PhillipsFilms Blog -Return to the Woods - Lip-Stick -Voice of the Dead -Swindling Charade

Coffee Shop Location

2009-07-10T15:35:00.006-05:00

We now have the coffee shop that we'll be using in the film. Delish: Bakery and Coffee Shoppe It's in a newly restored historic building in our local downtown area. The owner, Mrs. George, was very nice and friendly to us. It will be a fun time shooting in here and helping Mrs. George spread the word about her coffee shop and bakery.

Location Scouting

2009-07-09T19:09:00.002-05:00

Today Dad and I went location scouting for the movie. We looked around downtown locations where most of the film will take place. Found some good sights down there. Plus we went to a coffee shop that we thought would be ideal for the movie. The owner was a very nice lady. Tomorrow we're going to meet with her to see if she gives us the "thumps up" to shoot in her place.

That's the update for today.

The Cast/Story Summary

2009-07-08T19:43:00.006-05:00

Here is the cast list for the new comedy film we'll be starting to shoot on June 13th.

Jack-Anthony Myers
Sam-Cohen Phillips
Lisa-Rachel Riley
Jane-Charla Phillips Roller
Lucy-Nikki McKim
Woman-Kathy Phillips
Mr. James-Rick Stafford
Extra-Carlea Stafford

Story Summary-"A classic comedy homage: two brothers fail at selling hats, and hope they have better luck with girls."

So there it is so far! More updates coming soon!

Update on new film

2009-07-08T00:02:00.005-05:00

The new film project is now in full pre-production. I can say that it's a comedy. We had screentests today for everyone and pretty much have the whole project cast now. A few familiar faces will be coming back for this project. Anthony Myers, who hasn't worked with us since Classroom Liaisons in 2006, is back with us again. Another returning actor to the PhillipsFilm fold is Rachel Riley who last acted for us in 2001.
So this project will sort of be a "family reunion" for all of us.

More updates will be coming soon as we're hoping to start full production July 13th.

We're still here!

2009-07-04T13:21:00.004-05:00

Yes we are still making films around these parts! Even though I haven't updated the main site or this blog for awhile.

We are in the final stages of HEAT ON THE STREET being done! It will be released in the next few weeks.

We are also starting pre-production for another project that I will soon be posting lots about. So this blog will start hopping once again! Stay tuned faithful readers! :)

What's been going on...

2008-11-09T12:14:00.003-06:00

Well it's been awhile since I've posted here. I'm still editing on "Heat on the Street." More on that soon! But in the meantime, I did a 16mm film showing for a senior living center in town. I did this back on Oct 29th and we showed Frankenstein. It went over really well and they are wanting us to come back for another show. Below is the video...Hope you all enjoy! :)

New movie now in production

2008-06-10T16:58:00.004-05:00

"HEAT ON THE STREET" is our latest film that is currently in production. The story covers two detectives in the late 50's on a case of jewel thieves. But sometimes you have to play both sides if you want to get what you want, right?
Find out in "HEAT ON THE STREET" starring Charla Phillips as Victoria Halliwell and Cohen Phillips as Slade Farrow. Below is the the first two official pictures from the movie. Enjoy and stay tuned for more updates right here on the PhillipsFilms blog!

2008 projects announced

2008-02-01T02:45:00.001-06:00

*Titles, Shooting Dates and log lines subject to change*
Copyright 2008 PhillipsFilms and Cohen Phillips.

Well we're one month into 2008 and I thought I would go ahead and release news of the first few films of the new year I'm hoping to produce soon. These films are for all ages.
If they were going to 'rated,' they would all be PG. The films are as follows....

Terror Highway(Shooting February/March)- A horror short about a mother and daughter and what they encounter on a cross county trip. Malice endures!

Yellow Polka Dot Bikini music video(Shooting May/June)-You've heard the swinging song now see the story come to life! Shot in groovy 60's style.

What a way to start off my 15th year of film making!
We've got lots going on this year for everyone so stay tuned for more info/pics/silly stories from set!!

-Cohen Phillips
Director/Producer

2007 almost over...

2007-12-27T16:17:00.001-06:00

Thought I should post here as we are getting close to 2007 ending. I'm looking forward to 2008 and all it holds in store for me. I've been penning some stories that hopefully will be going into production in the early parts of 2008. So stay tuned!
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! See ya in 2008!

Classroom Liaisons online!

2007-11-28T02:06:00.000-06:00

*This is my latest short film that is now online for all to view!!*
This short film, Classroom Liaisons, I did for a contest on filmshooting.com
You had to follow a theme which was..

"Two people meet. Things are unsaid and it's obvious that one of them is waiting for something. Suddenly a third person arrives, and everything we've come to expect is turned upside down."

Plus the film had to be under 5 minutes so to squeeze all that in was hard but I think it turned out quite well. Enjoy!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=W2KuARSFLw0

Stars Charla Phillips, Autumn Lindsay & Anthony Myers.
Directed by Cohen Phillips

Directing Theater

2007-10-16T00:16:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Thought I would give an update on what I've been doing. I was recently given the chance to direct my first stage play. The play is "The Miracle Worker" about the life of Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan. I had auditions for it this past weekend and we're going into rehearsals this Wednesday. We preform the play on Nov 16-18th in the Missouri Theater here in town.

My film projects will be put on hold while I'm doing this at this time. If you'd like to follow along with my theater directing adventure, I've started a separate blog here.

super 8 and small film news blog | onsuper8.org: Top 20 downloads in Super 8mm

2007-09-17T18:14:00.000-05:00

Lip-Stick placed in the top 20! At #20!!! YAY!!! Pretty good for a format(new B&W silent film) that's suppose to be "dead." Take that Talkie films! hahahaha

super 8 and small film news blog | onsuper8.org: Top 20 downloads in Super 8mm

RTTW Memories Part III -Aug 15th 2002

2007-08-15T21:10:00.000-05:00

5 years ago today we were out at night shooting woods scenes of Laura Bilecki getting attacked by veins and pulled through the woods. I remember it was pretty nice out that night not to humid. Laura was the only one in the scene so Steven,
Anthony and myself stayed behind the camera. Laura was a real trooper and got right out there and did everything. No complaining. I haven't worked with any actresses like her that would let us tie veins around her and let us drag her through the woods.
Anthony's dad came and gave us power with the generator that night as I didn't have a power inverter at the time.
So now with Laura's attack all finished up(we had to do some re-shoots later on but more on that when the date comes around) we were almost complete with the outside shooting. We still hadn't found an interior set for the cabin. But we would find one soon enough and it would prove a great place for the rest of our film shoot. Till n(axe)t time...

RTTW Memories Part II-Aug 12 2002

2007-08-12T23:08:00.000-05:00

On this date in 2002 we were shooting the first of the basement shots for Return to the Woods. The basement wasn't apart of the cabin set interior we used. The basement is the one we have under our own house. In the 5 years that have passed from shooting this it could still be used as nothing much has changed down there. Well maybe a few more cobwebs.
The scenes only involed myself, Cohen Phillips(playing the charcter of James) Anthony Myers(Derick) and Charla Phillips(Geri). Laura Bilecki came and helped behind the scenes for this scene as well serving as script girl. Here is the group below from that night of filming.

The shooting went fairly smoothly from what I can remember. The basement isn't a full basement it's dug out. So getting down there can be tricky. I know Anthony bumped his head once on a pipe. It was so good and he thought it would be funny that we did a take with him hitting his head. This didn't make it into the final cut but with the re-edit coming soon I think I'm going to put it back in. In this scene also we find the Book of the Dead and famous tape player with the translations sayings on it that awake the dead. We had a few hints and nods to the Evil Dead series and creators in this scene. Some of the takes with alterative lines will be used in the re-edit of the film that will be coming soon and that will be up on the net.

I've had some people email me asking me if Return to the Woods is on the net and it is. Just go here to view the film online. Below are a few more photos from that night's worth of filming.

Anthony Myers as Derick in Return to the Woods

Cohen Phillips as James in Return to the Woods

Ehhhh...a cobweb disrupts are filming!

A nutty cast indeed!

Return to the Woods Memories Part I-Aug 7th 2002

2007-08-08T15:03:00.000-05:00

(The first cast photo from Aug 7th 2002.)

August 8th 2002 we were out shooting Return to the Woods! We didn't have any interior cabin set at the time so we shot all the outside woods scenes first. I remember it was a pretty hot day out. And from filming on the 1st day(Aug 7th 2002) and this day I knew we had a great cast together and it was going to be a lot of fun shooting this. On this 2nd day of filming we shot 'the evil force' slamming into a tree and knocking it down almost crushing poor Derick(Anthony Myers) Everyone did all there own stunts here folks! haha Even Anthony peeing his pants, but more on that later.

The shoot would go into several weeks in production. With a week or two that went by with nothing done because school started back in session. And all of us were in school at that time. :) So here are are few "flashback" photos from our 1st and 2nd day of shooting Return to the Woods. As more dates come along we filmed on I'll post a mini-retrospective of that day plus photos ect. So stay tuned for an 'axe'clusive look back at the making of Return to the Woods and what's to follow.

(Shots from Aug 7th and Aug 8th 2002 shooting)

Evil has Returned(to the Woods)

2007-08-07T01:06:00.000-05:00

The hype is finally over and the cat is out of the bag. Return to the Woods 5th Anniversary teaser is now up on the net.

You can find the video above or go here.

This special teaser trailer marks the 5th Anniversary of Evil Dead:Return to the Woods a non-profit fan/tribute film. Production started on August 7th of 2002.
Could there be more out there in the woods?
Keep your Axe sharp and stay tuned!

Another bit of Evil...

2007-08-06T02:17:00.000-05:00

Cutting in on the action.

8-7-2007

Something Evil

2007-08-05T02:04:00.001-05:00

Something evil is returning.
8-7-2007

OnSuper 8 Blog features Lip-Stick

2007-06-14T22:39:00.000-05:00

OnSuper8.org has featured Lip-Stick on there blog! They are also hosting the film on there podcast in HD!!! The direct link to the film is here.
The film really looks great on here.
They also had a Q&A with me. You can find all this at the this link.

Thank you OnSuper8.org for keeping Super 8 alive in the 21st century!

Cohen Phillips to be interviewed June 2nd!

2007-05-30T14:16:00.000-05:00

I'm going to be interviewed on a radio program, The Christian Comedy Show, this Saturday June 2nd at 10AM EST. Hope all my friends can listen in. :) Feel like you don't know me well enough? Well I bet you you'll find out some interesting things about me and hopefully it'll put a smile on your face!

See graphic for more info...
_______________________________________________

Lip-Stick now on Google Video

2007-05-23T16:50:00.000-05:00

See it all together! Lip-Stick is now on Google Video for your viewing pleasure.
Click here to see the short silent film.

Homepage updated

2007-05-07T20:36:00.000-05:00

Just in time for summer the main site has been updated! Go check it out...
http://phillipsfilms.mrolaf.com

LIP-STICK Online!

2007-04-12T15:07:00.000-05:00

Lip-Stick our newest silent film shot on Super 8 is now online for your viewing pleasure. It was a lot of fun making it and I hope you'll enjoy it. This was one of the films that was shown last week at our premiere. The rest of the films shown will find there way online soon.

It's divided into 2 parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tDTSvGTkXg Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjkV-aV3I_s Part 2

In this silent film we find the "little fellow" up to his old tricks. But along the way he meets a girl named Ruby that really "sticks" to him.
Find out what happens in this tribute film to the great Charlie Chaplin.
(This being the 30th Anniversay of Chaplin's death 1977-2007)
SHOT SUPER 8! This is a "REEL" FILM folks!

Cast-
Damian Blake-The Little Fellow
Charla Phillips-Ruby
Laura Blake-Wanda
Cohen Phillips-Arthur

Premiere Night=Film Fun!

2007-04-09T21:12:00.000-05:00

Well everyone I'm happy to report that our premiere this past Thursday(April 5th) went great! Pretty much all the cast/crew from the films we were showing made it out. Plus a couple of people I hadn't seen in awhile! It was great re-uniting with everyone again and hearing the audience reaction to each film. We showed Lip-Stick, Swindling Charade, Classroom Liaisons and Love Lifted Me.(which the pic above is about)
They really reacted great all around and I think they enjoyed what they saw. We also had this as a fundraiser for my father and I'm happy to say people were very generous with their donations. Thanks again everyone for making the evening so great!

Here is a link for some photos from the night's events. I think a few more people were snapping pics so we might have more coming soon. :) http://www.flickr.com/photos/phillipsfilms/

The films that were shown that night will be making there way online soon. Swindling Charade is already online to view.

FILM PREMIERE on APRIL 5th!

2007-03-24T16:22:00.000-05:00

We are having a film premiere on April 5th. If you're in the area(or want to travel) come join us for a fun night. All the details are above on the flyer.
If you need anymore feel free to call or email me.
-Cohen Phillips