Reminder: DC Shorts This Weekend

Just wanted to remind everyone that the DC Shorts Film Festival opens this Thursday, with a gala opening night party on the rooftop terrace at Carroll Square (open to anyone with an opening night ticket). And “All Roads Lead Away” is screening as part of Showcase 3 — be sure to pick up your tickets before they sell out. And don’t forget to tell all your friends and neighbors; let’s generate some prescreening buzz! (Drawing attention to our MySpace page and our Facebook group would be a good start.)

Remember, our screenings are:

• Friday, September 12, 7:00 p.m. (with Q&A afterward — this one I’ll definitely be attending)
  
• Saturday, September 13, 3:00 p.m.
  
• Sunday, September 14, 9:30 p.m.
  
• Tuesday, September 16, 4:30 p.m.
  

And then we can all celebrate at the closing night party at Bar Louie on Saturday night! Hope to see you all there!

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P.S.: On a side note, I’m just about finished with the first full cut of “Number One With a Bullet” (except for some pickup/establishing shots we still need to get in there). From here, we’ll be showing it to a select group of people to gauge reactions, and then polishing the edit and diving into cleanup, scoring, etc. If you’d like to be an early viewer, drop me a line (no promises — offhand, I’d say this is limited to cast and crew — but I’d just as soon have people who want to offer critiques).

P.P.S.: If you’re not going to be in the DC area this weekend, I suppose we’ll be missing you this time around. But if, on the other hand, you find yourself in New York, be sure to catch the first public screening of the pilot for “Saving Corporate America” at the New York Television Festival. Produced by our friends over at Integral Arts for Fox Television Studios, the screening — at the New World Stages — is free (though space is limited), and will be followed by a Q&A from creators Barry Gribble and Kevin Good (as well as Fox exec Caitlin Foito). Click here for details. (After all they’ve done for us lately, the least we can do is give ’em a little plug. Though for the record, I have seen and loved the pilot, so it’s not an empty endorsement.)

Summer Progress Report

Okay, so summer slowed things down a bit. But I did want to give everyone a quick progress report, and to let you all know that tickets to the DC Shorts screenings are now on sale!

Editing on “Number One With a Bullet” is proceeding fairly well; we’re about two-thirds of the way toward a true “first cut” of the film. In truly nonsensical fashion, I’ve been working my way in from both ends — so right now, we’ve got scenes 1 through 9 cut together, and scenes 28 through 32, but nothing in the middle (other than a rough stringout). We’ll still have loads of work to do in terms of audio leveling, color correction, effects finalizing, scoring, etc., but once we get that middle portion finished, we’ll have something that we can show to people. Cast and crew get first dibs, of course, but after that, I’ll be sure to let people here know.

Individual screening tickets have gone on sale for the DC Shorts Film Festival. Generally speaking, you can just go to the DC Shorts website, then click on the “Films” tab to find either a particular film or browse through the schedule; then you’ll be able to buy tickets to a particular screening. A reminder that “All Roads Lead Away” is screening as part of “Showcase 3,” and we’ve got four screenings throughout the festival (you can direct-link to our screening schedule here). The first screening will also feature a filmmakers’ Q&A afterward — definitely the preferred option.

For the record, our screenings are:

• Friday, September 12, 7:00 p.m. (with Q&A afterward)
  
• Saturday, September 13, 3:00 p.m.
  
• Sunday, September 14, 9:30 p.m.
  
• Tuesday, September 16, 4:30 p.m.

It’s also worth noting that thanks to the DC Shorts screening, “All Roads Lead Away” now qualifies for inclusion in the Internet Movie Database (joining our earlier entries “Quite Contrary” and “Machinations”). You can find the dedicated page for “All Roads Lead Away” here — go give it a visit, add your ratings and comments, etc. (Do note that last I checked, they were still adding some of the information, so there might be some gaps in the crew listing; if you notice anything missing, let me know and I’ll investigate further.)

And I’ll also put in a reminder to visit our MySpace page and our Facebook group; we’ll be posting occasional updates and information there as well (though we’re not abandoning the email list just yet).

That’s all for now — hope to see you all at DC Shorts in September!

DC Shorts 2008

We just got word that “All Roads Lead Away” has been accepted into the 2008 DC Shorts Film Festival. As one of the premier short-film festivals in the country (they received more than 630 films and screenplays for consideration this year), this is a great honor. And on top of that, it’s a great festival experience to boot (both for viewers and filmmakers)!

I just took a quick glance at the official selections list, and with the exception of “The Bad News Bearer” (winner of this year’s 48 Hour Film Project for DC) and “Attack of the Hot Female Alien Man-Eaters” (starring Tohubohu vets Joy Haynes and Kevin Good, and directed by my occasional Integral Arts co-crewmember Janine Sides), there didn’t seem to be many I was familiar with (though I could easily have missed something). But there’s definitely a lot of variety there, and if past years’ festivals are any indication, there’ll be a lot of great films to see. We’ll be screening in high definition (we submitted the film into the HD Short Film competition), so if you missed seeing it in HD before (our premiere was just in standard definition), this’ll be another great opportunity to see it in all its HD, big-screen glory.

The festival runs from September 11th through the 18th of this year (the main events being from the 11th through the 14th, with additional screenings through the 18th), and there will be film screenings, screenplay readings, and meet-and-greet parties. We’ll know more as the date approaches, but I wanted to get this little tidbit of information out as soon as possible. Hope to see you there!

“Best Of” Wrapup and a Special Request

Well, last night was the “Best of the 48 Hour Film Project” screening, and I have to say it was a blast. Seeing “All Roads Lead Away” up on the big screen in high definition was an awe-inspiring experience. Once again, we were shut out of the major awards, but regardless, I’m immensely proud of our movie and extremely grateful for all of the hard work everyone put into making it.

I’m sure they’ll post the award-winners on the official site soon, but I thought I’d go ahead and let you all know directly. They should all be viewable on 48.tv sometime in the not-too-distant future, but I’ll post links to the ones that are already viewable online (as near as I can tell, anyway).

• Audience Favorite, Group A: “The End” (Flat Feet Films)
  
• Audience Favorite, Group B: “The Bad News Bearer” (Sprezzatura)
  
• Audience Favorite, Group C: “Fairy Bust” (3mm Films)
  
• Audience Favorite, Group D: “Skip to the End” (JSC Productions)
  
• Audience Favorite, Group E: “I’ll See You in Hell” (Everyday Astronaut)
  
• Audience Favorite, Group F: “Get Closer” (Dead City Films)
  
• Audience Favorite, Group G: “iLoveU2” (WIT Films)
  
• Audience Favorite, Group H: “Mementos” (Integral Arts)
  
• Best Use of Character: “The End of the Rainbow” (Musky Adventures)
  
• Best Use of Prop: “Spy, Gina, Spy!” (The Quest)
  
• Best Use of Line: “The Loins of America” (Has Been Productions)
  
• Best Sound Design: “I’ll See You in Hell” (Everyday Astronaut)
  
• Best Graphics: “The Mark” (oops! Productions)
  
• Best Editing: “May Day” (Oozing Sarcasm)
  
• Best Acting: “Mementos” (Integral Arts)
  
• Best Directing: “The Mark” (oops! Productions)
  
• Best Script: “The Bad News Bearer” (Sprezzatura)
  
• Best Cinematography (tie): “American Revolution” (Roanoke) and “Get Closer” (Dead City Films)
  
• Second Runner-Up, Best Picture: “The Mark” (oops! Productions)
  
• First Runner-Up, Best Picture: “I’ll See You in Hell” (Everyday Astronaut)
  
• Best Picture: “The Bad News Bearer” (Sprezzatura)
  

Now for a request: As many of you are aware, we had to cut a lot of material (more than two minutes’ worth) from “All Roads Lead Away” in order to keep our running time under the seven-minute limit. And while normally I’m a big fan of that forced editing — it almost always makes for a tighter, better-paced film — in this case I fear we may have trimmed a bit too much. With that in mind, I’ve posted both the original 48 Hour Film Project cut and a somewhat longer cut that reincorporates some (but not all) of the lost material on the official site.

And I figured what better “test audience” to provide honest feedback than this group?

So if you get a chance, take a look at both versions with a critical eye. Do the new and extended scenes add to your understanding and appreciation of the story, or do they drag the pacing down? Do they add genuine character moments or are they mere directorial self-indulgence? Consider this a “director’s-cut-in-progress,” and one in which your reactions may have an impact.

For our final “archival” cut (i.e., the version we’ll be submitting to festivals) we may go with the full extended edit. Or we may keep to the original shorter cut. Or something in between. So go ahead and let your opinion be heard — at the very least you’ll be getting a glimpse into the filmmaking process.

Best of the 48 Hour Film Project

Straight from the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner (where several 48 Hour Film Project films — including “The Kumbio Takedown” — screened this week) comes word about the upcoming “Best of the DC 48 Hour Film Project” showcase.

And “All Roads Lead Away” is in, one of 24 films selected for the honor. As was the case last year, there will be a separate slate of films shown across the two screenings (one at 7:00 and another at 9:30), and our film will be part of the second (i.e., we’ll be at 9:30); all shows will be on Thursday, May 29th, again at the AFI Silver Theater.

Furthermore, we’ll be screening in high definition; we’ve been working with the 48 Hour production team to get them our full-HD files (rather than the standard-definition version that was shown at the premiere screening). If you’re at all able to make it, this is going to be worth seeing. In fact, tickets are available (or, as of this writing, soon will be) for both shows, and there are some strong offerings in both screenings (judging by what I’ve seen so far). And after the second screening, there'll be a wrap party at McGinty’s Pub — so do plan on sticking around!

Congratulations to everyone who pitched in on this little picture. I’m so proud of the efforts you all put in, and I hope to see you next Thursday!

P.S.: Here is the full screening lineup — unlike last year, there are no duplicates this time around. (My understanding is that the judges’ final decisions are not yet locked down, meaning there’s no way to pick the “front-runners.”) And I’m just listing these in alphabetical order by team name; we don’t know the screening order yet.

Screening 1 — 7:00 p.m.

• Actors With Strings: “The Chair” (Historical Fiction)
  
• Butch’s All-Stars: “Commitment”
  
• Dead City Films: “Get Closer” (Spy)
  
• Double Deuce Films: “The Hauntening, Part 3”
  
• Flik Productions: “Road to Greenwood”
  
• Flat Feet Films: “The End” (Fantasy)
  
• Habitual Offenders: “Recalculating”
  
• The Quest: “Spy, Gina, Spy!”
  
• Roadside Productions: “Sales of a Deathman” (Road Movie)
  
• Roanoke: “American Revolution” (Historical Fiction)
  
• 3mm Films: “Fairy Bust” (Fantasy) (behind-the-scenes video)
  
• WIT Films: “iLoveU2” (Sci Fi)
  

Screening 2 — 9:30 p.m.

• Elbow Productions: “al-Kinda”
  
• Everyday Astronaut: “I’ll See You in Hell” (Comedy)
  
• Faisonfilm Productions: “The Invisible Werewolf” (Comedy)
  
• Integral Arts: “Mementos” (Drama)
  
• JSC Productions: “Skip to the End” (Road Movie)
  
• Musky Adventures: “The End of the Rainbow”
  
• oops! Productions: “The Mark”
  
• Oozing Sarcasm: “May Day” (Holiday Film)
  
• Revolver Films: “Dick and the Vault” (Historical Fiction)
  
• River Run Films: “The Dinner Party”
  
• Sprezzatura: “The Bad News Bearer” (Comedy)
  
• Tohubohu: “All Roads Lead Away” (Road Movie)
  

Grab Some Popcorn

Just thought I’d send out a quick little notice to let you newsblog readers know that our latest short, “All Roads Lead Away,” is now available for viewing.

The audience reception at Friday night’s premiere was phenomenal, and really gives me hope that we’ll make the “Best of the 48 Hour Film Project” screening on May 29th. (And we’ve already submitted the film for consideration to the DC Shorts film festival. No guarantee that it’ll get in, of course — they receive hundreds of submissions each year — but I’ve got a good feeling about it.)

So sit back, grab a tub of popcorn (or maybe just a bag — it’s not all that long a film), and give it a viewing. And if you like it, don’t forget to let us know (and spread the word)!

48 Recap

Hard to believe this is our fifth year participating in the 48 Hour Film Project (and our sixth film — what were we thinking doing two films at once in only our second year?). And every time I’m reminded that this really is film school; as far as I’m concerned, we’d better take advantage of that and try something new each time.

So if our big “add-on” last year was bringing in a professional author to write our script (well, and pushing the envelope with noir-styled lighting — no small feat given our meager lighting kit), then this year had a few new elements. We brought in another professional author (Barry Lyga), worked with two great SAG actors (Joe Hansard and Jennifer Massey) as our leads, shot in HDV, and even managed to use a homemade car mount for our “road movie.”

With a lot of our regular troupe (both in front of and behind the camera) unavailable this time around, we’d be a little leaner than usual. But there’s something to be said for keeping things small — and coming right off of “Number One With a Bullet,” we’d honed our workflow pretty well. Of course, the time we’d spent on the earlier shoot also meant we hadn’t prepared as much as usual, so we’d be winging things a bit.

So, about the weekend. After the kickoff event, I spent the drive home brainstorming with Barry (and some really wild ideas got tossed around at that stage), so that by the time I’d arrived at our “base of operations,” we already had a good handle on the story, and Pam and I could begin working out casting and logistics (including borrowing a neighbor’s beat-up old car — as Pam says, the “third star” of our movie). It was still a late night, but we were in great shape to start shooting first thing Saturday morning.

Saturday was (as usual) a loooong day, but we managed to remain pretty flexible. We did have to switch the timing for one location (which meant we lost an actress for that scene and had to recast at the last minute), but we still managed to finish everything by around midnight. And we got some really great performances — and shots — in the process. Then it was time to get the overnight editor (Jacob Cremer, back in town for the weekend) set up and grab a couple of hours’ rest before the big scramble on Sunday.

We did run into a few snags at that point. We weren’t able to get in touch with the artist whose music we’d originally wanted to use (he was out of town without phone or email access), so that was out. (Fortunately, the 48 Hour Film Project organizers had worked out a music licensing deal that gave us a few options.) Jacob wasn’t able to get as far as I’d hoped (we had a lot of material there), which meant I still had to string out a lot of footage before I could start polishing anything. And our initial cut — once we reached that stage — came in at more than nine minutes. The upper limit being seven. Whoops.

So as unfortunately happens at that stage, you make tradeoffs. And in our case, that meant sacrificing color and audio correction for really taking the time to look at the piece and make intelligent cuts. So while it may not be as technically polished as I’d like, it’s a lot more creatively rewarding. And that “second choice” music really ended up complementing the story perfectly.

And most importantly, we got it finished. (Just one copy, though — no time for a backup.)

Oh, and the title? “All Roads Lead Away.”

Will there be a “director’s cut”? Probably — but that’ll mostly be just to correct those technical issues. The old mantra about editing holds true — the forced necessity of cutting it down really does improve the flow of the story. So while I may add a couple of shots (and maybe one scene) back in, it certainly won’t be going back up to that nine-minute version.

Now I can’t wait to see it up on the big screen; it promises to be a great capper to the whole experience. (And for the record, I’ve also gotten a sneak peek at the Integral Arts entry — so I can say that attendees at tonight’s 9:30 screening will not be disappointed. Do you have your tickets yet?)

Hope to see you all there!

“All Roads Lead Away”

I’m still tired from the 48 Hour Film Project, and I wasn’t even that involved in yesterday’s work. The experience of making a film in two days is so intense that it takes a lot out of you. Our script by Barry Lyga was ambitious, and our filming went from our Saturday 8:30 a.m. call time until almost midnight. It was a very long day for the crew and our two lead actors, who really carried the piece. Well, three lead actors if you include the beat-up car which we considered the third star of the movie.

Barry gave us an amazing script, dramatic and contemplative. Bill and I selected two strong actors (Jennifer Massey and Joe Hansard) who could pull off the emotion of the film. We got to test the new camera car mount, to the delight of the cameraman. I kept asking for reassurance that the expensive camera was not, was NOT, going to fall off the hood of the car. After a last-minute location change, I was slotted for a small part in the movie — which ended up on the cutting room floor in the interest of meeting our seven-minute running time requirement. I’m still in the background helping a customer, and my hair is in a later office scene. Oh, the glamour.

Bill spent Sunday editing the film at his workplace, while I searched for music at home. I found the piece that we ended up using within a few minutes. Unfortunately, I then spent almost two hours continuing to search for music, finding almost nothing, and deciding to stick with my first choice. After Bill was forced to make some difficult decisions about editing, he sent me the film online so I could look at it. With my fresh perspective — having not spent the last six hours putting it together — I was able to suggest different places to cut, allowing some great moments to fit back in (though not my scene, alas). For later festivals, we may look at putting in a lost scene where the couple fights outside the car. It was a crew favorite as Jennifer screamed, “GET IN THE CAR!!!” with pure fury.

Our screening is Friday at 9:30 at the AFI Silver Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland. We’re really proud of it, and I can’t wait to see it on the big screen. If you’re in the area, you can order tickets online — but do so soon, because the shows always sell out. If you can’t get to the show, the film — “All Roads Lead Away” — will be available on our website sometime after the screening.

The Adventure Continues

One last message to everyone before we bury ourselves in this weekend’s filmmaking frenzy. Tickets to our 48 Hour Film Project screening — we’re part of Group H, showing next Friday, May 9, at 9:30 pm — are now on sale online or at the AFI Silver Theater box office. The show is expected to sell out, so if you’d like to attend (and for the record, I’d like to see as many friendly faces in the audience as possible), be sure to pick up your tickets sooner rather than later.

And as an aside, I’ve recut the trailer for “Number One With a Bullet” slightly — mostly just adding in a few extra shots to help explain the plot a bit better. (It’s amazing what another eight seconds can do.) Go ahead and give it a look-see.

P.S.: If you’re on this weekend’s production team, expect to hear from us with more info tonight. And if you want to be on the team and haven’t said so before now... well, talk fast.

Less Than One Week to Go!

In the frenzy of activity surrounding the finish of principal photography on “Number One With a Bullet,” it’s easy to forget that we’re shooting another movie in just one week. And at this stage, we’ve still got some pretty big holes to fill. So I’ll keep this message short (for me, anyway) and to the point.

We still need actors; a lot of our regular troupe will be unavailable this time around. As always, we can’t promise anything (since we won’t know what we’ll have until we write our script Friday evening), but if you’ll be available, please let me know — and if you’ve got any questions, please ask. Soon.

We need locations; I haven’t had time to do all the legwork I usually try to do beforehand here. At a minimum, we could use a house and/or apartment, an office, and some kind of recreational location (cafe, bar, restaurant, lounge, etc.). We’ll be shooting (mostly) across Saturday, so if you’ve got access to such a place, or have any contacts who can help us reserve some of these places, please let me know ASAP.

And we could still use some help on the editorial end, if only to alleviate some of my own impending exhaustion. Any availability overnight Saturday or during the day Sunday would be a big help.

Okay, that’s it for now. But as a special reward for listening, I’ll direct you to the brand-new trailer for “Number One With a Bullet,” now available for online viewing at www.onewithabullet.com. Okay, so it’s not the full movie, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do before that’s ready. Enjoy!

Not Slowing Down

I wanted to let everyone know that we officially wrapped principal photography on “Number One With a Bullet” this past weekend. And I’m only now starting to get back up to fighting strength. Which is a good thing — since we’re only two weeks away from this year’s 48 Hour Film Project. (I don’t know what I was thinking with this back-to-back scheduling.)

The shoot was intense, but hugely successful. We had the usual bumps along the way (not to mention more than our share of unusual bumps), but the whole team was running on all cylinders, both in front of and behind the camera. I’ve been looking at the footage, and some of it is absolutely amazing. Performances, look, sound, everything. My enthusiasm for this project has been wholeheartedly rekindled. I’m scrambling to cut together a full trailer for the film, so that we’ll have at least something to show everyone who put in so many long hours bringing this little idea to fruition. I’ll send out a note when it’s up for viewing, but just in case, be sure to check out the official site, onewithabullet.com, for updates. And then we’ll be diving full-on into the editing and postproduction process; there’s still a lot of work to do, but we’re definitely on track.

Which brings me to our second item on the agenda — putting together our team for this year’s 48 Hour Film Project, taking place over the weekend of May 2–4. We’re losing quite a few of our regular contingent this time around, so we do find ourselves in need of participants, especially in the editorial arena. So if you want to pitch in, drop me a line — and if we can use you, we’ll make sure to put you on the roster. (In keeping with our largely accidental tradition of never keeping the same writer twice, we’ve managed to ensnare... I mean, acquire the services of novelist Barry Lyga, author of The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl and Boy Toy, so I want to make sure we can all live up to that standard.)

Of course, I may not be answering my email right away, since I’m on my way to Disney World with the family for a few days — I figured we could all use some quality time together after I effectively abandoned them for the past month. But I’ll be back next week, ready to go!

Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

Lock and Load

Well, folks, we’re now less than 48 hours away from the commencement of lensing on “Number One With a Bullet,” so it seems like an opportune time for a news-blog update. It feels like I haven’t slept in two weeks, and it certainly doesn’t look like I’ll be getting any real rack time for the next couple of weeks either. I never thought I’d be one to espouse the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” philosophy (I like sleep — sleep is good), but lately it seems like I’m getting closer to that.

Of course, it looks like the big items (at least for the first weekend) are all in order. SAG paperwork, insurance, equipment, locations, shooting schedule... but it’s the nagging little details that seem to eat up most of my attention right now. Like, say, food. (Seriously — if anyone wants to handle making sure people are fed, please let me know ASAP. I’ll even send you a shopping list.)

And then there’s the stress of realizing that we’ve set ourselves a schedule that’ll make the 48 Hour Film Project look like a walk in the park.

But on the plus side, I have to admit that a big part of my insomnia is caused by my sheer excitement at the prospect of tackling a project this big. Sure, it’s still a short, but it’s twice the length of anything we’ve done before, and the production effort we’re putting forth dwarfs that of any of our past projects. I’m happy with the script, inspired by the crew, ecstatic about the cast, and relishing the adrenaline rush that comes with stretching our capabilities just beyond where I would have placed the breaking point only a few short months ago.

This past year has been a positive whirlwind of learning, and I think it’s only by forcing us to make the leap that we’ll really see if we’re ready to advance to the next level.

For those of you helping out with the production, I’ll be seeing you this weekend. For those eager to jump in on the 48 Hour Film Project (May 2-4), drop me a line (but please understand I may not respond in all that timely a manner). And for those who just want to watch and enjoy, I’m optimistic that we’ll have something truly worth your while in the very near future.

“Number One With a Bullet” Update

Well, things are moving quickly. Casting is complete, and we’ve got a phenomenal bunch of people on board! We had somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 submissions, and saw close to 120 different actors. The selection process was brutal — we had so many great candidates — but in the end, I think we’ve made the best choices for our little ensemble. Kudos to Bjorn Munson for organizing our casting, and thanks to Barry Gribble for letting us use the Integral Arts offices. And a special thanks to all the actors who came out and gave it a shot. I was truly humbled by the efforts you all put forth, and hope to see you again for future projects.

Preproduction is proceeding apace; with just three weeks to go before the cameras roll, we’re right about on schedule. And while I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t stressing just a bit (okay, more than a bit), I’m also getting more and more excited as the day grows closer. In fact, I’ve gone ahead and cut together a little “teaser trailer” that I’m hoping will get people psyched for the big shoot. You can view it at the film’s official website — onewithabullet.com — or via YouTube or MySpace as well. It really is just a teaser (since we obviously haven’t shot a frame yet), but I’m hoping it at least sets the stage for our little venture.

We’re still locking down some locations, so if anyone has any leads (preferably in or very near the city), please let me know as soon as possible; while we’ve got our main location (the office) all set, we still need a large house exterior and driveway, a walk-in-freezer (or wine cellar), and a well-apportioned study. And we’re also in the process of filling out our crew roster; if you want to join in, drop me a line ASAP.

And as if that weren’t enough, we’re also signed up for the 48 Hour Film Project, scheduled for the first weekend in May. So if you want to help out there, be sure to let me know as well.

Okay, enough talk. Go watch the trailer and have a nice weekend!

Official Casting Notice for “Number One With a Bullet”

All right, folks, here’s the official casting notice. We’re looking forward to hearing from some of you soon!

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Tohubohu Productions, makers of multiple popular and award-winning short films, are set to cast “Number One With a Bullet,” a fast-paced black comedy short shooting in April of 2008. The film is being shot in HD in the Washington, DC, area, and will be produced under the SAG Short Film Agreement; both SAG and non-union actors are welcome to audition. Under the agreement, payment is deferred, but credit and copy are provided. On top of that, you’ll have a chance to work with an eager and dedicated team, have some great festival exposure, and very possibly get a pony.*

Principal photography will be over the weekends of April 5–6 and April 12–13, 2008

Please visit http://www.tohubohuproductions.com/bullet.html for background on the story, descriptions of the roles, and the audition sides.

Auditions are by appointment, and will be held in mid/late February to early March, with the first auditions being held this Sunday, February 17th. Interested actors may email their headshots (please keep file sizes below 300 KB) and résumés to casting-at-tohubohuproductions-dot-com for consideration. Please be sure to indicate your availability during the shooting dates and the role for which you would like to read.

* Or not very possibly, as the case may be.

Something Old, Something New

Just so nobody starts thinking that our older projects just sit on a shelf somewhere, I thought I’d pass along the news that “Machinations” has just been selected for the SFF-rated Film Festival in Athens, Greece — our first international screening. The festival’s in March, though we don’t have a specific date just yet (so you may want to hold off on booking your tickets for the moment).

Then there’s the matter of our newest project, “Number One With a Bullet.” Well, folks, we’ve been working like mad on the script, nailing down some key locations (and clearances), and trying to get the paperwork rolling. It’s been a much longer process than we had anticipated, though I think it’s been worth the wait. But finally, in the interests of getting our butts in gear, we’ve locked shooting dates: the weekends of April 5–6 and 12–13, 2008. We’re working backward from there — which means it’s time to start booking our cast and crew. As to the former, we expect to have a casting call out soon. Very soon. We’re looking for two leads, seven supporting actors, and three or four day players (plus assorted extras), and we’re planning to produce the film under a SAG short-film agreement (deferred payment).

As for the latter? Let us know ASAP if you can help out. We’ll need help pretty much across the board — starting with a dedicated production team. And department heads. And lots of equipment. Okay, so really everything.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the project (or who’ve forgotten in the many months since our last communication), here’s the skinny: “Number One With a Bullet” is a fast-paced black comedy short that we’ll be shooting in HD and submitting to the festival circuit. The story follows Jack Reade, a mild-mannered academic who finally has a chance to publish his own Great American Novel. But just as he thinks his tome will see print, Pete Willoughby, a smug and influential editor, informs Jack that the book will remain locked in publishing purgatory. After an accident befalls Pete, Jack forges a desperate alliance with Carrie Singer, a disgruntled employee who also happens to be the book’s number-one fan. Together, they concoct an insane scheme to cover up Pete’s death and greenlight the book. Unfortunately, the publishing process is chock full of approvals and before long, other denizens of Dennison Publishing may fall prey to “accidents.”

Speak quickly — the ball’s rolling...