Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty

Big Aven/Sean rehearsal last night. Went late. Got alot done. It's all really starting to come together. Still lots to do today before we start filming... TOMORROW! AAAAHHHH!!!

We actually might have found our Melony last night at an Italian Restaurant. Sounds like a Hollywood story if you've ever heard one, right? More to come on this as it develops.

I feel pretty good about where we're at though. Zach and Brian had a nice long rehearsal last night, and Brian and Stephanie had one on Wednesday. Everyone's really kicked it into another gear here and it's fun to see. I think this weekend should go pretty smooth, weather allowing. Come on Seattle sunshine, I know most people think you're a myth, but don't fail me now!

I didn't get a chance to take any pictures last night but I grabbed a couple pictures of Brian and Stephanie's rehearsal on Wednesday. Or, if you wanna go one better, you can watch what the scene is gonna look like, we also filmed it and Brian cut it together. It is still a rehearsal so it's rough, but I think it looks great. Check it out.

Amateur Hour - Rehearsal scene

Anyway, off to run some last minute errands before tomorrow!

More Headshots

The man himself. Brian Sutherland. Who will be playing Sean.

A Visual Aid

Still lots to do but things are starting to come together for next weekend.

After great searching, we have our Sam! Played by the extremely talented Stephanie Carpentieri. We're all very happy to have her onboard.

I am gonna try to put everyone's head shots up as I obtain them. More to come.

I went location scouting the other day to try to find a picturesque looking dock to shoot a scene at next weekend. There were a couple good choices, but Peter, the camera guy and I settled on a suitable location. I snapped a couple pictures.

Trying to play Cat herder and get everyone in line and get all the ducks in a row. Seems to be coming together well so far though. I'll post lots more pictures of shooting weekend when it comes. More soon.

Eeking It Out

Little by little. I haven't posted much recently, because there really isn't all that much to post. Progress has been slow. Still on targed for the weekend of the 25th for shooting some scenes. Brian got his Sam lined up, and I'm pretty happy with her, so it looks like she'll be our girl as far as the trailer goes. I think Zach's still lined up to be our Aven, but we'll see how it goes. It will be good to get something on film, and then start going from there. I guess that's when the real work starts. Brian and I are talking about going to LA together, and that would definitely be one of the things we would use to try and get funding. No place better than there for movie funding I suppose.

More details as they become available.

Script Reading Redux

So I wanted to bring in a couple other people to read for roles that haven't been cast yet, so the Amateur Hour Crew got together last night and had another script reading. I invited Zach, a friend of mine from work, and a friend of Britney's, Ashley to come and read for Aven and Sam respectively. I liked them both alot. Zach in particular. Brian and I were split on Ashley though. I really liked her, but Brian had some sort of visceral reaction. So he wants to bring in a couple of his actress friends, which is fine, but if I don't see someone I really like I'm going to consider going back to Ashley. I don't want it all to become a big thing though, it's not worth it, so hopefully we'll find that perfect someone that everyone can feel all warm and fuzzy about. Zach looks like an ok Aven, at least as far as the trailer goes. We got in contact with Ben Griesse, who we worked with on Suburbia and I think would be great for the part, but he's in LA right now so we'll see how that develops. It will certainly add another level of complication to everything, but I think he could be amazing if we made it work.

I thought the editted version of the script read a little bit better. Little more snappy. I can see a couple little things that can be trimmed in the early going to help keep things moving along. These readings are good for that. Hopefully these things will continue to flesh themselves out as we go through rehearsals and whatnot. God knows there's alot to be done, but I'm ready, so bring it on!

We set a tentative date to shoot the trailer on October 25th, so hopefully we can get all the pieces in place by then. So much to do. So little time. The vibe seemed right last night though so hopefully we can continue to build on the positives and just keep the train going on down the track. More updates as they become available.

Rechargeable batteries

I'm back from my trip and hitting it hard. I finished writing my prequel short on the plane ride home. Still needs some tweaking, but I like how it turned out. I'm not sure how it's all gonna work out, but ideally it will be one of the first things we film. We'll see.

I went over to Brian's and we storyboarded the first scene we're going to shoot. I've been tasked with going home and making the trailer for it, which should be fun. It's just a little frustrating because it's definitely a Catch-22. It's hard to go forward with filming when you still don't have all your actors nailed down yet, but it's hard to nail down actors when filming is still up in the air. Oh well. We shall overcome. I talked with Halle, my prospective Sam, and I think I got a vote of confidence from her that I can proceed knowing I have her in my corner. Hopefully things will continue to become clear as they progress.

I snapped a couple pictures of Brian and my storyboarding session. I'll post them later tonight. Keep on trucking

Parting Clouds

New update on Brian's health, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with some sort of infection (they had to do an ultrasound on his testacle. And you think you're having a bad day) and he'll be out for a couple days, but should make a speedy recovery shortly.

As it stands, we'll look to next week for the reading/meeting, although Peter and Brian did come over last night for a little while, and the vibe still seemed to be good, so right on. Let's keep this train chugging on down the track.

With Brian out, no other real interesting developments to speak of. I'm off to Boston this week for a well deserved adventure. Maybe something amazing will be revealed to me, or I'll have some big moment of realization, but chances are I'll probably just come back with a couple souveniers that I really couldn't afford. One of the two.

Anyway, that is where we stand.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

After the orgasmic peaks we reached during Beau, Brian' and my meeting a couple weeks ago, we have definitely come down to earth a bit, unfortunately. Our script reading scheduled for today was cancelled at the last minute. Peter, one of the main filmmakers we're hoping to get involved had a surprise party thrown for him, since it's his birthday (Random. How dare he have his birthday on the day we scheduled a script reading!) So was unable to attend. Kevin, another filmmaker associated with Mr. Brian Sutherland, was going to be in attendance, but we thought it wiser to reschedule for a time when we can get everyone in the same room. Pow wow style. So hopefully we can schedule that for this week.

In retrospect, rescheduling the read was for the best, as it appears our main attraction, the star of the show, Brian Sutherland, has come down with some strange disease/infection/swelling/African voodoo/Affliction kinda deal that has sent him to the ER. I don't intend to make light of his illness whatsoever other than to hope it is nothing too severe, and our thoughts and prayers are with him. Updates as they become available.

I'm thinking of writing a short to serve as a little mini prequel to Amateur Hour. I hope I won't get sued when I say that I was inspired by the Hotel Chevaliar, the mini prequel to one of my favorite movies of all time, The Darjeeling Limited. I thought it would serve nicely as a good little bonus to people who help make our McGyver job of a Motion Picture a reality. I have an idea, still working out a couple kinks. More word on this soon.

Meeting with the filmmakers Tuesday or Wednesday we hope. Keep you posted as always. Keep the dream alive! I'm thinking of making the official song of the Production of Amateur Hour "Don't Stop Believin'". One thing at a time though.

Another Piece to the Puzzle

As my first real act as a Producer/Director of Amateur Hour, I brought on board a friend of mine, Ford A. Nickel to be the Costume Designer for the shoot. Ford has previous experience with Teatri Zinzani and is a great addition to the team. I think he's gonna bring some good ideas to the table in an area that I will be the first to admit is not really my strong suit, so thanks in advance Mr. Nickel!

Script reading set for Sunday at noon. Not quite sure the cast of characters that Brian's gonna round up, but it should be interesting. After that comes the pitch to make sure everyone's on board. Speaking of on board, I haven't heard from Hallie since the last reading, I should really shoot her an email and see if she'll sit down and talk about the script with me, because she's definitely my first choice for the role of Sam if she wants it.

Script is down to 92 pages in word now. If I have to make any more cuts than I've already made I feel like we're really gonna start losing some real good material, I understand that sometimes that's inevitable but I'd like to avoid doing that as much as possible, I feel like it's a complete piece as is, any further tampering might hurt it I fear. I'll know more after the reading, I just need to remember to make sure to time it. I'm notorious for forgetting. This is why I need a Personal Assistant. I guess that's the NEXT movie :)