Hey folks. This year has been full of transition. I’ve seen my fair share of film and TV production all over the country. From  pilots to commercials (I spent a day as a stand-in for Bruno Mars on a Khaki commercial, true story) to micro-documentaries, I’ve seen almost 30 states in the last 10 months! If you want to catch-up, I interviewed Academy Award winners, video game producers and designers, and helped build websites for some really cool films.

So what’s the latest and greatest in the world of Merrel?

This week, I’ll be speaking along with Xandy Sussan at the Baltimore Chapter of Women in Film and Video  — this Thursday December 8th, at their annual Christmas extravaganza party. The networking fun starts at 6 pm and the meeting begins at 7 pm. The event will be at CBS affiliate WJZ 13, on TV hill, 3725 Malden ave, Baltimore, Md 21211. Come on out and enjoy what local filmmakers of Baltimore have to offer!

In other news, I’d love to share my new online store Mister Thirty Sixer’s Vintage Curios & Oddities — a store full of  vintage strange, weird and kitsch. We collect interesting items that tell a story in history, from hand painted Russian dolls to vintage camera accessories to hand bound cookbook from upstate New York!

Sometimes these items make it into photoshoots, many of them make their way into our in-development web-series. Along with Xandy, we ferret out the coolest pieces of history and their stories to share with you. Check it out!

Last year, I spent a good portion of my time doing production work on CIA Confidential for National Geographic. I’ve since moved onto other documentary work for television and film in addition to my screenwriting and development duties elsewhere.

Doc work experience was a great for me. In fact, every screenwriter should work on at least one documentary. Documentary film structure and other requirements for non-fiction are integral to building accurate, succinct, compelling and entertaining stories. And my screenwriting is better for it.

Since February, I’ve been working various production duties for an Emmy and Peabody award winning documentary production company. I came in just as pre-production had ended and it was full steam ahead on the production of “CIA Confidential.”

This week marks the culmination of the hard work of everyone involved. I’m happy to announce that this Sunday June 21 CIA Confidential: Hunt for Bin Laden and CIA Confidential: Pakistan Undercover will air on the National Geographic Channel.

I encourage everyone to catch it and check out some clips from the show