Kickstarter is LIVE!!!

If you're here from the Kickstarter site, welcome!  We're happy to have you here.

I'm happy to announce that our Kickstarter project is now live on the Kickstarter site!  It's time to raise some funds.  Be sure to check it out even if you're not able to help fund the film as we have a nice little video featuring Jerry Turman, our Teddy.  He was super sweet to come in at late notice at a very late hour to film it and he was amazingly patient with us.  You'll get to see Tim and me and the work of our amazing cinematographer, E.J. Enriquez.  

We've also found out that E.J. is up for recognition by some large group of cinematographers and we hope he gets selected for the award, even if he doesn't get any cash out of it.

In other news, we've added all of the cast to the Our Cast page for your perusal.  I've not gotten all of their bios yet but I'll put them up as soon as I get them.  Feel free to look them over.  They're a lovely bunch of people.

I think that's it for now!  I'm off to a meeting with Tim, Yao (costume design), and Lindsay (production design).

Camera System

We've secured a camera for the shoot.  We'll be shooting on RED in 4K using Arri/Zeiss T1.3 35mm prime lenses .  This is going to be a good looking picture.

Costume Design!

Not much to say today, we've almost got the film cast, which is exciting but what I want to do here is introduce you to Yao, our costume designer extraordinaire!  I can't possibly post her entire portfolio here but, trust me, it's amazing.  I'll just give you a hint of one of the pieces she's done in the past.  Here's the design for it, and the actual finished piece.  We're really happy to have found someone so talented!  I'll be posting her bio in the "Our Crew" section soon.

 

Also looks like, after weeks of looking, we've found a person to head up our production design team.  I'll keep you updated on that, as soon as I have more info.

Also, on Sunday, Tim and I had some fun driving around town looking for homes that were decorated with Halloween stuff.  We were surprised by how little we found but we were able to spot a couple of really nice places and left them a letter explaining the film and how we'd love to borrow their decorations if they're willing.  Hopefully, we'll hear from them soon.

We're filming our Kickstarter video on Thursday.  Just a quick intro to the film so people can see that we're serious and have a chance to see that we are real people.  Hopefully that should go smoothly so we can upload it and start the project as scheduled, on Halloween!

Oh, keen-eyed visitors may have noticed the added "Our Art" section... if you don't have the keenest eyes, check it out!  We'll be posting some images of production design, costume design, and actual art by local artists that will be showcased in the film.

I think that's all for now!  Until next time!

So Much to Do, So Little Time!

We're busy, busy, busy!

Right now we're still in the final stages of casting.  We've seen so many amazing performers it's very intense to whittle them down to the best choices for our cast.  We love them all but we have to pick the person who best represents the character he or she is chosen to play and who brings a unique interpretation of who the character is and what their motivations are.

To any of our auditioning actors, you've made our job very interesting and complex, we wish there were roles for all of you and, honestly, if you aren't offered the part, it's not because you lack the talent and drive to perform.  You are all very talented and, given the right part, could act anyone's socks off.  I especially appreciate your willingness to put up with my last-minute schedule changes.  You're all very flexible and that's definitely a great trait.

So, what else is going on?  We're applying for a Austin Film Society Fiscal Sponsorship that, if we get it, will allow us to accept donations from friends and family are considered a tax-deductible donation.  We're still planning to do the Kickstarter project, which will be a great way to reach out to people around the world but, if we get the sponsorship, it might be an added incentive for those closer to home.

And, speaking of Kickstarter, we're still planning to start our project on Halloween, so get ready to check that out and all of the great "prizes" you'll get for donating to our cause... DVD copy of the completed film plus some extra shorts by the director anyone???  That and so much more will be available to you if you'll help us get this film off the ground.  And, if you're wondering what the money's for... well, our amazing location, the Atwater home is putting us a bit over budget, so your donations will help house the Atwater family for the five days of our shoot.

 

Pre-production planning is moving along, the meeting with E.J. last week was informative and interesting.  Tim has another meeting with him tomorrow to decide what equipment we need to request from equipment checkout at UT.

In the next few days, you'll be seeing some new names added to the Our Crew page.  We've got our AC, AD, and Costume Designer lined up and we'll put their info up as soon as we have it ready for the site.

Meetings and Auditions

Today we're having our first visual direction meeting, or whatever you want to call a meeting between the cinematographer and the director to discuss the shooting style of the film with yours truly coming along for who knows what reason since they'll probably be off talking in jargon I don't understand but it should be tons of fun.  I'm guessing I'll be able to act as a bounce of sorts, giving a tertiary opinion on their plans and forcing a bit of realism into the conversation... "No, guys, I don't think that shooting this scene under water is going to work at all!  I'm pretty sure the RED is allergic to water even if I am scuba certified."

It will also give me my first insight into how much time I need to give for each scene so that we can get the film shot in the time we have.  With about fifteen scenes, that means we need to try to get three or four of them done per day which is actually pretty low but we're working to have a very technically and visually beautiful film, so we need to take advantage of every minute we have.

Tomorrow we're having call back auditions.  Seven hours of round-robin auditions for the people we've put on our short-list.  Our goal is to see how the different actors interact with each other and find the best ensemble cast.  With such a tight-knit story, it's imperative that all of our cast members have a connection so we can make these six leads really seem like a family, even if it is a bit dysfunctional.  

We had a really difficult time selecting the twenty we've called back from the more than sixty who came to our auditions.  I (and I'm sure Tim) have a great deal of respect and admiration for all of the actors who came to our casting call last weekend.  We thank you all for your time and we sincerely wish you the best. 

Welcome to the Atwater home...

Cinnamon now has a home, literally.  Welcome to the Atwater house.

Exterior, from street.

Living room.

Teddy's bedroom.

Dining room.

What a great round of auditions!

I'm so pleased with the first round of auditions.  Thanks to all of the talent who came out and read with us!  Thanks to Catherine for scheduling the smoothest casting session I've ever been part of!  I'm looking forward to all of the actors who are coming in tomorrow.  Cheers - Tim.

Auditions Tomorrow!

I am so excited that we are having our auditions tomorrow and Saturday.  It's going to be a great chance for us to talk to a variety of actors and find the ones that will be best for our project.  If you're coming tomorrow, I very strongly suggest you leave yourself a good amount of time to get parked and into the building.  It would be great if you could all be there fifteen minutes early so we can get some paperwork done and so we can keep the scheduled auditions moving and on time.  

Just as a reminder, the large parking lot across Dean Keeton is now closed because they're putting a building there, so plan to park in one of the other lots, like the pay lot next to Mellow Mushroom, or to find on-street parking at a meter.  I think most of them stop charging at 5 or 5:30 pm, so it shouldn't be that big of a cost (if any) if you can find one.  Alternately, there are tons of bus lines running to campus or consider riding a bike or having someone drop you off.  Also, don't forget that, with ACL going on this weekend, traffic is going to be crazier than usual and many of the bus routes may be running late.

Some of you may have noticed that we now have a cinematographer/DP.  E.J. Enriquez has a ton of experience working as a DP and has a great eye for beautiful shots.  I'm sure this film will look amazing!  Check out the "Our Crew" page for his bio blurb and a link to his reel on Vimeo!

I guess that's all for now.  For all of you coming tomorrow or Saturday, I look forward to meeting you!  I'm off to bake cookies and prepare for the auditions.

See you around!

Casting Moving to Auditions!

We've had an amazing week of casting calls.  The posts that were put out on various sites got a great collection of responses and I'd like to thank everyone who sent in their headshot and resume for their response to the film.  I wish we could use you all but we don't have that big of a production.  I'm really excited to meet them all.

We're having our auditions on Friday and Saturday the 8th and 9th of October and I hope you've all scheduled your auditions because the slots are filling up fast!  We're also offering some few people a slot the following week if they're out of town this weekend.

We now are able to announce that we have a Cinematographer, EJ Enriquez.  His blurb will be appearing in the Crew section in the next few days.  Welcome aboard, EJ!

We're still working on finding a Production Designer, Costume Designer/Wardrobe Manager, and  Makeup.  Additionally we're working on nailing down our location for the shoot without too high costs although the nice places we're trying for could cost us a pretty penny for the week we'll be there.

We've decided to start our Kickstarter Project on Halloween in honor of Agnes Atwater's favorite holiday.  It will be up and running for the month of November and will close on December 1st.  We'll be posting a video about the film there and I'll post a link to the project in the blog as soon as it goes live.

I think that's all for now!  See you at auditions!