March 04, 2009
We got the juice on "Earthling"!
We got the first drops of juice on Clay Liford's new feature film project. Jealous much?
This is a project I've been waiting to talk about for weeks now. I've been getting all sorts of juicy tidbits, but every time I wanted to spill the beans to you, Clay wanted me to wait because he had more news coming. Well, to hell with that, I've waited long enough. Clay Liford, the writer director from Dallas who previously brought us the brilliant short film My Mom Smokes Weed and the feature film A Four Course Meal (which we'll be talking more about in the future, I promise), has started shooting his next feature film, titled Earthling. I've read an early draft of the script, and it's good. Real good. Sci-Fi with some interesting human stories. Or at least as human as you can be when you're actually an alien. What? See, it breaks down like this. Something weird happens on the International Space Station (and yes, he's shooting that - and no, he didn't actually get clearance to shoot ON the ISS, they save that for Richard Garriot. But he's building the thing in his backyard. or on a sound stage. Somewhere - doesn't matter where, I've seen the plans). After that incident, several people on Earth realize something. They aren't people. So what would you do? Continue living the only life you've known, or figure out a way to go back home to - whatever that means, because you don't know what home is. You don't know who you are. You don't really know what you are.
The cast is pretty impressive too. Rebecca Spence (Grace is Gone, Public Enemies) is the main character, a woman named Judith. You also get William Katt (that's right, believe it or not, I'm walkin' on air Greatest American Hero William Katt!), Harry Goaz (Deputy Andy Brennan from Twin Peaks). Not enough for you? Well then how about - Peter Greene? No, not the Fleetwood Mac guy. It's Zed, man. That's right, bad ass fuckin' Zed from Pulp Fiction. I know he's done other things, but who cares? He will always be Zed in my heart.
I'm really pumped about this. It's a great script, a great cast, and the director has the goods to bring it the way it ought to be brought. We'll be following this one closely, and giving you all the juicy juice as it happens. I'm even going to try and sneak on set for a few pictures (and if you're in the Dallas area over the next month or so, keep your eyes open. Clay's shooting much of the film there). Clay is making a stop at SXSW to promote a film he was Cinematographer on (St. Nick), and we'll be getting an interview while he's there, which you'll be able to see in beautiful hi-def glory on our new Crackle.com channel. If you're really good CyberMonkeys and buzz it to all your friends, maybe I'll invite you to the premiere.
Maybe.