"Trade" Remake finaly finished, Premiering October

It's been a year since shooting wrapped on the the remake of Scott Howe's short film thriller, "The Trade." Unfortunately, most of the major editing for the film could not be undertaken until this summer. I am delighted to finally be able to announce that final editing for the short independant film is now complete. Watch here for official news of its October premiere.

"Film Friend Finder" Offers Safe Creative Haven

Long-time friend and and Silver-Lined "muse," Giovannie Espiritu has created a fantastic new web site, filmfriendfinder.com, that promises to give filmmakers of all shapes and sizes a place to meet, collaborate, and create. As Giovannie puts it, "this is a Guerrilla filmmaking network for people that are uber cool with a low budget and creative ways to make it happen." There's no doubt Giovannie Espiritu has the drive and the empathy to make such a venture succesful. She's a self-proclaimed dork. "I do crazy stupid things and make a fool out of myself without ever wanting too," says Giovannie. "...it just happens." Make no mistake, however, underneath her sometimes self-depricating sensability lies a limitless talent, not only for acting, but for befriending people and bringing them together to form something really big and exciting.

In a sense, "Film Friend Finder.com" is an online personification of Giovannie's spirit: friendly, fun, exciting, hopeful and at all times inspiring.

Shooting Begins on "Trade" Remake

Shooting began this last weekend for the remake of Scott Howe's short film, The Trade. Originally produced as a ten-minute short for the 2006 10x10 film festival, this new version of The Trade is being lengthened to at least twenty minutes and features a new ending. Scott's daughter, Jodi Mao and Jodi's friend Isabella Nuestadt are reprising their roles as the two young friends who trek deep into the heart of Ricket's Wood to find out whether or not the stories are true about the wood's supernatural powers. What a difference two years makes; Jodi and Isabella were great in their rolls the first time around, but they have definitely matured as actors. The night before they were to shoot their scenes, they both met with me to discuss their parts. Their ideas for some of their characters' motivations and some dialog changes were incredibly insightful and I was excited to implement their ideas throughout Saturday's shoot. Also new to this remake of the film are two very talented actors, Sierra Hersek and John Crosthwaite. Their performances Saturday evening were nothing less than amazing.

An additional shoot date is being planned for August in order to finish the last two scenes of this film. Until then editing has commenced on the footage so far and everything looks great!

Local Filmmaker Wins National Award for "Kindred"

Announced today, the 2007 film "Kindred", won in the Cultural Perspectives - Professional Category awarded by the Alliance for Community Media Hometown Awards. The film, written and produced by Scott Howe, was honored at the 2007 "Place Called Sacramento" Film Festival and can be seen at www.AccessSacramento.org

The award ceremony will be help July 10, 2008 in Washington D.C.

The ACM "Hometown" Awards honor programs created by public, educational, and government access organizations throughout North America.

"Kindred" is a fictional account based upon the cholera epidemic of the 1850's in old Sacramento. A modern day doctor is disturbed by "dreams" she is having. Dismissing the visions as stress related, Dr. Chen realizes the dreams are originating from her Chinese ancestors and explain her drive to become a physician.

Details about the ACM Hometown Awards can be obtained at: www.acmhometown.org

Thank you to all who came out to our audition!

All of us at Silverlined entertainment would like to sincerely thank each and every one of you who took the time out on a busy (and very hot) Saturday to come and introduce yourself to us. As you are all aware, this process is not an exact science. We were looking for any number of things in our attempt to find the person who would best fit a particular role. As such, we each had certain ideas in mind when we spoke to each of you. If it seemed as though we gave some people more or less time than yourself, don't take this as any indication of how your audition went; as far as we're concerned, you were all great! Our primary focus in meeting with you was to consider those qualities in each of you that will best work within the framework of each story. If you felt at all nervous, you can relax; this was an open audition and we were hoping to find a variety of looks and talent. Moreover, we were not concerned at all about your level of experience. We heartily believe that talent can come in all shapes, sizes -- and experience.

I also realize that some of you who had hoped and planned on attending, had to decline for one reason or other. Rest assured, this has no bearing on whether or not we cast you for any upcoming or future films. You are all included in our ever-growing talent database, and we will continue to let you know about other casting opportunities as they arise.

Chris Terry Film Wins 48 Hour Filmmaker Challenge

"The Last Suspect," Chris Terry's entry into this year's 48 hour Filmmaker Challenge has been awarded the honor of 1st Place. Out of eleven finished films, the judges honored "The Last Suspect," as their pick for the best 48 hour film of 2008. For the second year in a row, Chris Terry headed up a talented team to take on the 48 hour filmmaker challenge. The concept was simple enough: teams were given 48 hours inwhich to brainstorm, write, shoot and finally edit an entire story idea. To ensure that all teams worked within the 48 hour time limit, each team was given a phrase to be used somewhere in each film. Additionally, an umbrella also had to appear in the completed film. If that wasn't enough, each team was given a character name which had to appear in the story.

This project was a perfect opportunity for Chris to bring together several of his other friends and coworkers to create a sort of dream team, devoted to making a great film. In the end, the project melded into a joint venture of Chris's own "Revolv Films," and "Silver-Lined Entertainment."

On Sunday evening, April 6, filmmakers and friends gathered together to celebrate on the Delta King. The highlight of the evening, at least for Chris and Silver-Lined however, was announcing the winner. Congratulations to everyone for making this project a critical success!

"Kindred" Praised in SN&R

Sacramento News & Review Associate Arts Editor, Josh Fernandez gave praise to "KINDRED," in the March 6th, 2008 issue. Fernandez's article, informing Sacramentans of this year's "A Place Called Sacramento" film festival, included a photo still from the film, and also gave credit to each of the principal actors from KINDRED. In an email to Scott Howe, Fernandez described KINDRED as frightening, but also added that he was totally impressed. He further added that he would like to be kept up-to-date on upcoming projects since he'd like to give "Silver-Lined" the credit it deserves. Thanks Josh!

48 Hour Film Challenge Highlights by Ana Feliciano

Friday I rushed over as fast as I could to our HQ (Scott's house) to witness the scheming process. Friday night was to be used for planning, Saturday was designated for filming and then Sunday was reserved for the editing wizards to work their magic. The movie needed to be submitted by 6:30pm on Sunday. [more]

John Crosthwaite: He's what you get when you cross the class clown with Shakespeare

John Crosthwaite didn't always know how best to describe himself; there was a time, in fact, he wasn't even sure he'd ever get beyond high school. In college, he finally found his calling.

"I was in a play for a final," Crosthwaite explains. "The lead got sick and had to leave during the show. I went backstage and asked the teacher what I should do. She told me to go out there and fix it,  do improv." Crosthwaite smiles as he recalls the rest of the story. "She must have seen the look on my face because she just smiled and told me to go have fun. It was like I was given the green light to destroy the world. I went out and just started making stuff up, playing around, and we fixed the show and did every scene, and it was funnier, scarier and more interesting then anything we'd ever done. I've never forgotten that. That's when I realized the power of theatre ...."

In the last six years, Crosthwaite has beeen in over 100 improv shows, 25 plays, and at least 9 films. Asked what he'd most like doing that he hasn't yet done, he exclaims excitedly, "Hamlet or a Disney bad guy. Every actor wants to play Hamlet, 'cause he's so dark, deadly, dangerous, depressed... and any other related "D" words. I'd love to also pay homage to Shakespeare and the countless other actors who've done it before. On the other hand, Disney has the best bad guy characters in the world, and I grew up a Disney cartoon kid, so that would be my career coming full circle."

When, asked what interested him about working on The Trade, Crosthwaite says, "by the time I had gotten to the audition, there were already about 20 people waiting in line, so I was a little intimidated, but I like challenging and new things, The Trade looked like both, and I followed my instincts. Nobody in Sacramento seemed to be doing anything at the time and the project really stood out."

Although Crosthwaite always had something funny to say on set, he took to his tormented part in The Trade like a second skin, no doubt inspired by those that have most influenced him. "I've always been a sucker for the witty and dangerous comedic actors; Robin Williams is my king, but Jim Carrey and Jonathan Winters have always inpired me on stage."

The old addage still seems true, that if you can do comedy, you can succeed in any other type of part. John Crosthwaite certainly proved that he could handle playing the serious and even chilling part of Tom, in this darker remake of The Trade.

Sierra Hersek Doesn’t Scare Easily

One of the stars of "The Trade" talks about acting for film, her inspirations, and what really creeps her out.

It's twilight on a Saturday as cast and crew ready themselves to shoot the first bit of dialog of the evening. Tonight's location is a swampy, mosquito-infested, out-of-the-way location and lead actress Sierra Hersek is ready for her close-up. Nearly 9:00 pm, it's still uncomfortably humid outside, but Sierra takes it in stride.

Hersek's girl-next-door good looks and infectious personality stand in contrast to a tougher side which has served her well within this swampy backdrop. When Hersek first caught the acting bug nearly fifteen years ago this probably was not what she had in mind. But as night falls, Sierra is ready for anything. The Trade, a psychological thriller by writer/director Scott Howe is Hersek's 30th production, yet only her first acting experience in a film.

Hersek's background is primarily in theater. Says Hersek, "I learned a lot and absolutely felt that it was a good experience. It was great to work with a group of amazing women who took me under their wing and made me feel very safe as the youngest and least experienced cast member."

Asked if film acting poses any other challenges compared to theater, Hersek becomes animated. "It is such a different experience to do theatre than to do film. Part of doing theatre is making sure that every person, including the ones in the back row, can have the same experience, so even an intimate or quiet moment on stage is bigger and louder than real life. On film, your audience is the camera and that is in the moment with you. So while creating a character is the same, how it is delivered is very different."

For her last shot of this evening, Hersek must lay motionless against a tree in the dirt and ash while the crew gets the lighting just right. Though she doesn't make much of it for the moment, there is something out here in the darkness that does seem to be rattling her nerves. Hersek, ever the professional, simply lays against the tree, and before long, the shot is complete. Asked if the subject matter or the night shoot made her feel uncomfortable at all, Hersek laughs, "I've been much less worried about the dark and much more concerned about the spiders...creepy."

No worries. Even the spiders know better than to mess with Sierra Hersek.