Masque of the Red Death 2011

Arts Prize Channel

This year one of my biggest ventures is filming profiles of recipients of The Cleveland Arts Prize. Interviewing/shooting all these talented folks is extremely rewarding, and it's pushing me in new creative directions that I never before imagined. Check out the first six on the brand new Arts Prize Vimeo Channel. They feature Amy Casey, David Giffels, John Paul Miller, Melvin Rose, La Wilson and Don Vanderbrook.

Raging Bullets Podcast

Just had a great talk with Sean and Jim from Raging Bullets about Apama 2. Check it out here.

Raging Bullets Apama 2 Podcast

Terminal Tower

View of the Terminal Tower hanging out of a chopper last night. What an amazing shoot - and the most perfect sky. As a bonus got a Hawkeye look at the Avengers movie carnage on East 9th - just crazy - gotta love Cleveland.

Spider-Man Lizard Comic Con Image

I'm a freelancer.

In April I made the leap to freelance as a filmmaker. Once I came to this decision there was almost an avalanche of evidence that this was the right move. I'm happy to report that some really fun and unusual projects are already underway. I also recently landed a pretty sweet suite in Akron for editing and client meetings too.

It's kind of funny, because even though we didn't end up selling Hero Tomorrow for big bucks, it sure has given back to me in ways that are truly immeasurable. If you or anyone you know has a indie film script, web content piece, TV commercial, music video, family archive interview, anything at all - let's talk about it : )

Thanks, and please take a look at my new CINEMATOGRAPHY REEL

Apama #2 is Online Now

Open publication - Free publishing - More hero tomorrow

The Spidey Project

The Spidey Project (Zero Dollars - 30 Days - The First Spiderman Musical to Officially Open in NYC) is now online.

As a lifelong fan who hasn't missed Amazing Spider-Man since 1974 I have to say I LOVED it. Spidey wears the silly parody treatment pretty well. He's always been a nutty character and this is fun like we haven't seen before.

The most surprising thing is that amid the breakneck pace and campiness a lot of heart worked its way into the mix. Peter Parker is great! Gwen sings like and angel. Betty Brant is... um... indescribable. The tunes are pretty good too - much better in fact than any of the droning U2 b-sides I've been hearing from Bring on the Dark.

The audio quality of the recording is a bit rough, so I recommend listening with decent headphones and watching in full screen 720p.

Congrats to the creators and cast. Here's hoping they follow through with their recent threat to make a cast recording.

Ted

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

We lost a great one.

Our prayers go out to the family of George David Phillips. George played talk show host Grant Coakley in Hero Tomorrow. He was a sweetheart of a guy and we'll miss him immensely. I was blessed to have worked with him and we're honored to have George in our film.

FROM THE PLAIN DEALER

Cleveland's Own Superhero Takes to the Streets

Thanks to Hallie Witwer for this article on all things Apama.

ALTOHIO

Apama Installation Press

Erin O'Brien just wrote about our Apama installation for Freshwater Cleveland. It' s great to see Joan Smith getting the credit she deserves.

Erin also went more in-depth with Apama and Cleveland history on her amazing blog

Thanks Erin!

(Click the image for a larger view)

Congrats to Brian McCann for "Santa tonight, Hero Tomorrow - Happy Christmas from the dirty City." Brian will be receiving an original art page from issue 2 of Apama.

This was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who entered. I'm sure we'll do it again. Thanks also to our judges, Chris Hixson, Jocelyn Wrzosek, Joe Reboudo, & Rob Sikora who helped Benito, Milo and I pick the winner.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa. May a blessed New Year be yours.

Here's some honorable mentions:

Now all that's left is this bag of coal for LeBron!
- Eddy Newell (The best of the LeBron captions)

And as their vigilance prevailed, so too did the midnight’s Christmas church bells.
- Adrienne

Happy Apama-ka!
- thefreakytiki

A few too many nogs, Vica and Apama hijack an aircraft!
- Adam Muskewicz

Has Apama gotten his tinsel in a tangle?
- Patrick

Silent Night Holy Terror
- Mary Gerity

Squid dreams are made of these.
- John Ceperich

Apama Christmas Caption Contest

It started out pretty simple. We asked artist Benito Gallego to create a holiday themed Apama pinup for issue 2. The only direction we gave him was to try and incorporate Cleveland into the background.

Once again he blew our doors off and we were utterly speechless. So speechless, in fact, that we've decided to send out a desperate plea for help. Shoot us an idea for the space in the Christmas scroll, and if we use it in the final, you will receive an original Bento Gallego signed art page from Apama - The Undiscovered Animal ($300 dollar value.)

Send caption ideas to letters@apamanation.com or add them under the image right here on the APAMA FACEBOOK PAGE

UPDATE: DEADLINE DECEMBER 16th 11:59PM!

-- On top of this, while the holiday season is upon us, we're also offering the critically acclaimed feature film Hero Tomorrow DVD for a mere $9.99!

Click here to Own Hero Tomorrow Today

Masque of the Red Death

I had the honor and pleasure of shooting this wickedly entertaining party.

The Akron Civic Theatre and Evant, Inc. present a Halloween party like no other: a macabre masquerade that pays homage to Poe's classic tale!

Masque of the Red Death from Ted Sikora on Vimeo.

Apama - Superhero - Downtown Cleveland Art Installation Video

We had so much fun with this, and huge thanks are in order for everyone who was involved - especially Cleveland Storefront Art and the building's owner, Joseph Ditchman. We're also greatly appreciative to everyone who purchased merchandise to help fund the project. The final install ended up being almost 30 feet high. Somewhere in Pittsburgh our beloved Jocelyn Wrzosek is surely blushing. If you're in Cleveland please pop on by 811 Prospect Avenue for an up close and personal look.

I also need to thank and plug REPROS PRINTING.

Apama Comic Book - Downtown Cleveland Art Installation from Ted Sikora on Vimeo.

Canton Palace International Film Festival

We have a screening this Sunday at the first annual Canton Palace International Film Festival. Hero Tomorrow was invited to be the closing night film this Sunday October 10th at 7PM. We'll be showing in glorious High Definition (finally) for the first time. Hope to see you there -- take a look at how gorgeous this theatre is.

The Canton Palace Theatre

605 Market Avenue North

Canton, Ohio 44702

Apama #2 Cover

Here's the cover to issue 2 illustrated by Benito Gallego! This issue features a villain based on Hero Tomorrow's Bryan Jalovec. Click for a bigger view.

Apama - 811 Prospect Avenue Building Proposal

This one has been brewing for quite a while. Huge thanks to Joan Smith of Cleveland Storefront Art for making this a reality. We'll be installing the actual pieces this Saturday and real pics will soon follow!

READ APAMA ISSUE 1

Open publication - Free publishing - More animal fight

FIRST APAMA COMIC REVIEW

Thanks to Eric at the Pullbox for this article!

BEHOLD - APAMA: THE UNDISCOVERED ANIMAL!
Yes, I giggled a little bit too when I said it out loud. But you know what, this FREE online comic is worth a look. It is a Kirby-esque origin story that made me wish there was a second ish ready. Benito Gallego does an outrageously good job of bringing this “comic within a movie” alive. I know Gallego from his fantasy art work, but with this project he shows he can play in the superhero realm just as well. The story written by Milo Miller and Ted Sikora is a modern PG-13+ (language and innuendo) version of a classic heroic melodrama. This comic would be worth buying, let alone getting to read for free.

Check it out here!

This comic is a film tie-in to Hero Tomorrow (from Swinging Cane Productions), one of the best indie dramas I have seen in recent years. When all is said and done, Hero Tomorrow is a fantastic comic-book-themed movie that outdoes the vast majority of mainstream movies that are marketed towards the fanboy and girl (and yes, Kick Ass, I’m looking right at you)

Posted by Eric at The Pullbox

Superhero From Award-Winning Film Makes Online Debut in Free Comic- Hey World, GET READY FOR APAMA!

The first issue of “Apama- The Undiscovered Animal” is available to read free online at www.herotomorrow.com. The web comic is a new ongoing series that will publish on a quarterly basis, with issue 2 already finishing production for an anticipated October release.

The character Apama made his debut at San Diego's Comic Con International in the independent feature film Hero Tomorrow. HT has been an international film festival sensation, screening at festivals everywhere from New York to Montreal, Rome, Brazil and Australia.

In the Cleveland based film, David is a struggling comic book artist who can't sell his original superhero idea, Apama, to a publisher. His girlfriend, an aspiring costume designer, makes him an Apama costume for Halloween. Once David's life goes to pot, he embarks on various misadventures dressed up as his own superhero.

The comic book version of Apama is a realization of what David would have created had he succeeded in his comic book career. So it's a fresh start for new readers and no knowledge of the film is required to enjoy the comic.

Apama is also done in a style that's an homage to comics of the 70s. Apama creator Ted Sikora explains. “We're attempting to create a book that gives us the same feeling we had reading comics growing up. It’s really a valentine to the classic 70’s bronze age of comics, which is why finding the perfect artist was so important.”

"We put an ad out for an illustrator on the website ConceptArt.org and to our shock over 100 artists from all over the world applied for the project. It was tough to narrow it down, but Spaniard Benito Gallego was our ultimate choice."

"Benito's art really had that timeless flavor - you look at it and can't say when it was created." says Sikora. "His page layouts give the story a very seamless flow. He draws beautiful females, and does wonderful work with architecture. In the past he had done quite a bit of animal-monster themed comic art, so he was a great fit."

Says Gallego of the project, "It's a very mature approach to the superhero genre, It goes from comedy to horror passing through romance. There are references to spiritual knowledge, ethnicities, culture, religion, and mythology."

“Outside of Howard the Duck I can’t think of anyone else who heroed it up in Cleveland, Ohio,” enthuses co-writer Milo Miller. “It’s a lot of fun working on a book with some real local flavor. Lebron James? Who needs him, C-town is gonna belong to Apama!”

The DVD for Hero Tomorrow, which has over four hours of material, is currently available for purchase on the film's website and iTunes. Both the film and comic book are intended for mature audiences.

A NEW SUPERHERO ARRIVES IN CLEVELAND - THE ORIGIN CITY OF SUPERMAN - GET READY FOR APAMA!

A NEW SUPERHERO ARRIVES IN CLEVELAND - THE ORIGIN CITY OF SUPERMAN - GET READY FOR APAMA!

Back in 1932 two guys from Cleveland Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created the world's first super powered crimefighter, Super-Man. Over the years thousands of characters have been created in the genre but almost none have ever called Cleveland home. Now longtime friends and filmmakers Ted Sikora and Milo Miller have co-written and produced a new comic book series entitled "Apama - The Undiscovered Animal" whose adventures take place all over Cleveland.

Apama made his debut at San Diego's Comic Con International, in the independent film "Hero Tomorrow" which has been an international film festival sensation, screening at festivals everywhere from New York to Montreal, Rome, Brazil and Australia.

In the Cleveland based film, David is a struggling comic book artist who can't sell his original superhero idea, Apama, to a publisher. His girlfriend, being an aspiring costume designer, makes him a costume of Apama for Halloween. Once David's life goes to pot, he decides to embark on various misadventures in real life dressed up as his own superhero.

The comic book "Apama: The Undiscovered Animal" is a realization of David's dream that imagines what David would have created had he succeeded in his comic book creating career.

So what is an Apama? With so many great super-heroes based on creatures from nature (Spider-Man, Bat-Man, Wolverine) the creators asked themselves, "What if there was another creature that was so powerful and stealth that is was still undiscovered by modern man?" That creature is the Apama. In the comic book, Hungarian ice cream truck driver Ilyia Zjarsky goes hiking one day and finds the ancient Native American scroll that reveals the key to enabling the Apama's spirit in a human. Says Sikora, "This isn't just some adaptation of a movie. Milo and I felt that we truly had something new to say in the genre. This book will stand on its own two feet without any knowledge of our film."

When the team decided to make this into a comic book they put an ad out for an illustrator on the website ConceptArt.org. "To our shock over 100 artists from all over the world applied for the project. It was tough to narrow it down, but Spaniard Benito Gallego was our ultimate choice."

"Benito's art reminded us of the classic '70s comic book style we all grew up loving." says Sikora. "His panel layouts give the story a very seamless flow - a very rare quality. He draws beautiful females, and does wonderful work with architecture. In the past he had done quite a bit of animal-monster themed comic art, so he was the perfect fit."

Says Gallego of the project, "It's a very mature approach to the superhero genre, It goes from comedy to horror passing through romance. There are references to spiritual knowledge, ethnicities, culture, religion, and mythology."

To help Benito capture authentic Cleveland, Sikora went all over town, photographing various locations to create the right feel. "It was just like scouting for our film all over again. I actually got permission to show some actual storefronts and apartment buildings as well."

The first issue of "Apama" is available for free downloading on the film's website (www.herotomorrow.com) The comic is expected to publish on a quarterly basis, and is intended for mature audiences.

The DVD for Hero Tomorrow, which has over four hours of material, is currently available for purchase on the film's website and iTunes.

Apama Red Bubble Site

Apama #1 Cover merchandise is now available at our APAMA RED BUBBLE SITE.

The posters are extremely high quality. You could make a hammock out of it.

Apama - #1 Cover

Here's the final cover to Apama The Undiscovered Animal - illustrated by the incredible & spectacular Benito Gallego! We're about a month away from getting this baby up and running. Click the image for a larger view ;-l

Smash or Trash Independent Filmmaking

Thanks to Smash or Trash Independent Film-Making for their Hero Tomorrow DVD review.

Get 'cher Brats Here!

This one really took me by surprise. Thanks so much to Glenn Andreiev for talking kindly about Hero Tomorrow in his recent article that features AVATAR!

FILMS IN REVIEW

Spaces Art Gallery Members Show

HT DVDs and posters will be on sale the Spaces Gallery Artmart. There's also a brand new Hero Tomorrow promo video on display with our ever-creepy Apama Mannequin!

BVS Reviews

"Over the last year or so I have screened and reviewed some very interesting and different films..." "But the most different, avant-garde if you will, film that I have watched recently is Hero Tomorrow"

BVS Reviews - Hero Tomorrow

Paul Kientiz Review

PAUL KIENITZ is a someone who started reviewing lots of comic book films. His HT review is mixed, but overall we fared pretty well compared to other massive budget hero type films.

http://paulkienitz.net/comix/index.php?herotomorrow.html

Space Booger Review

This is a really sweet Hero Tomorrow DVD review from Space Booger!

Apama Illustration by Benito Gallego

Here's an advance look at another Apama image by Benito Gallego.

Magazine Ad

This image was almost our DVD cover. The photo was taken by Laura Ruth Bidwell in the bathroom of The Phantasy Night Club. We did use it recently in a magazine ad. Be sure to click it for the full detail ;-l

Power of Pop Review

We just got reviewed in Singapore! Thanks to Kevin Mathews for this POWER OF POP HERO TOMORROW REVIEW

Multiversity Comics Review

Thanks to Gilbert Short for his Hero Tomorrow review on Multiversity Comics -- a site that is by people who love comics, for people who love comics.

The Trades Review

Hero Tomorrow was just reviewed in "The Trades."

Hero Press Review

This was a really nice Hero Tomorrow DVD review from Tim Knight at Hero Press.

UPDATE: I just did really fun follow up interview with Tim for Hero Press.

Benito Gallego

Apama - The Undiscovered Animal is back on track with the amazing artist Benito Gallego.

When our very talented and dear friend Eddy Newell became unavailable to illustrate the series we placed an ad on ConceptArt.org explaining the project and looking for artists. We were completely overwhelmed by about 100 extremely gifted illustrators from all over the world. The decision was difficult to say the least, and we hope to do pin-ups with a bunch as the series goes forward, but in the end it was Benito's style and storytelling that really struck us and felt so right for this project. This piece in his portfolio entitled ESCAPE TO MADNESS absolutely sealed the deal.

Comic books today are wonderful - I love what is going in in the Marvel Universe - but as the cliche goes.... they sure don't make 'em like they did in the 70s. Milo, Benito, and I are absolutely products of that era, and we trying to do something that is really groundbreaking by picking up the 70s torch and making a u-turn away from the 80s/90s evolutions.

We're beyond excited, and percolating with ideas that will make this series a wild mix of action, romance, horror, and comedy.

Nothing Like Vaudeville

Back in the early 90s my brother Kurt and I had an original rock band called Nothing Like Vaudeville that recorded a concept album. The tagline read "Somewhere in the 1920s a runaway freak clashed with bizarre mob violence and a diabolical ringmaster."

At some point it seemed that this concept album would be better served as a stage production. In November of 94 "Nothing Like Vaudeville - The Musical" opened in Cleveland at the Phantasy Theater.

After the show's initial run we went into the studio to record a demo with audio engineer Chris Keffer. When the demo was completed it was sent to Michael Kerker of ASCAP publishing who suggested that it be released as an original cast album.

The disc was subsequently picked up for international distribution by Original Cast Records and scored some rock solid reviews. The show was next retooled in 1999 for a run at Daytona Beach Community College directed by Derek Mason.

This video is a trailer for the original cast album. I had a great time putting it together using Magic Bullet Looks filters to give it that dirty old time film look.

Hero Tomorrow's Tara Kamman makes an appearance at around the 2 minute mark.

www.nothinglikevaudeville.com

ITunes February 16th!

Hero Tomorrow will be available for download on Itunes on February 16th. We're proud to be one of the first films to get accepted to Itunes without a traditional distributor.

Comic Book Outsiders

I had the pleasure of speaking with Scott Grandison and Steve from Comic Book Outsiders "Bringing you some of the very best hidden gems from the worlds of independent comics, movies and TV" In episode 69 the Hero Tomorrow section begins at 28:15

Episode 69

Order the Hero Tomorrow DVD Online

The Hero Tomorrow DVD is available online - shipping October 19th. ORDER THE DISC

Loaded with Extras

• "The Making of Hero Tomorrow" - 24 minute documentary featuring interviews with 14 cast and crew members, deleted scenes, and bloopers.
• "Soundtrack Who's Who" - 20 minute montage that introduces you to HT's incredible music artists while showing alternate takes and bonus scenes.
• Auditions
• Cast and crew bios
• Concept art
• Commentary track and much more - Over 4 hours of material!

If you're local to Cleveland you can get the disc in person from one of our actors (Larry Zjaba) in one of our locations B & L Comics (the comic shop backroom in the movie.)

B&L Comics

5591 Ridge Rd

Cleveland, OH 44129
(440) 886-3077

Tokin with Lawrence Welk

Guess they didn't realize toke was a pot reference.

Sugarman Three

Finally a chance to catch my breath and get back to talking about our spectaculous music artists.

I first heard the vintage funk sounds of Sugarman Three during a party at the home of Kevin Shahan. I remember thinking man, they don't make music like this anymore. I asked Kevin who it was, and he mentioned that it was a NEW recording. I was floored. I've always thought funk/jazz and comics have a very cool collectable kinship. This stuff would be perfect in our movie... could we possibly get these hip New York cats to take part in our indie Cleveland film? I tracked down Neal Sugarman on myspace, told him about HT, and he was cool with it.

On a side note one of the Sugarman Three members is Adam Scone. His father and the father of Perren Hedderson are very close friends. In fact Bruce Hedderson was best man in the wedding of the father of Adam Scone. Crazy coincidence.

I'm so thrilled to have four tracks from Sugarman Three in Hero Tomorrow. Buy their music. Buy their music.

Daptone Records

"that little indie label that could, would and certainly should--continues to bring you the tastiest, most delectable nuggets of Soul, Funk, Gospel and Afrobeat to be found on a vinyl platter. Armed with recipes culled from a former life as Desco Records, we at Daptone earnestly strive to serve only the finest music analog tape can offer.

Musician-owned and run, our Brooklyn-based family of soul-drenched talent channels the spirits of bygone powerhouses like Stax and Motown into gilded moments of movement and joy, be they delivered by the likes of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Lee Fields, Charles Bradley, Binky Griptite, the Budos Band, Naomi Davis or the Sugarman 3. Whether your preference is for discs 7-inches or 12, LPs or CDs, this is music to be savored and felt, again and again."

Word.

AltOhio Bridge Project Story & Review

Huge thanks to Elise Prehoda for this great article on the Bridge Project. It was an amazing time, and we're extremely grateful for her review of Hero Tomorrow.

AltOhio.com

DVD Release Date

The Hero Tomorrow DVD is available on our website now, and as of February 16th, 2010 it will be for sale on ITunes - ending the longest rollout of a feature film perhaps umm.. jeez maybe ever. There were a bunch of things -- crazy, beautiful, expensive, disappointing, enlightening --things (which I won't get into right now) that happened over the last couple years delaying the HT release.

People keep asking us about distribution. Well, we did get several distribution offers, and I'm truly honored that anyone in this tough market/economy was interested in taking on our film. However, during our festival run I spoke with so many filmmakers that were dissatisfied with their distributors. Story after horrific story... filmmaker signs deal - never sees a penny - or worse - signs deal - puts film in coffin. So while it would have been great to say "Hey everybody - we got a distributor!" the reality is that the numbers just didn't add up - at least not for us.

It's a new day for indie filmmakers. We can make our own deals and partnerships with sweet sites like Filmbaby, Amazon, Itunes - the list grows every day. We're also about to launch this kick ass Apama spin-off comic book. Right now it makes sense for us to retain all the rights.

We're very proud of how Hero Tomorrow came out and honored beyond our wildest imagination at the hundreds of people (actors, crew, extras, friends, family, musicians, comic book publishers, writers, artists, video compositors, location owners) who have come to be involved.

The recent feedback on the final cut of the film and all the DVD extras has been amazing.

It some weird way it feels like we're just ramping up, so I just want to say one more time - thanks so much for all the support and please stay tuned - we won't let you down.

Ted

DVD Advance Release Party!

We're extremely happy to announce that Hero Tomorrow will finally be released on DVD in mid October! To celebrate we're taking part in the ultra-cool Cleveland Bridge Project Art Festival this coming weekend. It's a great way for us to get some advance copies into the hands of all the beloved people who have helped to make this film a reality. The DVD will also be available to the public, and we'll be handing out free movie posters during the event.

The Hero Tomorrow installation space will be ongoing for the two days, so you're welcome to stop by anytime. We're encouraging all cast and crew members to come down on Saturday, September 26th at 4PM for an official reunion.

CLEVELAND BRIDGE PROJECT
Friday, September 25th 4PM to Midnight
Saturday, September 26th Noon to Midnight

The Cleveland Bridge Project takes place under the Detroit-Superior bridge. It is free to the public and include arts and crafts vendors, food and beverage vendors (including beer and wine), buskers, and solo performers positioned across the great span of the bridge.
The website has an actual video explaining the best way to get down to it.

About that HERO TOMORROW DVD...
- The disc features an all new final cut of the movie with a brand new score.
- "The Making of Hero Tomorrow" - 24 minute documentary featuring interviews with 14 cast and crew members, deleted scenes, and bloopers.
- "Soundtrack Who's Who" - 20 minute montage that introduces you to HT's incredible music artists while showing alternate takes and bonus scenes.
- Cast and crew bios
- Concept art
- Commentary track and much more - Over 4 hours of material!

Artist Eddy Newell will also be joining us at the Bridge Project, and he'll be illustrating pages from the upcoming Apama comic book. His work will be projected onto the wall of the old trolly station as it happens.

Hope to see you there, and thanks for all the support.

Fantastic Planet Film Festival!

One last festival just accepted HT. This time Apama's going to Sidney Australia for the Fantastic Planet Film Festival!!

It will happen between October 30th and November 6th! Who knows maybe we'll finally get that elusive Halloween night festival screening...

HERO TOMORROW DVD Advance Release Party Sept 25th - Stay Tuned

Chaffee Kid - Play By The Rules

John Chaffee, who made his acting debut in Hero Tomorrow, called me up several months ago with the news that he had written and recorded a country song and was thinking about making a video for it. Would I be interested?

I'd always wanted to direct a music video, but I'm generally not a fan of country music. This particular song however, raised my eyebrow to say the least. It was almost like Professor Harold Hill meets Charlie Daniels - certainly not the run of the mill prepackaged McCountry music that Nashville pulls off the shelf wrapped in greasy yellow wax paper. No, this had a strong point of view, and even if I didn't agree with all of it - I did agree with some of it. It's John's song and it's honest. Freedom of speech is what makes this country so great. Heck yeah I'll do it.

I knew right away that I wanted Hero Tomorrow costumer Alexandra Underhill to make us an Uncle Sam costume (comic book fans will note a nod to Alex Ross.) In an unexpected twist - Xan LOVED the message of the song, and wanted to be in it with her previously designed Patriotic Goddess stilt costume. We put an ad out on the NEOPAL for a 'hobo guitarist' and were referred to Mr. John Mosey (no-he's not really a hobo) and we went for it.

We shot it in two days - The first day spent at Denison Auto Parts (thanks to Don May and his 'crank' staff) then on the streets of Cleveland for day two. We edited for about a week at Commercial Recording Studios and whammo here it is.

Chaffee Kid - Play By the Rules
Starring
John Chaffee
Alexandra Underhill
Jon Mosey

Directed, Shot, and Edited by Ted Sikora
Crew Ed Wolf, George, Gates, Jeff Gates, Zach Wells, Michael Casteel

Thanks to the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and the NEOPAL.

The Bizarros - Hero Tomorrow Soundtrack

We're honored to have many incredible musical artists in our film, so this is the first of many entries that feature them all.

I came upon the Bizarros when I popped into Time Traveler Records in Akron. I asked Lonnie behind the counter for a recommendation on some local bands, and he turned me on to The Bizarros. The tune 66-77 is what kicks off our film. It includes one of my favorite lyrics ever -- "I can't explain it - just a mutant variation of the kind of air we all used to breathe. We're all living up here in our delusion of a war with stories no one believes."

From The Bizarros Website:
Was it the Akron water? The smell of rubber in the air? Or was it the overwhelming boredom with 70's rock music that caused these sons of rubber factory workers to take action? Whatever the case, in the late 1970's the Bizarros swam against the current of mainstream rock & roll.

The Bizarros had various releases in the 1970's, including their self-titled album on Mercury Records. In 2003, they completed their first new album in 20 years and released "Can't Fight Your Way Up Town From Here."

.

For all things latest Hero Tomorrow DVD and 'Apama-The Undiscovered Animal' web comic news please follow my Twitter updates.

www.twitter.com/tedsikora 

Apama - The Undiscovered Animal Preview Images

click for larger view

Comic Related Review!

New York Comic Con was too cool for words. I'll report more later. Here's a review from Comic Related.

Comic Related Hero Tomorrow Review

Making of Hero Tomorrow Part 1

New York Comic Con!

Hero Tomorrow is heading to New York Comic Con.  The largest on the East Coast!   Saturday February 7th at 1:30 in room 1A04.

Kurt and I are going, and it looks like Perren will make it as well.   There's oodles of HT stuff in the works, I'll hopefully update more regularly in '09. 

Fist Bump Cartoon by Jeff Darcy - Cleveland Plain Dealer

ITALY!!!

Hero Tomorrow will be showing at Suburbia! Film Festival in Rome on September 26th! We're one of 6 films from the United States. The Festival, presented by KaosHaus, promotes the fruition and the realization of independent and self-produced movies. KaosHaus’ intent is to give visibility to this parallel universe, which -thanks to new digital technologies- is increasingly growing.

Register to Vote Online

My Shoot with LeBron James and Jill Greenberg

And now for something completely different...

On June 18th Time Magazine came to Akron Ohio to do an interview with LeBron James about his captaining the US Olympic Men's Basketball team. Through an amazing series of last minute phone calls (both to Telos Productions and Commercial Recording,) yours truly got to watch the whole thing from behind the video camera.

LeBron is such an impressive dude. He knocks down questions - tough questions - completely unfazed, and seems extremely grounded for his over-abundance of athletic gifts. At one point he even offered to grab Jeff and I a couple Vitamin Waters.

They also requested filming/documenting the still photo shoot session with Lebron for the cover of the mag (on sale now.) The unexpected bonus to that was witnessing mega-prolific photographer Jill Greenberg in action. The shoot was fun on exponential levels. Check out manipulator.com for numerous examples of Jill's amazingly slick work.

When I sent the raw footage to Time I pleaded with them to let me cut a featurette version of the cover shoot. The four minute result titled "Making the Shot" is now online at the Time website.
Please shekidoout.

"Making the Shot"

LeBron James - Leader of the Redeem Team.

Hero Tomorrow is in Brazil

HT has been accepted into Fantaspoa- Brazil's premiere genre film festival. We are one of 42 films in the International Competition; and this version of Hero Tomorrow (subtitled in Portuguese) is one of only four films from the United States!

The festival takes place in six different cinemas over fourteen days and HT will show on July 29th, August 2nd and 4th. We're extremely bummed to not be making the trek on this one, but honored to be included- especially when looking at the other films in competition.

The Pullbox Review

The Pullbox is a great comics site. "Our goal is to share information about the great comic gems out there that you aren’t reading and perhaps save you some of your hard earned cash by warning you about the comics not worth their ink."

They were on hand at Motor City Con and Hero Tomorrow got a nice review.

Oddity Cinema Review

Oddity Cinema is a news and review site dedicated to weird and obscure cinema.

Hero Tomorrow Review

Apama - The Comic Book!

The seed for this idea came when we were first talking to publishers about showing their work in the Hero Tomorrow store scenes. We were asked if we were interested in creating a comic version of the Hero Tomorrow movie.  At first we were somewhat indifferent to the idea.  In our experience comic adaptations of films don't really seem to work all that well.   But once we started thinking about it, we realized that we have a unique situation with Hero Tomorrow as it's partially about David trying to get his Apama comic book published, and it might be really fun to present the actual comic David's trying to create.

The notion stayed on the back burner for a couple years as we produced and finished the film. The big stumbling block was figuring out the logistics of time and finding the right artist. Enter Eddy Newell.

Eddy is best known for his work on Black Lightening and Werewolf of the Apocalypse among many others. His work is very diverse, and he often employs a painterly style that feels very film noir-esque. Gary Hermann set up meeting and showing of Hero Tomorrow for Eddy, and after a few brainstorming sessions Eddy joined the team. We're truly honored to have him.
Apama the superhero is based on an animal that has never been discovered, so one of the first challenges was to create the animal. Eddy, keeping in mind the costume, crossed a possum with a werewolf to create the concept art above.

Gary Hermann will be handling the editing chores, and Milo and I will be scribing the piece. As anyone who knows us knows... we are first and foremost comic book fans. There would be no Hero Tomorrow without the love we have for those countless boxes in the attic. That said, we're doing this because we truly believe that we have a very fresh and original character with a story that hasn't been told before.

We've been doing tons of backstory and foundation work for what we hope will be an ongoing series. I've even been doing location scouting around Cleveland for neighborhoods and buildings. This is so much fun. We're aiming for September with the first online issue.