Slug, Episode Eight



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Well, this is it! The last installment of Slug. We hope you've all enjoyed it, had a few giggles, and learned a little bit about slugging. Thanks for tuning in. We had fun with it - and thanks to a great cast and crew.

We're happy to present Slug, Episode Eight. Please visit our youtube page and share it with your friends.

http://www.youtube.com/openplanfilms
As featured in the Spring Lineup of Indietv.tv http://www.indietv.tv

Slug, Episode Eight

Are you aware of the art of hypnotism? Zipper's an expert.


Starring:
Alex Staggs "Zipper"
Manuel Bermudez "Manuel"
Thaine H. Allison, Jr. "Jed"
Mara Marini "Claire"

Slug is a web series produced by Open Plan Films.

Written and Directed by:
Jen Prince, Alyson Shelton & Cody Shelton

Music by:
Peter Senchuk
http://www.myspace.com/petersenchuk

Camera:
Elizabeth Santoro
http://www.madlizzy.com
http://www.myspace.com/madlizzy

Special thanks to Will Underwood and Gordon Prince.

Hello Friends,

We hope this finds you well and enjoying your own adventures since we last updated you on the happenings with Eve of Understanding and Open Plan Films. The first half of 2007 brought great accomplishment and reflection and we're eagerly looking forward to discovering what is next for us. Check out our blog for more information about the ins and outs of what we've been up to lately http://www.openplanproductions.blogspot.com. We'd love to hear fromyou, as always, and hope to have more news soon about the journey our film is taking.

1) LOS ANGELES SCREENING THIS WEEK OF EVE OF UNDERSTANDING!
2) SLUG SEASON FINALE TOMORROW (TUESDAY) - CATCH ALL 8 WEBISODES ONLINE
3) BELLADONNA - OUR JOURNEY INTO CYBERSPACE STORYTELLING
4) NEW MEXICO FILM INCENTIVE LOAN - A WORK IN PROGRESS

1) LOS ANGELES SCREENING THIS WEEK OF EVE OF UNDERSTANDING!

If you haven't yet seen Eve of Understanding, please join us this Thursday as the Los Angeles based organization, Women in Film hosts a screening of Eve of Understanding at the new Landmark Theatre on the Westside. A Q&A will follow the screening with Jen Prince, Alyson Shelton, and actors Rebecca Lowman and Bellamy Young.

Women in Film Screening Series
Los Angeles, CA
*Limited seats available - you must RSVP to eveofunderstanding@gmail.com
June 21, 2007
6:30 reception
7:00 pm screening
A short film will begin at 7 pm and precede Eve of Understanding
THE LANDMARK Living Room Theatre
10850 West Pico Blvd. (Pico & Westwood)
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Free parking behind Barnes & Noble
*Limited seats available - you must RSVP to eveofunderstanding@gmail.com

2) SLUG SEASON FINALE TOMORROW (TUESDAY) - CATCH ALL 8 WEBISODES ONLINE

The last of our eight "Slug" webisodes will be posted to the internet Tuesday (tomorrow). Tune in to see the final episode. If you haven't seen all eight, they're two minutes each, and you can catch them all online.

"You, me, and the H.O.V."
Meet a ragtag bunch of Slugs, people looking for a free ride from drivers
needing an extra passenger to drive in the carpool lane. In commuting
cities across the US, Slugs can be found forming lines at the local Park N
Rides. They are the ultimate urban mooches. In our series you'll meet a
motley crew of Slugs including the first timer, the regular, and a bad
comedian, Zipper. No morning at this slug line is an ordinary one. A
strange community has formed at the park n' ride, and despite their
idiosyncrasies, these Slugs are getting to know each other, share adventure,
and perhaps, in the rare case, find friendship.

We are featured on INDIETV.TV as part of their spring line-up. They've done
a lovely job of promoting the series as well as Eve of Understanding. Check
it out:

http://www.indietv.tv

They've been great to work with and we highly recommend the site to other
independent filmmakers.

You can also view our Slug series on our YouTube page, where you should all
subscribe and rate us highly!!

http://www.youtube.com/openplanfilms

Thanks to the cast and crew of Slug who made this great fun!

3) BELLADONNA - OUR JOURNEY INTO CYBERSPACE STORYTELLING

BellaDonna is a script Alyson wrote set in the future that inspired us to
explore interactive storytelling, using the internet to potentially create
an audience for the film while it was in development. Check out what we've
been doing by visiting the myspace profiles of the characters in the script
- read the BellaDonna blogs, and add these fictional people to your friends
lists on myspace. We've written some more about it on our Open Plan Films blog and pasted the artwork there as well.

BellaDonna - http://www.myspace.com/iambelladonna
Joe - http://www.myspace.com/fortressjoe
Addie - http://www.myspace.com/staysafemyfriends
Diana - http://www.myspace.com/dianaqoya
Demetrius - http://www.myspace.com/demetriusneutaja

Contributors

Jen - http://www.scoutdogstudios.com or http://www.myspace.com/scoutdogstudios
David - http://www.myspace.com/pwnsound
Laura Mercado (vocals on Diana's profile)

I am very interested in the increasing use of interactive platforms in
marketing and storytelling. I wanted a way to do this with BellaDonna - and
the idea of creating myspace profiles was a natural choice. The characters
in BellaDonna interact with each other online, in a public forum, and the
public can interact with them on these pages as well. Becoming the
characters friends, commenting on the blogs BellaDonna writes, discovering
the world as it is revealed through the characters' interactions with each
other. The musicians have original music - and there is a unified look and
voice to the interactions. We also started a couple other websites, for
people to discover on the web - places of business in the world and a
BellaDonna site. I do think that this kind of interaction empowers
audiences to band together and demand the content they want to see. If that
ever happened, what an exciting thing - to have a mandate for your content,
reversing the classic roles - instead of the studio telling audiences what
they want, audiences make suggestions - this already happens sometimes with
video games, comic books, books, etc. This was simply another approach to
that idea.

Check out the profiles and read the blogs. It's worth thinking about - how
the internet community can play new roles in storytelling. Check it out -
someday you'll see this film come to life.

4) NEW MEXICO FILM INCENTIVE LOAN - A WORK IN PROGRESS
We've mentioned Alyson's script,"Bright Side" here and there; it was part of
the Female Eye Film Festival's Script Development Program last summer in
Toronto and had a staged reading we were able to attend. A couple weeks ago
we heard back from New Mexico that it passed the first stage of eligibility
for the New Mexico Film Loan Program. If you're not aware of this incentive,
it's pretty fantastic. New Mexico offers a loan, with participation in lieu
of interest, up to $15 million per project (which can represent 100% of the
budget) for qualifying feature films or television projects. Terms are
negotiated and budget must be at least $2 million. You must find a
distributor to validate that your production is viable, but it's a different
process from finding equity financiers that somehow seems more attainable.
Wish us luck. I'd love to see this project get off the ground.

---
It's a challenging time, getting the next project going, finding the right
distribution opportunity for Eve of Understanding and continuing to produce
work in the meantime. Thanks for your support - we love hearing from you.

Jen Prince
Alyson Shelton

Open Plan Films
http://www.openplanfilms.com
http://www.youtube.com/openplanfilms
http://www.openplanproductions.blogspot.com
openplanfilms@gmail.com

Slug, Episode Seven



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Zipper, the bad comedian, finally finds the audience he's been looking for.

video url -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzkhlbTNAZQ


Starring:
Alex Staggs "Zipper"
Dorothy Sinclair "Tippy"
Carl Virden "Ralph"

SLUG is a web series produced by Open Plan Films.

Written and Directed by:
Jen Prince, Alyson Shelton & Cody Shelton

Music by:
Peter Senchuk
http://www.myspace.com/petersenchuk

Camera:
Elizabeth Santoro
http://www.madlizzy.com
http://www.myspace.com/madlizzy

Special thanks to Will Underwood and Gordon Prince.



--
Open Plan Films
openplanfilms@gmail.com
www.openplanproductions.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/openplanfilms
www.YouTube.com/openplanfilms
www.OpenPlanFilms.com

Slug, Episode Six



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Slug, Episode Six

Zipper tries out some of his material on the slug line. Let's get the funny on, yeah.

Starring -
Michael Cotter "Mike"
Bina Chauhan "Janelle"
Manuel Bermudez "Manuel"
Dorothy Sinclair "Tippy"
Alex Staggs "Zipper"

SLUG is a web series produced by Open Plan Films.

Written and Directed by:
Jen Prince, Alyson Shelton & Cody Shelton

Music by:
Peter Senchuk
http://www.myspace.com/petersenchuk

Camera:
Elizabeth Santoro
http://www.madlizzy.com
http://www.myspace.com/madlizzy

If you've missed any of the previous five episodes, check out our youtube page at http://www.youtube.com/openplanfilms or our myspace page.

Share this video with your friends! Thanks!

Slug, Episode Five

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Starring:
Michael Cotter as "Mike"
Bellamy Young as "Dawn"

A new (and spirited) slug tells the Regular about what totally saved her life!!

SLUG is a web series produced by Open Plan Films.

Written and Directed by:
Jen Prince, Alyson Shelton & Cody Shelton

Music by:
Peter Senchuk
http://www.myspace.com/petersenchuk

Camera:
Elizabeth Santoro
http://www.madlizzy.com
http://www.myspace.com/madlizzy



And if you missed any previous episodes...play below!

Slug, Episode Four



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Starring:
Bina Chauhan "Janelle"
Michael Cotter "Mike"
Amy Procacci "Diana"
Dorothy Sinclair "Tippy"
Zachary Prince "Angel"

SLUG is a web series produced by Open Plan Films.

Written and Directed by:
Jen Prince, Alyson Shelton & Cody Shelton

Music by:
Peter Senchuk
http://www.myspace.com/petersenchuk

Camera:
Elizabeth Santoro
http://www.madlizzy.com
http://www.myspace.com/madlizzy

Special thanks to Will Underwood & Gordon Prince

If you've missed any of the other webisodes, use the player below to catch up or go to our youtube page http://www.youtube.com/openplanfilms or see us on Indietv.tv at http://www.indietv.tv

Slug, Episode Three



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Go to our YouTube page and rate this video! Share it!!http://www.youtube.com/openplanfilms
You can also see the first two episodes of Slug on our myspace or youtube pages, or of course our blog: http://www.openplanproductions.blogspot.com

Slug, Episode Three

Two slugs on a mission...to find the perfect slug lady friend.

Starring:
Daniel Crosby "Hyrum"
Henry Jacobsen "Goodwin"
Dorothy Sinclair "Tippy"
Bina Chauhan "Janelle"
Barbara Chase "Susan"
Zachary Prince "Angel"



SLUG is a web series produced by Open Plan Films.

Written and Directed by:
Jen Prince, Alyson Shelton & Cody Shelton

Music by:
Peter Senchuk
http://www.myspace.com/petersenchuk

Camera:
Elizabeth Santoro
http://www.madlizzy.com
http://www.myspace.com/madlizzy

Special Thanks to Will Underwood and Gordon Prince.

Eve of Understanding & Open Plan Films News, a win at AFI

Hello Friends of Open Plan Films!

What a week! We had a fantastic time at the inaugural AFI Dallas International Film Festival. Backed by the American Film Institute (AFI), this festival was first class all the way - and quite a whirlwind of press, panel/Q&A, and attention for our film. I hope you'll all venture over to our blog and check out some pictures from the event and our red carpet experience - it was great fun. So many of you made your way to Dallas for the screenings and we really appreciated being able to bring the film home to Texas and share it with you. Thanks for being there! And congrats to everyone involved on the award.

Here's the latest news from Open Plan Films:

1) EVE OF UNDERSTANDING WINS SPECIAL JURY PRIZE AT AFI DALLAS!
2) JEN & ALYSON ON AT&T TALK SHOW HOSTED BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY'S MISSY SCHWARTZ
3) SEE PICTURES AND FESTIVAL WRAP UP FROM AFI DALLAS
4) SLUG EPISODE 2 AVAILABLE ON THE WEB

1) EVE OF UNDERSTANDING WINS SPECIAL JURY PRIZE AT AFI DALLAS!

Eve of Understanding was one of only three narrative feature films to be recognized with awards at AFI Dallas this weekend. The awards brunch was a breathtaking affair on the 33rd floor of the W hotel in downtown Dallas. A special jury prize was created in the Texas competition to honor Eve of Understanding, and the jury had quite a lovely speech to honor the contributions of Alyson Shelton, Elizabeth Santoro, Rebecca Lowman and Jen Prince to the film. Jen was there to talk with the programmers and jury. What a deep honor - we're so pleased to be recognized in this way by AFI Dallas among the company of close to 200 interesting films. Throughout the week, we were honored by the enthusiasm the festival had for our film. Congrats on this fantastic honor!

Read more about the awards and the festival, including photos at http://www.afidallas.com.

2) JEN & ALYSON ON AT&T TALK SHOW HOSTED BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY'S MISS SCHWARTZ

AT&T Talk/Show at the Nasher Sculpture Center Presented by AT&T
"What's the Female Point?"
Hosted by Entertainment Weekly's Missy Schwartz

A look at getting films made and getting stories told from the female perspective. How have the hurdles and challenges changed recently, if at all? Is the ultimate goal to tell a truthful story from a female perspective, or simply to tell a good story, regardless of the perspective?

---
Alyson and I were excited to be on this panel of four women at this weekend's AFI Dallas festival. Missy Schwartz was a great moderator and it was in a beautiful venue. Ultimately, we all wish this conversation wasn't necessary - but it is! The feedback we got from the audience was positive, and validated my feeling that people need to know that women are, in fact, still treated differently in this industry - and that despite that there are women like us who are finding their own way. I believe you'll be able to stream it online soon at the AT&T blue room website http://attblueroom.com/hollywood/events/afidallas.php

See pictures from the event at http://www.openplanproductions.blogspot.com

3) SEE PICTURES AND FESTIVAL WRAP UP FROM AFI DALLAS

Our screenings were fantastic at AFI Dallas. We can't say enough good things about this festival. Seriously. We all want to go back. Alyson and I hope to bring more films to the festival and continue the relationships we formed while we were there. The support we received for the film - and the unique individual attention given to us by the programmers and festival staff was unparalleled. We also made the cover of their Daily Newspaper twice.

See pictures of our experience and thoughts on the festival at http://www.openplanproductions.blogspot.com

I wanted to share what Bridgette Poe wrote about our film in the beautiful program book:

"What could possibly be worse than losing your mother? Donna is about to find out.

She's trying her best to cope with her mother Eve's recent passing, made all the more complicated by the bad decisions Donna has made in her own life - and the plain truth that she never felt all that close to Eve in the first place. While her sister inherits everything of value, Donna is stuck delivering notes and tokens that Eve left behind, forcing her on a long road trip. Rebecca Lowman's strong, finely textured portrayal of Donna proves that she deserves to be singled out as one of her generation's premier actresses.

Writer/director Alyson Shelton and cinematographer Elizabeth Santoro have created a taut yet forgiving world. With sharp, spare dialogue, Eve of Understanding is an unblinking look at the redemptive power of self-forgiveness, equal parts hilarity and heartbreak."

4) EPISODE 2 OF SLUG WEB SERIES ONLINE NOW!

Check it out - forward to your friends - rate us highly - and become subscribers!!!

http://www.youtube.com/openplanfilms
http://www.myspace.com/openplanfilms

We're featured on indietv.tv's spring lineup!
Watch the exciting video announcement at http://www.indietv.tv/live !

indieTV.tv, is a Seattle, Washington based website, run by volunteer indie filmmakers, all free. indieTV.tv seeks out the top indie filmmakers on the Internet, and brings them to a wider audience.

Visit www.indieTV.tv and check it out - Slug is featured in their Spring Line-Up. Exciting!!!

Episode 2:

A man looking for house painters finds some Slugs instead...Manuel, Zipper and the rest of the motley crew.

Written and Directed by:
Jen Prince, Alyson Shelton & Cody Shelton

Music by:
Peter Senchuk
http://www.myspace.com/petersenchuk

Camera:
Elizabeth Santoro
http://www.madlizzy.com
http://www.myspace.com/madlizzy

Starring:

Episode Two -
Daniel Crosby "Hyrum"
Henry Jacobsen "Goodwin"
Rian Bishop "Chuck"
Manuel Bermudez "Manuel"
Dorothy Sinclair "Tippy"
Alex Staggs "Zipper"

Special thanks to Will Underwood & Gordon Prince

----
A big thank you to all of you who came out to our screenings in Texas and Florida this week. Glad to know it lived up to the hype! We love hearing from you all and wish you the best with your adventures.

Jen Prince
Alyson Shelton

And the Eve of Understanding/Open Plan Films team.

This is to remind you all to come out to our Texas and Florida screenings this week! We'll be in Texas to say hello - don't miss it!! Please let us know if you'll be at either screening and pass this info on to everyone you know in the Dallas and Miami areas - we need the support and want to sell out!!!

FI Dallas International Film Festival
March 22-April 1.
http://www.afidallas.com.
*Thursday, March 29, 2007 @ 9:30 pm
Magnolia Theatre # 4
*Saturday, March 31, 2007 @ 12:00 pm (noon)
Magnolia Theatre # 5
Q&A to follow both screenings.
The Magnolia
3699 McKinney Ave.
Dallas, Texas 75204
214.520.0098
www.landmarktheatres.com

Tickets are available through AFI Dallas beginning March 2. Tickets are sold online or in person. See http://www.afidallas.com for more details.
Additionally there are many hotel discounts at: http://www.filmdfw.com/page.php?s=AFI_Dallas_Hotels2007

Women's International Film Festival South Florida
Sunday, April 1st, 2007 @ 8:30 pm
Cinematheque Theatre on Miami Beach
512 Espanola Way
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Tickets: http://www.wiffonline.org/program.php
http://www.wiffonline.org

Hi Friends,

We're gearing up for our Texas premiere at the inaugural AFI Dallas
Film Festival and are excited to hear from so many of you in the Lone Star
State who will be joining us!

Today, we're launching our 8 episode web series, SLUG. Check it out!
Thanks to those of you who went to Eve of Understanding screenings in
Chicago and Utah over the past couple weeks. It's a busy time here at
Open Plan Films, but not too busy to answer your emails - say hello,
drop a line, give a holler!

And now for the news...

1) SLUG, A WEB SERIES FROM OPEN PLAN FILMS LAUNCHES TODAY!
2) AFI DALLAS TEXAS PREMIERE MARCH 29, 31. BE THERE!
3) ALYSON SHELTON ON "WHAT'S THE FEMALE POINT?" PANEL AT AFI DALLAS
HOSTED BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
4) SOUTH FLORIDA SCREENING OF EVE ANNOUNCED FOR APRIL 1ST
5) COMPOSER AND CINEMATOGRAPHER WEBSITES - CHECK THEM OUT!
6) WALES SCREENING SET FOR JUNE 4TH

1) SLUG, A WEB SERIES FROM OPEN PLAN FILMS LAUNCHES TODAY!

We're happy to announce that SLUG has officially launched!
You can find it on our YouTube page:
http://www.youtube.com/openplanfilms
Please encourage your friends, family, email lists to subscribe to our
YouTube channel and rate the video highly!
You can also find it on our MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/openplanfilms
Everyone did a wonderful job - it's kept us laughing! Stay tuned for
more episodes launching every other week...

Slug, Episode One
"You, Me, and the H.O.V."
Meet a ragtag bunch of Slugs, looking for a free ride from drivers
needing an extra passenger to drive in the carpool lane. The first timer,
the regular, and a bad comedian, Zipper.

2) AFI DALLAS TEXAS PREMIERE MARCH 29, 31. BE THERE!

Tickets can be bought online at http://www.afidallas.com. Eve of
Understanding is screening in competition at the inaugural AFI Dallas
International Film Festival. Jen, Alyson, Cody, and Gordon will attend both
screenings. Hope to see you there at our Texas premiere:
AFI Dallas International Film Festival
March 22-April 1.
http://www.afidallas.com.
*Thursday, March 29, 2007 @ 9:30 pm
Magnolia Theatre # 4
*Saturday, March 31, 2007 @ 12:00 pm (noon)
Magnolia Theatre # 5
Q&A to follow both screenings.
The Magnolia
3699 McKinney Ave.
Dallas, Texas 75204
214.520.0098
www.landmarktheatres.com

3) ALYSON SHELTON ON "WHAT'S THE FEMALE POINT?" PANEL AT AFI DALLAS
HOSTED BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Alyson has been asked to speak on a panel at AFI Dallas on March 31st
at 2 pm with other female directors who have films in the fest. This
TalkShow panel is to be held at the Nasher Sculpture Center and taped to
stream on AT&T Blue Room. We'll give more details when we get them so
you can stream it!

What's the Female Point?
Hosted by Entertainment Weekly's Missy Schwartz

A look at getting films made and getting stories told from the female
perspective. How have the hurdles and challenges changed recently (if at
all)?
Is the ultimate goal to tell a truthful story from a female perspective
or simply to tell a good story regardless of the perspective?

4) SOUTH FLORIDA SCREENING OF EVE ANNOUNCED FOR APRIL 1ST

Miami Beach - Eve of Understanding is coming to you. As an official
selection of the Women's International Film Festival South Florida, we'll
be screening on the final night of the fest, April 1. Please let us
know if you'll be attending! We'd love to have your support.

Women's International Film Festival South Florida
Sunday, April 1st, 2007 @ 8:30 pm
Cinematheque Theatre on Miami Beach
512 Espanola Way
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Tickets: http://www.wiffonline.org/program.php
http://www.wiffonline.org

5) COMPOSER AND CINEMATOGRAPHER WEBSITES - CHECK THEM OUT!

Peter Senchuk, our esteemed composer, has a website - check it out and
pass it along to any filmmaker friends you have:
http://www.myspace.com/petersenchuk

Elizabeth Santoro, our go-to cinematographer, also has sites - watch
some fun stuff and pass on her info to your colleagues:
http://www.madlizzy.com
http://www.myspace.com/madlizzy

6) WALES SCREENING SET FOR JUNE 4TH

We have some great supporters in the UK and we're happy to report that
our Wales screening time has been set. Eve of Understanding is an
official selection of the Swansea Bay Film Festival.

Swansea Bay Film Festival
June 4, 2007 @ 10 am
(following a short film)
Dylan Thomas Centre
Swansea 356
Somerset Place
Swansea
SA1 1RR
Tel: 01792 463980
Swansea Bay, Wales, UK
http://www.swanseafilmfestival.com

---
Thanks for your support! Watch Slug! Go see Eve of Understanding!

Jen Prince
Alyson Shelton
& The Eve of Understanding Team...and the Slug Team...it's mostly the
same people =)

http://www.EveOfUnderstanding.com
http://www.myspace.com/openplanfilms
http://www.openplanproductions.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/openplanfilms