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NEWSLETTER –September 26, 2012 September 26, 2012. Today “Before We Say Goodbye” was released nationally on DVD. A press release about the film has been displayed at 122 major websites. Although the film is now under license for television throughout Latin America (thanks to Universal International Television), so far it has been little seen in the U.S. The DVD release through IndieBlitz and MVD Entertainment Group distribution will hopefully bring it to many more people. (www.beforewesaygoodbye.com ) In the last year, I have created and developed the character of Professor Hack Harddrive. I play the amiable but sarcastic professor who speaks in rhyme or raps his commentaries on social issues to music that has been arranged and mastered by Brian Thomas Lambert. Brian composed the music scores for “The Sci-Fi Boys,” “Jesus in India” and “Before We Say Goodbye” (in which he plays much Spanish guitar). The new website for Professor Hack Harddrive is www.hackharddrive.com There are both free videos and pay-per-view videos at the site. A Professor Hack Harddrive e-book (enhanced by video) is now published. It’s called PROFESSOR HACK HARDDRIVE MAKES YOU LAUGH WHEN YOU’RE OUT OF GAS. It’s available for iPad and iPhone, Amazon readers and the Barnes & Noble Nook. I highly recommend it there are 12 of my best poems, including “Albert, the Elevator Alligator,” and 7 videos of the professor’s performance of those poems, several of which are done as songs that I wrote and which I perform, including “The Election Song,” “Downloading You” and “You’re Thinner, You’re Fatter.” The humorous poetry explosion has resulted in three other books I’ve written (available in paperback any day now), including: POEMS TO READ ON FREEWAYS (AND OTHER WAYS TO DIE LAUGHING), RIGHT-BRAINED POEMS FOR LEFT-BRAINED PEOPLE, and last but not least: POEMS TO READ WHEN YOU’RE OUT OF WEED. Many people have asked about the release date for my latest feature film documentary: “The Life After Death Project.” The film is finished, and we are still working on planning distribution. A little more patience is required. The film has already had a lot of pre-release publicity, including some fascinating articles. Check these out: http://www.radicalspiritualist.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html and also: http://www.theofantastique.com/2011/04/10/paul-davids-and-the-strange-case-of-forrest-j-ackerman/ and here’s one more: http://www.unknowncountry.com/insight/ackerman-enigma-strange-case-forrest-j-ackerman-paul-davids
NEWSLETTER – JUNE 15, 2010 “BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE” is now a completed feature film. Learn all about it at www.beforewesaygoodbyethemovie.com The website has the trailer, music, poster, photos, story and more. This independent film is a labor of love that deals with the great themes of life through focusing on an Hispanic-American family. There is life and death, despair and hope, searching and faith. As I write this, it has only had one public screening, at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, where the audience loved it (you can see their responses as they leave the theater under “Audience Response” at the website). It was great working with playwright Patricia Crespin to turn her stage play (“We Are Hispanic-American Women…Okay?”) into the film “BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE.” Most of the film was shot in New Mexico. What an adventure, working with the acting troupe that performed it on the stage, plus the male actors who weren’t part of that stage play but who had performed in other Crespin stage productions in New Mexico. And then there were those actors whom neither of us knew before, such as X. F. Gurrola-Gal (who likes to be called Javier) who plays Carlos in the film. He opened up many opportunities for us to film in Mexico at fascinating locations. The highlight was filming at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe and seeing the image on the cactus cloth of Juan Diego’s tilma from 1531, which is said to have appeared miraculously after Juan Diego had an apparition of the Virgin. Once again, there’s a spectacular musical score from Brian Thomas Lambert. Rebekah Del Rio provided and/or performs three songs in the film. She is best known for her role as a singer in David Lynch’s “MULHOLLAND DRIVE.” Distribution details for this film, as they emerge, will be posted at www.beforewesaygoodbyethemovie.com Other developments over the last year. “JESUS IN INDIA” has had numerous TV broadcasts abroad, following its U.S. debut on the Sundance Channel. The film has shown on pay TV in countries that include Canada, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Portugal, and reportedly it will soon appear on TV in Germany. In addition to the film, Yellow Hat Productions published two books on the subject by Edward T. Martin, and there is also the soundtrack album. The DVD plus books and soundtrack are offered at a discount in various bundles of your choice at www.jesus-in-india-the-movie.com It was a lot of fun being involved with the music video for the “Scarlett May Blossom” song, which you can see at www.scarlettmayblossom.com Scarlett’s unbelievable yet hilarious adventures are told in the first book of the new series: Scarlett May Blossom’s Diary. Other projects in progress include: “THE LIFE AFTER DEATH PROJECT” A documentary film that examines the evidence for life after death. The film is now in editing. It is expected to become a series of DVD’s, eventually. “PLAN 10 FROM PLANET EARTH” The one unproduced screenplay by Ed Wood (famous for his film “PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE” has been incorporated into a comedy script that pokes a lot of fun at Hollywood. Yellow Hat also has in development a new novel from Jeffrey Roberts that offers an original take on time travel.
MARCH 12, 2008 THE SCI-FI BOYS won the Hollywood Saturn Award for Best DVD (Academy of Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror) and also the Rondo Award, an international fan-based award for Best Independent Genre Film. JESUS IN INDIA update: Shirley MacLaine is interviewing Paul Davids about the film -interview to appear on Shirley's radio broadcast on March 16th. Check it out at www.shirleymaclaine.com - and it will be permanently in the archives of interviews at her site. JESUS IN INDIA has been picked up by NBC Universal for international TV distribution through Universal City Studios Productions, LLLC, which has also brought THE SCI-FI BOYS to worldwide television. JESUS IN INDIA will be available in the U.S. domestic TV on the Sundance Channel, which acquired JESUS IN INDIA the same week as it acquired LA VIE EN ROSE. The DVD release of JESUS IN INDIA is still to be determined. A new website is under construction for the film. Check it out at http://www.jesus-in-india-the-movie.com Paul Davids Productions, Inc., produced JESUS IN INDIA, and Yellow Hat Productions, Inc., which has produced other Paul Davids films, took on TV distribution rights to make the deal with NBC Universal. A terrific new project under development for Yellow Hat: WE ARE HISPANIC-AMERICAN WOMEN...OKAY? It's based on a stageplay by Albuquerque writer Patricia Crespin. Paul Davids wrote the screenplay with Patrician Crespin. The story, set in Albuquerque and Mexico, captures the essence of the Hispanic-American experience in New Mexico. JUST BECLAUS I LOVE YOU, the Christmas novel by Paul Davids and Robert Rotstan, Jr., will be out 2008, hopefully to become a film soon thereafter. Paul Davids has illustrated the book. Robert Rotstan, Jr., was associate producer of three Paul Davids films, including STARRY NIGHT, THE ARTIST AND THE SHAMAN and JESUS IN INDIA. The writer and sometimes-actor Bob Rotstan can be seen in the closing credits of THE SCI-FI BOYS as the "star polisher" on Hollywood Boulevard and also played Officer Goodman in STARRY NIGHT. Another splendid project is heading toward production: LET'S FALL IN LOVE UNTIL WEDNESDAY, based on the book of the same title by Joan Wendland, a Chicago writer. Paul Davids wrote the screeplay with Joan Wendland. It's a story of an affair in Nova Scotia during a bus tour by two people who had resolved never to fall in love again. Since the tour ends on Wednesday, they compromise and decide they will just fall in love until Wednesday. Yellow Hat is in negotiations with Redstar Films of Nova Scotia (principal: director/producer Paul Kimball) to produce the film in Canada using the actual locations of the story. Paul Davids wrote the foreword to the best-seller WITNESS TO ROSWELL. And speaking of foreword's, Paul's foreword and illustrations give a launch to the new book SCARLETT MAY BLOSSOM'S DIARY: CEILINGS I HAVE SEEN. That book will also be published in 2008. THE FATE FILES, a new TV series based on FATE magazine, is also due from Yellow Hat. Durrante-Fox and Rigel USA have entered into a deal with Yellow Hat to produce and distribute worldwide a most unusual series based on the premise of all FATE magazines since its inception in 1948: that the world is not quite what we think it is. DEMON GUN is still in development, based on the famous comic book series of the 1990's by Gary Cohn and Barry Orkin. Writer Jeff Rack joined Paul Davids in scripting. Congratulations to newlyweds Jordan Beth Duvall (formerly Jordan Davids) to music producer Nathan Duvall. The wedding in Beverly Hills took place May 5, 2007. And congratulations to Scott Michael Davids for being the assistant editor of BORAT, associate editor of KNOCKED UP, main title sequence designer of SUPERBAD, editor of HBO's FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS, special effects designer of FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL. And now he's additional editor of a new Universal comedy.
THE SCI-FI BOYS was nominated for a Saturn Award as Best DVD of 2006 for the 33rd Annual Saturn Awards of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. The awards banquet is May 10th in Universal City. Other SCI-FI BOYS honors: winner of the RONDO Award for Best Independent Film on DVD 2006, an annual fan-based award in the name of horror actor Rondo Hatton. Harry Knowles of “Ain’t It Cool News” (aintitcoolnews.com) declared: “If I could win any Award ever, it would be a RONDO!” SCI-FI BOYS also cleaned up with three EBE AWARD trophies at the 17th Annual International UFO Congress winning for Best Documentary – Longform, Best Special Effects and Animation, and Best Documentary on a UFO-related theme. THE SCI-FI BOYS qualified as “UFO-related” because it dealt, in part, with Hollywood depictions of aliens and flying saucers throughout the history of special effects in cinema. THE SCI-FI BOYS, widely available on DVD from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, will be shown with Spanish subtitles at the International Film Festival of Buenos Aires. It was broadcast in the U.S. February 7th on Sci Fi Channel and will soon be seen internationally on TV, via Universal International Television. JESUS IN INDIA, the new feature documentary from Paul Davids Productions, Inc., is in the final stages of post-production. Running at about 100 minutes, the motion picture was filmed over about two months all over India, at holy sites of Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, from the great Hindu Temple at Madurai in the south to the Hemis Buddhist Monastery in the Himalayas at Ladakh. Major religious scholars, including Professor Elaine Pagels of Princeton University and the “Pope” of Hinduism, the Shankaracharya (speaking from the location of the 2500 year old Jagannath Temple at Puri, India) weigh in on the question of “Where was Jesus during the Missing Years?” None of the four canonical Gospels accounts for Jesus’ whereabouts from age twelve to thirty, with the Gospel of Luke only declaring that during those years “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” For centuries, traditions in India have claimed that Jesus joined a trade caravan that traveled the Silk Road and spent part of His life in India during those years with both Hindus and Buddhists. The film promises many surprises that will be considered and debated by Christians as well as those of all major religions. The visually beautiful film has an unforgettable music score by Brian Thomas Lambert, who composed the score for THE SCI-FI BOYS. Distribution information to be announced. FATE, THE TV SERIES. In 2004, Yellow Hat Productions Inc optioned the rights to FATE magazine, which since 1948 has been publishing “True Reports of the Strange and Unknown.” Now with about 700 issues, FATE represents an extraordinary archive of stories that document the strange workings of fate and prove that “the world is not what we think it is.” The magazine has been considered “soul food” by its many fans who read it cover to cover. Yellow Hat is about to announce a deal with a major supplier of TV programming that will bring FATE (published by Phyllis Galde) to television every week, with favorite stories of the last half century that offer insights – sometimes spiritual, sometimes uncanny, always exploring ordinary people facing the unknown. I will be a producer on the series and Hollace Davids will be an associate producer, with Robert Rostan Jr as co-producer. THE ADVENTURES OF SCOTT M. DAVIDS. I’m very proud to report that my son, Scott M. Davids, a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder just a few years ago, has distinguished himself as a film editor and special effects designer in Hollywood. He is now a full editor on a new comedy series at HBO (THE FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS), having recently completed working as Associate Editor on KNOCKED UP, Universal’s new comedy by the director of 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN. This follows Scott having served as First Assistant Editor and Special Effects Designer (via his company called YARD) as well as Graphics Designer for BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKSTAN. Scott was editor of THE SCI-FI BOYS. He also served as Assistant Editor of Miranda July’s YOU AND ME AND EVERYONE WE KNOW. His career began as an uncredited post-production assistant on ALONG CAME POLLY and he gained his first credit in assistant visual effects editing on CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK. OTHER CURRENT PAUL DAVIDS PROJECTS: Still awaiting birth as motion pictures: DEMON GUN, based on the popular comic book series by Gary Cohn and Barry Orkin, with a screenplay I co-authored with Jeff G. Rack (whose recent production of TWILIGHT ZONE on the stage was very popular at Universal City’s Theatre West – Jeff even played the role of Rod Serling.) JUST BECLAUS I LOVE YOU (which hs also been written as a novel) by Paul Davids and Robert Rotstan, Jr., a contemporary Christmas love story set in Greenwich Village. THE TYPHON CONSPIRACY, by Paul Davids and Richard C. Hoagland – a NASA story that dramatizes the possibility that there is much more of may have been protecting the “biggest secrets” while preparing the public slowly for some staggering revelations about extraterrestrial life. STARRY NIGHT, THE STAGEPLAY. In 2005, several years after the independent film of STARRY NIGHT was released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, I wrote the story as a stageplay. The first performance was sponsored by the Bossier City Arts Council in Bossier City, Louisiana, directed by Richard Folmer. In Marcdh of 2007, a shortened version of the stageplay of STARRY NIGHT was produced by the Los Alamos Little Players (LALT) in New Mexico. Directed by Dick Danforth, it became a One Act Play of just under one hour to fit the requirements of the AACT, the American Association of Community Theater, for statewide performances held in Farmington, NM. The lead actors, Eric Bjorklund (as Vincent van Gogh) and Elizabeth Price (as Kathy Madison) won certificates for Outstanding Performances. Some preliminary exploration is underway of the possibility of evolving STARRY NIGHT into a full-length stage musical. More announcements on that in the future.
NEWSLETTER UPDATE Please check at this website under FILMS for all the updated exciting information about THE SCI-FI BOYS and to order the DVD directly from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. At the website page for THE SCI-FI BOYS you will find streaming video of Peter Jackson speaking about the importance of this film, plus 20 minutes of streaming video of the panel discussion I moderated at the Egyptian Theater March 21st with Forrest J Ackerman, Rick Baker, Steve Johnson and Basil Gogos. You will find reviews (THE SCI-FI BOYS was th PICK OF THE WEEK for L.A. WEEKLY) including the excellent review from the SCI FI CHANNEL's weekly online magazine at SCIFI.COM. THE SCI-FI BOYS had four screenings in April and May 2006 at the Tribeca Film Festival. Return to the page for THE SCI-FI BOYS in a week or two for streaming video of Ray Harryhausen speaking about THE SCI-FI BOYS at a special screening at the Hitchcock Theater at Universal Studios April 30th 2006, where he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Character Creation from Cinerouge. NEW ART GALLERY OF RECENT PAUL DAVIDS PAINTINGS: When you click on PAINTINGS at this website, give ample time for loading. Do not become impatient -- you will have access to either the standard gallery of over 100 of my paintings or the NEW GALLERY which contains many of the more recent paintings, including several of Timothy Leary. You can also find out info about TIMOTHY LEARY'S DEAD under Films and Video at this website. UPDATE ON "TIMOTHY LEARY'S DEAD" To find the wonderful Roger Corman release on DVD of my film "Timothy Leary's Dead" (which includes 2 extra bonus hours including a solid hour of the late Timothy Leary speaking on many contemporary topics) you may have to search around. It can still be found and is a major collector's item -- and the film will soon be set for a re-release from Buena Vista, which is re-releasing the Roger Corman library. A date for the Buena Vista version has not yet been set. UPDATES ON OTHER PAUL DAVIDS / YELLOW HAT PRODUCTIONS PROJECTS: Yellow Hat Productions has just re-optioned the comic book series by Gary Cohn and Barry Orkin called DEMON GUN, intended for a feature film. There is a screenplay now from Jeff G. Rack and Paul Davids. Yellow Hat also has the option on TV and FILM rights to FATE Magazine -- all stories ("True Reports of the Strange and Unknown") from 1948 to the present, an incredible archive of over 20,000 stories, plus the original pulp art covers of FATE, etc. A TV Series is in the planning stages. Yellow Hat also continues to develop THE CONTACT HAS BEGUN from author Philip Krapf's books which tell of this L.A. Times editor's reports of his experiences with an alien race and impending plans for worldwide open contact. A projct with Richard C. Hoagland ("LIGHT AND SHADOW"), the most frequent guest on the Art Bell radio show for ever a decade is still in the works for a feature film. YELLOW HAT PRODUCTIONS' NEW ADDRESS : Note the change in address for
Yellow Hat Productions Inc, which is now at 5190 Neil Road #430, Reno,
Nevada 89502 for those of you interested in ordering other Paul Davids films, such as THE ARTIST AND THE SHAMAN. FEBRUARY 21, 2006
BREAKING NEWS. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will distribute my film, "THE SCI-FI BOYS" from Yellow Hat Productions Inc on DVD, release date March 28th, 2006. "THE SCI-FI BOYS" is an 80-minute Feature Documentary with over 60 minutes of Bonus Material including a variety of rare sci-fi treasures. The film features Peter Jackson, Ray Harryhausen, Ray Bradbury, Forrest J Ackerman, Roger Corman, John Landis, Dennis Muren, Rick Baker, Leonard Maltin, Stephen Sommers, Bob Ducsay, Steve Johnson, William Malone, Donald F. Glut and Bob Burns, with special appearances through licensed material of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Legendary all-stars of cinema bring to life the evolution of science-fiction and special effects films from the wild and funny days of B-movies to blockbusters that have captured the world's imagination. This is the story of the Sci-Fi Boys who started out as kids making amateur movies inspired by Forrest J Ackerman's FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine and grew up to take Hollywood by storm, inventing the art and technology for filming anything the mind can dream. Dennis Muren, 8-time Academy Award¨ winner, shares his childhood space and monster movies for the first time, as do others in "THE SCI-FI BOYS." There's also over an hour of rare bonus material sci-fi treasures. Universal will also be handling international TV distribution. I wrote, produced and directed "THE SCI-FI BOYS," and Hollace Davids also produced. For more information, see the entry under FILMS at this website.
QUOTES
PETER JACKSON: "This film charts the evolution of fantastic cinema, to put on record, for all time, the influence that the pioneers of special effects had on my generation of filmmakers." JOHN LANDIS: "Spielberg, Lucas. these guys are the revenge of the nerds, because when they were in school wanting to make films, they were skinny little geek kids. they were Sci-Fi Boys." RAY BRADBURY: "Ray Harryhausen and I made a pact, promising to grow old and never grow up, and to keep the pteradactyl and the tyrannosaurus rex forever in our hearts, and lo, it happened!" BOB BURNS: "I'm 70 years old and I'm still a Sci-Fi Boy, and I always will be!"
OTHER BREAKING NEWS: Note the change in address for Yellow Hat Productions Inc, which is now at 5190 Neil Road #430, Reno, Nevada 89502. Last summer, I spent six weeks filming a new feature documentary in India, tentatively called "THE MISSING YEARS." Filming took place with an Indian crew over 4000 miles of India, at over 20 locations, including some of the greatest religious shrines in India. I am producing "THE MISSING YEARS" with Anil Kumar Urmil (he and Felicity Newman were Executive Producers of "STARRY NIGHT"). Anil made fabulous arrangements for the filming in India, including locations where filming would usually be difficult or impossible for westerners. The film, which is being scored by Brian Lambert who handled all the music for "THE SCI-FI BOYS," is now in editing, with release date yet to be announced. In other news, Yellow Hat Productions Inc now has an exclusive optionto produce a film based on two unusual and thought-provoking books by Philip H. Krapf: THE CONTACT HAS BEGUN and THE CHALLENGE OF CONTACT.Yellow Hat is developing the project with Karen Copeland, President of Crystal Pyramid Productions. The option was acquired through arrangements with author Philip Krapf, a former Los Angeles Times copy editor who tells of his travels to the mother ship of the Verdant aliens, and publisher Byron Belitsos of Origin Press. Yellow Hat also continues work to launch a new TV series based on FATE MAGAZINE, working with Phyllis Galde, President of Fate Inc (see www.fatemag.com)Ê Other Yellow Hat projects in development include "DEMON GUN," based on the comic book series from writer Gary Cohn and artist Barry Orkin, in cooperation with David Bernstein's Grand Design Communications of New York, "ERNEST AND SCOTT" (a script by Atlantis Rising writer Len Kasten, about Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald) and a Christmas novel and film from Paul Davids and Robert Rotstan, Jr., to be announced. Bob Rotstan was a production designer of "STARRY NIGHT" and an associate producer of "THE ARTIST AND THE SHAMAN." Look for Bob in a cameo appearance in the end credits of "THE SCI-FI BOYS," as, dressed in tourist garb, he kneels down on a Hollywood Boulevard sidewalk to shine up the stars of Roger Corman, George Pal and others.
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NEWSLETTER: SEPTEMBER 18, 2005 Hello All Visitors. Please note the change of mailing address for our production company, which is now Yellow Hat Productions Inc, 5190 Neil Road, Suite 430, Reno, Nevada 89502-8535. Written inquiries or orders should be sent there, or please continue to contact me at this email address. Prints and Giclee reproductions of my paintings are available, and some originals are for sale. Check out www.audishusar.com for images of many of my newest paintings, now on exhibit (Sept 2005) in the Audis Husar Gallery at 8670 Wilshire Boulevard (suite 114) Beverly Hills, CA. There are many updates in the my worlds of art, film and stage. Yes, stage -- you DID read it correctly. In April of this year, the stageplay of STARRY NIGHT opened at Bossier City, Louisiana. Why northern Louisiana, everyone asks? The stage director Richard Folmer contacted me suggesting I write a stageplay version, which he wanted to direct with the local theater group in Bossier City. I liked the idea of putting STARRY NIGHT on the stage, and my procrastination ended when their arts council came up with a grant for both the play and for an art exhibit of my paintings. Adapted from my screenplay for the movie ( see www.starrynightmovie.com ) this project of the Bossier City Arts Council was in celebration of their 25th anniversary. The Mayor of Bossier City, which adjoins Shreveport, declared the week of April 25th STARRY NIGHT WEEK in honor of my arrival for the last week of rehearsals, in recognition of my lectures at several local schools and universities and to acknowledge the art show of my work at the city's art gallery, adjoining the theater. About 35 of my paintings were on display in a one-man show. Richard Folmer directed the play with a local cast that included artist Jamie Sanders playing the role of Vincent van Gogh that Abbott Alexander played in the film. Jamie slanted his excellent interpretation with a lot of ironic humor, and the audience roared. A DVD of the premiere stage presentation has just been completed. Contact me with any questions or requests for a copy. Now that STARRY NIGHT on-stage tested successfully, I am offering the play in other locations, and there are talks underway now with theaters in San Francisco and Los Alamos, New Mexico. There have been many inquiries about my most-recently completed production, THE SCI-FI BOYS, which you began hearing about two years ago. The film tells the history of special effects in film, and it even features the childhood effects movies (and monster movies) of numerous of the well-known cast members, including Academy Award winners Dennis Muren and Rick Baker. Some of mine are there too (after all, I was a winner of a FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine amateur movie contest for kids, and I qualify as a SCI-FI boy for having been executive producer and co-writer of the film, ROSWELL, as well as having co-written six STAR WARS sequel books.) THE SCI-FI BOYS has been in major re-editing, integrating Peter Jackson (LORD OF THE RINGS, KING KONG) as the host. Added to the cast now are Peter Jackson, Steven Sommers, Bob Ducsay, Bill Malone, Steve Johnson (Edge-FX), Fred Barton, the original "Robby the Robot" and authorized clips of George Lucas. The other cast members are: Leonard Maltin, Dennis Muren, Rick Baker, Forrest J Ackerman, John Landis, Roger Corman, Ray Harryhausen, Ray Bradbury, Donald F Glut and other notables of the worlds of Sci-Fi and special effects films, with special tributes to George Pal and William Castle, as well as the Ray Harryhausen "star" ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard. Expect an announcement soon about the release of THE SCI-FI BOYS. Note that the re-edit of THE SCI-FI BOYS was accomplished by my son, Scott M. Davids, who has now been in the editor's union for over a year since graduating college (University of Colorado at Boulder). Scott was assistant editor of ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW, an acclaimed film at Sundance and Cannes, and he is now assistant editor on the new ALI G movie. Scott receives sole editing credit on THE SCI-FI BOYS. He is also a professional special effects artist/designer, with credits on several films. Here's the first announcement of my new production, currently entitled SEARCHING FOR JESUS IN INDIA. The film is a feature documentary. Six weeks of shooting in India was recently completed, with extensive filming at many Christian, Buddhist and Hindu holy places in that country. Anil Urmil, an executive producer of the film STARRY NIGHT, joined me as a fellow producer on the project, which I am producing and directing and editing, and on which I did the principal photography. The film explores questions that have been raised about the so-called "missing years" of Jesus not accounted for in the New Testament and takes a close look at theories that claim Jesus spent some years in India. We will hear from people on all sides of the issue, from Catholic Scholars to Buddhist monks to a monk of Paramahansa Yogananda's Self-Realization Fellowship to Hindu priests of the great temple in Madurai -- and even from the current Shankaracharya at Pu ri, essentially the "Pope" of the Hindu religion who insists Jesus was there at the Jagannath Temple in Puri. The film is loosely based on a book by Edward T. Martin entitled KING OF TRAVELERS, JESUS' LOST YEARS IN INDIA and features Ed, who was originally a fundamentalist Christian (of the Church of Christ), returning to India to look deeper into questions about the historical Jesus that he is trying to answer. Brian Lambert of Los Angeles, who composed much of the music for THE SCI-FI BOYS (and provided songs for that film as well) has been signed to compose the musical score. The film includes shooting accomplished in these regions of India:. Goa, Bangalore, Madurai, Chenai, Puri, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Dharamasala, New Delhi, Varanasi (Benares), Mumbai (Bombay), Kashmir (Srinigar and Leh), Agra and additional locations. My seven man crew, including the exceptional assistant director N. T. Binny of Mumbai's Bollywood, traveled about 4,000 miles this summer working on this film, which promises to be visually stunning and highly thought-provoking. My intent is to complete the film in the spring of 2006, and a release date has not yet been set. Other important news from Yellow Hat Productions Inc. We have negotiated a deal for the television and motion picture rights to FATE magazine, with FATE publisher, Phyllis Galde. The deal includes all stories in FATE in all issues since the 1948 inception, through the present, to include future issues as well, as well as the highly artistic early FATE covers which will inspire the art design of the productions. FATE specializes in "True Reports of the Strange and Unknown" The existing archives include about 20,000 stories -- an archive sufficient to provide material for a TV series for many years. One of the remarkable aspects of FATE is its emphasis on true stories of unusual experiences that seemed fated to occur to ordinary people of all ages, who send their accounts to FATE from all States and many foreign countries. Yellow Hat Productions Inc. has also acquired the rights to a superb screenplay by writer Len Kasten (a regular contributor to the magazine Atlantis Rising). The screenplay, called ERNEST AND SCOTT, is a dramatization of the lives and relationship of two American writers who are icons: Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. My daughter, Jordan Davids (www.jordancreative.com ) has spent the year abroad in Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia, designing photo books for actor Eddie Murphy and photographing the world. Her main "bases" of operation have been England and Spain. Currently, as you will see at her website, she has an art show of her amazing photography series called ELECTRIC HOTELS at the Parsons Paris Gallery. Formerly an Art Director for the Ant Farm in Los Angeles, Jordan designed the poster for the Woody Allen movie, CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION, and many other films. My wife, Hollace Davids, continues as Senior Vice-President of Special Projects for Universal Pictures of NBC-Universal. To conclude this newsletter, 2005 has been the year for extensive travel. I was a guest speaker in the spring of 2005 at the Cosmic Awakenings conference in Italy, talking on the Roswell UFO case and about individuals in the public eye who have shown courage in dealing with the controversies of the UFO issue. I have been invited back to Italy to speak at the First International Conference on Exobiology, UFO's and Exopolitics in October 2005. I was also a speaker in 2005 and the X-Conference in Gaithersberg, where I gave an illustrated presentation on the history of aliens in Hollywood films. Recently I taped an interview as an expert of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) for an upcoming History Channel documentary that will deal with the nuts and bolts of how UFO's might seemingly defy some of the known laws of physics. Since the last newsletter at this website, I have also been a speaker at the International UFO Symposium in Denver for MUFON, the National UFO Conference in Los Angeles and the UFO Crash Retrieval Conference in Las Vegas, hosted by Ryan and Robert Wood.
September 5, 2003
Here are some sneak previews of what is in the works at our Yellow Hat Productions Inc. Now in production and nearing completion: THE SCI-FI BOYS, produced by Paul Davids and Hollace Davids, and directed by Paul Davids. The feature documentary is an homage to the pioneers of cinema science-fiction. Appearing in the film are Leonard Maltin, Ray Bradbury, John Landis, 6-time Oscar winner Rick Baker, 8-time Oscar winner Dennis Muren, Roger Corman, Ray Harryhausen, Forrest J Ackerman, Roy Thinnes, Donald F. Glut, Paul Davids and others. The film weaves together the stories of filmmakers who were raised from childhood under the spell of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND MAGAZINE from Forrest J Ackerman and includes excerpts of some very entertaining monster and effects films made by children long ago in 8mm... children who became prominent directors and producers of today. Another upcoming production: The Hollywood Reporter, July 22-28, 2003, printed this headline in the Digest News section: DAVIDS DUO SHOOTS TO THRILL WITH DEMON GUN. The headline referred to Yellow Hat closing a deal for the film rights to the comic book series, DEMON GUN, by Gary Cohn and Barry Orkin. First published in 1996, DEMON GUN is a supernatural western three-part graphic novel that introduces one of the most intense characters ever conceived for that genre: Preacher Howe. STARRY NIGHT may head for the stage. A theater troop in New Orleans is eager to put on a stage production of the tale of the leap of Vincent van Gogh across a century, from his death in France to his mysterious reappearance in the U.S. today. TIMOTHY LEARY IS DEAD has been released on DVD from New Concorde since our last newsletter. The DVD has a massive amount of bonus material ‰ÛÒ previously unseen interviews of Leary analyzing every aspect of modern society. Also, check out the Rhino boxed sets of THE TRANSFORMERS shows, Season 2. These contain 49 half hour episodes, all productions coordinated by Paul Davids, including an episode written by Paul Davids: COSMIC RUST. THE TRANSFORMERS was the Number One animated show in the U.S. The DVD version of THE ARTIST AND THE SHAMAN has been announced for release in 2004 by the distributor Knowledge 2020. The video is currently available at Amazon.com There have been a number of inquiries about what has happened to the RKO / Richard Hoagland film that we first announced about one year ago on the Art Bell radio show COAST TO COAST A.M. The answer is: screenplay rewrites. The script is now close to being ready for shooting, and the project should be moved to front burner status soon. Information about the project can be found at this website under FILMS. A number of my paintings have been selected for exhibit by the Poulsen Gallery of Pasadena, one of the oldest galleries in California. Check out the online art gallery at this website to see some of the newer additions to my works in oil.
November 5, 2002 To all visitors, here's the update of news since the last Newsletter posting. The video of THE ARTIST AND THE SHAMAN has finally been released by Knowledge 2020. It's available at Amazon.com for the list price of $30. We're offering it directly for a limited time at a special discount price of $20 (postage and handling included) -- send your check to Yellow Hat Productions Inc. 350 South Center St., Reno, Nevada 89501. We don't know yet when the DVD will be available but do not predict its release soon, so please enjoy the video version. This feature documentary, about my art and my connection with a shaman in Sedona, Arizona, was a film festival hit from Montreal to Palm Springs. (Bruce Fessier of The Desert Sun wrote: "Thumbs Up. A very intimate film, a journey of self-discovery.") Much information about the film can be found at this site. Also, a CD of the wonderful music soundtrack is available for $15 (we'll pa! y for p&h). For those of you in Los Angeles, next time you're up at Universal City Walk, a group of my paintings is on display both indoors and out at Cafe Tu Tu Tango. The originals of NEW YORK WOMEN IN SPACE, NEW YORK GIRLS, AMERICAN BOXER (ROCKY) and others are on display there. My latest major work, a twelve foot tall night scene in oils called TIMES SQUARE, is being unveiled outside by the patio. Other news from the art scene: AUTUMN MAGAZINE (Oct - Nov issue available in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico) features one of my paintings, TREE IN THE WIND, on the cover, with an article I wrote called HAVE BRUSHES, WILL TRAVEL. Also, a few of my original paintings are now on exhibit at the Stanczyk Gallery in Palm Springs, including OAK CREEK RAPIDS, FIELDS ABOVE PARADISE CLIFFS and AMERICAN GIRL (9/11). If you have favorites among my paintings and would like prints, send me the titles and I'll send you a quote. Photo reproductions at size! s up to 12" x 18" are available at very reasonable prices, and fine art Giclee prints on canvas are also obtainable. I'm very pleased to confirm that Concorde-New Horizons (Roger Corman's company) will release a special edition of my film TIMOTHY LEARY'S DEAD on both DVD and VHS on March 31st 2003. The $20 DVD includes the following: (a) the 84 minutes feature, (b) an additional 150 minutes of previously unpublished interviews with the late "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out" pschedelic psychologist, Dr. Timothy Leary, as well as Baba Ram Dass (Richard Alpert) and a few other notables from the San Francisco Summer of Love era of the 1960's, (c) my director's commentary on the feature. The $10 VHS special edition includes the feature plus 10 minutes of bonus Leary interviews. For those of you curious about my collaborative film with "Face on Mars" expert Richard Hoagland (author of THE MONUMENTS OF MARS: A CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER) that was announced in January on Art Bell's "Coast to Coast A.M." radio show: the film is still in development at RKO Pictures. It is anticipated that pre-production will begin early in 2003, with casting to be followed by a quick path into production. I am slated to direct the film. Other of my films now in development with promising prospects toward production include THE FIRES OF PELE. This film, a tale of Mark Twain's adventures with the principal characters of Hawaiian myths during his days as a travel correspondent in Hawaii, is based on the 1986 book I co-wrote with Hollace Davids: THE FIRES OF PELE: MARK TWAIN'S LEGENDARY LOST JOURNAL. Yellow Hat Productions has also added to its production slate an exciting film noir screenplay called EXCESS, written by ! Princeton graduate Scott Kassel. Also next year look for pre-production to begin on THE SANTA GUILD, co-written by myself with Robert Rotstan, Jr., who was associate producer of THE ARTIST AND THE SHAMAN. TRANSFORMERS FANS and Botcon refugees: TRANSFORMERS "scholar" Rik Bakke of Norway has been in Los Angeles interviewing me and other principals who worked on the G1 TRANSFORMERS series. We've all been unearthing our rare memorabilia from the show. I've located rare storyboards, scripts, outlines, character models, cels, 35mm film with out-takes... the list goes on and on. Contact me if you're a collector. And look for updates and my interview on Rik Bakke's TRANSFORMERS website: www.cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com May 1, 2002 SPRING UPDATES New Releases: Videos, DVD's, Art, Film Festival Announcements I have the pleasure of being honored in the Slovak Republic at Trencianske Teplice, with a tribute and homage to my films the week of June 21, 2002. "STARRY NIGHT" and "THE ARTIST AND THE SHAMAN" will be presented at the Art Film Festival, sponsored by over a dozen European countries. Details will be updated at www.artfilm.sk "ROSWELL" the Movie, starring Kyle MacLachlan, Martin Sheen and Dwight Yoakam, which I executive produced (and co-wrote) in 1994, will be a major new DVD release from Artisan Entertainment in the fall. Look for it in October, timed around the time of the Science Fiction Channel's broadcasts of Steven Spielberg's huge alien abduction mini-series, "TAKEN." Cross-promotions are in the works. I will be consulting with Artisan on the bonus material for the "ROSWELL" DVD. Collectors items are planned, including two of the "long lost scenes" originally censored from the film during its initial Showtime broadcasts in 1994. Negotiations are underway to make this a wide-screen release. Shot in 35mm wide-screen, "ROSWELL" the Movie has only been seen by the public in the 4 x 3 TV format. "THE ARTIST AND THE SHAMAN" will soon be available on video, with a CD of the music soundtrack also available. Knowledge 2020 will release the video. Order from Yellow Hat Productions at 350 S. Center St. #500, Reno, Nevada 89501. $29.95 for the video, $10.95 for the CD soundtrack. $3.95 for shipping and handling (whether for one item or two). A deal will be closed soon for a DVD of "TIMOTHY LEARY'S DEAD." Bonus features will include unseen interviews with the ex-Harvard acid guru, Dr. Leary, who was dubbed by Richard Nixon as "The Most Dangerous Man Alive." Date of release to be announced, but fall 2002 is a distinct possibility. My feature film written with space writer Richard Hoagland (noted for his books and videos about The Face on Mars), which was announced in January on Art Bell, proceeds at RKO in rapid development. Projections are for pre-production to begin sometime this summer. The title is still yet to be announced. RKO will announce it in the near future. TRANSFORMERS FANS: A recent search of my attic has unveiled treasures from my days as Production Coordinator of the G1 TRANSFORMERS animated series. Collectors may contact me at www.starrynightmovie.com. Among the hundreds of items located are original storyboards, the script for the movie and other episodes (especially ones I wrote), the production notes from the original productions, character designs of all characters, etc. If you go to the TRANSFORMERS section of this website, click to visit my lengthy interview where I tell the story of how TRANSFORMERS was produced. STAR WARS FANS: With Yoda on the cover of TIME magazine, it's time to remind you of the book I co-wrote with Hollace Davids, published in 1993, entitled MISSION FROM MOUNT YODA. The book was originally on the Childrens' Choice List of the 100 favorite childrens' books chosen by young readers themselves. It's published by Bantam in paperback (and still available at most bookstores in the Young Readers section) and was part of an adult anthology of three of our books published by Barnes and Noble under the title: STAR WARS: BOOK TWO. The books in this series are widely discussed in the fan literature as being THE SAGA OF PRINCE KEN or the SON OF PALPATINE series. STARRY NIGHT FANS: The film "STARRY NIGHT" has just been released on video in the United Kingdom, with the DVD version expected soon there. Both versions have been available in the U.S. for some time. Unversal Pictures, distributor of "STARRY NIGHT," has licensed the film to appear on Starz-Encore in 2003. A wide selection of my paintings (which can be viewed at this website) are now available in many formats, including as notecards and prints. Prints can be prepared to order at any size. Contact me with your needs and preferences at www.starrynightmovie.com If you've just tuned in, and this is your first visit to www.pauldavids.com, the January 30th newsletter below, which first introcued the site, will be helpful in your navigations. Best wishes to all visitors, Paul Davids
January 30, 2002 WELCOME TO THIS NEW WEBSITE To all friends, family, fans, critics, film researchers and Men in Black, greetings! You may have landed at this site by a link from a UFO website and might be wondering what mistake zapped you here. Probably it's because I brought you a little movie called "ROSWELL," starring Kyle MacLachlan, Martin Sheen and Dwight Yoakam -- a movie that was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best TV Film of 1994, which helped make the subject of UFO's credible to millions of people around the world. Look through FILMS at this site for photos and facts about the definitive movie of the 1947 "flying saucer crash" in New Mexico. Perhaps you used to read my weekly column, FLYING SAUCERS OVER HOLLYWOOD, at Alienzoo.com, and you wondered which planet I was abducted to when the columns stopped appearing. Well, here I am! If you're a STAR WARS fan, you may be here because Hollace Davids and I co-wrote six STAR WARS books for Lucasfilm. If you want to know more about my wonderful and talented wife, Hollace (Senior Vice-President of Special Projects for Universal Pictures, President of Women in Film, California Mother of the Year 2000), you'll see many of her co-creations here too (she produced STARRY NIGHT with me and was associate producer of TIMOTHY LEARY'S DEAD -- and be sure to check the BOOKS section (both STAR WARS-- and THE FIRES OF PELE: MARK TWAIN'S LEGENDARY LOST JOURNAL, where you'll find Hollace's photo and bio.) If you grew up watching "THE TRANSFORMERS" every day on TV after school, you've probably arrived here because I was production coordinator on about 80 of the half-hour episodes of "Generation One" -- and I wrote some of them, too. Maybe we met at BOTCON, the annual convention devoted to AutoBOTS and DeceptiCONS, and you'd like to send me a greeting from Cybertron by EMAIL. If you're an artist or interested in the arts, it's easy to know why you're here. In my films, I seem to be giving more attention to art-related themes than any other director today. First, there was STARRY NIGHT (DVD released by Universal Pictures 2001 in U.S. and 2002 it's coming abroad in wide-screen versions, starting in the UK). Then came "THE ARTIST AND THE SHAMAN" (to be released this year, with music soundtrack CD, and it's making film festival rounds now). As an artist, I'm a very active painter, and this website is home to the Paul Davids Online Art Gallery with about 120 of my oil paintings. For any of you who may be Georgetown University graduates, note that "THE ARTIST AND THE SHAMAN," set in Sedona, Arizona with "modern" shaman Rahelio, is in part a tribute to my late father. Dr. Jules Davids taught in the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown for 40 years and contributed to JFK's PROFILES IN COURAGE, as well as having been one of Bill Clinton's professors in the field of diplomacy. If by chance you're a child of the 1960's, you may have stopped by to learn about my feature documentary, "TIMOTHY LEARY'S DEAD," the saga of the LSD-guru from Harvard who brought psychedelia to the Baby Boom generation. Critics either adored or despised the movie, and you can read what THE NEW YORK TIMES, PLAYBOY and other major papers and magazines concluded, under FILMS. Ballet dancers are also welcome here. The first film that I produced, "SHE DANCES ALONE," directed by Robert Dornhelm, told the story of Vaslav Nijinsky and his daughter, Kyra, starring Bud Cort (Harold of "HAROLD AND MAUDE.") Who am I and how did I become immersed in such a variety of creative madness? For some of the answers, visit EARLY DAYS. My convoluted path to Hollywood began in Kensington, Maryland, with 8mm silent 3-minute "monster" movies I made with a group of friends (including Jeff Tinsley, now top photographer of the Smithsonian American History Museum in DC). When barely more than 10 years old, I was "discovered" by FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine and was a winner in their film contest. A decade later I found myself at Princeton, where the University bestowed on me their top three creative writing awards in one year. Then came a scholarship to study film at the American Film Institute, at the Greystone mansion in Beverly Hills. There I "began" in this business, studying alongside others who made their mark such as David Lynch, Caleb Deschanel, Matthew Robbins, Jeremy Kagan, Tom Rickman -- and the cinematographer and co-producer of seveal of my films, David W. Smith of the UK. What does the year 2002 hope to bring? The news has been all over Art Bell's "COAST TO COAST A.M." radio show. Science and space writer Richard Hoagland announced to Art Bell that he and I have been signed by RKO to executive produce a film based on a screenplay we've co-written, and that I will direct it. The title hasn't been announced yet, but you can learn a little about this "secret" project under FILMS at this website. It promises to be a thematic "cousin" to "ROSWELL" and will be of great interest to all who believe that "We Are Not Alone!" I seem to have outgrown my previous website (www.starrynightmovie.com) which is incorporated into this one, when you visit "STARRY NIGHT" under FILMS. There's so much more to "show and tell." So here it all is -- the books, films, videos, TV shows, paintings, and some glimpses into my younger years. Thanks for coming, and welcome! Best wishes, Paul Davids |
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