BLOG #8 “Hurry Up and Wait”

Okay, so this is the portion of our program where we wait.   Just like in production where we hustle through rehearsal and then wait for the lighting crew to get the set pretty, or in post where we hustle through the edit to wait for the clip to render (I hate that spinning beachball soooo much)…

We have hustled to get the movie done and into the hands of some sales agents… and now we wait to hear back and see if we can marry up with the right company to sell this film. 

So what’s a filmmaker to do in these oh-so empty moments, when the film is out of your hands?   I spend time with my family and friends, I catch up on the news, I fill out my absentee voter form (VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!) and I watch movies and tv shows that I’ve neglected…  and then I come into my messy office and I look up at my white board – which is covered with a slate of projects.  If those projects are ever going to get as far as The Lake Effect has, I’ve got to get a move on.

Here’s the breakdown:

THE CYNICS:

I’m excited to say that Jennifer Westin and I have had so much fun working on TLE together that we’re teaming up on a second project, (which, really, I should be writing instead of blogging about). It’s still in treatment form but it’s shaping up to be a fun and funny ensemble comedy about love and friendship.  It’s loosely based on my childhood friends, actually – a group of complete assholes, whom I love dearly.

STRONG ISLAND:

This one’s a TV pilot that I’m penning with my very dear friend and amazing comedy writer Cindy McCreery.   Seriously, that girl funny.  Can’t tell you much about that one yet except that it’s set on the south shore of Long Island where I grew up and it’s cast of characters include some colorful Italian Americans that may be inspired by my family.   (Are we seeing a pattern here of me raping my real life for content?  Beware ye close to me, lest you get immortalized…)

PRUDE:

Prude is actually a script of Cindy’s that she’s considering letting me direct.  It’s a very funny take on high school sexuality – sort of like a female American Pie.  Genius.

LOVE IS REAL, THE MOVIE…:

This one’s simmering on the back burners.  It’s about a documentarian documenting her dysfunctional love life.   I have toyed with the idea of doing this as a cumulative webisode series, playing the documentarian and shooting half the movie on my webcam.   Maybe the back burner is the wrong place for this one…

TITS:

Ah, Tits.  This is an oldie but a goodie.  It’s a dramedy about a typical teenage girl struggling to grow up in a near-perfect suburban world when she realizes that only one of her boobs is growing.  This film has had actors and financing come and go – it only needs like a half a million dollars and a name actor to be the best thing ever.  

And last but not least… UNTITLED TV SPEC

I’m working on a Modern Family (I know, I know, “Everyone’s doing it.”)  But I straight up love that show.   I’m convinced that the creators snuck into our house and took notes on my husband while crafting the character of Phil.   Anyway, finding a home on a TV staff would be very cool.  There’s so much amazing creative work going on in TV right now, it’s a great place to work on character driven stuff, and you know that what you’re writing will actually be seen!  What more can you ask for? Plus, baby needs a new pair of shoes and I hear TV jobs come with these things called paychecks. 

  

So what’s the trick to maintaining sanity while waiting to hear back from that agent/ executive/ sales company…? Keep on keeping on. Attack that to do list with your whole heart. Dive into that new project head first. Also, it doesn’t hurt to listen to McHammer radio on Pandora.  Nothing inspires me to “move it move it” like early nineties hip hop.  

BLOG #6 RAIN(DANCE) OR SHINE - Raindance Film Fest Wrap Up!

It is an understatement to say that Raindance is a really cool festival.  Stridently independent, they eschew politics to program great work, whether or not it has names or glory attached.  Everything I saw was unique, entertaining, and engaging.

Raindance,
where the magic happens.

God, I love going to the movies.   The dark theatre, the cushy seats, the escapism found halfway through a bucket of popcorn.  I know we’re all moving toward watching cinema on our Iphones (not that I’m knocking my Iphone – I heart my Iphone) but really, an image the size of a playing card cannot compare to the Calgon-take-me-away experience of 4k projection, stadium seating and surround sound.  But I digress… what I want to say is that watching The Lake Effect projected in all it’s glory in a first class theatre… ruled.

Sandwiched between Resident Evil and
The Other Guys.  Not bad company. 

All my fears (no audience, technically difficulties, tomato throwing) were allayed.   There was indeed, a crowd. The lobby was packed when we arrived twenty minutes before our screening and the 200 seat theatre felt full enough – could’ve been the opening weekend of anything (except maybe Harry Potter… let’s be real).  Jennifer and I hid in the back row as the lights went down and the movie came up… and then (thank god) the audience laughed, they gasped, they wiped tears.  They got it.  


Jennifer said that she spent the entire movie watching the audience but I somehow managed to forget to worry about what they might be thinking and just experience the film.   It was the first time I’d seen it look and sound how it was supposed to and it was beautiful.   Not just the technical stuff but the film.  I really felt that the film itself was beautiful.  After so much work and some uncertainty about what I’ve invested two years of my life in, this night, this festival gave me a chance to fall back in love with my film.   The whole point is to reach people, right?  To affect an audience, to share human experience.  This night was just that. 

Winners of the London Mums
TLE ticket giveaway!

Okay, so here’s the thing, I’m home now – back in LA.   I’m still riding the high of that night, the excitement, the generous compliments from the crowd – the fact that several older British gentlemen were in tears… but I’m not sure what’s next.  I know a lot of people stateside are anxious to finally see what this is all about.  All four of you reading this are thinking “I want to see what made the older British gentlemen cry!”  We don’t have any festivals or screenings lined up quite yet but believe me we’re working on it.  I’m committed to carving out a real strong life for this film even if indie film is collectively on the operating table. Which is to say, if you have the inclination to see The Lake Effect, you will be able to see The Lake Effect.

At the very least, it will be Jennifer and I on the road in a beat up van, screening the film for our fans across the country.  Film tour, anyone?  

#4 A FILM IS BORN

Cooler than a laser light show... 

Ah, sweet recovery from a weekend of high altitude celebration in Boulder!  What a great town and a cool venue to have our very first public screening in…  If you’ve never had your movie projected in a planetarium, I highly recommend it.

I want to give a big thank you to those of you who rallied to come to our 9:30 pm screening on a Sunday night.  Especially those of you who laughed and cried and whooped and hollered.  The highlights of the weekend included: Paul Larson’s beautiful set at our awesome pre-screening party, Luna clapping happily for all the winners at the awards dinner, and a comment during the Q and A by a mid-wife in the audience who remarked how well she thought the way the birth was represented…  Whew – if someone who has witnessed hundreds of births thinks I got it right, I’m happy.

Hello, Apollo Cinema.

So I’ve got three HOT days in LA to prep before Jennifer and I jet off to London for Raindance. Thank goodness we have a lot of local friends who are drumming up support as well as British Moms (er, Mums) who are championing TLE on their blogs/sites (check out: Babes About Town, London Mums) Now that I think about it, we should really host a party out there…

In between TLE work I am spending quality time with the wee one and prepping a TV movie pitch for ABC Family for Thursday… which is exercising totally different muscles (at least I’m exercising something.  I haven’t been to the gym since July - oye).  

Our little Superhero.

Speaking of ABC – our lovely lead actress, Kay Panabaker’s AWESOME new show NO ORDINARY FAMILY premieres TONIGHT on ABC at 8/7central!  I’ve seen the pilot and I assure you that this is a show worth watching – it’s great and Kay is great in it.  That girl’s gonna be a big star - our little TLE family couldn’t be prouder. 

#2 Down to the Wire

Jennifer Westin, workin' it.

I’m sitting next Producer Jennifer Westin, who is right now investigating the latest UPS drop off time and the closest drop off location to our tape house, where The Lake Effect is gettin’ laid down.   

We’re a week late on our deadline to get the movie to The Raindance Film Festival in London and we’re only two weeks out from our screening at Moondance.  The good news is that the film is FINISHED.  It is DONE DONE DONE and we will get it to the church on time. 

The Lake Effect has been gestating on 10 Mac computers, 6 hard-drives, and 5 monitors… and after a lengthy Labor Day spent attempting to solve our credit crisis, we got our ducks in a row, and it was done… which was weird.  It was done. 

A lot of filmmakers experience depression after the completion of a film.  I specifically remember a number of filmmakers crying to our academic advisor in the aftermath of the mad rush to finish our student films at UCSB...  (I may or may not have been one of them).  Honestly, it’s like postpartum depression: all that anticipation, all that sleep deprivation… minus the hormones.  There’s no more passion and potential – just the reality.  For the record, when Luna was born I was on cloud nine for months – I was all glowy and gushing constantly, I had (have) such a huge crush on her. 

Truth be told, I’m not experiencing that postpartum thing at all now.  I won’t lie.  I’m exhausted… but I’m too busy to think about this as over!   The end of the post-production process is really just the beginning of the life of this little movie… and I’m very very excited to see what it grows up to be.