Have a Healthy Helping of '80s Action... With Extra Cheese

If you saw Portland's 48 Hour Film Project this year, you'll remember the winning entry, Through The Door Productions' sitcom parody, "P-Town Peeps," which featured a parody-within-the-parody in the form of a commercial break for a "24"-esque actioner called "48," which Through the Door outsourced to Uke Doiron of Mainiac Films.

"We only had 1 hour and 40 minutes to go out and shoot footage within a half-mile radius," says Dorion. "For what we shot it came out decent and everyone seemed to eat it up during the event."

Eat it up they did, and audience enthusiasm for that brief snippet set the ball rolling on a longer, more ambitious take on the concept.  Introducing Mainiac Films' entry into this year's Four Minute Film Festival, an even more over-the-top parody of '80s action flicks, features guns, explosions, and an upside-down Air Force One (all CGI effects courtesy of the insanely talented cinematographer and editor Eric Michael Dawalga).

Conceived by Doiron, Dawalga, and Skip Brunelle, the "Unhinged" trailer was shot over eight Saturdays in several locations around Maine that could plausibly pass for a run-down city somewhere in Eastern Europe (Kennebunk Beach, the Sanford Mills, and Indian's Last Leap in Springvale, for example). With no budget to speak of, the filmmakers relied on the generosity of their cast of heroes, who also doubled as masked terrorists. Top bad guy Marc Gardner is also a talented stunt man, and was game to jump off roofs and be kicked through doors.

Mainiac Films plans to make a sequel trailer to "Unhinged" every year, each one bigger and better than before.  They're also eying a web series, if they can secure the funding.  This trailer offers a tantalizing taste of what those Maniacs may have in store for us down the line.

Ladies and gentlemen, "Unhinged."

Introducing... 'The Professionals'

On this Thanksgiving Day, The Entertainment Experiment is proud to bring you something pretty special:  The pilot for an ambitious new show created by Logen Christopher and Corey Rich, the filmmaking duo behind Knight St. Media.

"The Professionals," shot entirely in Portland, follows four main characters (played by some heavy-hitters on the Maine film scene):  Owen (Matthew Delamater), a former banker turned professional homeless man; Gary (Ty Gowen), a lazy dropout who begs on the street and looks at Owen as a mentor; Aubrey (Ashley Brooks), an intelligent, strong woman who manipulates the weakness of men by using her body to make a substantial living; and Kenneth (Erik Moody), an insurance salesman who works, thinks and acts harder than anyone else.  Even in the pilot, these characters lives intersect in intriguing and surprising ways.

Challenging the concepts of success" and the American dream, "The Professionals" explores a world where the "plan" no longer works for everyone.

The pilot below offers a tantalizing taste of what this show has in mind.  The current plan is to launch a funding campaign both online and "on the ground" in February or March to get the funds to shoot the adapted first season of about 6-10 episodes in the summer of 2015.

Here's your chance to get in on the ground floor and see what folks will be talking about next year.  Take a look:  "The Professionals."

The Water in the Bay TRAILER 2013 from Tasty Dude Films on Vimeo.

Tasty Dude Films, the guys behind our own Portland Music.TV, certainly know how to keep busy. They keep turning out exciting, interesting, short films and web series. Now, they've tackled something even bigger:  Their first feature film, "The Water in the Bay," will premiere at the Portland Empire on December 21 at 7 p.m.  Did you watch the trailer above?  Did you?  This is a very cool-looking movie, and we're so happy and proud to be connected to these very talented filmmakers.

Give Haunt ME a hand

 The folks at our ghost hunter web series "Haunt ME" did a heck of a job with their first season, working with limited resources but with a ton of energy, enthusiasm, ingenuity, and talent.  As they gear up for a second season, they need your help to get the endeavor off the ground.  Check out the video below, and please consider kicking in a few bucks to their Kickstarter campaign.  They've come up with some nifty premiums, but the best part is, if they make their goal, we'll get more episodes.  So chip in if you can!

Random Ragged: Number 100 in a Series

Here it is, the one hundredth "random" still from "Ragged Isle."  I put the word "random" in quotes because each of these images was carefully selected to intrigue but not spoil.  And as we get closer to our final batch of episodes, it's getting harder and harder to find stills that don't give away crucial plot points.  Believe me, season three is positively jam-packed with crucial plot points.  The moment pictured here, for example, occurs right before a devastatingly crucial plot development.  I'll say no more, but you'll know it when you see it.

To see every photo in the "Ragged Isle" gallery, visit the show's gallery page.

Random Ragged: Number 99 in a Series

This might be the most spoilery Random Ragged image yet.  However, it should come as no surprise to careful watchers of the season two finale, for whom the identity of the luckless fellow with the bag over his head won't be a mystery.  If you're still in the dark, consider watching the finale again, or just wait for season three to hit this fall, when everything (and we mean everything) will be explained.

Random Ragged: Number 98 in a Series

Some things are so horrible, they cannot ever be unseen. What is Sheriff Dalton (Rick Dalton) looking at in this scene from season three?  You'll have to watch to find out, but be warned:  Once you see it, you too will never be able to unsee it.  Season three of "Ragged Isle" will hit this fall. In the meantime, check out more images from our Ragged Isle photo gallery right here.