MOMS AND POPS ON INDIEGOGO

We are up, running and crazy ready to go. If you haven't already done so,  please check out our MOMS AND POPS THE MOVIE Indiegogo campaign!

You can read a little about the project itself and watch some first concept clips of what our vision is for the project. We have a limited time to raise funds, so if you can help in any way, that would be great.

If you love your parents. If you love your grandparents, support our project. Instead of depicting grandparents as doddering or ailing as sadly, many projects do. In MOMS AND POPS we depict them as howe they truly are, thinking, loving people with complex lives and complex situations.

Our project is a thriller with a unique new twist and we like it that way. We know you will too.

LAURA BUTLER AND CARY TUSAN: 

SPENT TV FOUNDERS and CO-DIRECTORS OF THE MOMS AND POPS PROJECT.

So you hear from us on the blog and not about us. Here's a photo of us on the drive up to Park City Utah for the Sundance Film Festival and some of what we've done.

Laura Butler – Writer/Co-Director
A So-Cal native, Laura grew up on the west side of L.A., a wave rider and disco dancer when bell-bottom jeans were king. She attended CSUN and SFSU, majoring in film, but took to book and pen, teaching herself when life’s circumstances put the brakes on her academic pursuits. That said, her first script, a period drama set in 1963, THE COLUMNIST, placed third in the 2001 American Screenwriters Association script competition. Her script MOMS AND POPS was a second-round qualifier in the 2010 Sundance Screenwriters Lab program. Laura previously worked at Back Stage as a listings editor and contributing writer, The Hollywood Reporter (helping with some award season coverage), Baseline Studio System as research editor and HTV. She co-founded and currently produces, writes and directs for the SPENT TV web-network of digital series (www.spentv.com).
Cary Tusan – Co-Director
UCSB graduate Cary has worked all ends of the industry while continuing to produce/write and direct several projects. Currently a managing editor for one of the entertainment industry's largest informational data resources, Cary previously worked at The Hollywood Reporter, Silver Pictures, Singer Entertainment, and Greg Davis' Parkwood Pictures as a development executive. Cary is also the producer/director and co-writer of the acclaimed short film, "The Writer" and the writer/director of SPENT TV's newest series "Fast Track." He is the also the co-founder and a co-producer of the SPENT TV web-network and series (www.spentv.com). Cary recently completed his first family feature, BLUE ICE, with Tom Brennan.

OUR FEATURED SERIES FOR SEPTEMBER; THE ONE

One of SPENT TV's favorites, join host Lars Vance as he re-unites the un-unitable!

You can watch it HERE or on SPENT TV. We will post the link to THE ONE you tube channel later this week.

HAPPY LABOR DAY! 

Don't forget the sunscreen, and of course, don't labor over anything at all this weekend except the steak on the bbq or the tasty beverage in your hand!

OUR FIRST FEATURE AND SUCH

Well, we've indeed been to hell and back.  Life's challenges sometimes have a way of complicating the creativity. Creativity sometimes has a way of complicating the creativity itself with too many deadlines and multiple projects going on at the same time - so in a nutshell, that's where we've been. Dealing with life's joys and its crap and working hard on the creative projects that came our way.


Cary has been working on a pair of writing projects with his writing partner Tom. I've  been consulting with web content folks on revamping our webnetwork. We shot a pair of webisodes and faux commercials.  I've also been working with a great team of creatives, Nicholas Levis, Jean St. James, Rosemary Marks and of course, Cary Tusan to launch SPENT'S first feature MOMS AND POPS. 


MOMS AND POPS has a website, and a facebook page, so check them out, like us on FB if you can, and look for more to keep you up-to-date on our unique and fabulous first feature. More announcements to make on the project and more fun to have along the journey as well.


MONTHLY FEATURED SERIES


For month of August we are featuring our series LLA on You Tube. LLA now has it's very own you tube channel, so check out episode one. Next week we'll have the original short film that we did that the series is based on.


SPOTLIGHT: 
"MOMS AND POPS" PRODUCER NICHOLAS LEVIS

Passionate, articulate and looks-great-in-shorts, Nicholas Levis has joined us a producer on the MOMS AND POPS feature project. Nicholas possesses extensive experience in commercial, advertising and independent film production. Over the past ten years, he has worked on more than three hundred commercials, produced commercials worldwide -- in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Greece, and Mexico -- and worked closely with production companies from South America, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and Italy. As a commercial producer Mr. Levis has worked with EUE Screen Gems, Ridley Scott and Associates, H.S.I., Crossroads, and other major firms. He has also worked on music videos for Mariah Carey, The Rolling Stones, DMX, and others. He has produced various independent feature films including the SXSW Best Documentary Audience Award winning film DARKON. He graduated with a BFA in Performing Arts from Emerson College in Boston.

You can learn more about Nicholas online at Ovie Entertainment's website or by following him on twitter @NicholasLevis.

HERE'S SOME OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING...

Where We've Been Hiding

So to give a little backstory, we made the sojourn to Sundance, got snowed on and got the flu.

But we also made some great connections. So fabulous were the connections, we've been crazy busy with pitches, meetings and studio visits, all the things this pair of struggling writer/directors need to give us a little hope. We can't share until things are locked and signed on the dotted line or close to there. But thanks for your patience while we worked our asses off. It's a reminder to hang on to hope and believe!

CONGRATS TO OUR MOOBIE MOMMA AND POPPA!!
Eric and Gina of our web series IT'S JUST A MOOBIE are the proud parents of baby Miles and you can see for yourself he's a total cutie.

You can post well wishes here or go to their moobie WEBSITE. Welcome to the world baby MILES!

We'll miss Eric and Gina's moobie reviews for now, but know any free time they have is dedicated to getting some sleep. Congrats again you two. We know you'll be back soon for the big moobie releases coming our way this summer if not sooner. And in case you missed any of their rebiews, you can catch some of their oldies but goodies on the spent tv network. 

FAST TRACK RETURNS

The next episode of FAST TRACK is in our capable editor's hands and should be up on SPENT TV soon. Here's a behind the scenes shot of talented cast member Jeannie Bolet! She plays a lit agent in Hollywood. And we know what that means....

FLYERS ANYONE?

Look around town at your favorite coffee shop, brew stop or even on the street for our SPENT TV flyers. We're hitting the pavement, spreading the word. So give us a shout if one lands in your neck of the woods.

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Thanks to all of your votes, and our procrastination, we have a winner in our first annual BEST ACTOR ON SPENT TV AWARD. The competition was heated, went down to the wire. But a clear fan favorite emerged. Announcement and pictures will follow soon! Thanks for voting!

Sundance

2012. This time it really snowed, enough to shut down some highways and blast a person's face with brisk pellets of frozen water - brr. It was a Sundance of lots of parties, inspiring panels, and the long wait lines to get in "Liberal Arts" was a great film, got picked up by IFC for distribution by weeks end. Good news.

Wanted to live stream from the festival, but like everything else Sundance you have to go with the flow, so these pics will have to do. Met some great people and hopefully made the connections that will translate into a future for our Moms and Pops film project.

Morning snow.

Fresh dusting of the flaky stuff.

Cary and Laura on the road to Park City.

Back to work, back to our webseries. We're glad to be home.

Lina Hal, Dorian Martin and The Road to Pitch at Sundance

WINNER OF A DIFFERENT STRAW POLL
Actress LINA HALL recently joined our cast as the mystery woman in the SPENT TV series LLA. With the next episode set to shoot the last weekend of January, cast and crew are psyched to have her aboard. Hall was recently named one of LA Theaters BEST ACTORS OF 2011 in Producer/Director/Critic Joe Straw's annual THE LAST STRAW AWARDS. Hall was recognized for her illuminating performance as screen legend Greta Garbo in the Macha Theatre production of GARBO'S CUBAN LOVER (directed by SPENT'S very own LAURA  A. BUTLER) which enjoyed an extended run late last year.  Her castmate LISA MERKIN was also recognized for her work as the manipulative socialite Salka Viertel.  Here's to Lina's continued success!

DORIAN MARTIN - ACTOR AND NOVELIST
Speaking of our series LLA,  another one of the many talented cast members DORIAN MARTIN is not only a good actor, but a novelist as well. His book RACKLE'S TUB is available now on AMAZON.
You can check out the website for the novel and also the blog.  One reviewer said "Rackles Tub grabs hold of you as soon as you start reading. It is drama, science fiction, sex, drugs, rock and roll, adrenaline... all packed into a gritty novel that holds nothing back." An amazing actor and amazing writer. Congrats, Dorian!

THE PITCH AT SUNDANCE


SPENT heads for Park City, Utah and the Sundance Film Festival Friday Jan. 20th at midnight. You read it right - midnight. We're hitting the road safari style. It's a 10 to 11 hour drive that will take us directly through Warren Jeff's polygamy territory and past the tallest thermometer in the continental US! Can't wait to share these exciting "visuals" with you guys. 


Besides seeing some fantastic films, attending some great filmmaker panels and throwing snowballs at random passers-by, we are pitching our feature project MOMS AND POPS. It's a revenge thriller, where tragedy rockets three ordinary people into an extraordinary circumstance. The script was a second round qualifier in the 2010 Sundance Screenwriter's Lab competition. So we're hoping for synchronicity's sake that pitching an almost Sundance Lab project at Sundance will bring us financing, fabulous actors and of course, distribution. Crazy huh? It almost sounds like we have altitude fever and we aren't even there yet!


In any case, the fantastic part of Sundance are the films, the filmmakers and the inspiration that comes from being around other creatives just trying to make their own dreams come true. So if we come back with a promised 1.95 million or not, we are still going to love it!


So think good thoughts for us as we're slushing through the snow in the close to zero weather, while we try to get someone, anyone to finance our project!

BOXING DAY - BRING IT ON AND SPENT STUFF FOR 2012

Your electronic Christmas presents are noisily in full use. Santa is back home at the North Pole sipping Maker's Mark while Mrs. Claus gives him the best back rub ever. Yes indeed, that holiday has come and gone and it's time to move on to the next big thing - 2012. And Boxing Day! Something the awards season feels a little bit like this year, with no clear run away winner. A real "horse" race may actually shape up for the plethora of awards shows.

A SPENT ACTOR DESERVES YOUR VOTE!
If you haven't done so yet,  please shift your attention to the right side of the blog, scroll down an itsy-bitsy bit and vote for one of our incredibly talented actors!  There are some new names reflecting some different episodes, so you may want to revisit our web site and give them a watch.

The Men of LLA - (l to r) Ben Lauter, Dorian Martin, David Holst, Robert Bell,
John Nagle and the legs of Kyle Heffner.

SOME OF WHAT'S NEW FOR YOU FROM SPENT IN 2012

We are excited about the new shows and our returning shows for Spent in 2012.

This is a very excited co-founder of Spent TV - Cary.

Can't spill the beans too much now, but we are collaborating with a talented actor on one project and dipping into the world of cooking on another. All in all, we are hoping to make your SPENT TV experience even better next year.

SUNDANCE - HERE WE COME

The Second Penny Entertainment/ Spent TV team is heading up to SUNDANCE this year to pitch our feature film MOMS AND POPS.  As we get closer to jumping in the car and getting our drive on we'll fill you in on the details and hopefully have some video of our efforts up on the blog. We are hoping to live stream on our website too. 

Till next time, be good, be bad and be creative!

LET THE AWARDS BEGIN - PLUS WHAT'S AHEAD FOR SPENT IN 2012

SAG, LAFC, BFC - ETCETERA, ETCETERA, ETCTERA

Screen actors, film critics and probably even plumbers associations have begun weighing in on their choices for best performances and best films for the calendar year 2011. Some of the the best film choices announced so far are "The Artist" (a SPENT TV favorite); "Hugo""The Descendants""War Horse" and "The Help." On the acting front, Glenn Close, George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Jean Dujardin and Viola Davis among others have garnered best acting nods.. Tomorrow the Golden Globe nominations are announced. We're so excited and wonder what trinkets Harvey bought the HFPA voters this year to insure as many nomies as possible!

We'd love to hear from you and what your personal choice is this year for best picture. So, post your choice. We'll tally the results and one of you lucky little posting buggers will win a gift card, that's right! A giftie card of your very own! Only one random posty will win. It will be very scientific you know, one of the producing partners at SPENT will be blindfolded, led to the computer and be forced to randomly stick a finger on the winning post!  So leave a comment and post your best pic pick TODAY!

LLA - MORE PICS
Our last shoot of LLA epside 2 was so much frighin' fun, we just want to keep sharing the behind the scenes love including these two:

First CORY GLUCK and JOHN NAGLE arguing about who is more of a LESBIAN LOVER at the beach.

And here's KYLE HEFFNER aka WESLEY, getting ready ready to make his move on CATHERINE BREWTON who is about to kick him to the curb for a park ranging woman played by CHARLOTTE KYLE.

MUCH FROM SPENT FOR THE NEW YEAR

Our New Year's resolution is to give you more interactive, entertaining profoundly exuberant stuff on the SPENT WEBNETWORK. So get your mouse and digits ready to watch. Our next episode of FAST TRACK, number 4 shoots in early February, but FAST TRACK 3 will be up after the first of the year. LLA #2 will be up before the first of the year and #3 shoots the end of January. As we mentioned before we've got two new series coming soon and of course this kicks off the awards season frenzy for Gina and Eric and It's JUST A MOOBIE.

NEW ACTORS---------------SO PLEASE VOTE!

We've added a new list of actors on the blog and they need your votes. If you haven't already you can watch them first on the Spent new or classic channels. 

Go to the right side of the blog and scroll to the vote box.