Hey there, just thought I'd post the credits for my film on here... enjoy! -D.
Credits:
Script by Daniel Pevar
Translated by Google
Producers:
Daniel Pevar
Helen Campitelli
Directors:
David Kappler
Daniel Pevar
Boom Operator:
Gary Makaravitz
Editors:
Elliot Herman
Bethany Depoy
Script Supervisor:
Danielle Pettiway
Location Directors:
Heather Sahagian
Helen Campitelli
Tori Shaner
Casting by:
Daniel Pevar
Tim Mullen
Make-up Director:
Holly Hox
Make-up artists:
Katie Facer
Tina Ulp
Samantha Carey
Cassie Sterling
Tori Shaner
Alexia Boyle
Sharon Pisko
Make-up models:
Sam Rhame
Christopher Kelly
Characters:
Ogi George Spelvin
Ms. Scarlet Arianna Garcia
Ginnie Stephanie Nielsen
Nelson Rich Russell
Elbow Rich Adams
Nino Kevin French
Max Lando Griffin
Courtney Erica Negron
Betty Kat Johnston
Kenny David Kappler
Mrs. Wimmith Elizabeth Abate
Dawn Jennifer Ollarvia
Batty Joe Joe Matthews
Mr. Baker Antonio Fiala
Johnny Christopher Sinclair
Daniel Daniel Pevar
Zombies:
Bobby Slayer Gary Makarevitz
Jump-rope Judy Kyra Washington
Simona Harley Lynda Simons
Tambourine Terry Suki Wilkie
Beach Ball Bill Howard Chavous
Umbrella Dave Paul French
Zombro Ned Kevin French II
Smoky Thomson Billy Deybach
Dog Walker Deb Sally Alexander
Stripey Danielle Tina Ulp
Drooley Mia Fitzgerald
Sweet Melissa Sharon Pisko
Picassa Merl Helen Campitelli
Momma Carmine Mary McNamara
Ronald Mac Kevin McNamara
Dee Dee Caitlin McNamara
Jeany Bean Meghan McNamara
Mr. Zombie Himself Noah Pevar
Jill Thumbs Stephanie Nielsen
Nina Nettings Kristy Binns
Sylvia Shindig Kim Fowley
Leah Shindig Jasmine Fowley
Music by:
The Atomic Mosquitos
Rob Melso
Special thanks to:
Al Via
Jeremy Pevar
David Gerbstadt
Paul McKinney
Season Harper Fox
Francis Tuleo
William Hoffman
Tim Mullens
Tony Devon
Joan Bressler
Katie Lightcap
Conor Schaefer
Andrew Rivera
Dawn Jennett
Andrew Michael
Laurence Dorazio
Parkway Hardware
Spring City Hotel & Restaurant
Spring City Apparel
Pulse Beauty Academy
Margheritas Restaurant
Film.org
Indiegogo.com
ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM)
CARPET OF STARS PRODUCTIONS (TM)
(c) Daniel Pevar 2010
Individual copyrights for the songs used in ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) are owned by The Atomic Mosquitos and Rob Melso
http://zombiesandpizzanow.blogspot.com/
http://www.atomicmosquitos.com/
http://robertmelso.bandcamp.com/
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This is a blog related to the short experimental film ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM). You'll find links, stories, etc... enjoy!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
TheGoogle Translated Version is online now!
Hey Peeps,
Just thought I'd post the good news that the Google Translated version of Z&P is online at You Tube right now! I'll post the links below. The next step is for me to schedule a couple dates with my voice-actors to record the voice-overs for Z&P. The voice-over version of the film will be the version that I'll submit to festivals locally and around the country. Both versions will be online on You Tube, but the Voice-over version of the film really will be a lot better than the first version - mainly because the Google Translated version is kind of hard to understand some of the dialog. Can't wait to finish up the next step of this journey!
Here are the three links for Z&P:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9FLLBAY1CM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUSaWLw97Mc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXbq7pwKnFk
...enjoy!
-Daniel
Just thought I'd post the good news that the Google Translated version of Z&P is online at You Tube right now! I'll post the links below. The next step is for me to schedule a couple dates with my voice-actors to record the voice-overs for Z&P. The voice-over version of the film will be the version that I'll submit to festivals locally and around the country. Both versions will be online on You Tube, but the Voice-over version of the film really will be a lot better than the first version - mainly because the Google Translated version is kind of hard to understand some of the dialog. Can't wait to finish up the next step of this journey!
Here are the three links for Z&P:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9FLLBAY1CM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUSaWLw97Mc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXbq7pwKnFk
...enjoy!
-Daniel
Thursday, November 4, 2010
The Google Translated version is a wrap!
Last night Elliot wrapped up editing on the ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) Google translated version of the film. This first version is not the version that I'll be sending to the festivals, but I will be including it onto the DVD when I publish it.
Now all that's left to do for the final festival version of the film is to record the voice-overs for it. The Google version is a bit confusing, because a lot of the dialog was overly-mangled when it was translated. Originally I anticipated that as being a potential problem, but I thought that using subtitles would correct the problem. Sadly, it didn't. Before I shot the film with David last Summer I figured that if the Google version of the film didn't work out, that we could always go back and over-dub the film, so that's where I'm at right now.
Anyway, Elliot is uploading the three videos for the Google translation right now, so hopefully I'll be able to share those links with you sometime tonight... enjoy!
Now all that's left to do for the final festival version of the film is to record the voice-overs for it. The Google version is a bit confusing, because a lot of the dialog was overly-mangled when it was translated. Originally I anticipated that as being a potential problem, but I thought that using subtitles would correct the problem. Sadly, it didn't. Before I shot the film with David last Summer I figured that if the Google version of the film didn't work out, that we could always go back and over-dub the film, so that's where I'm at right now.
Anyway, Elliot is uploading the three videos for the Google translation right now, so hopefully I'll be able to share those links with you sometime tonight... enjoy!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tonight's event at Cinema 16:9 is cancelled
I just got the bad news that Cinema 16:9 won't be showing our film tonight. I'm really sorry that they aren't showing the film, but there's nothing I can do about it. They had a scheduling mix-up where they thought they were going to have more time then they really have to show the film so they backed out at the last minute. I'll do my best to get our film shown at a local theater asap, but the festival version probably won't be done until 3 weeks from now. I will also post the film onto You Tube as soon as it's done. Anyway, I'm sorry about the cancellation, but it's out of my hands at this point. I figured it was worth a shot showing it to Cinema 16:9, but oh well :( -Daniel
Monday, October 25, 2010
More stories
The majority of ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) was filmed in 4 days. Technically there was a fifth day, but that shoot only took about 20 minutes, so I don't usually mention it, but I'll write about this 5th day of filming in a minute :)
On the 4th day of filming I was booked to film some extra zombie shots around Spring City. Me and all the actors playing zombies met-up at Pulse Beauty Academy for them to get their make-up applied by the volunteer make-up artists at Pulse. Each zombie took about 30 minutes to create. I took a bunch of photos and shot some video clips while the zombies were being created. One of the key actors in ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM), Stephanie Nielsen, actually played one of the zombies, too! We figured that we could get away with having her play two "characters" if she wore a wig that I've had for a few years, which I originally purchased for me to wear at a musical performance that I did with my buddy Mike Schramm. Anyway, if you notice a zombie with a big black afro wig it's really Stef! She also played Ginnie!
Anyway, I led a caravan of cars towards Spring City after all the make-up was applied. We were going to get a few video clips of the zombies walking near an old run-down warehouse in Downingtown (it's on 322 on the way to Spring City), but that whole situation was an epic let-down... lol! I got scared off by a police car that pulled up and parked just up the road from my car so I decided not to film there, since this was supposed to be a guerilla shoot! So, I didn't get those shots by the warehouse :( After that, the rest of the shoot went pretty good, though.
We found a really good close-up view of the Lymeric (nuclear power plant), and I got some neat video clips over there, plus I took a neat batch of still photos. I did get annoyed at myself, because my Kodak ran out of juice while shooting the stills, because I had forgotten to charge my camera the night before :( But, I did like all the photos I took there, and in my mind, these photos are some of my best photos ever. In fact I would love to go back to that spot and get some more photos of zombies sometime... it was fun!
After we were through at the nuclear power plant, we drove to Spring City and I shot some video clips there, too. All in all, I think the whole shoot only took about 2 hours (if that).
After we were through filming we went and ate lunch at a pizzeria in Spring City. While we were at the pizzeria, there was a family with a small boy eating at a table a few tables down. This little boy got so freaked out by everyone's make-up it was ridiculous... lol! Poor kid!
Anyway, it was a fun day of filming :)
The 5th day of filming only took about 20 minutes, and it was a totally improv scene and it was my first experience acting. I'm not going to give away this scene, but it appears in the final cut of the film in the very beginning... I think you'll like it :)
Thanks for reading! I hope to see you on Friday at the movie's premier, but no worries if you can't make it... I'll be posting the movie onto You Tube sometime soon, too :)
ttys,
Daniel
On the 4th day of filming I was booked to film some extra zombie shots around Spring City. Me and all the actors playing zombies met-up at Pulse Beauty Academy for them to get their make-up applied by the volunteer make-up artists at Pulse. Each zombie took about 30 minutes to create. I took a bunch of photos and shot some video clips while the zombies were being created. One of the key actors in ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM), Stephanie Nielsen, actually played one of the zombies, too! We figured that we could get away with having her play two "characters" if she wore a wig that I've had for a few years, which I originally purchased for me to wear at a musical performance that I did with my buddy Mike Schramm. Anyway, if you notice a zombie with a big black afro wig it's really Stef! She also played Ginnie!
Anyway, I led a caravan of cars towards Spring City after all the make-up was applied. We were going to get a few video clips of the zombies walking near an old run-down warehouse in Downingtown (it's on 322 on the way to Spring City), but that whole situation was an epic let-down... lol! I got scared off by a police car that pulled up and parked just up the road from my car so I decided not to film there, since this was supposed to be a guerilla shoot! So, I didn't get those shots by the warehouse :( After that, the rest of the shoot went pretty good, though.
We found a really good close-up view of the Lymeric (nuclear power plant), and I got some neat video clips over there, plus I took a neat batch of still photos. I did get annoyed at myself, because my Kodak ran out of juice while shooting the stills, because I had forgotten to charge my camera the night before :( But, I did like all the photos I took there, and in my mind, these photos are some of my best photos ever. In fact I would love to go back to that spot and get some more photos of zombies sometime... it was fun!
After we were through at the nuclear power plant, we drove to Spring City and I shot some video clips there, too. All in all, I think the whole shoot only took about 2 hours (if that).
After we were through filming we went and ate lunch at a pizzeria in Spring City. While we were at the pizzeria, there was a family with a small boy eating at a table a few tables down. This little boy got so freaked out by everyone's make-up it was ridiculous... lol! Poor kid!
Anyway, it was a fun day of filming :)
The 5th day of filming only took about 20 minutes, and it was a totally improv scene and it was my first experience acting. I'm not going to give away this scene, but it appears in the final cut of the film in the very beginning... I think you'll like it :)
Thanks for reading! I hope to see you on Friday at the movie's premier, but no worries if you can't make it... I'll be posting the movie onto You Tube sometime soon, too :)
ttys,
Daniel
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Here are a few stories about the first day of filming:
The night before I was scheduled for my first day of filming, Ed at Culinary Deliveries backed out and told me that I couldn't film at his pizza shop. He had to make an emergency trip out of town and so I had to find a new place to use as a pizza shop. Helen Campitelli, one of the actors playing a zombie, jumped in and saved the day. I was on the phone with her on and off about 5 times that night as we tried to figure out where to film the pizzeria shots. I had 7 actors booked to be regular characters and 9 actors booked to be zombies. Plus there were about 5 volunteers booked to do the zombie make-up that day. Plus David and Gary were booked to do the camera work and boom operating, respectively. So there were a lot of people counting on us to find a venue. Helen ended up finding us an apparel shop in Spring City for us to use as a pizzeria. She saved the day, and she helped keep things running smoothly at the t-shirt shop, which is why I'm going to be listing her as a co-producer in the credits. Thanks for saving the day, Helen!
The first day of filming went great! David Directed all the interior scenes in the pizzeria and filmed them with his HVX500, and I filmed all the exterior scenes on my (at the time) brand new Flip Ultra. That day of filming was only my second time doing moving camera work on my Flip. Before that the only moving video I made on my Flip was at the Zombie Make-up Tutorial video, which I had filmed at Pulse Beauty Academy a week or two before that. Here is the zombie make-up tutorial I filmed at Pulse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltFoOI9cjDk
Being my first time filming a real production, I was nervous that some of my key actors might not show up, but my worries were unfounded. There had been one cancellation from the night before, but I found a replacement actor that night, and everyone showed up on Monday. I even had more zombie extras than I had expected, because a few of the Pulse make-up artists came to Spring City and were zombies. David started filming before all the zombie extras arrived, so I kind of waited on the side-lines as the zombie extras trickled in. After all the zombies arrived, I shot a lot of footage of them outside of the pizzeria. Then we drove up the street and went to a local graveyard where the nuclear power plant - Lymeric - was visible in the background. This location was an almost totally spontaneous location! I had considered filming there months before hand, but had forgotten about it by the time the day of filming arrived. I passed the graveyard in my car on the way to the t-shirt shop earlier, and thought it would be really cool to film over there, since the back-story about the zombies is that they were created by a cloud of nuclear energy that escaped a nuclear power plant. Anyway, me and the zombie extras packed into a few cars and drove to the grave-yard. Cassie was leading the caravan and she found us a great view of the power plant that was nestled in the upper level of the grave-yard. So we filmed there for about 20 minutes or so, then went back to the pizzeria and waited for Dave to wrap up his filming. After Dave was all wrapped up, I ordered a few pizzas and brought them back to the set. Everyone chowed down... it was a great way to end the shoot!
Anyway, that first day of filming was my first introduction to directing actors. It went off without a hitch, too! My heart goes out to all the people who helped make it happen, even Ed at Culinary Deliveries, because without him agreeing to let me use his pizzeria in the first place I may never have been inspired to write about pizza delivery drivers in the first place! Thanks, Ed!
The night before I was scheduled for my first day of filming, Ed at Culinary Deliveries backed out and told me that I couldn't film at his pizza shop. He had to make an emergency trip out of town and so I had to find a new place to use as a pizza shop. Helen Campitelli, one of the actors playing a zombie, jumped in and saved the day. I was on the phone with her on and off about 5 times that night as we tried to figure out where to film the pizzeria shots. I had 7 actors booked to be regular characters and 9 actors booked to be zombies. Plus there were about 5 volunteers booked to do the zombie make-up that day. Plus David and Gary were booked to do the camera work and boom operating, respectively. So there were a lot of people counting on us to find a venue. Helen ended up finding us an apparel shop in Spring City for us to use as a pizzeria. She saved the day, and she helped keep things running smoothly at the t-shirt shop, which is why I'm going to be listing her as a co-producer in the credits. Thanks for saving the day, Helen!
The first day of filming went great! David Directed all the interior scenes in the pizzeria and filmed them with his HVX500, and I filmed all the exterior scenes on my (at the time) brand new Flip Ultra. That day of filming was only my second time doing moving camera work on my Flip. Before that the only moving video I made on my Flip was at the Zombie Make-up Tutorial video, which I had filmed at Pulse Beauty Academy a week or two before that. Here is the zombie make-up tutorial I filmed at Pulse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltFoOI9cjDk
Being my first time filming a real production, I was nervous that some of my key actors might not show up, but my worries were unfounded. There had been one cancellation from the night before, but I found a replacement actor that night, and everyone showed up on Monday. I even had more zombie extras than I had expected, because a few of the Pulse make-up artists came to Spring City and were zombies. David started filming before all the zombie extras arrived, so I kind of waited on the side-lines as the zombie extras trickled in. After all the zombies arrived, I shot a lot of footage of them outside of the pizzeria. Then we drove up the street and went to a local graveyard where the nuclear power plant - Lymeric - was visible in the background. This location was an almost totally spontaneous location! I had considered filming there months before hand, but had forgotten about it by the time the day of filming arrived. I passed the graveyard in my car on the way to the t-shirt shop earlier, and thought it would be really cool to film over there, since the back-story about the zombies is that they were created by a cloud of nuclear energy that escaped a nuclear power plant. Anyway, me and the zombie extras packed into a few cars and drove to the grave-yard. Cassie was leading the caravan and she found us a great view of the power plant that was nestled in the upper level of the grave-yard. So we filmed there for about 20 minutes or so, then went back to the pizzeria and waited for Dave to wrap up his filming. After Dave was all wrapped up, I ordered a few pizzas and brought them back to the set. Everyone chowed down... it was a great way to end the shoot!
Anyway, that first day of filming was my first introduction to directing actors. It went off without a hitch, too! My heart goes out to all the people who helped make it happen, even Ed at Culinary Deliveries, because without him agreeing to let me use his pizzeria in the first place I may never have been inspired to write about pizza delivery drivers in the first place! Thanks, Ed!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Crazy True-Life Pizza Delivery Stories
I posted a series of Craig's List ads all around the country calling for real life pizza delivery drivers to share stories about experiences they had while delivering pizzas. I told them that I was looking for material to use in my script and that they would be credited for their help. Many true-life pizza delivery drivers responded and gave me permission to use their stories. I ended up basing the Mrs. Wimmith scene in ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM)loosely on a lot of stories I heard about pizza delivery drivers who were "tipped" with sexual favors from women. And, I used one of the stories below, which describes how a driver ate an order of chicken fingers while delivering them, for a scene where one of the main characters in Zombies and Pizza eats chicken fingers while delivering them. Keep in mind when you read the stories below that they are all based on actual events that took place all throughout the country... lol! Be forewarned that there's a lot of racy material in this blog post, and that I didn't edit or change these responses (tons of spelling and punctuation mistakes in here... lol!). I had to leave out a few of the pizza delivery stories because they were TOO racy... lol! Here are most of the responses I got to my Craig's List ads:
Sir or Madam,
I have done pizza delivery for a few years and do have quite a few stories to tell.
I've come across pool parties; women that answer their door in lingerie; men and women that were in the throws of passion and I interrupted them by my arrival; women sun bathing, guys working on cars; ignorant people; nice people; vehicle failures or an accident while on duty...
I can go on and on about things I have come across.
Keep me posted, if you would like to use my experiences.
Bob
Bensalem
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True life pizza delivery stories:
Hi Dan, I'm a transplant to Minnisota. I was born and raised in Chicago and started delivering pizzas in 1964 when I was 16 and got my first car a 1950 Buick. The owners of the pizzaria are very good family friends of mine and I even delivered through my adult years on weekends until I moved up here.
You wouldn't believe what some of the people do when I would deliver a pie.
I've had both men and women answer the door nude and ask me to trade them the pizza for sex.
I've had them try to trade a dog, cat, puppy, kitten, turtle, clock radio, XXX rated movies, tools, beer, wacky weed, and more than once I've had a guy try to trade me his wife for a half hour.
I've had women answer the door with a shitload of kids and tell me they don't have any money and if I don't give her the pizza the kids will starve.
But then I've had people tip me as much as $100.
I even had a nice guy ask me if I liked sports ~ when I said yes he gave me 3 box tickets to the Bulls game that weekend. ( which are almost impossible to get. )
Well I don't know if this will help you but good luck with your venture. Mike
_____________________________________________________________________________________
hey man, I delivered pizzas years ago, and the funniest/stupidest thing that I ever did was I got the munchies after gettin stoned while drivin to a customer's house who ordered chicken fingers .. it was like on the the edge of our delivery radius, so the drive was kinda far and I could have swore that she ordered a large and I figured I would eat 1, so I zoned out, musta eaten more than 1, and when i got to her house, she checked it because it felt light and here she only ordered a small order and she only had 1 chicken finger left and realized I ate them and started bitchin .. hope it helps! -James
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Years ago, I slung pies for Domino’s. At the time I was in my 30s and completing my BA in History at Rowan (though MY degree says Glassboro State College).
On a night off, I got a call from the manager asking if I could help out at another store. Sure... no problem... could always use the cash.
So off I go to help out a store, whose territory is completely foreign to me. Keep in mind, at that time, Domino’s guaranteed delivery in 30 minutes or less, with a 3.00 discount if not delivered in the allotted time.
First order.... got lost. Finally found the house... rang the bell and it was answered by a kid no older than 14.
“Old dude you are late!”
“Yes I am, I don’t really know the area and I’m just helping out.”
“Whattaya stupid?”
Now I’m pissed off.
“YESSIR I AM. I DON’T FULLY UNDERSTAND THE THIRD LAW OF NEWTONIAN PHYSICS. NOW YOU LOOK LIKE A FUCKING ROCKET SCIENTIST.... MAYBE YOU COULD EXPLAIN IT TO ME.”
With that, I dropped the pizza at his feet and walked away. Didn’t even collect the money.
Feel free to edit..... the kid at the door was fat, red haired and freckle faced...
Just a suggestion for casting.... lol good luck
-Moe
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I used to deliver pizzas years ago when I was in High School.. One of the
craziest things that happened is that one night the "boss" (he was only
three years older than me) made us pound a beer every time we got back from
a delivery... Needless to say we closed early that night because everyone
was too drunk to drive after the 10th delivery or so...
I play in some bands that would be happy to get on a soundtrack too
Myspace.com/thevolunteers
Myspace.com/systemnoise
Let me know.
-- Dave Smith
-- The Wink Winks
-- dave@thewinkwinks.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Hey,
I got a great pizza delivery story. As a struggling musician, I had a gig delivering for a local Pizza joint in the burbs. I was driving a crappy car that was not street legal.
So, out on ONE DELIVERY, I had this happen (incredibly!), that may have inspired the song "Had a Bad Day":
Heading out for a delivery, I was pulled over by a police officer who issued me a ticket for lack of inspection for my vehicle (after I pleaded with him that I trying to make the $$$ to get it done....still got the ticket!).
I arrived at my destination (a little late of course) to find out I was delivering to a secret brothel (store front). I found this it because they were getting busted the time that i had arrived.
Ya, truth is stranger that fiction.
Ken
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My name is Rush. I'm from Los Angeles, CA.
We have a town near by called Glendale, CA near East Los Angeles.. It's primarily Armenian mixed with Mexican populated area. The year was 2005. I was interning at a recording studio at the same time and needed some cash at the time. So I started working for Domino's Pizza! It worked for me for about 5 months before I was sent to North East Los Angeles one evening. I didn't know back then that it's a Latin populated area, high of Mexican gangs and other motherfuckers who'd kill each other for fuck knows why. But a really disgusting neighborhood...it was my only second year in the US as I came here from Russia in 2004, so I wasn't familiar with all the good and bad areas of the city.
You would deliver pizza and see people don't live in the best conditions but it didn't seem right away that someone can just come up to you and give you a bad time...
Well, back to the story. I don't remember what time it was, 8pm or may be 11pm. We'd work till 2am therefore I have idea what time it was.
I drive to the apartment building, there's only one street light on the whole fucking street. To be on the safe side I kept as close to the that light as possible. I usually kept pizzas and other stuff in the trunk of the car(Nissan 200SX, 1998). So I'm sitting in the car and calling the guy - hey pizza guy is here can you come out or let me know what suite number is it? He says he'll come out in a minute and tells me to wait. While I was talking to him on the phone two Hispanic guys come over and stand next to my car and ask me for a cigarette. Well it seems no problem there, I've been asked for a cig in this area before and I felt safe, no worries you know. I give a guy a cigarette and come out of the car to get pizza out of the trunk. At that point one of the Hispanic dudes, a shorter guy (the other one was a taller guy), comes up to me and I didn't know what he was saying to me, may be he was speaking Spanish to me may be just was fucking around to get my attention, so I'm like sorry man, No Hable Espaniol. And I light up a cig and call the customer who's not showing up yet. While I'm on the phone I'm getting pizza from the trunk and the shorter Hispanic dude comes up to me very close and talks to me and I still can't understand what was he saying, and the strange thing was he was wearing a T-short on he's head so I didn't see his face.
The nex thing I know the guy is punching me in the face, my galesses all on the ground and breake, I don't see a shit at this point, but fight back and the guy back up. So I'm kinda chasing him in the dark and trying to fight. But he backs up and screams to the other guy - hey dude get the knife, get the knife!!! Well I dodn't know what happened, I didn't feel nothing, no fear, no pain, no agony. Just this thing is going through my mind - gotta get away, gotta get away. While I'm trying to fight this shorter guy, I can feel how taller one is in it too, and know two of them are fighting me. I don't know if it's called being jumped on, but I certaily felt like it know. I feel how I'm running of air, I feel how I'm getting tired.....It all happens very fast, have know Idea how long, but I don't think more than 3 to 4 minutes. So I manage to get away, in the dark. I don't see a thing, I run to the next street and see lights, those were cars. So I stop one of them and scream at them that I'm a pizza man and I've been robbed. Well the guy who stopped to help me told me to wait while he was calling the cops. Only when the guy told me I realized I was covered in blood from top down! Blood was everywhere, it seemed like somebody poored a bucket of blood on me...
I saw a cut on my right arm, and paramedics found a cut on my lower back, close to my but!
Cuts were deep, but not life fretaning, unless I didn't get help I'd probably bleed to death.
That's the story, Domino's paud all my medical expences and for the hospital stay. I didn't sue Domino's though everybody thought I shoud have. But the stor manager was so good to me, he even gave me money for my new glasses out of his own pocket.
Kids, if you don't know where you are, and something seems fishy, just leave, don't be a hero, get your ass out of there! Your mom or your girlfreind needs you, and they don't need a dead hero, they need a son, boyfriend, husband! ))))
I currently live in West Hollywood, I don't think about Hispanics as bad people, I know every nationality has their bad seeds. And I don't judge people by the race! I work as a Marketer for a Durable Medical Equipment company and part time office maneger at a doctros office. I play in a band that's called LongDayTooShort, myspace.com/longdaytooshorttheband
I don't blame life for anything, just keep in mind - SHIT HAPPENS. And it just one of those day!
Thanks
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I'm 45, so this was around 1982-1985 around that time. My friend and I had a band and I got a job delivering pizza, it was becoming the most popular (still is) pizza place in our hometown (Monroe, MI). So it was getting very busy and we needed more delivery people, I brought in my best friend (helped him get hired) and we started working on different days, and both working during busy times.
There are a lot of railroad tracks and things in the town we were from, so we decided to start a "contest" between the two of us.... it started with who could make the most boxes (down in their basement of the store) while the other was out delivering, and later we decided to see how much we could "get away with", during deliveries. The delivery area was huge by the way, like 15 or 20 mile radius. He won the "contest" by taking 3 pizzas, he delivered one, then drove about 5 miles to pickup his girlfriend and other buddy, they drove about another 5 miles and sat down to eat dinner at Denny's (by the freeway), when they finished their meal he delivered the 2nd pizza with them in the car, returned them to their apartment, then delivered the 3rd pizza (remember, no cell phones, pagers, etc. back then), when he finally returned about 3 hours later, our boss/owner was PISSED and confronted him, he blamed it on TWO trains that stopped on the railway
(occasionally happens there), and the boss believed it.
I had a 1972 Delta 88 Convertible, similar looking to this one I found online: http://vurdon.hu/uploads/shop/vurdon.hu/galeria/73/2246_big640.jpg
It was my "truck" for hauling band equipment. We had to move our rehearsal space VERY quickly, so we dropped the top and LOADED the car with Marshall amps, P.A. equipment, etc. in the middle of winter with a pretty heavy snow falling. While holding one of the heavier pieces of equipment and standing in the back, I started to "sink" down to the ground (road) level.... it turns out the floorboards were rusted and I was falling through the carpet. Nice.... salt in MI and heavy equipment.
Another time, a different friend in another band, had their equipment stolen from their rehearsal space. He had contacted the police, filed a report, and found that they had just pawned and already resold the equipment at one of the music stores. The police refused to do anything (it was also in Toledo OH instead of MI), it wasn't a big deal to them. We heard where the band (who bought the stolen equipment) was playing and during a pizza delivery, I picked up my friend, we walked into the bar where the band was setup and about to play in another hour or so, and we walked onstage, unplugged the equipment (belonging to my friend) and walked out with it, nobody knew what even happened, they thought we were part of the band. We quickly headed back and I used the "train" excuse, but it was only an hour or so to make the "delivery".
Later BTW, the police helped the band that purchased the equipment get the money back from the store, and fined the thieves (they weren't jailed...).
I now live in sunny San Diego, still play but mostly for fun. - Lord Dior
You know, the same building, the same people working, the same pizza, etc. is all still there when I go back and visit... it's kind of weird.
I just remembered another funny one:
- we made our own dough (I guess not so common now?), and you cut and weigh for large, medium, etc., and you ALWAYS have a little piece left over. We used to throw it UP through the ceiling tiles and it would go into the "ceiling" somewhere when we were done (that sounds SO wrong now... ha ha). Anyway, one day the bathroom door was locked and somebody had to climb up through the ceiling and down into the bathroom to unlock it (or call a locksmith), so I went up to do that, and there was a HUGE dough "pile" up in the ceiling I had to act like I didn't notice (owner didn't know). I wish I had a photo, I can't explain what that blob looked like... kind of: Jabba the Hut
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True story.
One time I was training to deliver the pizzas, I had to go to a frat house for one of the stops. When me and my trainer got to the house my trainer asked the guy at the door if he could use the bathroom real quick, while I did the transaction. When we got in the car to leave my trainer starts laughing and said, "I pissed in their shampoo!" Stunned I said, "What the hell did you do that for." He said, "My frat house hates that frat house."
Andrew Rivera
www.myspace.com/andrewtrivera
"What the hell did you do that for!"
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one time in high school me and my friends ordered a pizza and I when the delivery guy got there I hurried up and took off all my clothes and answered the door in my underwear. then when I paid him I pulled the money out of my underwear and handed it to him. -Jerry stone
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30+ yrs ago I played George in the original Broadway production of Beatlemania. The gig lasted 2 yrs – I got laid off/fired the night before my 30th birthday.
About 2 yrs later, I’m driving for a Hollywood courier service, trying to pay my child support and stay afloat. Beatlemania, the Film is in post-production at Lion’s Gate studio. I walk in to deliver a package and there’s the director and the piano player/musical director sitting in the lobby. They’re discussing something very important I’m sure and I stroll in wearing my uniform shirt and trying to get the receptionist’s attention.
I honestly don’t know who was more embarrassed – them or me. I tried to stay and chat with them for a minute, but it was really awkward.
Best of luck with your project.
P.M. Howard
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I am a musician who delivered pizzas. I only had the job for about 2 weeks and then my license got suspended but there was one time that there was a really weird address and the guy that ordered the pizza even said it's a hard place to find. Anyway I was driving all over the general area and pulled into this big parking lot. I got out of the car and saw this guy leaning against a car, back to me. I got about 5 feet away and said "Excuse me sir, I'm looking for this.." and then this girl rose up. This guy was getting serviced in the parking lot and I interrupted. I just kind of stood there for a second and then said "I'm..........REALLY sorry". Then the both of them were like "Oh it's OK, what were you asking?" And I told them I was lost looking for this address and the girl says "Oh that's Dean's place, he's across the street where those lights are, tell him Carol says what's up". So I went across the street, delivered the pizza to this STONED guy, told him Carol say what's up, and he says "You know Carol?! How do you know Carol?" and I'm just like "Eh, ya know, from just........around". So then he gives me a $20 tip and I went on my way. Best tip that job ever got me.
So that's my story, I hope it helps
Pete
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I am a musician who delivered pizzas. I only had the job for about 2 weeks and then my license got suspended but there was one time that there was a really weird address and the guy that ordered the pizza even said it's a hard place to find. Anyway I was driving all over the general area and pulled into this big parking lot. I got out of the car and saw this guy leaning against a car, back to me. I got about 5 feet away and said "Excuse me sir, I'm looking for this.." and then this girl rose up. This guy was getting serviced in the parking lot and I interrupted. I just kind of stood there for a second and then said "I'm..........REALLY sorry". Then the both of them were like "Oh it's OK, what were you asking?" And I told them I was lost looking for this address and the girl says "Oh that's Dean's place, he's across the street where those lights are, tell him Carol says what's up". So I went across the street, delivered the pizza to this STONED guy, told him Carol say what's up, and he says "You know Carol?! How do you know Carol?" and I'm just like "Eh, ya know, from just........around". So then he gives me a $20 tip and I went on my way. Best tip that job ever got me.
So that's my story, I hope it helps
Pete
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Hi Dan,
I have several pizza stories to share.
I dated a guy who got off on watching me with other men.
When we traveled and stayed at a motel he would hide in the bathroom and I would give the pizza guy a blow job for a tip.
It was like a bizzare kind of foreplay for us.
I'm around a bit if you want to chat about it.
Mindy
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David Meltspecial
Hmmm, sounds good I'll try to jot them here, and if you want more/extrapolation just let me know...
Some just off the top of my head when I think about it...
Delivered to a small motel, two ladies were inside the room who were most obviously hookers... Room stunk of body spray, and both were wearing hardly anything. One invited me in, and the other told her it was Illegal! I laughed to myself that it could somehow be illegal for me to enter the room, considering what they were both doing then jetted out of there.
Delivered to an apt, 2 gals and a guy inside puffing marijuana. They invited me inside to smoke with them, and then after i clearly hesitated and thanked them for the offer the guy offered one of the girls that wasn't sitting right next to him, and she looked at me and nodded.
Delivered to a jackass who took about 8-10 minutes to finally answer the office door at a warehouse/storage place. He flashed 9-10 100 dollar bills which i told him I didn't have change for... He then dicked me around forever... finally got paid with a shitty tip after waiting forever...Needless to say his subsequent delivery got "lost".
There are more but i'll send those for now, computer crashed the first time, and i lost some of it... Definitely don't want my name included in any credits, just sounded like a fun idea.
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Michael Laughlin
I've had the following quotes delivering pizzas in Pittsburgh :
"Look at that Eddie Vetter looking mutherfucker"
"Oh no, Tornado in the Ghetto" ...as a strong microburst storm forced me into my client's project apartment, the sky turned green, his kids were screaming, lightning was taking down trees, rain going sideways through the mail slot. I arrived back at my shop to find that the roof was blown off on to my boss's car.
Things like:
-Breaking an axle at 3am after delivering pizza all night on ice and barely coasting through the end of a tunnel in Pittsburgh.
- Getting hit after making an "illegal" left in a crazy 5 way intersection
- Getting robbed of a Hoagie in the projects by a pregnant lady because I forgot the cheese fries. while my boss told me to wait in the parking lot until he got there w/ the cops, the lady drove to the shop and threw the hoagie wrapper at the boss's wife. My boss later started telling everyone from the complex that we don't deliver there any more and gave out the pregnant ladies phone number to call and ask why.
- Launching my car onto snow banks to park during a blizzard.
- Was given "8mile"dvd as a tip while delivering to a hip hop radio station.
- Was pulled over 2x for speeding and let go because i worked for "enter restaurant here". one time the guy was like "why didn't you tell me that in the first place"
- Having an 81 vw rabbit that leaked water and shorted out every time it rained.
- Drug dealing and gambling bosses.
- Delivering to a guy w/ an extreme deformity in a hospital who was extremely pissed off and rude
- Tip in a strip club being 4 dollars that I have do give to the strippers
I delivered while touring w/ Cattle Decapitation and Creation is crucifixion.
-Mike
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Hi Dan,
My name is Dan too. I'm 42 years old now, but half a lifetime ago at age 18 I delivered pizzas for Domino's for nine months in 1984-85. My stories don't have any connection to my being a musician, but I had plenty of outrageous experiences that might be entertaining enough for your screenplay. Some examples I recall off the top of my head include:
- Delivering to a homosexual bathhouse with everyone nude, including underage "towel boys," with giant murals of men in mid sex act on the walls (quite an eye opener for me at that age and at that time).
- A rat crawled on my neck and shoulders when I entered a customer's house, and no I didn't drop the pizza.
- A water balloon was thrown at me from a sixth story dorm room when I arrived--the same dorm room where I was to deliver the pizza. I went up just to cuss them out and denied delivery (hot-headed and stupid back then).
- Delivered to a woman who specifically asked for a young man to bring her order for a significant tip. I drew the short straw and she was 50-ish, and answered the door in a see-through negligee. I declined her very direct "proposal" but she gave me a $5.50 tip anyway for a $8.50 pie.
- Received a high-quality bag of pot as a tip delivering to a New Year's Eve party.
- Delivered to a party where, unknown to me (and them), some of my friends were there. I stayed for awhile and got drunk on screwdrivers. As I left I hit a parked car, fled the scene, and drove drunk for the rest of my shift with five hours to go (again, young and stupid).
- Delivered to a party where I was greeted by twelve big guys who took the pies from me the moment I walked in, refused to pay, and blocked the door to keep me from leaving. After about fifteen minutes, they finally paid and let me leave after an aggressive stand-off (hot-headed and stupid yet again). I got in my car parked in their driveway and it wouldn't start!
- Cut through a dark alley downtown to save time and was stopped by a mugger. I told him that even though my name tag said "driver doesn't carry more than $20" I actually had $30 and even showed it to him. I convinced him that if I gave him the money I would get in trouble and probably fired. I must have earned his trust because he let me go without taking the money.
- This was back in the day of the 30-minute guarantee and being encouraged to run in the store and out in the field (now both considered safety hazards). I was running downtown into a bar (although underage I was allowed because they were hungry). As I turned the corner to enter, a homeless man was sleeping in the doorway and I didn't see him until the last second. I successfully hurdled him, keeping the pizzas level, and when I landed I received a thunderous applause from all the patrons.
- I have many strip club stories (again when I was three years too young to enter otherwise). One time the delivery was for a stripper who was wearing nothing but pasties with tassels. She paid with 11 very damp one dollar bills which, to be nice, strongly smelled like "sweat."
- I worked at various stores, and at one store I worked we were robbed at gunpoint at 2:30am. There were four of us there, and he had two of us tie up the other two with pieces of nylon rope he brought. I was one who was forced face down on the floor and tied up by my assistant manager (very loosely which went unnoticed). He wore a ski mask and disguised his voice in a rough way. His gun was a revolver and I clearly remember being able to see into the chambers when he pointed it at me, and it was fully loaded. We estimated his haul at about $1400 and he was never caught.
I'm sure there's more and if you think I may be able to assist you, I can try to remember them and write them down. When you say you're writing a screenplay, that means you're writing an original story based on the experiences you learn from folks like me, right? If it's a documentary, I don't want to be on record sharing the stories of illegal activity in which I participated. I'm okay with a full name "thank you" credit on a film not associating which event with whom, and would actually be flattered. Get back to me when you can if you're interested.
Thanks,
Dan
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Funny idea.
Here are a few short ones.
I worked at a bunch of pizza places back when I used to play in a band. I had uniforms from all the big chains and we played a few shows all wearing uniforms from competing pizza places.
I also stole a few hot bags that our drummer used for cymbal cases.
I worked with this guy at a Pizza Hut that was an insane guitarist who used to drive around with this little guitar that had no body, it was just like a neck from the bridge to the nut and he used to play that thing in his truck whenever he hit a stop light. He never did anything with his talent because he was a major alcoholic and coke fiend. He come over to my pad once to watch my punk band practice and literally spit his beer when he heard us play and shouted “you guys suck”. Fucker. He was a little abrasive. Then, after he gets kicked out of his room at the YMCA he turns up sleeping in his truck in the alley behind my house and hanging out there all the time until one day he just disappeared of the face of the earth. Probably got busted for something.
A guy once smoked me out for a tip.
When I got fired from that Pizza Hut I went back and jammed a key in the lock so they couldn’t open on a morning when they were providing school lunch to the local high school.
Anyway, nothing spectacular but maybe it’ll give you some ideas.
If you wanna check out a short film and a few videos my buddy made I’ve got them on my myspace.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=106146647
Either way, drop me a line when you finish. I’d like to see how it comes out.
Later.
Dan
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Hey, I used to deliver in my youth. One story that stands out is that I had a guy I delivered to every Saturday night without fail. He never tipped his order came to 8.48 and he wanted his 1.52 back every time. I went to his house on Crutches and a leg brace, On skateboard telling him my car broke down and even in a tux and no luck never got a tip from the cheap sob. Also had an aquaintance who was a cop and would pull me over to help him trash pick and even call in a man hole cover that was out of the manhole( I removed the cover called in the fact that it was out) so that he could get a Workers Comp case by putting it back.
Just a few of the F-ed up things. Feel free to use if it fits the bill. Just send me a link to the finished project I am a frustrated film nut.
Good luck in the film
Scott
It's not the heat. It's the inhumanity.
-Scott
Sir or Madam,
I have done pizza delivery for a few years and do have quite a few stories to tell.
I've come across pool parties; women that answer their door in lingerie; men and women that were in the throws of passion and I interrupted them by my arrival; women sun bathing, guys working on cars; ignorant people; nice people; vehicle failures or an accident while on duty...
I can go on and on about things I have come across.
Keep me posted, if you would like to use my experiences.
Bob
Bensalem
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True life pizza delivery stories:
Hi Dan, I'm a transplant to Minnisota. I was born and raised in Chicago and started delivering pizzas in 1964 when I was 16 and got my first car a 1950 Buick. The owners of the pizzaria are very good family friends of mine and I even delivered through my adult years on weekends until I moved up here.
You wouldn't believe what some of the people do when I would deliver a pie.
I've had both men and women answer the door nude and ask me to trade them the pizza for sex.
I've had them try to trade a dog, cat, puppy, kitten, turtle, clock radio, XXX rated movies, tools, beer, wacky weed, and more than once I've had a guy try to trade me his wife for a half hour.
I've had women answer the door with a shitload of kids and tell me they don't have any money and if I don't give her the pizza the kids will starve.
But then I've had people tip me as much as $100.
I even had a nice guy ask me if I liked sports ~ when I said yes he gave me 3 box tickets to the Bulls game that weekend. ( which are almost impossible to get. )
Well I don't know if this will help you but good luck with your venture. Mike
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hey man, I delivered pizzas years ago, and the funniest/stupidest thing that I ever did was I got the munchies after gettin stoned while drivin to a customer's house who ordered chicken fingers .. it was like on the the edge of our delivery radius, so the drive was kinda far and I could have swore that she ordered a large and I figured I would eat 1, so I zoned out, musta eaten more than 1, and when i got to her house, she checked it because it felt light and here she only ordered a small order and she only had 1 chicken finger left and realized I ate them and started bitchin .. hope it helps! -James
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Years ago, I slung pies for Domino’s. At the time I was in my 30s and completing my BA in History at Rowan (though MY degree says Glassboro State College).
On a night off, I got a call from the manager asking if I could help out at another store. Sure... no problem... could always use the cash.
So off I go to help out a store, whose territory is completely foreign to me. Keep in mind, at that time, Domino’s guaranteed delivery in 30 minutes or less, with a 3.00 discount if not delivered in the allotted time.
First order.... got lost. Finally found the house... rang the bell and it was answered by a kid no older than 14.
“Old dude you are late!”
“Yes I am, I don’t really know the area and I’m just helping out.”
“Whattaya stupid?”
Now I’m pissed off.
“YESSIR I AM. I DON’T FULLY UNDERSTAND THE THIRD LAW OF NEWTONIAN PHYSICS. NOW YOU LOOK LIKE A FUCKING ROCKET SCIENTIST.... MAYBE YOU COULD EXPLAIN IT TO ME.”
With that, I dropped the pizza at his feet and walked away. Didn’t even collect the money.
Feel free to edit..... the kid at the door was fat, red haired and freckle faced...
Just a suggestion for casting.... lol good luck
-Moe
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I used to deliver pizzas years ago when I was in High School.. One of the
craziest things that happened is that one night the "boss" (he was only
three years older than me) made us pound a beer every time we got back from
a delivery... Needless to say we closed early that night because everyone
was too drunk to drive after the 10th delivery or so...
I play in some bands that would be happy to get on a soundtrack too
Myspace.com/thevolunteers
Myspace.com/systemnoise
Let me know.
-- Dave Smith
-- The Wink Winks
-- dave@thewinkwinks.com
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Hey,
I got a great pizza delivery story. As a struggling musician, I had a gig delivering for a local Pizza joint in the burbs. I was driving a crappy car that was not street legal.
So, out on ONE DELIVERY, I had this happen (incredibly!), that may have inspired the song "Had a Bad Day":
Heading out for a delivery, I was pulled over by a police officer who issued me a ticket for lack of inspection for my vehicle (after I pleaded with him that I trying to make the $$$ to get it done....still got the ticket!).
I arrived at my destination (a little late of course) to find out I was delivering to a secret brothel (store front). I found this it because they were getting busted the time that i had arrived.
Ya, truth is stranger that fiction.
Ken
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My name is Rush. I'm from Los Angeles, CA.
We have a town near by called Glendale, CA near East Los Angeles.. It's primarily Armenian mixed with Mexican populated area. The year was 2005. I was interning at a recording studio at the same time and needed some cash at the time. So I started working for Domino's Pizza! It worked for me for about 5 months before I was sent to North East Los Angeles one evening. I didn't know back then that it's a Latin populated area, high of Mexican gangs and other motherfuckers who'd kill each other for fuck knows why. But a really disgusting neighborhood...it was my only second year in the US as I came here from Russia in 2004, so I wasn't familiar with all the good and bad areas of the city.
You would deliver pizza and see people don't live in the best conditions but it didn't seem right away that someone can just come up to you and give you a bad time...
Well, back to the story. I don't remember what time it was, 8pm or may be 11pm. We'd work till 2am therefore I have idea what time it was.
I drive to the apartment building, there's only one street light on the whole fucking street. To be on the safe side I kept as close to the that light as possible. I usually kept pizzas and other stuff in the trunk of the car(Nissan 200SX, 1998). So I'm sitting in the car and calling the guy - hey pizza guy is here can you come out or let me know what suite number is it? He says he'll come out in a minute and tells me to wait. While I was talking to him on the phone two Hispanic guys come over and stand next to my car and ask me for a cigarette. Well it seems no problem there, I've been asked for a cig in this area before and I felt safe, no worries you know. I give a guy a cigarette and come out of the car to get pizza out of the trunk. At that point one of the Hispanic dudes, a shorter guy (the other one was a taller guy), comes up to me and I didn't know what he was saying to me, may be he was speaking Spanish to me may be just was fucking around to get my attention, so I'm like sorry man, No Hable Espaniol. And I light up a cig and call the customer who's not showing up yet. While I'm on the phone I'm getting pizza from the trunk and the shorter Hispanic dude comes up to me very close and talks to me and I still can't understand what was he saying, and the strange thing was he was wearing a T-short on he's head so I didn't see his face.
The nex thing I know the guy is punching me in the face, my galesses all on the ground and breake, I don't see a shit at this point, but fight back and the guy back up. So I'm kinda chasing him in the dark and trying to fight. But he backs up and screams to the other guy - hey dude get the knife, get the knife!!! Well I dodn't know what happened, I didn't feel nothing, no fear, no pain, no agony. Just this thing is going through my mind - gotta get away, gotta get away. While I'm trying to fight this shorter guy, I can feel how taller one is in it too, and know two of them are fighting me. I don't know if it's called being jumped on, but I certaily felt like it know. I feel how I'm running of air, I feel how I'm getting tired.....It all happens very fast, have know Idea how long, but I don't think more than 3 to 4 minutes. So I manage to get away, in the dark. I don't see a thing, I run to the next street and see lights, those were cars. So I stop one of them and scream at them that I'm a pizza man and I've been robbed. Well the guy who stopped to help me told me to wait while he was calling the cops. Only when the guy told me I realized I was covered in blood from top down! Blood was everywhere, it seemed like somebody poored a bucket of blood on me...
I saw a cut on my right arm, and paramedics found a cut on my lower back, close to my but!
Cuts were deep, but not life fretaning, unless I didn't get help I'd probably bleed to death.
That's the story, Domino's paud all my medical expences and for the hospital stay. I didn't sue Domino's though everybody thought I shoud have. But the stor manager was so good to me, he even gave me money for my new glasses out of his own pocket.
Kids, if you don't know where you are, and something seems fishy, just leave, don't be a hero, get your ass out of there! Your mom or your girlfreind needs you, and they don't need a dead hero, they need a son, boyfriend, husband! ))))
I currently live in West Hollywood, I don't think about Hispanics as bad people, I know every nationality has their bad seeds. And I don't judge people by the race! I work as a Marketer for a Durable Medical Equipment company and part time office maneger at a doctros office. I play in a band that's called LongDayTooShort, myspace.com/longdaytooshorttheband
I don't blame life for anything, just keep in mind - SHIT HAPPENS. And it just one of those day!
Thanks
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I'm 45, so this was around 1982-1985 around that time. My friend and I had a band and I got a job delivering pizza, it was becoming the most popular (still is) pizza place in our hometown (Monroe, MI). So it was getting very busy and we needed more delivery people, I brought in my best friend (helped him get hired) and we started working on different days, and both working during busy times.
There are a lot of railroad tracks and things in the town we were from, so we decided to start a "contest" between the two of us.... it started with who could make the most boxes (down in their basement of the store) while the other was out delivering, and later we decided to see how much we could "get away with", during deliveries. The delivery area was huge by the way, like 15 or 20 mile radius. He won the "contest" by taking 3 pizzas, he delivered one, then drove about 5 miles to pickup his girlfriend and other buddy, they drove about another 5 miles and sat down to eat dinner at Denny's (by the freeway), when they finished their meal he delivered the 2nd pizza with them in the car, returned them to their apartment, then delivered the 3rd pizza (remember, no cell phones, pagers, etc. back then), when he finally returned about 3 hours later, our boss/owner was PISSED and confronted him, he blamed it on TWO trains that stopped on the railway
(occasionally happens there), and the boss believed it.
I had a 1972 Delta 88 Convertible, similar looking to this one I found online: http://vurdon.hu/uploads/shop/vurdon.hu/galeria/73/2246_big640.jpg
It was my "truck" for hauling band equipment. We had to move our rehearsal space VERY quickly, so we dropped the top and LOADED the car with Marshall amps, P.A. equipment, etc. in the middle of winter with a pretty heavy snow falling. While holding one of the heavier pieces of equipment and standing in the back, I started to "sink" down to the ground (road) level.... it turns out the floorboards were rusted and I was falling through the carpet. Nice.... salt in MI and heavy equipment.
Another time, a different friend in another band, had their equipment stolen from their rehearsal space. He had contacted the police, filed a report, and found that they had just pawned and already resold the equipment at one of the music stores. The police refused to do anything (it was also in Toledo OH instead of MI), it wasn't a big deal to them. We heard where the band (who bought the stolen equipment) was playing and during a pizza delivery, I picked up my friend, we walked into the bar where the band was setup and about to play in another hour or so, and we walked onstage, unplugged the equipment (belonging to my friend) and walked out with it, nobody knew what even happened, they thought we were part of the band. We quickly headed back and I used the "train" excuse, but it was only an hour or so to make the "delivery".
Later BTW, the police helped the band that purchased the equipment get the money back from the store, and fined the thieves (they weren't jailed...).
I now live in sunny San Diego, still play but mostly for fun. - Lord Dior
You know, the same building, the same people working, the same pizza, etc. is all still there when I go back and visit... it's kind of weird.
I just remembered another funny one:
- we made our own dough (I guess not so common now?), and you cut and weigh for large, medium, etc., and you ALWAYS have a little piece left over. We used to throw it UP through the ceiling tiles and it would go into the "ceiling" somewhere when we were done (that sounds SO wrong now... ha ha). Anyway, one day the bathroom door was locked and somebody had to climb up through the ceiling and down into the bathroom to unlock it (or call a locksmith), so I went up to do that, and there was a HUGE dough "pile" up in the ceiling I had to act like I didn't notice (owner didn't know). I wish I had a photo, I can't explain what that blob looked like... kind of: Jabba the Hut
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True story.
One time I was training to deliver the pizzas, I had to go to a frat house for one of the stops. When me and my trainer got to the house my trainer asked the guy at the door if he could use the bathroom real quick, while I did the transaction. When we got in the car to leave my trainer starts laughing and said, "I pissed in their shampoo!" Stunned I said, "What the hell did you do that for." He said, "My frat house hates that frat house."
Andrew Rivera
www.myspace.com/andrewtrivera
"What the hell did you do that for!"
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one time in high school me and my friends ordered a pizza and I when the delivery guy got there I hurried up and took off all my clothes and answered the door in my underwear. then when I paid him I pulled the money out of my underwear and handed it to him. -Jerry stone
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30+ yrs ago I played George in the original Broadway production of Beatlemania. The gig lasted 2 yrs – I got laid off/fired the night before my 30th birthday.
About 2 yrs later, I’m driving for a Hollywood courier service, trying to pay my child support and stay afloat. Beatlemania, the Film is in post-production at Lion’s Gate studio. I walk in to deliver a package and there’s the director and the piano player/musical director sitting in the lobby. They’re discussing something very important I’m sure and I stroll in wearing my uniform shirt and trying to get the receptionist’s attention.
I honestly don’t know who was more embarrassed – them or me. I tried to stay and chat with them for a minute, but it was really awkward.
Best of luck with your project.
P.M. Howard
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I am a musician who delivered pizzas. I only had the job for about 2 weeks and then my license got suspended but there was one time that there was a really weird address and the guy that ordered the pizza even said it's a hard place to find. Anyway I was driving all over the general area and pulled into this big parking lot. I got out of the car and saw this guy leaning against a car, back to me. I got about 5 feet away and said "Excuse me sir, I'm looking for this.." and then this girl rose up. This guy was getting serviced in the parking lot and I interrupted. I just kind of stood there for a second and then said "I'm..........REALLY sorry". Then the both of them were like "Oh it's OK, what were you asking?" And I told them I was lost looking for this address and the girl says "Oh that's Dean's place, he's across the street where those lights are, tell him Carol says what's up". So I went across the street, delivered the pizza to this STONED guy, told him Carol say what's up, and he says "You know Carol?! How do you know Carol?" and I'm just like "Eh, ya know, from just........around". So then he gives me a $20 tip and I went on my way. Best tip that job ever got me.
So that's my story, I hope it helps
Pete
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I am a musician who delivered pizzas. I only had the job for about 2 weeks and then my license got suspended but there was one time that there was a really weird address and the guy that ordered the pizza even said it's a hard place to find. Anyway I was driving all over the general area and pulled into this big parking lot. I got out of the car and saw this guy leaning against a car, back to me. I got about 5 feet away and said "Excuse me sir, I'm looking for this.." and then this girl rose up. This guy was getting serviced in the parking lot and I interrupted. I just kind of stood there for a second and then said "I'm..........REALLY sorry". Then the both of them were like "Oh it's OK, what were you asking?" And I told them I was lost looking for this address and the girl says "Oh that's Dean's place, he's across the street where those lights are, tell him Carol says what's up". So I went across the street, delivered the pizza to this STONED guy, told him Carol say what's up, and he says "You know Carol?! How do you know Carol?" and I'm just like "Eh, ya know, from just........around". So then he gives me a $20 tip and I went on my way. Best tip that job ever got me.
So that's my story, I hope it helps
Pete
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Hi Dan,
I have several pizza stories to share.
I dated a guy who got off on watching me with other men.
When we traveled and stayed at a motel he would hide in the bathroom and I would give the pizza guy a blow job for a tip.
It was like a bizzare kind of foreplay for us.
I'm around a bit if you want to chat about it.
Mindy
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David Meltspecial
Hmmm, sounds good I'll try to jot them here, and if you want more/extrapolation just let me know...
Some just off the top of my head when I think about it...
Delivered to a small motel, two ladies were inside the room who were most obviously hookers... Room stunk of body spray, and both were wearing hardly anything. One invited me in, and the other told her it was Illegal! I laughed to myself that it could somehow be illegal for me to enter the room, considering what they were both doing then jetted out of there.
Delivered to an apt, 2 gals and a guy inside puffing marijuana. They invited me inside to smoke with them, and then after i clearly hesitated and thanked them for the offer the guy offered one of the girls that wasn't sitting right next to him, and she looked at me and nodded.
Delivered to a jackass who took about 8-10 minutes to finally answer the office door at a warehouse/storage place. He flashed 9-10 100 dollar bills which i told him I didn't have change for... He then dicked me around forever... finally got paid with a shitty tip after waiting forever...Needless to say his subsequent delivery got "lost".
There are more but i'll send those for now, computer crashed the first time, and i lost some of it... Definitely don't want my name included in any credits, just sounded like a fun idea.
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Michael Laughlin
I've had the following quotes delivering pizzas in Pittsburgh :
"Look at that Eddie Vetter looking mutherfucker"
"Oh no, Tornado in the Ghetto" ...as a strong microburst storm forced me into my client's project apartment, the sky turned green, his kids were screaming, lightning was taking down trees, rain going sideways through the mail slot. I arrived back at my shop to find that the roof was blown off on to my boss's car.
Things like:
-Breaking an axle at 3am after delivering pizza all night on ice and barely coasting through the end of a tunnel in Pittsburgh.
- Getting hit after making an "illegal" left in a crazy 5 way intersection
- Getting robbed of a Hoagie in the projects by a pregnant lady because I forgot the cheese fries. while my boss told me to wait in the parking lot until he got there w/ the cops, the lady drove to the shop and threw the hoagie wrapper at the boss's wife. My boss later started telling everyone from the complex that we don't deliver there any more and gave out the pregnant ladies phone number to call and ask why.
- Launching my car onto snow banks to park during a blizzard.
- Was given "8mile"dvd as a tip while delivering to a hip hop radio station.
- Was pulled over 2x for speeding and let go because i worked for "enter restaurant here". one time the guy was like "why didn't you tell me that in the first place"
- Having an 81 vw rabbit that leaked water and shorted out every time it rained.
- Drug dealing and gambling bosses.
- Delivering to a guy w/ an extreme deformity in a hospital who was extremely pissed off and rude
- Tip in a strip club being 4 dollars that I have do give to the strippers
I delivered while touring w/ Cattle Decapitation and Creation is crucifixion.
-Mike
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Hi Dan,
My name is Dan too. I'm 42 years old now, but half a lifetime ago at age 18 I delivered pizzas for Domino's for nine months in 1984-85. My stories don't have any connection to my being a musician, but I had plenty of outrageous experiences that might be entertaining enough for your screenplay. Some examples I recall off the top of my head include:
- Delivering to a homosexual bathhouse with everyone nude, including underage "towel boys," with giant murals of men in mid sex act on the walls (quite an eye opener for me at that age and at that time).
- A rat crawled on my neck and shoulders when I entered a customer's house, and no I didn't drop the pizza.
- A water balloon was thrown at me from a sixth story dorm room when I arrived--the same dorm room where I was to deliver the pizza. I went up just to cuss them out and denied delivery (hot-headed and stupid back then).
- Delivered to a woman who specifically asked for a young man to bring her order for a significant tip. I drew the short straw and she was 50-ish, and answered the door in a see-through negligee. I declined her very direct "proposal" but she gave me a $5.50 tip anyway for a $8.50 pie.
- Received a high-quality bag of pot as a tip delivering to a New Year's Eve party.
- Delivered to a party where, unknown to me (and them), some of my friends were there. I stayed for awhile and got drunk on screwdrivers. As I left I hit a parked car, fled the scene, and drove drunk for the rest of my shift with five hours to go (again, young and stupid).
- Delivered to a party where I was greeted by twelve big guys who took the pies from me the moment I walked in, refused to pay, and blocked the door to keep me from leaving. After about fifteen minutes, they finally paid and let me leave after an aggressive stand-off (hot-headed and stupid yet again). I got in my car parked in their driveway and it wouldn't start!
- Cut through a dark alley downtown to save time and was stopped by a mugger. I told him that even though my name tag said "driver doesn't carry more than $20" I actually had $30 and even showed it to him. I convinced him that if I gave him the money I would get in trouble and probably fired. I must have earned his trust because he let me go without taking the money.
- This was back in the day of the 30-minute guarantee and being encouraged to run in the store and out in the field (now both considered safety hazards). I was running downtown into a bar (although underage I was allowed because they were hungry). As I turned the corner to enter, a homeless man was sleeping in the doorway and I didn't see him until the last second. I successfully hurdled him, keeping the pizzas level, and when I landed I received a thunderous applause from all the patrons.
- I have many strip club stories (again when I was three years too young to enter otherwise). One time the delivery was for a stripper who was wearing nothing but pasties with tassels. She paid with 11 very damp one dollar bills which, to be nice, strongly smelled like "sweat."
- I worked at various stores, and at one store I worked we were robbed at gunpoint at 2:30am. There were four of us there, and he had two of us tie up the other two with pieces of nylon rope he brought. I was one who was forced face down on the floor and tied up by my assistant manager (very loosely which went unnoticed). He wore a ski mask and disguised his voice in a rough way. His gun was a revolver and I clearly remember being able to see into the chambers when he pointed it at me, and it was fully loaded. We estimated his haul at about $1400 and he was never caught.
I'm sure there's more and if you think I may be able to assist you, I can try to remember them and write them down. When you say you're writing a screenplay, that means you're writing an original story based on the experiences you learn from folks like me, right? If it's a documentary, I don't want to be on record sharing the stories of illegal activity in which I participated. I'm okay with a full name "thank you" credit on a film not associating which event with whom, and would actually be flattered. Get back to me when you can if you're interested.
Thanks,
Dan
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Funny idea.
Here are a few short ones.
I worked at a bunch of pizza places back when I used to play in a band. I had uniforms from all the big chains and we played a few shows all wearing uniforms from competing pizza places.
I also stole a few hot bags that our drummer used for cymbal cases.
I worked with this guy at a Pizza Hut that was an insane guitarist who used to drive around with this little guitar that had no body, it was just like a neck from the bridge to the nut and he used to play that thing in his truck whenever he hit a stop light. He never did anything with his talent because he was a major alcoholic and coke fiend. He come over to my pad once to watch my punk band practice and literally spit his beer when he heard us play and shouted “you guys suck”. Fucker. He was a little abrasive. Then, after he gets kicked out of his room at the YMCA he turns up sleeping in his truck in the alley behind my house and hanging out there all the time until one day he just disappeared of the face of the earth. Probably got busted for something.
A guy once smoked me out for a tip.
When I got fired from that Pizza Hut I went back and jammed a key in the lock so they couldn’t open on a morning when they were providing school lunch to the local high school.
Anyway, nothing spectacular but maybe it’ll give you some ideas.
If you wanna check out a short film and a few videos my buddy made I’ve got them on my myspace.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=106146647
Either way, drop me a line when you finish. I’d like to see how it comes out.
Later.
Dan
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Hey, I used to deliver in my youth. One story that stands out is that I had a guy I delivered to every Saturday night without fail. He never tipped his order came to 8.48 and he wanted his 1.52 back every time. I went to his house on Crutches and a leg brace, On skateboard telling him my car broke down and even in a tux and no luck never got a tip from the cheap sob. Also had an aquaintance who was a cop and would pull me over to help him trash pick and even call in a man hole cover that was out of the manhole( I removed the cover called in the fact that it was out) so that he could get a Workers Comp case by putting it back.
Just a few of the F-ed up things. Feel free to use if it fits the bill. Just send me a link to the finished project I am a frustrated film nut.
Good luck in the film
Scott
It's not the heat. It's the inhumanity.
-Scott
Writing ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM)
My quest to make ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) has been an interesting journey, and a great learning experience for me. I hope you've been enjoying reading about it...
Technically, ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) is my second film project, but it is still my first real production where I used professional cast and crew. My first film project was a 5 minute long experimental short that I made with a few friends 2 years ago. I did enter that short into the West Chester Film Festival at the time, but it didn't make the cut for the 2009 Film Festival. That video was called: What Happened to Jack?, and it's on You Tube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kvOUzz5gco When I wrote the "script" for that film, I was inspired by the narration in the beginning of Plan 9 from Outer Space. My script really wasn't a traditional script, in that I wrote it in an e-mail without the traditional script lingo that most professionals use. In general in my life I like to do things efficiently whenever possible, so to me it just didn't make sense for me to spend a lot of time getting the formatting "right". My main concern as a writer is to write as best as I can, and that's what I did with ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM). A couple people involved in the project encouraged me to format the script, but in both cases I didn't end up following their advice - mainly because I'm a procrastinator and I just kept putting it off... lol! When the film was shot over the Summer none of the actors complained about the lack of formatting though. So, for now I'm probably going to keep doing what I've been doing - writing scripts in e-mails and saving drafts. Another advantage of writing scripts in e-mails is that they are saved on the internet, so if my computer crashes I still have back-up copies online.
I try to be efficient, but man, it took a freaking long time to get the script to where it needed to be before I filmed ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM). I already mentioned in a previous blog about how me and Rob Melso wrote a few episodes of the ZOMBIES AND PIZZA web-show... I still have those drafts and may revisit them at one point. After I wrote them though, I wrote at least 3 very different drafts of the script. One thing about my writing is that I'm a constant reviser. Some people have complained about my technique, because it can be frustrating for other people when they are collaborating with me. I tend to hold nothing sacred, and will change anything at will - sometimes making drastic changes. Probably I'm better off not collaborating... lol, but I do like to get constructive feedback while I'm slaving away on my writings. In general I tend to write my initial drafts quickly, then slave away on re-writes for as long as I can. That's kind of how the writing for Zombies and Pizza went. Katie Lightcap did a bit of editing on one of the early drafts, as did Season Harper Fox, but in both cases they mostly just offered their support and told me it looked good at the time. The funny thing about this to me (and I love irony) is that all these years I've been writing have gone by and I have yet to find a collaborator who will just go and scratch out things and make changes like (I think) I want! Most people have too much tact to do that, but in my case I dish it out like I can take it... (I think)!
Anyway, everything in my life seems to be an evolution of ideas. One idea leads to a better idea, until eventually I find some other people who like my idea enough for them to take the time to help me make it happen.
Okay, well I've got to get running for now... I'll try and post a new blog before too long... it's still "crunch time!"
Technically, ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) is my second film project, but it is still my first real production where I used professional cast and crew. My first film project was a 5 minute long experimental short that I made with a few friends 2 years ago. I did enter that short into the West Chester Film Festival at the time, but it didn't make the cut for the 2009 Film Festival. That video was called: What Happened to Jack?, and it's on You Tube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kvOUzz5gco When I wrote the "script" for that film, I was inspired by the narration in the beginning of Plan 9 from Outer Space. My script really wasn't a traditional script, in that I wrote it in an e-mail without the traditional script lingo that most professionals use. In general in my life I like to do things efficiently whenever possible, so to me it just didn't make sense for me to spend a lot of time getting the formatting "right". My main concern as a writer is to write as best as I can, and that's what I did with ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM). A couple people involved in the project encouraged me to format the script, but in both cases I didn't end up following their advice - mainly because I'm a procrastinator and I just kept putting it off... lol! When the film was shot over the Summer none of the actors complained about the lack of formatting though. So, for now I'm probably going to keep doing what I've been doing - writing scripts in e-mails and saving drafts. Another advantage of writing scripts in e-mails is that they are saved on the internet, so if my computer crashes I still have back-up copies online.
I try to be efficient, but man, it took a freaking long time to get the script to where it needed to be before I filmed ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM). I already mentioned in a previous blog about how me and Rob Melso wrote a few episodes of the ZOMBIES AND PIZZA web-show... I still have those drafts and may revisit them at one point. After I wrote them though, I wrote at least 3 very different drafts of the script. One thing about my writing is that I'm a constant reviser. Some people have complained about my technique, because it can be frustrating for other people when they are collaborating with me. I tend to hold nothing sacred, and will change anything at will - sometimes making drastic changes. Probably I'm better off not collaborating... lol, but I do like to get constructive feedback while I'm slaving away on my writings. In general I tend to write my initial drafts quickly, then slave away on re-writes for as long as I can. That's kind of how the writing for Zombies and Pizza went. Katie Lightcap did a bit of editing on one of the early drafts, as did Season Harper Fox, but in both cases they mostly just offered their support and told me it looked good at the time. The funny thing about this to me (and I love irony) is that all these years I've been writing have gone by and I have yet to find a collaborator who will just go and scratch out things and make changes like (I think) I want! Most people have too much tact to do that, but in my case I dish it out like I can take it... (I think)!
Anyway, everything in my life seems to be an evolution of ideas. One idea leads to a better idea, until eventually I find some other people who like my idea enough for them to take the time to help me make it happen.
Okay, well I've got to get running for now... I'll try and post a new blog before too long... it's still "crunch time!"
Some Relevant Links
Here are a few links related to ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM)... enjoy!
This is an interview I did for Season Harper Fox's blog:
http://seasonharperfox.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/an-interview-with-daniel-pevar-renaissance-dude/
Here's an interview with Helen Campitelli, ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) co-producer:
http://theunappreciatedscholar.blogspot.com/2010/09/from-troma-to-drama.html
This is the Atomic Mosquitos website... their music will be appearing in the film:
http://www.atomicmosquitos.com/
This is Rob Melso's website... his music will be appearing in the film:
http://robertmelso.bandcamp.com/
This is David Kappler's website... He was the cinematographer/co-director of Z&P:
http://www.kapplerphoto.com/
This is the Spring City Hotel and Restaurants Website... we filmed here:
http://www.springcityhotel.net/home.htm
This is Pulse Beauty Academy's website... we filmed here:
http://pulse.paulmitchell.edu/downingtown-pa
Zombie Make-up Tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltFoOI9cjDk
Gary Becomes a Zombie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QKV7s_uaJM
Make-up for filming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbmCtnMgNoY
"I love Zombies and Pizza" page on Face Book - this is a neat Face Book page, check it out: http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-love-Pizza-AND-Zombies/312142969290
*I'll be adding to this list soon :)
This is an interview I did for Season Harper Fox's blog:
http://seasonharperfox.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/an-interview-with-daniel-pevar-renaissance-dude/
Here's an interview with Helen Campitelli, ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) co-producer:
http://theunappreciatedscholar.blogspot.com/2010/09/from-troma-to-drama.html
This is the Atomic Mosquitos website... their music will be appearing in the film:
http://www.atomicmosquitos.com/
This is Rob Melso's website... his music will be appearing in the film:
http://robertmelso.bandcamp.com/
This is David Kappler's website... He was the cinematographer/co-director of Z&P:
http://www.kapplerphoto.com/
This is the Spring City Hotel and Restaurants Website... we filmed here:
http://www.springcityhotel.net/home.htm
This is Pulse Beauty Academy's website... we filmed here:
http://pulse.paulmitchell.edu/downingtown-pa
Zombie Make-up Tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltFoOI9cjDk
Gary Becomes a Zombie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QKV7s_uaJM
Make-up for filming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbmCtnMgNoY
"I love Zombies and Pizza" page on Face Book - this is a neat Face Book page, check it out: http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-love-Pizza-AND-Zombies/312142969290
*I'll be adding to this list soon :)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Post Production Crunch-Time
There are three stages of production when it comes to film. You have the pre-production, which involves writing the script, casting, securing locations, and basically getting ready to film. The second stage of production is the production stage. This stage involves filming the movie. In the case of ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) we did 5 half-day shoots to film the movie. The final stage of production is called post production. This is the stage that I'm currently in. Post production is the final stage of film-making. This is the stage where all the raw footage is sorted through and edited visually. Sound effects and music are added, and in the case of ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM), subtitles and cartoons are added. The reason that I titled this blog post "Post Production Crunch-time" is that I'm trying to finish the film in time to get it into the West Chester Film Festival: www.westchesterfilmfestival.com/ their submission deadline is at the end of December, which is quickly approaching. It has been my intention all along to submit the film to the West Chester Film Festival, but yesterday it came to my attention that there are a lot of other film festivals which (unlike the West Chester Film Festival) are free to enter. This new development is something I'm going to think about, because the entrance fee to the West Chester Film Festival is $60 in December, and there is no guarantee that they will even show my film. It's something to think about.
Regarding deadlines though... Last Friday another brand new development happened. One of the ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) actresses, Kat Johnston, recommended that I contact a local independent movie theater in Lansdowne to see whether they might want to show our film, and it turns out that they do. This theater is called, Cinema 16:9, and their website is http://Www.cinema169.com/ They are having a zombie walk from 6pm-8pm, then (assuming my movie passes their general managers screening) my film will be shown at 8pm, then Shaun of the Dead will be shown. Tickets are about $10 per person, and the date of the event is October 29th. That translates into "crunch-time", because as of last week the film was only about 1/3rd finished being edited. Bethany passed the torch along to my new editor, Elliot Herman, and now he is in charge of the editing and sound effects. And, I need to get the film to the theater in time for them to evaluate it to see if it's a good fit for their event. Right now I'm doing everything I can to keep things moving forward, and I'm pretty happy with how things are going, but I feel anxious too. I'm not used to having deadlines like this, but from what I hear, these kinds of deadlines are pretty common in the film biz. Wish me luck!
Regarding deadlines though... Last Friday another brand new development happened. One of the ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) actresses, Kat Johnston, recommended that I contact a local independent movie theater in Lansdowne to see whether they might want to show our film, and it turns out that they do. This theater is called, Cinema 16:9, and their website is http://Www.cinema169.com/ They are having a zombie walk from 6pm-8pm, then (assuming my movie passes their general managers screening) my film will be shown at 8pm, then Shaun of the Dead will be shown. Tickets are about $10 per person, and the date of the event is October 29th. That translates into "crunch-time", because as of last week the film was only about 1/3rd finished being edited. Bethany passed the torch along to my new editor, Elliot Herman, and now he is in charge of the editing and sound effects. And, I need to get the film to the theater in time for them to evaluate it to see if it's a good fit for their event. Right now I'm doing everything I can to keep things moving forward, and I'm pretty happy with how things are going, but I feel anxious too. I'm not used to having deadlines like this, but from what I hear, these kinds of deadlines are pretty common in the film biz. Wish me luck!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Welcome to the World of ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM)!
I've been meaning to start working on this blog for a while, but tonight I'm going to take the plunge and really dig in.
About 5 years ago I attended the West Chester Film Festival for the first time. It was a new festival then, and I had never heard of it, until my friend, Mike White, invited me to go there with him and his girl-friend one night. The three of us went to one of the screenings at an art gallery on Gay Street. I walked into the screening room and saw maybe 30 chairs laid out in front of a large screen TV, and I sat down next to Mike. We watched about 6 short films and I fell in love with the short-film format instantly. The films I saw were well produced, and even though they were really short (under a half hour long), they were really powerful and thought provoking. My only film background up until then was as an avid viewer of Hollywood films, and Hollywood films were never under an hour long. This festival changed my perspective on what films could be, and I walked out of the art gallery with a burning desire to make a short film of my own. That desire was quickly squelched by the realization that I had no clue how to make one. I had no equipment, no script, and no resources to make a film. I had nothing. I didn't know a single actor, or film-maker to help me. A lot of time has gone by since then and now. This year it become possible for me to make a film, so that's what I'm doing now. My first "real" film, ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) is almost finished, and I want to take some time and blog about the experiences I had (and am having) making this film. I hope to show my film in the West Chester Film Festival next year, but if that doesn't pan out, then at least I will have given it my best shot, and I'll have learned some good life-lessons along the way. I don't have any film or TV background other than having spent about 7 hours a day watching TV and movies as a youngster, but I would like to impart some of the lessons that I learned while working on ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM)to anybody interested in knowing what goes into making an independent film. I make art, because I like the process of drawing, writing, taking photos, making videos, etc..., and I'm bipolar, so it gives me something to do with my excess energy. I just want to express myself artistically and grow as a person along the way.
Before I wrote the script for ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM), I contacted Ed at Culinary Deliveries to ask him this question: "if I write a script that takes place at a pizzeria, can I film it at your shop?". I didn't want to write the ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) script, unless I was sure that I'd have a pizzeria location to film at. I was really nervous when I called Ed, because his shop seemed like the perfect place to film the movie. Well, Ed agreed over the phone, and I told him that I'd be in touch with him once I got closer to filming the movie. So, I was all set to start writing the script.
Writing the script was a whole evolution of ideas. Originally it was going to be a webshow called The Pizza Man, which was inspired by true life stories that my friend Jay told me from his pizza delivering days. Each episode would be one pizza delivery of Jay interacting with different customers. Jay works for a large pizza corporation and delivers on the weekends, and I was hoping that he would act in the show, because he's really funny in person. That didn't work out, because of scheduling issues (he works all the freaking time... lol!). But, I did gather a lot of true life stories from real pizza delivery drivers who I found on Craig's List while I was working on the show. I'll post those real-life stories on this blog later. One of the actors in ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM), who I was new friends with at the time, suggested that I make an episode of the Pizza Man with monsters in it, like vampires, or zombies. At first I thought it was a bad idea, because I was trying to keep this a small production, and I didn't know any make-up artists who would volunteer. But, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of using zombies in the show as background creatures. And, I kept thinking to myself, "everyone loves zombies and pizza". It just seemed like a good title. One thing that I've seen mentioned in a lot of books and on the internet, is that titles are very important. They can make or break a film. The title has to be intriguing or scary or funny enough to get people to pay money to see that film, or read that book, or listen to that album. "Snakes on a Plane" had a killer title, so did "The Hunt For Red October", because they both intrigued the audience and helped make those films millions of dollars at the box office. I still think that ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) is a good trademark/title, and hopefully the movie will be as good as the title when it's finished :)
Me and Rob Melso scripted a few episodes of the ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM)web-show, and we made it up to episode three, but then I got it into my head that I should write a longer piece specifically for film festivals. But I still didn't have any resources to make a "real film", so I focused my time on writing webcomics, which are much easier to produce. About 8 months passed, and I discovered a Philly website that focuses on the local film scene. It's called Film.org, and I owe them a sincere thank you letter for helping me get the word out about my film. I was overwhelmed by responses I got from two ads that I posted in the Hotline section on the site. I received e-mails from about 120 actors and crew in just 2 weeks. I spent hours replying to the e-mails, and scheduled about 30 actors for the auditions. I went from having no resources to having more resources than I knew what to do with! Film.org really was a great discovery and I'm very grateful for all their help :)
I had a rough version of the script finished before I posted my original two ads, but that version changed a lot before I filmed the movie. More about that evolution of ideas later...
Anyway, I was trying to keep this film under $200, and I didn't want to waste that money on renting a venue for the auditions, so I had to think creatively. I looked into various places to see if I could barter some product placement in the film in trade for using space for the auditions, but none of those venues panned out. That's why I did the auditions at the Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett Square. It seemed like a good idea to do it there, because the park is free to use on a first-come first-serve basis, and there are plenty of pavilions there and plenty of space to do what I had to do. Granted, I had to rely on the weather being nice, but I made sure to give the actors heads-ups about bringing umbrellas. I really lucked out with the weather on all three days - because a huge thunderstorm blew it's way through Kennett Square and West Chester about an hour after the last audition on Thursday. The power was out everywhere, but at least none of the actors got wet... lol.
I didn't know what to expect when I went to the park on the first day. I stepped out of my car and saw the first auditioner, Rich Adams, waiting in the shade for me to arrive. He was in a hurry to be auditioned, because he had to drive all the way to Atlantic City to go to his job at the Casino, and we only had about 20 minutes to do the audition. After Rich's audition, my friend Tim Mullen arrived, and I packed some sodas and waters into a cooler that he had brought for the occasion. We walked towards the pavilions and I quickly saw that the entire park was overrun by cub-scouts. I hadn't expected anyone to even be at the park in the morning on a weekday... lol. Luckily the covered stage near the pond was free, so me and Tim set-up shop there. Actors started arriving a few minutes later, and I spent the next few hours listening to them read lines and answering questions about the film. All in all, that first day of auditions was a lot of fun, and based on my own experiences, I would definitely recommend using the Anson B. Nixon Park for auditions if money is tight. One lesson I learned, though, is that it is definitely a good idea to contact the park and find out if there are any special events going on there, so that you can schedule the auditions on "off" days.
The second day of auditions went good, but yet again, the park was over-run by cub-scouts. This time they were playing tug-of war, and playing in bubble jungle gyms, and doing other activities. Me and Tim walked over to the stage, and were setting up there, when one of the cub-masters came over to talk to us. She delivered the message that in about 15 minutes there was going to be a fire-truck parked right in front of the stage hosing down the kids. haha. All the pavilions were taken by the cub-scouts, so me and Tim moved over to the last place we could... the fishing dock by the pond. It was actually nicer over there than it had been on the stage, so it all worked out. Right on cue, about 15 minutes later, a fire truck drove past us honking it horn and about 100 cub-scouts gathered next to it to be hosed down. This was a true spectacle which I wish I had gotten on film. The firemen sprayed their hose straight up into the air, and the cub-scouts absolutely went hay-wire and stampeded around in the cascading water for about 5 or 10 minutes. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before... lol. Anyway, that happened, and the firemen packed up and drove off, then a few minutes later the first auditioner showed up. I was glad that the hoopla was over when he got there. Anyway, I had about 7 auditions that day, over the course of a few hours, then I packed up and went home. After I got home, all hell broke loose, and the biggest thunderstorm I'd seen in years passed through West Chester and knocked the power out everywhere. There were downed trees all around Chester County, and I heard that a tornado hit Chester, PA, which isn't all that far from here, actually. Thank goodness the auditions were through by the time the storm hit that day!
I was pretty drained by the time Sunday rolled around, but I went to the park and set up in a pavilion. I had my guitar and passed the time working on a new song in the shade. This third day of auditions was much more subdued than the other days, because the cub-scouts weren't there, and I had the entire pavilion to myself. The actors tickled in for a bit, then a few of them showed up coincidentally around the same time, which was nice, because they read their lines back to each other and I got to hear how my script sounded coming from real actors. I was waiting for the final auditioner to get there when I started thinking about who to cast in what parts. This was a mistake on my part, because I should have waited until the final actor auditioned before I started thinking about that.
As a producer/director, some of the key things I was looking at while casting actors were the following:
1) Can these actors fit the filming into their schedules? I was very worried about whether there would be last-minute cancellations during the filming, so I went with my gut and cast the actors who struck me as being reliable, and who had open schedules during the filming time-frame. As far as that goes, all the actors showed up on the film-dates when I needed them to, except for two actors with minor roles, so it was easy to get replacements at the last minute. So, as far as that goes, I think I chose my actors well.
2) Secondary to the scheduling, I wanted my actors to be able to remember their lines and play their roles convincingly. All of the actors I chose pulled-through on that count. Rich Russell, who I ended up casting as Nelson, knew almost the entire script word for word, which was an instant sell as far as I was concerned. I knew right away that he got the part, and I think he set a great example on the set when the movie was being filmed.
3) Thirdly, I wanted to work with actors who were easy to work with and who I got along with. All the actors I worked with were easy to get along with, and I don't think I had any drama with them that I recall. This is a good thing :)
4) Fourthly, Certain characters needed certain looks, so I was looking at at superficial things like hair, clothing, mannerisms, etc... As a director/producer, I would recommend to actors who are auditioning to spend some time before their audition and come up with a look for the character they want to be. Everything counts: rings, necklaces, shoes, shirts, pants, hair, make-up, etc... I think casting agents do notice these things when they audition you.
After the first three audition days, I did one last audition at the King Of Prussia Mall, and cast one of my leads there.
It was a real relief to have everyone cast, but I still didn't have my crew together yet. I ended up using David Kappler as the cinematographer after he called me in response to my hotline on Film.org. After that, it took me a while to finally decide on which editor to use, but I chose Bethany Depoy a few weeks ago, and she's got the footage in her hands now, so hopefully she'll work her magic on it in time for us to make the West Chester Film Festival's deadline this year.
Well, there's a lot more background that I want to tell, but I'll have to save it for the time being. I'll try to pick up the story where I left off soon :)
Thanks for reading :)
About 5 years ago I attended the West Chester Film Festival for the first time. It was a new festival then, and I had never heard of it, until my friend, Mike White, invited me to go there with him and his girl-friend one night. The three of us went to one of the screenings at an art gallery on Gay Street. I walked into the screening room and saw maybe 30 chairs laid out in front of a large screen TV, and I sat down next to Mike. We watched about 6 short films and I fell in love with the short-film format instantly. The films I saw were well produced, and even though they were really short (under a half hour long), they were really powerful and thought provoking. My only film background up until then was as an avid viewer of Hollywood films, and Hollywood films were never under an hour long. This festival changed my perspective on what films could be, and I walked out of the art gallery with a burning desire to make a short film of my own. That desire was quickly squelched by the realization that I had no clue how to make one. I had no equipment, no script, and no resources to make a film. I had nothing. I didn't know a single actor, or film-maker to help me. A lot of time has gone by since then and now. This year it become possible for me to make a film, so that's what I'm doing now. My first "real" film, ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) is almost finished, and I want to take some time and blog about the experiences I had (and am having) making this film. I hope to show my film in the West Chester Film Festival next year, but if that doesn't pan out, then at least I will have given it my best shot, and I'll have learned some good life-lessons along the way. I don't have any film or TV background other than having spent about 7 hours a day watching TV and movies as a youngster, but I would like to impart some of the lessons that I learned while working on ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM)to anybody interested in knowing what goes into making an independent film. I make art, because I like the process of drawing, writing, taking photos, making videos, etc..., and I'm bipolar, so it gives me something to do with my excess energy. I just want to express myself artistically and grow as a person along the way.
Before I wrote the script for ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM), I contacted Ed at Culinary Deliveries to ask him this question: "if I write a script that takes place at a pizzeria, can I film it at your shop?". I didn't want to write the ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) script, unless I was sure that I'd have a pizzeria location to film at. I was really nervous when I called Ed, because his shop seemed like the perfect place to film the movie. Well, Ed agreed over the phone, and I told him that I'd be in touch with him once I got closer to filming the movie. So, I was all set to start writing the script.
Writing the script was a whole evolution of ideas. Originally it was going to be a webshow called The Pizza Man, which was inspired by true life stories that my friend Jay told me from his pizza delivering days. Each episode would be one pizza delivery of Jay interacting with different customers. Jay works for a large pizza corporation and delivers on the weekends, and I was hoping that he would act in the show, because he's really funny in person. That didn't work out, because of scheduling issues (he works all the freaking time... lol!). But, I did gather a lot of true life stories from real pizza delivery drivers who I found on Craig's List while I was working on the show. I'll post those real-life stories on this blog later. One of the actors in ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM), who I was new friends with at the time, suggested that I make an episode of the Pizza Man with monsters in it, like vampires, or zombies. At first I thought it was a bad idea, because I was trying to keep this a small production, and I didn't know any make-up artists who would volunteer. But, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of using zombies in the show as background creatures. And, I kept thinking to myself, "everyone loves zombies and pizza". It just seemed like a good title. One thing that I've seen mentioned in a lot of books and on the internet, is that titles are very important. They can make or break a film. The title has to be intriguing or scary or funny enough to get people to pay money to see that film, or read that book, or listen to that album. "Snakes on a Plane" had a killer title, so did "The Hunt For Red October", because they both intrigued the audience and helped make those films millions of dollars at the box office. I still think that ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM) is a good trademark/title, and hopefully the movie will be as good as the title when it's finished :)
Me and Rob Melso scripted a few episodes of the ZOMBIES AND PIZZA (TM)web-show, and we made it up to episode three, but then I got it into my head that I should write a longer piece specifically for film festivals. But I still didn't have any resources to make a "real film", so I focused my time on writing webcomics, which are much easier to produce. About 8 months passed, and I discovered a Philly website that focuses on the local film scene. It's called Film.org, and I owe them a sincere thank you letter for helping me get the word out about my film. I was overwhelmed by responses I got from two ads that I posted in the Hotline section on the site. I received e-mails from about 120 actors and crew in just 2 weeks. I spent hours replying to the e-mails, and scheduled about 30 actors for the auditions. I went from having no resources to having more resources than I knew what to do with! Film.org really was a great discovery and I'm very grateful for all their help :)
I had a rough version of the script finished before I posted my original two ads, but that version changed a lot before I filmed the movie. More about that evolution of ideas later...
Anyway, I was trying to keep this film under $200, and I didn't want to waste that money on renting a venue for the auditions, so I had to think creatively. I looked into various places to see if I could barter some product placement in the film in trade for using space for the auditions, but none of those venues panned out. That's why I did the auditions at the Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett Square. It seemed like a good idea to do it there, because the park is free to use on a first-come first-serve basis, and there are plenty of pavilions there and plenty of space to do what I had to do. Granted, I had to rely on the weather being nice, but I made sure to give the actors heads-ups about bringing umbrellas. I really lucked out with the weather on all three days - because a huge thunderstorm blew it's way through Kennett Square and West Chester about an hour after the last audition on Thursday. The power was out everywhere, but at least none of the actors got wet... lol.
I didn't know what to expect when I went to the park on the first day. I stepped out of my car and saw the first auditioner, Rich Adams, waiting in the shade for me to arrive. He was in a hurry to be auditioned, because he had to drive all the way to Atlantic City to go to his job at the Casino, and we only had about 20 minutes to do the audition. After Rich's audition, my friend Tim Mullen arrived, and I packed some sodas and waters into a cooler that he had brought for the occasion. We walked towards the pavilions and I quickly saw that the entire park was overrun by cub-scouts. I hadn't expected anyone to even be at the park in the morning on a weekday... lol. Luckily the covered stage near the pond was free, so me and Tim set-up shop there. Actors started arriving a few minutes later, and I spent the next few hours listening to them read lines and answering questions about the film. All in all, that first day of auditions was a lot of fun, and based on my own experiences, I would definitely recommend using the Anson B. Nixon Park for auditions if money is tight. One lesson I learned, though, is that it is definitely a good idea to contact the park and find out if there are any special events going on there, so that you can schedule the auditions on "off" days.
The second day of auditions went good, but yet again, the park was over-run by cub-scouts. This time they were playing tug-of war, and playing in bubble jungle gyms, and doing other activities. Me and Tim walked over to the stage, and were setting up there, when one of the cub-masters came over to talk to us. She delivered the message that in about 15 minutes there was going to be a fire-truck parked right in front of the stage hosing down the kids. haha. All the pavilions were taken by the cub-scouts, so me and Tim moved over to the last place we could... the fishing dock by the pond. It was actually nicer over there than it had been on the stage, so it all worked out. Right on cue, about 15 minutes later, a fire truck drove past us honking it horn and about 100 cub-scouts gathered next to it to be hosed down. This was a true spectacle which I wish I had gotten on film. The firemen sprayed their hose straight up into the air, and the cub-scouts absolutely went hay-wire and stampeded around in the cascading water for about 5 or 10 minutes. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before... lol. Anyway, that happened, and the firemen packed up and drove off, then a few minutes later the first auditioner showed up. I was glad that the hoopla was over when he got there. Anyway, I had about 7 auditions that day, over the course of a few hours, then I packed up and went home. After I got home, all hell broke loose, and the biggest thunderstorm I'd seen in years passed through West Chester and knocked the power out everywhere. There were downed trees all around Chester County, and I heard that a tornado hit Chester, PA, which isn't all that far from here, actually. Thank goodness the auditions were through by the time the storm hit that day!
I was pretty drained by the time Sunday rolled around, but I went to the park and set up in a pavilion. I had my guitar and passed the time working on a new song in the shade. This third day of auditions was much more subdued than the other days, because the cub-scouts weren't there, and I had the entire pavilion to myself. The actors tickled in for a bit, then a few of them showed up coincidentally around the same time, which was nice, because they read their lines back to each other and I got to hear how my script sounded coming from real actors. I was waiting for the final auditioner to get there when I started thinking about who to cast in what parts. This was a mistake on my part, because I should have waited until the final actor auditioned before I started thinking about that.
As a producer/director, some of the key things I was looking at while casting actors were the following:
1) Can these actors fit the filming into their schedules? I was very worried about whether there would be last-minute cancellations during the filming, so I went with my gut and cast the actors who struck me as being reliable, and who had open schedules during the filming time-frame. As far as that goes, all the actors showed up on the film-dates when I needed them to, except for two actors with minor roles, so it was easy to get replacements at the last minute. So, as far as that goes, I think I chose my actors well.
2) Secondary to the scheduling, I wanted my actors to be able to remember their lines and play their roles convincingly. All of the actors I chose pulled-through on that count. Rich Russell, who I ended up casting as Nelson, knew almost the entire script word for word, which was an instant sell as far as I was concerned. I knew right away that he got the part, and I think he set a great example on the set when the movie was being filmed.
3) Thirdly, I wanted to work with actors who were easy to work with and who I got along with. All the actors I worked with were easy to get along with, and I don't think I had any drama with them that I recall. This is a good thing :)
4) Fourthly, Certain characters needed certain looks, so I was looking at at superficial things like hair, clothing, mannerisms, etc... As a director/producer, I would recommend to actors who are auditioning to spend some time before their audition and come up with a look for the character they want to be. Everything counts: rings, necklaces, shoes, shirts, pants, hair, make-up, etc... I think casting agents do notice these things when they audition you.
After the first three audition days, I did one last audition at the King Of Prussia Mall, and cast one of my leads there.
It was a real relief to have everyone cast, but I still didn't have my crew together yet. I ended up using David Kappler as the cinematographer after he called me in response to my hotline on Film.org. After that, it took me a while to finally decide on which editor to use, but I chose Bethany Depoy a few weeks ago, and she's got the footage in her hands now, so hopefully she'll work her magic on it in time for us to make the West Chester Film Festival's deadline this year.
Well, there's a lot more background that I want to tell, but I'll have to save it for the time being. I'll try to pick up the story where I left off soon :)
Thanks for reading :)
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