Zen & Chaos Studios

September 2008

The Studio is Complete

That's right the Studio is finished! Well, I do still have the heater to install, but the actual build is complete. Check out the photos. I still have to upload some of the newer pictures.

Thanks again to all who helped. I couldn't have done it without you. I'm very excited about how it all came out and it looks great! I still have some post build work to do, like sound proofing, green screens, and building a dolly.

Stay tuned, I will be announcing the premiere of the Music Video I shot last year with the band United Mess called "Doorstep". Be sure to check out the teaser clips on their page under the Music Videos section.

After the United Mess premiere I will be focusing heavily on the feature I want to shoot in the summer of 2009, titled "The Barn". So stay tuned for the details on that.

July 2008

Building the Studio
How do you turn a 2 car garage into a film studio? By making friends with people with tools and knowledge! Luckily, I already have such friends. Seriously though, I have to thank a lot of people. This is in no particular order:

Chris Lamore - for his time and the use of his tools. (Because apparently MY tools weren't good enough.) Seriously, without Chris's help the studio would have been a lot more difficult to build.

R.W. Martin - for all his time and effort, including coming over one morning after working all night and helping me out all day until around 7pm! He's put a lot of time and energy into this project which proves his dedication to being a filmmaker.

Earl Bennett - they say blood is thicker than water. My cousin has definitely proven his dedication to this project. He has been there most days and has truely left his mark.

Chris Russell - for his help with the outlets, running new electrical cable, and his consulting services.

Bernard Miller - for his excellent mudding and taping job. We beg his forgiveness for starting without him!

Thank you everyone!

Check out the progress in these photos.

Dec 2007

Filming Grace Potter and the Nocturnals New Years Eve Shows at Higher Ground

So I got the call again... Grace Potter and the Nocturnals will be rocking 3 amazing concerts at Higher Ground in South Burlington, VT on Friday Dec. 28th, Saturday Dec. 29th, and Monday Dec.31st! For more info check out their website.

They've asked me to get some crew together to film their shows. I had the pleasure of filming their shows last year and they rocked a full house all three nghts! So if you don't have New Years Eve plans I highly recommend going to one of their shows. Who knows, I may even get you on film.

- Jerry

July 2007

Filming a Music Video with United Mess from NY!

That’s right! I’m filming a music video with some very talented musicians from NY. The band named “United Mess” is made up of:

Milo Marnes – Lead Singer & Guitar
Mike Raccette – Guitar and Backup Vocals
Gary McShane – Bass
and Dustin Morris - Drummer

The band won a Battle of the Band contest at Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vermont in April of 2006. I got to talking with the marketing director before the contest and she asked me if I wanted to help do something with the band that wins. Of course I jumped right in and said lets shoot a music video. Due to some prior production commitments I was unable to film the video last year. So it was first on the agenda in Summer of 2007.

We’ve already filmed two days worth of the music video. The first day was on Sunday July 29th where we filmed part of the short story portion of the video. On Sunday Aug 5th we filmed the band rocking out to the song in my studio! Our next shoot day will be on Sunday Aug 12th where we’ll be filming more of the short story. We’ve scheduled another film day for Sunday Aug 26th in case we don’t finish on the 12th.

The production has been a blast so far. We’ve got some really talented actors and the band is rocking the cameras! Check out the productions page for more info on the music video, some behind the scenes pictures and other production extras.

- Jerry

August 2007

Filming Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at the Maritime Festival

Yup… got the call again! I will be filming the Grace Potter and the Nocturnals concert down at the Waterfront in Burlington, VT on August 19th. I’m looking forward to filming a great concert with my fellow filmmakers Davy Russell and Jay Blanchard. You won’t want to miss this event. GP is touring all around the world and this will be one of the only appearances they will make in Vermont this summer.

The Lake Champlain Maritime Festival 2007 celebration promises great entertainment, a variety of New England cuisine and exciting activities in a spectacular setting; Burlington's Waterfront on the shores of Lake Champlain. The Maritime Festival is looking forward to the 2009 Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration of Samuel de Champlain’s first visit and exploration of Lake Champlain.

- Jerry

August 2007

Filming Grace Potter and the Nocturnals SECRET show

If you’ve heard of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, then you know they’ve been getting a lot of media coverage and are currently on tour all over the world. What you may not know is they had a secret show at Club Metronome in Burlington, VT on Tuesday Aug 7th to celebrate the release of their new CD “This is Somewhere”. They honored their fans by giving them the new CD at the door of the concert for buying a ticket at Pure Pop Records.

Well, I got a free ticket into their show, because I’m the lucky guy that gets the call when they are jamming in the area and need someone to film their show. They will also be playing out at Burlington’s Maritime Festival down on the Waterfront in Burlington on August 19th. You will see me there with my film crew, Jay Blanchard and Davy Russell, capturing the superb performance of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

I also had the pleasure of filming 2 out of the 3 of their New Years Eve shows in December of 2006. They rocked Higher Ground all night long for 3 nights in a row! All tickets were sold out! I enjoyed their performance so much that I edited together the last song they did on Saturday night into a little music video. If you want to see the video for “Over Again” check it out on my productions page.

I’m honored to be their videographer in Vermont.
Rock on, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals!

- Jerry