I’ve started the process of looking for a producer for “Addict“, which is what we here at Guru Productions will be tackling as soon as The Last Regret is released.
The tentative deadline for beginning full-on production of Addict is March 1st, with photography beginning in late April or early May.
I’ve spent the past hour or so pouring through BMG production music looking for tracks that are a good fit for the short.
This is fun.
Yeah.
The first, incomplete rough cut of the short weighs in at 6:21. That’s with slugs in place of the missing scenes; the actual running time will of course be different, but this gives a feel for the length.
That’s respectable. The script was eight pages, so it’s only a couple minutes off of what the expected running time would be. Honestly, I was feeling five minutes, so the fact that it’s edited into over six is surprising.
I have nieces and nephews!
Well, one of each.
Hallie,
and Keatyn.
I really hope I spelled those right. I’m terrible at spelling people’s names, sometimes.
Anyway, they are my brother’s kids, and they are adorable. I rarely get to see them; this is only the second time in two years that I’ve gotten to. They rock, though. There’s a third on the way, too!
To the nice person in West Palm Beach who I seemingly ignored phone calls from and did not ever get in touch with yesterday — I was broken down in Panama City Beach and my phone battery died. I didn’t make it back until late, and I immediately began drinking beers. My apologies. I still haven’t left for South Florida yet.
I got stuck in North Florida for an additional day. This throws off our photography schedule. Again.
Yikes stripes.
At the beginning of each new year, tradition calls on us to make a resolution.
This resolution is supposed to start our year off “right,” by allowing us to single out a part of our life or our personality that we find unacceptable, and committing ourselves to changing it.
I find the notion a bit, well, “stupid,” and I typically don’t do it.
This year, though, I’m going to give it a shot.
It seems foolish to resolve to do something very broad like “quit swearing”, or “no more candy”, or even “lose fifty pounds by the next new year.” Those are just cherry-picked from your internal laundry list of issues with yourself, and you have no additional motivation to actually follow through with any of them. I feel, if you’re going to make a New Years’ resolution, you should pick something that doesn’t die with the New Year. Something that you can continually motivate yourself to do; something that will have additional driving forces throughout the coming months, as your will wears thin.
That’s why, this year, I’m resolving to continue finishing films.
I often forget that my “filmmaking career” didn’t really begin in earnest until April of 2005, less than a year ago. So far, it’s been vastly different than anything else I’ve ever tried before: I’ve actually stuck with it. That’s monumentally difficult for me to do. Typically, I’ve given up on projects. Any projects, big or small, I haven’t ever had the drive to follow through to completion. With film, though, I always seem to follow through if I am at all capable. I can’t and won’t just give up and let it die.
This trend is something I’d like to see continue.
To do this, you need people by your side, behind and in front of you, all around you, constantly providing help and motivation. Unfortunately, if you have a history of failure or non-completion, it’s virtually impossible to rally this kind of support. I’ve already managed to pull one fairly large project from conception to completion: Selling The Faith. Now, I aim to do the same with The Last Regret.
I feel like, if I can put those two projects behind me, and have a finished product to show, that will convince people that I am serious, and that I will actually do what I say I’m going to do. Right now, it’s still a little bit like vapour. “Yeah, he says a lot, but has he ever produced results, or is he just blowing hot air?” I aim to have people reply, “He’s serious. He’ll finish. He always does.”
For me, that’s a much better resolution than “reduce stomach flab.”
I’d love to film in North Florida.
Not just because it’s cheap, but that’s a factor, of course. And not just because it’s where I’m from — that’s just a bonus. It’s just got a lot of very unique elements that aren’t known to most people.
Pensacola, in particular, has a nice little downtown area and some very picturesque land features along the coast. Florida’s Gulf Coast in general has some nice beaches, many of which aren’t visited very often, if ever.
Of course, there’s also the tax benefits (no sales tax for anything your production buys.) THAT’S ALWAYS NICE.
So, barring any unforseen difficulties, I think I want to film my next (first?) feature in Pensacola. The only problem I can imagine is crewing up — where do you find crew in Pensacola? Do you bring them with you? Do you have them come over from Mobile? Yikes!
I’ve got some very distinct pictures in my head for the various locations in this film.
This courthouse is great — not too flashy, not too little.
This pier is very large . It lends tremendous scope.
We’re going to try and get this thing cinched up on Thursday. It feels like production is dragging on forever.
Although, I must say, this break has been great. While on vacation, I haven’t thought (much) at all about the movie, which will give me a fresh perspective later this week when we start back up.