Hi, my name is Nirvan, I'm the director of The 1 Second Film, and this is the first entry in our 'new' production Blog.

Much has already happened... this started in 2000 as a side project while I was a student at CalArts. I started selling producer credits in February of 2004. As of today, The 1 Second Film has 838 Producers who have collectively donated $10,519.88, plus another $50K in donated 70mm film services by FotoKem. So far, only 7 producers have donated online. The majority of our producers have been people met on the streets, or at film festivals during the past 8 months. My goal is to gradually improve this site in order to grow and complete this project.

What continues to hold things back is the time it takes to enter each producer's name into the credits by hand. The next step is to automate this process and improve our website so we can start selling producer credits on-line. Mike Brodersen and I have been working/waiting for several months now trying to add this blog, a message board, and a database for automating our Producer credits to create the infrastructure to move The 1 Second Film into 'Phase 2'.

We had hoped to launch it all at the same time, but the automated database is still on hold (after some 5 months of waiting- it was supposed to be finished in two weeks!). So, anyway, we decided to launch this Blog before the database is automated.

We begin this Blog in mid-production. Many things with this film are still developing. I have no idea what will happen next, but if nothing else, this will be an archive of some of the absurd adventures that happen along the way. A big THANKS goes out to all of our producers who have helped us get this far. Now let's see what happens next...

Today could be the start of a big week for T1SF and I'm up extra early. Craig is on his way down from Canada and we are gonna team up to sell some serious credits at the AFI FEST. This will be our third credit selling trip together, after the Toronto Int'l and Mill Valley Film Festivals. Good things always seem to happen for The 1 Second Film when Craig and I get together, so I'm very much looking forward to this week.

In anticipation of this trip, I made a new and improved flyer and sent it off for printing. 5000 of them should arrive today. With the latest flyer, we have replaced the picture of Andy Dick with a picture of Tom Green, who out bid Andy's $111.11 with $120. The next step in the plan is to show the new flyer to Andy and see if it doesn't make him a little jealous, and inspire a bidding war.

My focus on T1SF will be split this week as I have to make arrangements for 'Bottomless,' my first feature film that I am hoping to start shooting this December (next month?!) in New York. We still have a ton to do to set that up. But that is another production entirely, I only mention it here because I know it will distract from The 1 Second Film. But this is the way it goes when working without a budget.

Ja, Craig and I went to the Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Center last night, which was awesome. We saw a guy in the IMAX theater with some 70mm film stock hanging out of a binder. They were working on James Cameron's new IMAX film- 'Aliens of the Deep'. We told them we were working on an IMAX film too. They really liked it and said they would mention it to James through the grapevine. (James Cameron's TITANIC [11,640 Seconds] at a cost of over $200 million comes to over $17,000 per second, perhaps the most expensive second of film ever made).

On the way home from the museum, Craig got us a little lost. At random, we saw a small colorful party store and decided to buy some pinatas. We ended up driving all round town with these pinatas in tow, which I think makes any night more fun. These pinatas, who we named Patrick-k-k and L.B.B., became our mascots for the evening.

We went to the AFI Fest lounge and sold a few credits, but the party was pretty lame. Still, we made some progress for setting up the next day (today) and we have some BIG plans, which include: Snoop Dog, a Billionaire, Andy Dick, and the pinatas. If even one of these come through, we will be stoked.

So, we left the AFI party at about 2:00 am and went to The Standard to get some drinks. Craig, who had been sober for nearly the entire day, put that to an end. Ja and I had tea. Then, there was a scene with these two big black guys; one of them was really drunk and obnoxious and had been hitting on every girl in the restaurant in a very aggressive way. Soon these security guy came and tried to kick them out. Before long, it escalated into a shouting situation in the lobby. There were about 4 big burly security dudes trying to kick these two guys out. The testosterone was high. Suddenly we had this idea that maybe The 1 Second Film might be able to help. The plan was to pitch these guys on The 1 Second Film right in the middle of their fight. If nothing else, it would make good video, though I was a little nervous about getting my ass kicked. Still, it seemed too absurd of a moment to pass up. I mean, what if everyone just stopped fighting, and ended up producing a movie for a second? Wouldn't that be beautiful? So we jumped up and grabbed our stuff, but the waitress thought we were trying to skip out on our bill, so we had to pay first. By the time we did, the moment was over and the big black dudes jumped in their white Lexus SUV and took off.

Well, for some reason, we thought it would be a good idea to follow them. So we jumped in our car; Patrick-k-k the piñata was in my lap riding shotgun. These guys we were following would weave in and out of traffic, never used a turn signal, and would pull up to any car with a girl in it and try to strike up a conversation. Their Lexus had the gold rims, gold detailing, and tinted windows. They exited Sunset and jumped on the 101 freeway, headed south. We stayed with them, having no idea how far we would go or where we were headed. As we drove, Craig and I discussed the possibility of taking a cross-country road trip to sell credits, leaving with no money in our pockets, and only surviving off what we made selling credits. It seems like a good idea. Then our guys exited downtown, and we followed them, trying not to be too obvious.

They pulled into a gated parking garage and we parked on the street. What were we going to do? These guys had totally seen us at The Standard, and would probably realize we had followed them. What we needed was a way to approach them. We decided that maybe they would like to smash our pinata, cuz they seemed like they really wanted to hit something. So I grabbed Patrik-k-k, Ja grabbed the pinata stick, and Craig grabbed the camera. In hindsight, it was probably ill-advised to be stalking two large, drunk and sexually frustrated black dudes in the middle of the night, while carrying a pinata and a stick, all in the hope of selling them a credit on a one second IMAX film, but there we were. And for some reason, we were all three limping like zombies.

Well, maybe it was lucky that by the time we got to their car, they were no where to be found. I think Patrik-k-k was a little relieved that he would live to be beat another day, but we were also a little disapointed to have lost them. Anyway, we ended up putting a some flyers on their windshield and limping out of the garage. We passed the security guard, who was sound asleep in his booth, and we left him a flyer too. I wonder if he read it when he woke up.

Craig and I had another adventure last night. We were driving around with Sabrina Taylor, trying to find something to do. Sabrina, who works as an event planner, put in a call to Tommy Lee, the rock star who she throws parties for, but Tommy wasn't home. Maybe tomorrow... We refused to go to the AFI Fest closing night gala, because quite honestly, the AFI parties were really lame this year. So, we decided to check out The Standard downtown, since we had such a good time at the Hollywood location a few nights ago.

When we pulled up, there was a red carpet/security for some private party for Interscope Records in honor of Gwen Steffani. The valet parking was $15, which I didn't want to pay, and I didn't really care about selling Gwen a credit, but Craig insisted we at least try to sneak in. As he said, "When have we not at least tried?" So, we got out, and surveyed the situation. Immediately, we realized the key to entry was the red wristbands. The security would only let hotel patrons in, so we pretended we were checking in to a room. The guard was skeptical so he escorted Sabrina to the check-in. As Sabrina went to the counter, Craig managed to rip two wristbands off the wrists of a couple exiting the party. I didn't even see this happen, he did it so smooth and fast. Then we saw some red tape and I was able to distract the security guard as Craig grabbed a piece. As Sabrina reserved a room on her credit card, Craig and I went to the bathroom and taped our wristbands on. Past the guard we went, then up the escalator, and onto the roof. I gave my wristband to Craig and he went back downstairs to get Sabrina, Five minutes later and the three of us were lying on a waterbed pod with free drinks and a large piece of cake. We danced around until we didn't care if we got kicked out, and then decided the time was now to pitch Gwen, and maybe her husband, the lead singer of Bush.

We managed to find ourselves in the VIP section, don't ask how. We waited for the right moment to make our pitch; finally I was about to slide next to Gwen when one of her friends totally cut me off and sat where I was about to sit. It was an intentional celebrity block, but Craig insisted that it was my fault because I let it happen. He was probably right. The truth was, I didn't really care about pitching it to Gwen, I was only doing it because we were somehow there and we had to follow through.

Then we realized that we were sitting next to Pamela Anderson on the couch. And the guy in the hoodie behind her was David LaChapelle. Maybe it was because we had almost gone to Tommy Lee's house earlier that night, or maybe it was just because the situation was now completely absurd. A bit underdressed, I went over to Pamela Lee and tried to explain the concept to her, which was pretty fun. She didn't give me any money, but I think she touched my leg, which was pretty cool. And I learned a stylish and resourceful way to carry a blackberry in the case of no pockets.

Then I pitched it to David LaChapelle. David seemed to appreciate the paintings. He didn't have any money; Craig gave him a buck and he bought an Associate Producer cred. I'm always amazed with how little cash famous people carry.

Sabrina meanwhile managed to land the gig of throwing LaChapelle's film party at Sundance, which is a realy good job. And, if Craig and I go to Sundance, we might not even have to sneak in. Party over, we went downstairs and waited amongst the stragglers for our car. We handed a flyer to a few stylishly dressed folks, not really expecting any of them to donate. Then this nice guy asksabout our film; he wants to know if we are serious. We say yes, and he whips out a $100 bill, and gives it to us, no more questions asked. Turns out to be Tony Kanal, the bass player of No Doubt:

We were dumbfounded by this last second sale in the parking lot. We got our car and by some other magical fluke, didn't have to pay the $15 valet ticket. All in all, a successfull night for The 1 Second Film.

So, we called Andy Dick and made an appointment for Wednesday night. We are hoping to show him the Tom Green footage, which Andy doesn't know about. He was really curious about what has been happening with the film, but I wanted to save all the latest news for when we meet in person, so we can film it. Craig, who was supposed to leave tomorrow, was able to extend his trip a few more days, so that should be really cool. I've been looking forward to this for a while, but wanted to wait until we had our new flyer that had Tom Green listed above Andy. Well, the new flyers are here, so stay tuned.

We showed Sabrina the video of Vernell and Dana accepting her challenge, and Sabrina stepped up and threw down another $25, bringing her total to $150.

But before another day had passesd, our Miami Execs sent us $63 to top Sabrina and bring their total to $200!

Things are really starting to heat up. This kind of competition is really the next level. With any luck, we will raise enough money to be able to but some proper equipment for making the documentary. As it is, our sound is going to be really awful.

Our meeting with Andy Dick got postponed, but hopefully we will be meeting him later this evening. I'm also meeting with an Exec at Warner Brothers who I want to pitch The 1 Second Film to, along with various other side projects that I'm working on.

The on-line database still has a few bugs to work out, but hopefully by Friday we will get all the issues resolved, and be able to launch the 'new site'. I have also been talking with a non-profit lawyer who is going to help us become an official 501 (C)(3) non-profit corporation. Once that happens, credit sales will be tax deductible and we will also qualify for grants. Also, we will be a lot better organized, which will be a good thing. And then we will see what happens next.

Video: meeting Jay Leno!

Craig, Ja, and I were running around Hollywood all day trying to hand out fliers, which isn't so easy. But we did manage to give Jay Leno one! Jay had just introduced Tim Allen who was getting a star on the sidewalk, aka the 'Walk of Fame.' Jay was in a hurry, as you can see in this video clip, but at least he took a flier :).

After a full fun day of hustling, Craig and Ja left for the airport. A tearful goodbye. We have plans to meet in New York in about a month. Mainly to work on 'Bottomless' (one of my feature film projects), but I am sure we will bring The 1 Second Film to the big apple.

Then I went to CMG in Burbank and worked with Justin who is programing all the back-end info for the database we are working on. It's surprisingly complex, and there are alot of little details to try and work through in an effort to make 'Buying a Credit' as streamlined and automated as possible. I have to make detailed lists of changes this weekend and compile the scrappy database that i have been trying to keep so that it can be loaded into the automated system. Hopefully, once this is all done, we will be able to handle more web traffic.

Then I went home and met with my landlord who surprised us with a 30 day eviction notice. Apparently, he is getting divorced and wants to move back in to his house as soon as possible. So he thought my housemates and I could spend the Christmas holidays finding a new place to live and moving. I'm pretty sure this is illegal, but my landlord is also a lawyer, so...shit. Anyway, this was the unfun highlight of the day.

Then I talked to our non-profit lawyer about the details involved in setting The 1 Second Film up as a non-profit entity. Now that is something to look forward too.

Well, it finally happened. A moment we had eagerly been anticipating. We went over to Andy Dick's and showed him the footage of Tom Green outbidding him. We also brought over one of the pinatas we bought the other day, which really seemed to inspire Andy:

We are already hatching ideas for showing this to Tom, but it will probably have to wait until after I get back from New York. I leave on Tuesday for two weeks to start filming Bottomless. I'm hoping to meet Albert Maysles while in New York; he might be able to introduce us to Yoko Ono, and also will give us some advice about the documentary we are shooting...

Today I also met with Geoff Oki. Geoff found one of our fliers in a club, went on-line and bought a credit. We checked out his website (geoffoki.com) which is really cool and he checked out ours which should be really cool, but is clunky. Anyway, Geoff offered to help fix that. In exchange, we will be making Geoff an executive producer :)

I got a call from Andy Dick inviting me to crash Kathy Griffen's x-mas party at her mansion up in the Hollywood Hills. It sounded weird. i have no idea who Kathy Griffen is. I asked Andy if there would be free food, and he said most assuredly. So I went.

It was weird indeed. i think the first person i saw was Ron Jeremy, but he wasn't really into talking to dudes like me about non-profit art films. So I wandered around in a sea of talent-agent types and other well dressed people I didn't want to talk to at all. The party was pretty miserable for me. So I ate a bunch of sashimi and then wandered around Kathy's four story mansion. She had an entire wall of shoes arranged with custom shelving; it was like a shoe-library. I hid some 1 Second Film fliers in her shoes, and then amused myself by hiding more fliers in other random places around her mansion: in the bathroom, under a pillow, on the treadmill in the gym (yeah, she has gym), in the kitchen(s), etc. Probably her house cleaner will find them before she does. It may take years to find them all...

This was entertaining, butpretty anti-social. So I decided I had to try and talk to people and get at least one producer. After failing a few times, I did eventually meet a few nice folks back by the candle lit swimming pool and sold a few credits. That was enough for me, i was out of there. On my way out Andy was sitting with Kathy trailed by a TV crew. Andy called me over and tried to pitch our film to Kathy, but she was pretty focussed on other things. It was kind of funny. I left a moment later and on my way out I ran into Alfonso Ribeiro. I used to love to watch Alfonso breakdance on Silver Spoons. I pitched him The 1 Second Film and he donated $10! He was the nicest guy I met all night. Here is a pic of him and his wife:

Merry Christmas~