EARL CASSORLA, 1956 - 2019

I wanted to take a moment to honor the passing of Earl Cassorla, co-proprietor (with his brother Steven) of Battle Mountain, NV’s Roller Coaster Fireworks and subject of the short documentary “Boomtown”, which I had the pleasure of working on a while back.

I got to meet Earl when the film screened at the Minneapolis-St Paul International Film Festival in 2017. It’s always great to meet people in person after staring at them on my computer screen during weeks of postproduction work— especially documentary subjects— and Earl turned out to be the same softspoken, endearing presence I’d expected.

I’m happy that the film is here to commemorate Earl and Steven’s obsession and dedication. Below I’m posting the completed short, for which I provided sound edit, mix, and a couple of original musical compositions. Rest in peace, Earl.

R.I.P. PETER MAYHEW

The inspiration of Star Wars is one of the big reasons why I have the good fortune to do what I do these days, and Chewbacca has been along for the ride pretty much the whole time. By all accounts, Peter Mayhew was a kind and good-hearted man. Thank you, Mr. Mayhew, for all the joy you’ve brought us.