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...

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...

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...

IN my fervor to share the progress of OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”), I’ve neglected sharing the continued success of JET Progress’ recently released drama, WINNOWING at https://winnowing.yolasite.com or, for the making of the movie check out https://janik.yolasite.com/winnowing.php or, for memorabilia the JET Progress Productions’ Cinematic Memorabilia, Gift and Collectables Shop at https://jet-progress.square.site.

WINNOWING, star...

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...

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...

THERE are countless New Year traditions, but as I, actor Daniel S. Janik (aka author Raymond Gaynor) and my partner, actress Sakura Kai (aka author Setsuko Tsuchiya) represent a melding of Western and Asian cultures, one of our favorite New Year traditions is making mochi.

The “recipe” is quite simple: Make some rice, specifically mochigome (糯米), a short-grain glutinous rice. In general, the better the “quality” of the rice, the better the mochi. But that’s only half of what make...

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...

READERS sometimes email me at drjanik@gmail.com asking me if, with my wife and I being actors, we regularly take a limo to go somewhere. Well, yes, it’s true Sakura Kai (aka Setsuko Tsuchiya – https://setsukotsuchiya.com) and I, Daniel S. Janik (https://janik.yolasite.com/actor.php) are actors as well as authors, but, ummm, sad to burst the limo bubble, but we walk together to work whenever possible, which is most of the time.

First, weight and body tone always come before luxury. The ca...

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...

YEP! One needn’t look any farther than this High Definition DVD or better yet, a loaded Blu-Ray, of the classic film WINNOWING, winner of 30+ international awards. https://winnowing.yolasite.com. At under $US 25, with no country code, and no gratuitous violence, A “real” holiday gift! Starring Sakura Kai (Setsuko Tsuchiya) and co-starring Daniel S. Janik, this film about persistence is unusual from the start in that Sakura and I play not one, but two different roles and read six differe...

IT is my pleasure to announce that the JET Progress production of the movie WINNOWING with BURNT-IN ENGLISH SUBTITLES, starring Sakura Kai (aka Setsuko Tsuchiya) and Daniel S. Janik, is now available for free to the first 1000 viewers at https://youtu.be/YmRwN4yz760. This is in addition to the version with no or optional computer-generated subtitles. Burnt-in or “open” subtitles, unlike computer-generated ones, are perfect and allow for a significantly more enjoyable viewing.

WINNOWING, ...

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...

BEING both a movie actor and director, as well as a movie affectionado, I'm well aware of the part that a good soundtrack plays in any and every movie, right down to the ability of "the right" music being able to, almost on its own, invoke viewer emotional attachment and garner views/sales. But I've often wondered exactly how much music also masks the acting and story. So, when world class author and scriptwriter, William Maltese, sent me a script for WINNOWING, I determined to make it an exp...

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, ...

THAT’S right! As of today, the JET Progress production of the film WINNOWING has accumulated 30 international film awards including Best Concept, Best International Short Film, Best Experimental Short Film, Best Writer, Best Producer(s), Best Director, Best Sound Design, Best Original Score, Best Editor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Debut Filmmaker, winning four festivals! Now an internationally acclaimed movie, WINNOWING, is available on DVD, BluRay and fee-per-view streami...

CONSIDER producer/director Elias Perez’s 2-Liters Shady Films production, MOCOS in which Setsuko Tsuchiya (aka Sakura Kai) and I play supporting roles in our first real horror film. MOCOS, currently in post-production, is about an extra-terrestrial “COVID”-like plague, that sweeps across the world like a sirocco carrying everyone in its tsunami wake. As you might expect, the “meaning” of the disease is interpreted by different people in different ways, from a blessing in disguise to...

IT’S my pleasure as director of the JET Production of WINNOWING -- https://winnowing.yolasite.com -- to announce the creation of a director’s cut. This novel “soft” neo-noir film features Setsuko Tsuchiya in her debut lead actress role with actor-companion Daniel S. Janik, together playing eight roles each from a screenplay by the incomparable author/screenwriter William Maltese. Incorporating storylines from six Maltese books, WINNOWING brings diversity to a new level and, I believe,...

WE’VE long known that much of human behavior comes from the old adage, “Monkey see, monkey do,” but if this is true then the entertainment industry has done little to curb the escalating impulsivity and violence being experienced today. And yet, it affect billions of viewers and readers worldwide. In the past, as the owner of Savant Books and Publications, I vowed to produce books that uplifted the human condition without gratuitous sex or violence. That policy made Savant the powerhous...

WHEN acclaimed author William Maltese approached me regarding “Winnowing,” a screenplay he’d written specifically for Sakura Kai (aka actress/author Setsuko Tsuchiya) and myself, Daniel S. Janik (aka actor/author Raymond Gaynor), I was immediately sold on it. Not only was it a dramatic work with clever plot and plenty of challenging subplots, it was a work that relied principally on human drama, rather than gratuitous sex, violence and special effects! It’s rare these days, in my expe...

GOT your attention? And, no, it’s not a misspelling. By the Julian calendar it’s Friday, but, given my and my partner, Setsuko Tsuchiya’s actor work schedules, today is our day off this week, and it’s a promised day dedicated to Setsuko, aka Sakura Kai in the upcoming JET Progress production of WINNOWING — https://winnowing.yolasite.com or for more behind-the-scenes gems https://janik.yolasite.com/winnowing.php.

WINNOWING, from the screenplay of the same name by renown author/actor W...

WELL, first off again, who’s Sakura Kai? Sakura Kai is a character in the JET Progress production of WINNOWING — https://winnowing.yolasite.com, a new film, currently in post-production, scheduled for release in early 2024. Sakura Kai is an actor auditioning for “The Really Big One,” a movie that will singlehandedly make her career. But this is no typical audition. Sakura Kai must read, live, not one, but six audition scripts alongside movie character Robert Andrews. Only by reading a...

WELL, first off, who’s Richard Andrews? Richard Andrews is a character in the JET Progress production of WINNOWING — https://winnowing.yolasite.com, a new film, currently in post-production, scheduled for release in early 2024. Richard Andrews is an actor auditioning for “The Really Big One,” a movie that will singlehandedly make his career. But this is no typical audition. Richard must read, live, no one, but six audition scripts with actress Sakura Kai. Only by reading and acting to...

ASSUMING you had the opportunity of reading the previous post (if you haven’t now would be a good time to do so), you’ll already know that actor/author Daniel S. Janik (https://janik.yolasite.com) and actress/author Setsuko Tsuchiya (https://setsukotsuchiya.com) are busy, busy, busy this weekend, all involving filming. But first, regarding authoring, I’m continuing to work towards completion of the sequel, PROPHECY, to my Amazon-genre-bestseller book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS — https://www...

HAVING last week finished filming 1/8 of the JET Progress Production of WINNOWING -- https://winnowing.yolasite.com, this weekend was scheduled to complete another 1/8. HOWEVER, actors Daniel S. Janik and Setsuko Tsuchiya, playing Richard Andrews and Sakura Kai, were on a roll, and so far, today, ended up finishing 2/8 more with tomorrow, Sunday, heralding another 2/8. Should we continue tomorrow as today, we’re anticipating completing 5/8 of the film this weekend!

5/8 may not sound like a...