benvenuto amici

In the past few weeks I've been engaged in the production of a short film called London Calling. Where to begin? Where does any journey begin?
Pushing a shopping cart around Target. I was looking for makeup removal swabs for my wife while on the phone with the producer in NYC that optioned my screenplay Original Glory. Should we have Catherine Kellner give Ethan Hawke the screenplay, she's in Hurly Burly off-Broadway with him. As is Bobby Cannavale. Catherine and I are friends. Bobby and I drank together for a few weeks when I first moved to NY in '96. Ethan's gonna love it; but are we ready? Will he trust me, a first-time director in the long-form realm? You got to make a new short, Zach says from NY.
Ugh. A short. Fifteen thousand dollars for a ten minute movie that will never return a penny. I know, you've heard you can make a film on digital video for next to nothing. I've made a few of those, you want to see them? I'll show them to you, just don't say what most people say while they're watching them: Too bad these aren't on film.
Or you can shoot on film like my friend Nick Peterson does, one take, cut in the camera, voila! mini-masterpiece on the cheap. Nick and I work very differently. His work is great, I love it and encourage you to check it out. Where Nick's work is composed and orchestrated, I opt for organized chaos. Here's the frame, here's the blocking, here's the backstory, now let's see what's going to happen. I'll shape it a bit, but as long as the actors are being truthful and in the moment, it stays. I wrote it to be funny, it was funny in rehearsal, now we're on set and -- You're angry? Oh well, guess it's not going to be funny after all.
My rehearsal process is not about practicing the performance, but to discover the structure of the story and its relation to the actors I've cast.
I'll talk about casting next time. I need to run down to the studio for auditions for Dear Juanita.
A few weeks ago I didn't want to bother with any more shorts. Now I've got one in the can and two in pre-production.

ciao,
signore direttore