No I haven't died... hell no, I haven't dropped the project! Lots of projects been going on, in addition to Among B-Boys. Don't worry people, it is going to be done. It's been a long process and I have to tell myself to be patient sometimes myself.
Some extra things that been going on: Almost done with the Hung Dynasty the Movie: The Return of Animal Chin. Rob Nasty has taken most of the editing duties, and I'm now more of the tech/glue guy. My responsibilities are with the intro montage, the motion graphics sequences and mixdown, and then DVD menu and authoring.
should be out by Mighty4, next weekend!
if you got a chance... check out two things: the second trailer for the movie (Parental Advisory... contains adult themes)
and this next item... Underground FLow vs Bang uh Rang. An iLL battle all around. funny that I am so out of the loop on this Hella Hung sponsored Jean Claude Van Jam: Bloodsport battle!
Yes! I finally got my internet back. Moved into a new place, and now I can really get down to business, and just in time to start blogging again here.
1.) if you didn't know, there's a new Among B-Boys YouTube channel that is so far compiling battles from the Among B-Boys 3 event. There's also links to that all over this website.
2.) Progress Update: currently waiting on a funding proposal... wish me luck. But I'll still be working on the rough cut of the film!
3.) I'm also recruiting soundtrack artists, check out Tou Saiko of Delicious Venom on the NY Times video blog
4.) And check out Sukie's little brother Jerry and his crew breakin in their house where Sukie used to!!!
Way to represent Fresno, way to represent, Sacramento, Merced/Winton, Bakersfield, Modesto, Stockton, wherever ya'll from! Among B-Boys 3 was an official success, and not only that, Velocity - Bboys Affex and Geo came out with a vengeance! Congrats to them for getting first place, Randum 9 for getting a close second by tiebreaker, and Undefined Styles - Oscar and Fidel, for placing 3rd.
Coming soon, DVD preorders will be available tomorrow. Order your Among B-Boys 1/2/New Years Jam DVDs available online tomorrow! Coming soon, we'll be posting Youtube clips of the jam and previews!!!
and check out this clip of Villn and Mpact as a teaser for the documentary
I'd been seeing a lot of bulletins on Myspace for donations for Frosty Freeze, but hadn't been able to figure out what they were for, until recently I started seeing RIP Frosty Freeze on people's bulletins and was like damn... so check him out, Frosty Freeze, second gen Rocksteady Crew, famously appearing in my favorite Hip Hop documentary of all time, Style Wars (filmed by another legend who passed away this year, Tony Silver). I didn't follow him much, but he was one of the most charismatic Rocksteady members I remember from Style Wars, and he was definitely respected as a pioneer who kept it up all the way to the end, to my understanding.
check out Frosty Freeze on wikipedia there's a lot more articles linked to him there that could do him more justice than I ever could to his memory.
A DVD featuring high quality footage of the entire Among B-Boys - special Hmong New Years battle and select battles from the first two events, and bonus videos and battles! It will be on sale this weekend for $15. The proceeds from the DVDs will go towards the completion of the documentary film in progress. Please come support and buy one!!! the link will be up after this weekend on the website, too. Check out this teaser for the documentary that will be on the DVD in FULL QUALITY!
Stop sleepin! Benson Lee's documentary Planet B-Boy is a groundbreaking film helping reintroduce the world to Breakin' as we know it today. Planet B-Boy has been getting great press in a bunch of syndicated movie review programs, Ellen, Carson Daly... don't sleep on this. Hopefully supporting this film will also help start creating more viable business outlets for B-Boys themselves!
I just can't get enough... just can't get enough...
While I'm working hard on the film, busy with other projects too, trying to apply for more $$$, just started a new job... in the meantime, more Jabbawockeez
Jabbas on Ellen
The latest Jabba performance, their Thriller tribute performance to PYT
Sorry I haven't updated in HELLA long. it's been a month. Just been caught up trying to piece together this film, ya know? The longer and longer I take, I feel like the more pressure there it is make it look good!
Also, I need help! Any volunteer graphic designers, web coders, or multimedia gurus out there? hit us up!
for now, I guess check out another Underground Flow battle. This time, vs their arch-rivals, Flex Flav!
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in other dancing news... I know a lot of people hate those TV dance competitions, but anyone check out the JabbaWockeeZ on "America's Best Dance Crew" last night? If you don't know, JabbaWockeeZ are Hip Hop dance performance group who are pretty well respected around the B-Boy circles. I've seen them perform twice, once at one of the Battle of the Year USA comps, and another at the Culture Shock LA Decypher the Silence show.
A reel from B-Boy Geo. Check it out. Velocity Crew, representin! Seems like there's been times where he's been away from Breakin, but it doesn't seem like he's lost a step.
Flew down to check out the West Coast premiere of the film "Inside the Circle", directed by Marcy Garriott, at the San Diego Film Festival on 9/27 and 9/28 (the screening we went to), where it won the audience award The film features lots of really dope B-Boys, featuring Omar, Milky, Romeo and B-Boy City! It was a great opportunity too because I brought Mpact and his roommate/crew member P-Rock. Mpact got a chance to see what the film festival experience would be like, complete with Q & A. Other noted attendees were Cros-1 of Freestyle Session/Armory Survival Gear fame, and RockSteady Crew's DJ Charlie Rock.
This meeting was especially special because Marcy Garriott is a filmmaker whom I have been corresponding with and receiving extra support and wisdom from, on top of that from our CAAM mentorship program's Vivian Kleiman. She has been not only supportive of my film and efforts, but also of the B-Boy/B-Girl scene overall. It was great to finally see her film, and I definitely wasn't disappointed. Not only was I there to see and enjoy another great Hip Hop/Breaking Documentary, but I was there to learn and see how Marcy put her story together. There's definitely some differences in how here story is put together narratively and how she approaches her character development with Omar (Jive Turkeys/Zulu Kingz), Josh (Milky, Masters of Mayhem/Mind 180) and Romeo (B-Boy City), but there are some great similarities in the multiple storylines (three, to be exact) and she does a great job of getting at the heart of their motivations for B-Boying.
A lot to think about with how mine is going to be, but thank goodness I've set a lot of the groundwork to make the process of editing I've been going through, more manageable. Which brings me to where the film's at now. It's been tough getting through all the material, making tough decisions on what to keep, what must go... how to portray certain segments, how to pace it... trying not to get too distract from the task at hand, fidgeting on the little stuff such as how the music/audio will be mixed down, sound design, etc... those can be taken care of later.
So that's it for now... I'm back dedicated to getting this first rough cut into a digestible form... I had a nice nearly week long excursion to clear my head before continuing, but I'm back refreshed, and this phase is nearly there! I'll get back to ya'll later.
At the Hollywood Film Festival:
INSIDE THE CIRCLE United States (PROGRAM TITLE = INSIDE THE CIRCLE) 5:00 p.m. Oct. 19, Friday. 102 min. ArcLight Cinemas 6360 W. Sunset Blvd Hollywood, CA 90028
Capturing the raw power and defiant creativity of a homegrown hip-hop movement, Inside the Circle charts the journey of talented b-boys Josh and Omar, best friends turned rivals, as they struggle to keep dance at the center of their lives.
