “Cosmic Comics” who also knew my Mom from days of working together at the Cleveland Plain Dealer in the 70s -- I explained our plight, and asked Mr. Isabella if he had any comic creations that we could legally show in the shop. He forwarded the letter to many of the comic industry greats, and the response was overwhelming. We got calls and emails from the likes of Bill Morrison, Chris Yambar, Bob Burden, Richard Starklings, Kurt Busiek, and many others.

Milo and I then attended SPACE (The Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo in Columbus,) and met with dozens of creators/publishers who were kind enough to also donate works. (The nice thing about that was we were able to say, “Look at who’s already involved, etc.”) A few weeks later Jocelyn and I went to the giant Pittsburgh Comic Con where we continued to meet with publishers, including Chris Yambar and Mark Wheatley, who got a 'ton-more' people on board by taking us literally from table to table.

We next found a great vacant store front in Cuyahoga Falls on Front Street that at one time was, coincidentally, an actual comic shop. That tenant had even left some old comics in the dungy old basement– hardly a goldmine – lots of Barbie #1, X-Force variant cover BS – strictly 25-cent-bin kind of stuff. The comic book shelves came from Video Time Theater in Akron which was closing its Market Street location. We had some help creating some fictitious character posters, and Rich Klink added the final details with his original sculptures and statues.

Check out the comic shop productions stills for a peek at the end results.

Would you buy a used comic from this man?

Answer: Only if you're smart, cool, or lookin' for a deal.

If you find you need comics in the Cleveland area be sure to call B&L Comics (440-886-3077) and talk with Larry Zjaba. Besides playing the part of Ty, he helped us stock the HERO TOMORROW store full of racks, boxes, and books, and his car is also used in the film as David’s car. Larry Zjaba - A comic dealer you can trust - don't be fooled by the tough guy photo, he's as nice a person as you'll meet. AND one more odd coincidence… unbeknownst to us, Larry’s brother once owned another comic shop in Cleveland called “TOMORROW’S HEROES, so ya C it was all meant ta B,

PS. Larry, don't forget to pull that 'Nova-The Human Rocket' relaunch for me ;- l

Miss Jocelyn Wrzosek

We held auditions at North Coast Central Casting on January 24th, 2004, and were amazed and extremely appreciative for the large crowd of talented actors that tried out for HT. The character of Robyn was very tricky to cast for many reasons – one of the biggest was she had to look like she belonged in a comic book shop (and that’s not just clothing, hair, and makeup - that’s lifestyle type stuff.) Midway through the day I took a quick peek at the crowd waiting downstairs. I remember seeing Jocelyn, and my immediate thought was, “Wow – I hope to God she can act.”

She of course nailed the audition, we did a callback, gave her a script, and spent the next week panic stricken waiting for her to accept the part.

Throughout the whole process – basically a year of shooting – she was a delight to work with, and brought many intangibles that would have been impossible to script. We recently had to finish some voice recording (ADR) with our dear Jocelyn as she has relocated this week to the city they call Vegas in pursuit of more acting and performing gigs. It’s sad to see her go, but I know it’s going to be great for her, and fantastic for every project with which she becomes involved.

Thank you Jocelyn, for all your hard work, trust, and professionalism. By the way, Milo suggests you drop some MAJOR coin on the Seahawks.

POST PRODUCTION UPDATE:
Taking the month and a half off around the holidays really helped gain some perspective on the project. January hit, and I truly feel rejuvenated - over half the scenes have been enhanced and tightened, and our running time now is a svelt 98 minutes.

With ADR we’ve been having a great time tweaking voice performances and fixing areas where we were unable to get clean audio on location. Last week we had Perren, Brian Jalovec, and Tony Zavarella come down to work on some pieces. We’ll be getting in touch with several other cast members for more of the same in the next couple weeks.

Lilian Tyrrell Retrospective

My wife (Diane Davis-Sikora) and I had the privilege of shooting and editing an interview video for Spaces Art Gallery with an amazing artist from Ravenna by the name of Lilian Tyrrell. Mrs. Tyrrell does gorgeous, challenging images, intricately woven in yarn, which truly have to be seen in person to be believed. The image on the flyer doesn't nearly give you a sense of the scale and detail. If you have a chance, please take some time to see the retrospective of her work. It’s a powerful and inspiring show - check those notions of 'tapestries being all warm and cozy' at the door.

Details can be found here.
www.spacesgallery.org

BONUS: Notice the brick street next to the gallery where we shot a scene with David and Robyn.