September 18, 2024

Radio . . . What? RadioGAGA!

Radio . . . What? RadioGAGA!

Philip Gabbard returns to Fictional Cafe with a new creative fiction project: a film treatment based upon a very popular song from the 1990s. Phil is a create-preneur of many talents and interests and we’re always interested in his work. He’s written creative nonfiction, THISday: Words for the Venerable and the Vulnerable, and Thrivation: The Everlasting Philosophy of Providence + Privilege. He penned (on his MacBook Pro) Every Saint, Every Sinner, a novel about his spiritual experiences. He produced and directed an extraordinary video based on the life and death of an archetypal Hispanic woman called La Llorona. Phil is beholden to Freddy Mercury and Queen for the inspiration to write about radio. More specifically, the rise and nowadays the fall of radio broadcasting. With the rise of television, its demise was probably inevitable. TV…

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June 8, 2019

An Interview with Ana Clements, Voiceover Artist

An Interview with Ana Clements, Voiceover Artist

Creating an audiobook is hard work. Maybe harder than writing, but it’s similar, too, in that the work must go through several revision cycles. You can simply listen to a recording to catch errors, or you can listen and follow along in the manuscript or the book. But neither is a guarantee you’ll catch all of the audio flubs. As with a book manuscript, you’ll need to review it again and again. Believe me. So it wasn’t until I was listening to the sixth audio revision of my latest novel Anarchy that I noticed a particular character’s voiceover just wasn’t quite good enough. The character was Miss Caitlin Dugan in Chapter 7. (By the bye, that chapter is entitled “A Reading at the Fictional Cafe, a doubly fictional coffee house in New York City, which…

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June 6, 2019

We Would Love To Hear From YOU!

We Would Love To Hear From YOU!

Dear FC Coffee Club members and visitors to our ‘zine, For many years, we weren’t able to permit unfettered comments from you, our members, because the gate to the Comments section was wide open to spam – and boy, did we get it. With the new version of WordPress software, this is no longer the problem it was. Where before you had to have a WordPress account, login and password, now you don’t. We would love to hear from you! All you have to do is drop down to Leave a Reply and type away in the Comments box below. (Don’t forget to click the Post Comment box.) We’ve been testing it, and it works great. The only thing that would make it better is the involvement of our treasured Coffee Club members. So don’t…

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August 31, 2018

“Moon Knight,” A Brand New Fan Film!

“Moon Knight,” A Brand New Fan Film!

Editor’s note: We’re delighted to present a stunning new fan film. The Marvel Comics character “Moon Knight” is the superhero transformation of Marc Spector, and if you want to know absolutely everything about him, check out this page. A fan film is a work of video created to show respect, interest, reverence, and appreciation for the original work. Or, to quote  Charles Caleb Colton, “Imitation is the sincerest [form] of flattery.” We’re grateful to Ian Adama for his work creating, providing FC with the finished “Moon Knight” fan film, and for the production notes that follow. Ian was the post production supervisor and director, AND the actor who portrayed Spider-Man. Another big shoutout to Chris Moore, one of us Fictional Café coffee fanatics and the sound designer and post-production audio engineer for this film. Ian is…

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March 30, 2018

“The Red Panda” Audio Comes Alive — in Video!

“The Red Panda” Audio Comes Alive — in Video!

That’s right, Coffee Club devotees, this week you can not only listen to The Red Panda – you can watch him and his gorgeous kickass partner The Flying Squirrel in action! Here are two special episodes, selected by our Audio Arts barista Ruby Fink, which have been graphically depicted a la cartoon strip style. They’re just wonderful to watch as you listen, so have at it. We thank Decoder Ring Theatre for a whole month of their wonderful “audio adventures,” as Decoder Ring’s head honcho, Gregg Taylor, likes to call them. And if you’ve enjoyed these Decoder Ring Theatre presentations, please give them a click and check out how much more is available – all totally free. Gregg has been writing and producing his audio adventures since 1999 – almost twenty years. You can learn…

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November 18, 2017

Web Video: “The Bachelor: The Untold Story,” Episode 2

Web Video: “The Bachelor: The Untold Story,” Episode 2

As promised, here is the second episode of “The Bachelor: The Untold Story,” a satirical take on ABC’s hit TV show, “The Bachelor.” It’s the inspiration of Amanda Knapic and Charlie Parker, video auteurs from L.A. We debuted Episode 1 as our new web video feature yesterday. If you missed Episode 1, go here. Then come back and watch Episode 2 here. (11:35) And if you enjoyed Episodes 1 and 2, you can watch all seven of ’em here. Enjoy! And please let us know how you like this new video feature.

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November 17, 2017

Introducing [drumroll] WEB VIDEO! “The Bachelor: The Untold Story,” A Parody

Introducing [drumroll] WEB VIDEO! “The Bachelor: The Untold Story,” A Parody

Editor’s Note: We thank Natalie Rodriguez, our Video Barista, for introducing us, and now you, to this newest addition to the Fictional Café ‘zine: video! We plan to bring you a new video each month, beginning in January, 2018. This month, we introduce a parody-satire of the world-famous show, “The Bachelor.” It’s called, “The Bachelor: The Untold Story.” We’re publishing the trailer and first two episodes today and tomorrow, but it’s a seven-part web series you can watch in its entirety on YouTube. Here’s  how it came to be in the words of its creators. *** What started off as a “you know what would be funny?” conversation turned into three insane months filled with laughs, friendships, and the beginning of Charles-Manderz & Sons, a production company run by Charlie Parker and Amanda Knapic. “The…

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October 17, 2017

The Extraordinary Ordinary: Doing Good for Others With Our Art

The Extraordinary Ordinary: Doing Good for Others With Our Art

Our newest barista, Natalie Rodriguez, is a gifted writer and digital video director-producer with a cause to share. She wants people to become more aware of a great and growing affliction of our youth, and you can help her get that message out into the world. Please join Natalie’s crowdfunding project on Seed and Spark to finance and create The Extraordinary Ordinary The narrative follows the story of three college students navigating their way through the music, writing, and photography scenes. When one of them experiences a panic attack. they begin revisiting their history with mental health. ERICA strives to complete a long overdue photography project from high school but who struggles to find balance and closure from her past due to her ongoing battle with panic attacks. She befriends a classmate, BIANCA, a writer who has…

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July 11, 2016

“The Scars of Our Lives” a Short Film by Natalie Rodriguez

“The Scars of Our Lives” a Short Film by Natalie Rodriguez

Editor’s Note: Natalie explains the genesis of her short film: In one of my past college classes, my professor gave the statistics for the ongoing rates for anxiety, depression, and suicide amongst young adults. The concept of two strangers having more in common than they believe comes from my own struggle with anxiety and acute depression. It can be a lonely feeling and, sometimes, we convince ourselves that nobody seems to understand us, which was why I kept thinking about two survivors coming together for a story. The Scars of Our Lives is a story about two strangers, who realize that they share a similar past when one of them sees a scar on the other’s wrist. The story had originally started out as a short film, which is now online, as well as active in…

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