The Next Phase

With the new DVD "Thong Girl 4: The Body Electric" finally released and the new video game ready for purchase it's time to start looking to the future. I'll be selling the DVD at Cons and online from the TG website and soon you'll be able to rent it online from Netflix. I'll also be looking for distribution from independent companies that are looking for product, but it may be a hard sell. The movie has a little bit of T&A but not enough to qualify for an R rating or a "bonerfied" soft-core. It's a superhero film but it doesn't have a lot of flying or fight scenes. It's more of a comedy with a lot of ass lasers and gay references, courtesy of TG's gay sidekick BoxerBrief Boy. And at 110 minutes it's quite epic for an indie film. It's really more of a Troma Film without the puking and shitting; it's sort of my homage to one of my film heroes, Lloyd Kaufman, who makes a cameo appearance. It's got two musical numbers and lots of hot chicks.
I'm also really excited about my new venture. I've teamed up with comic book artist Gaylord Tause, who's created a new comic book series called Thong Girl vs. Xolta From Outer Space (I added the Outer Space part). He's written and illustrated a new series based on a story he's created about a really hot alien chick who comes to Earth and battles Thong Girl. At first they're adversaries but then they team up to defeat another weird alien dude with a pointy blue head. I've been talking with b-movie legend Jim O'Rear about playing this part. I'm going to turn these into webisodes that you'll be able to stream or download for purchase on YouTube. There will be a fifteen minute pilot episode followed by weekly three-minute vignettes. This will broaden our fan base and hopefully extend worldwide to include the Asian market that I've always wanted to target.
In the next few months I'll be casting and building sets for this new project and I hope to have it out by Spring of next year. I've included a cover from one of the new comic books so you can get an idea of what the real life characters will look like. My hope is that I can finally start to see some return for all of the money that I've invested in this franchise. The last movie pretty much broke me so, of course, I'll also be vigorously seeking distribution.
I'm also writing songs for my pet project "Thong Girl: The Musical" and I hope to get with Martin Brady (Dweeble) soon and start fleshing them out and composing a score.
You can keep up with all the new merchandise and the DVD and video game on the website and I'll try and post more blogs this winter.

Summer is Thongtastic!

Meet the new Thong Girl for 2011 Maxx Kelley! Maxx will be starring in a series of webisodes that we will host on our website this summer and Fall. The webisodes are based on the comic book series "Xolta vs Thong Girl" by comic book artist Gaylord Tause. Because of the ever-growing expense of shooting a feature film and the cost of making my last feature "Thong Girl 4: The Body Electric" I've decided to go with a less expensive production and use the internet as our media to broadcast the webisodes.
The stories revolve around a super-hot alien chick called Xolta and her space odyssey. While traveling the galaxy in search of new adventures Xolta runs into her old nemesis VISH'SS, a blue cone-headed tyrant from the planet ZORCON. Realizing that she is no match for VISH'SS and his new and improved powers she enlists the help of earth-babe Thong Girl and together they team up for some sexy, raunchy fun. If you liked the old "Lost In Space" TV shows you'll enjoy the campy sci-fi adventures of Xolta and TG.
The new TG4 dvd will also be available for purchase later this summer and it will include a host of dvd extras including deleted scenes, bloopers, a director's commentary and access to the new TG video game!
I'll also be working on the Thong Girl stage musical all this summer and fall with piano player/composer extraordinaire Martin Brady, also known as Dweeble in the TG movies.
Summer 2011 is going to be HOT HOT HOT for Thong Girl.

Max Kelley (Thong Girl) | Monsters From The Basement

Max Kelley (Thong Girl) | Monsters From The Basement

Thong Girl Is Back!

It seems like it's been forever since I've updated my blog. There is so much to tell you, but I'll just touch on a few of the great things that have happened since my last update.
I guess the biggest thing is the film premiere of Thong Girl 4: The Body Electric. The new feature film will be screening at the fabulous Belcourt Theater on Thursday, April 7th at 7pm. I have been working on this movie for almost three years and I haven't had time for anything else. It's been a truly rewarding experience and I've learned SO much, especially in the post-production phase. I've learned a lot of editing techniques that will help me in my future endeavors - specifically my move to Los Angeles! I will be moving in a little over a year; as soon as I can sell my house and line up a job out there. Obviously, with the economy sucking and the housing market at an all-time low, I'll be waiting until things improve a bit. But I feel like I can't really do the things I love while living in Nashville. I moved here for music but that's just not where my interests lie anymore. I feel a really strong desire to work in the film industry, in just about any capacity that is available.
The new movie will be premiering about the same time as the release of the new Thong Girl video game. A trailer is online now and the game will be ready to play the night of the premiere. It's turned out super-cool and fun and it was a big hit at the Con Nooga Comic Convention that we attended on Feb. 18-20th.
We also introduced our new Thong Girl, Maxxine Ransdell at Con Nooga (see photo) and we will be enbarking on a new film and comic book adventure called Thong Girl Vs. Xolta. I've become involved with a new comic book artist from Atlanta named Gaylord Tause and there will be a lot of his artwork in the new movie. He has created an alien female space vixen named Xolta and we will be turning the comic book into a live-action webisode adventure series starring Maxxine and an as yet-to-be announced actress who will play Xolta. The webisodes will be available for purchase and download sometime in the Fall of 2011. This is very exciting stuff and it's our way of taking TG into the realm of the internet where everything seems to be heading. It has gotten so costly to make feature films without investors that I just don't think I'll be able to continue making bigger and better movies on my own dime. This will be a way to cut back on the budget without sacrificing quality.
Please try and make it to the premiere of Thong Girl 4: The Body Electricon April 7th at the Belcourt Theater and watch for our new webisodes coming this Fall.

Okay, NOW It's A Wrap!

I'll bet you thought it would never happen, but the moment has arrived - it's a wrap! We started building the first set back in the summer of 2008 and we've just finished shooting the Big Finale scene. That's almost two years... and that's not counting the six months it took me to write the script or the six months it's going to take me to edit and score this thing. Why, you ask has it taken so long? Good question. My only logical answer to this is lack of money. If I'd had a realistic budget I would have shot this like a real movie - cast and crew sequestered for eight weeks of seven-day work weeks with construction crew diligently building sets in anticipation of our relocation. But when you try to do a movie of this magnitude with little or no money you kind of have to spread it out over a long period of time. Another obstacle was having a lead actor who is out of the country on business 75% of the year. This makes for a logistical nightmare when trying to schedule shoots with him in the scenes.
But enough bitching and moaning. IT'S A WRAP!!! Well, I still have a few pick-up shots and I still have to take my much-anticipated trip to new Orleans to shoot some exteriors. And then there's post-production which involves getting some of the actors back for ADR (dialogue re-recording) and editing and special effects and music scoring. Now you see why only about 1% of all indie feature films ever make it to fruition from conception - it ain't easy, folks. But you know that old saying... "If it were easy, everybody would be doing it".
Now, about the finale: What an amazing experience! I won't bore you with all of the details but since it's my blog and if you are reading this then you must care somewhat about the details of my filmmaking experience, I'll tell you what it was like. It also helps me to purge my soul of it's burdens by writing this.
First things first; I had to find a suitable location. If you go to my Facebook page you'll see photos of the Neuhoff site. This is a former livery stable - yeah, where they used to slaughter the cows to make beef for your disgusting hamburgers and steaks (I recently went semi-vegetarian). The stables look like a parking garage with three levels. The lower level looks like something out of Blade Runner - subterranean and spooky - and I knew that if we smoked it up and threw a ton of white and purple lights up and we shot at night it would look cool as hell; I was right (see photos). The problem was we were shooting in the dead of winter and it had open sides and no electricity. Long story short, everyone made frequent trips to the heated make-up trailer and froze their asses off while on the set. The make-up trailer was an expensive proposition but a godsend because it made for a comfy staging area for the thirty-plus cast and crew when not on the set.
Through some fortuitous unexplained phenomenon I came upon a twenty year-old choreographer named Tessa Mendoza. Tessa was recently back from California and was restless to do something different with her time and talents. We both had the same vision and she proceeded to knock out a spectacular dance number using students from her dance school (see pictures) who were more than enthusiastic and rocked the place. We used the music from a band from California called Archer and after three months of preparation and a big-ass grip truck with a plethora of lights provided by my good buddy Jeff Steinborn we staged an elaborate throw-down dance sequence that would rival Michael Jackson's "Thiller" minus the budget.
This was easily the most ambitious project I've ever attempted; even more ambitious than my very first film which included live horses, 1800s period costumes and muskets and Civil War re-enactors. This was like a real music video shoot with crew all over the place and me shouting through a megaphone. Unfortunately, I forgot the walkie-talkies, but in retrospect walkie-talkies are a little self-indulgent, don't you think?
Anyhow, everything went off beautifully and I am going to start by putting out a new teaser-trailer music video using the footage we shot for the finale. I won't be blogging much during post-production, because it's a boring and tedious process, although it is actually my favorite part of the filmmaking experience. I guess that's because you don't have to rely on a huge cast of characters as you do in the production phase. I like to edit and do a lot of my own post stuff, so I get to hole up in my studio and put it all together without having to explain or answer to anyone.
I hope to premiere the film in late Spring/early summer, but I'll be putting out at least two more trailers before the movie is finished.
That's about it for now. This has been an incredible journey and I have a very clear vision for what happens in the next three years that I will tell you about in later posts. Now it's time to edit!
Please visit my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/Thong-Girl-Films/298896868453?ref=ts
And my Myspace page: www.myspace.com/trumpetlipps

It's A Wrap...Almost!

Winter is upon us and hibernation is imminent. That can only mean one thing...it's time to start editing the movie! We officially wrapped up shooting for "Thong Girl 4: The Body Electric" last weekend when I took over the camera helm and shot a scene on green screen simulating the base of the AT&T Tower where the police have gathered, along with BoxerBrief Boy and Dweeble, to witness the wrath of Electar as he shoots electrical beams off the top of the building. We were originally going to shoot at the actual location but I decided that having actors dressed as Metro police officers without a filming permit was a little too risky - even for me! I can defy speeding CXS trains and endure mayoral scandals, but I draw the line when it comes to impersonating an officer in a public place.
So we shot everything on green screen and I believe it turned out well. It's always hard to say with green screen until you actually start editing and add the backgrounds. Luckily, with the software available, even a mediocre chroma key job can be salvaged and made to look pretty darned good.
It was a sad day for me when I finally turned in the keys to the owner of the warehouse. We spent the whole summer shooting against a big green wall that we built from scratch. The wall stood 26 ft. tall and 14 ft. wide and it provided the opportunity to create some pretty amazing illusions. For instance, when we shot the funeral scene in September we got rained out before we could finish; so DP James Houk shot some background footage for safety, in case we couldn't return for some reason. As it turned out, we couldn't schedule a return shoot until the beginning of Nov. and the leaves had turned and fallen off the trees, making the background look totally different than the shoot in Sept. So we moved the coffin in front of the green screen and matched up the angles and VOILA! We had a seamless transition from one scene to the next. Hopefully you won't even be able to tell the difference. Pretty amazing stuff.
It was like a dream-come- true for me to have my own green screen and a cool warehouse facility at my disposal and I am eternally grateful to Tony Warner for his kindness in letting us use the building. Tony also owns the Devil's Dungeon where we shot all of the laboratory scenes earlier this year. He is one of the Executive Producers of the film. If you've ever wondered what an Executive Producer does, well this is a good example. He makes it possible financially and logistically for the director to shoot his movie by using his resources, whatever they may be. In this case, it was commercial property that would have cost me a fortune to rent for as long as we needed it. Thank you, Tony, for trusting in me and giving me free reign to do what I do.
So, everything has been shot except the big finale scene where Electar and his posse of evil henchmen take on our heroine Thong Girl and her small band of do-gooders: BoxerBrief Boy, Dweeble and DynoWoman. We're planning a big throw down with choreography and music and lasers and special effects. This will be a two-day shoot and it will be very similar to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" but without the zombies. I'm putting together a team of extremely talented people to pull this off, including a dance choreographer, a fight choreographer, a lighting specialist, three camera operators, riggers, a smoke and laser technician and a set decorator. This will likely be the biggest shoot I've ever attempted and will require a lot of preparation and organization. It sort of stands on its own as a movie within a movie - almost more like a music video than a scene from a film. We'll be using the music from a band called Archer from California. This will have a decidedly harder rock and roll edge to it than the music from the previous TG movie which featured the Dark Widow and her hip-hop urban sound. Electar brings a sort of Billy Idol meets Metallica sort of feel to the mix.
So it's off for a week to Colorado for Thanksgiving then back home to dig in for the winter and try to create some movie magic. As it stands now the premiere will be in Spring, but you know how that goes. I want to take my time and make sure every element of this film is as good as it can be. This may be the end of the Thong saga, so I want to go out with a big BANG. I'll post another blog after we shoot the finale in February and then I'll probably wait until the film is finished before I post again.
I hope you all have a terrific Thongsgiving and a Merry Christmas and I'll see you next year.

August Update

Summer is almost over and we are winding down with production of Thong Girl 4:The Body Electric. We have shot most of our green screen scenes and I am VERY grateful to Tony Warner and Warner Construction for his generosity in letting us use one of his warehouses for the summer. He also owns the Devil's Dungeon haunted house and he let us shoot the first few months of production there. Make sure you get out to the Devil's Dungeon for Halloween. They have the best haunted house in Nashville. I mean it! (www.devilsdungeon.net)
Here are a few highlights from the past couple of months: A couple of weeks ago we shot a scene with the original TG, Leah Adcock. I've already let it slip that Thong Girl dies in a tragic accident at the beginning of the new movie and her sister (Alex del Monacco) comes to Music City to attend the funeral and unwillingly acquires the power of the Thong. Leah graciously agreed to do a cameo role and it turned out fantastic! I was planning on using a body double to stage the "accident" but I thought, what the hell, I'll ask her if she'll do it and she said yes. It was great working with her again and it adds so much to the movie. I know her fans will be glad to see her return.
Also, I finished a teaser/trailer for the new movie and we took some promo shots with Alex, Will (Electar) and Tony (BoxerBrief Boy) for the new poster and banner. The trailer will be available to view on Facebook, YouTube and MySpace in a few days. We'll also have a link on the TG website. We still have several scenes to shoot so this is more of a teaser than a full-blown trailer. But you'll get to see some of the footage that we've shot, including the strip scene at the Brass Stables with the lovely Stacey Dixon (DynoWoman).
We shot a robbery scene last weekend at Comix City Too in Madison. In this scene TG tries out her ass laser for the first time with mixed results. Thanks to Mark Angel and James Hannon for letting us use their store and hanging in there with us until 4am.
September will be the busiest month yet with several key scenes left to shoot and then the big finale in October. Then it's off to post-production solitude. This is my favorite part of the filmmaking process because I get to do what I enjoy most - hibernate and edit. All of the elements of filmmaking are extremely important to the final product, but you can literally make or break a film in editing. That's where you take all of your ingredients and mix them together to form something cohesive and viewable. With all of the amazing technology available through Mac and Final Cut Pro, it's like being a kid in a candy shop for an editor. I am SO psyched for post-production.
Well, that's it for now. It may be awhile before I blog again but please check the TG website (www.thonggirlfilms.com) for updates and new behind-the-scenes pictures. We also will be appearing at the Nashville Comic and Horror Convention in October and Alex del Monacco will attend this year. Hope to see you there.