When we began Mario Warfare, we didn’t take into account how much everyone’s new lifestyles and locations would affect scheduling.  We weren’t able to make films the same way we used to–and we had to realize it.   We were really struggling.  We needed to come up with a new approach to filmmaking that fits our current lives.  That’s what we’re working on now.

One of the big things we’re doing is simplifying some of our non-filmmaking activities at Beat Down Boogie.  Even though our focus has always been filmmaking, we’ve spent a lot of time learning about social media, researching revenue offers, building a website, making DVD’s and shirts, and running a store.  It’s been a rewarding learning experience, but we’re going to simplify some of those endeavors and really focus on filmmaking.

We’ve started working with some great new stunt and parkour guys like Carlos Lopez IV and Stephen Carr.  We can’t wait to show you what these guys can do.  We’re also teaming up with a new writer for Mario Warfare, Christopher Moore, so Micah can devote more time to being our director.

Our editing computer is nearly up-and-running!  It’s about time to jumpstart Mario Warfare!

We’re stoked about moving forward with a simpler fun-filled approach to Beat Down Boogie.  We want to travel more for film shoots, team up with filmmaking friends, and film more conventions.  We also plan to ditch the pre-roll ads on YouTube once our contract ends.  The ad revenue from pre-roll ads has helped buy costumes and pizza, which is really appreciated…but waiting for our videos to play drives us a little nuts, so we’ll look for a different way to help with production costs such as pop-up-only ads, sponsorship or kickstarter.

So stay tuned!  A new era of BDB filmmaking is on the horizon!

And as always, thanks for watching, commenting, and being part of Beat Down Boogie!

We invoked Elvis Law!

OK, Elvis Law is something Micah made up.  But basically he convinced Brian and Matt that everyone dresses like Elvis in Las Vegas.  Who are they to question The King of Rock n Roll?

Once the BDB Elvises hit the strip, the hunting booths at SHOT Show weren’t the only place with cougars on the prowl.  Hello ladies.  Grrrrrwol.

We walked The Strip!

Every casino on the strip has a unique theme.  Madalay Bay has waterfalls and a shark reef.  New York New York has a roller coaster twisting around the Statue of Liberty.  Circus Circus has performing magicians and Chinese acrobats.  Vegas is filled with spectacular sights and sounds.  It’s an adult playground on a massive scale (in other words, wear comfortable walking shoes).

For us the highlights were the pool at Caesar’s Palace, the Renaissance town inside The Venetian, and the massive Chinese New Year display at the Bellagio.

We met Scaar and Arnie!

Beat Down Boogie is always happy to party with good peeps!  Luckily we found a pretty awesome posse in Las Vegas, including the infamous Austrian youtuber Scaar (creator of the 10 Commandments of Airsoft).  We also met Arnie, the cool Brit that runs Arnie’s Airsoft.   We met a bunch of other great peeps out there (Sam, Danny, Daryle, James, everyone) – thanks for hanging out!

We shot guns…machine guns!

As soon as we landed in Vegas we met Sam from X-Caliber Tactical.  He makes sweet custom airsoft guns.  He invited us to go shooting with him…but not airsoft.  This was the real deal.

Shooting ranges are a popular attraction in Las Vegas.  In Vegas you can shoot anything from light machine guns to suppressed SMG’s to sniper rifles.

We shot the m249, m-60, Ruger Amphibian, SCAR L, suppressed MP5, KRISS, and the p90.

Snake and Ghost went cowboy.

Tim Ellwood (No Airsoft for Old Men) invited Snake and Ghost to a party at Gillies, a country/western bar in Treasure Island casino.  Mario (the CEO of FoxFury) showed up and convinced Snake and Ghost to ride the mechanical bull.

The boys rode surprisingly well!  But they complained about their bruised um…goods…the rest of the trip.

We admired art…just like fancy people!

We admired the over-the-top architecture and fine statues of Vegas.  The fine, fine statues.  Grrrrowl.

We went old skool.

The Vegas Strip has changed a lot since Micah was last there.  Many of the old casinos (like Stardust, Boardwalk, and The Dunes) are gone, replaced with monolithic glass towers.  The new casinos are fancy, high-end and expensive.  But Micah wanted to give Matt and Brian a taste of classic gaudy Vegas, complete with cheap drinks and buffets.  So the BDB boys once again met up with Scaar and Sam and headed out to Old Vegas.

Fremont St is the home of the original casinos like the Golden Nugget.  The street is also covered by a massive LED light display, transforming Fremont into a tunnel of shifting flashing lights.  We liked it so much we might stay in Old Vegas next time.

We went to arcades!

Slot machines aren’t the only things waiting for your quarters in Las Vegas.  Vegas has some pretty nice arcades in several of the casinos.

We even heard about an arcade dance club called Insert Coins.  We didn’t have time to check it out, but hopefully we can boogie there next time!

We learned how much ass a one-legged man can kick.

Snake’s new best friend is Rob, a badass MMA fighter that lost his leg in battle. Rob was shot pretty much everywhere, and survived to kick ass in the ring. Not only can he brawl, he can deliver a 20-30 foot kick by flinging his prosthetic leg at opponents. Rob was at the Show representing Freedom Hunters, a group that works with injured soldiers. Even though the guys at their booth had life-changing injuries, they were the most fun people at SHOT Show and I wish we could have stayed longer and partied with you guys (at that other convention, wink wink nudge nudge).

We got to shoot more guns!

When we first arrived in Vegas, we got to shoot guns with our pal Sam from X-Caliber Tactical.  It was a private little affair so please check out our Vegas recap to read more about it.  For SHOT Show we spent a day out at a massive firing range shooting even more guns.   Nevada is perfect for outdoor ranges due to the desert and mountainous backdrops that can stop even the largest rounds.

At the SHOT Show range day our highlights were shooting the suppressed MP5, suppressed Uzi, and the Bulldog gatling gun.

We met other people from the internet!

We finally met Scaar (aka Hans Gruber aka Baron von Dumbledorfen). You might know him from the 10 Commandments of Airsoft.  He has tons of airsoft gun reviews, all with a wicked sense of humor.  Scaar turned out to be Micah’s hetero soulmate, but unfortunately he lives in a faraway land of kangaroos and boomerangs known as Austria.  Even so, Scaar was officially jumped into the Beat Down Boogie gang.

We also met Arnie from Arnie’s Airsoft, a major airsoft forum.  Like most of our British pals, he’s a great guy to hit the pub with.   Arnie, c u next time. (See, it still works, hehe).

We partied with our friends at FoxFury Lighting Solutions.

FoxFury creates some lights that we tested on a film project. As thanks, they invited us to SHOT Show.  The FoxFury folks – Mario, Antonio, and Maria – were awesome.  Their humor and personalities were right up our alley.  We were really tempted to play with their new blue and green lasers, but I’m pretty sure that would have ended badly for either Snake or Ghost….probably Ghost.

(PS.  You can watch Brian and Matt’s distant cousins teamup with FoxFury on the Myth Hunters YouTube Channel).

Beat Down Boogie got a shout out from Gunny!

We ran into R. Lee Ermey, former Marine drill sergeant and well-known actor (Full Metal Jacket, Mail Call, Saving Silverman, etc). He was at the firing range representing Glock pistols. Thanks to those of you in our enlisted audience, Gunny gave Beat Down Boogie a special shout out! (Video coming soon!)

We saw a billion guns!

SHOT Show is so big.  There’s no way we could see it all in two days.  But we did see a crazy amount of firearms!

We saw cool gadgets!

We got to play with radar imaging that could see through walls.  We played with night vision optics for the iphone.  We played with the “Eyeball” a round surveillance camera that can be tossed into rooms.  We even checked out an SUV decked out with thermal and night vision cameras.  Really cool stuff.  Not quite as high-tech as Cardboard Gear, but still….

We got swagger. OK…maybe just swag.

Swag (if ya don’t know) is free stuff that’s given away at conventions. Usually it’s little things like USB drives, hats, and stickers. But a few people at Shot Show went out of their way to make us noobs feel welcome and hook us up. Big thanks to OTIS Technologies, Tapco and Zan for being so cool to the BDB crew. OTIS has some zombie-themed products and we got to yapping about zombies and movies and video games. They were even nice enough to hunt down some Redbull for Micah.

Zan is a funny story. Zan is the company that makes Ghost’s mask. (Our Ghost, anyway.) They don’t know about Modern War Gear Solid or that hundreds of people ask about Ghost’s mask every month. But we’re randomly walking by their booth and they want a picture of Ghost (of course). So now they know about MWGS!

We got invited to a custom airsoft showcase.

Tim Ellwood (No Airsoft for Old Men) and Sam Chong (of X-Caliber Tactical) teamed up to host an airsoft media meet-and-greet.

Sam was showing off his amazing custom work. He has everything from mean mini-guns to wicked cool rifles with LED lights and custom paint jobs.

And Micah worked his magic like usual.

Or not.

We met some Modern War Gear Solid fans!

It was so awesome to meet some people who knew about our Youtube channel!

Thanks to everyone who said hi on the Show floor, or swung by the FoxFury booth during the Modern War Gear Solid screening!

(New posters inside!)

Beat Down Boogie has been invited to SHOT SHOW – the biggest gun show on the planet! This is an exclusive show reserved for industry professionals – but thanks to Foxfury flashlights, Snake and Ghost will be there this January! We’ll not only be checking out cool new firearms, we’ll also be exploring Las Vegas!

And we’ll keep you updated with pictures and videos!

Foxfury will also be premiering a new show starring Matt and Brian’s distant cousins, Dash Ringo and Percy Rockwell. You can get a sneak peek here!