Bong Of The Dead DVD Rip – Download now

It has been a crazy week of battling piracy issues and poster thieves! Through it all Ive managed to remain focused as I let the proper authorities who are involved in my film and its intellectual property take care of the headaches. Ive moved on to bigger and better things to be quite honest and can’t waste precious time fighting morons. That’s what lawyers are for and that’s why they get paid the big bucks.

Bong Of The Dead is finally available for download via my own secure server! That’s right if you’re going to watch a DVD Rip why not do it legitimately and pay the filmmaker who created that film for you? Besides I’m not charging 9.99 or 14.99 like iTunes or any other film download site! I’m offering Bong Of The dead for only 2.99! I figured keep it cheap and make it affordable for everyone. This way those that are actually supporters of indie film can get what they want and still support the filmmaker.
I guess people don’t really understand what they are actually doing when they download a film without supporting the filmmakers. I’m not talking about those massive studios who have the money and who make millions on franchise rather than the film itself. Even though they make a pretty penny there as well. However that said I just want to point out that filmmakers such as myself who don not have the studio funding get robbed directly when our films become available for download illegally. Sure downloading for free is fun and you get to NOT PAY for that film you ripped but guess what? Eventually the creators who make the films for us are not going to be able to keep up and they may just stop making movies all together! Theaters may shut down and studios will close their doors then we’ll be stuck with old DVDs and reruns of Jersey Shore! That’s a HELL I don’t want to live in!

Don’t be so cheap! I almost killed myself and risked everything to make Bong Of The dead and in return Im asking anyone who is going to watch it online to at least download the DVD Rip from me instead of a pirate site like Pirate Bay, Kick ass Torrents, btJunkie.com , Demanoid.com and on and on and on…

I hope you enjoy your copy of the UNCUT version of Bong Of The dead which by the way is much more bloody then those cheap poorly copied replicas out there. If you want to be guaranteed DVD quality then please don’t waste your time downloading illegal copies of my film. If you don’t like to download at all and would like to own your own copy of the actual 2 Disc DVD collectors edition of my film then please check the website regularly for details. This version of Bong Of The Dead with the 2 discs is UNRATED and different from what my distributors are about to release around the world. If you want something unique with loads of bonus materials then send me an email and let me know. Until the DVD purchase part of my store is up feel free to pre order by emailing me!

Thanks!

Fingers crossed…holding breath!

October has finally arrived and I for one am super happy about it for multiple reasons. First of all fall is my favorite time of the year in Canada because its beautiful and creepy at the same time with the fog and dead leaves everywhere! I love that crisp air and sunshine combo. Also its like a month long celebration of everything horror! This October more than any other I am a bit more excited because my film finally releases all over the world from Germany to Australia and recently USA! I might as well point out at this time that my own country Canada has not yet signed any distribution deals with me. So sad that I cant get the attention of my own country yet I’m sure at the first sign of success Canada will expect to be credited because I shot my movie here.

Anyways enough of the whining bull shit…it’s just annoying is all. I’m happy that the rest of the world has not ignored my efforts. The film is also playing at world famous SITGES film festival from October 6th to 16th. I sure do hope that the rest of the world loves the film like so many critics from all over the world already have. I am still amazed at the amount of kindness Ive received from so many people whom Ive never even met. Thank goodness for the internet and its ability to allow us to reach so many people. Without it I would not exist. Im hoping that after my film makes its impact in October I will get some kind of opportunity to direct another film! One with a budget this time where I dont have to play a hundred roles and almost kill myself just to get it made! Im saying I want a studio deal with a budget and crew! Who doesn’t??

On one hand I’m so excited because the film can finally reach its fans who have been asking me for a copy for 3 years now. On the other hand Im so scared that my film will come and go and no one will give a shit. Although that is a scary negative thought I try not to think of it. The proof so far has been that everyone who has seen it and criticized it has loved it! I wish for that to continue and fall on the ears of some studio exec who has the means to grant budgets. then in a perfect world they pick up the phone or ask their people to call my people except I have no people so Ill answer the phone and they say “Kid we gotta a budget for ya”! Hopefully its that simple.

If that does not happen for me then I guess Ill have to continue doing crappy non creative survival jobs such as sledge hammering cement or hauling expensive furniture for rich people until it does happen. In the mean time I am writing my western horror script titled “DEADSVILLE”. This is the one I want to really bring to life because there are so many great opportunities for film making and visuals that I must make this film before I die! Please keep an eye out for BOTD as it hits the shelves this October!

Thanks!

New year for new adventures!

Well what can I say, 2010 was by far one of the most difficult years of my entire life as a human being as well as a struggling filmmaker. The amount of horrific ups and downs I had gone through although tough, were not tough enough to stop or kill me! 2011 is a brand new year for success and it is definitely one that I will remember forever as I push forward in bringing Bong Of The Dead to the light.

Now that the film is officially complete I am in the tail end of some final technical stages in which I will be creating DVD menus, art work and more art work for promoting Bong. I have already began my festival submission phase and have been sending Bong off to some of the worlds top notch film festivals in hopes of getting accepted to one. While the festivals look over what I have accomplished in the last 2 years I will take the waiting time and get educated on distribution negotiation tactics.

With the new year it looks like Germany is still interested in Bong of the dead and my potential partners there are willing to work with me to get Bong to their markets. I will also be touching base with a Hong Kong distributor as well as China in hopes of getting Bong to Asia in the new year. The following week after that I will be at a couple local meetings with other production houses who may help with Canadian and US distribution offers. All of this mumbo jumbo about distribution is exciting and scary as hell at the same time! This is the moment where a filmmaker can either be made or be slayed!

For those that dont know, a distributor can be your best friend or your worst nightmare depending on who and which contract you sign. I am trying my best to make all the right choices to ensure a successful end for Bong after the last two years of painstakingly creating it in post. I will be hiring an Entertainment lawyer in the next week as well as shopping around for a foreign sales agent who will help me get the most out of my almost 3 years of hard work. I will also be looking at hiring a publicist who will also help with my PR and campaign for promoting Bong even further. These are very exciting times and I am thrilled to finally be at this moment in time. 2011 will be my year and I will make my mark on this earth and finally achieve the goals I have set forth to achieve. By reaching one goal I will be setting out to achieve a hundred more for that to me is the purpose of life, love and passion for what I do.

All the best to everyone in the New Year and I hope you too achieve all the goals and dreams you have set out top achieve!

Peace out!

4,3,2,1….Count down starts!

Well it seems as if I have been stuck in a world of constant stress ever since I wrapped on my film 2 years ago. Some of my stress has been due to not having the man power to do a whole film in post. Other parts of the stress have had to do with learning new software and doing things Ive never done before and acquiring new skills I never thought I would need. The biggest part of the stress has been attributed to the constant paranoia and fear of losing the entire film that Ive devoted my entire 2 years to. I guess that little nightmare came true on the 11th but I’m not gonna go there so read the previous 2 blogs if you already haven’t. The wounds are still too fresh. BUT…since that incident I have become more confident and have had to pick myself back up and go at it again for the sake of the movie!

I am now scoring the entire film and am doing it in only 2 days! This is all the time I have for now before my Cuban side kick kicks my ass because I have not met his deadline and expectations. I am pretty sure I can meet his request and have the entire film scored by using everything I have in my “loops” library as well as any music I get submitted and acquisitioned or purchased. Wow just writing all the things I need to do for music it seems like yet another insane undertaking which once again I have no choice but to bare. However I do know a thing or two about music so I think I may impress even myself! Fingers crossed. The bonus of me doing all my own music on the film is that the music credit will read, Music by: THOMAS NEWMAN. Of course everyone will assume its the famous Thomas Newman that does all the major films in Hollywood.

Once I meet Andres’s deadline and get him the music for the entire film, he and I will be setting up camp for another 4 days from the 26th-29th! This time will be used for us to mix and master the entire film! Andres has already performed miracles when he set up “ADR camp” at my studio and we banged out an entire film recording all actors dialogue again. He then did the amazing job of mixing all the tracks with the sound FX as well as folly. Once we complete “Sound Camp” the film should be complete 2 weeks into December!

The count down to the finale begins on the 26th!

The road to completion is a constant uphill grind

Its hard enough trying to do a film on your own in post with no crew but then throw in all the digital errors and glitches that come along every other day and its enough to want to hang yourself with your computer cord! I have had to endure so many silly glitches even though I spent $ 5000 on the latest and greatest Mac Pro Quad core in hopes of being able to breeze through my editing. The fact is no matter how much you spend you will always have to spend more! The computer does not like the codec, the video card does not like the filter, the Camera codec does not like the video card and on and on and on! For every problem you have to spend countless days without sleep trying to figure out why? why? why?!! I am a huge fan of MACs and have been for over 15 years but I must admit the new intel chips have taken them to a new low! I have never had so many crashes and stupid little glitches in my life. It sometimes feel like Im editing on a PC with the amount of problems I face on a daily basis.

NOW….all that BS aside I am still grinding and I refuse to be beat by a bunch of 0′s and 1′s! This film will get completed the way I want it to and on time! I just have to keep my sanity and hope I dont have a heart attack every time I turn on the mac. Im trying to get the film off to a submission for a film festival in the next couple of days and hope I can without any more trouble.

Creating some cool advertisement for Bong Of The Dead!

Hello to all you fellow Bongers! Its been a while since Ive posted here but its because I am unbelievably busy with editing and creating the final look of Bong Of The Dead. There is literally so much to say so instead of writing it all here I encourage you to check out the Tweets and Blogs which you can access right fr…om here:

http://www.bongofthedead.com/blog/

Most recently I got together with my Co-Producer and great Friend Mike Fields who surprised me with a totally cool design for the new Bong shirts! My jaw dropped the second I saw the shirts and jumped at the opportunity to get them made so that we could get the message out to the world while trying to raise a few bucks in order to pay for more shirts! Basically everyone who is a fan and wants to help support this film can purchase a shirt for $20 and the money raised will just buy more shirts. The circle will continue until the entire world is infected!! You cant be a real zombie if you don’t have a shirt! The coolest thing aside from the designs on the shirt is the fact that they were each hand made by Mike Fields himself and me. Every one has tremendous TLC go into it so you will be happy if you chose to sport one of these limited shirts. The more we get out into the world the more people will know about this special indie flick that will blow them all away! I am working towards a realistic deadline now to submit to an upcoming few festivals! As always please keep in mind the reason its taking a year and a half or more is because I am only one person doing an entire film by myself in my basement just like my mentor Robert Rodriguez. Only difference between Robert and myself is I dont have millions of dollars or a post crew. Not yet anyways!

So in closing if you want a shirt please send me an e-mail or a note and I can figure out how to get one to you with payment process and things. Also please help keep the Bong lit by telling as many people as you can about it so that they too end up infected! Bong has now spread across over 87 countries around the world and been translated into 13 languages on the web with promo material downloadable in over 4 major languages.

Keep on Bonging!

Sincerely
Thomas Newman

New limitted Bong OF The Dead shirts!

Another beautiful day and all is well!

I may have come across a bit negative in my last post so I want to make up for it in this one. As frustrating as the process of doing an entire film on your own is, it is still worth every second especially when the results speak for themselves. I’m plugging away on the last of the CGI shots this week and will move onto the final stages of color correction on the locked edit. Once I’ve completed those two main components it will be time to round up the actors for some ADR. For those that are not familiar with the term “ADR”, it is the process in which you have to redo some of the dialogue of your film in a studio environment because your sound guy was so stoned during the filming that he actually recorded static at times instead of audio. Thanks sound guy! Luckily I now have one of the best sound designers that the Vancouver industry has ever seen and we will be working together closely to make the ADR as best as we can. I’m trying to make a few festival deadlines so the pressure is on to have this beast done and released asap. Theres nothing more satisfying then having your film come together after all the countless hours of work that’s been put into it.
Thanks for staying in tune!

Still grinding!

Well It has been a year and counting since I finished Bong OF The Dead on a remote location in Langley BC with a crew of friends and family. I have been in post production editing, compositing, color correcting, scoring etc. etc…I realize it is taking a long time to complete but when you are one [person doing an entire film with Block Buster look, sound and feel it is no easy task. Your mind begins to play tricks on you to the point where its tough to tell if you’re doing it right or wrong, or if you’re on the right track at all. I know that there is no right or wrong though, there is only the fact that you must keep doing it and keep on working towards the end. It is soooo easy to give up and say this is too much or Ive had enough. The truth is I will always find ways to stay inspired and to continue pushing on even when some people around me have given up or quit! I have been let down a hundred times over by those who make promises but keep none. Those people are the ones that have one purpose in life and that is to stop those of us who have passion and drive and dreams which they know they can never have so they try to stop us from succeeding. Dreamers know who they are and the ones who want to crush those dreams know who they are as well. The way I see it is when I finally finish Bong and turn it over and launch my career to the level I dream of, I will thank everyone who has been there for me but most of all I will thank those of you who let me down! It is because of you that I push on and find the drive to fuel my passion. Its not in me to quit and I am not someone who gives up easily especially when I am standing at the gates of my dreams. All I have to do is finish this film and when its finally done people will see what one person can do with talent, drive and unstoppable passion. I will try to blog something with a video soon! Thanks for staying in tune.

The Final chapter in zombie gore!!

Well its been a few days since Ive blogged because I have been very busy working on Bong and building a fence at the same time. I know the fence has nothing to do with Bong but it gave me a nice break from it. Anyways now that I have the edit locked and I know exactly where everything should be I am going to finally bang out a few pick up shots that I always wanted to get but did not have the time for. Im talking about some extra special added gore such as heads being crushed, guts being torn out, eyes being gouged…you know the usual good stuff. I have a micro crew of loyal friends coming by today a year and a half later to pick up where we left off with some really cool gags. Mike Fields is bringing the magic once more to help wrap up the final shots. I will post the pictures after Im done editing them into the sequences I have waiting!

Its nice to get a boost during post

Well I have been working crazy hours on the movie as promised and the results are showing. Im incredibly happy with the sequences which I have created so far and am now beginning to see the impact its starting to have for BOTD fans all over the world. It seems every day a few more web sites are catching wind of this film and are promoting it on their web sites. Its a good feeling when people like your stuff! I’m going to be releasing another short video movie which will show the process as its being made. I hope it will shed some light as to why post is taking over one year and how its being done by just me and my MAC and a lot of time! Here are a few new links to Bong from all over the world as more people are beginning to hear about it.

http://www.almasoscuras.com/bong-of-the-dead
http://bestzombie.info/best-zombie-movies-bong-of-the-dead-2009/ Continue reading ‘Its nice to get a boost during post’