What gives?

"What's taking so long?"

I know that's the question on many people's minds with regard to the completion of Battle.

The answer is that there's a lot going on in post that is taking longer than we expected. So, we underestimated the post-production time-table.

However, the good news is that a lot of exciting announcements will be forthcoming soon.

So, please stay tuned and you'll find out here...like, Third...but 1st and 2nd are the filters prior to posting on the blog.

Thanks for your continued interest,

Martin Kelley
Producer, Battle



"I can't believe it takes this long to put a few songs on a sound track...do you?"

Battle: The Mixtape is coming

Just a quick heads up...new stuff coming.

While we're still knee deep in the edit of battle we've got a brand new mixtape coming very soon mixed by DJ Dainja!

It will feature artists associate with Battle as well as other hot new hip-hop music.

Be on the lookout for it.

Features:
Conrad "HeadRoc" Clifton
Trimm
Green Tea
Dirty Dollar$
Rhythmlord
J-Dot
Psyche Origami
Senior Kaos
Collective Efforts
and more!

These guys can't wait:



Chris Burns and AI anxiously awaiting the Battle mixtape!

Cast Spotlight - Chris Burns!

CHRIS BURNS

With razor sharp focus and fierce tenacity, Chris has played various roles on stage from Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire to Cpl. Dawson in Aaron Sorkin' s A Few Good Men To the Dauphin Charles VII in George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan.

Recently, he played Max Arthur in The Lena Baker Story starring alongside Tachina Arnold and Michael Rooker. Chris also had the re-occurring role of Brad on the first original television series for BET "Somebodies", as well as being a series regular for the Cartoon Network Superdeluxe sketch comedy series Fark TV.

A true chameleon, Chris has not only acted in well over eighty film and television programs, he also has multiple credits as a Co-Writer, Assistant Director, and Producer. In 2006 Chris had the distinct pleasure of having not one, but three projects at Park City during the Sundance Film Festival.

His latest film projects include a lead role in Kely McClung’s action film Kerberos as well as a lead role as Jay in Reel One Entertainment’s Battle.



Chris rehearses scene at WREK



Chris Burns' wife Miracole also plays a role in "Battle" as the Beatmaker Lady-O

Do you remember?

Well, this is really it now.

We spent the last 48 hours fighting the elements to get a lot of 2nd Unit and B-Roll footage we needed to complete Battle...so we re-wrapped Production with Onira and HeadRoc and immediately started feeling nostalgic for past days on the shoot. It was sad and yet satisfying at the same time.

This of course beats complete relief to be done with something, I think.

So in that spirit let me take a moment to remember some of the shoot already.



Do you remember when we met Kevin Raser delivering pizzas to eyedrum while we were doing a final location scout for the shoot? And he said he wanted to help out on the shoot? He was great, he did everything from boom op duties to extra duties to manning the fog machines and fanning them with the flags. Very good young man and willing to get it done on the set. I highly recommend him to all the filmakers in the ATL.



Do you remember when we lost our Starbucks sponsorship after we pitched a movie tie-in featuring Chris Burns as Jay? I mean how could this tagline go wrong? "Well, it's not Red Bull and Vodka but it'll have to do..." We sure thought it was a winner. Guess we shoulda pitched HeadRoc and his expensive Frappachino habit instead :)



Do you remember Conrad "HeadRoc" Clifton attempting NOT to be upset when he heard that we forgot to order his Tofu dish for lunch and that he'd have to go with the salad? Well, I thought he played it off well at the time but photo evidence here suggests he was a little miffed.



Do you remember the heated exchange between direcor Laron Austin and producer Bennie Swint on location at WREK? No? Well, you're right, that never happened. But...



...there were fireworks on the set that day. I really can't go into it at this time...but check out the scene (in the movie of course) that we shot there.



But seriously, one of the best memories involved DRES tha BeatNik and the best extras I've worked with creating the genuine Hip-Hop vibe for Battle. Thank you all for helping us create the excitement of Beat Battles.

Anyway, I just wanted to post some more pictures and thank everyone again for all the hard work that they put in on the movie. We'll be sweating and grinding in post to make sure your efforts are rewarded with a great movie.

Take care and I'll be back to blog some more soon.

Martin Kelley
Producer, Battle

Flashback...various pictures from Battle

Did you miss me?

Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. There will be more blogging going on.

In the meantime, enjoy these pictures from the shoot.



Alicia Honore plays Keisha in Battle in a scene outside Never Enough Thyme Cafe



Arvell Poe (R) plays Quasar in Battle and looks to Director Laron Austin for advice on NOT being a dope Hip-Hop producer.



Chris Burns, Samantha Worthen and Conrad "HeadRoc" Clifton on the set as FVSU



I wouldn't want to work for Christopher Thomas (L) (well at least not in a kitchen environment)...would you? Just ask HeadRoc (R).

He makes a menacing boss if you ask me. It's like Rocky IV "I must break you...and then make many, many bad B-movies :)" (Dolph that is, not CT)



"You talkin' to me?" DJ Dainja actually did spin records live on the set before mangling the blocking of a complicated scene :)

And then recovering like a champ to deliver some classic lines (so says the co-writer).



Onira Tares, Errol Sadler and HeadRoc on the scene at Lenny's Bar along with some Paranormal Activity happening behind them.

As always, I urge you to stay tuned to the blog as there will be more revelations soon.

Thanks,

Martin Kelley
Producer, Battle

Martini Day!!! It's a wrap at Solar Sounds Studio

No, it's not a drinking holiday on the set (well, for our Gaffer Dan Slemons it is because of his crafty side deal that keeps his beer locker stocked during production) it's the Martini Day because it's the last day of Principal Photography.

Last day of prinicpal photography is always a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, everyone is excited to have completed the project. A lot of hard work goes into translating script to screen, so it feels great to have accomplished getting it all into the can. However, most of the time on a good set, there's the little feeling of melancholy that you won't be spending time with the little family that gets created on each production (at least not for a while)...and that's exactly how it felt Sunday when we were going through our last day of full crew production on "Battle".

We started off confused...again. As Chris wasn't sure which wardrobe he had worn in the scene that immediately follows the scene were were supposed to shoot. He had brought all the wardrobe choices...except the one we thought it was. So he rushed back to get that shirt only to find out that he had brought the correct clothes after all. It was the red shirt (not the RED shirt you see above...he takes things to figuratively sometimes).

The trick to a last day (at least my theory) is to make it an easy day (my first feature the last day was the toughest and I felt bad that I wasn't able to smile and hug everyone as they wrapped because we were so stressed to "make the day") so everyone can enjoy themselves. So we scheduled 2 scenes that are vital but still...2 scenes for a crew whose shown the ability to get 10 pages a day in the can when necessary? But of course, never is a day on an indie film ever easy.



However, with great actors like E. Roger Mitchell, Chris Burns, Conrad "HeadRoc" Clifton, and Candace Mabry on the set, any setbacks can be overcome through their excellent work. And they all did great.



So, we got back on track and overcame the little issues and our Martini scene was on Deck.

For the scene we had once again the talents of Rapper Trimm and James E. Brown II on the set playing Dirty Dollar$ and Big Man respectively and our generous host Talib Shabazz got to do a cameo as well.



Talib Shabazz was kind enough to allow us to shoot at his great recording studio Solar Sounds Studio.


For those unaware, Talib being part of "Battle" is very significant because he is an Icon on the Atlanta Hip-Hop scene. He co-hosted WRAS’ Rhythm & Vibes Show (‘91-’94) which was one of the most important Hip-Hop shows in college radio at that time. He went on to also host V-103’s Thunderstorm Mixshow (‘95-’96), WRFG’s Ruff, Rugged, & Raw among others. Talib also opened the first Street Marketing company in Atlanta, Keep It Street Marketing & Promotions and is one of the founders of Ear Wax Records & CD’s (which was the record store we had written into the script).

Above all, he's one of the great people in the ATL hip-hop community.

Now that we've wrapped principal photography, that doesn't make this blog obsolete...we're in post and there are tons of pictures that I still want to share so please be sure to stay tuned.

Thanks for following along thus far and thanks to all the cast, crew and location partners who've allow us to get "Battle" into the can. It's been great!

Later,

Martin Kelley
Producer, Battle

Rough housing on the set

If you've ever been on a set with one Chris Burns you know that the scene witnessed above is not atypical.

Burns decided to attack producer Eddie Singleton because we were carrying Cheezits instead of the usual Goldfish crackers on the Craft Services table.

An obvious oversight on our part but this smacks of over-reaction on Mr. Burns part.



Eddie obviously thought so too.

(legal department's note...the picture above is a make-up effect and not a true injury)

Thanks to the cool Samantha Worthen for coming down to play a supporting role and not minding the drive down to Fort Valley State University. And thanks to her for supplying these pictures.



HeadRoc and Samantha Worthen on the set at Fort Valley State University

More updates soon and pics from the last weekend of principle photography.

Martin Kelley
Producer, Battle