Otherwise Known As Kevin Miller (XI)

Check out the new trailer for one of my current projects: Sex + Money

Drop Gun is no longer living on a prayer--now we're halfway there!

You'll have to forgive the blatant Bon Jovi reference. I am nearly 40, after all. Just a quick note to say that as of today, we've raised $2,745 of our $5,000 goal for Drop Gun. With 33 days left in the fundraising campaign, there's still plenty of time to get involved. But don't wait until the last minute. You can get involved for as little as $10 right now!

To whet your appetite, he's a shot of Travis Poland, one of our leading actors, during a recent tactical training exercise.

Free "With God On Our Side" study guide now available

You can download the PDF here. You can also purchase a DVD at the same link.

Now that the first tour has wrapped up, producer/director Porter Speakman, Jr. has just announced a second tour with Stephen Sizer that will take place from October 18-29, 2010. If you'd like to book a screening in your area, just let Porter know.

A missive from the archives...

I just stumbled across this unpublished post while inserting advertising code into my blog archives. I wrote it way back on April 6, 2007 during a very critical time for the development of Expelled. I have no idea why I didn't post it back then, but it's pretty strange to read it nearly two years later.

It's also funny to see that back then my tiny little blog wasn't even getting 20 page views per day. Little did I realize that as the release date for Expelled drew near, that number would jump to nearly 6,000 per day, practically overnight. And it all started with a little, bearded guy from Morris, Minnesota named PZ Myers...

Here's the post from those long lost days of innocence. Enjoy!

My blog receives an average of 16.43 page views per day. I have no idea who generates those hits. Probably people in search of the many other more famous Kevin Millers, such as the NHL hockey player, the writer for Christianity Today, and the other 13 Kevin Millers on the Internet Movie Database [Editor's note: There are 20 of us on imdb now!]. Once they realize I'm not the guy they're looking for, I assume they quickly move on.

But for those of you who do stick around--or those poor, deluded people who actually seek out this site intentionally--I feel compelled to record a few brief thoughts as I sit here late at night.

It's 12:30am, and I just finished watching the second season of Project Greenlight. The show came out a few years ago, but I've only just gotten around to watching it. If you're in the film business and you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend checking it out. Even if you aren't in the biz, you will get a kick out of all the personal drama they capture. You will also learn a ton about the filmmaking process. All I can say is glamor? What glamor? All I see is a lot of hard work.

I went through my own mini-version of Project Greenlight this week during some intense story meetings over on Bowen Island. We're midway through production on a feature documentary that will hit theaters in February 2008. Even though that seems like a long way off, we're all feeling the pressure, and sometimes that pressure manifests itself through conflict. Thankfully, after some heated exchanges, we managed to get over the hump and have the most productive meetings we've had so far. I am so excited about where this project is going and the marketing forces that are marshalling behind it. It will be great when I can finally talk about it by name, which will be sometime this summer.

I'm also excited just to be a part of this industry. So many good things are happening right now. I feel like I'm on the cusp of something big. I have no idea what that will look like exactly, but there's a feeling in the air that is undeniable. Maybe it's just the arrival of spring. But I know it's something much more than that.

One thing is certain: No matter what happens, you'll be able to read about it here first--whether you intended to wind up here or not.

The value of changing things up

The writing process is different for everyone. Some people are like machines, constantly churning out new material. James Patterson can pretty much plot out a new novel in one afternoon. Stephen King writes 365 days a year. As soon as Raymond Chandler finished one novel he would immediately start on the next one, literally minutes later. Other people do their best writing while wandering the streets late at night, riding their bike or otherwise avoiding their office. Then they sit down in a fit of inspiration and dash out a complete story in one sitting.

Up to this point in my career, I've pretty much been a churn it out kind of guy. I've been self-employed for the last seven years, and I work from my home office. I also have four kids. When people find that out, they often assume that it must be nearly impossible for me to get anything done. Not true. All along, I've maintained pretty strict discipline over how I use my time. It's the only way for a self-employed writer to survive. At least, that's what I used to think.

Lately, I've been feeling kind of burned out. Then I recently got sick with pneumonia. Just as I was getting better, my wife gave birth to our fourth child. Three days later, I had to fly down to LA for five days to do some meetings. Then I experienced two significant setbacks on some writing projects I've been pouring myself into for the past six months. So it's safe to say, life has thrown me for quite the loop.

But on the flip side, I have to say that over the past two weeks, my creative juices have been flowing fast and furious. Because I haven't really been able to do my daily grind, I've been sneaking into the office whenever I get a free moment, waking up in the middle of the night and dashing off a few paragrahs, pretty much doing a hit and run job of things. And you know what? I've never been happier with the end result.

In fiction, I think there are only two stories you can tell about a character: 1) What is the worst thing that could possibly happen to him/her? How does it turn out to be the best thing? and 2) What is the best thing that could possibly happen to your character? How does it turn out to be the worst thing? In my case, I think I'm in the midst of story number 1. My life has been majorly thrown off balance, which was looking like the worst thing last week. Today, however, I think that fate may have snuck up on me and showed me it was time for a change. I can't claim victory for the new system yet, but I'm at least going to give it a shot. I'll keep you posted on how things work out. 

I can't say where or why

I'm talking about my present location and my purpose for being here -- that is, I'm not talking about those things. Sound familiar? That's right, once again I'm involved in a film project that I can't blog about. I spent most of the last two years working on another film project, which you now know as Expelled. But I couldn't blog about that one either. Expelled took me on adventures in Paris, London, Berlin, Dachau, Hadamar, Cologne, London, Oxford, Down, Rome, Venice (I love Venice!), and all over the United States. I even traveled to the Galapagos -- the Galapagos!! But I couldn't blog about any of those trips either. 

I'd make up for lost time by blogging about them now, but somehow that feels a little lame. Maybe I'll save it for my autobiography, which will most definitely include a chapter called, "Things I can't write about." In fact, that's probably what I'll call my autobiography.

Just for the record, I'd like to post a photo of me in the Galapagos. But where I'm at, the bandwidth  won't allow me to do it. BTW, while in the Galapagos, I read the first installment of Janet Brown's astounding two-volume biography of Charles Darwin called "Voyaging." If you're at all interested in the man behind the theory, I highly recommend it. And if you ever get a chance to visit the islands, make sure you schedule a few extra days in the town of Puero Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz. You won't find a more pleasant and relaxing spot in the world.

Almost there...

I just returned from a trip to the Southwest where we conducted some test screenings of Expelled. The film tested really well. So we're back in the editing room making some last minute changes before going to picture lock later this month. I can't tell you how excited I am as I look forward to finally sharing this movie with the world in February.

The ink has finally dried...

On a new contract, that is. I have just signed on to co-write the supernatural thriller 1Soul for Every Tribe Entertainment. All I'll say for now is that it's set in South Africa, and it's going to be scary. I have been involved in the project since August but have had to bite my tongue until the deal was complete. My co-writer is none other than Nathan Frankowski, fellow Saskatchewan native and the director of Expelled.

"Expelled" on O'Reilly

In case you missed this exchange.

You know you're touching a nerve when...

Your film becomes the subject of a bumper sticker four months before it's released. Now if only I can figure out where to buy one of these...