Magic Film Potion Recipe

The next 3 weeks will determine the next few months of our lives with respect to LIS. We will either be making Lost In Sunshine, and be thrown full force into pre-production as of April 1st (some of us already are!), and begin shooting April 19th, OR we'll be forced to regroup for a later shoot this year. But right now it's all about April. Actually, right now it's about March... March 29th, to be specific. That's our deadline for securing necessary funds.

It goes something like this:

We must secure locations in order to productively move forward with the majority of storyboarding. And storyboarding takes lots of time. But it's hard to secure locations without a solid affirmative on our shooting schedule/budget info, and it gets more complicated with everyone's other schedules coming into play.

We've recently had a crew change, sadly losing our line producer, Michelle, to other work (it happens, and we wish her well!) so the lovely and talented, Megan Gilbride, has ambitiously stepped in to assist us with line producer needs at this time. Thank you, Megan!! Like a film friend recently told me, ".. it takes the right group of people to make these projects happen..." Like a magic potion recipe - you have to get all the ingredients just right for it to work.

AND, time is of the essence.

Our casting director, Vicky Boone, is currently approaching our lead male hopeful, and we need this budget information to determine other factors to provide the agency with... which could determine if the actor is even available/willing to do it. And, we need (tentatively) secured locations in order to move forward with storyboarding in a productive manner.

Bottom line: Everything revolves around everything else. If one person drops the ball, it's like dropping it on all of our heads! And quite frankly, it hurts. Each person is equally important to the team's success.

May you all find your magic film potion recipe!

Casting our lead male, BOB

The interesting thing about one's perception of actors is that as you acquire more knowledge, speak to a casting director, learn more about actor's agencies, and have some personal experiences with prima donnas, as well as unexpected wonderful talent, your views begin to shift. Visions you had for a particular character shift as well. Being a flexible writer-director in this department helps. I've found that we should be married to our partner, not our idea of an actor, or it's easy to miss your treasure, often buried in the sand. Not being glued to a 'said vision' enables us to see the character's world through a multitude of faces. Some worse. Some better than you could have ever imagined. And better's what we're going for, right?

We're now in the phase of casting our lead male, Bob. Bob's always remained a steady vision for me, for the most part. There were actually two versions of him that I entertained. Ultimately, it was decided that he be the first - a little 'older,' but not necessarily wiser. We felt that this made him more interesting.. more accessibly complicated as a grown-up fuck-up. We didn't want the audience to feel like it was just a 20-something crisis he was experiencing.. but that he's been around the block a few times.. weathered.. disheveled.. he means well, but never seems to say the right thing. He tries too hard. Talks too fast. And there you have Bob, in a nut shell. Well, a big nutshell. He's as lost and complex as a man can get. Yet, he's lovable, too.

The top 5 guys we considered 5 months ago are not even in the top hand today. So many factors became considerations...

Ya see.. We're not just casting an actor. We're casting a relationship, chemistry. One, between the characters. And two, between myself and the actor. We're casting an attitude.. is he "cool"? Is there mutual respect? Does he have range? Does he have presence? Is he capable of delivering the dialog in a fresh, honest, colorful way?

What's his astrological sign? sorry... I wish I were kidding!!! ;)

I love the idea that some of these actors write, too. Taking into consideration we may improvise from time to time, I think that living in the world of writers (yes, we have our own world!) offers its own set of tools.. being able to dissect why the scene's not working, or moving forward... come up with moments of organic seeds that grow, and serve as additives.. so it can bloom into something more beautiful.. yet being able to stay 'in the moment.' And not because it's ever the actor's job to figure these things out, but all egos aside, it's sure nice to know they cradle that vernacular.

Boy, I'm glad I'm not an actor!!! But I sure do love working with them. They have the super huge job of committing to strange characters, and allowing us to sit back, and just feel. The best movies, in my opinion, are ones that make you still.. the ones you sink into, without ever knowing you sank. You forget that there's doggies, and people running around in the room - completely immersed in the experience of simply watching these moving pictures.. faces.. listening to what these people have to say, while suspending your disbelief.. hanging on their every word.. wanting more.. not because you started it or you're in a theater and now you feel you have to, but because you want to.

We've finally decided on who we'll be approaching in the next week to fill the charmingly worn shoes of BOB.. First, our casting director, Vicky Boone, must check his availability. In the meantime, I'm working on a letter to Mr. Right, while our assistant editor, David, is kindly putting a reel together for me this week, particularly for the agency. It helps that our producer, Lorie, has co-produced such a fine feature, jumping off bridges, too. And that our DP, Iskra, is something to write home about, with her beautiful body of poetry she's created through light.

So, some of you may be wondering what a letter to an actor is supposed to say? Lorie had this brilliant advice for me. It seemed clear, and right on, so I thought I'd share it with you!

Lorie's advice: "... imagine you're sitting with him and talking to him about Bob. Who Bob is, and why he's so important to this story. And, why we're excited about the possibility of him being Bob."

If you're out there, Mr. (I can't say your name), please come work with us. I adore you, and think you'd make this person (yes, he's a person to me) sparkle like Smokey's eyes.

More on this process, soon... kindly cross your fingers for us, and visit our official Lost In Sunshine website often to show your support! We love to hear from YOU!

Did you know that we post NEW information/quotes/blogs each week? ;) Jentri

Dispelling a misnomer about SAG

OK, friends, the confusion about SAG is over (I think).

This is straight from our casting director, Vicky Boone's mouth, so I know it's a FACT!! Turns out, contrary to popular belief, "professional actors" can still be in SAG films if they're not SAG. A bit more paperwork is involved, but they don't discriminate against people just because they're not SAG. And there's no extra fees that the production co. must pay. They get paid SAG rates, same as the other SAG actors, in the same category, on set. Now, because they get the same rates on SAG films, it's possible that the film's casting department would get questioned IF someone didn't have a "professional acting resume" (more extensive, I believe). In other words, if you ended up casting someone with little to no acting experience this could raise a red flag, and create a scenario in which the casting director (or person in charge) would have to prove that they auditioned many SAG actors but this non-sag, inexperienced person, one was the best choice.

This is great news for me personally.. as I have many "professional actor" friends I would like to see audition for our film. I'm not into casting "friends" just because they want to speak on film (non-speaking extras are a different story!). Simply put, our film could not even afford to do that. But I look forward to giving my actor friends the opportunity to expand on their acting portfolio with our project! It would overjoy me to see some familiar faces deliver some of the lines in my script.

As I find out more info, I'll let you know... dispelling the misnomers that make us go crazy!

Casting lead actors :)

This week, our Lost In Sunshine producer, Lorie Marsh, posted a GREAT BLOG about our production status and money, honey. I've been learning so much lately from Lorie, and just being a part of this whole process. Producers = major respect in my world. It's a no-joke kinda job. :)

(this blog has moved -- read the rest here!)

Lost In Sunshine September Updates

Pleased to say that we're ON OUR WAY!!

The location scouting has begun with Laura. Here's an image of one of our cafes we plan to shoot in. The large rustic image is of a cotton gin, and the others are simply buildings occupying the town to give you a sense of its character. The town's people were so gracious, inviting, and excited. It was refreshing to see their glowing faces when we said we were "filming a movie" there. That has, lucky for me, and surprisingly, never been done before in this tiny little Texas town....

(this blog has moved -- read the rest here!)