As we all know, Matthew Gray Gubler is currently catching some rays in sunny Hawaii. All weekend he has been tweeting pictures of his trip, and here are his adventures as Sunscreen Ghost.

@gublernation: sunscreen ghost #1

@gublernation: sunscreen ghost #2

@gublernation: sunscreen ghost #3

@gublernation: early american sugarcane bandit

@gublernation: aunt of the sunscreen ghost

For the final time in Season 8, we are treated to a review by the lovely Jasmine. Here is her take on the Criminal Minds Season Finale, episodes 23 and 24, Brothers Hotchner/ The Replicator.

May 22nd was the season finale of “Criminal Minds”, showing us the last two episodes of the season.  The episodes kept us on the edge of our seats and I enjoyed the entire season finale.

Brother’s Hotchner

Hotch finds himself in New York City to spend time with his girlfriend Beth and his son Jack.  He gets interrupted in a personal moment with Beth when his brother Sean calls him, in trouble.  Sean, while working at the club The Edinburg, witnesses a female victim collapsing to the floor with blood coming out of every hole on her face.

Hotch arrives at the scene and finds out that this was the second victim, the first being Sean’s girlfriend.  Finding their deaths rather peculiar, Hotch calls in the team to join him in NYC.  Once they arrive, they learn that the victims are being drugged with contaminated ecstasy and a mixture of amphetamines to mask the effect of the drug, making the victims take an extremely large amount too quickly to get the effect faster.  The effect of this consumption would make the victims bodies act as if they were boiling from the inside out, thus causing the blood to spill from the holes in their faces. 

There was a surprise twist when the Unsubs M.O. changed and they realized that these victims were not obvious ecstasy users, nor were they anywhere near clubs when their deaths happened.  They discovered that these victims had drunk wine previously to their death and that the wine was also laced with the tainted ecstasy, causing their death. 

All these incidents eventually retraced back to The Edinburg, the club Sean was working at, and his Boss Thane.  Hotch during this investigation, learns that Sean lies to him from the first call he made, notifying him he was in trouble.  He finds out that Sean has gotten back into drugs, but has been clean since his girlfriend, the first victim.  He also learns that Thane, Sean’s Boss, is also the dealer for the ecstasy and helps Sean get a job.  Sean, feeling guilty of his lies and mistakes, decides to help Hotch catch the dealer of this tainted drug by wearing a wire and talking to Thane.  Hotch also learns from that conversation, that Sean also lied to his boss and sold the tainted boxes of wine to make money behind his back.

In the end, the team finds out that the Unsub is a man who just lost his daughter to ecstasy, and sends the tainted drugs and wine to the club where she bought the drugs to punish them.  Reid and Morgan apprehend the Unsub in the end.  Hotch, despite all the information he learns about Sean, decides to give him another chance to help him straighten out and we see the ending scene of Sean meeting Jack and Hotch’s new girlfriend.

Brother’s Hotchner was a great episode.  The imagery of the victims was both gory and traumatizing.  The first scene, where the girl, making out with Thane, suddenly feels hot and collapses on the floor with blood spilling from her eyes, nose, and mouth was really quite well graphic.  I must admit, that despite the fact that it was gross, I did whisper the word cool. 

Another traumatizing moment was when the parents of a little girl sit at the table to eat, and as the girl starts to pray before her meal, she closes her eyes.  When she finishes, she looks up to see her parents, both falling onto their dining room table, blood spilling from out of their faces and then die.  The effect of shock was immediate, and I wonder if it bordered on inappropriate, but I found it to be effective and quite disturbing.

I was happy to see Sean and Jack again, as well as Beth, focusing on the personal side of Hotch, who I felt was often left aside this season.  Since the death of Hayley, it was nice to see Hotch flirt and be intimate with someone new; and I enjoyed seeing Jack older and calling Hotch Dad instead of Daddy.  I also enjoyed the one moment where Reid took down the Unsub, while he incapacitated Morgan for a few moments.  Reid’s quick thinking and actions saved the day and I would enjoy seeing him get more action scenes in the future seasons.

And finally, we got a bit more humor with a Garcia scene.  She calls up the team and sees them having lunch.  She says “I hope you saved me for dessert” hoping Morgan would hear, only to have JJ answer her “Morgan isn’t here Baby Girl.”  I always enjoy Garcia and Morgan’s constant flirting, and am also hoping to see this next season.

The end of the episodes shows Section Chief Strauss being taken by “The Replicator”, played by Mark Hamill and we are left waiting on the edge of our seats.

The Replicator

The final episode of the season was a roller coaster ride from beginning to end.  The beginning of the episodes shows the team regrouping as they realize that “The Replicator” is with them, when Garcia, back in Quantico, gets hacked into her system and all her screens go black, filling up instead with the word “Zugzwang”.

Rossi tries to reach Strauss, only to get no answer.  The whole team heads to the hotel to regroup (making sure everyone is ok) and that’s when Rossi discovers that Strauss’s hotel room is empty, with small liquor bottles on the floor and the Medallion that Strauss has kept for being 1 year sober.  He immediately worries, knowing that Strauss didn’t go anywhere without it on her.

The team then spreads out, looking for Strauss, hoping to find her alive.  Finally Aaron Hotchner finds her inebriated on a park bench and when he reaches her, she weakly falls into his arms.  She tells him how “The Replicator” put a gun to her head and made her drink.  Strauss, having been intoxicated with another unknown substance, says a sad goodbye to Hotch as she dies in his arms, but not before relaying the message that “The Replicator” was racing them home.

The team then rushes back to Quantico together, trying to figure out the true identity of who “The Replicator” is, worried about who would be his next victim.  They get word that Strauss’ body was drugged by the ecstasy mixture of their last case, which is what caused her to die, confirming that “The Replicator” indeed killed her. 

Garcia then comes up with a logical thought that the Unsub works inside the The Justice Department with deductive logic of how the Unsub could have gotten into her work system.  They also realize that “The Replicator” is an FBI member, when trying to find out why Strauss’ body has an infinity symbol carved into her wrist.  They conclude that Strauss was indeed close to revealing his identity, when they read a case file of theirs that had misleading information, including an infinity sign carved into the victim, which was actually false.  This showed that Strauss indeed, believed that “The Replicator” was an inside job, and was trying to find out by seeing if he would mimic the false information, which as seen on Strauss’ body, he did.

Blake also realizes that the Unsub started replicating their cases when she started working for the team, wondering if there was a connection.  Hotch managed to then get a list of the people who read the falsified report, confirming Blake’s suspicision, when she hears the name of a man who worked with her during the Amerithrax case.  This also explained the death of Strauss, the reason for this man and Blake’s demotion.

John Curtis, the name of the man Blake worked with, is indeed “The Replicator”.  Garcia, once her computers were back up and running (thanks to the help of Kevin), learns that Curtis did indeed suffer a demotion from that case and was sent to a small office to be seen as invisible, despite the fact that he was hardworking and a genius.

During their search for “The Replicator’s” identity, we watch as “The Replicator” places an envelope on Rossi’s desk.  Once Rossi gets back from Strauss’  arrangements, he enters his office and reads the report.  Morgan comes into his office for news and Rossi, who is very angry, tells him to leave and pulls out a gun when Morgan doesn’t cooperate.  Luckily Hotch is there and calms down Rossi, only to realize that the envelope had results mentioning that Morgan’s prints were on the glass that cut Strauss and that the envelope containing the information had been lined with a drug.  Rossi is soon sent to the infirmary for the intoxication.

Now, the identity of “The Replicator”, Garcia is able to pinpoint the location and sends the team, without Rossi, out to catch him.  The team splits up into 2, each taking a helicopter.  We are sent into the end of the episode, the last scenes of the show, leaving us clutching onto anything we had near us.

First, we see “The Replicator” with a remote in his hands, and watch as one of the helicopters loses it’s engine and then regain them moments later.  A few seconds later, he presses the buttons again, causing the helicopter (with Reid, Hotch and Blake inside) to crash.  As the other helicopter lands, the other members of the BAU run to see what happened, and is relieved to find Reid and Hotch alive, but Blake missing. Over at the BAU, Rossi returns from the infirmary and Garcia lets him know where to find the team.

The team runs to the house where Curtis lives and enters to search for him and Blake.  The team enters a room to see Blake tied up with a series of keys and locks.  Reid stays with Blake to untie her, while the rest of the team explores the house.  JJ comes into contact with a bomb that is timed and heads back to the team to tell them to leave, only for Blake to be unlocked and get up from her seat.  The seat is trapped, that causes the door to slam shut and lock them in.

We cut to outside where “The Replicator”, complete with FBI kevlar on, blends into the crowd surveying the scene outside the house. He looks down at his cell phone to see Garcia has jammed the satelitte and his timer has stopped. He heads back into the house to reactivate the bomb.

We are then brought to the team, outside and out of the room, and they turn around to ask where Rossi is, the one we realize, help them escape.  Rossi is in the room with “The Replicator”, who sits down in Blake’s chair thus reactivating the door. After taunting Rossi, we see him get up and watch as the door shuts behind them.  Thinking Rossi will die, we see him go to the door and pull it open, holding Strauss’ medallion in his hand, which he helped jam the door with, and we see Rossi close the door saying “Zugzwang”, leaving “The Replicator” alone in the house as the bomb goes off.

The end scenes are of the team as Strauss’ funeral and then gathered around a table at the infamous “Rossi Mansion” discussing memories of their fallen ally.

The season finale, though I found ran rather quickly at the end, was great.  I loved that it kept us on our toes the whole time and that it was a full team episode.

I was very proud of Joe Mantegna’s performance in this episode.  He played many different emotions and pulled them all off well.  The grief for Strauss tore my heart and his anger towards Morgan gripped me with fear when I thought he would shoot him.  His bravery also at the end when he faced the replicator alone and his cleverness by tricking him with Strauss’ medal was genius.

I was also proud of Mark Hamill for making a wonderful and creepy Replicator.  His years of acting experience did not fail him, and I enjoyed hating him throughout the episode, yelling every time I saw him doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing, without anyone noticing.

I was saddened by Strauss’ death.  We knew her through many seasons as the enemy, always trying to tear them apart or bring them down, but this episode showed the wonderful side of her.  We saw her weak, as she asked Hotch not to leave her alone in her final moment, which still to this day, makes me want to cry.  I was also very angry at Curtis for embarrassing her in her final moments, forcing her to drink, something that Rossi thought her kids would find hard to believe even if it was true.  But I was glad that it also ended on the good side of her, showing that she was still a good woman deep down.

The team work throughout was great.  I was glad to see Agent Anderson and Kevin in it too.  I was also glad by the few moments of near death experiences for some of members, not because I wanted them to die, but to keep us interested to the end, to wonder if we would lose any other team in the BAU.  Although, I must admit, I was extremely nervous and scared when Rossi got locked in with Curtis, ready to cry if the house exploded with him in it.

The story might not end here though.  We may have seen the house explode with Curtis in it, but we had no actual confirmation of the body found in the house, so I am looking forward to seeing in season 9 if this is truly over.  I am also excited to see the new story lines and wondering who will be picked for Strauss’ replacement.   Now all we need to do, is wait for September to come around.

Jasmine (lintusflower)

Oh No They Didn’t! recently had the pleasure of interviewing “Magic Valley” writer/director Jaffe Zinn, following the movie’s release on Itunes and other VOD platforms. They touched on a variety of subjects such as the casting process, and a possible sequel/prequel featuring “Mok”, the character played by Matthew Gray Gubler. He also talks about his film “Children”, which also features Gubler, currently in post production.

You’ve mentioned plans for another film (sequel/prequel/installment) focusing on Mok, can you give us more information on that?

JZ: The Mok film is neither a sequel/ prequel, but kind of like a parallel universe in which that character has moved to the Pacific Northwest and is a member of a black metal band. It’s another ensemble film, but Mok’s character is definitely more prominent. It’s a film called “Winter All The Time” and is loosely based on the Norwegian Black Metal scene from the 90′s. I wrote that script clear back in 2007 and have been wanting to make it ever since. I recently moved to Seattle and have been thinking more and more about getting back to that film. It’s still one of my favorite things I’ve written.

You’re currently working on your new film ‘Children’, would you like to share more about that?

JZ: I’m still in the post production phase on Children, but it’s coming together. It’s a very strange movie (I think) and it’s going to be interesting to see people’s reactions. I’m very interested in the concept of morality in relation to a person’s actions vs. a person’s core and wanted to make a film that explored the idea of people doing something terrible, but believing what they are doing is “right” and the whole subjectivity of morality in the first place.

Will we see any familiar ‘Magic Valley’ faces?

JZ: There are a few appearances… Gube is in it and one of the boys, Daniel Frandson, is as well.

To read the full interview, click here

Now that Criminal Minds is on hiatus, and while we await news on Matthew Gray Gubler filming the new Richard Bates Jr. film, news may be a little light this Summer. We all still need our Matthew fix though. To solve this problem, we are introducing the Matthew Gray Gubler Fans Video Of The Day. Each day we will be posting a random Matthew video from the past. It could be a film trailer, behind the scenes video, favorite interviews, or some of the epic ones Matthew has uploaded himself.

Our first video is from 2008 when the Criminal Minds cast took part in a q&a at the Paley Center. Here we present Matthew’s “NY Story”

Ever wonder what it would be like if Matthew Gray Gubler made an infomercial? From the creative minds of Matthew, and famed photographer Terry Richardson, we now present “Hollywood Abs”.

Thanks to fan-girl.org, we have these new photos of Matthew Gray Gubler out for a stroll in Beverly Hills today.

The final picture is where TMZ caught up with Matthew to ask him the question that’s on all of our minds. “Who’s the sexiest Disney Character”? To see Matthew’s response, click here.

We just got word from “The Learning Curve” director/writer Phil McCarty, that the closing night programming for the New Media Film Festival, which includes “The Learning Curve” in the coveted final film spot, is now sold out. They are trying to move to a different theater to allow for more attendees. Congratulations to those who got their tickets. You will LOVE this film. Stay tuned for more updates on ticket availability.

“The Learning Curve” is based on the short story by the same name, written by David Sedaris. Matthew Gray Gubler stars as Mr. Sedaris  as he teaches a creative writing class with no previous teaching experience. The film was written and directed by Phil McCarty, and Produced by Phree Swearingen. For more information, visit the TLC website.

Yesterday, The American Lung Association released pictures from the 3rd Annual Set Sail With Saks Event held last month in Las Vegas. Matthew Gray Gubler once again hosted the Dinner and Fashion Show, and participated in a VIP Soiree with fans in attendance. Here are pics of Matthew from that event.

To see more photos of Matthew from the event, check out the American Lung Association’s Facebook Page

Thanks to Gublernews for the tip

Today, we bring you a most epic video that Matthew Gray Gubler of himself on YouTube from 2012. The title says it all. Check out “Long Lost Footage Of Matthew Gray Gubler In Japan Singing Karaoke While Dressed As A Turtle”. Enjoy!!!

Matthew Gray Gubler has once again visited his friend Terry Richardson at his studio and as always, we are treated to his unique photo’s. Check out these new shots of Matthew photographed with Singer/Model/Actress Sky Ferreira.

Check out more photo’s from Terry At Terry’s Diary

Today, we bring you a clip from Matthew Gray Gubler’s Appearance on Top Story! Weekly back in 2010. In this video from the Weekly Improv Series, Matthew plays his alter ego Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds, discussing the Criminal Mind of BP CEO Tony Hayward with Phillip Wilburn.

Terry Richardson has just released more photo’s of Matthew Gray Gubler’s recent visit to his studio. Yesterday we posted Matthew’s shots with Sky Ferreira, and here are his solo ones, and a couple with Terry from that same shoot.

Today’s Video Of The Day is a 2 for 1. Both video’s take us back to Criminal Minds Season 5. As part of the DVD’s Special Features, it included a behind the scenes look at Matthew Gray Gubler’s first Criminal Minds directing experience, Episode 5.16 “Mosley Lane”. We get a look at his directing style, casting, how much respect his cast members have for him, and just how much pride he has in the experience. Enjoy!!!

Today’s video of the day comes from one of Matthew Gray Gubler’s many modeling campaigns. Everybody knows the story of Matthew being discovered back in the day and modeling for many high profile designers. Well in 2011 he was still working it as seen in this full length commercial for the Fall/Winter campaign for Aldo Shoes. Watch Matthew work a little magic! Enjoy!

Since the video I picked for today’s video of the day is so short, I’m posting two! Both videos once again come from 2011. In the first one, we have Matthew Gray Gubler demonstrating the correct way to bowl.  In video number 2 Matthew participates in a quick fire round with SkyLiving. Enjoy!!!

Thanks to producer Phree Swearingen for giving us a heads up that organizers of the New Media Film Festival have been succesfull in moving the Closing Programming of the festival to a different theater at The Landmark. This has made more tickets available for their showing of “The Learning Curve” starring Matthew Gray Gubler. To purchase tickets, click here

The short film starring Matthew Gray Gubler and directed by Phil McCarty, is an adaptation of a story entitled “The Learning Curve” by author David Sedaris. It can be found in his collection of essays entitled “Me Talk Pretty One Day”. Matthew plays Sedaris as he recalls his job teaching a writing workshop while being highly unqualified.

Today’s Video Of The Day is from the Criminal Minds Season 7 Special Features. It is Matthew Gray Gubler’s Fireside Chat. Watch Matthew discuss his Heathridge Manor Episode, his Castmates, and what it takes to be a good Director. Enjoy!!!

In an exclusive online interview with Matthew Gray Gubler Fans, “The Learning Curve” Director/Writer Phil McCarty, and Producer Phree Swearingen answered questions from us regarding working with Matthew Gray Gubler, what it took to bring “The Learning Curve” to life, and what they would teach if they found themselves in in David Sedaris’ position.

Gublerfanlori, Phil McCarty, and Phree Swearingen

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Of all the short stories written by David Sedaris, why the Learning Curve?

Phil: There are a number of reasons we chose The Learning Curve, initially. Allow me to be sort of… arty for a second (or new age) (or west coast) (or crazy) (or schizophrenic) (or [word that implies a disconnect from reality]). One of the things that I love or find fascinating about art is discovery. In context of your question I mean, very frequently you make a decision for what you think is one reason, and then later on something you hadn’t even considered becomes the driving force for that decision, rendering your earlier reason sort of unnecessary above and beyond the fact that that reason got you to the second one. That’s an overly intricate way of saying it but what I mean to say is…

Have you ever heard a song, and INSTANTLY loved it, and then only weeks (or years) later, listened to the lyrics carefully and discovered that the song is describing exactly what you were going through at that time? Or maybe the song had nothing to do with your life then, but now it does, and it makes you love it any more? The Learning Curve is a lot like that for me.

The initial reasons we picked the story were twofold. Practically speaking, it’s a very simple story to shoot. Relatively speaking. The whole story (more or less) takes place in a classroom. In addition, it’s one of the few stories that don’t involve his family, so no need for kids, or the elderly. We could mostly work with college age kids which the world (and my phone) is teeming with. You can throw a rock and hit a college-aged person. I’m so tempted to make a joke about rock assault here but I won’t. I’ll leave that to you.

The second of those two folds (?) was that at the time I was actually sharing the script with Sedaris with the hope that he would turn and read some of my own prose, and grade it, much like he did for the students in the classroom. There was no greater ambition than that to be honest. I just thought it’d be cool if David Sedaris read and graded my writing, regardless of whether or not he hated/loved it.

However those two reasons, while being enough to spark the creation of the short, aren’t why it speaks to me now. (Not that it speaks to me like a ghost or a burning bush or whatever, but you know. It resonates, emotionally).

As we got further into production, I realize that, in a lot of ways, I’m a lot like the character in the story at that point of his life. He finds himself doing something that he always DREAMED he would be able to do. And deep in his heart he fears being judged incapable of doing it. Similarly, this was my first time really directing a production of any scale. I’d done a number of smaller fun projects with friends but this was the first time that 30+ individuals (and 11 actors) expected me to, at the very least, not completely waste their time. And the reality of directing is that by the time you are on set, Directing, most of the crew has spent an infinite number of time working with an infinitely larger number of directors than you have. If you’ve done your job well you are simply surrounded by people who know more than you and are better than you at their jobs than you might ever be at yours. It was very humbling.

Phree: It was chosen before I was on board the project.

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Phil: Absolutely. I first read Me Talk Pretty One Day  in… oh I’m going to be super dorky and go to amazon to figure out when I bought that book.

Has David or Matthew seen the finished film?

Phil: To my knowledge, No to both, actually. Matthew’s waiting to see it in front of an audience, and David isn’t particularly fond of watching fictionalized versions of himself on screen.

Phree:To the best of my knowledge, no.

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Matthew Gray Gubler is brilliant in this. It was almost as if he was playing himself. Was he your first choice to play Mr. Sedaris, or were there others?

Phree: He was our first choice, and we are still very thrilled to have gotten him to be a part of this project.

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How long did it take to film?

Phil: 4 days. We shot the majority of it in 3 days and then because of the Criminal Minds filming schedule we had to wait about 5 months to shoot the 4th day.

Phree: It took 3 principal days of photography, and then a pick up shoot months later.

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How was directing Matthew?

Phil: Um. Matthew ruined me as a director because he was absolutely perfect. Meaning: he’s a filmmaker first, he studied at NYU, and directs episodes of Criminal Minds among other things. And, as an actor on a long running show, he’s seen dozens if not hundreds of directors work, and been able to learn from all of their techniques. So he’s a better and more experienced director than I am, by far. However, and here’s where he gets to be almost magical. I -never- felt insecure about my lack of experience. He was encouraging, supportive, and happy to collaborate and equally happy to take direction, not that he ever needed it.

There’s a misconception, I think, or at least, one that I had going into this experience: director is based on the verb “direct” which seems very aggressive and like you’re telling people what to do, and how to do it. It’s not really the experience, or at least it wasn’t my experience. Directing isn’t like you’re (lets get nautical) in a canoe, frantically paddling on either side, trying to keep things straight. It’s more like you’re at the back of a giant boat, and you’ve got the rudder in your hands, and basically the thing’s going to go the right direction even if you get up and walk away, it’s your role just to keep it going straight.

Now, that’s a horrible simplification, and actually inaccurate, even as I think about it. It’s NOT that easy. It -can- be that easy, and what makes it that easy is if you surround yourself by really amazing people. It would not be inaccurate to say that every person on set was better at their job than I was at mine, so that made my job easy. My suspicion is that the only time directors have to get very DIRECTOR-Y is if someone isn’t doing their job well. That would cause a crazy micro-manage reflex, I’m sure. But… my crew and cast were all professionals and were brilliant, honestly, so I didn’t ever have to do anything except offer minor modifications here and there.

Back to Matthew: So, directing him was never a question of “Oh that was good.” or “Oh that was bad.” There was never an objective qualitative analysis of a performance. Only relative ones. Meaning, in the context of the piece, at large, which performance makes the most sense, or which is best, in the best way. Does that make sense? I tend to make simple things not make sense.

How was working with Matthew?

Phree: Matthew was an absolute pleasure to work with. He brought creativity, professionalism, and FUN to the set everyday. It is great to collaborate with such a talented cast.

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Would you ever teach a class as Mr. McCarty, or Mr. Swearingen, and what would it be?

Phil: I hope I get to teach one day. Actually. No. I hoped to teach one day. I just heard back from an old English professor of mine, from undergrad. He says kids now read a lot less than they used to. I couldn’t deal with that. I’d be crochety Mr. McCarty (It occurs to me that crochet, as an adjective, does NOT relate to crotches or crochet. Discuss.) whining about the good ol’ days when people actually read books instead of watching the movie. Yes it’s ironic that my first film is an adaptation of a book but there you have it.

As far as which class? Hmm. I’m obsessed with technology, human interaction, and relationships. So, I’d like to merge all three of those into a class. It’d be strange for sure.

Phree: Yes, for sure. I’d love to teach filmmaking one day. I was so inspired by many of teachers, I would love to be able to play that role for someone else one day.

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Name a moment in your life when you were in constant fear like Mr. Sedaris in front of his class.

Phil: Three of the four days of production were absolutely terrifying. I kept thinking “oh my god I’m going to break this. They’re going to see that I’m a fraud and KILL me. That happens right? Do crews kill directors?”

Phree: That’s never happened.
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Are there any other cities confirmed to play The Learning Curve?

Phree: At the moment, I don’t think so, but we have submissions out there and are working to get it everywhere we can.

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Any future plans with Matthew Gray Gubler, if so what?

Phil: We’ve talked casually about things, but nothing concrete.

Phree: There has been some “talks” but nothing concrete, yet…

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What do you miss most about working with Matthew?

Phil: Uh, he’s the happiest person I’ve ever met? Now, that’s not fair to him at all of course, that puts a burden on him, and I’m sure, like every single person out there he has shit that he’s not happy about, but -unlike- almost every single person I’ve ever met, he’s able to set that aside when he’s interacting with people, which makes him come across as the happiest person, and somehow that makes the people around him happier.

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What are your current projects?

Phil: I’m currently helping an author with a book teaser. I met her at a film festival in New Hampshire, and her novel sounds really exciting. It’s called “Muckers” and it’s basically hoosiers for football. That’s a reduction, it’s deeper than that but check it out., I think the book comes out this October.My writing partner (more on him in a sec) and I are currently working on various ideas.

Phree: I’m producing an “Untitled” feature that we will be shooting a trailer for this summer and aiming to shoot this Winter. Other than that, I just moved out to Portland to write my next projects, so I will have to keep you posted.

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Leaving out the budget, what was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in this project and how did you do that?

Phil: It’s hard to pick one, and it’s… here’s why this question is sneaky. There were a number of major challenges, and the way I overcame it, is by not overcoming them at all. We had two great producers, Phree Swearingen and Alycia Garcia, and they took care of those challenges for me and allowed me to focus on directing.

Phree: Oh man, easily the time crunch. I was hired as the Producer with 12 days ’til shooting. I was deep in post production on another film, and after spending a day on the phone with Phil, it was evident that there many elements not in place. I had to be in Florida, so Alicia Garcia (Producer) got the quickest crash course in Producing. Basically I was setting up meetings left and right, and having Aly take them. We were all scrambling to lock down crew members, locations, insurance, gear, casting, etc… it was challenging to say the least. And there were a few times we didn’t think it was gonna be able to happen. Thankfully, it did.

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Are you enjoying the feedback on The Learning Curve? Were you expecting this feedback as a response?

Phil: This is going to sound egotistical, but… yes. Absolutely. And here’s why it’s not egotistical. I’m expecting people to LOVE this movie, and LOVE Matthew’s performance because I love this movie, and everything about it, and it’s because everyone who was involved was a badass. It looks great, because Quyen Tran (my cinematographer) shot it. That’s not all she did, but it’s the easiest thing to label. The costumes look great because of Serena Duffin, Jeff Hall (editor) put it together in the funniest possible way, Tahnee Gehm’s animations are absolutely perfect, every single actor brought something great to their role, yes. So, I’m a fan of this movie because I’m a fan of all of the work people did, and I enjoy it so much it would kinda blow my mind if people didn’t love the work they did as well.

Phree: The feedback has been so positive it is great! It is hard to anticipate what fans response will be when you are so involved (bias).

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How hard was it to adapt The Learning Curve into a screenplay?

Phil: My writing partner is a fucking genius, so, not too hard. Can I say fucking in interviews? Freaking seems weird. But yeah, David Dong (my writing partner) is a genius, and David Sedaris is brilliant, so combine those two things together and it wasn’t hard at all.

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Was there anything in the short story that was filmed but cut?

Phil: Yeeeees. There was a sequence in the beginning, a dream sequence that we cut because… well, the story really happens when he gets in the room, and this scene sort of delayed him getting there. Also, film festivals don’t like long short films, imagine that. The first edit of this film was around 22 minutes long, the version you saw was sixteen minutes and 37 seconds.

Phree: Yes, some really good stuff too!

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Will you be releasing any deleted scenes or gag reel at some point?

Phil: Oh. Probably?

Phree: Hopefully.

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Without spoiling it, the special effects were amazing. Who’s idea were those?

Phree: They were the result of a brainstorm session between the writers, director, and producers.

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Do you like doing short films, or would you like to do a feature length film someday?

Phil: Yes, I enjoyed this, but would also love to do a feature, and a TV show. They all have strengths and weaknesses. Shorts are great because you can explore a simple idea very closely, and you can make something over the span of a few days. TV shows are great because you and your cast&crew get to be family and interact for an extended period of time, which sounds fantastic, if you love your cast&crew. There was a weird summer-campy feeling at the end of TLC, where I’d had this fun experience with 30-40 people, and there was just no way we were all gonna hang out again, or even really be in the same place. I found that to be incredibly depressing, but I’m emotionally fragile at times.

Those are some of the production based reasons of course, there are also slightly deeper narrative strengths and weaknesses to each format. Films are great for exploring an idea, but not as great as exploring character. If you’re with a character for 90-120 minutes, there’s only so much realistic growth and change that can happen before they seem crazy. However if you’re with that same character for 30 minutes a week for the course of years, you can approximate something that starts to look like the natural growth and evolution of a real person. And, by virtue of having watched that character for that long, the audience/reader/viewer does have a real sense of …, I don’t know, knowing that person? LOST is my current prototype for that– I still feel like they’re on the island somewhere. I’m going to be real disappointed when Breaking Bad ends. Had it been a 2 hour movie? Notsomuch. Not that that story would’ve worked as a 2hour movie but you get what I’m going for right?

Phree: A feature is my next step!

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If your in the Los Angeles area this week, make sure you check out “The Learning Curve” showing at the Landmark Theater, Wednesday night at 7:30 pm as part of the New Media Film Festival. Phil McCarty and Phree Swearingen will be in attendance so make sure you say hello.

Thanks to Jasmine for contributing some of her questions, and a special thanks to Phil and Phree for taking the time to answer them!

Today’s Video Of The Day is another two for one. Back in 2011, Matthew Gray Gubler posed for a photo spread in Jalouse Magazine. Here are the behind the scenes videos for his shoot. Enjoy!!!

Today’s Video Of The Day takes us all the way back to Season 1 of Criminal Minds. As everybody knows, Criminal Minds was Matthew Gray Gubler’s first major role, and as part of the Criminal Minds Season 1 DVD Extras, was a piece entitled “Meet Matthew Gray Gubler”. It takes a look into how he got the job, his home life, and gearing up for his first onscreen kiss. Enjoy!!!