October 11, 2008: It's About To Begin

Things To Come...

Me in the center, Chris O'Brocki crouched, and some extras who came out to help.

October 11, 2008

Okay, 1 day away from shooting. Not near ready, really.

The night after he had surgery Tom called me in a drugged haze from his hospital bed to tell me not to worry. He would be out  on time, ready to shoot. He was so out of it the whole thing would be funny if I didn't have so much banking on this.

Last week he called back to tell me not to worry. It was still on and nothing could stop him from coming. The guy's awesome.

He's as good as his word. Shows up, we get him situated in the house he's going to share with his fellow bounty hunter actors, and I decide that we need to dye his hair a darker color.

We hit the mall where we pick a color to dye it to, the guy at the hair dressers dyes it, and his hair is black as coal(when we picked a dark brown). Oh well, guess we're gonna roll with it.

Anyway...

Through creative storytelling we somehow got a Balt Co film permit. It's pretty funny, really. Doesn't even have the name of our flick on it.

Yes, I lied to get it. I do that sometimes.

Even funnier--I'm starting to suspect we won't need. it. We've been to the Balt location a couple of times now, including twice with my guy dressed as a bounty hunter, and four times the cops have slowed down, looked at us, and sped off.

THEN tonight Tom and I go out driving for some more B-roll and he cuts a cop off(without knowing it was a cop), so the cop pulls us over. I'm shooting from the passenger seat, no seatbelt, special lighting in the car so Tom's visible. I wish I had kept shooting, but I was scared we were about to get hit with the riot act.

One cop on my side, one on the other. The cops look in, see Tom, and one goes, "Oh, bail enforcement." They take a very cursory look at my lead actor's driver's license, and the one cop goes: "So you're filming some stuff huh? You guys should go down the street, make a left on X street, then a right on Y street. You'll get some good stuff there."

Then they took off. Crazy.

September 2nd & 22nd, 2008

September 2, 2008: Hope

Wow, such an alien feeling all of a sudden.

We had pretty much the final audition on Sunday. I had one guy coming in that I was calling my Great Black Hope. A guy I'd seen in a local flick who was decent. Just not sure whether he could fit the part.

He came in and was good. We chatted afterward, and it turns out he's ex-military. Exactly what I was looking for. He's not as built as the character I wrote, but close enough to forgive.

We probably lost the other great actor I was telling you about. Somehow he got it into his head that the movie was a union shoot, and he's in that horrible guild you've heard about that rhymes with BAG. He's cool with everything I could pay him, he just doesn't want to go behind the guild's back. He has something called principles. I'm not familiar with the term.

So we'll go with my second choice if our last-ditch effort fails.

I am SO prepared for this flick it's insane. I've gone over the breakdowns 100 times, making plans behind plans behind backup plans. The only real snafu will be if we get arrested or killed, both distinct possibilities.

Frankly, I would rather be killed than arrested at this point, because if I get killed at least I won't feel bad about not being able to finish the movie.

Still a lot of details to iron out. Locations to be found. Props to be gotten/constructed. An FX guy to come work for pretty cheap.

But I've got some hope now. A little.

 I imagine this is what it looked like...

September 22, 2008: Accident


Been working on the shot list some more.

Get a phone call from my lead actor. He was walking out of a gas station over the weekend, and some guy fell asleep at the wheel and hit him with his car. Yeah, you read that correctly.

My guy's an actual stuntman too, so he tried to do the stunt hit, but he said he saw the car too late, and really got plowed. They wanted to take him to the hospital, but he said he was fine.

The next morning he woke up and was swollen all over like he was pregnant, so they went to the hospital to find out he was having internal bleeding. They performed surgery. He's in the hospital right now.

Did I mention we're shooting in 3 weeks? And his part is pretty physically-intensive.

I just can't decide whether to shoot myself in the head, or take my frustration out on the general public...

Wednesday, August 27 2008: Brutal

 Tom Proctor, in one of the first test photos I shot

Man...there was a time when making movies was fun. It was fresh. I knew a bunch of people who loved making movies, making shorts, just fucking around with cameras and acting, and making stuff.

Most of those people, well, I just don't know them anymore. They moved away, or they started a family and got a job, and they just don't have time anymore.

And I made a movie that got distribution. Then I made another movie that got a LOT of distribution, and everybody assumed I made bank on it. A totally incorrect assumption. I did okay for what we spent on the flick, but we spent peanuts on it. The deal was that I got an okay amount of money AND got distributed by a big label. The deal was NOT that I got distributed by a big label AND got a boatload of money.

But everyone that hears I'm gearing up for something assumes I have money for every position, from P.A. to extra to fluffer. (Okay, I might have money for a fluffer)

It's a battle on this next flick because we are shooting it cheap. I can't afford to pay everyone.

More problems: Found a great actor for one of the main parts, but it turns out he's SAG. He got SAG to send me a booklet with the ultra-low contract, but it's still crap. One clause in the 4 page contract says that concurrent with signing the 4-page contract, you're signing the longer contract also(which is 123 pages). I can't possibly sign it--it gives a lot of control of the movie to SAG--for just one actor.

Another problem: Can't find an excellent black actor in super-fit shape. Sent out sides to about 30 people who had submitted headshots, and only one returned a dvd audition. He was okay. Nobody local has been any good at all for the part.

Locations: Where do I start? Who wants to let me come by their house/apartment and shoot some fake guns in the dead of night for no money? Sweet, I'm on my way.

Props/Vehicles: Gotta put all these together, and it's extensive. With a lot of money it's no problem. I don't have a lot of money.

My production manager is on another job and won't be back for a couple more weeks. We start shooting in about 5 weeks.

Pressure is building.