Sorry Apple. You’re too late. Not with your iPad of course. We’re sure that will of course have a variety of amazing uses (none of which will involve finding clever names for things). No, you’re too late with your latest branding artwork. But thanks though. We’re really psyched that our logo will look like an Apple ripoff from here on out.

It’s not that it’s a bad thing to have your creativity affirmed by the worlds largest inventor of awesome stuff, but nobody wants to look like a poser. So for the record… Ah, whatever.

Maybe we’ll just have to turn Grand Rapids, MI into the Silicone Valley of film production.

As abruptly as conspired, it ended. No trip to Haiti. Poor Tanner Wolfe didn’t even get to make it through customs. Although the merits of the trip will apparently be re-evaluated, the powers that be spied something that raised a red flag in regards to filming their relief effort.

Sometimes you have to respect the call from the top. This is film production. For better and for worse, it’s the life we have chosen.

The world of film production is a crazy thing. One minute you’re sitting in your cozy Grand Rapids, Michigan office counting snowflakes and the next minute you’re getting a call from the good people at Amway Global to pack your camera, sandals, and sunblock for a trip to Haiti (but this is no vacation). And that should mean something right now, because as all of you well know, the damage the earthquake in Haiti has done is beyond comprehension. Gorilla feels very blessed to be asked to go on this trip and help out in any way possible. Eric Johnson and Tanner Wolfe, one of our favorite documentary cinematographers, will be the two Gorilla representatives. They leave tomorrow and will be back on Saturday. We know the trip is short but excitement is high (as well as emotions).

Apologies for the brief blogging but Eric and Tanner have a lot of planning to do. A more comprehensive (and picture-filled!) blog on the Haiti adventure will appear early next week. So check back.

Cameras began rolling today on Gorilla’s latest local Grand Rapids venture: The “Lost and Found Shop” film production. The crew is in pretty good spirits and things are busy so this blog post needs to be short. Big props to Caleb Slain for his hard work, and also to Aaron Smith for his tireless producing hours. And let’s not forget Derek Street and Eric Machiela, who are putting the Master Prime Lenses to work!

Just a quick few pic from last night’s pre-production soiree. The anticipation of producing a project always gets the Gorilla offices hopping. Although we aren’t filming in Grand Rapids, we usually try to keep these meetings close to home.

The first Gorilla production of the year begins this weekend! The Lost and Found Shop, a short film written and (to be) directed by Caleb Alexander Slain, will be filming over the weekend in Spring Lake, Michigan on the RED Cameras and ARRI Master Primes. The production is ambitious (71 shots kind of ambitious), and with 45 people (crew, company, and cast) on set Sunday, we can promise one of two things: A.) Joy, elation and high fives when we get off 40 shots and finish an hour early or B.) Caleb’s body is dumped in Spring Lake and found in the spring thaw along the shore. Let’s hope it’s option A! Because The Lost and Found Shop is slated to be entered in the Doorpost Film Festival and if all goes right in the world of film production, we’ll need Caleb well into the spring. The turnaround on the edit will be quick so check back soon for more information.

And, lastly, for your entertainment: Peter Pan Play

The link has nothing to do with Gorilla’s production company or The Lost and Found Shop. It’s just funny to laugh at high school plays that go horribly wrong. And watch the whole thing. It only gets more delightfully cruel. (My favorite parts — at 0:23 a guy in the audience makes the most underrated statement of the year and 1:17 is just … great.)

Gorilla Enters The Addy’s This Year

I am typically the voice on the other end of the line telling you that everything is going to be fine, despite only getting five shots on the first day of production. I am the one who tells you, while smiling, that the production schedule you have laid out is impossible. At Gorilla, I produce films. However, once in a while, I get to do something different; something that feels like an arts and crafts project. I glue things and burn things and put things in plastic bags. Every once in a while (once a year to be exact), it falls to me, Aaron B. Smith, to get our production work ready for the Addy awards.

This is our second year of submitting work to the Addy’s, but it was a bit different. I had a helper — one Alexa Hook, an illustrious and industrious senior at Calvin College who is currently interning for us. We offered her the internship right away because we had a feeling she would be a good fit at Gorilla. (I also needed immediate help with the madness that is submitting work to the Addy awards.)

We entered thirteen (13) different pieces into the Addy competition this year, a substantial upgrade from the mere three (3) projects we submitted last year. Alexa and I started work on getting our entries ready on a Tuesday afternoon. We did not finish getting them ready until 1 pm, the following Thursday which was the day they were due. Why so long, you ask? Because it is a process. Figuring out which category each project falls under is a spooky hybrid akin to shooting craps and interpreting Ulysses by James Joyce. Also, you need to make two DVD copies of each project. We live in the age of the internet and here we are, still making physical copies of things and still physically moving them from one place to another. These are the kinds of things we usually e-mail, upload, or FTP to our clients. But, I digress.

We completed our task and managed to drop off all the entries in time, despite the snowy roads that had caused Alexa to crash her car the previous day. Upon returning to the office Alexa and I exchanged a feeble hi-five. I stumbled into my office and took a thirty minute cat nap while listening to Zoe Keating. This marked the end of another year of entering the Addy Awards. It’s a bit strange to consider that all the months of work of this Grand Rapids based production company, Gorilla Pictures, can be simmered down to thirteen (13) submissions to the Addy’s. What a year.

Gorilla is not only a collection of some of best, brightest, and most reasonably attractive folks working in the Grand Rapids film production community, but it’s also an assortment of diverse filmmakers with differing cinematic tastes. While I personally lean towards the artistic flare of “G.I. Joe,” the outrageous comedy of “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” or the classic romanticism of “Miss March,”  there are others here who would disagree. Vocally. And that’s what it’s all about; loving film production so much that when you are not making movies your watching them (or animations in Nate Vander Plas’ case). So without further ado, I give you 2009’s top ten films ranked opinionated by Gorilla.

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[NATE VANDER PLAS]

5. Up 4. Coraline 3. The Informant! 2. Where the Wild Things Are 1. Avatar

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[SCOTT BROOKENS]

10. Away We Go/Where the Wild Things Are (draw) 9. State of Play 8.Up in the Air 7. Star Trek 6. Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince 5. District 9 4. 500 Days of Summer 3. Up 2. Inglorious Bastards 1. Avatar

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[AARON B. SMITH]

5. Avatar (begrudgingly) 4. The Hangover  3. District 9  2. Where the Wild Things Are 1. Inglorious Basterds

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[ERIC JOHNSON]

10. Avatar 9. Drag Me To Hell 8. Zombieland 7. Adventureland 6. Star Trek 5. An Education 4. Moon 3. Up 2. Inglorious Bastards 1. Hurtlocker

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[ERIC MACHIELA]

10. Zombieland 9. Adventureland 8. Drag Me To Hell  7. A Serious Man 6. Avatar 5. Inglorious Bastards 4. Star Trek 3. Up 2. Up in the Air 1. Hurtlocker

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Agree? Disagree? Post your own list and opinions below!