The Demon Lady Begins

Hey everybody, Chris here. After shooting the third and final season of Prep School Blues: The Web Series, I am turning my attention to my senior thesis film for NYU Tisch School of the Arts for the spring semester. This film explores a queer love story through the genre of gothic horror. I'll be posting some information on my thesis film here on the PSB blog and also on my NEW OFFICIAL THE DEMON LADY BLOG.

Any actors out there? Here's the casting notice I put up elsewhere on the web:


Casting for Advanced Experimental Thesis Film (NYU TISCH)

The Demon Lady, an original short by Chris Conner, explores the coming of age and sexual awakening of a young boy in repressive Victorian England through supernatural Gothic imagery in a haunting portrait of adolescent desire and the dark side of human passion.

CHARACTERS

ERIK, 14-18, pale and androgynous, only son of an aristocratic family. Struggles with his emerging sexuality.
URSULA, late 30s, Erik's beautiful but controlling mother, Lady of the Manor.
MADELEINE, 20s, Erik's stern French governess.
ALEX, 18-20, rugged and muscular, the new gardener at the estate. Erik's love interest.
THE OLD MAN, 50-60, a stranger who lives in the forest.
THE DEMON LADY, no age specified, a mysterious female spirit, a dark force that invades Erik's mind.

Contact Chris Conner at prepschoolblues@gmail.com to set up an audition. Can meet in New York City before Dec. 20 or after Jan. 20. Shoot in mid-March 2009 around NYC area. Please have headshot/resume on hand or digital equivalent.

Vote Hottest Guy on PSB

We're holding a poll! You can vote sexiest guy on PSB right HERE on the BLOG. Once the poll is over, we will post a SEXY (but of course tasteful) photo spread of the winner up here in January! You can pick any of the attractive young men pictured above. So vote RIGHT NOW for your FAVORITE HUNK of PREP SCHOOL BLUES.

-c.

Prep School Musical

Easier to load versions of my jib-jab tributes to the best film of 2008.

-c.

Happy Holidays

Christmas Eve, 2008

Happy Holidays from

Prep School Blues

Wow everybody, can't believe we've been working on this for pretty much a fabulous full year. I want to let you all know how deeply thankful I am for your hard work, dedication and passion.

I believe that the final three episodes coming up with take the series to a whole new level. Thanks again for all the support and love you have offered, either writer/director, cast and crew member, project consultant, practical helper, online fan, all of you have helped bring Prep School Blues to where it is now.

Hopefully we can take this project to even more outstanding heights in the next year. Have a Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year!

Always and forever,
Chris Conner

prepschoolblues@gmail.com

Facebook Fan Page

Hey everybody! Make sure to join our new facebook fan page and show your support.

love, C.

Behind the Scenes 4-6

More behind the scenes featurettes featuring cast and crew doing our thing!

-c.







that's all of them, hope you enjoy!

Behind the Scenes 1-3

For those who haven't seen them, we recently put up six behind the scenes videos from the three day shoot of Prep School Blues: Season 1. Get to see the people behind the camera and the actors behind the characters. Hope you enjoy getting to know all of us through these videos!

-c.

Nick on 30 Rock!

Hey everybody,

Don't forget to see Nicholas DiMichele (Jack) on NBC's 30 Rock December 4, 2008. In the episode Reunion, flashbacks show Tina Fey's high school experience in the 1980s. Nick plays the illegitimate son of Alec Baldwin's character. Also guest starring are Blake Lively and Leighton Meister from tv's Gossip Girl.

-c.

Season Three Update

Hey everybody,

I am happy to report that the first draft of the episodes for Prep School Blues Season 3 has been completed. We will continue drafting and begin rehearsing over December and plan to return to Missouri in mid- January to shoot the episodes, so they should be up online in the early spring. Thanks for all the support! Keep watching Prep School Blues, and we will keep you all updated as the work progresses. Make sure to check out our blog for more frequent updates about the show, its cast, and crew at prepschoolblues.blogspot.com, and keep an eye on our website prepschoolblues.com, which will be undergoing a re-design in the coming weeks.

-s.

Nick-xlusive

Hey everyone, check out the first installment of Prep School Blues: Meet the Cast! Part 1 is an intimate interview with the dashing and intelligent Nicholas DiMichele (Jack) as he talks about the show, his role as Jack, and acting. Watch the video.



Stay tuned for Part 2, featuring our favorite fiery redhead, that fearless siren of the screen Sara Smaltz (Gabrielle).

-C.

In the beginning

For those of you who haven't seen it, this is "Jack and Larsen", the original short film I made junior year at NYU film school that inspired my series Prep School Blues. Notice the different casting and slightly different script from Episode 1. Featuring Tyrus Cukavac as the first Jack. See Tyrus on stage this weekend in Documentary: A Suicide Narrative, an original play currently showing at the Gene Frankel Theater in New York City.



and also check out "The Junk Yard", my prequel film which tells the story of Jack and Larsen's first fleeting encounter as children and also the story of Larsen's mother Laura, a frail concert pianist dying of cancer. "The Junk Yard" presents the yearning, violence and pain of childhood that leads up to the series Prep School Blues. Also featuring a cameo by my mother.


That's all for now.

-C.

Exit Stage Left

I am excited to let everyone know that Prep School Blues: Season 3 will definitely shoot in January 2009. Expect new (and old) faces, delicious plot twists and of course plenty of romance. Season 3 will hopefully be available on the internet sometime in early spring 2009.


Due to scheduling conflicts, however, I regret to announce that longtime cast member Andrew Patrick Fanelli will be unable to reprise his role as prep school troublemaker Edgar Alexander. We at Prep School Blues wish Fanelli all the best in his future projects.

GOOD LUCK FANELLI!

But don't worry, even as Edgar Alexander exits, there's tons of intrigue as new student Cecelia Chang (Emmy Yu) arrives to stir things up, as well as the return of the prodigal Fareed Salman (Habeeb Khan)! Stay tuned for more updates on Prep School Blues: Season 3!

WE WILL BARACK YOU

yes. hell yes. i wish barack the best of luck for the next 4, 8, 12 years of his presidency.

-a.

I'm a Vampire Lesbian

Well not really, but it's Halloween so I thought I'd say so anyway.  Oh Halloween, the time of costumes, candy, and the traditional Vampire Lesbian Movie Marathon. How wonderful to be a vampire lesbian, especially played by the oh-so-French Catherine Deneuve.

Should I be a Vampire Lesbian for Halloween? I don't know. I mean, this is New York. This is the village. But could I, Chris Conner, truly do justice to this great genre? Men have done it before (vampire lesbians of sodom), but that's a rare and special event.

Perhaps I'll make a vampire lesbian film? I am a film student.  A dark, erotic gothic masterpiece?  Maybe. So many great (well, some great) directors have done vampire lesbian work (Jess Franco, Tony Scott).

How does one truly pay homage to the great vampire lesbians of our generation? Maybe I'll just pop in a DVD of The Hunger and cosy up with a bottle of wine. Red wine of course. 

Some of my favorite Lesbian Vampire Classics of Cinema:

1.  The Hunger

2.  Vampyros Lesbos

3.  The Vampire Lovers

4.  Lust for a Vampire

5.  Daughters of Darkness

6.  Dracula's Daughter

7.  Eternal

8.  Blood and Roses

Have a sexy, fabulous Halloween darlings.

xoxo C.

Comic Book Preview

Hey guys, I just got the finished first issue from the artist, so here's a little preview of Prep School Blues: Beginnings #1. In this little scene, young Larsen gets the brush off during his first encounter with young (way too young to be smoking) Fareed.

The Reviews

One of my favorite aspects of putting the show up on youtube was getting so many interesting comments, messages and feedback from people around the world.  I'm so excited people are watching the show and even more thrilled that we've gotten such passionate sentiments.  Here's a sample of some audience reaction from youtube users: 

Well, its time to larsen to have courage and admit that he loves Jack. I want to see them passionaly kiss each other and make love. They deserve to stay together for All Time.
-astrogay100

Very cool vid cant wait to see Jack and Larsen finally get together.
-buren47240

Will you be placing further postings up? I really am liking your clips because this reminds me and boyfriend about the way we met, however my girlfriend was just a friend and only a friend, but my boyfriend was with a girl before he fell in love with me and we been together two and a half years now and we have found true love together and Jack and Larsen really reminds us of how we met please, please can you message us if you are going to place a continual posting of this show? Thank you very much.
-actionplay08

i'm amazed at how well-acted and developed this series is. for an "amateur" production it is wonderfully professional. andy
-andyk1944

"so....what do you want to do?" BEST LINE EVER!
-da2187luke

holy wow gay.
-geedor


It's pretty cool for me to see how different people have reacted to the show and I can't wait to hear from more people. Thank you everyone who has watched the show and contributed to the development process. If you haven't already, make sure the check out the entire series, thus far, on youtube, qlipp and facebook!

Love to all, C.

Almost Famous

I just wanted to congratulate Chris for everything he's accomplished thus far with Prep School Blues. To some this might not be a big deal, but I remember having just met Chris and being on set during the first recording of PSB. Back then it was just a class project, but it's evolved into so much more. Everything we've done has been such a collaborative effort, and I want to thank everyone crew/actors for sticking it through, amidst the scandals, secrets and lies on and off set.

We have a freakin fanbase now! Granted we have no idea who Astrogay really is, and whether he is actually Portuguese or 35, or cute (because if he is, I'm totz gonna tap that), but it doesn't matter! He's awesome! And so are all the other people who have subscribed to our youtube channel, friended us on Myspace, and have tuned in to our show through Qlipp or even by word-of-mouth in our own Tisch building.

Let's keep on rocking.

-a.

Qlipp Again!

Hey guys,

Check out Episode 2 now on Qlipp, the queer video blog.  

Season Two, watch it NOW!

See how excited Jack, Edgar and Gabrielle are? That's because Season 2 is now available online!

The drama continues in Season 2 as Gabrielle and Edgar join forces to take down Larsen and rule the school. Gabrielle tries out for the soccer team, Jack directs his first play, and Edgar surprises everyone with his choice of prom date. Fall in love all over again with Prep School Blues.

Watch it now here!

Qlipp - Gay/Queer YouTube Video Blog

Hey everybody, Prep School Blues was just featured on Qlipp, the Gay/Queer YouTube Video Blog. The post features a direct link to the first episode, plus some information of the show. Hopefully this will get more people exposed to the show. In fact, views of the posted episode on youtube doubled in the last 24 hours since the link has been up. Yah!

Check out Qlipp.

Comic Book Art Preview

C. with pics.  Okay, so as you should all know, I'm ridiculously excited about the comic book, so even before the scripts are finished, here's some adorable character models that artist Cameron Lewis sent to me.  They're just too cute.  I'm especially into little Fareed, his scowl is fierce.  

Too cute, right?

PSB has an Emmy...Yu, that is.

Hello all.   C. here.  I am pleased to announce a new addition to the cast of Prep School Blues in the lovely person of actress Emmy Yu, who will be appearing in the upcoming Season 3, tentatively shooting early 2009.   Emmy will play transfer student Cecelia, a beautiful girl with a hidden dark side, who engages in a tantalizing game of cat-and-mouse with the volatile bad boy Larsen.  

In addition to pursuing her passion for acting, Emmy is currently pursuing a bachelor of fine arts at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.  She recently spent a summer studying film production in China.  Read more about Emmy at IMDb.  

Habeeb Khan will also return in Season 3, reprising his first season role as Fareed, whose sudden return to town further complicates the already twisted love life of his childhood crush Gabrielle.  

I would also like to welcome artist Cameron K. Lewis to the Prep School Blues team.  Cameron will be illustrating the in-progress Prep School Blues graphic novel.  Experience the highs and lows of childhood all over again in six stories, some funny, some sad, about growing up in middle America.  Check out Cameron's artwork here. 

The new episodes have reached a final cut and will be upcoming in the next few days.  Also look for a revamp of the website and the Prep School Blues music video coming later in the fall!  

Season Two Trailer

hey everyone,

hope all is well... happy to report that the new episodes should be up for viewing shortly, in the mean time here is a short trailer for the second season that i finished cutting today, check it out! :

season two trailer on facebook

season two trailer on youtube

-s.

By the sea

So ladies and gentleman, the long awaited fabulous promo pics created by A. have finally arrived.

School's out, let the games begin. Check out Jack, Edgar and Gabrielle on a little fantasy summer vacation by the sea. Love triangle anyone?

Check out the full set of pics at the facebook album.

Stay tuned for episodes of season 2, coming later this month!

Alyssa Peterson: Ingenue

C. here. Since Appie didn't get to see the footage while I was back in STL, here's some screen captures featuring Rachel, PSB's resident good girl, played by newcomer Alyssa Peterson. Stay tuned for the full episodes, coming later in September.

Coach Chardonnay (Chris Conner) reprimands Rachel

Rachel pines for best friend Jack (Nicholas DiMichele)

Rachel spars with hothead Larsen (Bryan Dechart)

Rachel plots her revenge against Gabrielle (Sara Smaltz)

End of Summer Wrap Up

Hey everybody, your old friend C. here. This has been a very exciting summer shooting the second season of Prep School Blues, and the new developments are not over yet!

In addition to launching Episodes 4-6 online this fall, I am also planning on expanding Prep School Blues with a tie-in music video. Currently working with Nicholas DiMichele (Jack) to design a soundtrack and theme for the video. In case anyone doesn't know, Nick is a great musician, a talent we have not yet been able to showcase on Prep School Blues, but hopefully will be able to soon.

In development is my plan to additionally expand Prep School Blues into an online comic strip tentatively titled "Pre-School Blues", a prequel to the series that explores the early friendships of Larsen, Fareed and Gabrielle as young children. Currently in talks with a comic artist to get this off the ground in the next coming months.

Also, Alex's gorgeous new promo photos from the beach shoot will be available online very soon. I will put these up on the blog, facebook and myspace as soon as I receive them. Speaking of which, make sure to friend the Prep School Blues MySpace profile if you are a MySpace user.

Stay tuned for Season Two online in the fall!

Goodbye to Here!

C. update. Today was my last day interning at my oh-so-beloved here! networks, the gayest channel on cable. It's been a pretty excellent summer.

I got to meet some of my tv crushes: Canadian sweetheart Charlie David of Dante's Cove and sexy David Moretti of spin-off The Lair. I also got two t-shirts, three posters, and basically every gay movie or magazine ever. Sort of like Christmas but better. Totally gonna miss my super co-workers Jeannie Versaggi, Chris Van Kleef and Luis Lopez. Everybody was really nice and it was a great experience working in the professional television world. Check out my other blog about one of the fun shows on here! tv at The Lair Fan.

To check out some hot cable programming, visit the here! tv official website.

In other news, my 21st birthday fast approaches. If any blog readers are interested, head over to Splash Bar in NYC on Thursday, August 14th 2008. I'll be the drunk husky Filipino guy dancing in really embarassing fashion.

There's also a rough assembly of the show put together and I'm trying to get season 2 up and running online sometime in September. Really good footage (thanks Kevin!). I'm really excited for everyone to see the new stuff. And hopefully the rest of the photo shoot pics will be up sometime next week.

Till next time,
- (the ever fabulous) C.

We Did It!

Still reeling from the excitement, I am proud to say that we have finished shooting Prep School Blues Season Two. Today was an excellent shooting day, with only two scenes. I can't wait to get the footage put together and up on the web. In my opinion, the show has only gotten better in every aspect.

All my thanks and love to our wonderful cast: Nick, Bryan, Sara, Fanelli and Alyssa. You guys all without exception owned those characters and brought them to life.

And shout out to our amazing crew: Kevin on camera, Andrea rallying the troops, Celine on audio, along with Dustin and Noah rocking my world. Special thanks also goes to Alex, Shaina, Parisa, Tyrus and the always fabulous Patricia "Tish" Hill.

Gonna go hibernate for a while, but for now live, love and be happy.

-C.



PS. Favorite Quotes...

"Chris, you really are the Queen Bee of this shoot." -Bryan, on reference to my tiara and pink feather robe

"It really is like Gossip Girl!" - Alyssa, stating the obvious

"So basically, make it gayer?" -Nick, about my direction for a scene

"This is as far as I can go, I don't wear underwear." -Fanelli, on disrobing for the final scene

"Wow, I'm really uncomfortable right now." -Kevin, on my compliments

"We should rename the show: Soccer. And make it all about soccer." -Sara, on a possible new title

"I want to see the third season set in a mental hospital after all the characters have been driven insane by all their drama. And I play an evil nurse." -Shaina, sharing her ideas for the next episode

Day 2 Wrapped!

I am pleased to report the successful completion of Day 2's shooting. We wrapped basically on time and shot more than half of Monday's scenes in the process. And honestly, I was impressed how well the very familiar location doubled for so many places. From Bryan popping a balloon right into the boom (poor Celine!) to avoiding the threat of thunderstorms to shoot kick ass exteriors to a particularly passionate bit of improv (Shaina covered her eyes!), the day was full of surprises. Wrap on Bryan and Nick today as well, much earlier than planned. Two more scenes and we're in the clear. Thanks everyone!

Love is all around, C.

PSB: Ep 4-6: Photos by Larsen

Hey all. Larsen here.
Took some photos in my down time today on set.
Hope Alex approves.


Nicholas DiMichele (Jack)

Andrew Fanelli (Edgar)


Alyssa Peterson (Rachel)


Chris Conner (Series Creator)



Kevin Hooper (Director of Photography)


Celine Quenot (Boom Operator)


Shooting (Episode 5 - Scene 2)


Jack and Rachel meet by the river (Episode 5 - Scene 2)


See you all tomorrow.

Photos (continued...)

this is the last post, i swearz... (lolz)

Más Fotos Para Ver

(learn some Español bitchez)

Aqui están más fotos muy lindas que tiré y he editado para Prep School Blues.

Well, these are pretty much all pictures of Gabrielle (played by Sara)

Day 1 Wrapped!

Many sun burns later, we have returned from the epic first day of shooting in beautiful Inwood Hill Park, somewhere in the far reaches of 211th street in Manhattan. The exterior shoots went smoothly and we finished ahead of schedule (always a pleasure). Some highlights include the miniature soccer players upon our arrival, my cameo appearance as Coach Chardonnay and of course the amazing sports training montages. I'd like to thank everyone for their hard work today (especially new crew members Celine and Dustin, welcome!) and I'm very excited about tomorrow's shoot.

PSB... FYVP

Prep School Blues... For Your Viewing Pleasure

You know, it's pretty fantastic how the theme of the photoshoot has NADA at all to do with the actual Season 2 scripts (chris...!). And I say this because it would've been great if I had actually shot these in theme of soccer tryouts/school play/prom... I mean we technically already shot a prom scene, but I could've seriously kicked ass with some models in soccer outfits. Anyhooooooo, here are some edited pics from the Beach Series. Ummmm, no disclaimers or anything, buuuuuut... hahaha, no. I don't need to explain myself.

I think they're pretty neat.

In other news, Australia is going well. I'm freezing because it's winter time here now, and I'm up in the mountains so that doesn't really help, temperature wise... So everything is pretty bland here, where I am in the Yarra Valley region of Melbourne, and unfortunately because we're doing production everyday here, I'm kept pretty busy, so I don't really have time to leave the studio and go do shit (like have a nightcap at the pub, or go dancing with the locals... [p.s. Aussie boys are either reaaaally unattractive or reallly sexy, and when they're good, they're freaking GOOD... i'm totz getting my perv on here], and goddamn it I really wanted to go out west to the Outback!), so yeah. The only joy I've found here (besides the peace and tranquility and utter beauty of the picturesque landscape) is the fact that even though fashion here isn't what it should be (even though Australia is like hella Americanized), I have found the CUTEST fucking underwear here, ranging from G-Strings to Hipsters to Boy Shorts... so effin cute. I'm literally gonna come back to the states with $100 AUD worth of underwear. My junk is gonna feel so nice wrapped in that fabric.

ALright, so on to some FoTOz...

I decided to include a little bit of the script in this picture, just to provide a little dialogue between the two characters in the image. And it fits too because Sara (loveyoubitch!) does look like an ice-queen here, though that may have something to do with the fact that... oh nevermind (It's amazing that the cast and crew have more scandalz going on than the actual fictional [based on true life] characters do... simply amazing] hahah, lolz)

And then this is my retro-50s throwback, just because I felt like it. Sara and Fanelli look so perfectly posed in this picture, and with a little color adjustment and some overlaying filters, I made this look.

This reminds me of those Calvin Klein ads where everyone is all like emo//serious and glaring at each other or at the camera. This would be an ad for Ray-Bans and Nike trunks. 

So this is just what some of the Edgar/Gabrielle photos look like post-editing. Fun stuff, no?

Stay tuned for more, kids.

-a.