Sun. Dec. 24, 2006 (Christmas Eve!)

Well hello everyone! Christmas is finally almost here! I have found one present under the tree that looks just like what the Apple MacBook comes in. Plus, it says "To: President, Thomas Productions Inc." on it. So that makes me 99.999% sure that it's it. My dad keeps trying to change my thinking by saying it's a waffle iron, but I know the truth!! Also by looking at my unopened presents, I can tell what some of them are. One is a Pirates of the Caribbean Nintendo DS game (you can tell by the shape and the fact that it's from "Jack Sparrow"), and another is a Star Wars Titanium ship (again because of the shape). There are others though that I have know clue what they are. Among them are presents from "Daniel Craig" and "MJ". Ah! I can't wait to find out what they are!

Anyway, some may notice (if they look hard enough) that some things on the site have been refined to make the site easier to navigate. Some things have also been added, too. So if you haven't already, go check it out!

I now believe it is time for Christmas Eve dinner. Merry Christmas!!

Wed. Dec. 20, 2006

Nothing really new to report. I'm just board. Can't wait 'till Christmas. It's only 5 days away! I so hope I get the MacBook. For some reason, I felt like cleaning up my computer (deleting unnecessary files / organizing stuff into folders). So I did!I can't think of anything else to say except to listen to the upcoming TPCast #12.

Fri. Dec. 15, 2006

Hello. Just thought I should fill all of you in on the latest. Last night (on a whim) I created a special little movie which you can all expect to see towards the end of the year. Also, just today, I found the first production photos from Pirates 3!!!!! Apparently, Jack and Barbossa have to travel to some Orient place to rescue Elizabeth from some chinese guy named Sao Feng. Nothing was mentioned about Will (except that he's in the movie), Davy Jones, or Jack's dad. I have a feeling that Davy Jones isn't going to be in the movie as much as we thought! The release date for the movie is May 25, 2007. I found all of this out at the Pirates 3 movie page on Yahoo (I'll post a link here at the bottom).

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808713062/info

Sat. Dec 9, 2006

As some may know, yeaterday we released our Pirate Special podcast episode. So go listen to that. Today, Kevin and Kyle came over and on a whim, we filmed the movie Poop. Those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, you should have been listing to the podcast! I hope that it can be edited before Christmas, but Kyle's directing & editing the movie so it's up to him. What do you think, Kyle?

Tue. Dec. 5, 2006

Hi! I had a blast in Disneyland. I just got home not too long ago. I bought Dead Man's Chest on DVD in one of the Disney shops. It seems there are 2 DVD types: 2 Disc Special Edition & "regular". Guess which one I got. I watched some of the Special Features on the way back and so far they are great. In fact, I'm gonna go watch some more!


P.S. I posted a new Christmas countdown.

Tues. Nov. 28, 2006

Hello from LA!! Right now I am in my motel room. We just got here today. It seemed like a really long drive to me, even though it was only 6 hours. I did however have a good time listening to my iPod. Looking forward to Disneyland tomorrow!

Sat. Nov. 25, 2006

Hi! Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am excited about Christmas. That's it!

Mon. Nov. 20, 2006

Hi! As it turns out, tickets were not sold out. When we got to the theater, there was even a line to get in! Anyone who likes James Bond should go!! You will also find that I put in a counter.

Fri. Nov. 17, 2006

Hi everyone. Our new TPCast episode is out and it is 1 hour long! It has tones of reviews and fun stuff, so go check it out. Also, Kevin, Kyle, and I are thinking about trying to go see Casino Royale tomorrow. I checked show times and for some reason, all the ones for Saturday at the good theatre are blanked out. The movie couldn't have sold out (with Star Wars...maybe. But James Bond? No). Tomorrow I will plan to wake up early (hopefully) and put in some calls to find out if the Internet is accurate. I WANT TO GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!

Tue. Nov. 14, 2006

The new Casino Royale soundtrack has come out!!! I bought the whole album on iTunes and it is sweeeeeeeeeeet. Look for a full review on it in our next TPCast episode. Also, it seems I was wrong about the website BETA update thing. The switchover will take place on Wednesday instead of today. But no biggie.

Sun. Nov. 12, 2006

Hello once again! Some of you may have noticed that the site looks a little different. I am experimenting with different settings. Please feel free to (in fact, do!) call and/or email me about what you think about the changes. However, the site will probably change even more this coming week. Why, do you ask? Well, Microsoft Office Live (the service I use to update and run the site) is moving out of BETA (kind of like a test version to work out kinks/get feedback/etc.) and into the real deal. And they have promised to add some cool new things!! This switch should take place on Tuesday at some time. They (the Microsoft peoples) said that the switch may take up to around 1 day to complete. But don't sweat! The site should still be accessible during that period. So, look for that update on the TP site. And don't forget to listen to TPCast!!

Mon. Nov. 6, 2006

So many apologies that I have not posted in a while. I will try to post more often. Anyway, yesterday, Kevin, Kyle, and I finally recorded episode 6 of TPCast and posted it for all to hear. But please. You really need to listen to the podcast! We have hardly been getting any listeners! To entice some of you, I thought it fit to tell you there is content on the podcast (like news on new movie ideas) that has not been put on the site!!!!! So pleeeeeeeeeeease listen to the podcast and participate by voting on our weekly poll (located on the forums), emailing me with stuff (feedback and questions are always great), and calling our voicemail box at 408-565-TPVI. Please note that we do play voicemails and read emails on the podcast!!! So go listen to some back episodes or our brand spanking new one at thomasproductionsinc.com . Hope to hear from you!!!

-Layne

Sun. Oct. 22, 2006

Hi! Today I just went to Great America and made a few minor changes to the website. But with surprising ease, I got TP a phone number! If you want to call and leave a message, call 408-565-TPVI (408-565-8784). Also, chances are that if you leave a message, it will be played on our next podcast episode! So that's a new and exciting feature.

Fri. Oct. 20, 2006 (and earlier)

Hi! It seems I have hardly posted much lately. Well, that's because I HAVEN'T! So, I will take some time to catch up.

Last Friday (Oct. 13 ...wait...FRIDAY THE 13TH!! AHHHHH!!!!), I decided to make a movie on a whim. This doesn't seem to happen much with me anymore. This could be because I'm always busy (mostly with trying to get TPCast on the net, but I'll talk about that later). Anyway, I made I 1 2 No. I'm very surprised I finished it in one day, but that's beside the point. The next day I was able to get it to a DVD and post it on Google Video. Everyone who has seen it seems to have liked it, so I'm making another one (I hope it will be as good!). So I am working on that.

But what I've been mostly working on is getting TPCast on the Internet instead of relying on email and me having to be online for you guys to download it. And FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!, I have succeeded (after countless hours spent finding just the right host that would actually work!)!!! Now, everyone can subscribe to TPCast through iTunes. Yea!!! Just go to the TP site and go to the page titled "TPCast". From there you will be led to the official site where you can subscribe.

Anyway, that's all I have to say. Wow! Glad to get that off my chest!

Wed. Oct. 11, 2006

Today so far I fiddled with the podcasting thing and I believe I have found a solution. A program called SpinXpress lets you share files with other people who have SpinXpress. I have sent people emails with info on this. If they install it, we can all share files and they can download the shows. Hopefully, Kevin and Kyle can come over today and we can do another cast (its been a while!).

Tues. Oct. 10, 2006

Hi! I just got back from my trip to South Dakota. I had a great time (considering I got to shake Bill Clinton's hand). I took lots of pictures and video. I will post some of the pics on the website sometime soon. On the way back, our luggage got stuck in Denver, Colorado. We are awaiting the airport people to deliver it sometime between 4 and 8 o-clock tonight. Luckily, all the video tapes I used were in my carry-on bag (unlike the video camera). So when our suitcases come, I'll start editing the footage. I also today messed around with some podcasting software. I think I might have figured out how to post the TPCasts on the Internet. We'll see if that works!

George McGovern and Bill Clinton walk out of the McGovern Library for their speeches

Oct. 2, 2006: The Situation Area

Yesterday, Kevin and Kyle came over once again. We made a few short movies. One of those movies was The Situation Area: Kevin Interviews Steve Irwin. It originally was a test for green screen (we filmed a Steve Irwin acton figure behind a green backdrop and were going to add him in with Kevin). In the end, we decided to make Kevin interviewing Steve Irwin's ghost; all the more funny. Then later that night, I edited the movie together.

Today, I rendered it to a Windows Media file. Though the movie will not be posted on the net, I might email it to some select people. After that worked, I made the main menu and edited some special footage for the DVD. The DVD is rendering right now. I really hope it works.

Sep. 30, 2006: Forum Mis-hap

Today, first of all, I went shopping for a giant whiteboard (for storyboards). I came up empty handed, but did find some nice green sheets of giant card stock; just the right shade for green screen usage. I bought 2 of them (each only costing $.99) and I am sure they will be put into good use. Then came our big scare.

When I got home, I tried to get on the forums, but was just greeted by some weird error message I had never seen before in my life. I tried several times about an hour or so apart, but with no luck. I even tried different computers, but was greeted by a not-so unfamiliar error message. Fearing the worst, I found a new forum host and started from scratch; adding every single forum that had been on the old one. Kevin and Kyle came over and helped me out too. Finally, we had gotten a close-enough duplicate of the original forums. A while later, I tried getting on the old forums... just for kicks. As painful as it is for me to tell you, the original forums were back online.

So, a lot of time went down the drain. That sucks.

Fri. Sep. 29, 2006

Today I wrote the new Thomas Productions Newsletters and will send them out tomorrow. So check your mailboxes!

Thurs. Sep. 28, 2006

Today as well as yesterday, I worked on a script as well as some storyboards. Both are related to the next possible big TP movie after The Being 3. Nothing can be said right now about details.

First Post

Hi! This the first post of the Director's Blog. I am the director of Thomas Productions Inc. This blog will contain (hopefully) daily TP info about what I do. Its kind of like the Whats New page on the TP site only a little more brief and about every day. So stay tuned for the latest info!