Fourth weekend/New Festival for Lost Princess!!

Well folks, we just finished our fourth weekend of the Carolina Renaissance Festival and, frankly, it was some fun. Even after three days during the week prior for "Student Days" (around 20,000 students in three days and also fun), we had a beautiful weekend. The weather was near perfect and the streets of the festival were busy with happy people. You know this is the time of year we just love here. Cool nights and gorgeous days! Only three weekends left, (plus Boo and Brew this Friday night). Time really flies when your having fun and being busy!

Speaking of busy — I've been listening to Martha Gay's tracks for her first solo CD (we are producing it as Blind Dog Entertainment) and her rendition of Wild Mountain Thyme brought tears — happy tears — to my eyes.

We're going into the studio this week to finish up recording Sarah Mullen's newest CD project. We're using a studio in Charlotte that comes well recommended by musician-type friends — Wire Knot studios. Bret Blackshear and Eddie Jeff Cahill will be adding their talents to the Carolina part of the recording!

EXCITING NEWS!!!! THE LOST PRINCESS just got accepted to the Eureka Springs Digital Film Festival in Eureka Springs Arkansas. (I hear from friends that its a very cool city!) The festival runs November 8 through November 13. THE LOST PRINCESS will be playing on Saturday Morning the 12th at 9 a.m. for The program "Breakfast with Eureka Kids". Plus the director informed me that it might play at another time during the run of the event! If you're in the area please go to a screening — support the festival and support THE LOST PRINCESS. Their website is www.eurekafilms.org.

This is our fourth festival acceptance! It seems that we hit our mark in trying to make a family film - Eureka Springs plus the endorsement by KIDS FIRST! — The Coalition for Quality in Children's Media (Go to www.kidsfirst.org and search titles for THE LOST PRINCESS) make me happy knowing we've created something the whole family can enjoy! Thank you all for your support!

Weekend Three Carolina

Well! We've just finished our third weekend here at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. Boy! Was it a fun one! Such gorgeous weather! Near perfect and a bunch of people showed up. For those of you who do not live in this part of the country, this was "Race Weekend" with something like an additional 300,00 people flooding into the Charlotte area. This has traditionally been a good weekend for us, especially since the races were moved to the evening hours. So many people from other parts of the country and, from other parts of the world - truly an "international" weekend. Don Juan, Esmeralda and I had a lot of fun this weekend. Today (Sunday) we performed "The Queen of Spain" show, which we haven't attempted since Sterling. It's such a wacky show! I love doing it even though it can be a bit of an effort. I think we (us and the audience) all had fun with that one! I am thinking that "The Queen Of Spain" will fill our 2 PM slot here - what is listed in the Carolina program as "The Mystery Show".

As far as "projects" go... We're still working on Sarah Marie Mullen's second CD. (Her first has been a great success! Thank you!) We should have all the recording finished within a couple of weeks. THE LOST PRINCESS score writers Eddie Jeff Cahill and Bret Blackshear will perform on it with her, as well as Bob Bielefeld and Michel Levy of Cantiga, and "Deryn" of the PA faire's "Faire Enough". We've already recorded Bob, Michelle and Deryn in Pennsylvania - we'll be recording Eddie Jeff and Bret here in Charlotte.

Also, the harpist Martha Gay, of Cantiga, is currently performing at TRF (Texas Renaissance Festival) and will soon be completing her recording there. We've been in communication and are working on some edits for her first solo CD. She recorded part of the CD in Ohio, with the same studio that the "Minstrels of Mayhem", a really excellent group, use. Jerry Barry, a member of that group (and old friend) agreed too help and acted as producer for us. For those of you who do not know - Martha is an old friend, we've known her for around twenty years, and she is a fabulous musician, one of the finest I know. I have some great memories of mornings at Sterling. Before the show opens and crafters, food people, actors, gamers and staff are all busy with the last few preparations for the day, Martha will be sitting at the gazebo right by the front gate "warming up" on her harp. To me warming up is stretching and running some scales, when Martha warms up the air around her is alive with this beautiful and relaxed sound. It evokes summer, morning, and a sense of wonder. I love to hear it, it begins my day with magic. So I am really excited about her first solo CD, it will be gift to all of us.

Both CD's should be released by Spring 06.

Thank you all for your support of all our "Blind Dog" productions. Your patronage will enable us to record more festival musicians and make more, and better films. Thanks.

- Doug

Talking Back!

Hey all of you out there!! We have a new great thing going here - you can post directly to this blog by clicking on the comments section!

I love dialogue (as long as there is some semblence of sanity). And invite all of you to speak. For those of you who stop and talk to me on "teh streets" you know I like people in general and enjoy talking to them. So feel free to speak up!

Now news:

The second weekend of Carolina was somewhat dampened by the rain. Actually it wasn't really rain, more like living in a cloud of drizzle on Saturday. Sunday was fun. It was overcast, but the people still came. Jose was up in Pennsylvania this week running the Dungeon during student days, I guess it was fairly cold and rainy, and may continue into the weekend. I hope not! We'll see though.

Still submitting THE LOST PRINCESS to film festivals. Ideas for the next movie (to be filmed in AZ) are beginning to bubble up. If anyone out there wants to tell me what they liked or did not like about THE LOST PRINCESS, it might give me a hand.

Here in Carolina

We've finally arrived here at the Carolina Renaissance Festival and, in fact, have already had our opening weekend. It went well, crowds were joyous and fun, and response to THE LOST PRINCESS and our new "merchandise-cart" here was good. I really enjoy coming to this festival. I love the area and the people here — but then I like most folk all around the country. However, here there is a sense of "Southern hospitality" that I find charming.

We're in the midst of many projects; the new Sarah Marie Mullen CD, THE LOST PRINCESS soundtrack CD, Martha Gay's first solo CD, running the dungeon here and in PA, writing a new movie script, and submitting THE LOST PRINCESS to multiple film festivals. So far we've been accepted to three — which I think is really great — The Gloria International Film Festival in Salt Lake City, The Straford upon Avon Film Festival in Stratford, England and, most recently, KIDS FIRST — the largest film festival for children in the nation and a festival which has the potential of having THE LOST PRINCESS touring 25 cities in the US. For more info, or maybe even to get the movie shown near you and to see where THE LOST PRINCESS is going to be showing — you can check out the festival's website at www.kidsfirst.org - we are under "independent films".

I hope you all like the changes in the web site and the new "Blog". I will try hard to keep up with this.

— Doug