First wave of pics for "Roxy" & "Snoop"

As promised here are the first wave of pics of my readers' favorite two heroines. More to follow!

What Happened? The Banner changed?

Hello all and welcome back to the Last Days Blog. I have been absent but busy, grin. I had the pleasure of working with Kristi Mahé on one of Sabrina's projects called "Daddy's Girl". I have added a page to my amadthoughtproductions.com website that promotes friends' projects as well as coops. Once Sabrina is ready, I will be putting up "Daddy's Girl" promotional shots and more. Kristi, having lost her hearing at a young age, brought a new element to our team's dynamic on getting our communication across, but it turned out great and we are looking forward to working with her again on "Last Days" as her character Snoop! I'm also happy to add that Dominika Zybko will be joining our cast as our heroine of episode one "Roxy". We loved working with her on "Dessert" and "Roxy" is made for her. While Kristi was here from LA and we had wrapped "Daddy's Girl" I had the chance to have my script readers' 2 favorite female characters in a rare photo shoot. "Roxy" and "Snoop" are in different episodes but I couldn't pass up the chance to put them together. There's nothing like when you see the fleshing out of something you've written. "Dessert" was my first taste, but seeing Dominika and Kristi pose in character, I couldn't help but feel a burst of pride- Roxy & Snoop were within hands reach! The costumes are first concept but already near perfect. Kristi ideally would have worn a knit hat that can fold down into a ski mask, but we're out of season and it was a long weekend, sooo this are the very first glimpse into the post zombie apocalyptic world of "Last Days"; Dominika Zybko as "Roxy" & Kristi Mahé as "Snoop". More pics to follow tomorrow! Gimme a comment or two for my vlog 2 with a surprise!

What's Next?

There are a few things on the agenda. Now that Logan's been cast, we should be able to film soon. The next couple of weeks are going to be booked with 2 other projects. The usual suspects and I will be participating in a 24 hr film fest around the nineteenth of May and we will also be working on Sabrina's cinemagraphic project this upcoming weekend. Kristi Mahé will be starring in Sabrina's short and while we have her here from L.A., we will be doing photo shoots with her posing as Snoop; a unique character in episode 3 of the series. I met Kristi on the set of my first feature role on Dominant Gene, where I played side-kick to a vengeful woman who leads a group of telekinetics grown from test-tubes over twenty years ago.  I was doing my green room scenes and Krisit was one of our extras that day. She was amicable from the start and we hit it off. We worked together again when I wrote the script to a movie she wanted to make and I saw her potential just from her drive. As she calls it, Kristi is "differently-abled" which adds a unique twist to her character. I'm certain she will have her fans, she already does from my script readers. She has a healthy happy view on life and does all sorts of projects that are aimed at helping others. I'm proud to have her on board. I've another I plan on mentioning but will keep that for the vlog along with another little mention I hope will stir the interest even more. Signing out, JLF

"Michael Logan" has a face

Auditions & call backs for one of my main characters, "Michael Logan" took place this Sunday past. I was happy to see the familiar faces of a couple as well as the new. It was a tough decision, in the end. I've been plagued with indecision between two actors that were complete opposites but yet fit. In the end, Kirk Wilson was closest to my original ideal of Logan and will be the one to be in both the monologue that will be the front of the website as well as a briefed version for the trailer to come by Sabrina Chevallier. As promised, a vlog 2 is to come soon.
 JLF

Audition for Logan's Monologue

I had a positive meeting with Sandra Rojas, who has produced some sort films, including her own. She feels "Last Days" has a very good chance of getting a big following because it's bringing something new and different to the now well known theme. Originally, I had planned on getting a different director for each episode but Sandra suggested to go with 2 or maybe 3 at most, making it simpler while filming it; which I agreed. Now, I have a couple of small promotions in mind before we get to the episodes, one of which I am auditioning for tomorrow. One of my main characters, Logan, has a looping transmissions in the beginning of the storyline. We are going to film it and loop it at the head of this webpage as an intro to the series. I'm excited and anxious to move forward on this and then onto the next. I also have a couple more things to add but I'll leave that to the vlog I plan on making after our auditions today. - JLF

Casting Call Short Film Monologue – Last Days

“A Mad Thought Productions” is setting out to make a mini-web series based in a serious-toned Zombie Apocalypse version of our world today. Our first production towards this series is a short monologue from one of its characters introducing it, and that character is Michael Logan.

Michael Logan: 

Logan is in his fifties but still in good shape. Having been in the army for the last twenty years, he’s learned the consequences of choices and now tries to never waver from what must be done. He’s not a hard man, but his heart may not succeed in stopping what he has to do for the good of the masses. Thought the military is no more, Logan is still a commander and respected. He’s confident and pushes forward towards his objectives in the same fashion. 

This is a non-union short that will be placed both on a webpage and a YouTube channel. Please contact our casting director, Sandeep Hundal, with your head shots and resumes. We will also be doing callbacks on the same day; in the weekend of April 14-15.

A webpage is dedicated to the “Last Days” series at amadthoughtproductions.com. Thank you for your interest!

An experimental Vlog over a blog for "Lat Days"

Greetings all, and a pleasant hello with this long over-due post, grin. Though a writer, blogging is still something new to me and I have received some nice compliments saying my “voice” is pleasant to read; much appreciated! But one thing about me is that I don’t like blogging something unless I am certain of what I am informing everyone on, hence the “over-due” factor of this post. Since the last post, the plan took 3 different turns and I decided on waiting until it fell to one before mentioning anything. So… as mentioned in the last post; there has been some restructuring in the plan of action on fleshing “Last Days” to film. We had first planned on a trailer and planning evolved to a pilot and things were moving so well and fast; but the filming schedule we originally had in mind no longer fit what the project had become, so we have post-poned the pilot/call backs by a month or two from now, unless things develop to begin sooner- which I would gladly do, grin.

In the upcoming week, I will update this blog with mention and link to a casting call for my character “Logan”.  Those who have already auditioned for the role of Logan are still on call back, but we would like a few more faces for this character to best represent him. Shortly after the audition and call backs, we will be filming the “transmission” Logan sends the survivors of North America. I am opening my first website soon and will be linking this blog page to it in hopes to better its traffic. Logan’s Monologue will also be linked to this page as well as youtube in hopes to rally some fans and supporters who will help “Last Days” happen sooner than later- happening is not in question, grin. I have zero doubt that Last Days is a sure thing; it’s clever, dark and gritty, human as well as intelligent- something my Zombie “experts” say is new to the genre; how can that fail, grin?

Another perk and promise to this blog is that we have in mind at least 2 teaser clips to the upcoming series before the pilot is made. I am presently writing and finishing a “pilot” intro episode that I will be posting in sections on the blog as text story, giving you all a taste of the world the series takes place. 

A direct link to our first film that I wrote, "Dessert" has been added at the bottom left corner of the blog's banner. Please click to the the Youtube link and click "LIKE" to help the film go viral! It's the first example of my writing making it to film so whatever celebrity it gets can only help "Last Days" move forth faster:))!!!

Stay tuned!  

Hello all, a quick post to inform you all that we are still looking through the audition reels. Like mentioned in my precious post, we received a lot of talented actors and want to give each of them careful consideration; we want to be certain of who we chose to step into the shoes of our survivors, grin. Audition call backs have been postponed by a couple of weeks due to the restructuring of our shoot plan and scheduling. The pilot is still moving forward and I will post the details soon; once they are clear.

An eventful week’s gone by; so let me catch you up!

The following Thursday; Sabrina, Nestor and I met with Sandra Rojas. She, having produced 3 other short films, was interested in our project “Last Days”. Sabrina had approached her a little while back with the script of the 6^th episode (all that was completed at the time) in hopes to get her to help us produce the pilot. Sandra read the pilot with us and then we discussed options for funding. By the end of the meeting, I felt reassured to have someone on board as a producer who knew that aspect of the business! We, all three, were impressed with her knowledge and suggestions as to where to begin- but first- a budget needs to be made. Sandra will be looking over the pilot and draw up a budget for us to formulate around. So I’ll be posting that once we’ve looked it over!

Though only having gone on one location scouting, Sabrina has been on a few more. The one I went on was a fun ride. Nestor drove Sabrina and I to Riverview. Riverview is an old semi-abandoned Asylum with large fenced-in grounds that have several little clusters of buildings; some of which are boarded shut and very atmospheric! On rolling into the grounds, there is a notice right outside the entrance that warns against taking pictures without permission. So, no pictures were taken other than mental ones, grin, but we definitely saw a lot of potential and it got my imagination going too; writing ideas for later.

Another site was a block stretch of small residential bungalows all boarded up for demolition. You can so see clusters of Infected standing about with a group of survivors holed up in one of the homes; trying desperately to figure out a way around them. Unfortunately, it’s due for demolition weeks before we can set up a shoot date, but again, got the juices going.

As I mentioned before, last Sunday was the beginning of our casting auditions for the pilot of the series. The replies have been pouring in! We started the day at 9:30am and went through the day to 6pm. We had no pause of auditions with little no-shows! Of the talent we saw that day, it would have made a boring blooper’s reel, grin, because everyone brought their “A” game; including a separate couple who even went so far as to come in costume! A few of our auditioners surprised us with alternate possibilities for some of the characters and that turned out to be an interesting avenue of discussion. Sandeep, our Casting Director, has been busy all week managing the heavy incoming flow of resumes to fill up our casting weekend starting this Saturday February 11^th, 2012. Tomorrow, we start the day at 8:45am! We will be auditioning at 400 W Hastings at a VFS building, so head on by in case you missed the casting call; Sandeep will be greeting the actors near the entrance, maybe she will be able to slip you in! Signing off, J

Hey all, glad to report, things are moving forward very positively! The casting call has been out since late Sunday and the amount of resumes we are receiving has raised with each day. It’s exciting to see so much interest towards the series! Keep sending your resumes! Six of the episodes, including the pilot, have a completely different cast! Speaking of casting; Sabrina, Nestor and I met with Sandeep Hundal yesterday for the position of Casting Director. Having done the job twice, I knew what she was applying to take on, but she came off confident and professional, and thankfully likable as well, grin. Having cast directed before on shorts, she has a few new tricks of her own that locked in our unanimous agreement to add her to the team! It’s official, Sandeep Hundal is the casting director of “Last Days” The Pilot!  

Another eventful evening tomorrow, for we will be meeting with a potential Producer. A new piece to the “puzzle” is slipping into place almost every second day, fingers crossed the trend continues!  I’ll post after the meeting with details.

Finally, today we had intended to go location scouting, but it got postponed to tomorrow. So a little trip to Riverview will be one of our first investigations for the sweet spots to film. Boarded-up homes or buildings, deserted roads, closed-down service stations, alley ways and just about anything that can look the part. Will be posting pics soon of our findings!

On a last note, we plan on putting up a website for “A Mad Thought” with links to our Last Days webpage and blog. A few voices will be joining mine as well. Post soon!

Sabrina, Nester and I met this past weekend and we discussed the pilot. Casting was one of the first topics hit. Casting will be a big topic for the majority of this series. The first five episodes all have a different cast, aside from a couple of reoccurring characters. The pilot is no different. The we broke down the list of characters and agreed on which characteristic we specifically wanted for some of the characters. Then the decision to get the casting started was made and the ads went out the next day:

http://www.vancouveractorsguide.com/last-days-mini-web-series-pilot
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/tlg/2825063630.html

The response has been great so far, 30 hopefuls so far and many more to follow, pretty excited to when we hold the auditions!
Next on the list was locations. We threw out a few suggestions as well as aims for location scouting. Boarded up windows, roads, alleyways... Riverview is out first foray. Wednesday, the three of us are heading out there with a camera and test out a few spot on lighting and accessibility as well as safety. This will be fun!
Tomorrow, Sabrina and I will be meeting with a casting director, looking forward to it. The next few weeks will be aimed on trying to fill in the crew along with cast.
I'll be posting as we go!

We are casting for our Pilot!

We are looking to cast the pilot to our web-series "Last Days".
This short film that will be approx. 10 mins long.
We are looking for actors of all ethnic backgrounds, for the story takes place in a post apocalyptic North America.
We aim to audition in the week of Feb 5th. Those considered will be given the place and time by our casting Director
along with some sides for the auditions.

These are the roles we need to fill:

Logan (Man, 35 - fit 50s) Ex Military but his manner still reflects it. The man with all the answers/secrets.
Miguel (Man, 20s - 30s) Logan's loyal partner, ex military but still dresses and behaves like he still is.
Greer (Man, 35 - 45) The cruelly practical and intelligent leader of an underground organization.
Dorper (Man, 30s - 40s) One of Greer's henchmen, gives off a creepy vibe
Scruff (Man, 20 - 40s) One of Greer's lower agents, nickname says it all
Team of survivors:
DJ (Man, 20s)
Max (young man - late teens)
Steff (Woman, 20s - 30s)
Jo (Woman, 20s)
Dea (Woman, 20)
Abby (Young woman, teens)
Ivan (Man, 40s-50s) Leader of an underground community
Scientist (30s-60s)

Please email your pictures and contact information to our casting director
This is a Ultra low budget film, there-fore volunteer. However we will provide a finished DVD copy, including Behind the scenes pictures and film, stills, and poster shots as well as food and refreshments on shoots.

Thank you for interest!

Hello, and welcome to the "Last Days" (working title) blog. My name is Jason Lee Fraser and I am the creator and writer of the mini-series. "Deadly Measures" was originally a single 15 minute episode. The plan was to do the same as last year where I made and produced my very first short film that I wrote called "Dessert" (a trailer link will be available shortly). I've the first three full feature scripts to a Saga completed, but I still have a little more work to do in getting the financial help and talent recognition I need to get to that dark fantasy sci-fi series started so I have begun with short films; "Dessert" being the first. "Deadly Measures" got such rave reviews from my sample readers; there was a strong outcry for a full feature. The demand made sense because the episode I originally had in mind was the end of the story, but again, funding a short was expensive enough, a feature is a different ball game. But the idea took fruition and an episodic formed any; five new scripts joined the first to complete the story.

What was my aim with this series? Well, Zombies have been around for a while now and revamped like in "28 Days Later" as well as swamped the gaming community and the stories have gotten better for some. "The Walking Dead" series is an excellent example, and the zombies are more of the traditional variety like they are going to be in "Deadly Measures". In a sense, the first 6 episode season of "The Walking Dead" inspired my mini-web series' format but the characters and plot are of a completely different perspective and circumstance. I also wanted to bring something new to the genre. It took me a little longer to complete the series because I promised myself to make each different from each other as well as most films and games out there; and my sample readers are saying I've succeeded with my mission, grin. So now it just needs to be made.

Two of my exec staff from "Dessert" have joined me again in getting "Deadly Measures" off the ground, Sabrina Chevailler and Néstor de la Zerda. I know a few more will join in when it's time, but for now, it's pre-production. We've had two meetings so far, though the second one was more officially the first, in the sense, because we moved on from finishing the scripts part. Now, the plan is:

A) Lock the scripts and have a table read by end of January.

B) Write a pilot to the series, specifically custom towards finding a producer(s).

C) Meet to plan out the pilot's production

We will be meeting again shortly but I will most probably post before then.