We held our first screen test last week. It's funny, being on the other side of the camera, to see the whole audition process. Actors live their lives hearing what they're not--not tall enough, not short enough, not old enough, not young enough...it's a life of rejection. And yet, we keep coming back. I heard that, at any time, 90% or more of the actors in the SAG union are unemployed.
But getting back to the audition process. We had some great people come out and audition for us. We're looking to cast the role of "Melissa", the late 20-early 30-something lifelong server. Sitting there, directing the talent, I thought, "I sure hope she knocks it out of the park." We want the talent to succeed. No one who sits through auditions (that I know), who are looking to cast a project, wants the actors to fail. No one. When you go into the audition, they are really hoping you succeed so they don't have to watch bad auditions.
One thing to take a look at is the shooting dates. When will you be needed? We auditioned someone who we offered the part to, after much internal debate, but it turns out she's going to be out of town for 75% of the shooting dates. Considering we only have 8 days scheduled, we obviously couldn't use her.
We found some great talent that weren't right for the role of Melissa but were right for other roles. Even one person who auditioned created a new role for herself based on the strength of her audition. We felt like we just had to use her in our film. Plus, she had wide open availability and said "absolutely, that role sounds fun" when we offered her the part of the sous Chef. She's going to get plenty of screen time and will really round out the cast nicely. We couldn't be happier.
It just reinforces a great piece of advice we got from a known film maker: surround yourself with people who say "yes, and." Just like in improv.
Speaking of saying yes, we are also super excited, ecstatic in fact, to have James Beard award-winning chef Mike Sheerin signed on to play the mentor of our film's Chef Antonio Reynolds. We have a FREAKIN' JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER IN OUR FILM!!!!!
What did he say when we met with him about the film? "You just don't pass up an opportunity like this." Those are the people we want to and get to work with.
Life rocks.
Shooting starts October 31st. We're still waiting for a firm commitment from our restaurant locale, but we've given them a deadline to give us an answer yea or nea. It's just one of the many little things that, as independent filmmakers, Berka and I have come to expect with the territory. But thank God for the first film. We're at least ahead of the game in that respect.
It's still very, very exciting and it's coming together.
Next up: finding a host stand and a POS machine. OK universe, I'm asking...
Boy, I really loved using commas this posting.
31 days and counting.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Chicago Food Film Festival
So after a bit of snooping I came across this: www.chicagofoodfilmfestival.com.
That's right, it's the first ever Chicago Food Film Festival. There's been one in NYC the past four years and this year, the end of the month, is going to be the debut of Chicago's festival. Interesting how things work out like this.
49 days and counting. Things are starting to line up very nicely.
That's right, it's the first ever Chicago Food Film Festival. There's been one in NYC the past four years and this year, the end of the month, is going to be the debut of Chicago's festival. Interesting how things work out like this.
49 days and counting. Things are starting to line up very nicely.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Script redux, inspiration and taglines
It's 11:45 and I just finished up another rewrite of the script. It's coming along very nicely and we're at 56 pages. May not sound like much but it's close to 90 minutes. We trimmed the dialog and want the moments between characters to be more unspoken: looks, attitude, etc. We also added a character based on our first staged reading where we asked some friends to read the script to breathe life into it. A fun and rewarding event, to hear what true professionals can bring to your words. Mike Kosinski read a couple of parts and he really nailed them. He's such a funny and talented guy that Berka, Tiddy and I all agreed we had to find a part for him. Plus, he's a great guy to have on set for extended periods of time. So we added a character "Gregory", another server, who pops in and out of scenes. And Tiddy and Berka wrote some funny lines for him. He makes a strong showing at the soccer match between the Trubadeaux staff and a certain celebrity chef's staff. The more we write, the funnier that scene becomes.
I find inspiration comes two ways. First, it's that kind of inspiration I feel that's very manic and almost uncontrollable. Like times I write where I can't write fast enough. The words are spilling out and I'm trying to capture them all on a page. I start a sentence, write enough words to hopefully go back later and finish it, while I start another sentence. I am hoping to put as much of this inspiration on the page before it's gone. The other kind of inspiration comes from just doing it. Just sitting down and writing. Like what I'm doing now. Sometimes, inspiration comes from the act of just plain hard work.
We've got a couple of taglines we're working on:
Working title: Trubadeaux, a restaurant movie.
Possible Taglines:
The small movie about the biggest industry in the country.
Or:
You might as well 86 yourself
Or:
I won't be here very long...This is not my career.
Or:
A small look at the largest industry in the country.
Or:
A brief glimpse into the largest industry in the US.
Or:
Why working in a restaurant is a horrible existence.
Or:
Why you've never heard of someone retiring from being a waiter.
Or:
Why death is better than waiting tables.
Maybe we'll have a contest and see which tagline gets the most votes.
First day of shooting: October 31. That's 50 days, folks.
I find inspiration comes two ways. First, it's that kind of inspiration I feel that's very manic and almost uncontrollable. Like times I write where I can't write fast enough. The words are spilling out and I'm trying to capture them all on a page. I start a sentence, write enough words to hopefully go back later and finish it, while I start another sentence. I am hoping to put as much of this inspiration on the page before it's gone. The other kind of inspiration comes from just doing it. Just sitting down and writing. Like what I'm doing now. Sometimes, inspiration comes from the act of just plain hard work.
We've got a couple of taglines we're working on:
Working title: Trubadeaux, a restaurant movie.
Possible Taglines:
The small movie about the biggest industry in the country.
Or:
You might as well 86 yourself
Or:
I won't be here very long...This is not my career.
Or:
A small look at the largest industry in the country.
Or:
A brief glimpse into the largest industry in the US.
Or:
Why working in a restaurant is a horrible existence.
Or:
Why you've never heard of someone retiring from being a waiter.
Or:
Why death is better than waiting tables.
Maybe we'll have a contest and see which tagline gets the most votes.
First day of shooting: October 31. That's 50 days, folks.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Just ball up and ask
So Mr. John Berka did something great yesterday. He got us a whole lotta free wine and possibly some cool wine glasses for the film. One of the things we've learned is that you can't get it if you don't ask for it, courtesy of one of our first investors and a true angel of ours, Mary Beth Berkoff. And the more we go at this, the truer that is. As an artist, I hate asking for anything. Mostly because I have a very fragile ego and fear rejection. Not just fear rejection, but assume it will automatically be rejection. Yet, I am in a profession where rejection is a standard for my career. I'm too tall, too short, too white, not white enough, too old, too young, etc. Rejection.
Berka has a lot less of a problem with rejection than I do. He understands it's part of the business, part of life. And it's truly nothing personal. That no is one step closer to a yes. And that's honestly been true for us. We've actually encountered very few "no"s in our journey. Even when talking with studio heads of distribution, it's never a no. About "American Legacy," we've mostly heard, "Oh, it's great. Great story, great characters. Too narrow for us (meaning no stars) so we're going to have to pass." Berka always follows up with asking if we can stay in touch and send them the next film. And they always say yes.
If you don't ask, you won't get.
Berka has a lot less of a problem with rejection than I do. He understands it's part of the business, part of life. And it's truly nothing personal. That no is one step closer to a yes. And that's honestly been true for us. We've actually encountered very few "no"s in our journey. Even when talking with studio heads of distribution, it's never a no. About "American Legacy," we've mostly heard, "Oh, it's great. Great story, great characters. Too narrow for us (meaning no stars) so we're going to have to pass." Berka always follows up with asking if we can stay in touch and send them the next film. And they always say yes.
If you don't ask, you won't get.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Love them meetings
John Berka, Todd "Tiddy" Wojcik and I met this afternoon to update the progress on our action items (great term, eh?) and to start nailing down some times and dates. We're auditioning some actresses to play the role of "Melissa", one of the main servers in the film. I'm looking for someone with a unique Eastern European look who can do bits and improvise and has chemistry with our two main waiters, Jyo and Duane. This film, as with "American Legacy," is all about the relationships and chemistry. I think anyone can improvise (we improvise everyday) but few can do it well. We call our films "comedies without jokes," and for that we need real, honest reactions, not wild and crazy characters. So we decided today to hold screen tests with our DP Jason on September 20th. Also decided today, the shooting dates will be October 31, November 1, November 3, November 4, November 7-10, with pick up days of November 14 and 15. If all goes according to plan, we should be able to complete shooting in 7 days. We had some discussion today about the title for the film. Berka had a good point, that "Trubadeux" doesn't say anything about this being a film about a restaurant. He's great at keeping an eye on what we need to say to the studio folks to get this film sold and distributed. We had spent a previous meeting talking about possible names: 86'd, Miso, Mis En Platz, Carpaccios, Reservations, The Industry, Synthesis, Blend, moto's, ID...the list went on and on. (The original title was "Dijon's" but we decided to change it due to certain reasons.) Everything we liked, we found out was already taken by another film or tv show. So we're moving forward with "Trubadeux" but are going to add a restaurant specific tag line.
The great thing about Group Mind Films is that the films always come first. Our egos have to be taken out of any decisions made. That's been a successful equation for us.
As for the meetings, there is so much more we achieve when we meet in person or talk on the phone than if we sent emails or text messages. But these meetings also have to have agendas and be productive. And there's a difference between activity and productivity.
Other things we decided at the meeting:
Tiddy's wife Courtney will be our set designer.
The menu
Our social media options and plan
Securing the shooting dates with the restaurant
Wardrobe for the servers
Main casting
Secondary casting
Music vision
Kitchen crew
Chef advisor
We're still talking to a special guest, who we're hoping will make an appearance for a couple critical scenes in the film. I don't want to say who it is, but we are one step closer to a meeting with this person and their people.
October 31...that's the first day of principle photography, my friends. That's the first day.
The great thing about Group Mind Films is that the films always come first. Our egos have to be taken out of any decisions made. That's been a successful equation for us.
As for the meetings, there is so much more we achieve when we meet in person or talk on the phone than if we sent emails or text messages. But these meetings also have to have agendas and be productive. And there's a difference between activity and productivity.
Other things we decided at the meeting:
Tiddy's wife Courtney will be our set designer.
The menu
Our social media options and plan
Securing the shooting dates with the restaurant
Wardrobe for the servers
Main casting
Secondary casting
Music vision
Kitchen crew
Chef advisor
We're still talking to a special guest, who we're hoping will make an appearance for a couple critical scenes in the film. I don't want to say who it is, but we are one step closer to a meeting with this person and their people.
October 31...that's the first day of principle photography, my friends. That's the first day.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Copyright. legal issues, and the small stuff. You do sweat the small stuff.
So GMF finally received our copyright for "American Legacy." We submitted back in 2008 and through a series of governmental speed bumps, it took this long.
That's one thing about the film making process that is really important--legal. We made sure for both films we covered ourselves legally and hired an attorney who would work with us, within our limited means. Nate Sinn, you are a rock star.
We also know why actors thank their agents, managers, accountants, legal teams, etc when receiving awards. It truly couldn't be done without those folks.
Currently working on a website for "Trubadeaux." Found a website called wix.com, where you don't have to know how to program to make a cool website; it's more like drag and drop with cool designs. My brother Mike designed and helped with our current website but I keep asking him to update it and add to it, so instead I've decided I'd try to handle it myself.
So far, so good.
We're continuing talks with Quan over at The Edgewater Beach Cafe, in the historic Edgewater Apartments. In Janurary 2010, The SDS Trio, who scored our film and now gig out as an instrumental group, held their cd release party there and the place was packed. So in March, we decided to have a joint event with the Trio, where each ticket received a cd of "This is The SDS Trio" (www.sds-trio.com) and a copy of "American Legacy" (www.americanlegacy-themovie.com). Another full house event and Quan and his mom and dad were very gracious. John and I decided to film "Trubadeaux" there if we could. And we could, so we will.
So my time is spent blogging, creating the website, casting, dealing with production elements, social media, script revisions, etc. And John spends a ton of time talking with people on the phone, like distributors, studios, agents, talent, producers, investors. And we both scour the internet for articles about independent filmmaking, restaurants, and ways to get our film to the masses.
That's one thing about the film making process that is really important--legal. We made sure for both films we covered ourselves legally and hired an attorney who would work with us, within our limited means. Nate Sinn, you are a rock star.
We also know why actors thank their agents, managers, accountants, legal teams, etc when receiving awards. It truly couldn't be done without those folks.
Currently working on a website for "Trubadeaux." Found a website called wix.com, where you don't have to know how to program to make a cool website; it's more like drag and drop with cool designs. My brother Mike designed and helped with our current website but I keep asking him to update it and add to it, so instead I've decided I'd try to handle it myself.
So far, so good.
We're continuing talks with Quan over at The Edgewater Beach Cafe, in the historic Edgewater Apartments. In Janurary 2010, The SDS Trio, who scored our film and now gig out as an instrumental group, held their cd release party there and the place was packed. So in March, we decided to have a joint event with the Trio, where each ticket received a cd of "This is The SDS Trio" (www.sds-trio.com) and a copy of "American Legacy" (www.americanlegacy-themovie.com). Another full house event and Quan and his mom and dad were very gracious. John and I decided to film "Trubadeaux" there if we could. And we could, so we will.
So my time is spent blogging, creating the website, casting, dealing with production elements, social media, script revisions, etc. And John spends a ton of time talking with people on the phone, like distributors, studios, agents, talent, producers, investors. And we both scour the internet for articles about independent filmmaking, restaurants, and ways to get our film to the masses.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Here we go
The countdown to principle photography is on! We're planning a shoot date for the beginning of November 2010. Things are starting to fall into place--we received the word from a potential investor that he's going to buy the last couple of units in GMF, which means the production can move forward. After a slight hiccup with our initial choice for director, I think we've found a great replacement.
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