Squirrelly – be who you were born to be.

Good ole Squirrelly played by Jayme Bell is one of the funniest characters we have for The Fellows Hip. Not only was it well written by Scott and Christopher, but was well executed by Jayme. When Jayme auditioned, we knew pretty quickly we had our man. Jayme was one of the first people we ensured we got locked down to take on the roll. Jayme had us cracking up, right from the start. However he’s just not all about laughs. Just like all of our characters, Squirrelly goes on a journey of his own to find out who he is.

                *Spoilers* Starting out, Squirrelly thinks he’s the every man (much like the characters from the hit show “Big Bang Theory”). He believes he is a lady’s man, a great leader with superb marksmanship skills and a guy who knows how to rough it. What he finds, much like Nate, is who he was born to be. He is the opposite of the fake persona he wants everyone to think that he is. But through this journey/this test – he reaches deep within himself to find out the truth. And in this, he begins to embrace what he originally believes are weaknesses. He finds that these are who he really is, and can now be used as strengths.

                Once he’s able to do this, he finds out that he can now embrace who he was born to be. And, if you stayed through the end, you find out how he’s rewarded…

                If you have a geek in your life, like my wife does, than just like Squirrelly – encourage them to embrace who they are and you’ll help them find that there’s a little bit of geek and hero in all of us.

TFH: At Look into the character Nate Bingley – Fearful to Fearless

**Spoilers**

Now that I (Ron) have had some time to reflect on our film, “The Fellows Hip: Rise of the Gamers,” I find that one of the characters I really have enjoyed has been Nate Bingley, played by Cole Matson. For a film, a character changes at least three times. That’s once when you write him, once when the actor owns him and once then in the editing room by how the editor (Brian) portrays him.

Who is Nate? Nate is a scaredy-cat; one who is a momma’s boy and never wants to leave home. He’s happy where he finds himself. He’s not the adventurer… or so he thinks.

But it’s through the love of his friends and his loyalty that he is called out of his comfort zone. He must leave his safe haven to right a wrong. When he is thrown into the adventure, he is at first excited and ready for the challenge. But at the onset of his first test, he almost falls apart. With each step doubt creeps in. That is until he is introduced to the life of a hippie. There he begins to see who Nate is all about. He shows through his monologue that he has come to realize that life is meant to be lived, and he’s going to “suck the nectar out of life and drink down every last drop.”

Nate “gets it” and knows this could be the adventure of a lifetime. He who was fearful has become fearless. He begins to embrace his destiny and become the man he’s always meant to be. He puts aside the fearful gamer and begins to embrace the fearless explorer.

Isn’t that who we should strive to be like?

We have representation

The Highland Film Group has joined the team as our sales agent. We reviewed offers from several distributors and sales agents, but HFG was a cut above the rest. We’re excited about this partnership and looking forward to good things to come. Fellows Hip distribution is now in full swing!

Keep the buzz going! Encourage everyone to visit our IMDB page and YouTube trailer. Invite them to join our Facebook fan page too and follow us on Twitter.

Thanks for being with us on the journey, and be on the lookout for the latest distribution news!

What is a fan film?

http://fancinematoday.wordpress.com/

Fan Films are films that work off someone else's created content. I would suggest a true fan film, is one that does not spoof or act as a parody, but rather is a love of the content, and the film is an extension of that. It uses the same world and perhaps the same characters, but it’s not a remake.

They are generally not full length in time or scope as well - as they are not meant to be viewed as a feature, but more of a "side story"; with the goal of being a homage to the creator of the original content. 

A parody is generally something that runs along the same story, but creates a funny take on it. These are expected to be cheesy and pokes fun at the content directly.

Why make a fan film?

There are many reasons to make a fan film. If you are an aspiring filmmaker, but do not have much of a story yourself – it’s a great way to dive into an all ready known world, like Middle Earth, which helps you establish certain rules. It is also very easy to garner a strong fan base for the content, as someone has all ready done that for you. You just need to tap into them. Many times, if they are well done, they will really make the rounds.

The main reason I like this, as indie filmmakers struggle with building a fan base. This allows you to do that.

A big note. You must proceed with caution in developing a fan film. As this is not yours! You might make an original story off of something established, but you are riding on the success of the film (or comic, or book) you love, such as from Tolkien. And in doing this, those people that do have the legal rights to create the content, could, and sometimes do, take issue with you making a fan film. If it’s just a few friends in your back yard, it’s probably not that big of a deal, but the more professional it becomes the more it will get on their RADAR. Regardless – there are legal issues with fan films.

It does not matter if you do not plan on showing this to make money. This does not negate your responsibility to seek permission for what you are doing. Many times, they won’t mind you doing a fan film, but will simply give you a few things you will have to agree to.

What makes a good fan film?

Exactly what makes a great film! The story, the production value, and then how close can you get to the original content. So your props/wardrobe needs to be superb. Then your acting will speak volumes.

Some great Lord of the Rings fan films are: Halifirien, The Peril to the Shire, TheHunt for Gollum, and Born of Hope.

Our film however, “The Fellows Hip: Rise of the Gamers”, is for fans, but not a fan film. It's commercial in nature with the goal being an ROI.

You can find some other great fan films at: http://www.fanfilms.net/

(another good resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_film)

What’s a great one you’ve seen? Post below.

The Fellows Hip Hits the Press!

Hey – wanted to update you about our film, “The Fellows Hip”. We recently made the front cover of the Alexandria Gazette http://files.connectionnewspapers.com/PDF/current/Alexandria.pdf,
and are on page 10 on the Reston Connection.

Casting is underway and going well. We are seeing a ton of people respond and though it’s a ton of work – it definitely doesn’t feel like it. I mean – we are making a movie people! This is exciting stuff.

We are excited that you are on this journey with us, and know many of you have taken an opportunity to get involved in one way or another. We are setting ourselves up for a great turn-out!

Looking forward to working with so many of you!

The OAP Team