I recently read a tweet from Melissa Dunphy that she had made it onto the Ripley’s Believe it or Not website. (Melissa plays Tanner in No Sanctuary.) Sure enough it featured a video of Melissa playing Bach upside down at the piano. I realize that she is a musical prodigy, but had I known that she had this stunt in her repertoire, I would have written it into the script… There could have definitely been a piano in the ruins of the church! (Now that I think about it, there should have been.)  Seriously though, she is a very talented musician and it was cool to check out the video.

That may have been the end of the story, but my wife saw that the video was featured on the Comcast homepage today. [Apparently it had also been featured on a national morning news program.]

Way to go, Mel!

Believe it or not…

Just wanted to take a quick moment to sincerely wish you and your family peace and joy during the holiday season. Please be safe on the roads (and avoid Highwaymen at all costs).

The editing computer has been resurrected and post production continues on No Sanctuary.

Look for it to be released in 2010.

Very early in the year a new trailer will be released and No Sanctuary merchandise will be available for purchase.

Thank you for your continued support.

Blessings and Peace.

- Jake Stetler

I recently experienced a temporary, but nerve racking setback with the film. I came home early in the week to find that a power surge had killed my editing computer. [Despite the surge protector.]  Stifling the urge to scream, I quickly setup my laptop and connected the external drive that holds all the crucial files for the film. The hard drive worked, the film was intact. Whew! Thousands of hours of editing had not been in vain. But the editing computer remained dark. After troubleshooting I found that it was, in fact, inoperable. I am currently working to repair it and hope that it lasts for awhile, until I can raise some additional funds for a new workstation. Until I can edit again, I took the opportunity to create a recent backup.

So to summarize.  The film is safe. The computer is dead (or at least in a coma. I hope this is temporary.) And despite the difficulties of filmmaking, I am still in love with the process.  I am still in love with No Sanctuary: The story, the characters, and the journey to bring it all to life.

- Jake Stetler

I know I haven’t updated the blog recently; I have been completely focused on the edit. That is until the last couple of days… I have contracted bronchitis and a sinus infection. Not much fun and not very conducive to working. So I thought I would do a quick update.  First I want to apologize to Fred Waters for not spelling his name correctly on the movie poster. It was spelled correctly as an Associate Producer, but the “s” was missing from his last name for his credit as actor. [I had three people proof read it and nobody caught the error.] The gaff has since been corrected.

I also took the opportunity to fine tune the image, now that I have seen it printed on the refrigerator magnet. [I guess they could now be considered collector's items...]  I am glad I only did a small run on the magnets.  I got the kinks out before I have the actual posters printed.  I think I will have them available for Christmas by the way.  [As a fund raiser to complete the edit.] Look for that in the near future.

I can see the film coming together.  A significant portion of the scenes are at picture lock.  I should be cutting them together soon and moving onto the sound mix.

- Thanks for the support.

Jake Stetler

I want to thank all those who signed up for the email subscription.  Show your support and sign up, if you haven’t yet gotten the opportunity.  I have 4X6 Refrigerator Magnets featuring the movie poster available.  I will send them FREE to anyone (in the United States) who clicks on the CONTACT JAKE button and sends me their postal address.  Email subscribers will be first priority.  (While supplies last.)

Finally, I recently saw the trailer for Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day.  I am very excited to see this film.  They just released the movie poster.  It resembles our poster.  Great minds…  [Ask Ron Baker though, we shot the concept for our poster several years ago.]

Wait a minute… VACATION & WORK in the same sentence?  That’s right.  Welcome to the challenges of Independent filmmaking.  I spent last week on vacation from the “day job” to dedicate every waking minute to editing, trying to finish this picture and release it to the wolves… I mean world.  Worked round the clock.  Burned myself out, but I can finally see the flick coming together.

The one sheet movie poster for No Sanctuary has been completed.  It was designed by graphic artist, Dustin Bennett.  Those of you who have subscribed to the email list will receive a preview of the poster by email.  Those of you that haven’t yet subscribed can still preview the poster by following these simple steps.

• Locate the box to the right.
• Enter your email address.
• Hit SUBSCRIBE.
• An email will be sent to you asking you to verify the subscription.

DON’T FORGET THIS CRUCIAL STEP!  You must respond to the email.

That’s all there is to it.

Random subscribers will receive a 4″X6″ Mini Poster Refrigerator magnet featuring the new design!

Haven’t blogged in awhile. Extremely hectic the past few weeks. Hope to start regular weekly posts again on Saturday.

Some quick updates:

• More and more scenes are at ‘picture lock’.
• Back to editing after completing a corporate video project. [This is the challenge of independent movie production. I have been funding the film since principal photography was completed. Every few months I take a corporate video project to bring in additional income to invest back into No Sanctuary. It benefits the film financially, but it takes time away from the edit.]
• Many of the visual effects artists are submitting the final effects at an increasing rate. [Not to mention, excellent quality.]
• The final movie poster has been finished. [Look for additional information in the near future.]

That is all for now. Thank you for your support. Exciting developments in the near future.

Don’t forget to subscribe!