Precious Metalhead #13 – Big Push, Sequel, Economy, Dystopia

A Movie in Progress – the Big Final Push

We are in the final stretch in finishing Silver Circle, folks… Even now as I write, the judges at South by Southwest are judging our submitted work-in-progress.  Meanwhile we are pushing hard to finish this movie to get it ready for the theaters.
However – we’re not going to lie and our hard-core fans will know – we are running behind. Beyond the usual Pareto Principle issues, we’ve found that we want and need to deliver some better technical animation than one of our partners can deliver.  This rework has set us back on the calendar, and made us adjust our pipeline.  We’ll still easily screen the movie by next Spring, but yes, we were hoping to have it done by now.

What matters most in these situations is how you react, and what you learn.  To take control of this final phase of production, we’ve cleared out another room in our basement studio and filling the room with talented local animators.  It adds a whole new buzz to the studio lately and their work is phenomenal.  Also I’m hiring several animators with various martial arts backgrounds, so that the action scenes will have extra sizzle.

So – the next few months will be crowded and energetic over here at the studio, and we’re going to get this story out into theaters and into the culture.  It’s time.

The good news is that SC is… a really good story with daily-growing relevance.  It holds up very well after dozens of viewings, we can all attest.

The Sequel

We’re already planning the sequel out – just so that the seeds of the second story can be planted properly in the first.  We are collaborating with well-known sci-fi writer L. Neil Smith for this “treatment” of the story, and there are some truly amazing ideas flying around right now.  I won’t say too much, but this new concept is a great bridge between utopia, reality, and dystopia.

It’s hardly too soon – this isn’t crazy Hollywood talk – in order to begin any meaningful production or even fundraising for the next piece, we need to work out what it’s going to be.  The heavy work won’t happen until Silver Circle is out into theaters and DVD, and we know the audience better.  We do expect the market to speak – and we are ready to answer with SC2.

State of The World

All that I can say about the world economy, inflation, and tyranny: is that while our production might be a bit behind, dystopia is ahead of schedule.  It’s not satisfying to see the world in some early phase of disarray that Silver Circle addresses; I mainly hope that we can turn this boat around in time, and that perhaps SC can be part of the needed cultural shift.

Song of the Month

As you might remember, we are lucky enough to have joined forces with Jon Schaffer, lead of the legendary metal band Iced Earth – Jon will be animated and play a key role in Silver Circle.

Apparently Jon is not content to rest on his laurels as an animated movie star, so Iced Earth just released their new album, named Dystopia…  It’s a strong, strong album that will take them far.   I’m not going to play junior music critic here and tease the album apart – you just need to experience it yourself.

I’m torn because my favorite song on the album is “Tragedy and Triumph” but there is no legal copy online – so I’ll send you to their title song, Dystopia.

And Jon was cool enough to put together these how-to videos for guitarists – in this one he shows you how to play the song I wanted to put online…   The best title for the video is in the comments: “Why you will never be able to play ‘Tragedy and Triumph’”

Looking forward to seeing Iced Earth on tour next year!  And Sons of Liberty when??

Thanks

Thanks again for being a fan and follower of Silver Circle – we’re pulling out the stops to make this animated adventure into a worthwhile and notable film.  Hang in there with us these final months of production and you’ll see!

Pasha.

Don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about Silver Circle: http://SilverCircleMovie.com