It’s 1899 and Dr. Devlin D’Abo (Walt Jaschek) believes he alone can lead the United State of America into the Twentieth Century. To help him take control of the federal government, D’Abo creates a weapon that will make his arm of desperadoes invisible. Only the Sons of the Saddle (Don Secrease, Rick Burchett, Bill Lux) stand between the mad doctor and his plan to unite western hemisphere under one supreme leader… D’Abo himself!
— From the DVD jacket for “Sons of the Saddle: The Invisible Rayders: Chapter 4: Doorway to Doom”
Writer/director Don Secrease (working under pseudonyms Sean Ryan and Manny Handz) was the creative force behind this amateur film and B-Western movie parody made by enthusiastic B-movie fans. As backstory, Don wrote the below…
Abbreviated Backstory
This serial chapter of Sons of the Saddle’s “The Invisible Rayders” (chapter 4 “Doorway to Doom”) was made by a group of B-movie/serial fans for fun, to be shared by friends and family.
It was the summer of ’95, a few of us were discussing fan-made, straight-to-video movies, comparing good to bad, FX, etc., produced by Skeleton Creek Prod., W.A.V.E. Prod., B. Black’s Nightveil Media (its contemporary name.) These films were viewed, discussed, admired for their ingenuity and enthusiastic presentations.
Our ragtag team of B-movie aficionados decided to gather friends and family and create our own movie-making inadequacy.
We selected characters from our daily gag comic strip, “Sons of the Saddle,” wrote a 12-chapter serialized story, picked a random chapter, scripted it – then started rounding up the usual suspects – not to mention costuming, horses and tack.
All fell into place once we scouted our locations. Our major battles filming that summer: a Missouri heatwave, reliable video cameras and, finally, appropriate music. Since this was made for private amusement (or condemnation) and nor for sale, we picked background music from a few public-domain serials & B-westerns.
Ready for a new “Walt Talk?” Live on tape from his home-office in beautiful Ballwin, Missouri: a brief message from creative freelancer Walt J. about his upcoming guest-appearance at the “Be a Better Freelancer”® conference October 11th, 12th and 13th, 2019, at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Walt will be presenting to the assembled freelance writers and editors a topic suggested to him by the conference organizer. The topic: “You Oughta Be in Visuals: How to Make Your Social Sizzle to Be a Better Freelancer.” Walt says he looks forward to hearing exactly what he has to say about that topic… when he comes up with something… by October. Link to the conference: https://www.facebook.com/events/20043… Link to Ruth Thaler-Carter, the conference organizer: https://www.facebook.com/ruth.thalerc…
Walt is a writer (as Walt Jaschek) and a performer (as Walt Jay.) They’re both at work in this promo video, written by the former and presented on-screen by the later. 😉
Click for a few scenes from “Planet Gone Mad” AKA “Spirits of Jupiter”
Walt Jaschek gets killed by crazed miners in Colorado! Walt J the actor, that is. In one of his only film roles (so far,) Walt appeared as the doomed nebbish Harold Pilgrain in the 1984 indy action movie “Planet Gone Mad,” also known by its original title, “Spirits of Jupiter.” Filmed in and around Canon City, Colorado, the movie was directed by Russell S. Kern, with cinematography by Steve Flanigan. Hollywood stuntman Rex Cutter played the film’s hero, Big Jim Drill. Character actor Walt had a few scenes with Rex, his airplane, and the crazy miners who are compelled to kill. Walt did own stunts, including jumping out of that moving airplane, as you will see. Here are the full IMDB credits.
And now, that review.
Clip of the original newspaper review of “Spirits of Jupiter,” AKA “Planet Gone Mad”
“Jupiter Filled With Violence”
From the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, Friday, March 2, 1984
By Linda D. Smith GT Features Writer
CANON CITY – The residents of this city turned our Thursday night for the premiere of “Spirits of Jupiter,” a film starring many of their friends and neighbors.
Rocky Mountain Studios and Producers Group Ltd., a Colorado Springs production company, filmed the movie in Canon City and surrounding Fremont County last year, relying on the local residents for talent and local scenery for backdrops.
Written and directed by Russell S. Kern of Colorado Springs, “The Spirits of Jupiter” takes the predictions of 16th century philosopher Nostradamas and applies them to 1984. In particular, Kern has taken the idea if the planets Jupiter and Saturn were to align, the result would be a gravitational pull that would wreak havoc on the people of Earth.
The story line has given the film makers a great deal of latitude in creating a fill full of violence.
In one scene after another, viewers see a bloody headless corpse, a man’s eyeball ripped from the socket by a crazed dog, and friends turning against neighbors with guns, knives and meat cleavers.
The story follows mine owner Big Jim Drill, played by Rex Cutter, who is spared the ravages of the gravitational pull. His first interest is in keeping his mine open, until things get so out of hands, he becomes more concerned about the survival of his family. The movie is filled with some very colorful and talented characters, including a modern-day Nostradamas, played by Richard Luna, Drill’s airplane mechanic, portrayed by Cliff Willis, and the fidgety mine supervisor, played by Walter Jaschek.
The roles of Dril’s son and daughter and filled by two Colorado Springs residents. Handsome Chopper Burnet, a drama student at Colorado College, portrays Drill’s son Robert with a great deal of finesse. Carol Engel, a regular performer at the Iron Springs Chateau, plays Jennifer Drill.
And when it comes to villains, James Aerni’s portrayal of police chief Julius Switcher rivals any melodrama house in the area. In the movie, when Switcher first succumbs to the gravitational pull, he gets the most sinister gleam in his eye when he takes off his boot and begins playing a game of Russian roulette with his toes.
Steven R. Flanigan of Colorado Springs, who is the director photography, has made tremendous use of the Canon City area in filming “Spirits of Jupiter.” The action sequences are well done and use a variety of vehicles, from cars and motorcycles to airplanes and helicopters. But Flanigan is best in the aerial sequences, capturing the beautiful countryside on film. Thursday night’s audience at the Skyline Theatre in Canon City seemd to relish seeing themselves and their friends on the big screen.
Colorado Springs residents will get to see and critique the film at its only performance here, at 4:30 p.m. March 9 at the Cooper Theatre. Tickets are $4 in advance from Budget Tapes and Records, Independent Records, big Apple Tapes and Records, or at the door.
“SCENE!” So closes Level 1, my first-ever improv comedy class at the Improv Shop in St. Louis, an 8-week learning experience and personal stretch. Was it challenging to keep up with the keen, comic minds you see here? “Yes, and…”
…great fun!
(That’s me top row, center. And that’s instructor Ben Noble upper left. He’s amazing and this class is highly recommended.)
Here’s a short video of creator at large Walt Jaschek (aka Walt Now) and his wife, the funny and brilliant Randy Rosenbaum, enjoying a “Pre-Muny” picnic in St. Louis Forest Park on Randy’s birthday, June 24, 2019. Watch for the comical “chair fail” near the video’s end.
P.S. You don’t see as much of Randy as you should on this site, and Walt is going to change that.
Looking for 30-second radio ad script examples? Here are five 30-second scripts from my radio advertising portfolio, along with recorded spots for comparison. Hi. I’m Walt Jaschek, and I’ve been writing radio ad scripts for 40 years, which is amazing, considering I’m only 30 years old.
This site has many radio commercials, often funny, sometimes award-winning. There are 15 of them here: both 60-second and 30-second examples.
Culled from those are the below 30-second spots, so you can see and hear how I, as the writer, communicated to the reader (and producer) how the spot should “sound.” A radio spot is really only as good as the actors. And the producer. And the director. And clients courageous enough to do something beyond the boring ordinary.
But it all starts with the script.
30-second radio ad script, with recorded spot: “Phosphorus and Magnesium” For “Big Bang Theory.”
“Magnesium and Phosphorus” (AKA “Sheldon’s Burns”) 30-Second Radio Ad Script For: “The Big Bang Theory” Writer: Walt Jaschek
ANNOUNCER: Magnesum burns at 2,474 degrees Kelvin.
SOUND FX: Chemicals burning in a lab
ANNOUNCER: Phosphorus burns at 3,333 degrees Kelvin.
SOUND FX: Chemicals burning in a lab
ANNOUNCER: And Sheldon Cooper burns… five nights a week.
SHELDON COOPER: You bowl like your Mama… unless of course she bowls well… in which you bowl nothing like her!
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
ANNOUNCER: Ouch! On The Big Bang Theory, you draw Sheldon’s fire… you’re gonna get burned!
SHELDON COOPER: That’s what I call a burn on you!
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
MUSIC: BIg Bang theme, under
ANNOUNCER: The Big Bang Theory. Five nights a week.
[:05 local TV station tag]
30-second radio ad script, with recorded spot: “I’m Shaving My Head!” For “Star: Trek the Next Generation.”
Listen and compare the finished spot to the script.
“I’m Shaving My Head!” 30-Second Radio Ad Script For: “Star Trek: the Next Generation” Writer: Walt Jaschek
MUSIC: STAR TREK THEME MUSIC, UNDER
ANNOUNCER: All over Miami, they’re shaving their heads!
YOUNG MAN (enthusiastically): I’m shaving my head!
SOUND FX: ELECTRIC HAIR CLIPPERS, MOVING FROM LEFT STEREO CHANNEL TO RIGHT
ANNOUNCER: Throughout the entire Channel 6 viewing area, they’re shaving their heads!
YOUNG WOMAN (enthusiastically): I’m shaving my head!
SOUND FX: ELECTRIC HAIR CLIPPERS
ANNOUNCER: They’re going for… The Jean-Luc Look!
YOUNG COUPLE (simultaneously): We’re shaving our heads!
SOUND FX: ELECTRIC HAIR CLIPPERS
ANNOUNCER: Like Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the bold, bald head of “Star Trek: the Next Generation,” weekdays at four on Channell Six. Get the look!
OLD, FUNNY GEEZER GUY (enthusiastically): I’m shavin’ my head!
ANNOUNCER: The Jean-Luc Look! On “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Weekdays at four on Channel 6.
MUSIC: THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES WITH A FLOURISH
30-second radio ad script sample, with recorded spot: “Millions of Americans,” public service announcement for The American Optometric Association
Listen to the spot and compare it to the script.
30-Second Radio Ad Script “Millions of Americans” For: American Optometric Association Writer: Walt Jaschek
ANNOUNCER: We have with us in the studio millions of Americans. Millions, welcome.
HUGE THRONG (multiple layered voices, as if a “million” people
were speaking simultaneously): NICE TO BE HERE.
ANNOUNCER: We’re asking millions of Americans to get their
children’s eyes examined once a year.
HUGE THRONG: ONCE A YEAR?
ANNOUNCER: Right! All in favor of annual eye exams for children three and up, say “Aye!”
HUGE THRONG: AYE!
ANNOUNCER: Say, “Eye care means you care.”
HUGE THRONG: “EYE CARE MEANS YOU CARE.”
ANNOUNCER: Say, “Sally sells sea shells by the seashore.”
HUGE THRONG: SALLY SHELLS SHE SELLS…
ANNOUNCER: Gotcha!
HUGE THRONG (sheepish): …BY THE SHE-SORE.
ANNOUNCER: A public service message from the American Optometric Association.
30-second radio ad script sample, with recorded spot: “Vibrating Water Bed” for “Jeopardy Tournament of Champions”
Listen to the recorded spot and compare it to the script.
30-Second Radio Ad Script Title: “Vibrating Water Bed” For: Jeopardy Writer: Walt Jaschek
LAVERNE (seductively): Oh, Larry…
LARRY: I’m watching Jeopardy, LaVerne.
LAVERNE: It’s our honeymoon…
LARRY: All this week, it’s the first round of the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions!
LAVERNE: We have this waterbed…
LARRY: This is primo Jeopardy action! The champ wins a hundred grand!
SOUND FX: Vibrating water bed is turned on.
LAVERNE (her voice vibrating, too): It’s a vibrating water bed…
LARRY: Sorry, LaVerne! The Tournament of Champions!
LAVERNE (resigned, but her voice still vibrating): Okay..ay..ay..
MUSIC: END OF “JEOPARDY” THEME, UNDER
ANNOUNCER: Jeopardy. Any questions?
LAVERNE (her voice still vibrating): Yeah! How do you turn this thing off?
JEOPARDY THEME CONCLUDES.
30-second radio ad script sample, with recorded spot: “Put Your Tongue on the Radio” for “Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels”
Listen to the finished spot and compare it to the script.
30-Second Radio Ad Script Title: “Put Your Tongue On the Radio” For: Gene Simmons Family Jewels Writer: Walt Jaschek
ANNOUNCER: Put your tongue on the radio. (beat) Wait, that might be a little tingly. Ahem. Don’t put your tongue on the radio. But do stick your tongue out. That’s right. Keep going. There. Good. Wow, you have a long tongue! Congrats! But it’s all relative, baby, because, sorry, you have a teeny-weenie tongue compared to…
GENE SIMMONS: I’m Gene Simmons. Rock God.
SFX: CROWD CHEERS
MUSIC: ROCK KICKS IN
ANNOUNCER: It’s the rock-meets-reality show that licks ‘em all! Gene Simmons Family Jewels – Season 2 premiere! Starring the man who has more talent than you can shake a tongue at.
GENE SIMMONS: Precisely.
ANNOUNCER: Gene Simmons Family Jewels. A&E Sunday. Oh:
MUSIC: OUT
ANNOUNCER: Please put your tongue back in. The guy is the van is staring.
