Congrats to fellow filmmakers

I'd like to send out a hearty congratulations to both Jim Knox and Louie Lawless on the completion of principal photography for their respective projects which happen to be feature lengths as well. I was lucky enough to be involved in Jim's shoot and was blown away by the professionalism and work ethic of both cast and crew. I heard the same was true for Louie's shoot as well. 

Jordan Clark, one of the co-producers fro "Nighthawks" is in the final stages of post production for his latest documentary "The Aswang Phenomenon" which I was privileged to see at a recent screening. Just goes to prove that Victoria is loaded with very talented and and hardworking members of the filmmaking community.  

Long overdue update

Sorry about the lengthy delay in updating the old blog. Much has been happening in the last little while that put it on the back burner more or less. Some may already know this but the project was put in a bit of jeopardy due to a change of City of Victoria permit policies. On the surface it appeared so bad I was even contemplating taking "Nighthawks" to Vancouver. Luckily these proposed changes have been put off until the fall and even with that I've been assured by the city that it won't be as draconian as it first appeared. So Victoria is still a 'go'. That being said the casting process is going to proceed in earnest very shortly. Confirmation from Cinevic that their space will be available for Friday the 24th evening and Saturday the 25th day is all that's needed to get the ball rolling so stay tuned. Ana de Lara and Melissa de Haan will be sending out notices shortly. 

Scheduling change

Seems that due to a couple of circumstances I'm going to have to push back my scheduled start date of early July to probably the end of July at the earliest. First reason is the decision to use a new camera whose low production numbers and unanticipated popularity has made it a very hard to get item. I've pre-ordered two and I know for sure I'm getting one which is good but I won't get my hands on it until the beginning of July and our DOP, Dan Carruthers, and I are going to have to spend time getting to know the thing inside and out. The plus of this is that we may very well be the first to put out a feature with such a camera which will help marketing the film that much easier.

The other reason is that my friend and colleague, Jim Knox, is shooting a feature in June and finishing on July 1. This didn't at first seem to conflict with my project and I'm even co-producing on his but what's come to light is that key personnel that are working on Jim's will not have the time for pre-production planning on mine. This includes Dan and his crew and Art Dept. people. amongst others, hence my decision to push things back a few weeks. I'll certainly let you know how things are going.    

Dusting off the blog

Catching up time. Have spent far too much time researching the marketing aspects of the project. Everything that's turned up and all the advice I've been generously endowed with is that the only thing that should be concentrated on at this moment is the feature length pilot idea. So here's the game plan. I 'sew' together the script that's circulating out there at the moment with content I have already written for future episodes as well as writing what would have been termed 'The Beginning'. That was already in the process of being written so no problems there. I still plan to start shooting in early July but there may be a little hitch in that as I have kind of gambled on the release date of a particular camera which is being produced in frighteningly low numbers. I've pre-ordered it some time ago but that doesn't insure anything. Competition to get one of these is the camera geeks equivalent to a 3 for 1 bra sale at Walmart. Not pretty. This project will be one of the first feature films shot on this kind of camera which is and looks like a simple DSLR, I kid you not.

Other news: I 'm pleased to announce that Ana de Lara has graciously announced that she'd love to help out with the casting process. Within a 1/2 hour of saying 'yes' she had already worked out one of the problems I'd been having for some time. Thanks Ana. With Ana on board we can really begin the casting process in earnest while I take care of the writing and more of that nasty paperwork. 

 

Casting Soon

Hi all. Been talking to other filmmakers around town recently and it sounds like I wasn't the only one busy with other projects in the last little while. Congrats to all that got another shoot under their belt.

I'm starting some reads next week and will be in touch shortly about trying to arrange a schedule. My plan is to do small groups at a time so that there isn't that awkward 'bottleneck' feel when reads are, supposedly, done like clockwork. This process may take two weeks but we'll get it done. Some of the roles are for the still incomplete 3rd episode but I have enough material that 'sides' shouldn't be an issue. 

I'm Back

My apologies to everybody that's been following this blog. For the last few weeks I was involved in the pre-production as 1st AD for Bryan Skinner's new project. In a strange quirk of fate I also ended up as one of the Executive Producers as well. Not a combo I'd recommend for new filmmakers as it just absorbs all sorts of time and energy but I also have no regrets as this is going to be one wonderful little film once finished in post and working with a great, cast, crew and director is always a welcome opportunity.

Now that I've got that behind me it's full bore ahead with putting everything together for "Nighthawks". I promise to be in touch soon with casting details and a progress report on times and schedules.

Broadcaster

Good news, bad news time. There is a broadcaster that is at least willing to have a look at "Nighthawks" which is good, of course. The bad news is that if, admittedly a big if, they are interested in pursuing it they would most likely insist on setting it up with a known producer who would in turn pass it along to a known production company which would mean their own casting and crew. Not so good. With all this in mind I think I'll keep plugging on my 3 episode approach and cut some of the footage into a feature length which can be entered into festivals and be used as a calling card for all those involved, including myself. If after that they are still interested in a series then everybody who helped with the feature would have at least a chance of being asked to go further with it. So, in the meantime, I've been trying to put a budget together for the shoot. You'd think it would be easier considering the amount of '$0.00's I've been entering on each line. Any rich uncles out there?