Yes it is. I've always been a person who recognizes the importance of the group vs. the individual. Meaning things happen better when you have individuals assembled together into a cohesive team, all working in tandem toward the same goal.
The other thing I've always known, however, is that a group will quickly fall apart without strong leadership to help guide its path. Say all you want about democracy, but I have lived the hell of too many cooks, too many opinions, too many "fuckin' Napoleans" as Ani DiFranco would say. People need a place to go to do a sanity check, air grievances, and get some direction about which way the boat should be steered. Without this you can't possibly have a real team. Someone's gotta lead it.
For a long time, that person has been me, myself and I. I've been the one calling the shots, making the cuts and resolving the conflicts between people. I've been the last stop for every question, complaint and grievance. It's been flattering at times to be the hub in every wheel. But keep watching the spokes spin around you long enough and you're bound to get pretty damned dizzy.
Then I started making this movie. And found I didn't have to be me, myself and I any more. I could be Jason, J and I! The three of us have formed a production trifecta, a three headed creature where I am the business, J is the technical and Jason is the creative. And while each of us is involved in "everything," as producers must be to ensure we have the big picture always in mind, each of us sits in the hub of one little intersecting universe. No one person gets overwhelmed. Everyone stays engaged. And our team members know who to go to for what.
Where has this number been all my life?
I suppose in the end I'll still end up starring in "Sherrie in the Middle" a lot because that's just a role I think I was born to play. I have a knack for "interpersonal relationship management" (fancy!) and people seem to know it and gravitate toward it. But it's nice to know I have two other people I can lean on once in awhile.
Yeah. It's a magic number.
S
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Movie research and our last relaxing weekend
It's the end of May just about, and I've spent the weekend going light on the movie tasks which is an unusual state of affairs. I guess this is because I instinctively know that this is the calm before the storm, that the next few months are going to leave me little peace, and I might as well enjoy the last few moments I have to myself and my sanity. It's a bit like taking it easy before giving birth to a baby - don't rush it cause your whole life is about to change.
Jason and I watched a horror flick last night that was full of potential but didn't quite hit the mark. It was called "The House of the Devil" and was a pseudo shout out to those satanic cult movies from way back when. It was set in the 80s and they did a good job with the retro feel at the beginning, including the camera work, and threw in appropriate period touches like the rotary dial phone with the stretched out phone cord (though I picked up on a pizza special that listed feta as one of the ingredients - yeah feta didn't come into vogue until at least the 90s). The first half hour to 45 minutes of the movie was good, but then things sorta fell apart. By the time they got to the "horror" part of the movie, which was crammed in at the end, it all felt very beside the point, not scary, and a bit boring.
I'll be spending the next few weeks while we're in pre-production checking out these kinds of movies to prepare for "what not to do" when we start creating ours. If anyone has suggestions to share I'll take 'em. Only so many hours in the day to devote to research so I need to choose wisely.
Thank god for Netflix.
Sherrie
Jason and I watched a horror flick last night that was full of potential but didn't quite hit the mark. It was called "The House of the Devil" and was a pseudo shout out to those satanic cult movies from way back when. It was set in the 80s and they did a good job with the retro feel at the beginning, including the camera work, and threw in appropriate period touches like the rotary dial phone with the stretched out phone cord (though I picked up on a pizza special that listed feta as one of the ingredients - yeah feta didn't come into vogue until at least the 90s). The first half hour to 45 minutes of the movie was good, but then things sorta fell apart. By the time they got to the "horror" part of the movie, which was crammed in at the end, it all felt very beside the point, not scary, and a bit boring.
I'll be spending the next few weeks while we're in pre-production checking out these kinds of movies to prepare for "what not to do" when we start creating ours. If anyone has suggestions to share I'll take 'em. Only so many hours in the day to devote to research so I need to choose wisely.
Thank god for Netflix.
Sherrie
Friday, May 21, 2010
I could die, happy
Well, I'm exaggerating a bit. The truth is, things haven't exactly been perfect. I'm concerned about money and locations. There's some "tension" between the producers. I'm not getting enough sleep. I keep losing battery power on my phone from the non-stop calling. But the thing is, none of that matters because I know magic when I see it. And baby, I got magic. I got your magic right here....
We all of us spend our lives looking for that "thing" that makes every day worth looking forward to. The thing that makes the long hours worth every second invested. Sometimes, we find it. Most of the time, we don't. But when it shows up (unplanned and unannounced, ironically enough) we know it when we see it. Your gut says "holy shit I think I'm on to something here" despite your brain saying "on paper, this looks totally nuts." It happens. It can happen. And in case you're wondering if it'll ever happen to you, well I'm here to tell you: yeah it can. Just keep looking.
Case in point #1: We had a hard time finding Mrs. Unger. It's a small role, but important. We just couldn't find that someone who "got" this character, the particular type of person she represents. And then Erin auditioned, Erin who hasn't done this in years but who, after reading the second sentence, caused Jason and I to look at each other and know we had a movie now. We had that THING that brought it all together. We had a MOVIE.
And then Keith, sending unannounced or unasked for his attempt at the most difficult effect we'd written into the script. A video of a throat slash he'd filmed in his kitchen, with a friend, that was so real I had to ask with all seriousness if he hadn't really killed the guy just to make us think he could it pull off. After I picked up my jaw off the floor and watched it a few more times...I knew we had a MOVIE. A movie with scenes that would keep me up at night no less.
How do you make a movie? Well, you have a great script and a great director and a committed team of producers to find the ordinary and sometimes extraordinary people out there that can make your vision come to life. You work your ass off on details both inspired and mundane. And you bring it all together under the umbrella of a vision that says "WE, the BWE cast and crew, with the support of our friends, are going to make a MOVIE."
I'm not afraid to let you all in behind the scenes a bit, and admit we are but real people - humans even. Whatever you think the man behind the curtain is, well: we're it. Those movies you see on the screen or on NetFlix or from your local video store are made by people. We're those people. Who sometimes know what they're doing, and sometimes don't, but always know what it is we're trying to achieve. We're committed to bringing you that vision and making a worthy movie. By the people, for the people. And you're going to love it. As Keith likes to say "It's gonna be SICK!"
If you ever doubted that people can find that thing that makes every day worth looking forward to, I'm here to tell you it exists. Yeah, it exists. Don't give up the search.
Sherrie
We all of us spend our lives looking for that "thing" that makes every day worth looking forward to. The thing that makes the long hours worth every second invested. Sometimes, we find it. Most of the time, we don't. But when it shows up (unplanned and unannounced, ironically enough) we know it when we see it. Your gut says "holy shit I think I'm on to something here" despite your brain saying "on paper, this looks totally nuts." It happens. It can happen. And in case you're wondering if it'll ever happen to you, well I'm here to tell you: yeah it can. Just keep looking.
Case in point #1: We had a hard time finding Mrs. Unger. It's a small role, but important. We just couldn't find that someone who "got" this character, the particular type of person she represents. And then Erin auditioned, Erin who hasn't done this in years but who, after reading the second sentence, caused Jason and I to look at each other and know we had a movie now. We had that THING that brought it all together. We had a MOVIE.
And then Keith, sending unannounced or unasked for his attempt at the most difficult effect we'd written into the script. A video of a throat slash he'd filmed in his kitchen, with a friend, that was so real I had to ask with all seriousness if he hadn't really killed the guy just to make us think he could it pull off. After I picked up my jaw off the floor and watched it a few more times...I knew we had a MOVIE. A movie with scenes that would keep me up at night no less.
How do you make a movie? Well, you have a great script and a great director and a committed team of producers to find the ordinary and sometimes extraordinary people out there that can make your vision come to life. You work your ass off on details both inspired and mundane. And you bring it all together under the umbrella of a vision that says "WE, the BWE cast and crew, with the support of our friends, are going to make a MOVIE."
I'm not afraid to let you all in behind the scenes a bit, and admit we are but real people - humans even. Whatever you think the man behind the curtain is, well: we're it. Those movies you see on the screen or on NetFlix or from your local video store are made by people. We're those people. Who sometimes know what they're doing, and sometimes don't, but always know what it is we're trying to achieve. We're committed to bringing you that vision and making a worthy movie. By the people, for the people. And you're going to love it. As Keith likes to say "It's gonna be SICK!"
If you ever doubted that people can find that thing that makes every day worth looking forward to, I'm here to tell you it exists. Yeah, it exists. Don't give up the search.
Sherrie
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Movie insomnia....
I had just settled in for a long winter's night and was dozing contentedly when I heard Jason talking on the phone (I am forever alerting him to the fact that he can sometimes talk really LOUD). As I drifted in and out of consciousness, half worried he might wake the girls but deciding this was not my problem, curiosity overtook my need for sleep and I found myself trying to decipher who he might be talking to. So for the next 5 minutes my m.o. was "sleep...what was that?....sleep...is it one of the crew?...sleep...oh I'm pretty sure he's talking to J."
Now J is the "other" producer for our movie (I had been calling him co-producer but apparently this is not the appropriate terminology) and things have been a bit tense between the three of us as we sort through the creative and mundane differences. AND today I MAY have done one of those stupid moves where you accidentally send an email griping about a person to the, um, person you are griping about. Yeah, good times. So clearly this was a conversation I needed to overhear.
Awake now I stumbled out to the porch to have a non-scheduled cigarette and tried to determine from what little I could overhear through the cell phone whether this conversation was going well or really really bad (as it turns out it went really really well - we are all good). My curiosity satisfied I set off to return to the other side of the pillow.
Au contraire. Yeah see this all happened at about 11:30 and depending on when I get this post finished you'll see I've since been awake for the last 3+ hours. I just can't shut the movie off in my brain now. Which actress will make a better Mrs. Unger? Gotta remember to call the lawyer back. How are we going to structure the deferred payments? I wonder if I should hire that location scout. If we film in Bristol do I need to get us lodging down there? 4th of July party....etc....etc...etc...
Now don't get me wrong - I'm pretty happy that I have this problem of being over focused on the movie, because I love it and I'm good at it and I just spent the past 2+ years at my job (or should I say my "other" job) perfectly directionless, stressed out and miserable. So to have a purpose again, to have a purpose this huge and meaningful and certain, is like a gift from heaven.
I guess I can lose a few hours of sleep over that.
Now J is the "other" producer for our movie (I had been calling him co-producer but apparently this is not the appropriate terminology) and things have been a bit tense between the three of us as we sort through the creative and mundane differences. AND today I MAY have done one of those stupid moves where you accidentally send an email griping about a person to the, um, person you are griping about. Yeah, good times. So clearly this was a conversation I needed to overhear.
Awake now I stumbled out to the porch to have a non-scheduled cigarette and tried to determine from what little I could overhear through the cell phone whether this conversation was going well or really really bad (as it turns out it went really really well - we are all good). My curiosity satisfied I set off to return to the other side of the pillow.
Au contraire. Yeah see this all happened at about 11:30 and depending on when I get this post finished you'll see I've since been awake for the last 3+ hours. I just can't shut the movie off in my brain now. Which actress will make a better Mrs. Unger? Gotta remember to call the lawyer back. How are we going to structure the deferred payments? I wonder if I should hire that location scout. If we film in Bristol do I need to get us lodging down there? 4th of July party....etc....etc...etc...
Now don't get me wrong - I'm pretty happy that I have this problem of being over focused on the movie, because I love it and I'm good at it and I just spent the past 2+ years at my job (or should I say my "other" job) perfectly directionless, stressed out and miserable. So to have a purpose again, to have a purpose this huge and meaningful and certain, is like a gift from heaven.
I guess I can lose a few hours of sleep over that.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Location, Location, Location
We've got the kick-ass script, the kick-ass actors, the crew, the makeup effects. We've got a plan, a vision, a mission. But there's one thing we don't seem to have right now, and that, my friends, is all the locations...
Finding locations in which to film your movie is turning out to be a not so easy process. And I don't mean finding "a" location. I mean "the" location. Because not just any location will do. It has to be believable for the scene and the actors, conducive to filming, and of course add something visually to the movie. It has to be an actor in its own right, the benevolent background if you will.
That's not to say we waited until now to find them (we're not THAT amateur). But yours truly has decided, in the 11th hour, to rethink some of these "actors" we've cast and go for more convenient, more spot on spots. Because I'm a perfectionist. And can't leave well enough alone. And seem determined to cause Jason a nervous breakdown.
And while making a slasher movie is a good first venture for a film maker in almost every regard, when it comes to location scouting, it becomes not so fun. Ask someone if they want their home featured in a movie and they'll jump at the chance. Ask someone if they want their home taken over by strangers for days at a time, the furniture rearranged and the wall hangings critiqued and they start getting that nervous look. Mention you want to splatter a little, oh, blood all over their nice white kitchen floor and they conveniently forget to call you back.
I'm confident we'll get there, but for the time being think of us the next time you're sitting on your couch and consider whether it might not make a very lovely movie set.
To all the location scouts out there: god love you and what you do. And if you're not doing anything over the next month maybe you can give me a call.
Sherrie
Finding locations in which to film your movie is turning out to be a not so easy process. And I don't mean finding "a" location. I mean "the" location. Because not just any location will do. It has to be believable for the scene and the actors, conducive to filming, and of course add something visually to the movie. It has to be an actor in its own right, the benevolent background if you will.
That's not to say we waited until now to find them (we're not THAT amateur). But yours truly has decided, in the 11th hour, to rethink some of these "actors" we've cast and go for more convenient, more spot on spots. Because I'm a perfectionist. And can't leave well enough alone. And seem determined to cause Jason a nervous breakdown.
And while making a slasher movie is a good first venture for a film maker in almost every regard, when it comes to location scouting, it becomes not so fun. Ask someone if they want their home featured in a movie and they'll jump at the chance. Ask someone if they want their home taken over by strangers for days at a time, the furniture rearranged and the wall hangings critiqued and they start getting that nervous look. Mention you want to splatter a little, oh, blood all over their nice white kitchen floor and they conveniently forget to call you back.
I'm confident we'll get there, but for the time being think of us the next time you're sitting on your couch and consider whether it might not make a very lovely movie set.
To all the location scouts out there: god love you and what you do. And if you're not doing anything over the next month maybe you can give me a call.
Sherrie
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Synchronicity is Real
Through this experience I've come to understand that when you approach a goal in life with real purpose and a clear vision, the universe responds by giving you what you need to pull it off. This is what has been happening with this movie. I have a thought about something we need and get an email from someone the next day with a recommendation. I meet with a possible extra and learn he is a caterer. I connect with an artist who has a friend who is an actor. I post a comment on facebook and discover a graphic designer.
It's as if there's 1-800-GETHELP hotline out there and someone's actually on the other end of the line.
I could debate with you all day about whether fate, synchronicity, the alignment of the stars, all that kind of stuff is "real" (and further could debate with you about what the meaning of the word "real" is) but the short of it is I don't need to defend these beliefs or even understand them. I just need to embrace the energy, and run with it, because it's what's going to help me make this movie.
To my varied friends and acquaintances who are helping to make this vision a reality: thanks for your support. No matter how small. Just telling your friends about us is enough.
To the universe: well it's been a bumpy ride over 36 years but I'm starting to learn there was a reason. I'm eternally grateful for your belief in me. You won't be disappointed.
S
It's as if there's 1-800-GETHELP hotline out there and someone's actually on the other end of the line.
I could debate with you all day about whether fate, synchronicity, the alignment of the stars, all that kind of stuff is "real" (and further could debate with you about what the meaning of the word "real" is) but the short of it is I don't need to defend these beliefs or even understand them. I just need to embrace the energy, and run with it, because it's what's going to help me make this movie.
To my varied friends and acquaintances who are helping to make this vision a reality: thanks for your support. No matter how small. Just telling your friends about us is enough.
To the universe: well it's been a bumpy ride over 36 years but I'm starting to learn there was a reason. I'm eternally grateful for your belief in me. You won't be disappointed.
S
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The one thing a multi-tasker can't do
One of the reasons I think I've settled into this movie thing so easily is I've spent the last 15+ years trying to organize people and things around creative endeavors with no time and usually not enough money. Oh and for multiple projects simultaneously. With the same deadline. Where there is a lot of infighting happening.
I was made to make movies apparently.
Having this as your life, day in and day out, for the better part of every 24 hours does things to a person. Psychotherapy sessions aside, the main thing it seems to have done is made my brain capable of massive feats of multi-tasking. If you're talking to me I'm most likely typing while thinking about something else while having a conversation with you. I can walk and chew gum at the same time.
But what I can't do is WRITE STUFF DOWN.
I am terrible at documenting for people what the plan is, what I've done and what we still need to do. My feeling is if I've laid out the vision clearly enough, and what part I want you to play in it, how we get there is not my problem. If you need a list then you make it. But the important thing is that you take what I want done, figure it out, report back, and revise as necessary to make me happy. Rinse and repeat.
The problem is people seem to be obsessed with lists in the movie business. Every book I read has them. All kinds of people I meet are forever asking me for lists. I have no problems with lists. List away! Just don't ask me for one. I'm too busy making a movie.
S
I was made to make movies apparently.
Having this as your life, day in and day out, for the better part of every 24 hours does things to a person. Psychotherapy sessions aside, the main thing it seems to have done is made my brain capable of massive feats of multi-tasking. If you're talking to me I'm most likely typing while thinking about something else while having a conversation with you. I can walk and chew gum at the same time.
But what I can't do is WRITE STUFF DOWN.
I am terrible at documenting for people what the plan is, what I've done and what we still need to do. My feeling is if I've laid out the vision clearly enough, and what part I want you to play in it, how we get there is not my problem. If you need a list then you make it. But the important thing is that you take what I want done, figure it out, report back, and revise as necessary to make me happy. Rinse and repeat.
The problem is people seem to be obsessed with lists in the movie business. Every book I read has them. All kinds of people I meet are forever asking me for lists. I have no problems with lists. List away! Just don't ask me for one. I'm too busy making a movie.
S
Friday, April 30, 2010
Blood is all over the place
So I was thinking I'd post the journey of this movie for those of you who might be interested in what it's like to take a dream and run with it... to the point where you might mortgage your house...right into the sun. LOL... No I'm serious. I could go broke here. But yeah, we put our money where our mouth is....and we have the best horror movie/script/actor combination around and so if you're a person who knows what's good and wants to contribute and has noting better to do I say "hello there" and pleased to meet you and welcome....
It's going to be quite the journey.
S
It's going to be quite the journey.
S
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