12 Films. 12 Weeks. There are worse ways to spend a summer.

Scheduling, Part 2: Semester Two Takes Shape

Had a lovely brunch meeting with Mike and Sumi at Sevoia today.  We ate, we drank, we chatted, and we banged out a rough schedule for the next six weeks!  Since a lot of it is still up in the air, and since we don’t want to keep backtracking on our announcements, I can only officially present to you the first two films on the docket.  But rest assured, there’s more to come!

"The Proposal"

Film #7 — shooting this Saturday, July 18th — will be Mike Lavoie’s “The Proposal,” not to be confused with the Sandra Bullock vehicle of the same name.  This is by far our biggest cast yet; it features a full fifteen speaking roles (previous record on this project: three).  And of course, we have to cast all those roles by this weekend.  Making things more complicated: the insane director (yeah, that’d be me) wants to shoot the whole thing in the “golden hours,” like Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven.  (For the record: I am not comparing myself to Terrence Malick.  It’s JUST AN IDEA, OKAY?)  This would seriously constrict our shooting time, raising the terrifying possibility that we might lose the light before we wrap.  If you are someone I trust, I implore you, talk me out of this before it is too late.  Come hell or high water, “The Proposal” will be posted on Friday, July 24th.

"Spirits"

Following that, Film #8 will be “Spirits,” a dialogue-free script of mine that was bumped from July 4th weekend for extremely sound logistical reasons.  It’s a very simple little story about small human connections in a vast, indifferent city.  It takes place mostly on a subway platform, which could be a somewhat delicate location to shoot in; in all likelihood, we’ll end up shooting all night, to avoid curious crowds.  “Spirits” is also slated to be our entry into the 2009 Blackout Film Festival, founded by my fellow Hotchkiss alum Tom Keefe; check out their website to learn more about this exciting up-and-coming festival.  This film is a two-character piece, and we should have a cast announcement for it shortly.  If all goes well, it’ll feature a couple of familiar faces …

And that’s the news that’s fit to post!  Many thanks to those of you who voted in our blog poll.  Those of you who haven’t: check it out!  It’s just two posts down.

Posted by Keith