A Tribute to Len Cella on His 80th Birthday

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

When I was a kid, my Dad introduced me to Moron Movies. He taped a few on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson one night, and the next day, he showed them to me. They were hilarious.

Many years later I found a VHS copy of More Moron Movies for sale at Blockbuster and picked it up. It was around the same time that digital technology was making it easier for people to make movies on their own, and it was just the inspiration I needed. Len Cella showed me you didn’t need big budgets, big crews, and top flight equipment. You needed drive, imagination, and a good healthy dose of madness.

Today is Len’s 80th birthday. In honor of Len I’ve compiled and released the best of my Moron Movies inspired film series, Adam and Eve.

Happy Birthday, Len, and many more.

Share and Enjoy.

Download Cave World for free!

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Now through Thursday, Cave World is a free download on Amazon Kindle. (It was supposed to have been free all weekend, but something didn’t quite pan out. Live and learn.) Cave World is book one in a series now two books deep about a boy who invents his own science-fi universe and finds himself gifted with the powers of an all-powerful creator when he accidentally travels there.

Watch the trailer below, then download the book for free on Kindle.

Three Free Books This Weekend

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Three novels will all be available for FREE on Kindle this weekend, starting with the exciting follow up to the Fluffy trilogy, Trish Angel!

Trish Angel saved the world not once, but four times from a fluffy alien menace. She had seen enough carnage for four lifetimes, and after four terrible wars, she took a vow never to kill again. Then one day, her old commanding officer showed up on her doorstep, offering her a seat on a spaceship bound for the stars. It almost seems too good to be true: a chance to get away from Earth and live her life in solitude. But the alien planet has secrets, and Trish finds herself facing the terrible choice to keep her vow – or kick a little more alien butt and save the day.

Incidentally, the Trish Angel novel has one of the coolest book covers I’ve ever designed. The physical paperback looks amazing.

Also available: Zorana: Confessions of a Small Town Super-Villain (as self-explanatory a title as you’ll ever see!) and Cave World, the first in a (now two part) series about a world where ever cave is a portal to another world.

Download all three books this weekend, only on Kindle!

MayDay Film Festival Schedule

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

If you’re headed to the MayDay Film Festival, you can catch three shorts I had a hand in creating that weekend. Here’s where and when you can find them:

Out of My Mind, directed by Cindy Maples, will be screening Friday night in Theater 1 as part of a group of shorts starting at 7 PM.

The Bowling Green Massacre and I Almost Married a Man from Outer Space will screen back to back on Saturday morning in Theater 3 at 10 AM.

Out of My Mind will also be shown Saturday at 5:30, when Cindy Maples is inducted into the MayDay Film Festival Hall of Fame!

MayDay Film Festival Official Selections

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

The MayDay Film Festival has become a great tradition in Evansville, Indiana. It’s been a few years since I had a film screened there, but I’m very proud to announce that I had a hand in producing four films screening at the film festival.

Two of the short films are based on short stories from the book Robot/Girlfriend. Cindy Maples’ horror short “Out of My Mind” has been tearing up the film festival scene and will screen in front of her hometown crowd. “I Almost Married a Man from Outer Space,” a short I directed and co-produced with my good friend Giavanna Signorelli, will also be shown at MayDay.

“The Bowling Green Massacre,” a parody inspired by a gaffe made by a certain political figure a few months back, will make its film festival debut at MayDay. Claude D. Miles and I produced this poignant and ridiculous send up of the greatest tragedy that never happened on American soil.

Finally, my friend Giavanna’s short film “Species Survival Plan” will also be shown at MayDay. Gia and I co-write this little sci-fi comedy that captures an alien civilization’s attempt to save mankind by transplanting an unlikely “mating” pair to an intergalactic zoo.

The MayDay Film Festival takes place May 19-20 in Evansville, Indiana. For event information visit their Facebook page or the official website.

Watch my friends in “Der Vertrag”

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Louisville’s film community continues to grow and impress. Below is the trailer for “Der Vertrag,” a pilot for a new series being produced by Renegade Art Productions and VilleTV Studios. Several friends and collaborators of mine are involved in this, including David Wate (an outstanding  actor currently appearing in the play “Morbidman Meets His Maker” that I am directing), long time acting favorite Denny Grinar, and the brilliant Herschel Zahnd III, who starred in the Fluffy trilogy and directed the short film Tolerance.

Oh yeah, it also stars Vernon Wells who appeared in a little foreign film called “The Road Warrior” back in the 80s. Maybe you’ve seen it.

Please give the trailer a look and pass it on. With 1000 shares in the first 24 hours, they’re off to a great start!

Upcoming Events

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Jeffersonville Library Author Fair

Saturday April 8, 11 pm to 12 pm

Jeffersonville, IN

I will be signing copies of wrestling books as well as my kids books and science fiction at this local author’s event.

Heroes and Legends Fan Fest

Sunday, April 9

Ft Wayne, Indiana

Signing wrestling books at a huge fan fest featuring two wrestling programs and special guests Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Jerry Lawler, and more.

WBKI FANatic

Friday, April 14, 2 pm

Making my first appearance on this exciting new local program hosted by George Buehler to discuss Louisville’s wrestling history as well as the new book, Louisville’s Greatest Show.

A Conscientious Objector of Mars

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

For a long time, I only saw the flaws in this short, but as time has gone on, I’ve come to appreciate it as a fun little piece of comedy. While it still has some flaws and things I wish I’d done differently, there are two things that shine through: Tracie Justice’s nasty, evil space queen, and George Robert Bailey’s beautiful monologue.

George is one of the best actors in Louisville, and he played the monologue as straight and serious as any piece of legitimate drama he’s ever had on stage. It’s a beautifully delivered speech, and because it’s so well done – the punchline works perfectly.

Enjoy the silliness that is A Conscientious Objector of Mars.

Louisville’s Greatest Show is now available!

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

For 22 years, the Allen Athletic Club’s weekly wrestling show at the Columbia Gym was the place to be on Tuesday night. Promoters Heywood Allen and his successors Francis and Betty McDonogh overcame the Great Depression, the 1937 flood, a World War, and a “crooked” athletic commissioner to bring the best of the golden age of wrestling to Louisville.

Now for the first time, author John Cosper (Bluegrass Brawlers) presents the full story of “That Gang of Allen’s,” the wrestlers, referees, announcers, and others who made Tuesday Louisville’s favorite night of the week. This is the story of the true golden age of wrestling, when men and women wore their Sunday best to see hometown heroes like Blacksmith Pedigo, Kid Scotty Williams, Stu Gibson, Mel Meiners, Sgt. Buck Moore, and “The Black Panther” Jim Mitchell mix it up with Lou Thesz, Gorgeous George, the French Angel, Buddy Rogers, Freddie Blassie, Johnny Valentine, Mildred Burke, Mae Young, Bobo Brazil, and Ginger the Wrestling Bear.

From mud matches to masked men; from Wild Bill Cantrell to Wild Bill Longson; from live TV to live alligators, the Allen Athletic Club was Louisville’s Greatest Show. This is the story of Louisville’s first great wrestling promotion and the families that made wrestling a vital part of the city they loved.

Louisville’s Greatest Show is now available on Amazon.com!