Before I begin posting proper, I thought I'd give a little background on myself:
My legal name is Mister Ooh-La-La. When I was 18 and taking too much acid and eating too little protein, I made what some would deem an insane life choice and changed my name legally to the francophonic sobriquet you see above. Then, I started to try and figure out a way to live up to it. For the past 20 years, it's been both my calling card and my cross to bear. It's opened some doors and led to others being slammed in my face.
The first time I really presented myself to the public as "Mister Ooh-La-La" proper, as you might say, was when I appeared on "The Jerry Springer Show", shortly after I turned 21. To this day, it's still the thing that I get recognized for whether it be at the grocery store or online. My reputation precedes me. I'm hoping to curb this trend but at this point if I choked to death on a french fry tomorrow, it would be the thing that I was most known for.
I'll write about the circumstances that led to my appearance on this landmark of American television and culture more as this site progresses but for now, just check it out, (follow the link to Part 2):
Following Springer, I really should have moved to Los Angeles or New York and rode the small wave of fame that my appearance on national television created, but instead, I languished in a very terrible relationship for a few years, smoked a lot of pot, and tinkered away at a few screenplays.
Once the terrible relationship finally ended, I rediscovered my creative verve and finally completed my first screenplay, which I then in turn self-financied, produced, and directed into the feature film. "Earth Day". The film is essentially a satire on holiday themed slasher films (one of my absolute favorite sub-genres as you'll learn more about as this blog continues) with hippies as the chosen targets of the killer.
The Awful "April Fool's Day" ripoff poster the distributor insisted we use.
"One year after the accidental death of their leader, Pixie, a group of eco-crusaders find themselves the victims of series of brutal murders at the hands of a mysterious assailant. At the heart of the police's investigation is Hassan, a Pakistani refugee who was shunned from his home country for embracing the forbidden art of Women's hair care."
I might consider the film as a failure for the fact that it didn't make any of it's $20,000 budget back, the satire isn't strong enough to counteract what now many would interpret as the film's problematic main character (and I don't necessarily disagree), and it has tons of technical problems. It's hard for me to watch it today because all I see are mistakes, but even some of my favorite filmmakers like John Carpenter and John Waters say the same things about their films, so perhaps I'm being overly harsh.
The fact that I managed to make a full length film on my first try with practically no money or prior experience with my friends is enough to make it a success in my eyes, though the stress and the debacle that followed in the wake of the troublesome DVD deal that I signed with a distributor who clearly had no idea how to function in that field was enough to send me running and screaming from the notion of making another film for some time.
In retrospect I should have retied my shoes and given it another try the next year, then the next and the next until I had an actual filmography. Nevertheless, "Earth Day" is a time capsule of one of the most important Summers of my entire life, a great example of how quickly the mores of society shift (I heard absolutely nothing about Hassan's portrayal as a negative when the film first emerged, but now, ten years later, if there was enough publicity behind it I'm certain I would be vilified), and a time when I really found out who my real friends were and weren't. I'll explore the production of the film as the ten year anniversary of it's release approaches in more entries next year.
If you're feeling especially generous or abnormally indulgent, you can buy a copy of the film here for $14.99 (including shipping).
Next time, I'll explore the second phase of my career: My foray into the world of Independent Pro Wrestling.
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