Feature Film update #3

"What's going on?" is the question on everybody's minds it seems. Well, not a whole lot as it turns out.

The major stumbling block right now is casting. I'm used to putting out an open casting call in L.A. (that's Los Angeles) and receiving about 1,000 submissions PER character.

So far, after about 6 weeks of casting calls in LA (that's Louisiana) I've received a whopping total of about 2 dozen submissions. Total. That's it...

So..."what now?" Exactly. Do I bring in key cast members from L.A., do I shoot in L.A.? Based on the photos posted below, no, I don't want to shoot in L.A. I want to put my film in Louisiana.

So now I've put out a call for casting directors and/or casting asst's in Louisiana. Importing Los Angeles actors into Louisiana sounds expensive to me. It would give me the luxury of rehearsals though.

Okay, for all you gear heads. I'm still testing Super 8 cameras. I just got my Nizo 481 back from a clean, lube, adjust at Spectra in N. Hollywood and ran a roll of tri-x through it. Man this camera is quiet! And compact. A real marvel of German engineering. I'm looking forward to seeing the results. I played with the time lapse feature a little as well as frame rates and shutter angles.

I shipped off a Beaulieu 7008 Pro8mm camera to Bjorn Andersson in Sweden. I think he's the last factory trained service repair man in the world. I believe he bought the inventory of Beaulieu parts in Sweden before they closed shop. So if you've got a Beaulieu, he's the guy to send it to. The camera came with the difficult to find Canon FD to C adapter. Now I can mount all my canon primes on this camera or the 16mm camera I picked up.

I shipped a Beaulieu R16 automatic off to Bernie O'Derhty @ Super16, Inc. He's in the middle of a move so it may take a little while to get that one back. This camera has some interesting geography connected to it. I bought it on ebay from a guy in Oregon selling it for the owner who used it in Honduras. It's a French camera that I shipped to Maine for repairs and the parts I bought came from Israel. It's like that traveling gnome commercial-

I'm still seriously considering the Panasonic HVX200. Everything I see online is beautiful. I need to get my hands on it. A friend at work asked me to shoot a short for him, if it pans out we'll borrow an HVX from one of the camera op's in our news dept.

What else, the edit system is due for an update before or soon after production. I'd like to update to a hi-def system which means more $$ out the window.

I rented another room in my apt. and turned it into an edit bay which has been a great convenience. The writing has gone well, the reading is going very well. Breaking down the script has been a boost to my confidence. I just really need a cast. So if you can help, leave me a message.