Towards a Picture Lock

Things are moving right along. I had the second screening on Monday night. I have to say I was quite nervous about it as we are so close to being finished. It's the first faint echoes of labor pains. Jamie was unfortunately not able to make it, which made the screening that much harder. She was on her way back from Detroit where her husband (also an editor on Hunting) is working on the new Harold and Kumar film, and she had all sorts of travel woes. She was sorely missed as we both benefit from feedback! But, the screening went well I got a lot of constructive criticism and positive reviews.

On Friday Jamie and I will be back in the edit room hopefully with the goal of locking picture. I was originally thinking that I wouldn't have another screening before we officially lock but now I'm thinking that we probably will. I want to make sure we've got it right! I also had a meeting with a potential composer which was very exciting and I can't wait to see what she comes up with!!!

I've got a few more festivals to submit to as well at the end of the month, so that is looming large.

In other news we are getting ready to deliver the footage to the VFX person Lisa Daly and I'll be meeting with Eric my sound designer next week hopefully. So everything is moving right along despite having no clue yet about the grant or Fantastic Festival. However, mid august will be here and hot before I know it!!!

Final Edits

Hello!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful summer and has survived the heat of the past few days with their sanity in tact. I know I had a few questionable moments. Well, after a long hiatus in which I went on Vacation my editors went on their honeymoon and I dealt with some difficult family times we are back editing. Jamie and I are working towards the final cut and I have to say that the break was inspiring and the film is looking awesome. David is off working on the new Harold and Kumar movie in Detroit so we miss him (Jamie in particular) in the edit room but he's still with us by proxy.

I am anxiously awaiting to hear from Fantastic Festival in Austin to see if the film got in. Believe me I will announce it as soon as I know. Summer seems to be speeding past me and I've just realized lately how much there is left to do. Time to buckle down and get back to work. If only I could make this brain clouding heat abate! That's the update for now. I promise more frequent posts as the days go on!

Grant Deadline Extended! Sort of...

So I had an intensely stressful week last week for personal reasons and because I was desperately trying to get my grant together before the deadline. Quentin has been an enormous help in giving me advice and feedback and helping me with the budget. Given how busy he is with his full time job it's really amazing that he's made the time. Anyway, I was all stressed out and about to curl into the fetal position from the pressure and high expectations when I made one last visit to the Women In Film Foundation (WIF) website and discovered that the deadline had been extended! WOO HOO!!! Unfortunately, because of my schedule (I'm going on vacation to Florida next week!!) it's only bought me a couple of days and not the entire 3 weeks it was extended by ... but.... I'll take what I can get. A few more days of checking over my work is perfect. I'm actually starting to feel really positive about the application finally. It feels like it's coming together as a strong proposal.

I am also extremely happy with the cut of the film that I'm submitting. Jamie, David and I had our last edit session yesterday and it was awesome. I think that the film is already just awesome and I know it's only going to get better. I am, as I'm writing, laying off a the DVDs which I"ll be sending off to the foundation. So just a few more ducks to line up and I'll be able to send off the grant application tomorrow! And then I will have a party because I will be so relieved. I will also be sending the film off to Fantastic Fest in Austin. It's a genre festival which I'm hoping will premiere my film and kick off a successful festival run. So everyone keep your fingers crossed for me (if anyone reads this blog that is)!

Grant Applications

So I've been working on this grant application for a few weeks now. It's due at the end of the month. It's a finishing fund grant through the Women in Film Foundation. It's right up my alley as it's geared towards woman in leadership roles in the film industry. This has been a great learning experience as I have never applied for a grant before. It's extremely nerve wrecking. It doesn't seem to matter how much research I do or how many grant books I read. I still feel unprepared. I'm sure part of it is insecurity because my track record with applying for prestigious things in the film world isn't great. However, this time I'm determined. Besides I have no other choice since I have run out of money for post production. Anyone have a rich relative who feels like helping me make a movie?

Anywy, thankfully Quentin has been very help as has the Foundation Center here in NYC which I have found to be an invaluable resource on grant writing. On the flip side of the coin the Edit is going really well. Jamie and David are always coming up with creative solutions to editing problems and the film is starting to just hum right along. Molly will be coming in on Sunday when we meet next to do a little Additional Dialogue recording and then we will be almost entirely set for our Rough cut which will go out with the grant application and to a few festivals.

Fingers crossed!

Editing

So I just had my first official editing day yesterday. This of course means that I am back in the creative process. I can't believe how much a founder when I don't have a creative outlet. I just couldn't tell you what I've been doing the last two weeks since the shoot. However, I could give you all the boring details about the edits I've been making.

Basically everything is going well and the footage looks awesome. I am editing it myself right now, but hopefully very soon I will have the help of two very talented editors.

Ok back to work.

Finished Shooting

Well I have been relatively negligent here. I finished shooting! Last Tuesday the 16th we wrapped about about 11:30pm! It was a crazy 5 days of shooting. It felt like running a marathon everyday and I was almost completely obliterated on wednesday. I wandered aimlessly about my house my brain mush my muscles sore and unsure what to do with myself. In fact I didn't really start to come back to myself until Saturday.

Right after shooting there was a lot of wrapping up to do and now there is a lot of loose ends to be tied. First and foremost I"m dying to get my footage back! I have yet to see any dailies which means I have no evidence of all the amazing work my crew and I did to get this film made. I do however have some awesome pictures from on set taken by the fabulous Julie Fiasconaro our scripty!

I don't know what to say about the shoot except that it was amazing and from Day 1 I knew that it was exactly what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. The journey certainly isn't over but a huge mountain has been climbed. I will keep posting on this blog as I progress along in post production so that you all can know exactly where I am.

Right now I'm working on getting an editor for the film. I have a few people in mind and I'll let you know when someone is confirmed. And of course I'm sure that as soon as I get dailies I"ll be back here gushing about the foootage.
xo

1st Day of Shooting

Went really well. We got all the creepy hallway shots and the celebratory bar shots! We still owe the realty agency but that's ok it's a quick shot we can pick up later. Everything looks so amazing! The Red and Shawn are making it magic.