Dark Becomes Shining Light for Make-A-Wish Foundation

Maxell Corp. of America has recognized Randall Dark, CEO of Randall Dark Productions, for his work on the comedy feature Closing Escrow which was lensed entirely on Maxell HDCAM. Maxell awarded Dark, who's considered an HD pioneer, with a glass trophy featuring the Maxell "Blow Away" icon, unlimited Maxell HD product for use on his next project, and $5,000 to donate to a charity of his choice. Dark, who recently relocated from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, designated the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and South Texas to receive the $5,000 gift.

Source: Shoot Magazine

Dark to judge inaugural Greenlight Awards at SXSW

The search to discover the Best Original Digital TV Series is in motion. SXSW along with ON Networks(www.onnetworks.com) is recognizing this new category by introducing The Greenlight AwardsTM.

The Greenlight Awards will honor the Best Original Digital Production and the Best Original Series Idea with prizes of up to $10,000. Finalists will be reviewed by a panel of prominent industry and new media judges including actor Luke Wilson, indie writer/director Richard Linklater, HD pioneer Randall Dark, TV Week’s Daisy Whitney and founder of Smashface Productions Zadi Diaz.

Winning content will be celebrated at an exclusive event held during SXSW. Submissions are free and must be received by February 15, 2008.

Dark to produce Smokejumpers

MEGALOMEDIA SIGNS RANDALL DARK TO PRODUCE SMOKEJUMPERS

(Austin TX- December 10, 2007) - The Austin based independent production company MEGALOMEDIA Inc., announced today the signing of acclaimed producer Randall Dark to produce on the series titled Smokejumpers. Dark is a High Definition (HD) pioneer and the president and founder of Randall Dark Productions.

"Randall Dark has such a presence and long history in the industry, we are excited for the opportunity to work together on this series," said Megalomedia's President and Smokejumpers' Executive Producer, Jonathan Nowzaradan. Dark will help produce an extraordinary new television series that takes you inside the lives of the elite men and women few who parachute in the most remote and dangerous areas of our country to battle wild land fires.

"The creative team at Megalomedia understands how to tell compelling stories," Dark said, "and as I have said for many years the best way to capture and see all of this is in true high definition.” Dark will also be joining producers Tom Mireles and Graham Davidson along with director Jeff Keels to bring the series to life.

About Megalomedia
Established in 2002, Megalomedia is a full-service television and film studio creating original, non-fiction television content from idea to the screen. Having recently wrapped production on the feature documentary, The World's Heaviest Woman, which airs on Channel 4 in the U.K. and later on TLC, they are also in production on other feature documentaries, including The Voice Gods of Hollywood and Aftershock: the Politics of a Natural Disaster along with the 10-part series, Smokejumpers.
www.megalomedia.com

About Randall Dark
Dark is considered to be one of the leading experts in High Definition. For more than 15 years he was the creative and marketing force behind HD Vision Inc. and HD Vision Studios. Recently he formed Randall Dark Productions to create television shows, independent films, commercials, documentaries, music videos, industrials or any other project in which HD is the medium of choice.
www.randalldark.net

Donation to Make-A-Wish Foundation

Maxell Corporation of America honors independent filmmaker, Randall Dark on November 27th for his work on the comedy motion picture, “Closing Escrow,” filmed in Maxell HDCAM. Dark, who recently relocated from Los Angeles, California to Austin, Texas, has identified the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Central and South Texas charity to receive $5,000 from Maxell on his behalf.

Pictured left to right: Tammy Shaklee, CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and South Texas; Randall Dark, CEO of Randall Dark Productions; Patricia Byrne, Senior Marketing Manager of Maxell; and Barbara Sommer, Vice President of Marketing of Maxell.

Filmmaker Award

MAXELL HONORS INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER RANDALL DARK FOR HIS ACHIEVEMENTS IN FILM

Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Central and South Texas Receives $5,000 Donation

Fair Lawn, NJ, Dec 6, 2007 – Maxell Corporation of America recognized Randall Dark, CEO of Randall Dark Productions, last week for his work on the comedy motion picture, “Closing Escrow.” As part of the recognition for his achievements, Dark, who recently relocated from Los Angeles, California to Austin, Texas, identified the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Central and South Texas charity to receive $5,000 from Maxell in his honor.

As a high definition technology pioneer, Dark received a glass trophy featuring the Maxell “Blow Away” icon, unlimited Maxell HD product for use on his next project, and money to donate to a charity of his choice. Dark’s support for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in his new residence of Texas continues his partnership with charities that benefit children. As a result of Dark’s donation, a child with a life-threatening medical condition will get their wish granted.

Dark is recognized globally as an expert in emerging technologies, being among the early adopters of HD technology in 1986 and founding his own production company in 1991. Dark’s film, “Closing Escrow,” entirely filmed on Maxell HDCAM, presents a comical look at the real estate industry. “HD is the very best technology in filmmaking, allowing me to preserve, duplicate and edit media without compromising quality, “said Dark. “Maxell’s products provide a superior digital picture, while maintaining a high level of reliability, durability and overall performance.”

About the Make-A-Wish Foundation®
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy. With the help of generous donors and more than 350 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Central & South Texas has granted more than 2,300 wishes to children in 40 counties since 1985. During the last year, volunteers and donors made it possible for 195 children to experience the magic of a wish. For more information about Make-A-Wish, visit www.centralandsouthtexas.wish.org.

About Maxell
Maxell Corporation of America, a technology and marketing leader, is a full line manufacturer of digital media products for consumer, professional and data storage markets. Maxell is a recognized brand for over thirty years that delivers a comprehensive line of digital tape and disc-based recording media products for consumer audio, video, camcorder and data storage applications. The company also manufactures and markets a wide range of consumer battery products, as well as a full line of electronics care, maintenance, and accessory products including headphones, plasma TV cleaners, and iPod/MP3 cases and speakers. www.maxell.com

###

click on image to enlarge

Q&A with TV Technology Magazine

HD Production Pioneer Randall Dark Talks Turkey

Randall Dark is a producer and director of HD content, a once-emerging field he helped establish more than 20 years ago. Earlier this year, Dark left his longtime home, HD Vision Studios, to start his own company, Randall Dark Productions. He currently has studios in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. He recently spoke with HD Notebook:

HD Notebook: Since you’ve had the opportunity to watch HD evolve in various fits and starts over two decades, what strikes you about its current enthusiastic acceptance by both the industry and consumers?

Dark: It only took 20 years? Actually, I’m amazed at how far HD has come, especially in the last few years. We’ve gone from virtually no HD broadcasts to almost all high-end sporting events and entertainment—both fiction and non-fiction—being not only broadcast in HD, but shot in HD as well. HDTV sets are flying off the retail shelves. When was the last time you saw a 4x3 aspect ratio television? It’s in the same “curbside pile” alongside the record player and VHS machine.

HD Notebook: Other than maybe the fact that you already own certain equipment, what format(s) do you prefer working in, and why? Also, what are your thoughts on 1080p?

Dark: My new company has not purchased any equipment. This allows me the flexibility to rent whatever is best for the project without being saddled to legacy technology.

Image is everything and I believe in capturing pictures with as much information as possible. There are specific applications for lower resolution HD, such as HDV, but I firmly believe it’s imperative to protect the future use of content—so I insist on using high-end HD equipment. I’ve shot a number of projects at 1080 30p and have been extremely pleased with the images. I’m somewhat frame-rate agnostic. Certain stories need to be captured at 24p, while others need a much faster frame rate. We’re sometimes caught up in the “Geek Hype.” 1080i images during broadcast sporting events look fantastic, but there will be a continued push towards 1080p.

HD Notebook: You recently helped produce a full-length comedy motion picture, “Closing Escrow," about real estate, which is now available on DVD, which you and others on the crew regularly blogged for HD Notebook readers from pre-production to post, starting back in August 2005. Tell us what you learned from this ambitious project.

Dark: I should write a book about the making of a “modified low-budget feature.” For the most part, it was a fantastic learning experience. In the real estate business, the mantra is “Location, Location, Location.” In the independent film world, it’s “Pre-production, Pre-production.” Producer Kristen Cox was able to keep us on time and on budget because of the pre-production time she spent with Armen Kaprelian, the director.

However, the most important lesson is that it’s imperative to get even a limited theatrical release. I call it the “Theatrical Critical Release!” Obviously, having a few screens in New York and Los Angeles are key, but it’s important to have a few other cities included, as well. The main reason is that the movie must get reviewed by recognized critics. Good, bad or ugly, this is paramount, since most of the revenues come from DVD sales and if people haven’t heard about your movie, why would they rent it? The reviews can be used for grassroots Internet direct marketing.

HD Notebook: What’s one of the more dramatic examples of how advances in HD technology have helped you do your job better?

Dark: Evolution of technology is allowing me to produce programs in high-definition that a few years ago would have been almost impossible. A perfect example is a new series I’m working on called “Smoke Jumpers” with Megalomedia. As you mentioned in your opening question, imagine 20 years ago trying to jump out of a plane with all that analog HD gear on!—a VTR the size of a refrigerator tethered by RGB cable to cameras that cost over $350,000 each. Good luck! Now we have an arsenal of cost-effective choices in a variety of sizes, and it keeps getting better.

from TV Technology's HD Notebook

Variety reviews Closing Escrow

CLOSING ESCROW
by John Anderson

Magnolia Pictures release of an Awkward Silence production, in association with HD Vision Studios, 16X9 Prods. Produced by Kristen Cox. Executive producers, Armen Kaprelian, Randall P. Dark. Directed, written, edited by Armen Kaprelian, Kent Llewellyn.

With: April Barnett, Rob Brownstein, Colleen Crabtree, Andrew Friedman, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Bruce Thomas, Patty Wortham, Cedric Yarbrough.

Considering the conversational energy we expend on real estate, it's a wonder there haven't been more comedies about buying and selling, deductible interest and subprime mortgages. (Take my house ... please!) Unapologetically modeled on the mockumentaries of Christopher Guest, "Closing Escrow" is a sometimes laugh-out-loud send-up of homebuyers' worst instincts, the extreme behavior of real-estate agents and what happens when the certifiably insane save enough for a down payment. B.O. may depend on how cutthroat the local housing market is, but cult status seems assured.

Writer-directors Armen Kaprelian and Kent Llewellyn set up three atypical couples on a collision course for the same piece of prime property; en route, they experience nightmarish encounters with agents and sellers. Not that the characters are innocents: Dawn and Tom (Patty Wortham, Andrew Friedman), for instance, are looking to move out of the home once shared by Tom and his ex, whom Dawn terrorized with dead rabbits nailed to the front door.

Tamika and Bobby (April Barnett, Cedric Yarbrough) are buppie lawyers looking for a loft; they have the misfortune of hiring as their agent the bitter, racist and hysterically funny Hillary (Wendi McLendon-Covey, "Reno 911!"). Mary and Allen (Colleen Crabtree, Rob Brownstein) want their dream home, but Allen keeps changing his wishlist, driving his agent, Peter (Bruce Thomas), crazy. No one's really in his or her right mind, and the vagaries of the market -- and home-lust -- conspire to make them even nuttier.

The style is very Guestian, with helmers Kaprelian and Llewellyn staging interviews with their characters and using omnipotent third-party observation as well. Their sense of comedic restraint is nonexistent -- no limits about character or circumstance will keep them from going for the obvious joke if it happens to be sitting there like an underpriced three-bedroom in a good school district. Who can blame them? "Location, location, location" may not be the usual motto of comedy directors, but Kaprelian and Llewellyn have no trouble finding a groove for what ultimately is an audacious satire.

Tech credits are appropriate for a film posing as a low-budget docu.

Chief Lighting Technician, Gaffer, Lighting Technician Camera (color, HD), Scott Billups; set decorator, Josh Rose; sound, Seth Gilbert; visual effects supervisor, Billups; assistant director, Mollie Stallman. Reviewed on DVD, New York, Aug. 25, 2007. Running time: 93 MIN.

from Variety