Musings

Wrote (Name Deleted) today letting her know she's been fired. Almost wish I could've said it to her face like Donald Trump.

She wrote a nasty e-mail back outlining the "contingencies" she wanted us to put in the "contract". She wanted to stipulate how long we have for post-production on BMK. I don't think so. This is our movie, not hers. She didn't write it, she didn't direct it, and she sure as hell didn't put any money in to it. So she sure isn't oing to tell us how lng we have to work on it.

Another of her "contingencies" from a previous e-mail, is that she wanted it put in the "contract" how long we would be able to show/sell the film. Again, I don't think so!

Luckily we had our secret weapon, i. e. Debra Sussman, or we'd ahve been stuck with a crappy movie we hated, that we could oly show for a period of time determined by someone who should have no say in the matter. Who does this bitch think she is?

If Debra hadn't done it, though, we would have gotten someone else. No way we're letting someone else control out movie, that's our whole reason for sticking to independent films, so that we have total and absolute control over every aspect of the film.

Black Market Kidneys Production Day 3

Today was our third day of production on Black Market Kidneys. We did the Claudia reshoots with Debra Sussman at Lucky's Pub in Eustis, FL. We had made tentative plans to shoot the house scenes today, too, in order to get the movie completed on time, but Mike said that the power is out. It went quite well today, much better than our last time filming the bar scenes. We only had Jess Crawley and Trent Stover as extras, so pretty much have to use the main two shot. I'm glad we ended up with Debbie, though, she's a much better actress and brings more to the role than the other two actresses we had cast in the role could have done. We got everything done in about an hour. Then spent another hour catching up with Debbie in the parking lot.

The Release Form Issue Resolved

Yesterday I sent an e-mail to (Name Deleted) explaining how it's just a release form we want her to sign, not a contract. And I put my foot down, telling her that if we didn't have a signed digital copy of the release form by noon today, we would be forced to drop her and just recast the movie with someone else.

She wrote back wanting me to contact her acting coach. Hmmm, on Satuday she said he was her manager. He's leaving town today so I had to contact him yesterday. Yeah right. If she's going to consult her "manager" on this, shouldn't she have consulted with him before taking the part? She doesn't even have the release form anymore, so there's no chance she'll be able to get a signe copy to us on time. Good for us because we put together a rough cut of the movie and she really, really sucks, and brings the entire movie down and makes it seem amateurish.

Found Debra Sussman's number, our friend from back in our community theater days, and had Jason call her to see if she'd be willing to help us out. I originally wrote the role of Claudia for her anyway, but didn't think she would do it. Turns out, though, she's glad to help us, and is willing to take over Claudia so we can have a good crappy little movie, instead of a shitty crappy little movie.

BMK Problems Update 2

Heard back from (name deleted) today. She said she's "not comfortable with giving up her rights"

What rights? Does she think she somehow owns this movie? Did she write it? Did she direct it? Did she put money in to it? Did she do anything but act terribly and be a major pain in our asses? No! All we did was ask her to sign a simple release form I got from the good folks at IFC.com, that says she agrees to let us use her image and voice as it pertains to Black Market Kidneys. And she writes back talking about contracts.

I had no choice but to go Medieval on her buttocks.

Here is my response to her e-mail:

First of all, it is not a contract. You are not giving up any rights to yourself or your image. It is simply a release form allowing us to use your likeness for Black Market Kidneys and only Black Market Kidneys and its publicity. There is no contractual aspect of the release form nor is it implied.

Everyone else in the film has signed it and have not expressed any concerns with it. I received the release form from the Independent Film Channel. They require all films submitted to them to include the release form I gave you; it is not something that I came up with on my own.

I will need a digital copy of the signed release form e-mailed to me no later than noon, Friday September 14^th 2007. I need to receive the original release form, signed by you, in the mail no later than Wednesday, September 19 2007.

If I do not receive the digital copy at the requested time I will assume that you are no longer interested in appearing in this production and will re-shoot the Claudia scenes with someone else."

BMK Problems Update

So, I sent an e-mail to (name deleted) today asking if she's made a decision about signing the release form yet. I got a response that she gave it to her acting coach last night and won't be seeing him again until tomorrow.

Ok, two problems with this. 1st of all, couldn't she call him to find out? And secondly, "acting coach" Hmmm, I could have sworn on Saturday she said he was her manager. I have witnesses b-otch!

BMk Production Day 2

Today was our second day of production on Black Market Kidneys. And what a pooch screw it was, too. We started with close ups of Mick (Owen Higdon) to get him loosened up, while we waited for everyone else to arrive. ONce Sarai and our extras arrived we began filming the main scenes. The scene with Sarai wasn't scripted. After looking at the other stuff we'd shot, Jason and I decided we needed more to Ava's story. So we decided to open the movie with Ava getting picked up by the killer. Although, we see it from the Claudia's POV so the audience won't know who it is. We knew from before that (Name Deleted) is incapable of improvising, so we had Trent double for her, we'll just mess with the voice track later. It turned out well. Then (Name Deleted) showed up and everything went to shit again. It started when our 1st A. D., Catherine, told me (Name Deleted) wouldn't sign the release form. We'd meant to get everyone to sign them at the house, but since we weren't able to get in until late and were in our groove by the time (Name Deleted) showed up, so it was the last thing on our minds. But I made sure to get Catherine to have everyone sign them today. (Name Deleted) was acting like it was a contract (it's not) and wouldn't sign until she had her manager look it over. It's just a release form giving us permission to use her voice and likeness in relation to the showing, distribution, filming and advertising of Black Market Kidneys. She's making a big deal over nothing. If she's so worried about it, she should have consulted with him prior to taking the part. If she doesn't sign it, then we don't have a movie and all of their time will be wasted. Needless to say, I was not in the best of moods and in no way wanted to speak or look at her. But being the director and playing a character who has to talk to her for the entire sequence, I had no choice. Since there's nothing in the form (Name Deleted) should have an issue signing, Jason and I decided to go ahead and film. I wanted to get all of (Name Deleted) scenes out of the way, so we could get her out; because she brought down the atmosphere of the entire set, but of course, she kept screwing up, so we had to do take after take to get something we could use. We took a break and Joe called me over to the table he was sitting at with Mike, Countess, and Trent. They asked me what was up with (Name Deleted) They didn't know about the release form thing and still thought she was a bitch, just from the way she acted and her attitude. And here I thought it was just me. Joe also said that it seemed like she was trying to tell us what to do. We finally got her out of there and finished off all that we needed. What an aggravating day!

At Last We Have Found a Bar for Mick's Pub

At Last, We Have Found A Bar For Mick's Pub!
Current mood: stoked
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

I was talking to Mike Artimovich about the trouble we've been having finding a bar for the Mick's Pub location. He was telling a friend of his, who is an actor, about it. His friend, Trent, told Mike that he knows some people who own a bar, Lucky's Pub, in Eustis and that they'd probably let us film there. Mike gave me Trent's number; I called him the other day and we set up to meet with him at Lucky's today. It was agreed that we would meet him outside, then go inside to meet with Kansas, the owner. When we pulled up, there was a guy standing outside on his cell phone. Never having met Trent before, I wasn't sure if this was him or not. We waited until he got off the phone then asked if he was who we suspected him to be. He was. After introducing ourselves, we followed Trent inside, where we met Kansas, the woman who owns the pub. She was nice and didn't ask what was in it for her or concerned with anything like the other bar owners we have spoken with. Kansas had only one question, "Where do I sign?"