So, a couple of days later, I'm still trying to recover from the 48 Hour Film Project. It was a tough year, with only a few hours sleep between Friday morning and 2 AM Sunday night. I’ll write a longer blog with details as soon as I can find the time. Here are pics from the weekend, including our ill-fated journey into the park.
In the meantime, the end of the race concluded with thinking we had technical problems with our DVD submission and almost not submitting it on time because of this. Peter Fox, the organizer, insisted I turn in whatever we had and turn in a “late” entry later that night just in case. Dave very kindly let me utilize all his technology at his office, helped me get a good DVD burned and I dropped that off at midnight as a “late” entry. Long story short, the first DVD appears to be fine so we made the deadline and qualify for awards.
I screened both the “48 Hour” cut (just about 7 minutes) and the director’s cut (around 9 minutes) last night for select folks at the Ark and the overall response was very good to both of them. I think this is probably the best of the three 48 Hour films I’ve shot, if not the best thing I’ve shot. The beauty of working with professionals, both as writers and as cast/crew, is that things just get done. No one bitches and moans, egos are checked at the door, the cast does their homework, and we can get everything done in a timely manner. We really shot only about 5 ½ hours after all the chaos of losing our location. The actors jumped right in to the rewrite and got the very delicate tone of the piece. Think Tarrantino meets Soderbergh. Could have easily slipped into over-done but they found the perfect balance of zany but grounded.
Beth, as always, was a shot or two ahead so I didn’t have to think about much. She has to sign a contract in blood with me to not move back to Alaska and to never work for anyone else when I need her. I cannot wait to do “The Wraith” with her.
And my writing team was exquisite. Dave and Monica are possibly two of the most clever people I have ever worked with. The dynamic and the respect amongst us allowed us to disagree on points of view and yet continue to work productively. I LOVE this script. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT. And, consequently, I LOVE this film. “The Change-Up” is what it’s called, by the way.
The official screening is this Saturday, June 30 at 6:30 PM. If you want to join us, please go to www.48hourfilm.com/la to buy tickets online. Buy ‘em quick, they will sell out.
What this weekend did do for me is make me once again realize that there is no Plan B. I will never be a program director for Mission: Renaissance, as much as I love the job and the work. I am not even going to begin the training for that because I don’t want to waste their time or mine. I am a director. I am “weirdly driven”, as Dave described me nearing midnight on Sunday as we tried to finish the DVD. This is what I want to do, this is what I’m destined to do, and that’s all there is. I am so grateful to be reminded of this often so I don’t get distracted.
Whew. So, I take a breath and tonight start rehearsal for a new play I’m directing. I should have taken a few days off but, oh, well.
Here we go!
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