(Originally Published in the 2006 Edition of the CNGM Insider)

Years ago, many, in CNGM time, I wrote a novel about a ghost hunter.  The novel was a response to my love for Joss Whedon’s television work, namely Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and my recent discovery of Gregory McDonald’s Fletch, Flynn and Skylar series with its minimalist dialogue driven writing.  Having just devoured eleven Fletch novels, three Flynn novels and the paltry two Skylar novels, I set out to write my own piece of fiction in the style of those books, with the sensibility of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer.  For my hero, a ghost hunter named Irving Renquist, not more than a hop, skip and jump homage away from Irwin Fletcher.  The boy meets girl who has a ghost plot was simple, and the characters were only lithely defined, but the novel Irving Renquist, Ghost Hunter remains one of my favorite of my as yet unfinished achievements. (more…)

(Originally written by Nick Thompson Published in the 2006 Edition of the CNGM Insider)

Who needs sleep to dream? Certainly not Michael P. Noens who last winter wrote, produced, and directed a feature film based off a previous short titled Sleep to Dream. In Sleep to Dream, Rachel Bergman (Angela Washer) kills her boyfriend in self-defense. Shortly after, she receives repeated phone calls from Magus (Stephen Pratt), a man who knows what she did, and her past all to well.
Sleep to Dream was almost entirely filmed over the course of one week of intense evening/night shoots, something Noens and CNGM Pictures had yet to attempt. “Shooting this movie seemed like it would be impossible but some how with the amount of talent we had, we were able to make it work,” said Noens.
Considering the abnormally condensed shooting schedule for the feature film, the actors and actresses all took different approaches in preparation for the shoot. “There was a very limited amount of time, so I tried to turn my character into metaphors,” said Washer. “I would then go into a room and get my body stressed out and then let the emotion come.”
Shooting a film in such a short amount of time presents many challenges for the filmmakers. Lighting the set, checking the sound, and preparing the camera are just a few challenges that the production crew faced during this film shoot. In addition to the normal challenges faced during a film shoot, many more came because of the limited one-week shooting schedule.  “We only had Angela for one week, so we had to do it in this one week or we were in trouble,” said Noens.
Though many challenges arose during the filming of Sleep to Dream, nothing postponed production. “I was lucky and had many meeting with Austin Griffith, Producer and Director of Photography. Austin is great at his job and really helped me flesh out the whole thing,” pronounced Noens.
Filming a feature film on such a low budget and in such a short amount of time can add a lot of stress to the set; however the experience was well worth it. “It was an awesome experience and I loved every second of it,” said Washer.

(Originally Published in the 2006 Edition of the CNGM Insider)

Normal Life is the story of a college junior who realizes that he has no idea who he is, what he wants or where his life is going. Struggling to break away from what is expected of him, he carves out a piece of this universe he can call his own, regardless of the cost.
The film was written, produced and directed by Marc Muszynski (director of Tough Love).  Shot on location in Normal, Illinois, the production was completed in less than three weeks.  “We had a limited amount of time, but making the film was our full-time job with no interruptions,” said producer and director of photography Steve Coulter.  “This allowed us [as filmmakers] to be more focused on what we were trying to accomplish.”
Normal Life stars Marc Muszynski, Nick Mikula, Caitlin Barlow, Brian Wohl, Annie Rix and Kim Pereira. “The producers were heavily involved with the production from the very beginning and with their talent, support and dedication, shooting was completed with little trouble,” says Muszynski.  “The process was very collaborative.”

CNGM would like to invite you to a packed evening on November 9th! Featuring two films, two sneak peaks of upcoming films, unlimited food, soft drinks and the beautiful backdrop of the Hotel Indigo in Palatine, it promises to be an amazing event. This is a great opportunity for those in the film industry to network, for lovers of independent film to support some up and coming artists and for everyone else, to spend one jam-packed entertaining evening which is tax deductible. What more could you ask for? For more information and tickets, please click here! Featured films that night will be: Off-Loop (Sneak Peek), Coasting (Sneak Peek), Gnome Man’s Land (World Premiere) and Never Have I Ever (Test Screening).