Mini-Production on the way: The Casting Process

As part of our use of the facilities of the Community Media Center, we are obligated to produce a short piece from our sessions there. So while we have been casting, negotiating contracts, meeting with crew, talking with the cast, etc., we've also been editing a 27-minute piece together showcasing the actors that have auditioned and including interviews with our Associate Producer AD Wyatt Norton, Casting Director Emmanuelle Antolin, and the director, yours truly. We also got a great local actor Jeffrey Weissman, who stepped up to take part in the interview and share some of his hard-earned knowledge about the casting process from an actor's point of view.

My part-time shooter JC has taken all the casting footage and cobbled together something unique and interesting. Over the holiday, he showed some of the Campbell Clan the rough 18-minute cut and got some great feedback. We're making some edits to smooth out the rough edits, but I wish I had more time and some good lighting and maybe one other helper to really set this up. I'm not happy with the bad lighting, the out of focus moments, and the profile shots -- plus, I could have done something with that hair. Ah well... my hope is that the viewers -- and the funders -- will enjoy it.

Tonight I came home and reviewed 60 minutes of footage, took notes on which quotes/clips to use, and sent out another proposal for funding.... and that's after putting in a 9-hour day at the office. I'm tired, and still achingly optimistic that our film will get the funding it needs and look fabulous.

The 27-minute short, "The Casting Process," will be ready by mid-December.

Production Timeline Moves Up Three Weeks

Stopped by the Bridal Shop the other day. Now that casting's nearly complete, I wanted to touch base with the shop owner and finally sit down to plan her 30-second spot and sign the contract.

Although it's only been two months (yes, we've been busy!) she informed me that the only days we could shoot in January would be Jan 11-12-13 (Mon-Wed), a full THREE WEEKS before we had scheduled the shoot. While I had selected the dates with the cooperation of the shop manager Jill, put it in their booking schedule, and also left a contract with late January dates, these didn't matter. We were moved. No negotiation.

Not great news, but we'll make it work. But I quickly had to inform the actors. Were they all still available? Also, this date is the Monday following our fundraiser fiesta, and that is not the way I had planned to spend the weekend before shooting. My cushion time to get production pieces together just got scrunched. That night I went to yoga class, but it didn't seem to help. So I went home and laid on the heating pad and worked on the laptop until midnight. I Am A Worker. I think that's the title of my next film.

Fortunately, the cast is still on board and they're very excited about the schedule of events.

Sun Dec 13 -- Rehearsal: Cast table reads
Sun Dec 20 -- Rehearsal: Cast blocking with DP

Sat Jan 9 -- Meet the Cast Fundraiser
5 pm to 11 pm
1300 Ordway, Berkeley

Mon-Wed, Jan 11-13 -- Production
* plus 2 shoot dates for Gil & Joan characters, TBD


We're currently still trying to find a rehearsal location, but all things considered we're okay on our status. There's just no fat left in the timeline. Lean. Lean. Lean.

On a happy note, progress on our 27-minute casting piece is moving along well. We were able to interview the lovely Emmanuelle as Casting Director and she was smart, articulate and just plain good. The whole thing should be done before Thanksgiving and will be broadcast on Santa Rosa Community Access Channel. We'll keep you all posted on when this will be broadcast. Hopefully we'll be able to show it at our little fiesta.

Check out the Fiesta invitation here: