Something To Do: Making of a short film Part 3

Today was another non shooting day for me. I worked behind the scenes, directing traffic, keeping kids focused and eating a sweet bagel, cream cheese and bacon sandwich for breakfast. I do feel guilty, but damn if that wasn't good!

Today was all about the kids sub-plot in the story and how the mysterious Mr. Jones ties into it all. The kids have been great, and they're really enjoying their spring break. Making a movie with your kids is a great bonding experience, I highly recommend it.

...be right back, Bracken just came in.

Can't believe kids these days! He tells me he's tired of going over his lines. I told him I was tired of going over his attitude and i was about to replace him. I'm pretty certain he'll have his lines memorized by morning.

..anyway it was all about the kids story. such a fun day. They all really got into it. And Robert Reichel is having a fun time as Mr. Jones. He's knocking it out of the park. One of the best things about this project for me was bringing in all of the actors that I could possibly want to work with and show them off to Kate and then give her the hard choice of casting who it was she thought would be right for the part. Taking myself out of the actual choice of casting the parts assured I was never going to be the bad guy. My actor friends didn't know Kate, so win win.

Believe me when I say I either brought in everybody I ever wanted to work with, or invited and tried to bring in everybody I ever wanted to work with. Honestly if they didn't get a call, they lived too far away. Where was I....um.., oh yeah Robert Reichel. I can't remember how I met Robert. I'll ask him next time I see him. Somehow fate had us cross paths. There, that's how we met. What a guy. passionate guy. professional. loves the craft. loves iced espressos and has a door mat that says "Leave". I've had amazing conversations with this guy, and have wanted to work with him for a very long time. I get my chance Friday, when we have our big scene together! Love having him on the set. Thankful that he said yes. What a friend.

side note: Kelly (my wife) is scrubbing down the kitchen while listening to the Grateful Dead. We're filming here again tomorrow and she's making sure that the place is spotless. No matter what you do in life, please surround yourself with people that believe in you. AND of course your belief in them is also required. ...i hate the Grateful Dead, but if it helps you clean the kitchen, go for it.

Okay, so tomorrow I have a big scene with my "wife" Jennifer. Jennifer is played by the beautiful and talented Kirsten Gronfield. She's the fiance of one of my All-Star best friends, Josh Farrell. We grew up in the same freakin town of Sonoma C A fools! who .. didn't .. get cast in the film. Hey! Wasn't my fault, I'm not the director! Still want to work with Josh, but fate gave us Kirsten, and that rules! Excited to work with an actor whom I've never worked with before AND don't know what her style is. It's like two ninjas facing off for the first time. Look, I know I'm a nerd. I don't care.

side note: Logan gets really excited when she gets to meet her actor/pretend parents. Note sure what that means yet. Just observing for the moment.

tomorrow, we get into what makes Mike tick!

Something To Do: Making of a short film Part 2

The kids are on spring break, and I love it! The stress of getting three kids to school on time is unbearable, (i know there are many more horrible things going on in the world) , but it's freakin maddening! But on this spring break, the Flemings are making a movie! So getting up early has a different feeling to it. It's like we're on a cool vacation, but we haven't left. (By the way, Santa Barbara is beautiful this time of year. Come visit!) Today was the second official day of shooting Something To Do, and all the actors had the day off. Sort of odd, but also kind of cool. Not to say that nothing got done, cause stuff got done! Kate and our DP, Sheba Lane did a lot of location filming. Me? I took Logan out to lunch, bought a gun at Big 5 and got a location settled for one of our final shots next week.

Let me take this time to tell you what Something To Do is about. It's the story about a guy trying to figure out what he's supposed to be doing in life. We're all meant for something right? ...right? We are. What if you don't know what it is? You search. It's a comedy. Not a "family comedy". Don't let the kids fool you. I love The Big Lebowski and Anchorman, not Are We There Yet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip6GolC7Mk0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHuyjYJCCOA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL-sWs-T97s

know what I mean.
back to today.

...So the gun I bought was a BB gun that I needed for a prop. It looks real, and I was kind of nervous buying the thing. Tristan, my six years old son, kept asking me why we were buying a gun in front of the guy working at the store. I'm pretty sure the guy behind the counter thought I'd be robbing a bank before days end. For some reason, I felt compelled to make up a story of buying this piece for my nephew, and wanted to know about the return policy just in case he didn't like it. Earlier in the day I secured a location for one of our last shots. Later Kate, Sheba and I met up at "the house". (I'll go into this location later.) Kate figured out her shots for Saturday, our biggest day of shooting.

I finally got to do some actor stuff and worked on the script. acting the stuff you helped write is a little odd. But because it came from you, it helps you connect. It's hard to go from producer to actor. It's hard because you have to allow the artist in you to get away from the organizer in you. The day goes by so fast when you're putting a thousand things in motion. The challenge has been ...well a challenge, but totally fun. See, I told you we got things done!

Tomorrow is all about the kids. The sub plot we have them involved in is so fun. Think The Goonies, but without the Spielberg budget. I won't give anything away, but lets just say they aren't about to let anything happen to their Dad.

...tomorrow. the kids arm up!

Something To Do: Making of a short film Day 1

I'm not trying to sound like anything other than I am. What am I? Well among other things, I am a creative person. We're all creative in our own way. Each of us has a talent that wants to be set free. All of us. But I firmly believe that most of us are scared to unleash our art. A lot of people fear their creativity. Why? Well there are all kinds of reasons. The biggest fear is that they wont be able to make a living from their creativity and then they get a job doing what ever it is they end up doing.

Most people don't grow up and say, for example, "I want to work for the Dental Association of America, and oppose laws that would save consumers money because that's not in our best interest". People just fall into those kind of jobs. It's safe. It pays. It eats at their soul. That's why most people hate their jobs. Because they didn't do what it was they wanted to do. But I digress.

For better or for worse I've taken the way my heart wanted to go. And if for only one reason, so I wouldn't have regret. I didn't want to be sixty and looking at myself in the mirror asking, "What if"? Does this decision always make me happy? No. There are times when I wake up in the middle of the night, staring at my sleeping children wondering what the hell I've done. That doesn't happen often, but it does. Most of the time, my life is a crazy adventure of art, love, drama, family, and life. Working on being a better me, a better husband and a better father. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail. But there aren't many regrets. I know my choices are honest and not false. At the end of the day....I can live with that.

A few months ago I decided that I would write a short script called, "Something To Do". The idea was that I wanted to shoot a short film, confident that I could find someone that had a camera and also find someone that could edit, and then just let it fly. I had just finished a successful film festival run with, "A Letter from Home". (you can check that film out here: http://vimeo.com/21824690 ) The idea behind "Something To Do", was based on a series of ideas that I had written down and was saving for a full length script. I ran out of patience and decided to just go with the short film idea. After I wrote the thing, I showed it to a few friends. One of those friends was Kate Lanier, a working screen writer, and whose kids are in a band with my daughter. To my amazement, she wanted to help me with a re-write of the script, help produce, and then direct the short that I would star in!!!

The idea behind this for her, and you'll have to ask her to be certain, was that her screen plays that have been produced have been dramatic pieces, ( for the most part) and have starred, (for the most part) older actresses. Which is fantastic because there few roles for older actresses in film. I think she liked the idea of making a quirky comedy with a middle aged (yet still roguishly handsome :) ) male lead. Also she wanted to make a short film that we would use to sell the full length script. (the short is the middle of the full length script that we're currently working on.)

CUT TO:

Today was day 1 of production of "Something To Do"!

Making a movie is a lot of work. It takes a lot of organization and determination. Most importantly it takes people that have the same creative goals. AND it takes friends! Day one consisted of the first major scene with me and the kids. Between the two of us, Kate and I have five children. They're all in the film. The kids are an important part of the story. They're on spring break, and they all have work permits thank you very much. This was the first time Kate and I worked together as actor and director. Its not easy taking off the producer cap and putting on the actor hat. For one, I wasn't off book completely, which I know irritated Kate. But it wasn't long that I was in the swing of things, and we were on our way. The kids were great and had a fun time with the whole experience. We have great actors that I'll be telling you more about as time goes on with this project, but today was also day 1 for Robert Reichel! Solid actor, and friend. We get to know his character better as the story unfolds, but today we shot the scene when we see the first glimpse of his Mr. Jones. Fun stuff! The kids and I still have another three days of shooting. Tomorrow we have off, then back to work. Special thanks to my friends Tom and Jose for working as PA's today.

Always dream and work toward something. You just never know what might happen.