Attaching a cast... Drama Drama Drama.

So Jane and I spent an entire Sunday at the IFP Independent Film Conference last week and one of the things that pratically every panelist agreed upon was that to get your film financed nowadays you need a name attached. Any name, any role. This is frustrating to hear yet exciting at the same time. It shows a shift in the industry; that bigger-named stars are taking a closer look at Independent films - beyond the paycheck and into the meatier stuff.

This is why Mike and I have really stressed to Jane the importance of flushing out the characters in the script - making them unique and interesting and really intense roles that any actor would covet. Clever dialogue, interesting situations, a new outlook on a familiar situation.

This week was a big deadline week for us all. Initially we had wanted a business proposal to target financiers, but then we realized that the cast is the first major hurdle (in addition to the initial pitch to our private backer). So we in essence abandoned the proposal and went to work on a cast attachment packet. Outlining the visions of our director and writer, a breakdown of characters, and visual references to both the characters and the locations we envision. As producer I also gave a brief overview of finances and why we went the short film to feature film route. I think I'll post the note once I finish it - I've kind of hit writer's block! In addition to this packet we've each submitted our top 3 most-wanted actors/actresses for each of our leads. Of course the top 3 ended up turning into the top 4 or 5. We're holding a "whittling down" session tonight and will aim to really target actors who are based in NY (to avoid travel costs) and possibly those with smaller more approachable representation.

Also, as a side note, at IFP we learned about SAG's Diversity incentive. One of the leads of our film is written as Indian and several of the supporting characters are open ethnicity. It was wonderful to hear how large unions like SAG (and off-shoot SAGindie) are looking out for smaller independent productions by offering incentives for diverse casting - I think it is a plus industry-wide.

Always so much to do in a film project!

-Traci x

The Re-Write Process

I've been trying to hammer out a really solid new draft of the feature
script for the past month. After shooting the short film in August, a
little over a month ago, I felt mentally drained from the story. I
needed a break. It was a wonderful and satisfying experience to
create the short. But to immediately dive into more re-writes on
the feature was taxing. Especially because this is a film about
depression and mental illness affecting friendship. (The subject
matter of what I'm writing always seems to impress itself upon
me. I wonder if all writers feel this way.)

But about two weeks ago, I had a breakthrough. I was talking to Mike
(our director) and we came across a new idea that really took the
story in much more structured direction. We decided to have these
girls go on a hike together to visit an old landmark. On their hike,
they encounter a young couple tending their dog with a broken leg.
The girls decide to help the couple out, and in the process are
separated for a brief span of an hour. The separation, however brief,
allows them to re-evaluate and get themselves together, so to speak.
When writing this weekend, in my mind, I likened this experience
to spending a whole weekend with your significant other, and maybe
having on hour apart to run an errand or something. And you sort of
come back from the errand feeling like you got your individual
bearings again.

Anyhow, I always find the writing process to be fascinating, so
I thought I'd share mine. After Mike and I came up with this
idea, I was re-invigorated to work on this story again.

I promised Traci and Mike I'd have a draft for them last night
by 8 pm. So, I spent most of the weekend hibernating and writing
in my apartment. It felt strange at points. At one moment yesterday,
in the late afternoon, I looked at the early fall light streaming in my
apartment, and realized exactly how silent it was, and how long I'd
been working and absorbed in this world. I think those moments of
realizing how deeply you can live in your own head are incredible.
And one of the main reasons I write.

Making Short of Feature to Raise Money?

In our mission to make this feature film, we decided that it would be

best to shoot a shortened version to show at festivals and to 

producers in hopes of raising funds to shoot the feature. 

Luckily, both the director and myself work at SVA (School of Visual

Arts)- where we are able to borrow equipment as long as we paid

insurance.  So, we were able to shoot the short film on a feasible budget. 

I've been told that this works by some, and others advised against it. 

The feature film out in theaters now, Frozen River, began as a short

as did Half Nelson. So, those films and filmmakers have given me 

inspiration.

It's tough though, because our story is about friendship, depression

and how to deal with people from our past when their mental state

is precarious...To show that in a short film is incredible difficult. 

So, the elements of the story that we highlight in the short are only

hints of what we're going to take a long journey into.

That being said, I just wonder how you adapt a feature into a short 

without compromising your vision. I think we managed to create an

interesting story with an ending that makes it a short onto itself,

but also leaves the viewer sort of wanting more.