Holiday Shopping Is Here - But Who Are YOU Buying From?

www.madeinusaforever.com

Hey everyone

I know, right?  Two blog posts in two weeks?  I haven't blogged this much all year, it seems... but hey, I've got a couple of minutes before I have to be at my next appointment, and what am I going to do... eat lunch?  Ha!!

So, my dad occasionally forwards me emails.  Yeah... he's turned into that guy.  Now, don't get me wrong - I don't get 50 emails per day with cute photos of dogs and "funny" videos and such (well, not 50...) Honestly, he's pretty selective about what he forwards around.  He's been on the receiving end of those email barrages, and he doesn't want to clog anyone's inbox with things they don't care about. 

He sent one recently that I think all of us ought to care about, though.  I didn't write it, so don't ding me for the language or spelling errors... but the sentiment is right-on-target in my book.  Oh, I may have added a couple links of my own into the text...

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods  - merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in
a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates
from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift
certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about
a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this
isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town
Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or
motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.




My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave
your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet atyour hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of lights, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that
China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list -- post it to discussion
groups -- throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in
your city -- send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations,
and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other, and isn't that what Christmas is about?

Ok, so I don't know that this is a "NEW" American tradition... in point of fact, Trish and I have always tried to buy American (and buy LOCAL) when it comes time to give a gift.  It's not easy - go into any Target, Wal-Mart, or other "Big-Box" store and you'll spend an hour searching the shelves to find an American-Made product... and make no mistake, when you do find one it'll probably be a little more expensive.  That extra money you spend buying a Cuisinart instead of a Sunbeam, however, is going to factory workers in this country - not factory workers in places like China or Taiwan.

I was glad to see that the emailer suggested supporting your local arts groups when thinking about giving LOCAL gifts.  When he forwarded this message, Dad made sure to mention that giving the gift of locally-produced films is another good idea - and you know, I couldn't agree more.  There are over twenty Oregon-Produced films in my Oregon Film and TV Market Amazon store, and several more locally-produced films available through other retail outlets. Giving your friends and family members a DVD this Christmas puts money in the pockets of people working in Oregon's film and TV industry, and allows them to produce that next feature and hire even more of your friends and neighbors for it.

One last note - You can still buy American when you shop online.  www.MadeInUSAForever.com has over 29,000 American-made products (many produced by small businesses around the country) that are ready to ship out anywhere in the country. 

Look, guys, it's the "season of giving." We want to make the holiday season bright for our friends and family, but we also feel a little more prone to help those who haven't been as successful or fortunate this year.  In some cases that means bringing cans of food to the food bank or dropping a couple coins in the Bell Ringer's kettle... but this year, you have the chance to keep someone employed - and maybe even create a few more jobs once the receipts are tallied.  It's certainly worth taking a couple extra minutes to think about where the product you're purchasing was made, and checking to see if there's a domestically - or locally - produced alternative.

Hope you're all doing well...

-Harold

I Love My Job...

So... I have to tell you about an experience I had Tuesday night.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you probably already know that Trish and I attended a special advance screening of the new Twilight movie, Eclipse on Tuesday (oh, you DIDN'T know that? Well, you should really look at these photos of Trish on the Q&A Panel with Ayanna Berkshire, Solomon Trimble, Cathrine Grimme and Lana Veenker before the show!)

This is one of the many benefits Trish has gotten from appearing in the original Twilight - every time a new Twilight movie opens, she's invited to come to a screening and talk about what it was like to work on the original film. It's great - the fans really love seeing her.

Anyway... that's not the experience I'm writing about here. The experience happened IN the theater, WHILE we were watching the new movie. Now, as you might expect, the house was packed... and it was packed with fans. Real really super-REAL fans. People (not just pre-teen girls, thank you very much...) who knew the Twilight books inside out, who knew exactly what was going to happen... even if they didn't know how it was going to happen in the screen adaptation.

There was a moment, towards the end of the film... a moment after the climactic battle, when the elders of the Vampire and Werewolf clans interacted. I'm not going to be more specific than that because, hey... you may be headed to the movie this weekend. Suffice it to say, when you see it you'll know what I'm talking about.

People in the audience applauded at this moment.

Now, keep in mind, these aren't live actors on stage, performing for the audience... this is a movie. No one associated with the film is in the house to hear the applause (especially since Eclipse was shot in Canada, not Oregon...) but it didn't matter. The audience applauded for their own sake, not the production's sake... the applauded because the felt the magic of that moment.

And I felt that moment... as a worker in the medium. As a person who's been a part making these little moments of magic, whether on stage or on screen... I felt the audience feeling the moment, and I felt their need to applaud. And all I could think was... I feel privileged. I feel privileged to work in this medium, and to bring these little bits of magic to the world.

Go out and see a good movie this weekend, folks. The magic is waiting for you.

-Harold

Yesterday Didn't Go Quite As Planned...

... it went MUCH better!

If you're a regular reader, you know that my life is kind of a mercurial thing... I had the day all planned out, see. My first full day back in town after Trish and my trip to the coast to celebrate our anniversary was booked up, with a meeting in the morning, a day-job appointment in the afternoon, and a meeting with a director in the late-afternoon. And, of course, the usual errand running squeezed in-between... jaunts to the bank, the post office box, etc...

Well, like I said - my life's pretty mercurial. Things change in an instant. My morning meeting got called off. My client cancelled our appointment in the afternoon. Suddenly, my day was open until my director's meeting at around 4:30. In some ways, that wasn't a bad thing... Trish and I both picked up chest colds before we left for the coast - sadly, we hacked and coughed throughout our anniversary - and I'm still a little green-around-the-gills. I could have just stayed in bed... but nature abhors a vacuum. That open time got quickly filled!

First, there was the email I received from Jacqueline Gault, writer-director of the upcoming feature film Meet Jane Doe. I'd auditioned for a role in the film earlier this year and didn't get cast... but I've kept in touch with Jacqueline and other people working on the production. When it came time to cast the role of young Jane's father in the film... she thought of me! So, she sent the script over to me for a read and - wow. How could I refuse? I've been hearing people rave about this script for months... and now that I've read it, I can see why! Of course, I signed on. Filming begins in late Summer here in Portland.

Then it was time to prep for my meeting with Jon Garcia about his new film, The Falls. I'd auditioned last year for a part Jon's film Tandem Hearts; things didn't work out for us on that project, but he obviously remembered my audition - he sent me the script last week, before I headed out of town, and asked me to look at the role of the main character's father (yeah. You're right... ANOTHER father. Hey, look at those new headshots, folks... see that grey in the side-burns? I'm getting planted firmly in the "father type" these days... no reason to fight it - I might as well embrace it!)

I was pretty moved by Jon's script when I brought it with me to the coast. It's very personal, and deals with a subject that hasn't been examined too closely in popular films. Rather than try to explain it here, I'll leave it to the video on the film's Kickstarter Page. It pretty much says it all.

Needless to say, I was very interested to talk with Jon and see where he sees this story going... we had a great meeting at Portland's Doug Fir Lounge, and by the end I managed to talk him into letting me have the role :)

So, my day didn't go as planned. But I'm not complaining... the time filled up juuuust right! Looks like July and August are lining up to be VERY busy months!

"Bicycling" To Colorado Springs

Hey everyone!

If you live near Colorado Springs, you've got a chance to see Trish and I in The Bicyclists, a film we shot back in 2008.

The producers of the hit web series The Bicyclist created this big-screen feature as a "re-imagining" of the events chronicled in the webisodes. From the official web site:

"We’ve kept much of what you’ve loved about the episodes but reinvented the story. We still have the same main four characters (Conrad, Steve, Zack and Lissa), but each character changes in both small and big ways. We still have some of the same quirky comedy, but the drama goes much deeper and the story takes us to unexpected places. "

The film is part of the Indie Spirit Film Festival at Kimballs Peak Theater Three in Colorado Springs (115 E. Pikes Peak Ave., Colorado Springs CO 80903 - click here for a map!). You've got two chances to see The Bicyclists: at 4:45 pm on Saturday, April 24 in Theater #3, or at 12:00 pm in Theater #2.

We really hope those of you in the Colorado Springs area can come out to see the film... of course, if you can't make the screenings (or you don't live in the area), remember that you can order the film on DVD from the "Store" section of http://www.haroldphillips.net/.

Hope you're all doing well...

-Harold (and Trish!)

Dark Horizon Is Now On DVD!

Heya folks

Back in 2006, I appeared in a very ambitious independent film called (at that time) The Lonely Apocalypse - written and directed by Northwest filmmaker Nicholas J. Hagen.

My part was pretty small - I only had two shoot days on the project. The film itself, however, was shot over the course of an entire month in and around Southwest Washington and incorporated a dizzying array of stunts, special effects, and locations. Everyone who's seen the movie under its new title Dark Horizon has been impressed by the tension Hagen evoked - and the high production value he was able to bring on such a small budget. You can see some of that production value in the trailer below:

Dark Horizon from Nick Hagen on Vimeo.

Now the film is finally available on DVD through Amazon.com. I've put a link up in the Store section of Haroldphillips.net - pop by, click the link, and support your local filmmaker by ordering your own DVD copy. If you like it, please do leave a comment on the Amazon page letting other people know what you thought - or on the film's IMDB page. We'd all really appreciate it.

Hope you're all doing well...

-Harold

Meanwhile, Some GOOD News: The Outbreak Is BACK!

Hey folks

Thanks very much for all the kind words I've received in the wake of my release from Wake Before I Die; I've been overwhelmed by the messages of support that have come in in the past few days - and I mean overwhelmed! I've received so many emails and Facebook messages and phone calls that I've had a hard time responding to all of them... if I haven't gotten back to you as yet, please know I'm very appreciative of all your kind words.

That being said... the only thing to do is to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep on moving forward. I had a great audition for an industrial yesterday, and I've got a few more things on the books in coming weeks...

I did want to let you all know about some great news from the crew at SilkTricky, the producers of last year's interactive zombie movie hit The Oubreak. Fans of the film were dismayed to find that SilkTricky had taken the full interactive experience off the the official web site; the movie was so popular that bandwidth costs were getting out of hand - a testament to how many people kept visiting - and returning to - http://www.survivetheoutbreak.com/!

To help pave the way for the release of their new project Bank Run, though, the folks at SilkTricky have brought The Outbreak back for a limited time. So, if you've missed killing me in a myriad of different ways, head on over to http://www.survivetheoutbreak.com/ and run me through the zombie apocalypse again... do it quickly though, before the film gets taken down again!

And remember to visit http://www.bankrungame.com/ to find out more about SilkTricky's new project - you know it's going to be great!

Hope you're all doing well...

-Harold

Support Your Local Filmmaker (Part 2): In The Theater!

Hey there folks

You might remember an earlier post in which I urged you to visit Amazon.com to pre-order Portland-area filmmaker Todd Freeman's film Pray For Hell. I won't go into all the benefits of supporting your local filmmaker again... click the link above if you want read through my usual long-winded diatribe.

I did want to let you know, however, that there's an opportunity to "try before you buy" coming up here in Portland. In advance of the November 10th DVD release of Pray For Hell, Todd's a series of showings at the Clinton Street Theater - the film runs from tonight (November 1st) through Thursday (November 5th).

Now, I'm not in this film. I do know many of the people involved, though... and I'm really excited to get the chance to see it on the big screen tonight. I'll be attending the 7PM showing - hopefully Todd and his brother Jason will be there so I can lift a glass to their success.

If you get the chance over the next few days, try and make it by the Clinton Street to see the show... and if you can't make it down, do consider ordering the film from Amazon, adding it to your Netflix Cue, or picking the DVD up at Target or WalMart after the 10th...

Maybe I'll see you tonight...

-Harold