Just three short weeks after wrapping principal photography I completed a rough cut of the film which came in at 2 hours and 5 minutes without closing credits.
This week and part of next I will be dropping in the sound that was recorded on location. I will also be editing what is called a second cut with a goal of shorting the running time of the film to 1 hour and 55 minutes.
I should have second cut completed by August 17th. This will give me 2 weeks to complete the final and locked cut of the film which I am hoping will have a final running time of 1 hour and 40 minutes with credits. After I have locked the cut of the film, our post sound editor will begin working on mixing and editing the sound (dialogue/music/sound fx). This process will take roughly 2-3 months. In addition to this, during this time I will have the film color corrected, the titles completed and any visual FX that need to be done.
Our goal all along has been to premiere the film at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2012 and in order to have a chance at doing this I must have a cut of the film with a proper sound mix completed by September 28th (the submission deadline).
More to come...
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Access Hollywood Interview
Check out this Access Hollywood interview on our leading lady Janina Gavankar:
Here is a little sneak peak and my favorite part of course when they mention Satellite of Love.
"While she hasn’t felt a big shift in her popularity just yet, the day after “True Blood’s” Season 4 premiere, the actress admitted she boarded a flight out of town for an indie film she is currently working on (“Satellite of Love”) and overheard the passengers discussing the show’s return, something that made an impact."
Thank you Access Hollywood Interview! We love Janina Gavankar too.
Satellite of Love
Here is a little sneak peak and my favorite part of course when they mention Satellite of Love.
"While she hasn’t felt a big shift in her popularity just yet, the day after “True Blood’s” Season 4 premiere, the actress admitted she boarded a flight out of town for an indie film she is currently working on (“Satellite of Love”) and overheard the passengers discussing the show’s return, something that made an impact."
Thank you Access Hollywood Interview! We love Janina Gavankar too.
Satellite of Love
www.accesshollywood.com
He’s been abandoned, pushed around, beaten up and had his heart trampled on, but this season love is finally on the way for “True Blood’s” bar owner Sam Merlotte in the form of brunette beauty Janina Gavankar. But th View celehttp://www.accesshollywood.com/rising-star-true-bloods-new-shapeshifter-janina-gavankar_article_50125
Fashion Miracle
Wow, what an incredible experience! This was my first try at costume design and I have to say, I have found a new passion. Coming from an editorial background this is a very different way of developing outfits and of styling in general. I was able to combine my love for high fashion with my commitment to helping real people look and feel great in their everyday wardrobe. Alex, our wonderful make up artist, Janina, Shannon and I continually found ourselves floored by the constant 'fashion miracle' as we called it that was happening before us. For instance completing all of the actors' over 40 changes the entire duration of shooting on a budget that was almost unheard of. Total fashion miracle :) And, with the help of my wonderful assistant Anna Demare, I was able to edit myself choosing key pieces that set the characters apart from one another and gave the movie what I hope will be a uniquely characteristic style.
Dressing these beautiful actors for this film we dealt with real body issues, personal style preferences as well as the challenge of creating something artistic all at once. I truly faced practicing what I preach as far as self-love and creating confidence around your style.
One particular fashion miracle that stood out was
I was able to mesh my experience in both areas of fashion to create these characters from the ground up. Well, not really from the ground at all really. Jonathan and Will wrote an incredible script stocked full of style and detailed character traits. Not to mention the wonderful canvases that the actors Janina Gavankar, Shannon Lucio, Nathan Phillips and Zachary Knighton were. They were each so inspiring and had such perfect instincts about who their characters were, I could not have done it without their help.
This film was truly a labor of love for everyone involved and I am so confident that it will be an incredibly beautiful and moving film. I am proud to have been a part of it. It truly was a fashion miracle.
~Allann Campbell, Costume Design-Satellite of Love
www.allanncampbell.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Allann-Campbell-Wardrobe-Design/109218559172326
https://twitter.com/#!/AllannCampbell/followers
Dressing these beautiful actors for this film we dealt with real body issues, personal style preferences as well as the challenge of creating something artistic all at once. I truly faced practicing what I preach as far as self-love and creating confidence around your style.
One particular fashion miracle that stood out was
I was able to mesh my experience in both areas of fashion to create these characters from the ground up. Well, not really from the ground at all really. Jonathan and Will wrote an incredible script stocked full of style and detailed character traits. Not to mention the wonderful canvases that the actors Janina Gavankar, Shannon Lucio, Nathan Phillips and Zachary Knighton were. They were each so inspiring and had such perfect instincts about who their characters were, I could not have done it without their help.
This film was truly a labor of love for everyone involved and I am so confident that it will be an incredibly beautiful and moving film. I am proud to have been a part of it. It truly was a fashion miracle.
~Allann Campbell, Costume Design-Satellite of Love
www.allanncampbell.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Allann-Campbell-Wardrobe-Design/109218559172326
https://twitter.com/#!/AllannCampbell/followers
Saturday, July 16, 2011
That's a Wrap!!
After 3 weeks of production we wrapped at about 4am Friday morning. Over the next couple days we will be be wrapping the shoot (eg. returning equipment rentals, wardrobe and props and trying to track down security deposits). On Monday I will begin hiring 2 assistant editors and reviewing the footage. My goal is to have an assembly cut within a couple weeks. From there my goal is to have a rough cut of the film by August 31. The Sundance submission deadline is September 26th and in order to have a shot at making that deadline I need to get a cut of the film banged out pretty quickly.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Principle Photography
With only a day and a half of principle photography left I am eager to start reviewing the footage and mapping out post-production. It has been a tough shoot as we've been forced to rearrange our schedule several times, but we've been getting a lot of great stuff. The performances by Nathan Phillips, Shannon Lucio, Zach Knighton, Janina Gavankar, Patrick Bauchau, Turk Pipkin, and Chad Mathews have far exceeded my expectations and made my job as director effortless. Literally. Every take has been EXACTLY spot on. The actors are the characters and it has been magical to watch. Steve Acevedo and his camera crew have photographed every scene beautifully and I can't wait until the film is ready to screen. Our crew, at every position, has worked tirelessly in the hot sun and if they don't care about making a great movie they're faking it nicely. Within the next week I'll be uploading screen grabs from the actual footage. More to come...
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Pictures of the Reuter House
This is where we will be shooting all of our interiors for the Villa. It is located in Travis Heights.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wrapping up Locations & Casting
Today I meet with one of the producers, Bobby, to make sure we have all of the locations locked down. So far I know we will be shooting all of the interior and exterior Villa/Vineyard locations at The Duchman Vineyard, Tuscan Hall, and The Reuter House. For Blake's restaurant we will be using Justine's located in East Austin. We be shooting in New Braunfels at the Comal Spring and in Luling at the Watermelon Thump Festival. For some of the bar/hotel scenes that open the movie I am sure we will be in downtown Austin but I am not sure where yet. The big question mark right now is a wine cellar. We need something here in Austin that looks like a personal wine cellar.... the owner of the vineyard's personal stash. Every place we have looked at does not fit what I want.
I will be in LA for casting at the beginning of May. There are 4 leads and 4 supporting. So far we have one supporting role cast. Patrick Bauchau will be playing Alexander, the worldly and magnetizing bachelor who owns the vineyard. I have 3 actors in mind for other roles but we have yet to iron out contracts. We will most likely just be casting for the roles of Blake, Michelle and Catherine (the 3 leads)... we have an actor lined up for Samuel (the main character) but he wants to meet me in person before committing. I will say this about him, he is a talented, young and up-and-coming actor with a lot of experience as a lead in several major feature films. We will also be holding closed auditions here in Austin. Possibly before I go to LA. It has been difficult to get to this point as we had over 5000 submissions and I have narrowed the field to about 20 actors for the role of Blake, 10 actresses for Catherine and 10 for Michelle.
I will be in LA for casting at the beginning of May. There are 4 leads and 4 supporting. So far we have one supporting role cast. Patrick Bauchau will be playing Alexander, the worldly and magnetizing bachelor who owns the vineyard. I have 3 actors in mind for other roles but we have yet to iron out contracts. We will most likely just be casting for the roles of Blake, Michelle and Catherine (the 3 leads)... we have an actor lined up for Samuel (the main character) but he wants to meet me in person before committing. I will say this about him, he is a talented, young and up-and-coming actor with a lot of experience as a lead in several major feature films. We will also be holding closed auditions here in Austin. Possibly before I go to LA. It has been difficult to get to this point as we had over 5000 submissions and I have narrowed the field to about 20 actors for the role of Blake, 10 actresses for Catherine and 10 for Michelle.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
BABY ON BOARD
Our DP is expecting a new edition to the family soon so we have pushed the shoot to June. This will give Reuben's family some extra time before traveling to Texas for a month.
Locations are just about wrapped up and I am very happy the majority of production will take place in Austin. I think the furthest we'll travel is to New Braunfels.
We have also extended the shoot from 2 to 3 weeks. The more I thought about a 2 week shoot, the more I realized the limited number of days would require more hours resulting in burned out actors and a burned out crew. I don't want to run the production into the ground and I think the added days will give us some time to be more creative instead of just blow through a shot list.
We started the process of casting this past week. The response was a little overwhelming. 5000+ submissions in a couple days. My goal is to hold an audition here in Austin in the next couple weeks and another audition in LA, mid April. I would like to have the film completely cast by the the first week of May so I have at least 1 month to work with the actors.
More to come
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
The Pier
The opening scene of the film takes place on the Santa Monica Pier. Jonathan and I (along with Mike Lutz) lived on 3rd and Ocean Park
And it should be noted that JC, Mike and I had three things in common. We were broke. We knew everything. And now armed with a college degree, world domination was only a few years away.
For the first time there was nothing but clear, unwritten future ahead of us. No professors, no coaches, no parents, no girlfriends… nothing. Looking back on that time in my life I realize how naive I was about a lot of things. But one thing I did get right was to dream big. Short story long, there were many crazy nights we found ourselves down at the pier. If you have spent any time inSanta Monica
The problem with this idea… to legally shoot on the pier, with insurance and the whole nine, it would require a lot of things and all those things cost money. More money than is budgeted for the entire film. So I have been working on alternative scenes but nothing seems to work. I mean the pier is it. There is nothing else.
Last night... I came to terms with the only option. Stealing shots. I have been stealing shots or shooting at locatons without prior consent or permits for the past 10 years as an indie filmmaker. There are very few films, indie and studio alike, that do not practice this. I have no problem doing it. I was hesitant because when you steal shots at a location like the pier you cannot record sound. This would mean we would need to do a voice over for the pier scene. I am not a fan of VO, especially when it is used to solve a problem. I do however like the idea of hearing the main character, Samuel’s thoughts over the scene. This opening scene is a flashback. This moment in time will initiate Sam’s quest. So a stream of consciousness might work well.
My whole point in writing this was because late, late last night after coming up with this idea I decided to dig through old notebooks for inspiration. I came across a poem I wrote just after meeting my wife. I am not sure it works for the scene but it does sum up the feelings between the two main characters… in four lines no less.
Secretly she cries
She burns like the sun
Make no mistake
I cannot look away
And it should be noted that JC, Mike and I had three things in common. We were broke. We knew everything. And now armed with a college degree, world domination was only a few years away.
For the first time there was nothing but clear, unwritten future ahead of us. No professors, no coaches, no parents, no girlfriends… nothing. Looking back on that time in my life I realize how naive I was about a lot of things. But one thing I did get right was to dream big. Short story long, there were many crazy nights we found ourselves down at the pier. If you have spent any time in
The problem with this idea… to legally shoot on the pier, with insurance and the whole nine, it would require a lot of things and all those things cost money. More money than is budgeted for the entire film. So I have been working on alternative scenes but nothing seems to work. I mean the pier is it. There is nothing else.
Last night... I came to terms with the only option. Stealing shots. I have been stealing shots or shooting at locatons without prior consent or permits for the past 10 years as an indie filmmaker. There are very few films, indie and studio alike, that do not practice this. I have no problem doing it. I was hesitant because when you steal shots at a location like the pier you cannot record sound. This would mean we would need to do a voice over for the pier scene. I am not a fan of VO, especially when it is used to solve a problem. I do however like the idea of hearing the main character, Samuel’s thoughts over the scene. This opening scene is a flashback. This moment in time will initiate Sam’s quest. So a stream of consciousness might work well.
My whole point in writing this was because late, late last night after coming up with this idea I decided to dig through old notebooks for inspiration. I came across a poem I wrote just after meeting my wife. I am not sure it works for the scene but it does sum up the feelings between the two main characters… in four lines no less.
Secretly she cries
She burns like the sun
Make no mistake
I cannot look away
ps. Do yourself a favor and check out Angus and Julia Stone
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Crewing Up
I have decided to go with two producers.
Bobby McDonald showed up to our first meeting with a locations breakdown and notes, prepared like he was already producing the film. Bobby will be working with Scott Honea. Scott just returned from Park City , Utah
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Producer Hunt
Over the past few weeks I have been meeting with local producers trying to find someone to pair up with for the duration of preproduction, production, and post-production. Taking a film from concept through completion is a long and difficult task. The process is stressful and I want to make sure I choose someone I can depend on. A producer that gets the script and understands our goals. I have met with many talented and more than capable candidates and think part of the problem with making a decision is I like many of the people I've met with. I decided earlier in the week that I was done meeting with people. Now I am sitting and reviewing my notes from the dozen or so meetings. Wish me luck.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Location x 20
I completed a locations breakdown today to use as a guide during pre-production while I am producer-less. It looks like we are going to need 20 different locations which will make a 2 week shoot difficult. I will need to cut that number down or at least find multiple uses for a single location. It's funny, when Jonathan and I were writing this it felt like we'd limited ourselves much more. We based the entire story around a single location, at least that's what we thought.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wine Country
I spent the weekend in the Texas hill country, more specifically the Hwy 290 corridor doing a little location scouting and drinking a lot of really good wine. We visited some beautiful wineries and I am pretty sure I found our vineyard location. A few of the places that we stopped at were Rancho Ponte, Grape Creek Vineyards, Becker Vineyards, William Chris Vineyards, Fredericksburg Winery, and Driftwood Vineyards. Pictures will be posted shortly.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Beginning
Everything must start somehow and here I am. I guess in all honesty, this journey began a year ago when I started writing this original screenplay with one of my best friend's Jonathan Case. I am now in the process of what I like to call, pre-pre-prodution. I am trying to put the pieces together that will aid me in getting this film created. We have a long ways to go but like I said, you have to start somewhere. More to come...
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