I've posted some behind-the-scenes photos in an album on my Facebook page. You don't have to be a member to look at it:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50000&id=759412855&ref=mf
Merry Christmas!
Showing posts with label city. Show all posts
Showing posts with label city. Show all posts
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
"Take Care of the Luxuries...
...and the necessities will take care of themselves." This is probably my favorite quote of Dorothy Parker. Not only because it sort of gives me license to do whatever I want, but also because it is largely true.
Making a movie, despite it often being rather grueling work, is a luxury when it comes down to it. So many people out there want to do exactly that. Not that many get to.
With the emotional, financial, and physical assistance of a LOT of people, I got to do that. I put together the luxury, the screenplay, and one by one the necessities took (and are taking) care of themselves. Every time it seemed that I had reached the end of my resources, something or someone new popped up to help me solve the problem. Someone letting me use a location, someone sending me a check, someone tutoring me on an aspect of filmmaking I knew nothing about, whatever. And now that I am about to embark on the fine-tuning of the movie, this remains true.
As I have said here many times, "Smalltimore," is my love letter to Baltimore, and especially to the creative community that thrives here. I crammed over a dozen Baltimore artists' works into the film itself - paintings, sculptures, photos, even three different jewelry makers. And now it is time to really work on the soundtrack, which will be all original music by Baltimore musicians.
There were some people I had in mind from the very beginning who are already on board, such as T.T.Tucker & the Bum Rush Band, and Jennifer Swartout. There are a couple other local favorites whose music I used for the rough cut, but I haven't approached them yet about the real deal. I'll start that in January. When I secured Joyce J. Scott in the role of Mrs. Talford, I learned then that she had a CD of her own, and some of that music works PERFECTLY, so I am super-excited about that. You can see some of Joyce's paintings in the movie also, so she is truly the triple-threat of "Smalltimore."
There is another Baltimore singer/songwriter who I had in mind from the beginning, to be involved on the soundtrack. Her name is Niki Lee (www.nikilee.com). I had read about her in the City Paper a few years ago. She has a very interesting story, about how she secured the musical rights to Dorothy Parker's poetry from the NAACP for, I think, $600. An exemplary case of, "ya never know until you ask."
I got to see Niki perform those songs a couple summers ago at a show she had at the Creative Alliance. I didn't get to meet her at the time, but I did buy her CD, "Here Lies Dorothy Parker".
A couple weeks ago I started digging around online and found her website. I gathered from her blog that she had moved to California, and I thought, hmm, maybe she's blown up and she won't want to be involved, or she'll want a bunch of money that I don't have. I roamed around on her site and she has another CD out, titled, "Here". A little blurb about the CD says you can hear about her life in Baltimore in these songs, like the guy who lived in her driveway. I thought that was funny, and so Baltimore, and I looked at the title of the song, which bears his name. And this, being Smalltimore... I know the guy.
I figured that was a pretty good icebreaker, so I took a chance and wrote to Niki, sent her the link to the new trailer, and a few lines about the project and how I'd love to use some of her stuff, and that we have this mutual friend. She very graciously picked up the phone and called me from California last night. We had a good chat and she is psyched for me, and definitely wants in on it! I am so happy about this, and it is just the impetus I needed to get me to be EXCITED about going back to editing after New Year's. There are only a few scenes in the rough cut that have the permanent music laid in, and those scenes are so much more powerful because of it. I can't WAIT to get back to the drawing board!
Making a movie, despite it often being rather grueling work, is a luxury when it comes down to it. So many people out there want to do exactly that. Not that many get to.
With the emotional, financial, and physical assistance of a LOT of people, I got to do that. I put together the luxury, the screenplay, and one by one the necessities took (and are taking) care of themselves. Every time it seemed that I had reached the end of my resources, something or someone new popped up to help me solve the problem. Someone letting me use a location, someone sending me a check, someone tutoring me on an aspect of filmmaking I knew nothing about, whatever. And now that I am about to embark on the fine-tuning of the movie, this remains true.
As I have said here many times, "Smalltimore," is my love letter to Baltimore, and especially to the creative community that thrives here. I crammed over a dozen Baltimore artists' works into the film itself - paintings, sculptures, photos, even three different jewelry makers. And now it is time to really work on the soundtrack, which will be all original music by Baltimore musicians.
There were some people I had in mind from the very beginning who are already on board, such as T.T.Tucker & the Bum Rush Band, and Jennifer Swartout. There are a couple other local favorites whose music I used for the rough cut, but I haven't approached them yet about the real deal. I'll start that in January. When I secured Joyce J. Scott in the role of Mrs. Talford, I learned then that she had a CD of her own, and some of that music works PERFECTLY, so I am super-excited about that. You can see some of Joyce's paintings in the movie also, so she is truly the triple-threat of "Smalltimore."
There is another Baltimore singer/songwriter who I had in mind from the beginning, to be involved on the soundtrack. Her name is Niki Lee (www.nikilee.com). I had read about her in the City Paper a few years ago. She has a very interesting story, about how she secured the musical rights to Dorothy Parker's poetry from the NAACP for, I think, $600. An exemplary case of, "ya never know until you ask."
I got to see Niki perform those songs a couple summers ago at a show she had at the Creative Alliance. I didn't get to meet her at the time, but I did buy her CD, "Here Lies Dorothy Parker".
A couple weeks ago I started digging around online and found her website. I gathered from her blog that she had moved to California, and I thought, hmm, maybe she's blown up and she won't want to be involved, or she'll want a bunch of money that I don't have. I roamed around on her site and she has another CD out, titled, "Here". A little blurb about the CD says you can hear about her life in Baltimore in these songs, like the guy who lived in her driveway. I thought that was funny, and so Baltimore, and I looked at the title of the song, which bears his name. And this, being Smalltimore... I know the guy.
I figured that was a pretty good icebreaker, so I took a chance and wrote to Niki, sent her the link to the new trailer, and a few lines about the project and how I'd love to use some of her stuff, and that we have this mutual friend. She very graciously picked up the phone and called me from California last night. We had a good chat and she is psyched for me, and definitely wants in on it! I am so happy about this, and it is just the impetus I needed to get me to be EXCITED about going back to editing after New Year's. There are only a few scenes in the rough cut that have the permanent music laid in, and those scenes are so much more powerful because of it. I can't WAIT to get back to the drawing board!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
A Bassist by Any Other Name...
Sleep is still screwed up. My mind won't shut off, though I have far less to do on a daily basis at the moment. I have not watched (and therefore have not edited) any part of the movie (other than the trailer a couple times) since I watched it straight through last Thursday. It is hard for me to stay away from it, even though I was looking forward to a break from it. There are things I know are wrong with it that I want to work on. But that won't change what I will be showing at the screening on Saturday anyway, so I am not watching any part of it for nine whole days so that I can see it with somewhat-fresh eyes, to see what else I need to fix, or maybe even what moments are just fine and I am being too critical of them.
I kind of miss seeing my cast every day, too, and I am looking forward to seeing almost all of them on Saturday. Every time I watch a scene, I think about the goofy things that happened while we were filming it. Unfortunately, since we were filming on the P2 cards, we didn't have the luxury of just letting the camera roll all the time and capturing a lot of those funny offscreen moments, because we had to conserve space on the cards. There were some days we filled them completely. But I remember the little screw-ups that were amusing, and for the most part have forgotten the ones that were annoying. Like having kids, you forgot the bad stuff quickly enough that it makes you want to make more...
Probably my favorite blunder was made by my brother. He came up from Florida in order to see me on the set for a day before going to Ocean City with some of my other relatives on vacation. I felt bad because I had ZERO time to hang out with him really, but it meant a lot to me that he was there and got to see behind the scenes for a day. It was one of the days we were filming at the Wind-Up Space, and I threw him into the scene as a bartender. You'll see him in the first scene that takes place there. Though he threw in a couple other lines that one would just naturally say to customers ("What can I get ya?", etc) I only gave him one SPECIFIC line. He had to hand a beer to one of the main cast, whose character name is Thom who is playing in a band in the bar. All Ted (my bro) had to do was hand Thom a beer as Thom walks offstage, and say, "ThomBomb!" This is Thom's nickname, and this action established that Thom is a regular, everybody knows and loves him.
As with any and every scene, we had to do it a bunch of times, due to noise issues, getting it from different angles, and getting a couple safeties once we got it right. Ted did good the first 5 or 6 times. How could he not, it is one word, right?
Somewhere around the 7th take I think, the five other people in the scene hit their marks and delivered their lines perfectly, and my brother approaches Thom with the beer, reaches in his direction, and clearly says, "ThomJOHN!"
No one flinched (and BELIEVE me, it was all I could do not to burst out laughing, but this was one of the days we were running short on card space), Ted walks off camera and looks at me like, "WTF?" Just the look on his own face, wondering how the hell he could have possibly screwed up ONE word, is an hysterical moment I will never forget. And, of course, will never let HIM forget.
I kind of miss seeing my cast every day, too, and I am looking forward to seeing almost all of them on Saturday. Every time I watch a scene, I think about the goofy things that happened while we were filming it. Unfortunately, since we were filming on the P2 cards, we didn't have the luxury of just letting the camera roll all the time and capturing a lot of those funny offscreen moments, because we had to conserve space on the cards. There were some days we filled them completely. But I remember the little screw-ups that were amusing, and for the most part have forgotten the ones that were annoying. Like having kids, you forgot the bad stuff quickly enough that it makes you want to make more...
Probably my favorite blunder was made by my brother. He came up from Florida in order to see me on the set for a day before going to Ocean City with some of my other relatives on vacation. I felt bad because I had ZERO time to hang out with him really, but it meant a lot to me that he was there and got to see behind the scenes for a day. It was one of the days we were filming at the Wind-Up Space, and I threw him into the scene as a bartender. You'll see him in the first scene that takes place there. Though he threw in a couple other lines that one would just naturally say to customers ("What can I get ya?", etc) I only gave him one SPECIFIC line. He had to hand a beer to one of the main cast, whose character name is Thom who is playing in a band in the bar. All Ted (my bro) had to do was hand Thom a beer as Thom walks offstage, and say, "ThomBomb!" This is Thom's nickname, and this action established that Thom is a regular, everybody knows and loves him.
As with any and every scene, we had to do it a bunch of times, due to noise issues, getting it from different angles, and getting a couple safeties once we got it right. Ted did good the first 5 or 6 times. How could he not, it is one word, right?
Somewhere around the 7th take I think, the five other people in the scene hit their marks and delivered their lines perfectly, and my brother approaches Thom with the beer, reaches in his direction, and clearly says, "ThomJOHN!"
No one flinched (and BELIEVE me, it was all I could do not to burst out laughing, but this was one of the days we were running short on card space), Ted walks off camera and looks at me like, "WTF?" Just the look on his own face, wondering how the hell he could have possibly screwed up ONE word, is an hysterical moment I will never forget. And, of course, will never let HIM forget.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The New Trailer is UP!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMWrmxjr83k
And the REAL name of the movie is revealed!
And the REAL name of the movie is revealed!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
T-Minus 18 Days, and Counting
Has it really been two weeks since I've posted? It's been a blur. But I am finally getting a chance to breathe a bit, which I should really stop doing if I want to get this rough cut done by December 27th! It will get done. Just had to get through Thanksgiving week, then some work stuff at my job-job, and today - I was the guest speaker at a class on "Baltimore in Film" at UMBC.
I had never done anything like that before, and it turned out to be really fun. I think that "Acting for the Camera" class I took with Steve Yeager at the Creative Alliance last month really helped my nerves, this wasn't nearly as scary! The Professor, Kimberly Moffitt, was very nice and the students (about 40) seemed interested and asked a lot of questions and I didn't notice anyone sleeping. The angle I was addressing was, "Why Baltimore?", which I discuss in almost every posting in one way or another, so I won't bore you with a recap. Then we watched the trailer I made (with loads of help from Sean Stanley & crew) one year ago - and then we watched ( don't be mad, Cast!) a rough version of the NEW trailer, which I worked on (with some help from Kyle Holtgren, my actor who plays David) for six hours last night. There are a few things I still need to smooth out, but I hope to have up on YouTube by week's end. Both trailers seemed to go over well, and it was fun for me to see them back-to-back and see an objective audience's reaction to them. One of the things I am very excited about in the new trailer is that I used my FAVORITE song by my friends T.T. Tucker & the Bum Rush Band, "America is One Tough Town." It is PERFECT. Tucker & the boys worked really hard to get this song recorded for me in time to use it for the rough cut and I am very grateful to them for that. THANK YOU Tucker, Jamie, Wayne, Craig, Stevie & Lump! You guys literally ROCK.
As I've said, I've been really happy with the editing so far, but I haven't laid music in to any of the other stuff because everything is not perfectly set yet. But doing this trailer last night rejuvenated my spirit to get back to working hard on the edit, because now I can't wait to lay the rest of the music in! It makes a good piece SO much better, and it also helps to cover little mistakes and sound issues along the way.
I was glad to be able to speak at this class for a lot of reasons. For the sheer experience of it, and to meet the students, for starters. Preparing for the class and what questions they might have gave me the opportunity to take a moment and review the last year of my life and see how I got from Point A (embodied by the first trailer) to Point B (embodied by the second). I gave credit to as many people as I could as I spoke to them, because I sure as hell didn't do this all by myself - to my sounding boards and compatriots that kept me sane: Sean, Michelle, and Eric; to my amazing cast (Cheryl & Orlando, I bragged about you two toughing out the convertible scene in mid-November!); to my film & production crew, including my Army of Interns; to the Creative Alliance, which is an incredible resource I can't say enough good things about; to my incredibly generous investors, Tom, Mikey, and Dan (I told the students, "Make friends with smart people NOW - they will be the ones with money 20 years from now!"); to my friends who loaned me their homes, businesses, and sometimes even their acting talent to enrich the film; to the many artists and musicians who loaned me their work and further upped my production values; and to Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts for making jumping through a few hoops relatively inexpensive and painless.
Professor Moffitt (Kimberly) treated me to lunch afterwards, and one of her enthusiastic students, Winona, joined us. There I found out that Kimberly only moved here about three years ago and is not Baltimore's biggest fan yet. So now, as if I need more on my plate, it is my mission to convert her! So I invited her to the screening. I realize that having her meet a great many of my crazy friends and colleagues en masse is a plan that may send her packing her bags for NormalTown, but it is a chance I am willing to take. These are the people I know and love, the people that put the "Charm," in "Charm City," and life in this City with them is a lot of things, but it is never boring. Can't wait!
I had never done anything like that before, and it turned out to be really fun. I think that "Acting for the Camera" class I took with Steve Yeager at the Creative Alliance last month really helped my nerves, this wasn't nearly as scary! The Professor, Kimberly Moffitt, was very nice and the students (about 40) seemed interested and asked a lot of questions and I didn't notice anyone sleeping. The angle I was addressing was, "Why Baltimore?", which I discuss in almost every posting in one way or another, so I won't bore you with a recap. Then we watched the trailer I made (with loads of help from Sean Stanley & crew) one year ago - and then we watched ( don't be mad, Cast!) a rough version of the NEW trailer, which I worked on (with some help from Kyle Holtgren, my actor who plays David) for six hours last night. There are a few things I still need to smooth out, but I hope to have up on YouTube by week's end. Both trailers seemed to go over well, and it was fun for me to see them back-to-back and see an objective audience's reaction to them. One of the things I am very excited about in the new trailer is that I used my FAVORITE song by my friends T.T. Tucker & the Bum Rush Band, "America is One Tough Town." It is PERFECT. Tucker & the boys worked really hard to get this song recorded for me in time to use it for the rough cut and I am very grateful to them for that. THANK YOU Tucker, Jamie, Wayne, Craig, Stevie & Lump! You guys literally ROCK.
As I've said, I've been really happy with the editing so far, but I haven't laid music in to any of the other stuff because everything is not perfectly set yet. But doing this trailer last night rejuvenated my spirit to get back to working hard on the edit, because now I can't wait to lay the rest of the music in! It makes a good piece SO much better, and it also helps to cover little mistakes and sound issues along the way.
I was glad to be able to speak at this class for a lot of reasons. For the sheer experience of it, and to meet the students, for starters. Preparing for the class and what questions they might have gave me the opportunity to take a moment and review the last year of my life and see how I got from Point A (embodied by the first trailer) to Point B (embodied by the second). I gave credit to as many people as I could as I spoke to them, because I sure as hell didn't do this all by myself - to my sounding boards and compatriots that kept me sane: Sean, Michelle, and Eric; to my amazing cast (Cheryl & Orlando, I bragged about you two toughing out the convertible scene in mid-November!); to my film & production crew, including my Army of Interns; to the Creative Alliance, which is an incredible resource I can't say enough good things about; to my incredibly generous investors, Tom, Mikey, and Dan (I told the students, "Make friends with smart people NOW - they will be the ones with money 20 years from now!"); to my friends who loaned me their homes, businesses, and sometimes even their acting talent to enrich the film; to the many artists and musicians who loaned me their work and further upped my production values; and to Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts for making jumping through a few hoops relatively inexpensive and painless.
Professor Moffitt (Kimberly) treated me to lunch afterwards, and one of her enthusiastic students, Winona, joined us. There I found out that Kimberly only moved here about three years ago and is not Baltimore's biggest fan yet. So now, as if I need more on my plate, it is my mission to convert her! So I invited her to the screening. I realize that having her meet a great many of my crazy friends and colleagues en masse is a plan that may send her packing her bags for NormalTown, but it is a chance I am willing to take. These are the people I know and love, the people that put the "Charm," in "Charm City," and life in this City with them is a lot of things, but it is never boring. Can't wait!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Painting Myself into Corners
I am allotting myself only 20 minutes for this post, and only because I got up earlier than I had planned to. I'm up at Mikey's cabin in the Poconos at the moment, and I am picking him up from the bus stop (conveniently located in the parking lot of the local beer & liquor distributor - one stop shopping!) at 6:45pm this evening. From there it is dinner at Louie's Prime, so the evening will be shot as far as working, but I am really looking forward to seeing Mikey. He couldn't coe down last time I came up, so it has been about 2 months since I've seen him.
Editing is going very well, though it does contain some very frustrating moments. There are a few scenes I am dreading working on, one that I don't have nearly enough coverage on, another that is an exterior and we were battling clouds all day, and at least one more extremely long scene. I've already muddled through a few of those. I have several scenes that are 3 to 5 minutes long, which in movie time is REALLY long. But they are scenes where people come and go, so it is actually like 2 or 3 scenes in one. I don't think it will be boring to watch, but goddamn is it boring to edit! It takes me about an hour to edit each minute of film (sometimes more), because I am green but also because I am very picky. So for the long scenes I am spending 4 to 5 hours editing looking at the same location, faces, dialogue... I am an instant-gratification kinda girl (don't ask me why I'm making a movie, then, I've been asking myself that very question quite often lately), and have a lot more fun editing 1 to 2 minutes scenes and having something to show for it relatively quickly.
I have a total of almost FIFTY minutes of movie roughed out, which is pretty awesome, because that's about half the film! 14 or 15 minutes of that I did on this trip so far, plus about 5 hours worth of labeling video clips, about 16 hours work total, and I've only been up here a day and a half. If I can get a total of 30 minutes roughed out while I am here, I will have met my goal, if I can get 35 done, I will be ECSTATIC.
There is a lot more to do after that, mostly smoothing out the sound, a very fine and delicate art. Charlie has offered to help, once I get the rough cut completed, to finesse it with me. The speed bump in the path to timely success is, of course, the holidays. My brother is coming up from Florida the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and he'll be with me for a week. Within that week we are going to Pennsylvania to see my Mom and some old friends, so really I can't count on getting anything done during that time.
But I really only started editing (not including labeling clips, which took an additional 2 days) on November 2, and I got 50 minutes done in 10 days. If I can keep that pace for the next 10 days, I should have a VERY rough cut done before Thanksgiving, and be on track to start smoothing it out at the beginning of December, which will be perfect.
I just found out that the deadline for submissions to the Maryland Film Festival is December 19th, when all this time I thought it was in January. I had already painted myself into a corner by promising cast & crew to screen a rough cut on December 27th, and now I have 8 days less to work on it!
But that's all right, I am on pace to get it done by then, if I don't slow down, or, you know, SLEEP. Plus then I can have that weight off my shoulders and enjoy Christmas.
Damn it! 10:33am. Gotta get crackin'. I can't get much of an internet connection up here, so may have to save this as a draft and post later. Isolation is the best way for me to get things done, though. And thank goodness that today it is pouring outside, and supposed to rain all day. Yesterday it was sunny and gorgeous, and it was SO difficult to stay inside in front of my computer screen.
Editing is going very well, though it does contain some very frustrating moments. There are a few scenes I am dreading working on, one that I don't have nearly enough coverage on, another that is an exterior and we were battling clouds all day, and at least one more extremely long scene. I've already muddled through a few of those. I have several scenes that are 3 to 5 minutes long, which in movie time is REALLY long. But they are scenes where people come and go, so it is actually like 2 or 3 scenes in one. I don't think it will be boring to watch, but goddamn is it boring to edit! It takes me about an hour to edit each minute of film (sometimes more), because I am green but also because I am very picky. So for the long scenes I am spending 4 to 5 hours editing looking at the same location, faces, dialogue... I am an instant-gratification kinda girl (don't ask me why I'm making a movie, then, I've been asking myself that very question quite often lately), and have a lot more fun editing 1 to 2 minutes scenes and having something to show for it relatively quickly.
I have a total of almost FIFTY minutes of movie roughed out, which is pretty awesome, because that's about half the film! 14 or 15 minutes of that I did on this trip so far, plus about 5 hours worth of labeling video clips, about 16 hours work total, and I've only been up here a day and a half. If I can get a total of 30 minutes roughed out while I am here, I will have met my goal, if I can get 35 done, I will be ECSTATIC.
There is a lot more to do after that, mostly smoothing out the sound, a very fine and delicate art. Charlie has offered to help, once I get the rough cut completed, to finesse it with me. The speed bump in the path to timely success is, of course, the holidays. My brother is coming up from Florida the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and he'll be with me for a week. Within that week we are going to Pennsylvania to see my Mom and some old friends, so really I can't count on getting anything done during that time.
But I really only started editing (not including labeling clips, which took an additional 2 days) on November 2, and I got 50 minutes done in 10 days. If I can keep that pace for the next 10 days, I should have a VERY rough cut done before Thanksgiving, and be on track to start smoothing it out at the beginning of December, which will be perfect.
I just found out that the deadline for submissions to the Maryland Film Festival is December 19th, when all this time I thought it was in January. I had already painted myself into a corner by promising cast & crew to screen a rough cut on December 27th, and now I have 8 days less to work on it!
But that's all right, I am on pace to get it done by then, if I don't slow down, or, you know, SLEEP. Plus then I can have that weight off my shoulders and enjoy Christmas.
Damn it! 10:33am. Gotta get crackin'. I can't get much of an internet connection up here, so may have to save this as a draft and post later. Isolation is the best way for me to get things done, though. And thank goodness that today it is pouring outside, and supposed to rain all day. Yesterday it was sunny and gorgeous, and it was SO difficult to stay inside in front of my computer screen.
Monday, November 10, 2008
AAAAAAAND cut!... and Cutting, Continued
Finished my two-day acting workshop with Steve Yeager at the Creative Alliance on Saturday, and I am happy to say I'm pretty sure I rocked it out. The thing I was most nervous about was the monologue that I was assigned. It was a long piece, probably a good four minutes, and to be honest I wasn't crazy about it at first. But after I read it over about 10 times, the subtleties of it began to surface and I could finally see the meat on it, and the opportunity to show a range.
The great part was that the character started off as being very nervous, as did I! So I OWNED my nervousness. :) By the time I was halfway through the piece, at about the time the character calmed down, I hadn't stumbled once and I knew the rest, so I, too, calmed down, and was able to pull the rest off without a hitch. As soon as Steve yelled, "Cut!" he was laughing, and a few comments from my classmates let me know I had done a good job.
I was talking to my brother, Ted, on the phone last night about it. I told him it was really scary for me to do this, and he said, as most people who know me would, that he would never have guessed that about me. But it is true nonetheless. Through the entire process of making this film, through writing, receiving critique from colleagues and friends, putting myself out there to meet new people and make new contacts, negotiating contracts with crew, locations, etc, auditioning and casting actors, rehearsing with the actors, the whole circus of production, including directing the whole thing, NOT ONCE did my heart beat as hard and fast as it did whenever I had to get up in front of that camera for these past two Saturdays. I can honestly say I have never pushed myself so far outside my comfort zone on purpose.
But I am very glad I did. And by the time we were doing more scenes and exercises after lunch on the second Saturday, I was fine and my heart was only fluttering a bit, not the big, pounding bass drum it had been up until that point whenever Steve would say, "Action!"
My brother asked me if I walked away from the class with whatever it was I had been looking for. I said, absolutely. I pushed my own limits and allowed myself to be vulnerable at the same time. I got to spend some time with Steve Yeager, an award-winning Director and professor at Towson University. I put myself in the actor's shoes, and for that I will be a better director. And of course, I have even more respect for actors than I did before. I certainly wouldn't want to make MY living doing that. It's exhausting. I was emotionally drained by the time I got home, and compared to a regular day on the set for an actor, that class was chump change.
Tonight I am heading over to Charlie's for some more editing instruction. I have about 25 scenes edited, and it is going quite well, though I still have SO much to do, and I am trying to make a deadline now of December 19th to submit Charm City for entry in the Maryland Film Festival. It's going to be TIGHT. But I think I can do it.
Yesterday I didn't get any editing done. But I think I'll go to the Poconos this week and I can do double the work up there, cuz there is NOTHING else to distract me, until Mikey shows up with a box of wine. Yesterday I went instead to Harper's Ferry for the day with Eric, where he tricked me into climbing a mountain, a charge he vehemently denies. But, my blog, so that's the story I am sticking to. He needed some establishing shots there to use in his film, and it was a beautiful, crisp fall day, so why not? I minimized my guilt by listening to CDs of local Baltimore bands to see if I could find additional music for the soundtrack. I found a few things, too, so see, I was productive after all! Hurray for multi-tasking! My car is the only place I can listen attentively to music, and since I live in the building I work in, sometimes I will go for days without getting in my car.
So on top of all of the above, I am trying to schedule two more days of pick-up shots next week so I can close this thing out. Except for one scene I still need with my favorite skinny poet, Al Letson (www.alletson.com). If I don't see him in Baltimore by then, I may be road-tripping to Florida in February to see my brother, and I'll stop in Jacksonville on the way there or back and get the footage I need of Al. The things we do for art!
Gotta get ready for my meeting with Charlie...
The great part was that the character started off as being very nervous, as did I! So I OWNED my nervousness. :) By the time I was halfway through the piece, at about the time the character calmed down, I hadn't stumbled once and I knew the rest, so I, too, calmed down, and was able to pull the rest off without a hitch. As soon as Steve yelled, "Cut!" he was laughing, and a few comments from my classmates let me know I had done a good job.
I was talking to my brother, Ted, on the phone last night about it. I told him it was really scary for me to do this, and he said, as most people who know me would, that he would never have guessed that about me. But it is true nonetheless. Through the entire process of making this film, through writing, receiving critique from colleagues and friends, putting myself out there to meet new people and make new contacts, negotiating contracts with crew, locations, etc, auditioning and casting actors, rehearsing with the actors, the whole circus of production, including directing the whole thing, NOT ONCE did my heart beat as hard and fast as it did whenever I had to get up in front of that camera for these past two Saturdays. I can honestly say I have never pushed myself so far outside my comfort zone on purpose.
But I am very glad I did. And by the time we were doing more scenes and exercises after lunch on the second Saturday, I was fine and my heart was only fluttering a bit, not the big, pounding bass drum it had been up until that point whenever Steve would say, "Action!"
My brother asked me if I walked away from the class with whatever it was I had been looking for. I said, absolutely. I pushed my own limits and allowed myself to be vulnerable at the same time. I got to spend some time with Steve Yeager, an award-winning Director and professor at Towson University. I put myself in the actor's shoes, and for that I will be a better director. And of course, I have even more respect for actors than I did before. I certainly wouldn't want to make MY living doing that. It's exhausting. I was emotionally drained by the time I got home, and compared to a regular day on the set for an actor, that class was chump change.
Tonight I am heading over to Charlie's for some more editing instruction. I have about 25 scenes edited, and it is going quite well, though I still have SO much to do, and I am trying to make a deadline now of December 19th to submit Charm City for entry in the Maryland Film Festival. It's going to be TIGHT. But I think I can do it.
Yesterday I didn't get any editing done. But I think I'll go to the Poconos this week and I can do double the work up there, cuz there is NOTHING else to distract me, until Mikey shows up with a box of wine. Yesterday I went instead to Harper's Ferry for the day with Eric, where he tricked me into climbing a mountain, a charge he vehemently denies. But, my blog, so that's the story I am sticking to. He needed some establishing shots there to use in his film, and it was a beautiful, crisp fall day, so why not? I minimized my guilt by listening to CDs of local Baltimore bands to see if I could find additional music for the soundtrack. I found a few things, too, so see, I was productive after all! Hurray for multi-tasking! My car is the only place I can listen attentively to music, and since I live in the building I work in, sometimes I will go for days without getting in my car.
So on top of all of the above, I am trying to schedule two more days of pick-up shots next week so I can close this thing out. Except for one scene I still need with my favorite skinny poet, Al Letson (www.alletson.com). If I don't see him in Baltimore by then, I may be road-tripping to Florida in February to see my brother, and I'll stop in Jacksonville on the way there or back and get the footage I need of Al. The things we do for art!
Gotta get ready for my meeting with Charlie...
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Let the Games Begin (or, Continue...)
Today was a mixed bag. On top of my day job, which is in flux for reasons too complicated to get into, I'm trying to schedule both my pick-up days for Charm City and the pick-up days for Juju. I've got a decent handle on all three... it is just a lot of balls to keep in the air.
Some stuff in my personal life going on, too, making me reflect on decisions that brought me to where I am today. Things that initially make one think, oh my god, if I only would have done this or stuck with that, I'd be in a totally different place right now, life would be completely different!... and I would be, and it would be... and it would not be the right place or the right life for me, because where I am is where I should be. Where I am, I don't have all the answers, I am not at my final destination, I have not reached all my goals... how boring would life be if I did? I've gotten this far without running out of questions and the desire to learn more than I know now. Don't see that changing anytime soon.
I have finally, but just barely, started the editing process. Through a nice barter deal with a great guy, Charlie Anderson of Stratatek Studios, I am learning the ropes, one on one.
Though at first I found it frustrating (because I had to step away from my own project), now I am so glad that immediately after wrapping principle photography on Charm City I started working on Juju. Going back to look at the footage after not having seen it for 2 months gives me a great deal of perspective. I see now that there are some shots I didn't know to insist upon, and there are some shots that I insisted I could live without that I should have gotten. But still, I am confident that through the magic of editing I can come up with a decent product in the end. Could it be better? Of course! But that is what first features are for. Of COURSE I would love for this to be my big splash, and I'll do everything I can to make that happen. But will this be my masterpiece? God, I hope not! If so, there would be no place to go but down, right? I have no delusions of grandeur in that regard.
But I will admit that I would like for people to respect what I have accomplished to date, or, at a minimum, not shit all over it. At the same time, it is a fine line for me to walk. It is complicated... I am not sure how to explain it... egos everywhere, including mine, I'm sure. There are so many people I have met, and learned from, and just flat out revered. To name a few: Sean Stanley, Michelle Farrell, and Eric Thornett. These three are the Indie Holy Trinity as far as I am concerned. Flip back through previous posts just to get a taste of what they have helped me through, and continue to help me through. I started off knowing each of them by bartering services or resources that aided both parties, but more importantly now, they are my friends.
But I digress, sort of...
On my shoot, a few people chose to tell me, sometimes in rather harsh terms, what they thought I was doing wrong, or should do better, or basically should have known coming out of the womb... I tried to take it all in stride. I suppose sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't, I don't know. Nothing I couldn't live with, no mistakes I couldn't own. Never claimed to be perfect, or even know what I was doing. That's what first productions are for. It made me a better Production Manager for Juju. This was that production team's first feature-length. Sometimes when I just wanted to bitch, I remembered how it made me feel when people on my team on Charm City did that... and I kept my mouth shut. If it was something important, I would say it, to their (the producers) faces (not via email, or text message, or voicemail) and at an appropriate (read: private) time and place. Like any business, there is a hierarchy in filmmaking. If you want to cause a scene, create drama, you can certainly earn a name for yourself - among your peers and subordinates. But there are several things more important to keep in mind: (1) the people you are impressing by behaving this way are generally not the people who hired you, (2) the people who hired you are not likely to be impressed, (3) this business is an incredibly small microcosm, so (4) the people who hired you know other people who may or may NOT hire you.
But it is not just about even that, to me. It is about respect, and integrity. I am just a little disillusioned at the moment... today I found something online, accidentally, written about Charm City by someone who had worked on the production. Not only had I personally signed this person on to the project, and enjoyed working with that person throughout, I then went out on a limb to get that person hired onto Juju, with pay, and mid-production went further out on that limb to get that person more money.
Double-whammy to me is that person is female. Filmmaking is a Boys' Club, no doubt. I am not complaining, though, because it gives me an edge. Female Writer/Producer/Directors are few and far between, especially in the Indie world. It gives me a hook. I'll take it. But to be slammed by another female, a female that I hired, TWICE... who was nice to my face, who I gave more credit than that... it just makes me feel like a sucker.
On the other hand, this person is young, and though I don't think that is carte blanche for anything (and I hated it when people would say that, "oh, she's young," about me when I actually WAS young), it makes it easier for me to live with. As far as I know, she hasn't written, OR directed, OR produced a feature-length film. And she probably spent as much money going to school for it as people handed me to make my film, because they believe in me. So, you know, I can live with all of that.
Some stuff in my personal life going on, too, making me reflect on decisions that brought me to where I am today. Things that initially make one think, oh my god, if I only would have done this or stuck with that, I'd be in a totally different place right now, life would be completely different!... and I would be, and it would be... and it would not be the right place or the right life for me, because where I am is where I should be. Where I am, I don't have all the answers, I am not at my final destination, I have not reached all my goals... how boring would life be if I did? I've gotten this far without running out of questions and the desire to learn more than I know now. Don't see that changing anytime soon.
I have finally, but just barely, started the editing process. Through a nice barter deal with a great guy, Charlie Anderson of Stratatek Studios, I am learning the ropes, one on one.
Though at first I found it frustrating (because I had to step away from my own project), now I am so glad that immediately after wrapping principle photography on Charm City I started working on Juju. Going back to look at the footage after not having seen it for 2 months gives me a great deal of perspective. I see now that there are some shots I didn't know to insist upon, and there are some shots that I insisted I could live without that I should have gotten. But still, I am confident that through the magic of editing I can come up with a decent product in the end. Could it be better? Of course! But that is what first features are for. Of COURSE I would love for this to be my big splash, and I'll do everything I can to make that happen. But will this be my masterpiece? God, I hope not! If so, there would be no place to go but down, right? I have no delusions of grandeur in that regard.
But I will admit that I would like for people to respect what I have accomplished to date, or, at a minimum, not shit all over it. At the same time, it is a fine line for me to walk. It is complicated... I am not sure how to explain it... egos everywhere, including mine, I'm sure. There are so many people I have met, and learned from, and just flat out revered. To name a few: Sean Stanley, Michelle Farrell, and Eric Thornett. These three are the Indie Holy Trinity as far as I am concerned. Flip back through previous posts just to get a taste of what they have helped me through, and continue to help me through. I started off knowing each of them by bartering services or resources that aided both parties, but more importantly now, they are my friends.
But I digress, sort of...
On my shoot, a few people chose to tell me, sometimes in rather harsh terms, what they thought I was doing wrong, or should do better, or basically should have known coming out of the womb... I tried to take it all in stride. I suppose sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't, I don't know. Nothing I couldn't live with, no mistakes I couldn't own. Never claimed to be perfect, or even know what I was doing. That's what first productions are for. It made me a better Production Manager for Juju. This was that production team's first feature-length. Sometimes when I just wanted to bitch, I remembered how it made me feel when people on my team on Charm City did that... and I kept my mouth shut. If it was something important, I would say it, to their (the producers) faces (not via email, or text message, or voicemail) and at an appropriate (read: private) time and place. Like any business, there is a hierarchy in filmmaking. If you want to cause a scene, create drama, you can certainly earn a name for yourself - among your peers and subordinates. But there are several things more important to keep in mind: (1) the people you are impressing by behaving this way are generally not the people who hired you, (2) the people who hired you are not likely to be impressed, (3) this business is an incredibly small microcosm, so (4) the people who hired you know other people who may or may NOT hire you.
But it is not just about even that, to me. It is about respect, and integrity. I am just a little disillusioned at the moment... today I found something online, accidentally, written about Charm City by someone who had worked on the production. Not only had I personally signed this person on to the project, and enjoyed working with that person throughout, I then went out on a limb to get that person hired onto Juju, with pay, and mid-production went further out on that limb to get that person more money.
Double-whammy to me is that person is female. Filmmaking is a Boys' Club, no doubt. I am not complaining, though, because it gives me an edge. Female Writer/Producer/Directors are few and far between, especially in the Indie world. It gives me a hook. I'll take it. But to be slammed by another female, a female that I hired, TWICE... who was nice to my face, who I gave more credit than that... it just makes me feel like a sucker.
On the other hand, this person is young, and though I don't think that is carte blanche for anything (and I hated it when people would say that, "oh, she's young," about me when I actually WAS young), it makes it easier for me to live with. As far as I know, she hasn't written, OR directed, OR produced a feature-length film. And she probably spent as much money going to school for it as people handed me to make my film, because they believe in me. So, you know, I can live with all of that.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Two-Martini Breakfast
Today is a day "off", as in, no filming, though that certainly is NOT as in, no work. I have a very long list of things to do and people to talk to, but while I have a moment here at 7:50a.m. before my phone starts ringing off the hook and the cavalcade of emails begins, I thought I'd give you an update, as in, vent.
Actually, it's not too bad. Well, it is, but I am still enjoying it and we have gotten a lot done.
Day 2
Day 2 was filming the big finale scene at Government House. The place looked beautiful, with artwork by Linda DePalma, Oletha Devane, Ellen Burchenal, Dr. Leslie King-Hammond, Caren Shelley, and even myself on the walls, tables, and mantlepieces. We had a good many extras, and all our primary actors were dressed to the nines for the big to-do.
This day was and will probably remain the biggest filming challenge of the production. I had my heart set on as lengthy a continuous shot as we could manage. I talked to Michelle and her crew about it on one of our pre-pro days. At first they were a little reluctant, but Michelle quickly got on board and welcomed the challenge. It took us from 8:00am to 6:00pm, TEN HOURS, and about 50 people including extras to get the shot completed, and it will amount to about one MINUTE of filming. There is no scripted dialogue in the scene, so there was seven pages of scheduled dialogue we didn't get to that day, and we went over 12 hours for the day so it cost me another $100 to order pizza for everyone for a second meal. But the important thing is that WE DID IT! On a budget like mine, a shot like that is usually out of the question, it takes SO much time to set up and SO many takes, though I think we got it in less than 10 takes. This is Michelle's tenth feature-length film and she said is was the hardest shot she has ever done. I am so psyched about it, I can barely wait to start editing. Now I just have to figure out when I am going to shoot those other 7 pages we missed, that is the hard part now.
Also on this day, Tucker's band was in the scene. The harmonica (among other instruments) player, Wayne Werner, is also a jeweler who makes incredible custom pieces, and he and I had worked out a deal for a bit of product placement. He made two stunning custom pendants just for the film, and he brought them along. Cheryl and Tiffany, my actresses who will be wearing them in the scenes, were so excited, but not as excited as I was - I get to keep one of them!
Everyone was so patient that day, especially the extras who had so little to do for most of the day, but stuck around even when we ran late. Some of them even called off work or went in late so they could stick around and be a part of it all. That was awesome.
At the end of the day, Michelle was frustrated because she felt we hadn't "made our day" (filmed all pages scheduled) for the second day in a row. But the continuous shot that took us ten hours was never really factored into that on paper, it is just something we talked about briefly beforehand, and we were able to make it work. So, I was okay with that. Pretty satisfied, actually, and very proud of the whole crew that made it happen. So happy, in fact, that I forgot about the fire alarm that went off when someone accidentally hit a pull station. Things happen, not a big deal, just a little more stress on the pile.
But the best part of the day for me was when we were done, when I finally got a chance to talk to Al Letson and Eric Thornett at the end of the day. Al flew up here from Jacksonville for no other reason than to be in my movie. The first day we didn't even get to his scene, though I am still hoping to pick that up sometime while I am in post-production. The second day he was an extra and it was all hurry-up-and-wait, and he had no dialogue. Finally the third day, he had a great scene at Dougherty's and it worked very well.
Al is in pre-production for his own show on National Public Radio, "State of the Re:Union", so he doesn't exactly have nothing on his plate. But he still made time for me and my project and that means the world to me. I hadn't seen him since February and it did me good to spend a little (too little) time with him. We didn't have much time to speak privately, but we squeaked out a few minutes. In the film, he is nicknamed, "The Voice of Reason," and he is exactly that to me. He is a solid sounding board and always tells me the truth, and I trust his opinions and respect his creative vision. He gives me a little nudge when I need it, whether in a project or in a personal matter. I would feel stupid if I ever failed in front of him, not because he would try to make me feel that way, but because I know that the only way I can fail would be due to my own laziness, and I would never want to lose Al's respect. He told me I had, "brass ones," for even attempting that continuous shot. That felt great to hear.
I've only known Eric since January, but he has quickly cut through the ranks to become another barometer against which I measure my own success and fortitude. More importantly, he is someone I know I can call at anytime, and often do. He came out Friday night (he lives an hour away) just to help me all day Saturday. He was never further than arm's reach all day, and if I asked him for anything it was done in seconds, and if I didn't ask him for anything, he asked me if I needed anything. I was so spent by the end of it all, but once the last pizza-eaters left and Al went to bed, Eric stayed up with me for awhile, cleaning up the kitchen and just talking. He is another one that if I were to fail in front of, I would be so disappointed in myself. I know that wouldn't effect our friendship, but it does drive me. It is good to have people around you like that when you are taking on such a huge challenge. And just as important to have people around that make you smile, and to put an arm around you at the end of a long day.
Day 3
Day 3 was our first of two days filming at Dougherty's Pub on West Chase Street, a few blocks from where I live in Mount Vernon. This is a fantastic place to film, so easy, because it is one of the few WIDE bars in Baltimore, plus it is very easy (relatively speaking) to hang lights from the drop ceiling. Another plus was that the artwork on the wall this month (they change up the first Thursday of every month) was by local artist Jillian Jenkins, and it could not BE any more perfect for filming. She has gorgeous black and white prints that practically jump off the wall, interspersed with a couple large-scale paintings and some smaller pieces grouped at one end. Her artwork figures prominently in some of the scenes and I am happy to show off her work and increase my production values at the same time.
We were pretty on-schedule on this day. Though we didn't get as much coverage (close-ups of individual actors) as I would have liked, simply because of time restrictions, the wide shots look very good and I have plenty to work with. Especially one shot in the pool room, using a jib ON a dolly made for a VERY cool shot that I can't wait to use.
Day 4
Another day at Dougherty's. Call time was a brutal 6:00am, and thankfully our last call that early. This one started off a bit rough, issues with transporting the gear. Not worth it to get into the details of it, but those problems combined with an early call time did not make for a pleasant launch for the shooting day, and Michelle and I snapped at each other a bit, unfortunately in front of the crew. I don't like that kind of thing, and had we been in my regular environment of the hotel business, I would have labeled it very unprofessional of us both. But making movies is a whole 'nuther animal, and there is no time to talk privately, and sometimes no luxury of having a private place to do so. Since all eyes are on the Director and the DP at all times, it would have made an even bigger deal of it than it was to step away, so best to get it out in the open and get it over with.
I don't know if that little exchange had anything to do with it or not, but the film crew was so great to me for the rest of the day, I never had to wait for anything. We moved very quickly, and my sound connection and half apple were always on hand. An apple box is simply a wooden box that is used to make people taller or to sit on, and a half apple is just half as high. Michelle is at least a foot taller than I am, which makes it difficult for both of us to have a good look at the monitor while filming, so I stand on a half apple, or sometimes I have to do things like climb on top of the bar or a booth. One of the crew, Z, was always there with a sound blanket for me to kneel or sit on when I had to do that. Little things like that make the day so much less painfully, literally and figuratively.
The (very) good thing about Michelle and me both is that once an issue is resolved, we can both let it go pretty quickly and move on. And that is exactly what we did, and it turned out to be our best day so far. We finished 8 1/2 pages including coverage, and we even finished 10 minutes early!
When I stepped outside of Dougherty's for a moment at one point, I met a woman who was standing in front of Tyson's bar next door. Her name is Allison Pasarew, and she had been talking to some of my crew and she asked if I needed any more artwork for the film, she had a couple pieces hanging in Tyson's. So I took a look, and after filming was over I came back with my car and borrowed two of her pieces which I will use in a scene we are shooting tomorrow. God Bless Smalltimore.
Also, I can't say enough about our Production Crew. We have an army of interns who have just been amazing. Regina Guy, Corey Davis, and David Sarmiento were my first-enlisted and they are my A-team. They are all there every day, pretty much from beginning to end, never complain, do anything asked of them and do it quickly, very self-motivated and don't wait to be told what to do, if something needs to be done, they just do it. Regina makes breakfast for the crew every day, which means she is up even earlier than them or me, so you can imagine how tired she was yesterday, as she had to be here and have breakfast made by 5:30a.m.! The rest of the crew are great as well, Erinn is our make-up artist, Shernay, Bill, Dylan, and Lin are other Production Assistants (and often extras), and also Brittany Sweatt, though sometimes I forget she is actually mine because Michelle stole her from me, and she has been doing a stellar job with the film crew as slater and monitor mover, among other things. She just wrapped production on Renee Zellweger's film, "My One and Only," so she has great experience under her belt already and is usually one step ahead of everyone.
That's not the long of it, just the short of it, and you probably already think it is too long, so I am going to sign off now and tackle a to-do list as long as my arm (and my other arm, and both legs...). That has something to do with the title of this posting, which I almost forgot to tie in. As I have had zero time to do anything personal, every glass in my apartment needs to be washed, except for the martini glasses, so that is what I had to use at breakfast this morning. We are filming a couple scenes in my apartment tomorrow, so I'd better get on that.
Actually, it's not too bad. Well, it is, but I am still enjoying it and we have gotten a lot done.
Day 2
Day 2 was filming the big finale scene at Government House. The place looked beautiful, with artwork by Linda DePalma, Oletha Devane, Ellen Burchenal, Dr. Leslie King-Hammond, Caren Shelley, and even myself on the walls, tables, and mantlepieces. We had a good many extras, and all our primary actors were dressed to the nines for the big to-do.
This day was and will probably remain the biggest filming challenge of the production. I had my heart set on as lengthy a continuous shot as we could manage. I talked to Michelle and her crew about it on one of our pre-pro days. At first they were a little reluctant, but Michelle quickly got on board and welcomed the challenge. It took us from 8:00am to 6:00pm, TEN HOURS, and about 50 people including extras to get the shot completed, and it will amount to about one MINUTE of filming. There is no scripted dialogue in the scene, so there was seven pages of scheduled dialogue we didn't get to that day, and we went over 12 hours for the day so it cost me another $100 to order pizza for everyone for a second meal. But the important thing is that WE DID IT! On a budget like mine, a shot like that is usually out of the question, it takes SO much time to set up and SO many takes, though I think we got it in less than 10 takes. This is Michelle's tenth feature-length film and she said is was the hardest shot she has ever done. I am so psyched about it, I can barely wait to start editing. Now I just have to figure out when I am going to shoot those other 7 pages we missed, that is the hard part now.
Also on this day, Tucker's band was in the scene. The harmonica (among other instruments) player, Wayne Werner, is also a jeweler who makes incredible custom pieces, and he and I had worked out a deal for a bit of product placement. He made two stunning custom pendants just for the film, and he brought them along. Cheryl and Tiffany, my actresses who will be wearing them in the scenes, were so excited, but not as excited as I was - I get to keep one of them!
Everyone was so patient that day, especially the extras who had so little to do for most of the day, but stuck around even when we ran late. Some of them even called off work or went in late so they could stick around and be a part of it all. That was awesome.
At the end of the day, Michelle was frustrated because she felt we hadn't "made our day" (filmed all pages scheduled) for the second day in a row. But the continuous shot that took us ten hours was never really factored into that on paper, it is just something we talked about briefly beforehand, and we were able to make it work. So, I was okay with that. Pretty satisfied, actually, and very proud of the whole crew that made it happen. So happy, in fact, that I forgot about the fire alarm that went off when someone accidentally hit a pull station. Things happen, not a big deal, just a little more stress on the pile.
But the best part of the day for me was when we were done, when I finally got a chance to talk to Al Letson and Eric Thornett at the end of the day. Al flew up here from Jacksonville for no other reason than to be in my movie. The first day we didn't even get to his scene, though I am still hoping to pick that up sometime while I am in post-production. The second day he was an extra and it was all hurry-up-and-wait, and he had no dialogue. Finally the third day, he had a great scene at Dougherty's and it worked very well.
Al is in pre-production for his own show on National Public Radio, "State of the Re:Union", so he doesn't exactly have nothing on his plate. But he still made time for me and my project and that means the world to me. I hadn't seen him since February and it did me good to spend a little (too little) time with him. We didn't have much time to speak privately, but we squeaked out a few minutes. In the film, he is nicknamed, "The Voice of Reason," and he is exactly that to me. He is a solid sounding board and always tells me the truth, and I trust his opinions and respect his creative vision. He gives me a little nudge when I need it, whether in a project or in a personal matter. I would feel stupid if I ever failed in front of him, not because he would try to make me feel that way, but because I know that the only way I can fail would be due to my own laziness, and I would never want to lose Al's respect. He told me I had, "brass ones," for even attempting that continuous shot. That felt great to hear.
I've only known Eric since January, but he has quickly cut through the ranks to become another barometer against which I measure my own success and fortitude. More importantly, he is someone I know I can call at anytime, and often do. He came out Friday night (he lives an hour away) just to help me all day Saturday. He was never further than arm's reach all day, and if I asked him for anything it was done in seconds, and if I didn't ask him for anything, he asked me if I needed anything. I was so spent by the end of it all, but once the last pizza-eaters left and Al went to bed, Eric stayed up with me for awhile, cleaning up the kitchen and just talking. He is another one that if I were to fail in front of, I would be so disappointed in myself. I know that wouldn't effect our friendship, but it does drive me. It is good to have people around you like that when you are taking on such a huge challenge. And just as important to have people around that make you smile, and to put an arm around you at the end of a long day.
Day 3
Day 3 was our first of two days filming at Dougherty's Pub on West Chase Street, a few blocks from where I live in Mount Vernon. This is a fantastic place to film, so easy, because it is one of the few WIDE bars in Baltimore, plus it is very easy (relatively speaking) to hang lights from the drop ceiling. Another plus was that the artwork on the wall this month (they change up the first Thursday of every month) was by local artist Jillian Jenkins, and it could not BE any more perfect for filming. She has gorgeous black and white prints that practically jump off the wall, interspersed with a couple large-scale paintings and some smaller pieces grouped at one end. Her artwork figures prominently in some of the scenes and I am happy to show off her work and increase my production values at the same time.
We were pretty on-schedule on this day. Though we didn't get as much coverage (close-ups of individual actors) as I would have liked, simply because of time restrictions, the wide shots look very good and I have plenty to work with. Especially one shot in the pool room, using a jib ON a dolly made for a VERY cool shot that I can't wait to use.
Day 4
Another day at Dougherty's. Call time was a brutal 6:00am, and thankfully our last call that early. This one started off a bit rough, issues with transporting the gear. Not worth it to get into the details of it, but those problems combined with an early call time did not make for a pleasant launch for the shooting day, and Michelle and I snapped at each other a bit, unfortunately in front of the crew. I don't like that kind of thing, and had we been in my regular environment of the hotel business, I would have labeled it very unprofessional of us both. But making movies is a whole 'nuther animal, and there is no time to talk privately, and sometimes no luxury of having a private place to do so. Since all eyes are on the Director and the DP at all times, it would have made an even bigger deal of it than it was to step away, so best to get it out in the open and get it over with.
I don't know if that little exchange had anything to do with it or not, but the film crew was so great to me for the rest of the day, I never had to wait for anything. We moved very quickly, and my sound connection and half apple were always on hand. An apple box is simply a wooden box that is used to make people taller or to sit on, and a half apple is just half as high. Michelle is at least a foot taller than I am, which makes it difficult for both of us to have a good look at the monitor while filming, so I stand on a half apple, or sometimes I have to do things like climb on top of the bar or a booth. One of the crew, Z, was always there with a sound blanket for me to kneel or sit on when I had to do that. Little things like that make the day so much less painfully, literally and figuratively.
The (very) good thing about Michelle and me both is that once an issue is resolved, we can both let it go pretty quickly and move on. And that is exactly what we did, and it turned out to be our best day so far. We finished 8 1/2 pages including coverage, and we even finished 10 minutes early!
When I stepped outside of Dougherty's for a moment at one point, I met a woman who was standing in front of Tyson's bar next door. Her name is Allison Pasarew, and she had been talking to some of my crew and she asked if I needed any more artwork for the film, she had a couple pieces hanging in Tyson's. So I took a look, and after filming was over I came back with my car and borrowed two of her pieces which I will use in a scene we are shooting tomorrow. God Bless Smalltimore.
Also, I can't say enough about our Production Crew. We have an army of interns who have just been amazing. Regina Guy, Corey Davis, and David Sarmiento were my first-enlisted and they are my A-team. They are all there every day, pretty much from beginning to end, never complain, do anything asked of them and do it quickly, very self-motivated and don't wait to be told what to do, if something needs to be done, they just do it. Regina makes breakfast for the crew every day, which means she is up even earlier than them or me, so you can imagine how tired she was yesterday, as she had to be here and have breakfast made by 5:30a.m.! The rest of the crew are great as well, Erinn is our make-up artist, Shernay, Bill, Dylan, and Lin are other Production Assistants (and often extras), and also Brittany Sweatt, though sometimes I forget she is actually mine because Michelle stole her from me, and she has been doing a stellar job with the film crew as slater and monitor mover, among other things. She just wrapped production on Renee Zellweger's film, "My One and Only," so she has great experience under her belt already and is usually one step ahead of everyone.
That's not the long of it, just the short of it, and you probably already think it is too long, so I am going to sign off now and tackle a to-do list as long as my arm (and my other arm, and both legs...). That has something to do with the title of this posting, which I almost forgot to tie in. As I have had zero time to do anything personal, every glass in my apartment needs to be washed, except for the martini glasses, so that is what I had to use at breakfast this morning. We are filming a couple scenes in my apartment tomorrow, so I'd better get on that.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Table Read
What a great day. This afternoon, the entire ensemble got together for a "table read" of the script from start to finish. I probably should not have scheduled this the day before a holiday weekend, as the people who had to travel the furthest to be here got stuck in DC beltway traffic. But everyone made it.
To call this cast eclectic would be an understatement. Their range in age, ethnicity, and pure style blend together beautifully, and truly capture the diversity that, to me, personifies Baltimore.
Everyone jumped in with their ideas and suggestions to tweak the script. It is important to me that everyone have their say, and take ownership of their characters. The collaborative effort absolutely made the script stronger and funnier. And I think the actors appreciated being asked their opinions, and knowing that their voices were heard.
One of the things that surprised me when I started wedging my way into the microcosm that is filmmaking is how poorly actors are often treated, and how willing they still are to do things for cheap or free. To many directors and producers, actors fall pretty far down on the list of priorities, after gear, locations, and well below film crew. Of course, any of those things can make or break your film. But so can acting, of course! It doesn't make good business sense to treat them like cattle. Not to me, anyway. I don't want to be that director.
Today's reading brought it home to me, and I think to the cast as well, that this is really happening, we are really doing this. And not only that, but we are going to do it very well, and have a great time while working our asses off. We had a lot of laughs today, and the natural chemistry that surrounded the table let me know that the tough choices I have had to make so far were the right ones.
In a nutshell, I could not possibly be happier with the way things are going. Tomorrow I am driving to my secret retreat in the Poconos, to spend the holiday weekend alone (well, I'm taking my dogs with me), rewriting the script to incorporate the changes we made today, and to start plotting out the rehearsal and production schedules. But tonight, I am just going to enjoy the moment, the sweet satisfaction of a productive day, and I am going to sleep like a baby.
To call this cast eclectic would be an understatement. Their range in age, ethnicity, and pure style blend together beautifully, and truly capture the diversity that, to me, personifies Baltimore.
Everyone jumped in with their ideas and suggestions to tweak the script. It is important to me that everyone have their say, and take ownership of their characters. The collaborative effort absolutely made the script stronger and funnier. And I think the actors appreciated being asked their opinions, and knowing that their voices were heard.
One of the things that surprised me when I started wedging my way into the microcosm that is filmmaking is how poorly actors are often treated, and how willing they still are to do things for cheap or free. To many directors and producers, actors fall pretty far down on the list of priorities, after gear, locations, and well below film crew. Of course, any of those things can make or break your film. But so can acting, of course! It doesn't make good business sense to treat them like cattle. Not to me, anyway. I don't want to be that director.
Today's reading brought it home to me, and I think to the cast as well, that this is really happening, we are really doing this. And not only that, but we are going to do it very well, and have a great time while working our asses off. We had a lot of laughs today, and the natural chemistry that surrounded the table let me know that the tough choices I have had to make so far were the right ones.
In a nutshell, I could not possibly be happier with the way things are going. Tomorrow I am driving to my secret retreat in the Poconos, to spend the holiday weekend alone (well, I'm taking my dogs with me), rewriting the script to incorporate the changes we made today, and to start plotting out the rehearsal and production schedules. But tonight, I am just going to enjoy the moment, the sweet satisfaction of a productive day, and I am going to sleep like a baby.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Stateside
I have returned from Jolly Olde England, and lovely though it was, I am very glad to see my dogs and my own bed once again. Wherever my travels take me, as soon as I see that Baltimore city skyline I can't help but smile, and my heart says, "I'm home."
This weekend was very hectic but much fun, extremely busy at my "day job", and on top of that, Saturday was my birthday and about a dozen friends helped me celebrate in various ways throughout the day and evening. Work was still busy today, and Eric Thornett from Piranha Pictures was filming at my hotel once again.
While I was in London I stopped by the gift shop of the Globe Theater and there I found a little something for Eric - a bottle of stage blood. As I write this, that very bottle is being used in my attic. Tonight he filmed his villainess chopping off someones head with an axe, her weapon of choice. Along with my little tiny bottle of blood, Eric is also using half a gallon of homemade blood that he whipped up himself. I think the ingredients are Karo syrup, creamer, food coloring, and chocolate sauce. My attic floor and two of his actors are now covered in it.
I'm not one to see films with a lot of blood and/or gore, but now that I am learning how it all takes place behind the scenes, it is kind of fun to see how it comes together. No blood or gore in, "Charm City," but I may have a more open mind about such things in the future.
This week is all about getting ready for the big callbacks on Sunday, June 8. The actors have been studying hard and preparing to do battle for their roles. I have never had to do that, and I must say I am glad. I think it would be completely nerve-wracking. I have been in front of the camera, which is nerve-wracking enough, but I did not have to compete against anyone else to be in that position. I give actors much credit for their sheer courage.
I have some great people coming in, and I am looking forward to it, though it will be a lot of work for everyone involved. The hard part for me is keeping an open mind right now, trying not to lean towards any one person for a role before seeing what they are capable of. An important part of the process is taping the whole thing, then afterwards giving it a few days to clear my mind and then watch the tapes, several times over, a few days apart between viewings. "The camera sees things the eye doesn't," as I have already been told countless times by my filmmaker friends, and it is true. In the first round of auditions, some people looked great to me in person, but after watching them a few times I thought differently. Maybe in person I thought they gave a strong performance, while when I watched it on film a few times, I could better see that they were a bit, "hammy." And some people that didn't "wow" me at all in the auditions, seeing them on film made me appreciate that they were very natural, which is what I am hoping to find for most of the actors I will be casting.
But in Baltimore, it is a fine line between "natural" and "hammy". Eric helped me by being one of the three people who watched the tapes with me at different times. He liked some people that I found a little too plain, either in appearance or delivery, and he thought the people that I liked were often a little hammy. I think our difference in opinion can largely be attributed to geography (though I will state for the record, in case he ever reads this, that he disagrees). Eric doesn't live in Baltimore, and he doesn't know a lot of permanent residents here. I, on the other hand, do, and I gotta say - people in Baltimore are...hammy!
I gave it a lot of thought after he and I watched the tapes and had our differences of opinion. Eric has been doing this a lot longer than I have been and I have a great deal of respect for his experience and advice. I questioned myself and wondered if I was making amateurish choices. I watched the tapes again, and compared notes with Ann Mladinov, who sat in on the live auditions with me.
Although Eric's feedback helped open my mind to give some people a chance that I might not have considered, I honestly think that most people, real live people, in Baltimore are at least a little bit over the top. Going through a list of friends in my head, particularly the ones that the characters in this film are loosely based on, check, check, check, they are all, "a bit hammy." And in many cases, the "bit" is superfluous.
And THAT is why I love this town.
This weekend was very hectic but much fun, extremely busy at my "day job", and on top of that, Saturday was my birthday and about a dozen friends helped me celebrate in various ways throughout the day and evening. Work was still busy today, and Eric Thornett from Piranha Pictures was filming at my hotel once again.
While I was in London I stopped by the gift shop of the Globe Theater and there I found a little something for Eric - a bottle of stage blood. As I write this, that very bottle is being used in my attic. Tonight he filmed his villainess chopping off someones head with an axe, her weapon of choice. Along with my little tiny bottle of blood, Eric is also using half a gallon of homemade blood that he whipped up himself. I think the ingredients are Karo syrup, creamer, food coloring, and chocolate sauce. My attic floor and two of his actors are now covered in it.
I'm not one to see films with a lot of blood and/or gore, but now that I am learning how it all takes place behind the scenes, it is kind of fun to see how it comes together. No blood or gore in, "Charm City," but I may have a more open mind about such things in the future.
This week is all about getting ready for the big callbacks on Sunday, June 8. The actors have been studying hard and preparing to do battle for their roles. I have never had to do that, and I must say I am glad. I think it would be completely nerve-wracking. I have been in front of the camera, which is nerve-wracking enough, but I did not have to compete against anyone else to be in that position. I give actors much credit for their sheer courage.
I have some great people coming in, and I am looking forward to it, though it will be a lot of work for everyone involved. The hard part for me is keeping an open mind right now, trying not to lean towards any one person for a role before seeing what they are capable of. An important part of the process is taping the whole thing, then afterwards giving it a few days to clear my mind and then watch the tapes, several times over, a few days apart between viewings. "The camera sees things the eye doesn't," as I have already been told countless times by my filmmaker friends, and it is true. In the first round of auditions, some people looked great to me in person, but after watching them a few times I thought differently. Maybe in person I thought they gave a strong performance, while when I watched it on film a few times, I could better see that they were a bit, "hammy." And some people that didn't "wow" me at all in the auditions, seeing them on film made me appreciate that they were very natural, which is what I am hoping to find for most of the actors I will be casting.
But in Baltimore, it is a fine line between "natural" and "hammy". Eric helped me by being one of the three people who watched the tapes with me at different times. He liked some people that I found a little too plain, either in appearance or delivery, and he thought the people that I liked were often a little hammy. I think our difference in opinion can largely be attributed to geography (though I will state for the record, in case he ever reads this, that he disagrees). Eric doesn't live in Baltimore, and he doesn't know a lot of permanent residents here. I, on the other hand, do, and I gotta say - people in Baltimore are...hammy!
I gave it a lot of thought after he and I watched the tapes and had our differences of opinion. Eric has been doing this a lot longer than I have been and I have a great deal of respect for his experience and advice. I questioned myself and wondered if I was making amateurish choices. I watched the tapes again, and compared notes with Ann Mladinov, who sat in on the live auditions with me.
Although Eric's feedback helped open my mind to give some people a chance that I might not have considered, I honestly think that most people, real live people, in Baltimore are at least a little bit over the top. Going through a list of friends in my head, particularly the ones that the characters in this film are loosely based on, check, check, check, they are all, "a bit hammy." And in many cases, the "bit" is superfluous.
And THAT is why I love this town.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Shortest Report Ever
Between 6:00pm Friday night and 9:00pm tonight (Sunday) I worked a bit over 32 hours assisting on a short indie film. Must. Sleep. Now.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Breaking Down
Don't worry, that's a good thing! Starting to really get to the meat of the matter. I am still in the VERY early stages of it, as the script is not, "locked," yet. "Locked," is when you finally say, that's it, the script has been through a million rewrites, through so many tweaks, trims, and tucks it would put Joan Rivers to shame, and that is about as good as it is going to get. That is when you have the "shooting script," and you can start breaking down the script, scene by scene, so that you can map out to the last detail what you are going to be doing, when, where, and with whom, once the cameras are rolling. That is "pre-production", along with a gaJILLION other details. For example, where exactly you are going to get those cameras. Or, more likely, camerA.
I am trying not to get ahead of myself, but this is how my brain works, how I problem-solve. It is not that different from what I have done in the hotel or restaurant business, or in the art circuit, organizing group exhibits. It is organization that requires extremely holistic thinking, and I find that if I let it stew in the back of my head, things start falling into place in my sub-conscious, and then when I am ready to set them to paper it flows a lot easier.
A one-day shoot takes weeks (and depending on the shoot, possibly months) of planning. Think of it this way: If you have ever been any part of a wedding, you know how involved it can be. In theory, it is an event that lasts, what, 6 hours including the ceremony, driving from the ceremony to the reception, then the reception. Right? HAH!
The Bride and Groom are your stars. The wedding party are your supporting cast. The guests are your extras. The mothers of the Bride and Groom are often your Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears. They can be really valuable if they focus on the task at hand, but often they can be your problem children.
There are so many things that have to be planned, just like on a movie set. There is an agenda to be followed, lines to be spoken, and so many things that can go wrong. Costumes! Make-up! Music! Locations! Even photography and lighting. And don't forget the all-important catering. Tensions rise as blood sugar drops. And many a nervous Bride has hit the floor after forgetting to eat that morning.
Also, like on a low-budget movie, whoever is organizing the whole to-do (= producer) has probably roped a lot of people into doing a lot of things for free that in reality, they don't have the time or desire to do. So you have to also worry about (a) making sure those people don't drop the ball, and (b) making sure they know how much they are appreciated.
Going from ceremony site to reception site = changing locations. Another CRUCIAL thing to think about when breaking down the script. In scene two, Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's house, in scene twelve, Grandma is dead and the wake is at her place. Guess what - you're shooting those scenes back to back, in the same day, to save time, money, and aggravation. But you still have to deal with costume changes, redressing the set, and getting everyone in the cast to go from cheerful to mopey.
So many people besides the Bride & Groom to think of...the Officiant, the florist, the caterers, the photographer, the make-up artist, the hairdresser, the limo driver, the band... you get the idea. Even who you are going to ask to drag all the presents from the reception to the house, who's going to do something with the flowers, who saved a piece of wedding cake to freeze, did someone tip the priest? It doesn't just end when the open bar closes.
You get the idea. Now think of planning a DIFFERENT wedding every day for 10 to 15 days straight. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
It does. But when you break it all down, into little, manageable pieces, it becomes...manageable. It is nothing more, and nothing less, than an enormous, difficult, challenging, mind-boggling, intimidating, and manageable jigsaw puzzle. And I, for one, am entirely and unequivocally PSYCHED.
I am trying not to get ahead of myself, but this is how my brain works, how I problem-solve. It is not that different from what I have done in the hotel or restaurant business, or in the art circuit, organizing group exhibits. It is organization that requires extremely holistic thinking, and I find that if I let it stew in the back of my head, things start falling into place in my sub-conscious, and then when I am ready to set them to paper it flows a lot easier.
A one-day shoot takes weeks (and depending on the shoot, possibly months) of planning. Think of it this way: If you have ever been any part of a wedding, you know how involved it can be. In theory, it is an event that lasts, what, 6 hours including the ceremony, driving from the ceremony to the reception, then the reception. Right? HAH!
The Bride and Groom are your stars. The wedding party are your supporting cast. The guests are your extras. The mothers of the Bride and Groom are often your Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears. They can be really valuable if they focus on the task at hand, but often they can be your problem children.
There are so many things that have to be planned, just like on a movie set. There is an agenda to be followed, lines to be spoken, and so many things that can go wrong. Costumes! Make-up! Music! Locations! Even photography and lighting. And don't forget the all-important catering. Tensions rise as blood sugar drops. And many a nervous Bride has hit the floor after forgetting to eat that morning.
Also, like on a low-budget movie, whoever is organizing the whole to-do (= producer) has probably roped a lot of people into doing a lot of things for free that in reality, they don't have the time or desire to do. So you have to also worry about (a) making sure those people don't drop the ball, and (b) making sure they know how much they are appreciated.
Going from ceremony site to reception site = changing locations. Another CRUCIAL thing to think about when breaking down the script. In scene two, Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's house, in scene twelve, Grandma is dead and the wake is at her place. Guess what - you're shooting those scenes back to back, in the same day, to save time, money, and aggravation. But you still have to deal with costume changes, redressing the set, and getting everyone in the cast to go from cheerful to mopey.
So many people besides the Bride & Groom to think of...the Officiant, the florist, the caterers, the photographer, the make-up artist, the hairdresser, the limo driver, the band... you get the idea. Even who you are going to ask to drag all the presents from the reception to the house, who's going to do something with the flowers, who saved a piece of wedding cake to freeze, did someone tip the priest? It doesn't just end when the open bar closes.
You get the idea. Now think of planning a DIFFERENT wedding every day for 10 to 15 days straight. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
It does. But when you break it all down, into little, manageable pieces, it becomes...manageable. It is nothing more, and nothing less, than an enormous, difficult, challenging, mind-boggling, intimidating, and manageable jigsaw puzzle. And I, for one, am entirely and unequivocally PSYCHED.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Only in Baltimore
Hey there. The last couple weeks have been busy, trying to manifest good ideas and potential collaborations into rock-solid plans and partnerships. As with everything in the film industry, it is a lot of hurry-up-and-wait, and it is difficult on some days not to get paranoid that it is all going to evaporate in front of my eyes like a desert mirage.
But I continue to meet and mingle with more local filmmakers, and if Plan A doesn't gel, people are stepping forward to me with Plan B, and I have a Plan C and even a Plan D, and if ALL else fails, I have enough financial support from a few friends and enough emotional support from countless friends to get the whole damn thing done by myself (Plan E).
But hopefully it will not come to that. Making a film is and should be a collaborative effort. It truly is art imitating life. You could get through it alone. But where's the fun in that?
Last night I went to the home of Eric Thornett, who is a local fimmaker and the founder of Pirahna Pictures (www.pirahna-pictures.com). He is about to embark on his fourth and most ambitious feature-length film, a period horror flick. A few weeks ago they had a casting call and Eric wanted to show me some of the audition tapes, as there were some good actors that he couldn't use for whatever reason, but thought might work for me for Charm City.
Eric is a great guy and one of those people that give me the hope and confidence that Charm City will be a success. Eric gets people to do amazing things - and their compensation is, "just for the fun of it". And people line up around the block to work with him! He is a shining example of how far personality goes in this business. If I have to resort to Plan E, I have my fingers crossed that I can charm people into doing half as much for me as people do for him.
What else has been going on...the past few Saturdays I have been taking a filmmaking seminar taught by another local filmmaker, Michelle Farrell, of Absolutely Independent Productions. It is a long day, from 10:00am until 6:00pm, with an hour for lunch and a break here and there. Under normal circumstances my attention span would die a painful death by lunchtime. But Michelle never stops moving (and never stops talking) and she is so funny that she keeps the class completely engaged from beginning to end.
Michelle had a premiere of her own this past Monday at the D.C. Independent Film Festival, for her documentary, "Unraveling Michelle." You see, Michelle used to be Joe. Check it out at www.unravelingmichelle.com, and if you have the chance to see the film for yourself sometime, I highly recommend it.
In our Saturday class at the Creative Alliance, the 15 students range in age from a junior in high school to a retired senior citizen, male, female, black, white, straight, gay, married, single. On our first day, Michelle showed us a trailer for her doc, so there was no mystery. I wondered if anyone would have a problem with her, but the next week not only did everyone show up despite the torrential downpours that day, but as a group we were a lot closer to being punctual than we were the first day.
The entire situation is among the daily reminders of why I love this town so much. It is never boring, and there are colorful characters around every turn. "Charm City," is my own Valentine to Baltimore, and I can't wait to deliver it.
But I continue to meet and mingle with more local filmmakers, and if Plan A doesn't gel, people are stepping forward to me with Plan B, and I have a Plan C and even a Plan D, and if ALL else fails, I have enough financial support from a few friends and enough emotional support from countless friends to get the whole damn thing done by myself (Plan E).
But hopefully it will not come to that. Making a film is and should be a collaborative effort. It truly is art imitating life. You could get through it alone. But where's the fun in that?
Last night I went to the home of Eric Thornett, who is a local fimmaker and the founder of Pirahna Pictures (www.pirahna-pictures.com). He is about to embark on his fourth and most ambitious feature-length film, a period horror flick. A few weeks ago they had a casting call and Eric wanted to show me some of the audition tapes, as there were some good actors that he couldn't use for whatever reason, but thought might work for me for Charm City.
Eric is a great guy and one of those people that give me the hope and confidence that Charm City will be a success. Eric gets people to do amazing things - and their compensation is, "just for the fun of it". And people line up around the block to work with him! He is a shining example of how far personality goes in this business. If I have to resort to Plan E, I have my fingers crossed that I can charm people into doing half as much for me as people do for him.
What else has been going on...the past few Saturdays I have been taking a filmmaking seminar taught by another local filmmaker, Michelle Farrell, of Absolutely Independent Productions. It is a long day, from 10:00am until 6:00pm, with an hour for lunch and a break here and there. Under normal circumstances my attention span would die a painful death by lunchtime. But Michelle never stops moving (and never stops talking) and she is so funny that she keeps the class completely engaged from beginning to end.
Michelle had a premiere of her own this past Monday at the D.C. Independent Film Festival, for her documentary, "Unraveling Michelle." You see, Michelle used to be Joe. Check it out at www.unravelingmichelle.com, and if you have the chance to see the film for yourself sometime, I highly recommend it.
In our Saturday class at the Creative Alliance, the 15 students range in age from a junior in high school to a retired senior citizen, male, female, black, white, straight, gay, married, single. On our first day, Michelle showed us a trailer for her doc, so there was no mystery. I wondered if anyone would have a problem with her, but the next week not only did everyone show up despite the torrential downpours that day, but as a group we were a lot closer to being punctual than we were the first day.
The entire situation is among the daily reminders of why I love this town so much. It is never boring, and there are colorful characters around every turn. "Charm City," is my own Valentine to Baltimore, and I can't wait to deliver it.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Rah! Rah! Rah!
I apologize for being a bad blogger this month. The last couple weeks have been sort of tough. Blogging from internet cafes in Paris wouldn't have been much fun, as (a)it would have been quite expensive, and (b) on French keyboards, you have to SHIFT every time you want to use a period! What is that about? It's not like they use periods less often than we do. Makes no sense at all.
I did get some good writing done in France, but I haven't been able to focus much since getting back to the States. I was in a bit of a funk but I am finally pulling out of it. You see, just before I left town I had good news on top of good news. One friend offered to invest $1K in my film, and another friend offered $10K and another friend offered about $25K! Include racking up my credit cards, I'm up to about $50K, half of the $100K I was aiming for! I thought I was on a roll and could not be stopped, and money follows money and the second $50K would be even easier to wrangle up. But that has not been the case. And I think I may have all the cash I am going to get for the film.
Which is a LOT. I have to keep telling myself that. Most independent filmmakers don't start off with a fraction of what I have pulled together. But I always aim high, so sometimes I beat myself up a little.
At the moment, the toughest part isn't even the money, it is being my own cheerleader. While getting away for a couple weeks was good in some ways and great in others, it also gave me perhaps a little TOO much perspective. I'm making a MOVIE. That is HUGE. Just watch the entire list of credits at the end of any given film and try to wrap your mind around how someone pulled that off. It is really overwhelming, and I have been thinking about that too much.
What I need to be thinking about, is that, huge or not, people do this every day. And I am really far ahead of the game when it comes down to it. I have a solid script. It still needs work, but it just keeps getting better, and I am closing in on that elusive "shooting script," the final version that happens when I stop rewriting and decide that that is as good as it gets. I have a good budget, even if it is half of what I was aiming for. And I have wriggled my way into the business and social circles of some very talented local filmmakers who have proved to be a wealth of experience, advice, connections, and support. And on top of that, they are very cool, funny people that I would want to hang out with even if they weren't filmmakers!
I was out to dinner with a very creative group of friends last night, and that is one of a few recent happenings that has refreshed and energized me. Somehow the conversation turned to the subject of tattoos. Only one of the four of us has a tattoo, and I am the only one of the four of us who doesn't plan on getting one. Years ago when I got divorced, I decided I wanted one, just to give my family something to talk about other than my divorce. I also decided I wanted to date a biker, for the same reason. Neither thing happened. My office-mate at the time, Josette, talked me out of the tattoo. "Jeanie," she said, "Think about it. No matter where you put that tattoo on your body, 40 years from now, it's gonna sag." Eww. Needles and blood make me pass out anyway. So, the tattoo was out. And my Harley-man never appeared. Probably all for the best.
Director/Consultant Sean has a tattoo that I really like, though. Just below his elbow on the inside of his left arm is a single word: MAINTAIN. It is a good reminder, and invaluable advice.
Time to get back to work.
I did get some good writing done in France, but I haven't been able to focus much since getting back to the States. I was in a bit of a funk but I am finally pulling out of it. You see, just before I left town I had good news on top of good news. One friend offered to invest $1K in my film, and another friend offered $10K and another friend offered about $25K! Include racking up my credit cards, I'm up to about $50K, half of the $100K I was aiming for! I thought I was on a roll and could not be stopped, and money follows money and the second $50K would be even easier to wrangle up. But that has not been the case. And I think I may have all the cash I am going to get for the film.
Which is a LOT. I have to keep telling myself that. Most independent filmmakers don't start off with a fraction of what I have pulled together. But I always aim high, so sometimes I beat myself up a little.
At the moment, the toughest part isn't even the money, it is being my own cheerleader. While getting away for a couple weeks was good in some ways and great in others, it also gave me perhaps a little TOO much perspective. I'm making a MOVIE. That is HUGE. Just watch the entire list of credits at the end of any given film and try to wrap your mind around how someone pulled that off. It is really overwhelming, and I have been thinking about that too much.
What I need to be thinking about, is that, huge or not, people do this every day. And I am really far ahead of the game when it comes down to it. I have a solid script. It still needs work, but it just keeps getting better, and I am closing in on that elusive "shooting script," the final version that happens when I stop rewriting and decide that that is as good as it gets. I have a good budget, even if it is half of what I was aiming for. And I have wriggled my way into the business and social circles of some very talented local filmmakers who have proved to be a wealth of experience, advice, connections, and support. And on top of that, they are very cool, funny people that I would want to hang out with even if they weren't filmmakers!
I was out to dinner with a very creative group of friends last night, and that is one of a few recent happenings that has refreshed and energized me. Somehow the conversation turned to the subject of tattoos. Only one of the four of us has a tattoo, and I am the only one of the four of us who doesn't plan on getting one. Years ago when I got divorced, I decided I wanted one, just to give my family something to talk about other than my divorce. I also decided I wanted to date a biker, for the same reason. Neither thing happened. My office-mate at the time, Josette, talked me out of the tattoo. "Jeanie," she said, "Think about it. No matter where you put that tattoo on your body, 40 years from now, it's gonna sag." Eww. Needles and blood make me pass out anyway. So, the tattoo was out. And my Harley-man never appeared. Probably all for the best.
Director/Consultant Sean has a tattoo that I really like, though. Just below his elbow on the inside of his left arm is a single word: MAINTAIN. It is a good reminder, and invaluable advice.
Time to get back to work.
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Baby
I managed to get the rewrite done in time to ship off the script to a screenwriting contest right here in Baltimore. The prize money is not a lot compared to some other, large competitions, but to come in the top three would lend the project some good cred and help me make some more local contacts.
I have accomplished a LOT in the last 10 days, some of which I can't go into quite yet. I'm having, "a moment," though. Probably just sleep deprivation with a touch of PMS, it will pass. I have lined up a lot of my ducks in the last week and a half. But there are a lot of them still waddling around aimlessly, and I want them all in place RIGHT NOW!!! But you know how ducks are.
The handful of people who have read the script are all telling me the same good things, and with each rewrite, fewer not-so-good things, so that is encouraging. I've chosen these people carefully, so that I have a broad critique. Some are people I know will look more at the structure than the emotion of the story, my "Mr. Spock"s. Some are cinephiles who see way more movies than I do and therefore have an incredible basis of comparison. A couple are people that I based certain characters on. And some are people in the industry. Those are the people I get the most notes from, as they are the people who know if what I am visualizing in my head will come across on the screen.
Those in the business of making films, whether they are writers, producers, directors, actors, crew, they all use the same jargon, and the phrase I hear most often is, "the Baby."
The Baby can refer to your script as a whole; for example, if you don't produce the film yourself but sell your story, and the people who buy it make so many changes that it is nearly unrecognizable, that's when they, "take your Baby away from you." Or the Baby (also sometimes called "your children")can mean your own(as the person who wrote it) favorite scenes, the scenes or lines that you feel are the funniest or most touching - that sometimes never see the light of day, let alone the darkness of a movie theater. If it doesn't move the story along, it has got to go. Cut it out, chop it up, lop it off.
So that's what I did, one of the many things I did, this week. There was a scene near the beginning of the script that I thought was pretty funny, and everyone who read it thought so, too. But the script was 20 pages too long and this three-page scene, funny or not, was two pages too long. Two of the main characters visit a character we never see again in the film. The cameo character does help set up some of the subplots, so I didn't want to lose her altogether. But in the original version, the audience learns quickly that she is a bit nuts. She says something strange. Then she says something absurd. Then she says something completely delusional. They were great lines! Okay, maybe they were just good lines. But people who read them remembered them, people who read them laughed. I didn't want to do it, but...I could get all the information I needed across in one or two lines and actions, not two pages. So. CHOP, there goes a finger, CHOP there goes a toe, HACK HACK HACK, come on now, the Baby doesn't really need both arms when one will do, right?
And when you are done, you think, "That's it," you think the script is as best as it can be, you think you couldn't possibly cut another line or scene. Unfortunately, this is not the case at all. But you need some time to accept that reality. So you set it aside for a month or so and get some other things done to keep yourself on the path, you wrangle a few more ducks into single-file, you have a couple more people read the latest incarnation of the screenplay, you get more notes...and then you go back and do it again.
The Baby is, indeed, keeping me up nights. I've never had much trouble with insomnia until now. I worry about the Baby constantly. How am I going to pay for the Baby? Will I be able to make sure the Baby is truly mine, will it look and sound and express itself like I would? I know it will be influenced by a lot of factors along the way, and it won't truly be mine alone. But can I keep it from ending up as an ugly bastard? I have met and continue to meet so many people who are being so very generous and helpful with their time, their experience, and in some cases even their cash. I know I am going to meet so many more, it makes me wonder if among these people, one, or more, of them come to the forefront and end up being the person or persons that let me crush their hand in mine and coach me through those little "Hee-hee-hoo-hoo," breathing excercises when it comes time for this thing to finally pop out there into the world.
But as much stress as the Baby causes me, it is already bringing me great joy. People who know me well have commented on this, they see an energy in me that has been dormant for ages. On the days after I'm able to get to sleep before three a.m., I think I might even glow a little bit. Today is not one of those days. The Baby kept me up all night. But I managed to check a few little things off the list today. It's been a big week. I'm going to take the evening off. The good thing about this Baby - no danger of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome :)
I have accomplished a LOT in the last 10 days, some of which I can't go into quite yet. I'm having, "a moment," though. Probably just sleep deprivation with a touch of PMS, it will pass. I have lined up a lot of my ducks in the last week and a half. But there are a lot of them still waddling around aimlessly, and I want them all in place RIGHT NOW!!! But you know how ducks are.
The handful of people who have read the script are all telling me the same good things, and with each rewrite, fewer not-so-good things, so that is encouraging. I've chosen these people carefully, so that I have a broad critique. Some are people I know will look more at the structure than the emotion of the story, my "Mr. Spock"s. Some are cinephiles who see way more movies than I do and therefore have an incredible basis of comparison. A couple are people that I based certain characters on. And some are people in the industry. Those are the people I get the most notes from, as they are the people who know if what I am visualizing in my head will come across on the screen.
Those in the business of making films, whether they are writers, producers, directors, actors, crew, they all use the same jargon, and the phrase I hear most often is, "the Baby."
The Baby can refer to your script as a whole; for example, if you don't produce the film yourself but sell your story, and the people who buy it make so many changes that it is nearly unrecognizable, that's when they, "take your Baby away from you." Or the Baby (also sometimes called "your children")can mean your own(as the person who wrote it) favorite scenes, the scenes or lines that you feel are the funniest or most touching - that sometimes never see the light of day, let alone the darkness of a movie theater. If it doesn't move the story along, it has got to go. Cut it out, chop it up, lop it off.
So that's what I did, one of the many things I did, this week. There was a scene near the beginning of the script that I thought was pretty funny, and everyone who read it thought so, too. But the script was 20 pages too long and this three-page scene, funny or not, was two pages too long. Two of the main characters visit a character we never see again in the film. The cameo character does help set up some of the subplots, so I didn't want to lose her altogether. But in the original version, the audience learns quickly that she is a bit nuts. She says something strange. Then she says something absurd. Then she says something completely delusional. They were great lines! Okay, maybe they were just good lines. But people who read them remembered them, people who read them laughed. I didn't want to do it, but...I could get all the information I needed across in one or two lines and actions, not two pages. So. CHOP, there goes a finger, CHOP there goes a toe, HACK HACK HACK, come on now, the Baby doesn't really need both arms when one will do, right?
And when you are done, you think, "That's it," you think the script is as best as it can be, you think you couldn't possibly cut another line or scene. Unfortunately, this is not the case at all. But you need some time to accept that reality. So you set it aside for a month or so and get some other things done to keep yourself on the path, you wrangle a few more ducks into single-file, you have a couple more people read the latest incarnation of the screenplay, you get more notes...and then you go back and do it again.
The Baby is, indeed, keeping me up nights. I've never had much trouble with insomnia until now. I worry about the Baby constantly. How am I going to pay for the Baby? Will I be able to make sure the Baby is truly mine, will it look and sound and express itself like I would? I know it will be influenced by a lot of factors along the way, and it won't truly be mine alone. But can I keep it from ending up as an ugly bastard? I have met and continue to meet so many people who are being so very generous and helpful with their time, their experience, and in some cases even their cash. I know I am going to meet so many more, it makes me wonder if among these people, one, or more, of them come to the forefront and end up being the person or persons that let me crush their hand in mine and coach me through those little "Hee-hee-hoo-hoo," breathing excercises when it comes time for this thing to finally pop out there into the world.
But as much stress as the Baby causes me, it is already bringing me great joy. People who know me well have commented on this, they see an energy in me that has been dormant for ages. On the days after I'm able to get to sleep before three a.m., I think I might even glow a little bit. Today is not one of those days. The Baby kept me up all night. But I managed to check a few little things off the list today. It's been a big week. I'm going to take the evening off. The good thing about this Baby - no danger of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome :)
Friday, January 11, 2008
Liked vs. $$$
I was folding mountains of sheets at my glamorous day job (managing a bed & breakfast) yesterday, listening to a Liz Phair CD that I had forgotten I had. One line of a song stood out to me in particular:
"It's nice
to be liked
but it's better, by far,
to get paid."
Liz Phair is quite the sage.
That isn't, for me, what it ALL comes down to, as far as making this film is concerned. But it is what MOST of it comes down to.
Dont get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate art-for-art's-sake. My own example: when my brother and I were cleaning out my father's house, after he died of cancer a few years ago, we found (I counted it) over $8,000 - in Camel Cash. Dad was a 2-pack-a-day guy. He was saving up for a trip to Vegas. That's how these cigarette companies get you - they must calculate how many packs will kill you, then double that for the number of Camel Cash dollars you will need to cash in for the big prize, so they never actually have to pay! Needless to say, when my father died, I was pissed. Pretty much at everyone, but no one more so than the tobacco companies. At first I looked at their catalog - I had enough Camel Cash for a stereo. But I couldn't do it. It was blood money.
So I used the Camel Cash to manifest a picture that I saw in my head, in the form of a 5' x 5' painting/collage. I patiently pasted almost one thousand Camel Cash dollars to the canvas, one by one. They formed the waves of the ocean, where my brother and I placed our father's ashes.
I showed the painting in several exhibits, and it generated a lot of interest. But I did not price it. It was not, and is not, for sale.
So, I understand the need just to get something out of your system. And this film is definitely that, for me. But this film is not only about me. It is about all the incredible people that I know in this city, and it is about this incredible city itself. Almost everyone I know that lives here has a love/hate relationship with Baltimore. But almost everyone I know who has moved away, has moved right back. There is something about Baltimore, and it is hard to put into words. Or at least, it is hard to put into words alone. Film, in my opinion, is the combination of all media - it is visual, it is literary, it is music, and it is motion. Overall, it is a rythmic combination of all of these forms of expression. It is a challenge.
It is also a business, and needs to be approached as such. I am as practical as I am creative. I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon. But I am working hard, and more importantly, working smart, towards my next career move.
And of course, oodles of fame and fortune and multiple Oscars. :)
"It's nice
to be liked
but it's better, by far,
to get paid."
Liz Phair is quite the sage.
That isn't, for me, what it ALL comes down to, as far as making this film is concerned. But it is what MOST of it comes down to.
Dont get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate art-for-art's-sake. My own example: when my brother and I were cleaning out my father's house, after he died of cancer a few years ago, we found (I counted it) over $8,000 - in Camel Cash. Dad was a 2-pack-a-day guy. He was saving up for a trip to Vegas. That's how these cigarette companies get you - they must calculate how many packs will kill you, then double that for the number of Camel Cash dollars you will need to cash in for the big prize, so they never actually have to pay! Needless to say, when my father died, I was pissed. Pretty much at everyone, but no one more so than the tobacco companies. At first I looked at their catalog - I had enough Camel Cash for a stereo. But I couldn't do it. It was blood money.
So I used the Camel Cash to manifest a picture that I saw in my head, in the form of a 5' x 5' painting/collage. I patiently pasted almost one thousand Camel Cash dollars to the canvas, one by one. They formed the waves of the ocean, where my brother and I placed our father's ashes.
I showed the painting in several exhibits, and it generated a lot of interest. But I did not price it. It was not, and is not, for sale.
So, I understand the need just to get something out of your system. And this film is definitely that, for me. But this film is not only about me. It is about all the incredible people that I know in this city, and it is about this incredible city itself. Almost everyone I know that lives here has a love/hate relationship with Baltimore. But almost everyone I know who has moved away, has moved right back. There is something about Baltimore, and it is hard to put into words. Or at least, it is hard to put into words alone. Film, in my opinion, is the combination of all media - it is visual, it is literary, it is music, and it is motion. Overall, it is a rythmic combination of all of these forms of expression. It is a challenge.
It is also a business, and needs to be approached as such. I am as practical as I am creative. I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon. But I am working hard, and more importantly, working smart, towards my next career move.
And of course, oodles of fame and fortune and multiple Oscars. :)
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Retreat, re-group, re-write...
Say it with me: THANK GOD the holidays are over! Don't get me wrong, both Christmas and New Year's were pretty darn good, spent with my family and friends having a good time, attending and throwing good parties and collecting some Christmas loot along the way. But I am just anxious to get down to business.
Had lunch today with Director Sean, hereafter known as Consultant Sean. I always look forward to our meetings, though by the time the check arrives, I often feel like my head is going to explode. I mean that in the best possible way. There is just so much information to absorb and it is usually coming at me at high velocity.
I have loads of research to do, but my top priority at the moment is a good overhaul of the script. It has already been through four or five rewrites, plus a lot of tweaking along the way, snippets here and there. But now I have to make some tough decisions, and cut it down by twenty to thirty pages. Some entire scenes and possibly a couple characters are going to be unceremoniously tossed. It is difficult, but it is either do it now, or have the same scenes and characters hit the cutting room floor, after wasting time, money, and film shooting them, when I know they won't make the final cut anyway. Or worse, these superfluous scenes and characters bog down my script as it is read by potential investors or producers, making it even more difficult to get off the ground because it takes too long to get to the meat of the story.
So I am heading this weekend, dogs in tow, to my friend Mikey's cabin in the Poconos. Hopefully the pipes won't be frozen, but I'll be loading up the trunk of my car with gallon jugs of water just in case. It is very peaceful there at Lake Harmony (even sounds peaceful, doesn't it?) and that should lend itself to focusing on the task at hand. So much of producing a film is about what you can beg, borrow, or barter yourself into or out of. Having a good friend who allows you access-at-will to his adorable little cabin in the middle of nowhere so you can get away from the distractions of the city is invaluable. Provided, of course, that no birds of prey snatch Timmy and Max (my Yorkies) from the back yard!
Had lunch today with Director Sean, hereafter known as Consultant Sean. I always look forward to our meetings, though by the time the check arrives, I often feel like my head is going to explode. I mean that in the best possible way. There is just so much information to absorb and it is usually coming at me at high velocity.
I have loads of research to do, but my top priority at the moment is a good overhaul of the script. It has already been through four or five rewrites, plus a lot of tweaking along the way, snippets here and there. But now I have to make some tough decisions, and cut it down by twenty to thirty pages. Some entire scenes and possibly a couple characters are going to be unceremoniously tossed. It is difficult, but it is either do it now, or have the same scenes and characters hit the cutting room floor, after wasting time, money, and film shooting them, when I know they won't make the final cut anyway. Or worse, these superfluous scenes and characters bog down my script as it is read by potential investors or producers, making it even more difficult to get off the ground because it takes too long to get to the meat of the story.
So I am heading this weekend, dogs in tow, to my friend Mikey's cabin in the Poconos. Hopefully the pipes won't be frozen, but I'll be loading up the trunk of my car with gallon jugs of water just in case. It is very peaceful there at Lake Harmony (even sounds peaceful, doesn't it?) and that should lend itself to focusing on the task at hand. So much of producing a film is about what you can beg, borrow, or barter yourself into or out of. Having a good friend who allows you access-at-will to his adorable little cabin in the middle of nowhere so you can get away from the distractions of the city is invaluable. Provided, of course, that no birds of prey snatch Timmy and Max (my Yorkies) from the back yard!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
The Boring Bits
Now comes the not-so-sexy stuff. I have so much to learn, it is overwhelming. But it is also incredibly exciting. I can't remember the last time I felt this way. Maybe I never have.
Now I have to read, read, read, learn the lingo, the equipment, and the process from soup to nuts. I also have to cut about 20 pages out of the script, which is going to be difficult. "Be prepared to let go of your children," my friends who have been through this already keep telling me. It is not so easy. I am rather attached to some scenes that I know I am going to have to drop. But it doesn't matter how funny or poignant or visually stunning a scene is - if it doesn't move the story along, it has got to go.
The good news is, I may not be ahead of the game, but I am further along than I originally thought myself to be. The script is not finished, as I have a lot of cutting and tweaking to do, but it is completed and I feel it is solid. That is more than half the process in and of itself. The initial teaser is shot and the people who have seen it responded very positively. The casting process has begun. I know almost all the locations that I want to shoot and I think I can get most of them with little difficulty or expense.
But now I have to get into things like contracts and releases and insurance and accounting. I have a love/hate relationship with paper. This is the part that I really hate. But, it must be done. Back to the books!
Now I have to read, read, read, learn the lingo, the equipment, and the process from soup to nuts. I also have to cut about 20 pages out of the script, which is going to be difficult. "Be prepared to let go of your children," my friends who have been through this already keep telling me. It is not so easy. I am rather attached to some scenes that I know I am going to have to drop. But it doesn't matter how funny or poignant or visually stunning a scene is - if it doesn't move the story along, it has got to go.
The good news is, I may not be ahead of the game, but I am further along than I originally thought myself to be. The script is not finished, as I have a lot of cutting and tweaking to do, but it is completed and I feel it is solid. That is more than half the process in and of itself. The initial teaser is shot and the people who have seen it responded very positively. The casting process has begun. I know almost all the locations that I want to shoot and I think I can get most of them with little difficulty or expense.
But now I have to get into things like contracts and releases and insurance and accounting. I have a love/hate relationship with paper. This is the part that I really hate. But, it must be done. Back to the books!
Monday, December 24, 2007
It takes a mid-sized East Coast City
I am SO perma-smile right now. The party was great, as always, and there was quite a buzz going around before the big announcement and the surprise screening of the trailer. Why was this going to be the last Holiday Gala? Was I quitting my job at the hotel? Was the building being sold? Am I moving to Paris? I loved it. One of my neighbors said, "So are you pregnant, or going to jump out of the closet?" Once Sean had the screen and projecter set up, the buzz REALLY got going.
I kept it pretty simple and let the trailer speak for itself, just saying that I am going to be very busy in the coming year with my next project.
They loved it! They whooped and hollered and laughed in all the right places. I couldn't have been more pleased with the final product, and with everyone's response to it. Afterwards I was literally bombarded with offers of help to make it happen. Some people who are actors and want to get involved, others who are musicians and want to be a part of the soundtrack, everyone wanted to at least be an extra or put me in touch with other people who can help me. That is exactly what I was counting on. God Bless Smalltimore.
My buddy Kat offered herself. "So hey, if you need any, you know, hot black lesbians for the movie, let me know."
It's a film about Baltimore. OF COURSE I need hot black lesbians!!!
I kept it pretty simple and let the trailer speak for itself, just saying that I am going to be very busy in the coming year with my next project.
They loved it! They whooped and hollered and laughed in all the right places. I couldn't have been more pleased with the final product, and with everyone's response to it. Afterwards I was literally bombarded with offers of help to make it happen. Some people who are actors and want to get involved, others who are musicians and want to be a part of the soundtrack, everyone wanted to at least be an extra or put me in touch with other people who can help me. That is exactly what I was counting on. God Bless Smalltimore.
My buddy Kat offered herself. "So hey, if you need any, you know, hot black lesbians for the movie, let me know."
It's a film about Baltimore. OF COURSE I need hot black lesbians!!!
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