I am officially moving over to Walt Disney Pictures Studio IT in a few weeks.  I have a little bit of work to finish here at ABC, then I will be working with the Studio IT department.  I will move from the ABC Riverside building to the Studio Lot, an entire .25 miles closer to home.  I am very grateful for this move and although I will miss working with the people I do now, I look forward to meeting new people and working on a new project.  It is a larger project that is used by over 1000 Disney employees world wide.  It should be challenging but I look forward it.  And Nicole is very happy that I am still staying with Disney so she gets to keep her silver Disneyland pass...woohooo.

 

Everyone have a great Christmas and if you have recently lost your job or your house, just know that many people are praying for you.

 

Mark

Well, Montana is now one of my favorite places in the United States to visit.  The fishing was off because of a late snow melt off, but the air was clean, the scenery was amazing and there were no police helicopters flying over my head yelling "Come out with your hands up....we have you surrounded!"...an LA thing...The people were about as nice as you can imagine.  We saw Bison, Elk, Grizzly Bears and Wolves although the bear and wolves were at a rescue facility.  On one of our float trips, we went by Ted Turners Bison Ranch and I also found out David Letterman has a ranch on the other side of the Gravelly Range(one mountain over from the Madison valley).  My parents drove out from Indiana.  It was nice to get to fish with my dad even though we didn't catch much.  Drift fishing down the Madison provides some scenery that you only see in paintings.  We also spent a few days in Yellowstone park.  I got to fish the Firehole river with my dad(briefly), then I came back to fish the Gibbon River and a small part of the Madison river.  It's not easy there, but again, the scenery is astounding.  I highly recommend Yellowstone park.  It's now in my top 5 places to visit inside the US.  Enjoy the photos!

Well, My 40th birthday was a week ago and I had a great time playing golf at TPC Scottsdale with my brother in law, his friend and one my Developer/Architect friends from Microsoft.  Then we had a bbq at my sister in laws house and had friends and family over(See pictures in the Album)...I got to see many relatives and their kids, had some great Honey Bear's BBQ and my lovely wife got me a new Orvis Rod that I can use on my fly fishing trip next week in Montana(those pictures will be up in about 2 weeks...).   I celebrated again last night by going out to dinner with some friends from our Drama Dept. from Church and we saw the Hulk afterwards.  Not as good as Ironman, but MUCH better than the Hulk move from a few years ago.  Prepping this week for our trip to Montana.  Staying just outside of Ennis.  My parents our driving out from Indiana.  My dad and I will fish the Madison River for about 4 days, then hopefully we will go down to Yellowstone and play in there for a day or two.  Can't wait.  Hope everyone is doing well.  Check back in a few weeks for Montana Picts and hopefully a few good stories.

Nicole just finished her first Episode as a Lead Editor on Supernatural.  She meets with the Director this week to get his Notes and to make changes.  The show airs Thursday, May 1st at 9pm on the CW.  She pulled 12 hour days for 7 days straight to get this cut done.  Her assistant, Michael did a great job with the Music and sound effects.  Now that the Editors Cut is complete, hopefully her hours will be less strenuous this week.  Make sure you tune in on Thursday, May 1st to the CW at 9pm.

 

Mark

Since the writer's strike is over, Nicole got a call from one of her Producer's to let her know that she is going to get a shot at being a LEAD Editor!  WOOOOHOOOO!.  She gets to Edit one Episode.  If she does well, they will invite her back to be a Lead Editor in the Fall.  They got the go ahead from the Network(CW) for a 4th year, so we know that they have a show to come back to in the FALL!  I told her, you are now in the Party....you just have to DANCE YOUR BUTT OFF!!!!  Show them what you got!  She is stoked and nervous all at the same time.  I know she will do great. 

 

Also, Nicole surpised me recently by letting me know that I am going to Montana in Late June to Fly Fish on the Madison River.  My parents are driving out from IN and my Dad and I are getting a Guide for 2 days.  It should be a blast.  Thanks Nicole and Mom/Dad!!!!

 

Talk to you soon.

 

Mark

It's finally over.  Time to get back to work.  Nicole will probably be out for a month or so while more scripts get written.  She went to Phoenix last weekend for her Dad's 65 Birthday and to hang out with our Nephews.  She had a great time, but it's good to have her back here in Burbank.  Busy planning a Fly Fishing trip to Montana this Summer.  Nicole and my parents surprised me by saying we are going there and I am going to fish whether I like it or not.  We will be staying outside of Ennis, MT and We have a few days planned with a guide drift fishing down the Madison River.  Can't wait.  Will definitely have pictures to share after that trip.  Hope to stop by Yellowstone for a day or two. 

 

BADD is having another After Easter Comedy Show at church and Nicole and I are the Producers this year.  We have our hands full planning for this event, but we have a lot of good people helping us out.  We even have plans for a JIB to help videotape the show.  Should be pretty cool.  Look for our videos at www.belairdrama.com.  Also, this summer, our videos will be available to download and present at your church through the Lilliness Publishing company.  They are in the process of building a website to help distribute Christian Video Content to churches around the country and globe.

 

That's it for now.  Will try to add more content in the next few months.

 

Mark

Well, the Writer's strike is on.  Nicole has work for hopefully another 2 months.  Her next episode starts shooting in a week or two.  Hopefully, they can resolve this thing soon.  Otherwise, she'll be looking for work come Jan/Feb of next year.  We'll figure something out.  Hope everyone is doing well.  We're going to San Diego for Thanksgiving, then Phoenix for Christmas.  Hope to see a lot of Nicole's family then and some friends too.  Haven't been back to Phoenix all year, so this should be a good trip.  Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

 

Mark

Thank you to everyone who came to our party this weekend.  Please see the Photos area for pictures of the event.  Thanks to Glenn for bringing over his Grill and Ping Pong Table and helping me cook!  HUGE!  Thanks to Lynne for helping Nicole out with balloons and picking up extra beans at the last minute!  Thanks to Bob and Anne Lee for bringing that incredible cake!  We thought we had bought too much food but more people came than we expected.  Final count was about 55.  We had planned on 40.  OOPS.  Anyways, the more the merrier.  We had people from BADD there, our small group, neighbors and Nicole's college roomate's family.  I hope I didn't miss anyone.  Anyways, thanks again.  You all made our anniversary VERY memorable!

 

We're still cleaning up.  This could take a while.....

 

YAHOOOOOOOOOOO.

 

Mark.

If you get a chance, make sure you see this film.  Again, Hollywood is TRYING to make more faith based content.  Hopefully, it will just keep getting better and better.  Check it out when you get a chance....

 

 

Have a great day!

 

Mark

Just want to say Merry Christmas to everybody.  Last weekend I DP'd my first sketch for our Church Drama Group(BADD).  I got to work with Cory Edwards, the guy who created the movie "Hoodwinked" last year.  He is very creative and a blast to work with.  We did a parody of the show "The Office".  Ours is called "The Small Group".  Should be shown in church in January 2007.  BADD is starting to put our videos on Sermonspice.com so hopefully, other churches around the country can use them in their services.  We've submitted 5 videos so far and hope to start submitting several more.  BADD shot over 40 projects this year.  We shoot/produce just about 4 per month.  Nicole is editing this video and has edited one other video for the Church so far.  She is doing a great job and we have made many new friends by joining this group. 

 

We are flying to Indiana for Christmas.  My sister Mindy and her husband John had a new baby about 2 months ago.  This will be our first time to see the little guy(John Jr.)  Also, it will be great to see Mom and Dad and my other sister Theresa and her family.

 

Hope everyone has a great Christmas!

 

Mark

Well, we made it.  Monday night we went through the final call backs for the Bel Air Drama Dept. and we made it.  Nicole will be editing projects and I will probably be working with Lighting/Camera work/general Production stuff.  BADD makes great videos for the Church and this will be a way that we can serve in the Church.  We get to work with some really talented people and entertain people in a way that is hopefully pleasing to God.  more to come.

 

Mark

Nicole and I are auditioning for the Bel Air Pres. Drama dept.  She would help out as an Editor and I would work as a Cinematographer.  We have made it through the first two rounds of Auditions.  We have 1 left.  The auditions are mainly for the Actors.  For the technical people, I think they mainly look at your demo real/resume.  Then they have Theatre games to see how you play along with others.  They perform about 30+ skits/videos a year so hopefully, they will be able to use our skills fairly regularly.  They are a very talented group of individuals and we hope/pray that we will be able to use our talents/skills to make really cool videos to help spread the message.  Next Monday night is our final call back. 

 

BADD's website:  http://www.littleartisticvalue.com/badd/

 

On a side note, USC football has it's opening HOME game this weekend against the Nebraska Corn Huskers.  Nicole's mom and husband will be joining us for the game.  FIGHT ON TROJANS!

 

Hope everyone is doing well.  I'll try to blog more regularly.

 

Mark

Nicole started a new job this last week for Warner Brothers.  The show is called "Supernatural".  Last year, it was on Tuesday nights.  This year, I think it is on Tuesday nights, but I'm not sure.  It is a scary show about 2 brothers whose mom was killed by a Demon or so they believe.  Now they travel across the US looking for Demons and other bad Spirits to conquer.  It's not a bad show.  The two main characters drive around in a 67 or 68 Impala(although the sound in the show is from a Shelby Cobra).  The show was nominated for an Emmy this year for Sound and Music Composition.  Check it out if you get a chance.  The first episode Nicole is working on is the 3rd episode.  I will post the name and date of the episode when I get it. 

 

 

Mark