Meet the Elite Eight

[Behind the scenes on the set of Partners in Crime]

It's been even more crazy-busy than usual since the last time I wrote. In the past 6 weeks I have moved to a new apartment and made a new short film, each of which took a boatload of time as well as physical and emotional energy. Last weekend was the first weekend in over two months, since I got my new job, that I did not have to do anything moving- or movie-related. It was so awesome to not have any weight on my shoulders that it didn't even stress me out (too much) when my roommate's bedroom flooded two days in a row during the torrential downpours.

But, what I really want to tell you about is my new short! It is called, "Partners in Crime," and I am not going to tell you a single thing about the plot, cuz I am mean like that. You'll just have to find a way to see it! But I am going to tell you about what an amazing experience it was to make.

Way back in 2008, after completing work on "Smalltimore", which had an ensemble cast of 12 people, I vowed that the next film I would make would be TWO people. In one room. And they would both be mimes. And, during the short time that I remembered what a giant pain in the ass it is to shoot a film with so many speaking parts and subplots, I actually did write a short script that was set in one room with two characters. But, for various reasons I never shot it, though I still intend to. And no, they are not mimes.

So now in 2011 I had forgotten ALL about the difficulties of an ensemble cast and only remembered the good parts, which, in the end, far outweigh the tough parts anyway. So I am glad I forgot.

There were a lot of wonderful things about this shoot. I got to shoot in my friend Drew Rieger's AMAZING home in Mount Vernon, again (we shot Jason Baustin's "Gone Forever" there last Labor Day weekend). I got out of my comfort zone, i.e., working with Michelle Farrell as my Director of Photography, and this time had my dear friend Phil Calvert (who you may know as Thom in "Smalltimore") as our DP. All of that was great, but when I am on the set I am so laser-focused on getting it done that sometimes it is hard for me to enjoy the moment. But pre-production, for a change, was a different story.

Usually pre-pro is a giant pain. But, since we were shooting in one location, and the story takes place all in one evening, I didn't have to spend a lot of time worrying about wardrobe and continuity and location changes and transportation and parking and blah blah blah blah BLAH. My cast were all experienced and laid back, everyone was comfortable wearing clothes and jewelry that they already owned, and the ladies were cool with doing their own makeup and hair.

So let me back up a little bit and tell you what the true, true beauty of it was for me, as a writer, and as a director. Over the course of three years and almost two dozen productions that I have worked on, I have met a lot of talented people. For "Smalltimore," I was not in that situation, therefore I had to go through a lengthy casting process, which I did take my time on and therefore found some fantastic actors. For "The Red-Headed Menace," I knew who I wanted and again had an awesome group of actors, but it was a totally different animal than "Partners in Crime". "RHM" was a comedy short, again with a large ensemble, but no one had more than a few lines. So we didn't have a table read, we didn't have rehearsal, and some of the actors had never even worked with each other before they got to the set that day. I even shanghaied my friend Lisa, who had only agreed to be the makeup artist, into having an onscreen line, right on the spot.

But "PiC" was very different. This is a story that is important. Well, actually, it is a very small but important piece of a much larger and even more important project. A prelude, if you will. I knew what, and for the most part, who, I wanted for this project. I needed actors who were not only extremely talented but also who would personally invest in the project, and basically collaborate with me on the story. I needed people who would trust me, and each other, implicitly. And that is exactly what and who I got.

I want to tell you a little about each of them. I'm not sure who to start with, so this will be in rather random order. Of the eight actors, I had worked with seven of them before. Rain (Pryor) was the only one I had not worked with, though we had been talking for some time about doing something together. I actually had thought of her for the role of Melanie in "Smalltimore," but she was having a baby at exactly that time (and Kelly Coates thanks her very much for this!). Jessica (Felice), Michael (Alban), and Altorro (Black) had worked with me on other projects on which I was the Assistant Director, but had not worked with me on one of my own projects. Megan (Rippey), Kelly (Coates), Tony (Bonz, a.k.a. Antonio Jefferson) and Alexandra (Hewett) had worked with me on other projects on which I was writer, director, and producer.

Michael was the lead on "Gone Forever," which we shot in Drew's home last year. I helped with casting, though the final call was not mine. I pushed for Michael and was very glad when the director agreed with me. He played opposite Cici Carmen and honestly they may be the most ridiculously good-looking onscreen indie couple ever, not to mention TALLEST. They each have significant others, but for the sake of the industry, they should just make little actor babies. But more importantly, Michael is super-dedicated and while we worked together I was very impressed with his preparation and professionalism. I knew I wanted to write something just for him some day, and soon, before he gets all famous.

Kelly (a.k.a. Mel in "Smalltimore") plays his onscreen sweetie, and really, I just miss her. She makes me laugh all day long but the only time I get to spend any time with her is when I put her in a movie! In "Smalltimore" she didn't really get any action til right at the end, so the least I could do was give her a hot husband that you actually get to see throughout the movie this time.

The whole cast is pretty smoking, I must say. There is adorable Megan Rippey, who is simply onscreen candy (who can act her face off). She is sort of the free spirit in the story, a dinner party with everyone else being mostly overeducated type-A's. For wardrobe I asked her to, "show up in your hippie-dippie Sunday best." She arrived in a get-up so spot-on I didn't have to change so much as her earrings.

Jessica Felice plays Megan's onscreen sister, though I realized after editing the short down to the 9-minute parameters of the competition, I had dropped the expositional line that lets the audience know that they are sisters. So in the short version, sisters, lovers, you decide! I worked with Jessica on Steve Yeager's film, "The Rosens." She was such a pleasure to work with, I really wanted to see what else she could do.

I met Tony Bonz, who is an R&B singer, at the beginning of this year when Michelle and I made a music video for him. We got Tiger Dawn to play his onscreen girlfriend in the video. Tiger is incredibly talented, but Tony held his own. He had never done anything like that, acting onscreen, but he pulled out all the stops, and he trusted me. He truly is fearless and I thought of him immediately for this project.

I had seen Altorro at Stonehenge (mass auditions), I think, and also in some clips from other local indies before I met him at the casting call for "Gone Forever". He only had a small speaking role in "GF," but I could tell, strictly from his talent, that he was more often cast in leading roles. Still, he never had a moment's attitude and did a great job, and I kept him in the back of my mind for something in the future. Of the eight cast members, I knew Altorro the least, personally, and he was the only one that I thought might say no. I'm very glad he didn't.

I met Rain a few years ago, after she married someone I know here in Baltimore. She is friends with many of my good friends here, so we had these overlapping circles but we never hung out with each other until earlier this year. I had approached Rain in February about another project (not my own), which ended up not coming to fruition. When that fell through we were both disappointed, but we mutually decided that we would simply have to find something on which to work together. She was the first person in the cast that I talked to when I came up with the idea for the short, and she was on board immediately. Rain always has many irons in many fires, in addition to having her hands full being a mother of a three-year old, but she took the role very seriously and brought me a performance that packed the punch I was hoping for.

And then there is the lovely and talented Alexandra Hewett. Two years ago, soon after meeting her at the Creative Alliance, I cast Alex in "The Red-Headed Menace," and we quickly became friends. Last summer I cast her in a non-speaking role in the short, "Janis". I've seen Alex perform onstage several times, and last fall we were even cast mates in a production of "The Laramie Project" at UB. Alex has been so loyal to me, as a director, and as a friend. I really wanted to give her something much meatier to show her considerable range and talent. I did, and she did not disappoint.

I do want to tell you more about the time we spent together leading up to production, because it was very special and I want to write about it while it is still fresh in my mind, but alas, it is past my working-class bedtime! So you will just have to watch this space...

Resolve, Rekindled

[Me with Cici Carmen (lead actress) and Michelle Farrell (DP) at the premiere of Gone Forever (writer /director Jason Baustin) at the AFI Theater in Silver Spring.]

The last couple of months have felt a little... off. Some financial realities are setting in. I knew the winter months would be slow, but I was hoping by now, mid-April, I would have a few more summer projects set in stone. Michelle assures me that this is still the slow time, but she is also worried that the dawn of the DSLR camera may be costing freelancers like ourselves a lot of business. That may be part of it, but it takes a lot more than buying a camera to make a movie. I think that a larger part of the problem is that the economy still sucks. Making an independent film is, in some ways, a luxury. And in a bad economy, luxuries are the first thing to go.

Recently a project fell through that would have kept me both busy and paid for a few months. Not worth going into the details of it, and as a professional, I wouldn't anyway. Long story short, some things are more important than money. Things such as integrity, sanity, happiness, blood pressure, and my reputation as a producer. I take all of the above very seriously. Money to me is a well that always finds a way to refill itself. I always find a way to land on my feet.

A few weeks of stress was luckily followed by a few days of being reminded why I do what I do and that there are people out there who are glad that I do it. Friday afternoon I showed the rough cut of a new music video to a client, Tony Bonz, and he absolutely loved it. It was a very fun project to work on, and Tony put all of his trust in me, and Michelle, to manifest his vision into a tangible product. Though that trust helps to make a project go smoothly, in a way it adds more pressure to get it right. But also more satisfaction when you do!

Then yesterday I attended the premiere of "Gone Forever", a dramatic short by writer/director Jason Baustin that I was producer and AD on last fall. Jason really went all out. The premiere was at the AFI Theater in Silver Spring, a fantastic venue, and included a catered lunch for all attendees, as well as professionally packaged DVDs for cast & crew. It was so good to see all the friendly faces of the people with whom I spent 5 days in the trenches seven months ago. It was a very ambitious, challenging piece to make (more than a dozen locations in a 25 minute script, car crash, SFX, shot on The Red) but it all went pretty smoothly, with an ace group of cast and crew. Seeing two projects that I am very proud to be associated with come to fruition really eased the disappointment of the cancelled project, and shored up my resolve to follow my instincts.

At the premiere, a friend I hadn't seen since the "Gone Forever" shoot (we used a room in his house as one of our locations) told me that he just watched "Smalltimore" again a couple nights ago. To hear that, of course, would make me happy at any time, but the timing made it mean a little more to me. Also in the last few days, an actor who was in "Smalltimore" called me to order three DVDs he wanted to give to some people from WBAL who are interviewing him about something else, and Minas Gallery contacted me to bring them another batch of DVDs as they have sold all the ones they had in stock. Combined, these little bits of encouragement totaled the shot in the arm I was in need of at this moment.

A good friend of mine, whose job was making him absolutely miserable, called me earlier in the week to sound off. He was considering quitting his job without having a job, which is usually not advisable, but the work situation was truly effecting both his physical and mental well-being. Being a bit stressed about the flow of income myself these days, I hesitated, at first, to encourage him to quit. But I know him well enough to know that he had already made up his mind, and was looking more for support than advice. Life is too short, I said. I can't stress that enough, to anyone, ever. He turned in his resignation the next day and has been celebrating ever since.

Some things are more important than money.

Most things, actually.