times they are a changing.

wow. a lot has happened since the last update. for starters, i (derk) celebrated my birthday. i guess i'm in my late 20's now? anyway, that's what someone told me... the bourbon mall was amazing! there is nothing like ribs, shrimp, steak, and bourbon of course. also, matt's mother graced us with her presence for a few days as we get settled in our new place. we are officially in glen allen now! jackson is a thing of the past...well at least for the next 3 weeks. the editor will hold the fort down for us. everything seems to be changing by the day. new cast and crew are stepping on board and arriving everyday. the script and locations are locked and are being prepped for the start of production on monday. the art department is busy getting robbie's house ready to go. lots of paint, sweat and wasps! i had the honor of getting stung by one of these guys scouting for furniture. matt and jeff are finalizing the shooting schedule and figuring out where they want the camera. amile is loosing his mind (and breaking things) trying to make sure everything is running smoothly. he finally has a few extra bodies now helping him with producing. we have a million things to do in a very short amount of time. it is definitely down to the wire. but, with everyone being so talented in their field, this thing is going to be a success. lets keep our fingers crossed! -derk

Hello From Mississippiiiiiiiiiiii!

hello all from the land of the alluvial plain, sweet tea and shrimp and grits! this is my first blog ever and that is cool.

First and foremost- THANKYOU all for making this dream possible. it is here and we will rip this thing up to the best we got. We have surely put ourselves in the best position possible to make a powerful and natural a film as we can. With out the help of all you folks who are now reading this blog- it could never have been so. We are lucky thanks to you- the list is so long.. but here i need to shout out to Murph and Drit who climbed on board before there was hardly a ship. That takes guts and you two tools must be saluted!I will also thank pops- ray gordon and my bro casey aka dogger, and timmy dogma hathaway and sue joe shin and the italian stallion nicola benizzi and the iceman karthik achar who might be right at home here in the mississippi delta. You all have invested in this dream and here we go.....

So many more thank yous to come and i will not miss anybody by the time this all wraps up ...

We are closin in on 13 days til the shoot begins- we have our cast very nailed down, crew nailed down with some flyin and truckin in from parts near and far, equip on the way, locations all set up ready to be touched up for the final shooting, and a beautiful mississippi sun guiding us through the days here. It is now around the 100 degree mark with a bunch of good humidity- perfect shooting weather i say! hard to fake it in this heat...

The folks all along the way down here are something else- last nights true mississippi dinner in the woods of Madison , Ms with our good pals the Harreld Family... Jim crankin up the steaks and Tami keep the spirits very high with anna, michael and big james on board from team mississippi. My mom is here and she is in fine form along with the amile and the derk man- who when not writing his book "derk on derk" is always ready for some cold beer and juicy steak.

Big shout to the Jones family of Glen Allan , MS or really Chatham , mississippi which is just down the lake. Big Mike jones and his family have made our stay feel like home in the delta. he will also take on one of the roles in the film- this guy is good! and he looks very good in overalls which i am growing to like very much myself.

What else? well for now maybe good- tomorrow arrive the cinematographer- sweet jeff waldron(dronissimissimi as he is known in roma) and our den momma Merilee Holt on the jet plane from los angeles CA. Our prod designer Mike Scherschel also rolls in to crank it up.

Me and mom will drive up to the delta tonite to find some mischief and discover the secrets of the famed crossroads.....

stay tuned and...

love you all from the hospitality and mosquito state!

THANK YOU and talk soon- pls send some updates of what you all are up to when you can

big hug , matt g

The calm before the storm.

i had yet another exciting weekend in the delta getting prepared for the shoot coming up july 6th. mike jones and company decided to treat me (derk!) to a non stop, jam packed, life altering experience on lake washington! for starters, we woke up at 4:00am to kick off the annual magnolia crappie club tournament finals. there were around 50 or so fisherman fighting for cash and bragging rights! there were a ton of boats on the water. more than i have seen before. they looked especially nice when viewed from a cessna airplane. that's right...mike had me up in a airplane shooting photos of the event and other landmarks of the area. a big thanks goes out to john darnell of jd flying for making that possible. after that, i ran into some local fishermen at "bait-n-thangs" and they took me "hand grabbin." which is exactly what it sounds like. basically, these guys plant buckets and pipes all over the lake and wait for catfish to inhabit them. then, they stick their hand in the fish's mouth, wait for it to bite, and throw the fish through the air into the boat! NUTS...you have to see this to believe it. after that was a cookout to celebrate the weigh in of the crappie tournament. good food, good people, good times! i don't know who won, but everyone was having a good time. i was suppose to take an "air boat" tour of the cypress swamps, but the boat was out of commission for the day. although, mike did promise me it would be ready for the "4th of july" party. nice! instead, his son josh jones took me on a tour of the yazoo wildlife refuge. lets just say...this place is definitely wild. aligators, snakes, and deer oh my! this would be a good time to mention the roadkill. im convinced that there are more dead animals per capita in glen allan than anywhere else in the world! im "dead" serious...hahaha. anyway, everyday is a new adventure here. i never know what to expect. each day is better than the one before. mike jones never ceases to amaze me. i am starting to fall in love with the delta. if we could just do something about these damn bugs! oh yeah, and the heat... -derek

New Crew Announced

Welcome to the crew the following members:

Writer: Brad Ingelsby
Producer: Amile Wilson
Associate Producer: Kate Brewster
Director: Matt Gordon
1AD: Lee Blaylock
DP: Jeff Waldron
1AC: Mark Legaspi
2AC: Dan Zapata
Best Boy Grip: Derek Gabbert
Best Boy Gaff: Matthew Muccia
Gaffer: Armando Ballesperos
Audio Engineer: Doc Davis
Script Supervisor: Michael Williams
Production Designer: Mike Scherschel
Makeup: Casey Heflin
Editor: Josh Noyes
Production Asst.: Kelly Traux
Production Asst: Gloria Gonillini
Production Asst: Ryan Jackson

More of the same.

we are still finishing up locations and casting. our production team is split up between Jackson, Glen Allan and Greenville locking down locations, actors, crew and equipment. it is getting down to the wire, but we are still in good shape. we are also looking forward to the "4th of July" kick off party! mike jones of  "Bait-N-Thangs" is organizing it. from what he says, this thing is going to be huge!  it will be nice to celebrate the holiday, as well as the beginning of production. lee blaylock has jumped on board as 1st assistant director. we would like to thank robbie fisher for donating a beautiful cabin for us to use. we would also like to thank wes smith at the Greenville convention and visitors bureau. 

locations and casting.

we are just about ready to wrap up location scouting and castings here in the delta. we would like to thank mike jones and the delta grind coffee shop for their help and support! we couldn't have asked for a better community to film this movie in. the lake washington area in glen allan is one of the most beautiful landscapes we have ever seen.

New Crew Announcement

Writer:  Brad Ingelsby

Director:  Matthew Gordon

Producer:  Amile Wilson

Assoc. Producer:  Derek Gabbert