Oh my gosh. Crazy Dre Podcast. That's amazing.
Welcome to the Crazy Dre Podcast show. Ladies
and gentlemen, boys and girls, I am back here,
folks. Podcasting, vlogging, the whole bit. This
is the Crazy Dre Podcast show. Crazy Crock, a
.k .a. Andre's Podcast. Today's folks, I have
guests. An old friend of mine, Mr. Movie, Mr.
Michigan Movie himself. From Grand Rapids, Michigan.
We're just going to call him Ken. Ken, how have
you been? Doing pretty good. Not too bad. Not
too bad. So we're going to talk about your movies,
your time. Well, I guess we're just going to
have people catch up with us about how we met
at MC Sports. Right. An old sporting store in
Grand Rapids no longer exists for other reasons
than itself. And then. One year, you decided,
you know what? I'm getting sick of this stuff.
I'm just going to start making movies. How did
that happen? Take us from the time that you decided
that you're going to make movies. Well, there
was a contest on TV where you could submit a
movie short. So I worked on a movie short, submitted
it. Never heard anything back, but I had so much
fun doing it, I decided to keep on making movies.
And then they say, but Trent is your sidekick.
Yeah, the first one we did, Trent was the main
character, and I am a hit -and -run victim. Boy,
I just saw that again. Yeah, what is that, quandary?
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, then he just drags me off,
leads me in a ditch, and bashes my head in or
whatever. Yeah, yeah. You know what's great about
that movie is that there's two characters in
that movie. Your daughter. yes in the movie yeah
and the other girl who's the other oh that's
uh trent's daughter that's her yeah really yeah
oh no way yeah because it's so funny to watch
that part of that movie and you see his daughter
and him look down and he's like and then he goes
in his truck yeah which so it took you guys what
how long does it usually take you to make a movie
like that i think that one took us Just a few
days. Okay. You know, it was a short. It had
to meet a certain minute requirement for the
contest. Yeah. But, yeah, it was just a few days.
Okay. Okay. And then from that movie, what was
your next project? The next one was Mr. Perfect,
Michigan Made. Yeah. Went more to a crime drama
kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. That one started off
as a short, but then everybody liked it so much
and they wanted to see more. I wrote more. and
turn it into like an hour. Yeah. Yeah. Don't
you have a two, two, uh, sections of that movie?
Yeah. Yeah. I just kind of added on to the first
section. Okay. Yeah. Okay. That's what I did.
And then the actors, actresses who, who's on
that, who's in all that movie. Oh, do you remember?
We've got, you already agree. Uh -huh. And then,
uh, Richard Raphael. Uh -huh. Got McGuire in
it. Uh -huh. stephanie's in it wasn't you wasn't
those two girls the ones by down the street and
ionia and then they change into the outfit oh
yeah that's you aria gray she came in from detroit
yeah remember that i remember that yeah i remember
that she brought her friends yeah make sure that
we were on our just oh yeah creepy guys like
yeah we just wanted to take a picture of your
girls but yeah they came from detroit yep and
they're actually in a spot where uh uh the market
is yep and then they had to clean it up we used
that spot and it was a good spot location underneath
the bridge you know the dirty kind of greasy
yeah they cleaned it up but that was one of my
favorite spots to do a movie and just so in that
movie tell us though um i guess we might may
have a little spoiler report on it but tell us
what that movie was really about mr perfect Mr.
Perfect is about a teacher, and he is actually
a serial killer. And he's, of course, doing what
he does. And we have the detectives trying to
catch up with him. But, of course, the detectives
don't even think he's back killing because he's
had such a long hiatus. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So
there's a lot of like, is the Grand River Killer
back? no so some of the detectives don't really
agree so much with each other okay speaking of
the detective or the character the guy on the
bike oh brad brad brad he was uh he was the oh
he's the principal he's the prince yeah he's
the principal and trent's the the killer yep
and you know what's funny about it and what's
great about that movie is that the principal
has a a bike and he's a bike looking kind of
guy. And you just don't see that, which is different
because most guys are short hair, you know, and
their ties to the whole bit. And that was filmed
in the old Ottawa. Yeah. It was filmed in the
teacher's parking lot at Ottawa Hills. Yeah.
And now it's a city hall. I think it's for all
the smart artsy kids. Oh yeah. Yeah. That's what
I heard that that's at school. And then the other
character. You guys did show the person that
they supposedly killed, right? Isn't that in
the same movie that you have to have the body
there? Oh, I think in the one scene I just had
like a sheet covering a body. I don't think I
actually showed any. Okay. It's just kind of
like, yeah, the one was covered and taped off
like a police scene. And then the other ones
are just mentioned over the phone. Okay. Okay.
And then. What was your favorite part about making
that movie? Can you take us back to anything
you remember that was very difficult or really
easy or a lot of fun? It was somewhat fun, but
it was a lot of work. Working with volunteers,
some people would say they would show up for
a scene. They wouldn't show up. I'd have to rewrite
it. Sometimes it was... It was frustrating. Uh
-huh. But, yeah. And then Brad came from what?
I think he's, yeah, he came from Detroit. He's
from Detroit, too. Yeah, he's been in a few other
films here in Michigan. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And
then what's the other movie? What's the movie
that I was in again? Oh, you were in this one.
Yeah. You were the. Yeah, I was the. Yeah, you're
the. The drug addict. Yeah, the tweaker. The
tweaker and Tracy. Yeah. And this was shot right
by, there's a cookie place now, but it's the
same parking lot of Speakeasy, no, the lounge,
the hamburger spot. God, I'm going blank. I know
we shot it during ArtPrize. Yeah, it's actually
behind the building. of that hop cat owns it
the guy that owns hop cat owns uh i can't remember
that restaurant so it's an 80s restaurant you
remember that yeah we're just outside yeah just
outside no thursdays go there thursdays if i
can remember the name of the restaurant good
job grand rapids but i remember i remember that
part where i was laying in the snow and some
guy comes up to us he's like what are you guys
doing oh we're making a movie oh yeah and then
i was just like literally laying there i think
oh yeah i remember that part where you were uh
had to beat me up oh that's uh what's that movie
that was that was what was that inherit the inherit
the earth i think so something like that yeah
you were like some century sent from a far off
place to yeah kind of check out the the world
and it didn't go so well. No. And I got my ass
kicked by this guy. And then I think the guy
saw that and he just wanted to make sure that
this was real. I'm like, no, just wait here.
Yeah. We filmed that on the coldest day of the
year. Oh my God. It wrecked my camera. Yeah.
And they started making all these odd clicking
noises. So I had to get a new camera. Oh, geez.
Damn. That's awful. That's awful. But I, I love.
i love that movie i love the movie with uh with
tracy in it because she kept telling me keep
tweaking or yeah because i'm not i mean i've
never been on drugs besides alcohol and maybe
a little marijuana get high kids they tell you
at least 25 and your brain develops completely
to do that true story it's it is that's what
they tell the kids now it's funny i can talk
just talk to people like they're kids but That
movie was a lot of fun. She and Trent and you
were at my old apartment in Wyoming, and she
was doing drawing or something? Yes, she's Trent's
wife. She's Mr. Perfect. Well, this character's
name is Paul Westfall, so she was Mrs. Westfall,
and she was a children's book illustrator. Oh,
yeah. oh yeah so that was that was really fun
you had had cat i would trend in my bedroom waking
up yep the whole bed that was so weird i should
have charged you should have charged like 20
bucks i'm poor i'm just kidding i'm just joking
it was a joke hey so moving on what's the other
project that you guys did uh i did Sometimes
I think these thoughts, that's a little zombie
short. Oh, yeah. That one was all right. Yeah.
Shooting that in the woods. That has Richard
Raphael in it, Elizabeth. Wasn't that at Perry
Parkway Park? It's at. In Wyoming? It's a park
way out on, was it out in Dutton? oh okay i think
it's out in dutton i had it all i had that location
all scoped out had a cool little it had a bridge
going over a little creek yeah and then when
i go to shoot they had ripped all that out so
i had to shoot another part of the woods because
i wanted the zombie to walk over the bridge look
at his reflection in the water but they ripped
it all out so i went to another part to shoot
so it's kind of missing some of those little
niceties Okay. What's the movie? Actually, I
had picked up this movie that I just saw this
again with Zombie Guts Guns TV Horror. What's
it called? Hulibia Slow Burn. Remember that movie?
Actually, with that zombie short, the idea is
It's around a schlock midnight horror TV show.
So it has a hostess. Her name is Annalisa. I
like that part when she says, you're a little
bit crazy and you're not a pussy. And then she
says, I wouldn't mind having him play with my
cat. Yeah, that was pretty good. Kind of played
around with that one a little bit. That one was
filmed. I didn't get as many headstones and stuff
in the background as I wanted, but I wanted that
to be. more obvious that was shot in a graveyard
might not come across but then again yeah that's
all right yeah but what's the rules about filming
in the graveyard i mean you can't literally do
that right i don't know this i mean that i mean
the the ground keepers will start seeing that
and they're like hey you guys gotta leave your
do your disrespecting the dead or the people
the family members who are alive with graveyards
i have no idea i don't know i know that one thing
my dad was cremated without no tombstone right
yeah you don't see anything in the background
that's what i'm saying yeah there's nothing really
there to see we're kind of like off in a part
where there wasn't much so if you're looking
for my dad's graveyard you're never gonna find
it all right just one of you guys know all there
my dad did not exist apparently no that's why
he did that really yeah he didn't want to exist
no he didn't want people to go and like oh visit
visit like you know some people my dad always
got creeped out by uh going to cemeteries and
like some people love doing that and they they
love to go and to visit their ancestors or their
parents or their brothers and sisters and bring
flowers and have that moment like they're like
talking to them my dad didn't want nothing to
do that oh okay my dad says I'm here, and I'm
here with you. All right. So I'm like, cool.
Great. I got his favorite drink, too, over there.
What was his favorite drink? No, actually, I
don't. It's Canadian Mesk. Disgusting. I do have
Jameson, though, by the way. Not that you guys
need to know that, but I just wanted to let you
guys know. So moving on, what other movie did
you want to talk about? Oh, you know what? Let's
talk about that movie theater that we did, the
wealthy theater. This is why Ken's stuff is on
YouTube. Because movie theaters, to rent them
out, are way too expensive. Well, yeah, they
are. I mean, it's a whole theater. Yeah, it wasn't
cheap. And the thing is, too, is since nobody
knows me, nobody knows the movies. Nobody really
shows up. It's usually just people that worked
on the film or were in the film. But, yeah, I
rented the theater, and we all had a good time
watching it. It was fun. Yeah, that wealthy theater
is probably my favorite. Yeah, it's a nice theater.
Do you still go there to watch movies? Every
once in a great while. You don't do that much
more because you have to work. Yeah, I work second
shift. Yeah, it's a bummer. Look, folks, you
guys got to go to Michigan Made Movies. What's
it called? Yeah, Michigan Made Movie House on
YouTube. Regardless of what you guys do, keep
trying, keep working. Any other movies you want
to chit -chat about? Any experiences or advice
you want to give people who are thinking about
making movies just for fun? Kicks? Yeah, go ahead
and make your movie for fun or kicks. Go ahead,
give it a shot. Why not? And then... Any suggestions
about YouTubing, blogging, blogging, or anything
like that? No, I'm still kind of learning YouTube
stuff. So, yeah, just basically I just upload
the videos, but there's so much more to do that
I've got to really figure out how to get more
views. I can tell you advice. I can give you
a little short advice that I'm learning myself
is make shorts. like making them like a minute
long yeah and then keep doing that multiple times
a day or multiple times a week and then eventually
the algorithm will catch on to it and it's actually
kind of helping me out and good top of it youtube
will promote your movie if you pay for it okay
i pay like two bucks for certain stuff yeah and
it's like double there's times where i have enough
um main stories about baseball or something that's
the top topic of the story of the week of the
day the time especially let's say the yankees
using a a a torpedo bats and long story short
the part of the uh the part of the the power
of the bat where the hitter is always swinging
now is towards the end of the bat where you're
supposed to swim like everyone else does Every
batter has their own way of swinging. And a lot
of times they hit the ball where it's the weakest
part of the bat. So they're changing that with
the bats, which is illegal, in my opinion. But
it's working for other players. So what I did,
I made it short. I'm on the film or the podcast
that I did. My podcast is about 18 minutes long.
My vlog is about 18 minutes long. But I put that
section in there. In that section, people just
kept watching it because I just kind of made
fun of the Yankees players and how much they
need to cheat. So I got a Philadelphia hat, which
really doesn't make sense because I'm a new Tiger
fan, but I have all these hats now. Yeah, nice
collection of hats. I need like three more baseball
hats and I have a full collection. Are you planning
on making any more movies anytime soon? Are you
still writing or anything? Yeah, I'm still working
on Hell's Bridge. Oh, yeah. What happened to
that project? That was kind of put to the side
just for a little bit to pursue another film,
but then hopefully we'll be back on Hell's Bridge
soon. When, I'm not exactly sure, but hopefully
soon. Is your son in that movie? Oh, those little
shorts that I put up for promotion. He's like
in the background holding the boom mic. Oh, yeah.
Stuff like that. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. That's
cool. Yeah, he does participate. Yeah. Oh, that's
good. That's good. Folks, I think we're done.
Anything else you want to talk about? I think
that was pretty good. All right, ladies and gentlemen,
this is Ken. You can watch Michigan movies on
YouTube. You can ask him to run out a movie theater.
But you have to pay for him to be there. No.
He won't pay for himself just to be there with
you. That's a lot of money, but it's a little
moment. Yeah. Unless his movies make it huge,
and then they'll be making him, well, they're
like celebration cinema where I ask him to participate,
and you have to ask him how much it is. How much
is your price charged for showing up to a movie?
Like 500 bucks? No. A spot? No, no. I'm a celebrity
now. Speaking of Trent, is Trent coming back
in any of the time movies? I wanted Trent to
be in the zombie flick, but he wasn't able to
do it. I haven't really... Let's see. I wouldn't
mind. It wouldn't bother me at all. But I haven't
really spoken to him much or anything like that.
Am I going to be in any movies again? Yeah, I
wanted you to be a zombie. Well. And you didn't
want to be a zombie. You've been a great zombie.
You could have shot the one dude. Oh, yeah. And
Lanael. Lanael was in that movie, too. Yeah,
she was another zombie. Yeah, that was a good
little flick. She killed both those guys who
were poachers. Zombies are poachers. What I like
about it, that part of that movie, speaking of,
is that part where they start taking pictures
of each other. And then the music, who's that?
Is it Mozart? It's not Mozart. Is it Brahms?
It's a classical thing that everyone uses to
illustrate something that's really elegant and
neat, but that was not an elegant moment to kill
a zombie, but it was great. That was probably
one of my favorite flicks. It's a nice, what
is it, like 10 minutes? 10 minutes. 10 minutes.
So, folks, you guys got to go out there and make
movies. Have this guy make movies with you. Have
this guy be in a movie. You can drag him on the
street if you want to. He's done it before. You
can do it again. And I'll be your tweaker. Look
at me. I already am. I'm halfway there. Got a
dollar. Got a dollar. Do I have a dollar? Do
you have a dollar? I need a dollar from you.
Subscribe. Follow me on Facebook. Follow me on
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you can download the podcast, rss .com. Thank
you for being my participant or distributing
all my podcasts out there. I like to thank my
two cameras. StreamYard is what I'm using. And
I'm also using another camera, which I have no
idea how many you put together. All right, folks.
Peace, love. Ken, thank you again. And we're
out of here.