Wound Up Tight

As I had hoped for, sleep like a baby I did in the Poconos. In addition to the fresh air, that utopic slumber may have had a lot to do with the fantastic food at the restaurant Louis' Prime, and the boxed wine that Mikey (one of my big investors, as well as the owner of my adopted pied a campagne) helped me kill off on the back deck of his cabin, after our dinners on Sunday and Monday evenings.

But Friday and Saturday evening I was all alone in the woods. Not so scared of bears as I was of the obnoxious family from Long Island in the cabin next door, who NEVER SHUT UP. Luckily they hung out on their front porch and Mikey's deck is in the back yard. But their hot tub was on the side of the house that faced us, so we got a couple visual servings of "Straight People Stew" as Mikey calls it.

I got a lot done. Whipped out the rehearsal schedule straight off the bat, which was no small task considering the ensemble cast of 12 people only had ONE day that EVERYONE could show up at the same time. My many years of hotel management experience is paying off in ways I had never anticipated. Underpaid and overworked hotel front desk clerks and restaurant staff are FAR more demanding, unreliable, inflexible, and cranky than underpaid and overworked actors. But in all fairness, movie-making is a lot more fun, though not nearly as glamorous as people who have not done it think it is.

I also was able to complete breaking down the ensemble's wardrobes. That is a crazy-detailed part of it that a lot of people (including filmmakers) don't really consider. Today I spent SIX HOURS with my lead actress, Cheryl Scungio, who is playing Gracie. She has to have 14 outfits to complete her scenes. That is no joke! Think about it: not only are we talking about 14 different clothing ensembles, each has to (1) represent the personality of her character, (2) coincide with her character's ARC, (3) not look like any other character's wardrobe, (4) not duplicate itself in style or color (or if it does so, does so with a specific purpose), (5) be functional or utilitarian to the scene itself ( is she working, on a date, at a bar...), and above all, be (6) economically feasible, as my darling cast are supplying their own wardrobe.

But, as I have found in every other task within the movie-making business, it is a complex puzzle, but it is not brain surgery. Cheryl and I made a day of it, and had a blast doing so. We hit 2 shops in Mount Vernon, nailed a couple burgers for lunch in Broadway Market in Fells Point, another vintage store there, and finally a thrift store on Fort Ave in south Baltimore. Brought our treasures back to my place, mixed and matched it up with the script breakdown, and... it was a lot of work, but the puzzle in nearly complete! For her character. Now I have to do it ELEVEN more times.

That is not all I have gotten done since I got back. Yesterday I wiped a couple MAJOR things off the list. I locked down another fabulous location, the Wind-Up Space at Charles & North Ave. I had not been there before and wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it is not only slick but PERFECTLY slick. A dream for filming - wide open space, and nothing is nailed in place. My DP is going to freakin' wet herself when she sees this place. But it is also so very Baltimore. The building was formerly an old market, now it is a bar and gallery space. Creative drinking, that is what this town is all about!

I have some other hot spaces lined up, but I will write about them in a separate posting so they don't get muddled together. And in the last 24 hours I have nailed down two KEY positions in my Production Crew, which I will also share with you in a later posting. I am trying not to ramble too much in one posting, but it is difficult because so much is happening. We start filming in THREE WEEKS!

So, (hopefully) understandably, I am a little stressed out. Had a minor flip-out the night before last on poor Eric, my filmmaker friend who has served as great counsel to me and is also currently filming his own flick at my hotel. After a (very) few hours sleep I realized I was being absurd and apologized before he even had time to address it, as it was one of those (often dangerous) email exchanges. By the time I actually spoke to him, he was laughing about it. Guys dig crazy. Lucky for me.