First of all, we got the results from the Miami 48-Hour Film Festival. We took home three awards: Best Costumes, Best Use of Prop, and Best Cinematography. Were we disappointed we didn’t take home the trophy for Best Film? Of course. But I’m incredibly proud of the film we made in just two sleepless days.

I could talk about this film for a week, but that would run contrary to the theme. As I mentioned in a previous post, we drew the Silent Film category as our genre. We were required to include a brush (prop), a character named Doug Whyte (who was a fundraiser), and a line of dialogue (”What do you mean?”). I’ll leave it to you to decide how well we succeeded.

I’ll be happy to answer any questions about the production in the comments below. I’ll definitely be working with some of these people again. The cinematographer and I are already collaborating.

Next, I’m just bursting at the seems to tell you about the radical shift in my life since I last discussed the sad demise of iHero Entertainment and our magazine, Cyber Age Adventures. It occurred to me just a few days later that what was true when I started that magazine back in 1999 wasn’t true today. When I started the magazine, there was no iPad, no Kindle, no iTunes iBookstore, no precedent for a digital magazine that could be delivered to screens that fit in the palm of your hand. Once I realized that, I immediately contacted the original iHero creators and asked if they’d like to collaborate on a new magazine. Every single one of them said yes.

We decided to come back for a six-issue limited series, to return to the universe we created and tell the stories we wished we’d told before we put up the chairs. This is our chance.

We’re funding the limited series through Kickstarter, which allows folks to pledge their support and help us raise the capital we’ll need to pay for writers, artists, ISBN’s and the barrel of monkeys that goes into this kind of endeavor. Pledges start at just $5 and it includes the first issue. Think of it like reserving your copy ahead of time. There are bigger rewards the higher you go. Check it out!

I know that the $3,000 price tag seems high for this kind of thing, but it funds all six issues, allowing us to promise the audience that we won’t shut down half-way through our run because we ran out of cash. We’re paying our writers and artist pro rates, marking us once again as a magazine to be taken seriously.

One of the great things about Kickstarter is that you don’t get charged a dime unless we meet our goal. I like that. We’ve been gone a long time, but we still have some fans out there. And the original creators, myself included, haven’t exactly been idle. If you think about what these folks can do 10 after we published our first issue, it’s pretty awe-inspiring. If I have my way with this, you’ll be seeing iHero-based short films within the year. We’re already working on the costumes.

Our goal is to make this an ongoing series again. Having the six month cushion would allow us to find our place in the market and make the magazine self-sustaining for the first time in our history. That’s just plain made of awesome.

So please consider helping out if you are so inclined. Thanks, and be excellent to each other out there!

Current Mood:  excited

It’s not like anything else, I can tell you that. I’ve been on deadline for magazines before, for writing assignments, for art submissions, but to write, produce, direct, edit and score a film in 48 hours is a bit beyond the pale.

It started in Miami at 7PM on Friday, August 6th. The Miami 48-Hour Film Festival. The Amazing Dani Burke™ and I milled around with the other team captains, waiting for our turn to pick the genre. We had our hopes for Mockumentary, for Comedy, for almost anything but Musical or Western. What we got was Silent Film.

Silent Film.

I have to admit that I considered giving it back and going for the Wild Card. That could have meant picking up Historical Drama/Period Piece or Foreign Film, and considering that only one of my team members was bilingual and there simply wouldn’t be time to procure costumes, I held onto the little slip of paper and decided to take our chances.

It had been done before. I’d seen Joss Whedon put aside his well-established gift for dialogue and write the Emmy-nominated episode of Buffy, “Hush.” I had the germ of an idea before the competition started, back when we first knew what the categories were going to be. But I also knew that no one had ever won this festival in the Silent Film category. That was a lot to consider.

But we took our genre and we got our required elements (a character, a prop, and a line of dialogue that must be included in your film) and we drove north to meet with the rest of our team to bandy about some ideas and get their input. We sat around a table at a local diner, ordered drinks, shared a plate of fries. We were already on the clock and I had a long night ahead of me. And, to be honest, this was the hard part for me. I’ve been a published author for 20 years. Writing is not a team sport. But I thought it was important to get everyone’s input. These were all highly creative people and I knew that there would be elements from their contributions that I’d want to include.

In the end, we parted company and I drove home to start production. As much as I wanted to start writing right away, there were certain set pieces I needed to construct first. I’d sent one of the actors home to shower, shave, and come to my place with a change of clothes.

Photos courtesy of Johann Lyewsang

I was creating a world, not just a story. Without the extra thought and effort that we put into these props, our little six and a half minute film wouldn’t have been what it was. But it was time consuming. I’m lucky that I’ve been a graphic designer almost as long as I’ve been a writer, but it did mean that when I arrived on set the next morning, I’d have just 40 minutes of sleep to my credit.

Our script was just four pages long. It doesn’t sound like much, but it had a lot of heavy lifting to do, that little script. And four pages of narration in screenplay format is a lot more work than four pages of dialogue. It took us 10 hours to shoot those four little pages, but what we got in the can was pure gold. I was blessed in that I’d hand-picked a team of professionals who all knew their craft and were dedicated to delivering a film we could all be proud of.

At the end of the shoot day, Dani and I went home to catch a quick nap. I got just three hours of sleep before I got up again and started to edit.

Here’s the thing about sleep deprivation: it makes everything take longer. Your brain isn’t firing on all cylinders anymore and the routine tasks that used to come second-nature to you now take twice as long. I spent that last night queasy, dizzy, nauseous and utterly determined not to let any of that bother me. It kind of helped that I was celebrating the one year anniversary of my heart attack as I made this film. It lent me a motivation that I’m not sure others could match. I felt compelled to do something with this second lease on life. I wanted it to matter. I wanted it to make a difference.

In the end, when I delivered the DVD back to Miami on Sunday afternoon, we had a remarkable little film in our hands. It wasn’t just a film without sound. Silence was a character in our story. If you took away the silence, the whole story falls apart. I think that alone sets us apart from the previous filmmakers in that category.

We got to see our film screen that following Wednesday and we were the only film to receive a standing ovation from members of the audience. Judging is underway now, but we won’t know the results until the 21st or so. As this is technically my directorial debut on the big screen, it’s a bit much to hope that we’ll win take home the festival’s top honors, but I’m hoping our efforts will be rewarded somehow.

It was just 48 hours. Just six and a half minutes. But I love this film unreasonably.

Wish us luck.

Current Mood:  hopeful

Hello, hello and welcome to our Deja Vu Disco, chock full of your past LINGO favorites. Or at least… our LINGO favorites. Sit back, fire up the time machine… and enjoy!

Here’s what’s rebounding on the airwaves:

How Deep Is Your Love – 지누션 (Korean)
Just Stand Up – Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Natasha Beddingfield, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Keyshia Cole, Leann Rimes, Ashanti & Ciara
Serre moi – Jenifer Bartoli (French)
どうして君を好きになってしまったんだろう – Dong Bang Shin Ki (Japanese)
Lay Down the Law – 3
Tea Cup – Gackt (Japanese)
Wo Hai Xiang Ta (I’m Still Thinking Of Her) – JJ Lin (Chinese)
Allah 3alayk – Tamer Hosny (Arabic)
I Kissed A Girl – Katy Perry
Recuerdame – La Quinta Estacion con Marc Anthony (Spanish)
Green Light (Feat. John Legend) – Andre 3000
Baby You – Crown J (Korean)
Sun Will Never Set – Jolin Choy (Chinese)
Krieger des Lichts – Silbermond (German)
Nada valgo sin tu amor – Juanes (Spanish)
Si Tu N’étais Plus Là – Shéryfa Luna (French)
Wo de Bao Bei – 张悬 (Chinese)
音色 – KREVA (Japanese)
Cant Get Enough Of You Baby – Smash Mouth

Thanks for tuning in this week. Remember to check out our Facebook fan page! Last but not least, you MUST get your hands on the official LINGO app! See you next time!

Hello, hello and welcome to an all-new episode of LINGO! From soothing beats to gut-wrenching guitar riffs, this one has it all!

Here’s what’s made of awesome this week:

When it all falls apart – The Veronicas
弥勒佛咒 (王菲獨唱) – 王菲 (Chinese)
Je ne t’aime Plus – Manu Chao (Latin/French)
Never Gonna Be Alone  – Nickelback
Guapa – Diego Torres (Spanish)
Sognare – Division Minuscula (Spanish)
アイスクリーム シンドローム – スキマスイッチ (Japanese)
Scene Of A Perfect Crime – Concrete Blonde
Culling Of The Fold – The Decemberists
L’aigle Noir – Barbara (French)
Dis Moi – BB Brunes (French)
D.I.S.C.O [Ft. T.O.P] – Uhm Jung Hwa (Korean)
Küssen verboten – Die Prinzen (German)
WOO WEEKEND – BoA (Japanese)
Tui Hou – Jay Chou (Chinese)
Salvami – Gianna Nannini e Giorgia (Italian)
I Love Rock and Roll – Joan Jett

Very special thanks this week go to Jessi in Tokyo who sent in three awesome songs for this show! Remember to check out our Facebook fan page! Last but not least, you MUST get your hands on the official LINGO app! Check it out!

Hello, hello and welcome to another earth-shaking episode of everybody’s favorite podcast for global pop music! This week we’re proud to announce the release of our outstanding iPhone app! Download it now and enjoy!

Here’s what’s making your toes tap this week:

Baby – Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris
Unlock – SS501 (Korean)
Me gustas tu – Manu chao (Spanish/French)
Amor Gitano – Beyonce Ft. Alejandro Fernandez (Spanish)
Vue de là-bas – Soha (French)
Chinese Translation – M. Ward (Our Facebook pick of the week! Become a fan to watch the video!)
飞行中的思念 – René (Chinese)
11월1일 (Feat. 김재석 Of WANTED) – Epik High (Korean)
Manos Al Aire ( ft. Franco El Gorila) – Nelly Furtado (Spanish)
Just Be Yourself – S.H.E. (Chinese)
Rose – 휘성 (Korean)
Taiyou to BIKINI – RIP SLYME (Japanese)
Banana Pancakes – Jack Johnson
Good-bye Days – YUI (Japanese)
Gegen den Rest – Karpatenhund (German)
Il volo – Zucchero (Italian)
Landslide – Fleetwood Mac

Very special thanks to my good friend, Hyunwoo Sun for all he does for the language community! Extra special thanks to Graziana, Jessi, Kerry and everyone who contributed songs  and “Hello Hello” greetings to this week’s show! Also, remember to check out our Facebook fan page! Last but not least, you MUST get your hands on the official LINGO app! Check it out!

The answer to both of those latter questions, of course, is “Yes.” Yes, I do. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. No, we’re here to address the more painful and convoluted question of what actually happened… and why it never happened again.

Cyber Age Adventures, for those not in the know, was a magazine that I began publishing on January 1, 1999 that specialized in what we called “superhero fiction.” That is to say prose stories about superheroes, often without pictures. This was not a comic book. There were no sequential panels. No word balloons. We were telling literate, pathos-packed stories about people. They just happened to be people with super powers.

We published weekly, at first. Then monthly. I picked up a few staff writers along the way. Sean Taylor. Tom Waltz. Matt Hiebert. Frank Burns. We picked up a few awards, a few fans, more than a few friends. Publishing online is a dicey business, though, and I never found a reliable way to monetize our efforts. I published a few anthologies of our collected stories and sold those at conventions and Amazon.com, but after six years in the trenches, me and the boys decided to make last giant push toward the Big Time. We were going to go into print.

There are a lot of things that go into making a print magazine. Luckily, this was something I’d had some experience with. I started my writing and editing career at the helm of a college literary magazine, where I steered us to a first place award for the first time in the magazine’s 26-year history. But compared to the ocean of publishers I was about to join with CAA’s print mag, my college days were little more than splashing around in the kiddie pool. But something had to be done. We couldn’t go on as we had been. It was costing me money out of my pocket every week to pay for the writers, the hosting fees, the cover art. And, truth be told, I was getting a little burned out with doing something that so few people seemed to value.

I had taken a hiatus for a little while the year before, writing other things, getting published in other venues. I sold the CAA Tarot deck to U.S. Games. I signed a six-book deal. But I’d left the other guys in the lurch with my absence and I was just enough of a control freak not to allow them to keep putting out issues while I sowed my writerly oats elsewhere. That was, I think, the beginning of the end, right there. Sean and Tom both went on to other projects (with great success), and I took on new partners when the print magazine was given the green light.

Printing a magazine isn’t hard. Publishing a magazine is a different story altogether.

Printing is the physical stuff. It’s putting the content into the layout, choosing the paper, shopping for a printer. That was all stuff I’d done before. I made my living in graphic design and printing, so that was a world I knew. The rest was a whole new enchilada.

Okay. So let’s break it down so you know what we’re dealing with.

The first thing we did was create a 24-page preview of the magazine to shop around to distributors. Distributors are the folks who show your magazine to the buyers at the major chains (Borders, B&N, etc.). If you don’t make a good showing with them, you’re dead in the water. Luckily, we made quite a splash.

We received pre-orders for our inaugural issue in the triple digits. Over 2,000 copies they wanted. We cheered.

Armed with our purchase orders, we set out seeking investors. This part wasn’t hard. We had a guarantee of purchase from the distributors, so it was really just a loan to get the printing done and we’d pay them back as soon as the distributors sent their checks. We tried to sell advertising space, too, but we ended up giving it away just to put a dollar in the tip cup to entice future advertisers.

After shopping around, it turned out that the printer who gave us the best price, even with shipping costs, was in Shanghai. We looked at the price for 2500 copies. For an absurd $50 more, we could get 3000 copies. For just $100 or so more than that, we could get a whopping 5000 copies. The printing cost for each magazine just a little over $1 each. Our cover price? $4.95. Think of the profit! A no-brainer, right? So we did. We ordered 5000 copies of Cyber Age Adventures #1 and they printed them and put them on a boat bound for California.

California?

Yes. California.

I live in Florida. This was less than helpful, but that’s where the boat ships to. So I had to get a customs agent (for no small fee) to accept the shipment. Except customs held up our shipment for “suspicious activity” and we had to wait to have it released, as well as paying for the right to have them manually inspect each box, as well the fee to x-ray them for dangerous… somethings. I don’t know whats.

When the distributors order their copies, you don’t send them en masse. You have to break apart the shipment and send the individual chains the quantities they requested. 113 copies here, 228 there, 42 copies to Newark. Somebody has to do this by hand. Somebody, as I mentioned, in California. This is another fee.

As our agent began to break apart the shipment and prepare it for each address, they discovered that the bar code on our front cover wouldn’t scan. The wrong font or somesuch. So each issue had to be stickered, by hand, to the tune of $.25 each. If you do that math, you’ll find that’s $1,250 we hadn’t counted on.

Also, when I chose the heavier, glossy stock paper for the interior pages, I hadn’t thought far enough ahead to consider that the heavier stock was, in fact, heavier. And when you’re talking about 5000 of them, it gets quite heavy indeed. Our costs for shipping both from China and again out to the distributors was roughly twice what it would have been with a thinner stock of paper.

But that’s okay, right? Our profit margin was certainly high enough to account for these small hiccups in the road, no?

No.

Because the distributors don’t work for free. You sell them your magazine at 60% off the cover price. They in turn sell it to the stores at 50% off the cover price and the store makes the lion’s share of the profit. The other thing they don’t tell you up front is that they don’t pay you on delivery. No, no. And they don’t mention that you don’t get paid for every magazine you sent them. You only get paid for those magazines that you sent them that they sold. So if you send them 100 copies of your awesome little magazine and they only sell 20 copies of it, they’ll send you a check 90 days later (yes, 90 days later) for 40% of the cover price for those 20 copies and not a penny more. The other 80 copies? They get destroyed, their covers torn off and their bodies discard into dumpsters out back like a mob hit.

We’d had more than 2000 pre-orders, which was unheard of for a first-time magazine. But when you subtract the cost of the 24-page preview (which came out of pocket), minus the customs agent fee, minus the x-rays and manhandling, minus the extra shipping, minus the stickering, minus the destroyed copies and the power of attorney documents you had to prepare, what’s left over is a negative number.

Not “no money.” Less than no money. We owed people money. For a magazine that “sold” an incredible 2000 copies out of the gate. Some of our investors got paid back out of my own pocket. Some of them, chalking it up to the risk of investing, never got paid back at all. Some of those people were us.

And this, my friends, is a publishing success story.

We had a second issue in the can and waiting to go while all this happened. Stories were written, art was commissioned, deadlines were met. We simply never went to press with it. We never went to press again. The magazine folded and the partners went their separate ways.

It’s been years since all this happened and I’m still in touch with Sean and Tom and Matt. They’re all doing well, still out there creating, still doing me proud. Do I think about the magazine sometimes? Do I want to put the band back together and give it another shot, armed with my hard-won knowledge? You bet I do. But the simple fact is that the band doesn’t need this anymore. They’re too busy signing book deals and being the editors of their own magazines, or making documentary films.

I’d like to give you a happier ending than this, Dear Reader, but there isn’t one to be had. We did fine works. We are all, I think, proud of them. And I’m often sorrier than I can say that my ignorance in these matters ended our fine and stellar run on such a dour note. But you may see a collection of CAA stories come from somewhere before too long. I might… just might… have something to do with that.

What’s this? A collection of stunning sounds from performers around the world? It must be a dream! No, my friends. It’s just LINGO. Hello, hello.

Here’s what’s playing in the dreamscape this week:

Don’t Make Me Dream About You – Chris Isaak
Sueños – Julieta Venegas y Diego Torres (Spanish)
Bokura no natsu no yume – Tatsuro Yamashita (Japanese)
DREAM AGAIN – 王力宏 (Japanese)
Mon reve a moi – Soha (French)
JET!!! – DREAMS COME TRUE (Japanese)
Vivo En Sueños – Reik (Spanish)
Le Souvenir De Ce Jour – Jenifer Bartoli (French)
Ingoma – Thandiswa Mazwai (South African)
Sueños – Nelly Furtado feat. Alejandro Fernandez (Spanish)
Daydreamin’ – Boomkat
Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child) – Heart
거위의 꿈 – 인순이 (Korean)
Perfekte Welle – Juli  (German)
Dreaming of You – The Real Tuesday Weld
Dream On – Aerosmith

Thanks to LanguageCast for their  support! Also, remember to check out our Facebook fan page! While you’re at it, head over to Popup Chinese and tell them I said, “你好，你好!” Their new iPhone app on writing Chinese characters is a dream come true!

Hello, hello! This week’s show has your usual suspects of global greats, but we’re welcoming the grizzled grandfather of folk music for the first time, Bob Dylan. Have a listen and see why this aged veteran finally made the cut!

Here’s what’s playing this week:

Are You Satisfied? – Marina And The Diamonds
Dieses Leben – Juli (German)
Ｊａｓｐｅｒ – 木村カエラ (Japanese)
Con limon y sal – Julieta Venegas (Spanish)
Stolen – Dashboard Confessional
Sa Rang Hae Yo – JJ Lin (Chinese/Korean)
一 首簡単的歌 – 王力宏 (Chinese)
El Amor es Mas Fuerte – Juanes (Spanish)
Dears (Love Letter version) – Gackt (Japanese)
Most Of The Time – Bob Dylan
Kissing you (Feat. Issac Squab of Trespass) – Fly To The Sky (Korean)
Nach dem Goldrausch – Fotos (German)
Allez! Ola! Olé! – Jessy Matador (French)
Chasing Pavements – Adele
Mondo – Cesare Cremonini (Italian)
착한 사람 – Big Bang (Korean)
Keep Your Hands to Yourself – Georgia Satellites

Thanks to LanguageCast for their  support, and make sure to check out Hyunwoo Sun’s personal site, too! Please leave a comment below! Thank you!!!

Hello, hello and welcome to an extra-long, extra-special episode of LINGO! This episode marks our one year anniversary, so we’re regrouping the most valuable players, the MVP’s, who helped give LINGO her distinctive sound. Listen and enjoy, then leave a comment when you’re done! Special thanks for this show must go to Josephine and Kim for their donations. They saved LINGO! You can, too! Click that donate button!!!

Here’s who made the MVP list:

Bad Romance – Glee Cast
환상의 짝꿍 (Baby I Love You) ft. Ye Eun Of Wonder Girls – H-유진 (Korean)
The Love Bug – BoA (feat. m-flo)   (Japanese)
Insomnia Remix (Craig David vs. 휘성) – 휘성 (Korean)
Right As Rain – Adele
完美的互動 – 王力宏 (Chinese)
Serre moi – Jenifer Bartoli (French)
Nada valgo sin tu amor – Juanes (Spanish)
REEEWIND! (m-flo loves Crystal Kay) – m-flo (Japanese)
Picture Perfect – Monkey Majik + m-flo (Japanese)
Symphonie – Silbermond (German)
J’aimerais tellement – Jena Lee (French)
Fotografia – Juanes y Nelly Furtado  (Spanish)
Pour toi – Jenifer (French)
Dans mes rêves – Jena Lee (French)
Ohne dich – Silbermond (German)
あかり – Monkey Majik (Japanese)
7 Days – 휘성 (Korean)
그댄 내 가슴에 ft. Danny Of 1TYM – H-유진 (Korean)
大成小愛 – 王力宏 (Chinese)
Make You Feel My Love – Adele
One Less Bell to Answer / A House Is Not a Home [feat. Kristin Chenoweth] – Glee Cast

Thanks to LanguageCast for their  support, and make sure to check out their new site, Talk To Me In Korean! Also, if you’re enjoying the show, please donate! Thank you!

When all is said and done, I don’t have that many regrets. Oh, sure, there was this girl and that place and the usual stuff from my younger (read: dumber) years that everyone has. But most of that stuff doesn’t touch me on a daily basis. It’s only when I really think about it that I wish I’d never met Christine Petrillo or Leigh Solomon or hadn’t left the Navy.

But the stuff that bothers me on the daily basis, and I mean almost constantly, is the fact that I never became fluent in a second language. And a third. And a fourth. Because while other guys can wish for the danger, the women, the reckless driving… I’ve never wanted anything more than to step off a plane in any one of a half a dozen countries and simply be able to blend. I wanted to be a citizen of the world, fluent in it’s language and customs.

This is one of those things that’s always been at the core of my being, but I didn’t realize it, not fully realize it, until I saw Matt Damon do it so convincingly in The Bourne Identity. This was the guy I never knew I always wanted to be.

Bond was always too clean for me. Too kept. He was the government’s lap dog. That never suited my style. But Bourne… oh, yes. He was a troubled loner. Full of angst! Full of sturm und drang!

But I sit here every day with a smattering of Mandarin under my belt. I taught myself the hardest language on the planet while sitting alone in a room in sunny Florida. For those of you unfamiliar with this place, this isn’t exactly Little Beijing. There are almost no Chinese people here. I may as well have learned Esperanto.

But it’s also been a little crippling to sit here and think about starting something new. I spent all that time learning Chinese, after all. Shouldn’t I just continue with that? Well… yes and no. One has to balance the amount of time one will spend studying a language against how often one will actually get to use that language. Now, I lived in China for a while. My Chinese got a lot better while I was there. But here in South Florida, with no current plans to return to the PRC (People’s Republic of China), I have to do something about this lingering regret because pushing on with my Chinese studies isn’t going to get me there.

I made the decision a few days ago that I would make better use of this new lease on life. I studied kung fu for nearly a decade. There’s no reason I can’t get back in shape. To that end, I’ve started walking a few miles a day. Today I even ran a bit. When I’ve dropped a few of these extra pounds, I’ll step up the health regiment to training again.

As for the languages, I’ve located a French tutor that lives locally, and I’ve begun lessons in Italian and German on LiveMocha. I studied Spanish for five years so I’ve got a foundation in the Romance languages that gives me a head start. I’ve set myself a schedule I can keep and if I find that I can’t manage them all at the same time, then I’ll drop them as needed. But this is where it starts. This is where I begin the process of rebirth.

Someday soon, I’ll buy a ticket to Rome and a Eurorail pass and see how far I’ve come. Let the games begin.