Ace Wonder - Now on DVD!!

I worked on this film back in 2010 producing the behind-the-scenes episodes. Watch them all here.

DVDs are available at your local Walmart!

Ace Wonder Facebook Page

"Ace Wonder" - 2013 SAICFF

"Ace Wonder has been entered into the San Antonio Independent
Christian Film Festival of 2013!"
- John Moore

AceWonderMovie.com

- - - - -
Info Source

Ace Wonder - Teaser and Website!

New Website! www.acewondermovie.com

Teaser!

Ace Wonder Releases First Teaser Trailer

Ace Wonder Facebook fans not only get a "first look" but a good mix of behind the scenes videos, character profiles, and promotional news, also gives the fans a sense of adventure.

The story revolves around the escapades of Gator Moore, played by Moore’s younger brother of the same name. Gator (Ace Wonder) is a pre-teen detective who is also an aspiring writer on a quest to find a storyline for his next novel. Through a flurry of activity, he is brought face to face with mystery and adventure when his path crosses with Derek Morton (Derek Moreland). Combining serious and humor, Ace Wonder is a good story with a universal theme that brings multi generations together. It teaches families not to take each other for granted and for parents to build a lasting relationship with their children based on more than familial bonds. This will be a great movie for the whole family.
Ace Wonder will be released in the Summer 2011.

Join Ace Wonder on Facebook, click "Like" to get continued updates and the first look at the next trailer.

You can also visit www.AceWonderMovie.com to get a look at post production and director's cut videos.

Ace Wonder: "Why Was Chad Cast As the Bum?"

The Producer, Chad Gundersen, requested a "wrap party video" that showed every take we did of him getting beat up in the fight scene. We also threw in a few "interviews." This is the real story of how Chad was cast as the bum in the film. :)

www.acewondermovie.com

"Why Is the Movie Named Ace Wonder?"

This is an extra fun video I did while on set. It started out as an honest question

'cause I wanted to know the answer, but some of the responses I got were...well quite unusual!!

Ace Wonder BTS - Ep. 8

Cut, Wrap, Walk Away Proud

It has been a couple weeks now from the official wrap for Ace Wonder, and I've thought back on the shoot and contemplated how to go about writing up a review of the blessings and struggles...I found that this article by Mike Thorn summed it up quite well.

- - - - - - -

"By some miracle only God knows the whereby, we wrapped on time despite almost foolish odds. Our AD, Chip Lake, whom I am priviledged to call my friend, managed the unthinkable and we did not drop any pages – a Herculean task for anyone in our circumstance and Chip did it without flinching (or having a meltdown). We shot it all and only did two 14hr days! A few pickups will undoubtedly be necessary – with a schedule like ours you could count on forgetting a shot or two, or not having time for it – but there is enough material in the can to cut a rough draft without much difficulty. Nathan Webster and David Heustis did an admirable job of managing our data workflow, data backup and dailies – without their experience and wisdom I can honestly say that the shoot would have been in far deeper trouble than most of the crew are aware. I thank God for their collected coolness and persistence in solving several very difficult technical problems. I’m sure I don’t know half of their stories and the ones I do know would cause monitor burn-in.

In addition to their technical troubleshooting, they literally pioneered bleeding-edge technology during the show. Adobe released Creative Suite 5 about two weeks into the shoot and Nathan and David had our workflow completely converted before the end of the day. We believe ACE WONDER can likely claim to be the first legitimate feature production to cut dailies in CS5 (Nathan’s remark was, “Any legitimate production wouldn’t have upgraded systems in the middle of the show!”). So, once again, HeuMoore sets the bar: on WIDOW’S MIGHT, we were one of the first large features, and unquestionably the first Christian feature, to shoot on the RED One. Gotta love life on the edge!

Not that life on the cutting edge is without its challenges. For this production HeuMoore brought in Chad Gunderson to produce the film, and with Chad came a team of experienced Hollywood-class crew members. This created an interesting oil-and-water mix when put together with the more guerilla-oriented HeuMoore team and the small army of interns who graced the show. It led to not a few operational methodology conflicts which were not all neatly resolved, but it taught all of us a very valuable lesson about how productions can and cannot operate. By God’s grace we finished the movie, but not a day went by that various issues were not being addressed.

A large portion of the conflict came as a result of the highly compressed schedule and the compromises which were forced as a result. With more time, fewer compromises would have been made and many tempers would have been calmed. Also, because John Moore was making an admirable effort to bring in a number of more rookie filmmakers in an effort to help educate them, sometimes impatience flared when protocol was dropped or balls were dropped. However, I feel that this was far outweighed by what we were able to give to them and the value that they in turn congtributed to the production. Several people immediately come to mind as men I will be calling on in the future and that is something they earned not only in my estimation, but in many others’ as well.

This production taught me many new lessons as well. As I have written before, I came into this project with some question in my mind about the Biblical validity of the standard Hollywood production model and my opinion hasn’t changed. I still think that it is oxymoronic for a family member to make a career out of field production which inevitably tears them apart from their family in ways that only long-term travelers can understand. But beyond that, I learned many things about myself that have left me with some regrets, some treasures, and a deeper understanding of some of the things that I believe and what they mean in a real-world environment. And not only just in film, but everyday situations and workplaces. Here are a few of the specific lessons I’ve written down to remember:

- I was in the new situation on this shoot of having multiple people under me. I’ve worked with a 2nd AC once before (it’s a rare luxury), but in this case I always had at least 2 people near me. By the end of the shoot, camera department actually outnumbered grip&electric. John Hedrick and Chris Gill, our interns, did a great job and made my job and Ryan Guzdzial’s much simpler. However, for the first several weeks, the camera department roll call tended to fluctuate depending on the location and who was able to be on-set that day. As a result, for the first three weeks I tended to do a large portion of the work myself (which resulted in somewhat slower results than the production was willing to wait for, which resulted in them making Ryan – formerly our script supervisor but conveniently an experienced camera assistant in LA – the 1st AC and demoting me to 2nd). I never took the time to properly train Chris or John because I was never sure who was going to be there and I felt too busy to take the time to train and instruct someone who might not still be with me the next week. As a result, it hurt all of us. Lesson learned: take the time to “teach the man to fish.” Instead of giving specific instructions but not actually teaching anything, show him the reason *why* things are done specific ways so that he can begin to think through the work for himself. That’s the best way to improve – learn WHY things are done in a certain manner so that you can discover BETTER ways to do them, or ANTICIPATE the need in the first place. Chris and John, I apologize for not sharing my knowledge sooner and more fully!

- So often people take more work upon themselves because they don’t trust other people to do the job properly. Every time you decide not to delegate a task that could be given to someone else, and as a result slow down the production while they wait for you, valuable time and money is lost. That is foolish – surround yourself with people you can trust. Those people are worth their weight in gold.

- If you have reservations about something you are doing, or are being asked to do, don’t do it. You will regret it. It is better to feel like a fool and back out than be a fool and do something you should not.

- But if you do decide to do it, give it everything you’ve got. If you don’t give 100%, your level best, you still have lots of room to improve. Don’t take the path of least resistance. Do the right thing. You know it’s the right decision because usually it’s harder.

- Don’t be resistant to change. Resistance means you are fighting, braking against the flow, slowing down. Think of it as changing lanes: you are still going in the same direction, headed for the same place, but you are just taking a slightly different route to get there. It doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way, or that either way is better – too many times it just comes down to preference. Be the man that gives up his preference to someone else’s.

- Never, ever, EVER complain. People that complain are cowards because they are afraid to do something hard. However, be practical. If something is being done  or a process is being used that is inefficient, unsafe, unrealistic, or of lower integrity, be persistent for the right thing. There is a difference between practicality and complaining. Be careful – the more you blur the line, the less seriously you will be listened to.

- Get to know your co-workers well. Often first impressions are wrong. Misunderstandings can crop up too easily to make assumptions. Find out how they think, what their values and morals are, what their vision and inspiration is. You will find that you have more in common than you thought. The better you know them and their own peculiarities and idiosyncrasies, the less conflict you will have.

- Don’t force people to conform to your ideology. If you cannot persuade them lovingly, let go of the issue. The more you try to force the point, the more they will resist you and the deeper the divide will become. If you cannot live with non-conformity, be sure to only surround yourself with like-minded people!

I’m sure I will have more thoughts later when I have had time to ponder over the last 5 weeks for a little while. It has been a very thought-provoking show. Most of those lessons were learned the hard way."

Don’t forget to check out the production blog at http://www.acewondermovie.com/blog/

- - - - - -
Article was originally posted on Mike's blog - http://mikethorn.wordpress.com

Ace Wonder BTS - Ep. 7

Local NBC story about Ace Wonder

The local Knoxville, Tn. NBC station released a news story about state incentives for filmmakers.  The story featured the filming of Ace Wonder.

"Tennessee offers up to 32% in transferable tax credits to film makers wanting to shoot a movie in the state. That percentage is comparable to some other states in the Southeast.

However, according to the Association for the Future of Film and Television, Georgia and Louisiana will cover big costs like producers and talent. The group said Tennessee does not offer such incentives above the line cost.

The independent film Ace Wonder is being shot in East Tennessee this month. It will hit shelves in 2011.

“It’s a family adventure mystery movie that takes place in the Smoky Mountains,” said Ace Wonder’s director John Moore.

The staff decided not to seek Tennessee’s film incentives for the five week shoot.

“[It's because] we weren’t really planning on shooting in Tennessee very long. But, once we got here, we found more locations that we wanted than we were expecting,” said Chad Gundersen with Ace Wonder."

Bellow is the news story, where we see some clips from Ace Wonder.

- - - - -
Thanks to God Honoring Movies for posting about this article.