Why I love L.A...

...because you never know WHAT you're going to see when you look out the window.

The pics above were taken from the roof of my apartment building this afternoon. I'd been sitting in my favorite chair with my back to the window reading a book when GG called, asking: "Are you OK?"

MG: "Yeah, why?"

GG: "There's a big fire."

MG: "Wher--oh SH*T!"

The brushfire that started this afternoon in Universal City is totally out now and the sky is clear as a bell. Thanks to all the firefighters who stomped this puppy out and saved all those valuable homes I love to covet on my daily hikes thru Runyon Canyon.

FROM BEYOND goes over Down Under

Just heard from the directors of A Night of Horror Short Film Festival in Sydney, Australia: FROM BEYOND won an award for Best Lovecraft Film! It's nice to be recognized for creating what others feel is a worthy adaptation of Lovecraft, who is notoriously difficult to translate to the screen. I experienced that difficulty intensely as I sweated over the script for five months. It was definitely worth it, as folks have been genuinely enthusiastic about FB's depiction of stop-mo creepy-crawlies from another dimension.

In other news, AMBERSONS 2 is just about done. The folks at SuperDeluxe really dug the rough cut and I've just handed over a 2nd pass incorporating some minimal changes. Thank god for outside eyes...after 6 weeks of animation I have no objectivity. Wish I could say more but you know, confidentiality and all...screen caps coming soon!

Treats from Not Behn Fannin!

Check out this insanely cool new Melvins video by the incredibly talented BEHN FANNIN. Behn and I became friends after meeting at the L.A. International Short Film Festival. He had a miniature spatula pinned to his lapel and his business card was a picture of dishwashing liquid. I knew at once he was a visionary and if you don't see it after watching this vid, you just ain't the seein' kind:

It's so cool to see my bad influence rubbing off! I love the stop-motion character (Behn's first attempt at stop-mo) and the digitally-done pop-out singing faces. And to top it all off, the hot chick with the mouth where her eye socket should be? That's his wife...