Vern is certainly an interesting character, and somewhat of a likable one - in a rather bumbling way. He's sort of a mix of Married with Children's Al Bundy, Pulp Fiction's Butch, and The Big Lebowski's The Dude. The movie itself seems to pay a good deal of deference to the latter film, all while borrowing stylistically from the modern films like Pulp Fiction and Ocean's 11, yet paying a clever, albeit unusual, homage to the classic director Sergio Leone.The visual look of this film is really quite stunning and the film's score was nothing short of amazing. This is a story that goes back to the Bible – the prodigal son who finds redemption and turns his life around. The Vern gives a unique twist to an ancient theme, with good measures of humor, homage, and, yes, even hope along the way. -Monika DeLeeuw-Taylor- Micr Filmmaker Magazine

Done in a Quentin Tarantino Style with multiple story arcs going on (but not out of order), the editing is very tight. And because of the cinematography, the edit really shines and makes this a film, more so than other independent films out here; a fantastic one and able to compete on the level of most professional films. Overall Impressions: A great looking, great sounding film with some very good actors and a great story. What’s not to like? Would Ryan Recommend It? – If you couldn’t tell from the review, this probably ranks as one of the sharpest independent, low-budget, non-SAG features I’ve ever seen. This is something I honestly believe could be shown in a theater, even though at this point in the convention cycle that’s probably unlikely. I hope this gets a DVD release, as I want to buy a copy! And trust me, you probably would too once you see it. Highly recommended! Would Josh Recommend It? – Absolutely. This film has everything: murder, sexual appeal, violence, comedy, action, suspense, drama, love, etc. If this film ever plays in a theater, festival, or any other type of venue in your city I suggest you cancel all previous plans and make sure to attend its showing. -Josh C. Jones and Ryan A. Brandt- Two Titans Media

AUSTIN "NURSE" RELEASES INDIE FILM, FEATURING HOLLYWOOD VETERANS
 
 Austin, Texas,- First-time filmmaker and
registered nurse joe McReynolds landed veteran Hollywood actors Frank
Ertl and Eric Andersen to star alongside former Austin Film School
co-ordinator Karl Anderson as the lead character in "The Vern"
 
Ertl has over 20 movies to his credit, including "Fireflies in the
Garden", the new Julia Roberts, Willem DaFoe, and Ryan Reynolds flick.
Andersen has appeared on CBS's "JAG" and Robert Rodriguez's
"Grindhouse."
 
The film is shot guerrilla-style, for the meager sum of $7000, all
from McReynolds' own pocket. "We spent about $5,000 on the camera,
and about another $7,000 on the actual movie, which mainly included
food, gas, a little money for actors, locations, and rentals,"
McReynolds told Texas Film Scene (TFS). Very few such no-budget films
can tout veteran Hollywood actors among their cast.
 
In keeping with true Guerilla fashion, Javier Garcia double dipped, appearing with a role in the film, while serving as the director of photography.  "Filmmaking is a radical departure from the [U.S.] Navy and running a successful nursing agency," said the Beaumont, Texas native McReynolds in a recent radio interview on Texas Film Scene (available via iTunes). "But movies have always been my passion, so I decided to get off my butt and make one."   "I originally wrote 'The Vern' for Curtis to star in," , referring to Austin actor Curtis Wayne. "But right before we went into production, Curtis landed the gig on Prison Break, so we turned to Karl, and asked Curtis to be the villain."   Curtis Wayne is no stranger to villain characters. Called Austin's Best Villain (www.curtiswayne.com), Curtis is one of Texas' Top 25 Texas Actors, according to IMDB.com.   "Karl really nailed that character," Curtis Wayne told TFS. "He was perfect. Fans of 'The Big Lebowski', should get a big kick out of this movie." It was shot in Austin and surrounding towns. A trailer of the film can be seen at www.thevernmovie.com.   For more information and release dates, contact joe McReynolds at jmmcreynolds2@mac.com   ABOUT jOE MCREYNOLDS joe McReynolds is a filmmaker and screenwriter in Austin, Texas. He is a registered nurse and former nursing agency owner. He is currently in post-production on 'The Vern' (scheduled for release in the Summer of 2010), and development on his next feature film. -Texas Film Scene- http://texasfilmmakers.ning.com/

Pre-Production | I began writing the script in January of 2007. It started off as a short film but slowly grew into a feature. I made the decision to write and produce “The Vern” with my actor friends as the cast since they wanted to act in a movie and I wanted to Direct a movie. I really just came up with an idea that I thought was flexible. I knew we weren’t going to have any money and so I wanted a story that could be changed on the fly if need be (and it needed to be). I finished the rough draft of the script in March 2007 about the same time I found out my wife was pregnant with our first child. That put a lot of pressure on me to hurry and get this film started as I knew once the baby was born it would make it more difficult.
I made contact with a local screenwriter named Richard Billingsley and we kicked the script back and forth for a few months until July when I really started to be aggressive in pre-production. Curtis Wayne was originally cast to play Vern but some things came up that prevented him from accepting the role. I had met Karl Andersen through a email I sent out and he really took to the role and fell into it. Karl nailed the role and also helped me cast other parts in film. Erica Heidepriem was cast as Betty at the last minute after an actress originally cast dropped out due to her being a SAG member. I met with Erica who was introduced to me by Eric Andersen, a friend/actor in the film. We already had the first scene with Betty scheduled so I asked Erica to show up and shoot the scene and if it went well we would move forward. It went great and she became “Betty Sholeman”.

We were able to secure locations fairly easily with only a couple of last minute changes. All in all everyone was great about letting us use there home or business for the shoot. Highway 71 food mart on highway 71 and “Speedymart” located in downtown Austin were two local business’s that really came through for us. I used my home and the home of Andy Nourse for a couple of the scenes and we picked the rest of the shots up around town with little interference.

Production | “The Vern” was shot over the span of a year and a half. We shot most of the film in the fall of 2007 before my Sweet baby jane was born. We picked back up in the spring of 2008 and finally got our last shot in the can in February of 2009. I had been editing and adding scenes the whole time as the script evolved into a different story from the original script but for the best. I was very fortunate to have a great crew in Javier Garcia and Carlos Teran. They were crucial in getting this film shot. We really worked well as a team and I can’t wait to do more with these guys. I can’t begin to tell you how awesome this cast was. Everyone involve was committed to the project and hung in there all the way. These guys are the best and will be involved with anything I do in the future, if they’ll work with me again.
More importantly I must extend a huge thank you to my wife Traci McReynolds. If not for her patience and strength I would have never got this film done. She was essential in every aspect of this project. As a new mother dealing with the chaos she had to deal with during this process is a statement to her a greatness as a wife, mother and friend.
Ok now to the tech stuff. We shot this film on DVCPRO HD (High Definition) in 720p mode at 24 fps, using the Panasonic AG-HVX200 camera with P2 work flow (no tape) We didn’t use any lens adapters. The film was shot by first time Director of Photography Javier Garcia. We use a boom pole and a couple of sennheiser shotgun mics.
We used some softbox lights along with clip on lamps, flashlights, car headlights, shop lights ect. pretty much anything we could get to make light we used it. That’s about it on the technical stuff in production.

Post-Production | I edited the film with final cut pro on my macbook pro laptop using external hard drives. I edited as we went along when I had time and after I locked the picture I sent it over to Javier Garcia where he edited the sound. Karl Anderson put me in contact with Jud “Scrappy” Newcomb, a local Austin Tx musician who contributed several tracks to the film along with music from Curtis Wayne and John Shaw. John Shaw also did a significant amount score work on the film. The rest of the music was pulled from Soundtrack pro, Garage band and twisted tracks.com. Dominique Preyer was brought on to handle the music supervisor role and has done an exceptional job.