Just arriving at news stands across the country is the August 2006 edition of Mopar Action and it includes an article that I wrote on the Top 10 Mopar Muscle Car movies of all-time.

The title of the article is called "Lights, Camera, Mopar Action" and it can be found on page 82. It contains written analysis on movies that feature muscle cars from Chrysler, Dodge or Plymouth along with plenty of pictures.

You can find the magazine at any grocery store across America, as well as any Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc.

What's great is that this is just the first of a series of articles on muscle cars and movies, which has just been picked up by another magazine. More info on that as soon as I have a definitive press date.

This is a bit exciting for me because these articles going into publication mean the chances of my next book getting into a wide-release printing are better than average.

I hope everyone can get a chance to check it out and let me know what you think!

February 8, 2006

So here's the scoop - in the past few months, with some spare time, I edited a short experimental video called "A Cinematic Valentine". It was in response to call for a inerested filmmakers who would want to create a Valetine's Day/love themed short film for an upcoming festival to be held right before Valentine's Day in Syracuse, NY.

To make a long story short, "A Cinematic Valentine" uses clips from 40 movies to show the progression of a relationship incinematic imagery. The video is accompanied by the music of The Lost Patrol (check them out here and give them a listen - you won't regret it!).

And last week I was informed that "A Cinematic Valentine" was selected as one of the four finalists and will hit the screen this Saturday at the Eastwood Palace in Syracuse, NY right after the 7:30 PM showing of "Casablanca" with Humphrey Bogart.

After "Casablanca", the short films will screen at 9:30 PM - then voting ballots will be handed out.

The kicker is that the audience will vote on the best film, and the votes are counted while a showing of Ed Wood's "Bride of the Monster" plays after the shorts.

It is going to be a fun Valentine Festival, and I hope that everyone gets a chance to get there (who's in driving distance and reading this....I could use the votes...ah ha!)

For more information check out bmoviefest.com

Of course with Festival Director's permission, we will also post the short video here for all to see. But for now, it is in the festival's hands.

December 20, 2005

"And I Lived" makes Film Threat's Top 10 Best Unseen Films of 2005

The feature film, Dead Heaven, is being held in development status for a second year due to lack of funding. As we all know, getting a movie off the ground and into production is the hardest part of filmmaking. Our meetings this past year with potential investors brought some genuine interest into the project, but ultimately, not enough financing was obtained to bring in the amount of investors needed to complete the film and see it to DVD.

With the small amount of funding obtained through fundraisers, production manager Victor Linney and director Ryan Dacko will be pursuing grant applications and other avenues in order to finance Dead Heaven and see it into production by the fall of 2006.

To all of you who have and continue to support Ascension 3 Studios in developing this feature film to be shot in Syracuse, New York - we thank you. Please know that your efforts have helped us get this movie as close to reality as ever before. With some more work and determination, we look forward to seeing you on set or in the theater.

September 9, 2005

Someone here at Ascension 3 Studios broke into the editing equipment and movie collection. It appears that they were huge fans of the New Jersey based band, The Lost Patrol. What resulted was a great music video, featuring some of our favorite actors of all time dancing to the tunes of this obviously great band. So if you ever wanted to see Jimmy Stewart, Elvis, Nancy Sinatra, the Lollipop Guild, and more, groove to the tunes of a music video, now is your chance. You can download the video below. If you like what you hear, make sure you visit the Lost Patrol at www.thelostpatrol.com for more music downloads, album information and tour dates.

The Lost Patrol - Shimmy
MUSIC VIDEO
Length: 4 min 4 sec

September 7, 2005

FUNDRAISER A SUCCESS!

On August 22, Victor Linney successfully completed the 106 mile bike trip from Syracuse, New York to Kingston, Ontario. Leaving at 5:15 AM from downtown, Syracuse, Victor biked for a total of 9 hours and 27 minutes. Taking just three 15-20 minute breaks and waiting for ferry arrival and departures, Victor arrived at the City Hall in Kingston at 4:00 PM that afternoon.

Here is the time schedule of the trip:

Miles	Time	Destination
0.0	5:15 AM	Departure from downtown-Syracuse, NY
8.6	5:50 AM	Cicero-North Syracuse
15.7	6:19 AM	Central Square, NY
36.0	7:52 AM	Pulaski, NY
51.0	9:30 AM	South Sandy Creek, NY
55.5	9:56 AM	Southwick Beach
60.0	10:21 AM	Henderson Harbor, NY
71.4	11:20 AM	Sackets Harbor, NY
80.5	12:25 PM	Lyme, NY
94.6	1:50 PM	Cape Vincent - on Ferry to Wolfe Island, ON
101.9	3:00 PM	Wolfe Island - en route to ferry for Kingston, ON
106	4:00 PM	Arrival at city hall in Kingston, ON

We are very grateful for all those who donated or pledged money to support Victor on this fundraiser. With your support Victor was able to raise $2,000 which will be used to bring another feature film to Syracuse.

We invite you to watch Victor on his route to Canada in the following video, "Biking for Movies". The video has been divided into 3 parts to make for an easier download. We also would like to thank Danielle, Stephen, Michael, and Seth, collectively known as The Lost Patrol, for the outstanding music that accompanies Victor in the video. Please excuse some of the shakes and shimmies, for Ryan had to drive with whatever hand was not holding the camera.

Biking for Movies

PART 1
Length: 3 min 24 sec

PART 2
Length: 3 min 03 sec

PART 3
Length: 2 min 31 sec

July 13, 2005

BIKE FUNDRAISER FOR INDEPENDENT FILM 106 MILES AND YOUR PLEDGE WILL BRING DEAD HEAVEN TO LIFE THIS FALL On August 22nd, Production manager Victor Linney will ride a bicycle 106 miles from Syracuse, New York to Canada in order to raise money for the upcoming feature film titled, Dead Heaven. Click here for full information in our Press Release We need your help in making this production possible by pledging to support Victor Linney and Ascension 3 Studios in our quest to bring this film into reality. NO DONATION IS TOO SMALL! 5 cents a mile goes a very long way. or send to: Ascension 3 Studios PO Box 815 Syracuse, NY 13214

May 16, 2005

Dead Heaven Teaser Trailer Released

Download the trailer Here

Filmed in Syracuse, NY and features music by VNV Nation, this is a promotional trailer for a movie that is slated to start filming in October 2005 - download available here

May 7, 2005

Special Event - Dead Heaven Fundraiser

Free Screening of And I Lived

The Palace Theater, Syracuse, NY

Sunday May 15, 4:30PM

Directions available here

April 12, 2005

Another screening of And I Lived

Another screening of And I Lived has been scheduled for April 30th in Hoboken, NJ as part of the Hoboken Digital Film Society's spring calendar. Admission is free, information and directions can be found on Hoboken Digital website.

April 11, 2005

And I Lived wins 2 Awards at Film Festival

-Best Supporting Actor, Josue Rivera
-Best Score, Matt Tyson & Gary Judge

A Press release has been issued by Sub Rosa Studios. Read more about it here. Pictures from the event will be up soon.

March 22, 2005

Director Ryan Dacko interviewed for Film Threat Magazine

An in depth interview has been written by film critic Phil Hall and featured on their website.

Part 1 of the interview can be found here
Part 2 of the interview can be found here

March 22, 2005

And I Lived reviewed by Film Threat Magazine

Veteran film critic, Phil Hall, gives 4 stars out of 5 in his review of the independant feature film. The full review can be found here on Film Threat's site

March 21, 2005

And I Lived earns 5 award nominations at upcoming film festival

And I Lived has received 5 nominations for awards in an upcoming underground film festival to be held here, in Syracuse, New York at the re-built Eastwood Palace.

 

The 2005 B-Movie Theater Film Festival lineup has been announced by the Syracuse based distribution company, Sub Rosa Studios.

And I Lived will be screening at 7:00 PM on Saturday, April 9th at the Eastwood Palace in Syracuse, New York.

The full line-up of films can be found here: http://www.b-movie.com/hof/specifics.html

I will be holding a question and answer after the showing. Also, Promotional DVD copies of And I Lived will be available for sale at the distribution tables.

 

The 5 award nominations received by the festival's 5 judges are:

 

Best Lead Actor: Matt Clark

Best Lead Actress: Lori Schaufelberger

Best Supporting Actor: Josue Rivera

Best Music: Gary Judge and Matt Tyson

Best Director: Ryan Dacko

 

To see a full listing of all the award nominees, see the b-movie.com page To all who had a hand in the making of And I Lived, thank you so much for your efforts because it wouldn't have been possible without you

We hope to see everyone involved with the production at the Eastwood Palace on April 9th. It is your night, and it will be a great time.

February 23, 2005

Added in some additional information about the DVD and book, along with some sample chapters/sections of Ryan's book.

February 3, 2005

Am currently updating parts of the page to show a page with information in the DVD that was put together along with a page about a book written by Ryan about films and movie making. Look for them to be up by the end of the week

March 30, 2004

Things have been busy here, one of those things worth mentioning is Ryan spoke with students at a local school to talk about what is involved with putting together a movie production complete from start to finish. Here is a clip taken from the newspaper with a short write up underneath:

December 24, 2003

Want to wish everyone a Happy Holidays, and let you know that we have been busy with various budgeting and casting decisions for Dead Heaven. We will keep you updated as things progress.

November 11, 2003

Made quite a few changes to the overall layout of the site, and still will be tweaking it more in the next few weeks. We added a movie poster for Dead Heaven - check it out

September 14, 2003

Welcome to the new site for Ascension 3 Studios. A3 studios is the next step into the future of filmmaking for the company formerly known as Charger Films. With the completion of the feature film "And I Lived", we are on the move with film #2. The title is "Dead Heaven". A gothic highschool drama to be filmed in Upstate New york.

Already hard at work to bring this film into reality are the same minds the came together last year in the making of "And I Lived". Gary M. Lee sr. and PhoenixFire Concepts are heading up casting while Conley "Q" Sergenton is leading the way in operations. Matt Tyson and Gary Judge have composed brand new music for the scoring to "Dead heaven" and are fast at work in their Gama Music Studios in preparation for the sound recording on set.

There is much more to come from Ascension 3 Studios here at the website. More information will be posted here throughout the development period of the film.