We did not end up filming The Ghost of Hartmoor Manor during the April’s
Freaking Fantastic Film Shoot, due to various reasons (hostaged costumes,
budget issue, etc). So instead we
filmed Excerpts From a Villain’s Workshop.
It was supposed to be the whole workshop, but showing everything would
just be boring so the movie will just be the best bits. The basic idea is that an Evil Overlord
offers workshops in Villainy to help all villains become better bad guys and
gain evil experience for a large fee.
The wonderful actors who participated included both veteran actors and
introduced some new people to the joys? of making a movie with Sine Fine Films!
The cast consisted of (in alphabetical order):
John Novosel as Issac Cassowary, the Evil Overlord’s Quirky Minion
turned Bumbling Hero (and the father of both Super Talon and the Tiny
Trickster), who’s playing the token hero in the workshops to help out his
brother.
Eric Patrick as Dorian Abernathy, a Mad Scientist from Victorian England
who specializes in Steam Punk torture equipment to fund his questionable
experiments. He refuses to admit he's insane and destroyed any evidence that might prove otherwise.
Andrew Thomas as Ryan Aurelius, the Count of Monte Carlo, a suave
sociopath who has a royal and rich background. Although he has an obscene
amount of wealth, he is morally bankrupt and honestly believes there is nothing
money can’t buy.
Morgan Thomas as Savina Jolokia, a mysterious and very sexy lady who is
actually a succubus on holiday and has far more interest in the villains
themselves than in learning lessons from the workshop.
Brittany Ann Whalen as Regina Vasska, the Divil. She the world’s biggest Diva and is the
Queen Bitch…I mean Bee. The Queen
Bee of Bitches (there we go, that works). She gets whatever she wants, whenever
she wants it or there will be hell to pay.
Dan Zangerl as Valdemar Xanthus, the Evil Overlord. He is a true classic villain who loves
capes, but sadly had to hock them all to pay the rent. Ever since his stupid brother/former
minion married a superhero, all his evil contracts were canceled and his
untrustworthy business partners left him mired in debt. Well, they were all
villains, so he doesn’t blame them, just his brother.
We did the best we could with the time we had (I was three freaking
hours late to the set) and had a good time making villainous t-shirts, pitching
tents, and roasting whores…smores. I mean smores! SMORES, damn it! 
Despite the last minute planning, the ridiculously late start, the lack
of proper costumes for a few of them, and the incredibly cold night, I think we
all still had a great shoot and lots of fun. I know I did. 
We also got to hang out with some old friends (and new ones) who came by
to help out as crew – Bryan Kieft, Billy H., Jen Weber, and Ben Thomson. Although we did not actually finish filming the movie, we will be
reuniting at the end of June to finish it up.
I have to give a BIG THANKS to Kate Weber, who contributed to this
project through GoFundMe.com.
I also want to give a BIG THANKS to Dan Zangerl who brought extra
filming equipment and did some behind-the-scenes filming.
Also, a MUCHO BIG THANKS to Brittany Ann Whalen, who not only brought
along a bunch of food, but also an entire studio’s worth of equipment to the
set. That allowed us to do a studio set up for shooting the ad-libbed scenes
(which was all of them).
And I need to give a SUPER HUGE THANKS to Mark and Michelle MacLeod, who
not only contributed money to the project, they also housed and feed us.
To everyone who helped out this weekend, and to those who will be
helping out with the second half of filming for this movie - THANK YOU!!!
