IN my pioneering book "The Edge of Madness" by Raymond Gaynor (Aignos/Savant 2020) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859, I introduced a new genre called SciFu (short for science-based futuring), an alternative to less plausible science fiction and implausible science fantasy). In the case of Sci-Fu, what makes it plausible is that it is based on contemporary scientific technologies. An example of this is "interactive holographic projection," a crux of "The Edge of Madness."

Laser Holograph...

JET Progress/Draqual Media’s new film, OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”), while admittedly an interesting Sci-Fu (science future rather than science fiction or fantasy) work, offers serious viewers a moment to reflect on the nature of the human soul.

I have long held that the soul, the “guide” from this to the next life, is the sum-total of all our life experiences, a sort of meta-tag or SEO that determines which oportunities will be a...

OTOSOTU, pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two,” is an abbreviation for “On The Other Side Of The Universe,” a new-genre (Sci-Fu or Science Future) film about the conflict between religion and spiritualism.

Sci-Fu is all about plausibility rather than fiction or fantasy. It’s based on Dr. Jim Gator’s work on futuring (https://foresightguide.com/dator-four-futures/). OTOSOTU explores several alternative futures that face humankind, each with the power to change humanity’s evolutionary direc...

OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”), which introduces a new genre of filmmaking, namely sci-fu or scientific futuring (see https://soif.org.uk/about/jim-dator/ and https://foresightguide.com/dator-four-futures/) rather than science fiction or fantasy, is, however, much more. Its intriguing exploration of the nature of the soul instantly elevates it to a metaphysical exploration as well.

Oxford Languages defines metaphysics as “the branch of ...

The upcoming JET Progress production of OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”) is an exploration of the other side of the universe and one particular form it might take. When Commander Michael Mylo (played by Daniel S. Janik), his Astership Twilon and crew abruptly disappear on THIS side of the universe, they find, on the other side, innumerable planets with technologies far beyond anything imaginable on his side. Upon return, he must convince his...

THE last of the crew and cast of OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”), internationally-awarded scoring musician Zachary M. Oliver, has officially agreed to provide the same outstanding score for OTOSOTU as he did for WINNOWING. Kudos, Zach!.

An acknowledged master of musical minimalism, Dr. Zachary M. Oliver PhD is also a distinguished educator and author. He is constantly celebrating music as one of the great achievements of humans, uniting co...

ALMOST all attention is currently focused on the new JET Progress film, OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”) as it moves through post-production on its way to the big screen for its anticipated 2024 release. With editing completed, it’s time for adding the musical score, hopefully by award-winning musician Zachary M. Oliver who scored WINNOWING, our most recent release. OTOSOTU has just appeared on IMDb, and work on a second official poster, t...

Japanese-born American actress Sakura Kai (aka Setsuko Tsuchiya), co-starring in OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”), received her FIFTH “Best Actress” award for her multiple roles as lead actress in the JET Progress production of the film, WINNOWING. She has been awarded “Best Actress” by the Stockholm Short Fest, International Film Festival of Saudi Arabia, Keezhadi International Film Festival, Washington Film Awards and Seattle Filmm...

WHAT’S better than one movie poster? Two, especially if the second one is even better! OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”) now has two posters, the second replacing the first as the official first poster. Yep, it’s that good, or I should say better. But, hey, I still like the original first as it has my picture on it in my roles as Imperax Commander Michael Mylo AND that of his son, Captain-Major Brit Mylo; Sakura Kai as his wife, Carol Myl...

ACTOR Daniel S. Janik will play impuned Imperax Commander Michael Mylo, Imperax Captain-Major Brit Mylo and provide the voice of Captain-Major Kyle Westbrook in the upcoming JET Progress production of OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”). Michael, the disgraced captain of the Astership Twilon, which abruptly disappeared during the crucial battle of Tylog-Tyle, returns with an intriguing but potentially deadly proposal from the other side of the ...

THE international-multi-award-winning actress, Sakura Kai (aka Setsuko Tsuchiya) will play Carol Mylo, wife of traitorous Michael Mylo, mother to Brit Mylo, and Dominie-in-Grey to the Imperax Galactic. Sakura appeared as Edna in the movie STATIC (2021). In WINNOWING she played a complex dual role as Sakura Kai and Aika Abiko, appearing in additional roles as Army Weiss, Chiaki Svengaard, Mam Moog, Dai Johnson, Kiko Wright and Masako Pence. Sakura Kai appears in the television series and movie...

OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”), a “new genre” Sci-Fu film about what happens to the human soul when Commander Michael Mylo, played by award-winning actor, Daniel S. Janik, accidentally discovers what’s at the other end of our universe. OTOSOTU now has its official first film poster! Co-starring 5-times awarded “best actress” Sakura Kai (aka Setsuko Tsuchiya) and internationally renown author, awarded screenwriter and actor Willia...

A few days ago, it was my pleasure to introduce voice actress Pam Hoffman, “The Voice of the Imperax Galactic.” Today, it’s my added pleasure to introduce renown author, screenwriter, actor, producer and director William Maltese. The recipient of four international “best screenwriter” awards for the film WINNOWING, Mr. Maltese is co-producer, co-director and co-cinematographer for the JET Progress production, OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Un...

IT’S my pleasure to introduce the first and newest cast member of OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”), JET Progress’ newest film currently in post-production with a mid to late 2024 anticipated release date. OTOSOTU is a science futuring (Sci-Fu) film about the nature of the human soul. Pam Hoffman will be the official Voice of the Imperax Galactic.

Voice acting isn’t new to Pam, having played the voice of Odee, the BG Oil Drop, and provid...

AS you may well already know, OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe,” a science futuring film about the human soul) has finished filming and is now in post-production, meaning assembly, editing and polishing, at the moment having just transitioned to editing.

Editing is where the film, now assembled correctly, gets turned into a “real” film. In general, scenes are cropped; sounds are added, mixed and modulated; special effects are added; scene...

EVER wondered what actors/actresses do between films? I’m currently “between” OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe” – https://janik.yolasite.com/otosotu.php), which is now in the second stage of post-production (namely editing) and “the next film.”

So, to keep food on the table and the hearth warm, I’m doing as much background acting as possible. I’m currently working NCIS: Hawaii (S3) while scouring the landscape for modeling and...

AH, have you heard about OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for the JET Progress movie “On The Other Side Of The Universe”)? OTOSOTU is unusual right from the beginning, being a sci-fu film about the nature of the human soul. Filming finished in late February, and the work is now in post production, with an anticipated release in late 2024. In the prior post, I described some of what goes on during the mysterious “post-production” period.

As of today, the over 600 scenes, filmed...

WITH over 250 scenes (800 “takes”), OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe,” a science futuring film about the nature of the human soul) now “in the can” (ie, finished and digitally recorded in 4K on the SDXC UHS-1 card from our Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ2500 studio camera), we’ve technically finished filming (or production) and are on to post-production.

To most, the typically 12-months of post-production is a mystery. At JET Progress — ht...

IN my haste to post yesterday about the OTOSOTU “Dragon Egg,” I fueled speculation that the film, a sci-fu (science plausible, rather than fiction or fantasy) work, delving the nature of the human soul, was proceeding so well in post-production that it was possible it might be released in 2023. Sorry, NOT. Admittedly it would add substantially to science fantasy, that is, having a film released before it’s edited, polished and pre-screened. But, no, doesn’t work with sci-fu. What I sh...

DRAGON EGG

SORRY to be absent from social media for a while, but here at JET Progress productions – https://jet-progress.yolasite.com – we’ve been extremely busy wrapping up filming (done!) and beginning post-production of OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe). Our current task is to transfer over a thousand takes to a single hard drive, rename them in order of movie sequence, and assemble everything into “raw segments.” Raw, many because...

THAT’S where JET Progress is currently in the production (filming) state of OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe, a Science Futuring drama about the human soul).

Science Futuring? There lots of science fiction and fantasy out there, so what’s science futuring? First it’s about science, which, by definition, is about anything repeatable. Second it’s about futuring; that is, plausibility, typically, future technologies or situations based on ...

TODAY was scheduled to be an OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Sew-Toe-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe” - https://otosotu.yolasite.com) filming day in JET Progress’ Studio Two – the “Carol Mylo” scenes. However, last night the principal actress playing Carol, Sakura Kai, came down with a cold, and this morning sounds like a burly security agent, rather than the Dominie-in-Grey for the entire Imperax.

What is a Dominie-in-Grey you ask? Screenwriter William Maltese working with...

JET Progress, an independent film production company in Hawaii, currently offers two multi-award-winning films: CLEAN WATER, COMMON GROUND, winner of two-Telly awards, The Indian Independent Film Festival, and Saudi Arabia International Film Festival, and WINNOWING, winner of 30+ international film awards and semi-finalist in the Hawaii International and Washington Film Awards — https://jet-progress.yolasite.com. CLEAN WATER, COMMON GROUND is a documentary on water quality, and WINNOWING is...

MOVIES are a lot like families: They begin with the birth of something new, require lots of coddling throughout infancy, tolerance during toddlership, and frank but kind, constructive criticism during adolescence. OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for On The Other Side Of The Universe – https://otosotu.yolasite.com) has now reached young adulthood, entering pre-production with intriguing, meaningful and mature character-and-scene concepts. During the December, the JET Progress product...

CNN reporter Ashley Strickland recently published an article entitled “Mysterious, fast radio bursts in space keep getting stranger (https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/14/world/repeating-fast-radio-burst-quirk-scn/index.html#).

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) — “bright, millisecond-long flashes of radio waves in space” — in their own right, are, in my opinion, quite mysterious enough. Known since 2007, FRBs seem to be “coming from distant points across the universe.” According to Strickland,...

TRY this brain-twister: OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE – https://otosotu.yolasite.com) – is welcoming an eleventh character, Chad Stuart. Chad, played by award-winning actor, screenwriter and author William Maltese, is a contemporary screenwriter, actually THE hypothetical screenwriter of this Sci-Fu, action-adventure-drama as it unfolds on this and the other side of the universe. Not twisty enough? Well then, William Maltese, who plays Chad ...

DANIEL S. JANIK here, director and lead actor of OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” which is the acronym for ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE). I was recently asked what I thought would be the biggest challenge in filming OTOSOTU. Remember that OTOSOTU is a production of JET Progress, a small, independent production company in Hawaii — https://jet-progress.yolasite.com.

Well, the final scene will be one in which Michael Mylo will appear inside a spaceship with Brit Mylo, both roles w...

WITH the screenplay by WILLIAM MALTESE finally approved, JET Progress studios has begun preparing for production with the development of a second studio to film off-world scenes, and a new boom-based sound system for better clarity and noise suppression. Script read-throughs are anticipated to begin within the next 10 days.

“OTOSOTU presents several new challenges to us at JET Progress,” says Daniel S. Janik, director and lead actor. “We’re a micro-budget, small film production compa...

YOU heard right! International-award winning author and screenwriter, WILLIAM MALTESE will appear in the JET Progress production of OTOSOTU (“Oh-Toe-So-Two” for ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE, a Sci-Fu film about the soul – https://otosotu.yolasite.com. And what you ask is Sci-Fu? Sci-Fu (scientific futuring) is a step beyond traditional science fiction and fantasy, involving totally plausible future scientific technologies of the future.

William Maltese provided the screenplay for ...

YES, you heard right. Now that the SAG/AFTRA strike is, well, almost officially over, meaning that I’m still awaiting the results of the ratification vote by my fellow actors and actresses, JET Progress has contracted with SAG to produce OTOSOTU (“Oh-Toe-So-Two” – ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE), with filming scheduled to begin on 1 January 2024. In the meantime, preparations have already begun with the focus on addressing several technical issues associated with an “in space” ...

TWO posts ago, JET Progress introduced Daniel S. Janik, the star of it’s third film, OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two,” an acronym for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”), a Sci-Fu* mystery-drama about the human soul. In it, Janik, a veteran of WINNOWING (2023), THE PERFECT ILLUSION (2022), THE MALTESE COLLECTION (2022) and STATIC (2021), will play Imperax Commander Michael Mylo. *Science (meaning “repeatable phenomena”) and futuring (meaning “plausible in the future to the...

JET Progress, a Hawaii-based independent film production company, recently announced it’s second film, OTOSOTU (“On The Other Side Of The Universe”) — https://otosotu.yolasite.com — a sci-fu (science futuring) film about spirituality and the soul. Principal characters include Commander Michael Mylo, Captain-Major Brit Mylo and Carol Mylo, wife of Commander Michael Mylo, and Dominie in Grey of the known universe. The male lead will play both Commander Michael, Brit and the voice of B...

YES! I do, like most, have moments of spare time that glare into my eyes, taunting me to do something — anything! — rather than loll away my time here in Hawaii (aka “paradise”), stretched out on a hammock between two palm trees, Mai Tai in hand, languidly watching the tropical sunset.

Yes, well, having experienced just such a month ago in response to the beginning of the SAG/AFTRA strike (which, BTW, has yet to resolve), I decided if I can’t act, perhaps I can at least model. So, ...