"Widow" production meeting

Next project in the works by Director Scott Howe is called (insert drum roll here)...

"Widow"

Last night we had our first (pre-) production meeting. Well, it was more like social hour(s) since we didn't have all of our major players there. "Widow" will miss the submission deadline for Sundance (Sept. 7th for short films) but I did find out that Scott will submit "Kindred" and "Section 8" this year, exciting stuff. We have thrown around a tentative shoot (start) date around the end of September. What is it about, you wonder? You will have to wait and see... not until the movie comes out but, until I get clearance to talk about it.

All the fixin's

I thought that these were kinda cool...




All of this was created by Director Scott Howe!

Section 8 Premiere at the Crest Theater!

Last Sunday I went to the premiere of Section 8 at the Crest Theater. Our movie was one of 22 other short films (see my post from August 3rd below). There is nothing like seeing your work on the big screen (look at how DIVA I am becoming, calling it "my" work), let me rephrase that, there is nothing like seeing Director Scott Howe's work on the big screen. That was hands down one of the coolest experiences I have ever had.

My brother accompanied me that night and a large group of us sat fairly close to the screen. I remember before the movies started to play Scott leaned over and asked if I was nervous, I chirped back "Nah, not at all!" as the night progressed and we got closer to the premiere of Section 8, I started to get a few butterflies in my tummy. Maybe because a majority of the films were comedies and ours was a pretty hardcore drama? Maybe because I was nervous about how everyone would react to the intensity of our content? Maybe I was nervous because everyone might laugh at my mediocre performance? We were each given a ballot and a pencil to rate each movie as they played (scale of 1-5).

11 shorts played before intermission and 11 shorts played after, ours was in the second half (which I was pleased about). What was nice was that Writer and Director Paul Nicknig's film played one before ours, this was a comforting feeling to have them shown close together, since Paul is part of our movie making family. Paul's film "A Walk in the Park" was really good. Also heavy material but great script and the actors were phenomenal!

When our movie started to play, I sort of went into this wide angle sense to try and get a read on the audience. It made me smile to hear little comments being made about me from the row behind us. It was a trip to see our movie on this big screen!
Ron was sitting to my right and we had this iron palm grip going, we were both anxious and nervous about what kind of reaction we were going to get! When the credits started to roll, the audience erupted in applause *exhale*

After the festival wrapped, we were getting out of our seats and these two gentlemen make a point to comment to us on how much they enjoyed the movie and our performances! Ron turned to them and said, "That is just so nice of you, thanks!" Ron was right, that was indeed the most perfect moment to hear the most perfect compliment and praise.

Off to the after party

The after party was held at a bar called "The Blue Cue". Directors were given 4 extra tickets (which were actually little miniature 8 balls). Paul and his wife couldn't go and so they gave us their tickets. This was a really neat event, they shut the whole place down to the public so we could have our 10 x 10 wrap / after party there! Good times.

It was neat to be mingling with people that you were star struck by in these short films. We met so many cool people (actors, directors, writers) that night, the whole experience was unreal. We anxiously awaited to hear which movie had won 1st place. At the end of the night however it was announced that they did not have the answer for us (due to the large number of ballots submitted). The Directors would receive an email to announce the winners (1st, 2nd & 3rd place) within the next few days, bummer. Oh well, *CHEERS* to a fabulous evening!

See, Look! No hard feelings between my interrogator and I...

**** UPDATE ****

Got a call from Scott today, guess what email he got???
Click HERE to see the Sac Film website and see the results. Scroll down until you see the BOLD print and read the results under: 10 x 10 Film maker challenge (Audience)

What an adventure!

Kashi commercial

Shot a commercial for Kashi this weekend. You know Kashi, it's the healthy cereal and healthy snacks company!

Call time was 6:30am and I was impressed with all of the equipment and trailers that were out there! Then I saw the craft services and I was blown away. Breakfast was Eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit salad, coffee, every juice you can think of and then some.

In between breakfast and lunch, while we were shooting we had a guy walking around with a tray strapped to him filled with sliced watermelon and a huge bowl of peanut butter to dip the celery sticks into.

Next time around he was handing out three different kinds of cheese, Salami, two different kinds of crackers and artichoke dip. After a chicken, tri-tip, black pilaf rice, Corn on the cob (sliced into 1" rounds), roasted veggies and fruit salad lunch he walked around handing out iced mochas on the set.

Oh and did I mention that brownies, cookies, dried fruits, nuts and every other snack and drink on the planet were readily available throughout the day? Yes.

I met a lot of cool actors that day, some that had been on the scene for years and some that were just starting out. I brought my camera with me, took a few shots and then the battery died, doh! I was bummed, but luckily I made a new friend that day, Script Supervisor Ross Pruden and he posted pictures on his blog and talked about the shoot as well. So be sure to go and check it out (he is SO much better with words than I am)!

It was a long and hot day, I overheard that it reached a temperature of 104 degrees that afternoon and I don't doubt it for a moment. We wrapped at 5:30pm.

The commercial is set air on August 27th (cable channels such as Discovery and Food Network). I heard that it will be in 10 different markets all over California so, from San Diego up to us and the Bay Area. I must mention however that I do not yet know how much or how little I will be in it. It was just an honor to be a part of the project!

Clarification

Just a little clarification, "Section 8" by Scott Howe is actually going to be shown at the 10x10 Film Festival in Sacramento which is set for Sunday August 12th, not to be confused with the PCS Film Festival which takes place in October.

Here are some details from the Sacramento Film Festival's website

The 10x10 Filmmaker Challenge program was created in 2004 to supplement the Sac Music Seen music video program in providing an extra opportunity for local filmmakers to have their work seen on the big screen. Each year, a "kickoff" meeting is held during which program rules are defined and a secret theme is revealed. Filmmakers are then given 10 days to make a film of no more than 10 minutes, incorporating that theme and any other visual or verbal "elements" specified during the kickoff meeting. Submitted films are pre-screened to ensure compliance with the stated rules and themes/elements prior to the Festival screening.

In 2005, the 10x10 program moved to the last spot in the Festival schedule, on Sunday evening, and now serves as a creative after-party for the Festival as a whole.

Past Themes:

2004: The Undead and the Seven Deadly Sins - Would They Even Care?

2005: The End of Days*
*Prompted by the 10x10 program's move to the end of the five day Festival schedule.

2006: Love. Loss. Redemption. And the After-Party**
**Added visual element of a Festival mini-poster.

The 2007 Theme and Elements
(Note: this is the eighth year of the Festival.)

Theme: Crazy Eights

Visual Element: Films must include the number eight, or eight of something, or something must appear eight times.

Script Element: Each filmmaking team was given a phrase to incorporate into their film - each phrase is a standard response from a Magic Eight Ball (by Mattel).

Being Testy

Sped off from the last day of "Section 8" to get to the set of "Being Lisa" I made it and was only a half an hour late of my call time (7pm). The crew was still in the planning stages so there was quite a bit of waiting around and we didn't shoot until 10pm. By 8pm I was just about tapped out and I went to go and rest in my car. It was a hot and muggy evening and speaking of muggy, I didn't want to get muggied by anyone if I were to fall asleep with the windows down. So I had them cracked and my sun roof opened. I am not the type of person who can fall asleep in this sort of situation, in a car, on a street in downtown Sac, cars zooming by now and again, let alone the heat and humidity but I was so beat that I managed to slip in and out for about 15-20 minutes. The other hour or so was spent fanning myself and thinking about how perfect the conditions were to obtain a little known somethin' somethin' called The West Nile VIRUS. My exhaustion would take over and next thing I knew I was being startled from sleep after some jerk roared by in some monster truck. At this point I wondered why I had signed on.

I would get up now and again to talk to the crew about their shooting schedule so I could get a read on how long the night was going to be. I was hoping to hear, "We're shooting your scenes first and then you'll be out of here and we won't even need you tomorrow because we'll wrap everything up tonight". I never heard that though, instead I heard, "You're in just about every scene being shot throughout the night and I will need you to come back tomorrow because it is the same situation" I remember after hearing that I smiled and said, "Oh, ok. I'm going to lay down for a bit in my car, just call my cell phone if you need me" I turned around and my eyes welled up with tears. I made my way back to the car, cell phone lightly beeping now and again due to low battery. I felt like my cell phone, drained.

Once we started shooting I remembered why I wanted to be a part of this project in the first place, the story line was fun and progressive, the director Becca Louisell is so sweet and talented as is Stephen, the cast was a total kick and they were phenomenal actors. Amara, whom I met on the set (played "Lisa" one of the two principals) was so beautiful and a big sweetheart. I had the best time chatting with Gene Hoisington, a local Sacramento actor whom I totally admire, and played the role of the "Chef" in this project. The back bone of the crew was Allison and Angela, we (or maybe just I) got a kick out of watching them get the show on the road. Just barking out orders, time, direction to cut scenes if possible etc. You could tell that without them, things might not have been wrapped as quickly, It was quite a production.

So we started shooting at around 10:30pm which is when I started to get a headache and my neck was killing me. I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the extras that I had cast for Kindred, Anne Mox. I spent a lot of time near her during the shoot and she has such good energy, which I really needed.

We wrapped at around 1am and off I went. On the drive home I prayed to have a better attitude the next day and I also prayed that I wouldn't come down with anything (yeah, like West Nile! No, more like a cold or a flu, as I felt like my bodily defenses were down). I asked myself, "now if I wasn't thoroughly exhausted tonight how would the shoot have gone?" My answer was that it would have been a blast and it was! I came to the conclusion that I really didn't need to bring any negative energy to such wonderful people and such a neat project.

Night #2 on set was FANTASTIC. I felt like an entirely different person, I wonder if anyone else noticed? Ron Brokenbrough was there to keep me company and we ended up recruiting him as an extra! I was so grateful for how differently I felt that second night, boy what a difference a little prayer and a good night of sleep makes.

Here is me as "Waitress" in Being Lisa