Sticky’s around your corner, lurking, waiting, gettin’ ready to show and prove…

All of us on the BDL squad have faced tragedy, pain and sorrow in recent months. Now another member of our extended family has experienced a tragedy that is both horrible and unimaginable to me. I wanted to let him know that we are thinking of him and are here for him in this time of loss and great reflection. None of us take anything for granted after the six months that we’ve had. Enjoy each moment, people…

“Yo, Chuck, We Got A Lotta Non-believers Out There…” -Flavor Flav-
Doubters, supporters, believers, haters, backers and suckers, we got something for you… May 29th, 2007. A date. A simple date. A date of realization.

5-29-07 will be the first day of shooting of this little film that we’ve been dreaming about for damn near three years. It was at least that long ago that Matty and I first talked about the his book galleys and promised each other that we’d take the story of Sticky to the big screen come Hell or Tidal Wave… Well, brothers and sisters, the beginning of this journey is here and I have never walked with such a hitch in my step as I do today. We will be shooting in my hometown, bringing a story, an important story close to my heart to fruition.

We may no longer be Don Quixote chasing windmills to our many friends and enemies, but we still got everyone on the fringe laying money down on whether we succeed or not. The non-believers, supporters, doubters, haters, backers, suckers and brethren haven’t changed their belief or lack of faith because of a mere date.
It feels good to make to that windmill into a dragon, but we know the work has just begun…

Our boy Nick Haas, dope designer from Chi-town, took care of business over the last four days. Kid hit the streets, big time. He covered a ridiculous amount of concrete, sand and asphalt in those days and was only sexual propositioned by sketchy dudes on Lincoln twice. So the take away from that is that Lincoln is still Lincoln and we are going to have a sick title sequence in our film.
I spent a decent portion of three of Nick’s days with him and was impressed by how ingrained he became with his surroundings. I was also happy to discover that there are pockets of the areas I grew up in that are still very much real. You forget this when you’re out of the streets, saddled to a desk, a phone and a computer. But actually walking alleys, avenues and sidewalks with Nick was really therapeutic for me. Talking to folks about the film, greeting locals, even recognizing some familiar faces, it all helps get me in the mindset to make something that is, at the very least, truthful, authentic and real. That’s all I can ask of myself and all I can ask of the cast and crew I’m building with, to make something honest.

Nick Haas breeds honesty with his work. He breaths enthusiasm with his process. And he will design something that is both unique and littered with authenticity. That’s real.

It ain’t easy being Irish in LA. Especially when you got two young daughters and you don’t really drink much anymore. Plus it ain’t New York or Boston or Chi-town or even Sucker Free City up north. St. Patty’s day out here is defined by generic Guinness and Heineken (huh?) banners proclaiming every generic bar, and the few actual Irish bars, to be your official St. Patty’s destination and a sorry parade of about 91 die-hards walking two block lengths in downtown LA. And, unfortunately, “Jump Around” will only play 900,000 times today on LA radio. However, those of us reared in this town know that Tom Brennan was legit and his bar continues to be, but, on the real, Shamrocks and shenanigans are tough to come by. Still, it’s an excuse for a party and my Irish brethren act a fool everywhere, coast-to-coast, continent-to-continent, today. They will always do us proud to uplift the culture and I expect today to be no different.

We, here in the BDL camp, are celebrating by unleashing the great Irish-American photographer/designer Nick Haas on the coastal cities of Los Angeles today to begin shooting the elements for our film’s opening title sequence . Hopefully Nick will avoid too many pints of green beer and actually string together some nice flicks for us. Seriously, it’s exciting. This is the real beginning of the creative process for me.

Venice Beach at Dawn… One of the images branded into Sticky’s head.

Another flick I took of LA when I was just a kid. It also makes me think of Sticky. I think the deteriorating nature of the physical photo is one of the elements that really triggers Sticky’s world for me as much as the image itself.

I invite you all to explore the site and take in some of my other work if you can. THE ECOLOGY OF LOVE is available at most Blockbusters and Libraries through Film Movement (also bootlegged online if you search it out) and MORNING BREATH: A BROOKLYN LOVE STORY can be seen on Sundance Channel (and bootlegged online if you search it).

As we plug away on actor offers and poke/prod our financiers to be satisfied enough with our package to let us unleash a full-court press on this thing, I continue to work with Grayson to get him to where he needs to be come our start date. We’ve been setting out to actual Venice and Santa Monica locales where we’ve been working on scenes to make it all a little more visceral for him. We also started working on the voice-over pieces this past Friday, but recording him in Studio and then having Matt record the book prose to give him a chance to compare and contrast the rhythm of the writing verses rhythm of the reading. Together Grayson and I built Sticky’s all important backpack via trips to the Goodwill, Swap Meet, Lincoln pawn shops, and my mom’s garage. As a result, he now has a very tangible piece of Sticky that he can take everywhere. In fact, I saw him in the gym the other night with the thing slung across his shoulder. Slowly, we are building Sticky off the written page and putting him up on the visual screen. It’s exciting. I’ve never had this kind of access to an actor to build, so as a creative artist, it is very refreshing, very real.

This photo makes me think of Sticky. I took it when I was 12. It has always reminded me of my time in Santa Monica. It was the first image I thought of when I read the Kinko’s copy of Matt’s manuscript. And, it continues to be an image that haunts me when I think of our film. One of my favorite phrases that my boy Big Red, another old SM head, and I toss around is something that lined the bottom of the menu at the old Boat House on the Pier - “Old Time Santa Monica Style” - that’s this photo. That’s Sticky.

I’d love folks to share the images, thoughts and phrases that define their home, their Sticky. Hit us up.

As we grind forward toward fruition on this movie thing, it’s interesting to see how the perception of our project is changing. The script, which hasn’t been altered much since draft one, has suddenly gone from a “tough read” with wack “coverage” in many Hollywood circles to a piece of writing that folks and executives declare love for in those same circles. Studios now reach out, interested in making the project if we step up and change the spirit of the picture. Can’t get into details on this stuff, but trust me when I tell you that these changes would make Sticky’s story very, very different and very, very generic. We graciously thank these folks for their interest and inform them that we are sticking, pardon the pun, with Grayson “The Professor” Boucher in the title role. He will slay this thing. And, when he does, I know those same studios that wanted a pop singer to replace him will be itching to own his work. So the noble experiment continues…