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It is now May and this is an update for May. Thank you.

5/9/2019

A few things have happened in the last month and some of them haven't been touched on for every platform, so I'll try to go over them as quickly as possible here.

LEFT HOOK
Still working away on this. Just finished my first bout of work on the final fight scene of the film, so I'm getting close to the end of this phase. Everyone else is working on some other aspect. We're in very busy, but exciting times. Also, it's a pretty old video, but we just made an Animation Update that was given to the backers in December available to the public. See that HERE.

PODCAST
We have done a few podcasts since the last update. Including: "James Bond", "Godzilla: Showa (Part 4)" and "Ralph Bakshi". All pretty good ones. Check 'em out! More coming soon.

IC TRIES
We've done a few of these recently which can all be found on our Instagram. But the one I'm going to leave you with has been a long time coming. I sent our very own David Wayne Young his own bag of Carolina Reaper jerky (he sent us one a few months back). After much peer pressure, he finally did it. Check it out below...

I can't think of anything major happening this month. But we'll be sure to keep you updated when something comes along.

Stay gold, folks!

-Tyler

View this post on Instagram

After the IC crew tried a similar bag of jerky sent by @david_theginger , Tyler decided to send him a bag that might prove to have a little more kick...

A post shared by Illumination Cinema (@illuminationcinema) on Apr 28, 2019 at 8:46pm PDT

Stuff that already happened and stuff that will

4/9/2019

So I totally skipped an update for March. Ouch. I've got some catching up to do...

FESTIVALS:
First up, there were some festivals that happened. THE BROKEN KEY played at First City Film Fest in Leavenworth, KS. Unfortunately, we were busy with a different commitment so we were unable to attend. The next week, it screened at a horror convention / festival in New Jersey. We assume that went pretty well.
The same weekend, ANOTHER DAY COLDER screened at Planet Comicon in Kansas City. We were able to attend the convention itself but missed the screening as we had to head back to Wichita. I hear that we won an award but I honestly don't know what for just yet. I'll have to check on that. With that, we are putting ANOTHER DAY COLDER's festival run to bed. We may screen it again in the future. But it won't submitted anywhere else. We're very happy with the run we had and are extremely grateful to all the fests that made it happen for us.

Looking onward though, we just received word from Doc Sunback confirming that not only will THE BROKEN KEY be screening, FALLING OUT will be there as well! Which actually makes it the first festival screening for FALLING OUT. Unfortunately, we haven't submitted that one to as many places as we focused more on HOW MUCH. Hopefully, there will be a few more screenings for each in the future.

LEFT HOOK:
Progress continues to happen with our big movie. We've made a few more behind the scenes videos public over on the film's website. You can see those HERE. We're basically in crunch time now for animation and we're kicking some serious ass with it. Things are looking good for now. Lets home they stay that way.

PODCASTS:
We've had two new episodes come out since our last update. Including SPACE JAM and GODZILLA: SHOWA ERA (PART 3)! Look forward to our next one. It should be a good topic with a cool new guest.

That's it for now! See ya next time!

-Tyler

Golden Jamies 2019, Apex, Etc

2/27/2019

So we've had a few things come out this month that I want to throw out there...

PODCAST:
We've had a few podcasts drop this month including a two part Golden Jamies special. Part 1 is us listing off every movie we saw in 2018 and Part 2 is our top 5 films. We also just had GODZILLA: Showa (Part 2) come out today. This year has been looking good so far when it comes to the podcast and we hope to continue this streak.

IC TRIES:
A bit of smaller content, we also have a few new posts on IGTV including videos of us trying Diet Rite and other stuff.

FESTIVALS:
Our screening of HOW MUCH at Apex in Tucson was fairly well received, it seems. In March we have THE BROKEN KEY playing in Leavenworth, KS at the First City Film Festival. Not sure if we're going yet, but exciting none-the-less.

David Wayne Young (middle) in the Q&A panel at Apex Short Film Festival

Not a lot of news this time, but it's a short month, what do you want from me!? Hope you guys had a good February and we'll see ya next time!

-Tyler

Kicking Off Godzilla & Other Exciting News!

2/6/2019

That title could raise some eyebrows.

PODCAST:
We recently released a new episode of the podcast. That being, the first part of our new mini-series on all of the Godzilla films! This first episodes starts off in the Showa era with Godzilla (1954), Godzilla Raids Again and King Kong vs Godzilla. This will more than likely be spread over ten parts this year. The idea is to do one every other episode. We'll see how that works out. We weren't sure what the next episode would be, but we're thinking we'll be doing the 2018 Golden Jamie Awards next. Expect that in the coming weeks.

MORE FESTIVAL NEWS:
We attended the Kansas Day screening of THE BROKEN KEY at Doc Sunback. The film was chosen to be the first selection into the actual festival this June, making BROKEN KEY the big winner of the night. We couldn't be any happier for Fritz and the rest of the team. It was a great night and we spoke with many wonderful people. Can't wait until the festival this summer!

IGTV:
We're still experimenting with IGTV on Instagram and continuing our IC TRIES series. This time we all ate some Chuck E Cheese pizza. Some curiosity is better left alone. Keep an eye out over there for more QUALITY CONTENT.

Anyway folks, that's all I've got for you. Talk to ya next time!

-Tyler

First Post of 2019!

1/20/2019

Hey everyone!
We've had a bit of a slow start to a big year. We're making lots of progress on LEFT HOOK right now, chugging through our current responsibilities and planning the next phases. Today we have lots of good news, but a small bit of poopy news as well. Let's jump right in.

UPCOMING SCREENINGS:
Some great news we got recently is that HOW MUCH will be screening at Apex Film Fest in Tucson, AZ on February 23rd. David should be in attendance and it should be a great time. More info on Apex can be found here!
We also received word that Fritz Robinson's film, THE BROKEN KEY, which we worked on, is screening at Doc Sunback's Kansas Day on January 29th! Info for that one can be found here! Also, the film will show at First City Film Fest in Leavenworth, KS. That one is in March. We may try to make it to that one, but I'm not quite sure yet. More info about First City Film Fest can be found here!

SOME DELAYS:
Man, so I probably should've thought twice before making an announcement last time. My bad. Essentially, we've been looking at where we are on LEFT HOOK and it is becoming obvious that we need to cut back on some of our side projects to keep a good pace. The podcast is sticking around because it take virtually no effort to produce most of the time. However, we'll be slowing down production on our comic, A SCRIPT CALLED MISERY and our new short film, NIGHTMARE DRIVE. With the comic, we are nearly done with Issue 2, so at least one release should still be expected this year. But the following issues may take a while to come out due to the hiatus. With NIGHTMARE DRIVE, we will be limiting the amount of work we can do on it until LEFT HOOK is completely finished. At that point, we will be working to wrap both of these projects up. Sorry about that!

PODCAST:
We have a new episode of the podcast on DRAGON BALL SUPER: BROLY featuring myself and Cantu. It turned out to be a pretty good episode. There were plenty of laughs shared. So I hope a few of them can transfer to you. We'll have another new episode coming out pretty soon, starting a little mini-series on the Godzilla films. Should be fun!

But I have to say, that's about all I got for you! I'll be back fairly soon with a new update. So just sit tight. Until then, keep enjoying the new year!

-Tyler

Exciting Things on the Horizon!

12/17/2018

Hey everyone!

We've only got a few things to cover. But since this might be the last post before the end of the year, I just wanted to briefly talk about how great this year has been. It really feels like we've made a hell of a lot of progress this year and I couldn't be happier. Two short films released, a debut comic book and our friends, family and followers helped us to raise additional funds for our upcoming feature film. We attended more film festivals than ever this year and had our first booth at a convention. We even added a new member to the crew. All-in-all, it's been wonderful. I speak for everyone here when I say we are very thankful for all of the new followers we have gotten recently and all of you who have shown your continuous support throughout the years.

Believe me when I say, the achievements listed above only speak to what we have publicly released. We have accomplished much more than that behind the scenes and we can't wait to share everything else in the coming months, years and so on.

PODCASTS:
Season 5 of the podcast is here and that is cause to get excited! In the past couple weeks, we have released two new episodes. "Creed II"; featuring Chris, Tyler and Beth. As well as, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"; featuring Tyler, Beth and Scott. Our next episode will be the newest Christmas special with a fun twist. We listed several Christmas films (good and bad) and randomly selected them out of a hat to do a "Christmas Roulette". Should be a good time....for you.
Like I've said before about this and every season previous, we will be constantly trying new things with this year's line up. One long form mini-series within the show that I'm particularly excited for. So stay tuned.

LEFT HOOK:
I've done a pretty bad job of keeping this blog up to date on all things LEFT HOOK. Mostly because we have been posting about it elsewhere. A lot of progress has been made. Can't stress that enough.
Speaking of the help we received with funding, the animators that you helped pay for have finished their work on the film! Everything else is being handled here, in the studio. Can't thank those who donated enough, because the work these artists have produced is incredible.
We've been slowly releasing our behind the scenes videos to the public (six months after the backers see them) to give insight into the process of a film like this. All of these videos can be seen HERE. There are plenty more on the way, so check those out.
We are still on coarse to release the film next year, though I would never give a release date until I'm 100% certain that we will hit it.

NEXT YEAR:
Speaking of next year, we have several plans for 2019! With some of them, it is too early to talk about. We recently had our company Christmas party and discussed a new major project that will be underway after the completion of LEFT HOOK. Very excited for that one to say the least.

There are several small concepts for side projects that we would like to explore. Such as more live streaming and more content for Instagram. We have already been taking advantage of streaming and IGTV for our "IC Tries" videos. In which we try interesting or potentially gross items. Usually snacks and drinks. We've also played a few card games on livestreams this and we may do it again in the future. We may also do some other things on streams. We aren't sure yet. Lots of possibilities.
We do plan on releasing a few more issues of the comic next year as well as at least one short film. You may have seen the title, NIGHTMARE DRIVE, floating around and that would be the film's title. We're not entirely ready to say too much about it, but we have recorded with several actors and plan to begin working on it as work on LEFT HOOK slows down (similar to how HOW MUCH was made). The project will be spearheaded by our newcomer, Scott Reacher. He and I co-wrote it from his own concept and David Young and I will serve as producers. We're very excited to make it happen. The idea is to take as little time away from our priority projects as possible, but we do want to create some free content for you next year and short films are the best source. There will be more updates as time goes by.

Speaking of which, that's all I've got today. See ya next time!

-Tyler

November Catch Up

11/28/2018

It's been a little over a month so it's about time I write an update! Lots of things have happened, so hopefully I remember everything.

A SCRIPT CALLED MISERY:
We released the first issue of our comic book series, A SCRIPT CALLED MISERY. It's been doing pretty well so far. We launched it at Air Capital Comic Con earlier this month and nearly sold out. It was a great time for sure! We are making plans for further hard copy releases, but currently the issue is available digitally through Amazon and VHX. You can find the links and a few preview pages HERE.
The series is meant to be a quarterly release so there will be a few month in between each issue. The full script is written, so Beth works on pages during down time from LEFT HOOK. Can't wait for you guys to see the rest of this thing, we're all very proud of it.

PODCAST NEWS:
So this month has been our yearly hiatus, meaning no new episodes for now. However, we will be returning next month with Season 5. We have some cool things planned for this season and something I'm excited to say is that we have a new announcer for the intro and outro; fellow Wichita filmmaker, Lief Jonker. This dude is a local legend and we're so happy to have him on board.
More than likely, we will be returning next week with Creed II. Hope you'll tune in!

HOLIDAY BUNDLE:
Lastly, until January 1st, we have a special deal happening on VHX. We have created a bundle with LIVING AFTER MIDNIGHT, BRIMSTONE TERRACE, ANOTHER DAY COLDER, HOW MUCH and FALLING OUT (plus all of their bonus features) for $5. That's 8 hours of content. Along with scripts and an art book. If you ask me, it's a pretty great deal and it's also a great way to support us. All funds from this and our comic go towards funding LEFT HOOK. So check out the deal HERE.

That's all I've got for now. See ya next time!

-Tyler

How Much, Broken Key & Podcast Season 4 Finale!

10/26/2018

Hey everyone!

It’s been a little while since we’ve posted on here. That’s because every time I’m about to write up a post, there’s something else that is about to come out. So at this point, we just needed to make a recap at the end of the month.

HOW MUCH:
First things first, we released our short film, HOW MUCH on October 2nd for the world to see. It almost feels like old news now, but it’s pretty cool if you guys haven’t seen it. Make sure you definitely check that out!

PODCASTS:
We have released four podcasts this month! The first was “Alfred Hitchcock” with Chris, Beth and I. We talked about Rear Window, Vertigo and Psycho. The next was “First Man” with Chris and I. Followed by, “Halloween (2018)” with Beth, myself and newcomer, Scott Reacher. Finally, we have just released our “Halloween Special 2” where Beth, David Wayne Young and I cover three classic Universal monster movies (Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein and The Wolf Man).
It’s been a great month for this season to go out on. We will now be taking a month hiatus before we start season 5 of the podcast.

THE BROKEN KEY:
Back in the end of September, we assisted Fritz Robinson in the production of his new short film, THE BROKEN KEY. After which point, we took the role of the post-production studio on the film. We edited, mixed and did special effects work. It’s a nice little spooky short and we had a lot of fun working on it. Give that a watch, why don’t ya!

ANYTHING ELSE:
Coming pretty soon, we will have yet another LEFT HOOK Behind the Scenes video going public. That will be on the first Friday of November.
Don’t forget, we will also be launching the first issue of our comic book A SCRIPT CALLED MISERY at Air Capital Comic Con on the 10th & 11th as well. Lots of things to look forward to.

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! That’s all I’ve got for you.

-Tyler

90s Kid Podcast, BTS Video, 5.0 Update and More

9/11/2018

Hey everyone! I've got a couple updates today.

HOW MUCH:
The premiere of HOW MUCH went very well! We had a great time and met some cool people. Can't wait for everyone to be able to see it. We will know an actual date very soon.

LEFT HOOK:
We recently put another behind the scenes video up for the public. This one is all about storyboarding and was shot almost a year ago. Hope you enjoy it.

PODCAST:
Also recently released was a new episode of the podcast called "90's Kid Triple Feature". It features David and I chatting about Blank Check, Kazaam and Heavyweights. Give it a listen!

WEBSITE UPDATE:
Also, if you notice anything weird happening with the website here in the next couple weeks, it's because I'm making some updates. Nothing big. Mostly just rearranging a couple things and updating some pages.

That's all I've got for now. Check in later for more updates.

-Tyler

Upcoming Events & New Podcast Episodes!

9/1/2018

Hey everyone! A few new things to talk about today and a few reminders.

NEW MEMBER:
I'm happy to introduce a new member to the team, Scott Reacher! Funny enough, he's been around for a project or two before now. He was actually a production assistant on LIVING AFTER MIDNIGHT and more recently worked on HOW MUCH and FALLING OUT with us. We're all excited to have him on the team and show you what he's capable of.

HOW MUCH:
HOW MUCH will still be premiering on the 7th at the MTH Theater in Kansas City. David Wayne Young will be there along with Beth, Chris, Scott and I. We hope to see you there!

A SCRIPT CALLED MISERY:
News about this has been a little on and off, so I'll get everyone up to speed. This is a comic book mini-series that I wrote a few years back and Beth is currently illustrating. We've made a good amount of progress on it and it's turning out amazing!
The story itself revolves around a team of freelance writers working for an eccentric producer to bring his heavily plagiarized vision to life. The inspiration comes from some of my own experiences in freelance writer, squishing them all together into a 5-part comedic story.
The great news is, the first issue will be coming very soon! In fact, it will make its debut on November 10th & 11th at the Air Capital Comic Con here in Wichita. It will be going online for everyone else at the same time. It will be available on mostly digital platforms but we are testing out a limited release of physical copies.
There will be more news on all of this soon.

PODCAST:
There have been two new episodes since our last update. Those being, "Seven Samurai" and "Tarantino Deep Cuts: Writer". Both turned out great. We'll be recording another episode while David is in town and that should come out on the 11th.
Also, I made a few lists of episodes under specific categories. Including: Anime, Golden Jamies, Star Wars Films and Tarantino Films. These lists can be found at the bottom of the Podcast page.

That's all for this update! See ya next time!

-Tyler