Craziness and Magic, Pt. II

The Retirement Home Throwdown, Day 2:  On Sunday we arrive at the retirement in Woodland Hills.  Lisa and I tried to arrive earlier than the call time of 8am to set up first, but once we got there, the rest of the crew quickly arrived.   Takayo Fischer, who plays Grandma, also arrived early.  She brought a wig in order to make herself look older.  Emily and Shireen arrived shortly thereafter.  

Lucy called and said that she knew someone who has the adaptor that can read the P2 cards, but this woman lives in Marina del Rey.  So after she dropped off the walkies, she drove all the way back to Marina del Rey to pick up the adaptor.  Day 2 and we were in the same stressful and entirely desperate position of figuring out how to download our footage.  Luckily, we had a number of extra P2 cards.  

So we set up production central in one of the rooms in the retirement home, next to the reception area, where we plan to shoot later on.  Shortly thereafter, the residents start to drop by and asked about the shoot and when they could stop by to be the extras.  I find out that at least 12 women had signed up to be extras.  Yay!  I tried to recruit one of the women for a speaking role and she immediately agreed.  Double yay!  I asked Lisa to help her rehearse the lines, because at this point I needed to leave to shoot the first scene of the day:  the confrontation between Jenny, Ma and Grandma.  

The scene among Ma, Grandma and Jenny is a very special scene for me.  To me, it represents three generations of Asian American women, each with their own personalities and histories, and their relationships to one another.   It is hard to describe the magic that happened in that room that day for me, so I won't even try (especially because my brain is completely fried).  All I can say is that to have Takayo, Emily and Shireen in the same scene together was just awesome, and humbling.  What talent!

During a break, Suzi, the most wonderful make-up artist EVER, tells me that downstairs, the elderly women residents who wanted to be extras in this film started fighting over the speaking roles.   Yes, a throwdown at the retirement center!   So the two women who stopped by earlier in the day decided to drop out, because they both got mad at one another.  The one who didn't get the speaking role accused the other of trying to steal the part.  Real life behind the scenes drama!

I check in with Lucy re: P2 cards.  The adaptor that she picked up in Marina del Rey didn't work!!!!  Arggggggg.... So Lucy and Lisa start calling people again, to see who had a laptop we could borrow and/or extra P2 cards.  Finally, the situation became dire.  We were running out of cards and nowhere to download.  Lisa was about to drive to Samy's to pick up 4 additional 8G cards at $50/card.  Yikes!!!   Brian, our DP, came downstairs and looked at the P2 store again (or original solution to the issue).   To our surprise and joy, Brian figured out a way to make it work on the laptop!!!!   WHEW!!!!!  P2 problem solved!

Coming up next... Retirement Home Sex Scene with Grandma...to be continued...

LOVE 10 To 1 - IT"S A WRAP

Today we wrapped our FEATURE!

This journey has taken us all over the city of Los Angeles and beyond, here's a list all the places we've filmed;

Cerritos Swim Center
Downtown Los Angeles
Thai Town
Sherman Oaks
Burbank
Melrose
Brentwood
Hollywood
Venice
Woodland Hills

This crazy journey was led by three female writer/directors/producers (Christine, Lucy & Laura). We couldn't have done it without the help of our four Cinematographers (Leah Anova, Erik Forsell, Matt Boyd & Brian Sorbo) a kick ass crew that rotated positions but for the most part was consistent through out the shoot (Casey Slade, Brian Sorbo, Frederick Chaignant, Lynn Langmead, Jeffrey Waldron and Matt Boyd), our kick ass sound people (Carrie and Ray (1st round), Ian and Jarred (Love Song), the most amazing make up artist Susan Thompson, my costume designer Natasha & Jannae who did wardrobe, the best roommate Lisa J. who did anything and everything (Christine's roommate), my co-producer on Love Song, Meagan and a wonderful cast of 40+ people. There were others who helped during the first round back in October/November; Jenna, Dominick, Isaiah, Paul, Sandra, I know I'm forgetting people and I'm sorry for the omission but I've gotten no sleep. Also those who helped these last two days; Tad and Layne (sound), Kevin, Julien, Jamar and Craig.

Thank you to our friends and families for their help and support and to all of those who kindly donated services, locations, equipment, gear, music etc. Oh, yes and those who kindly gave us $$$$$$.

A HUGE THANK YOU to East West Players, Projetct:Involve, Film Independent, The Filmmakers Alliance & Movies By Women.

I'm too tired to write more.


xoxo,

Lucy

Love 10 to 1 website is back up

Here's the message I got from our web master;

Alentus servers went down yesterday. Same happened to all my websites.
You can get updates at http://www.alentusnews.com

All the website on the Alentus network got back up just few mins back
(10.30 am Sunday).

Hope you're all having a great summer.

xoxo,

Lucy

Seeing Things Through

When Christine, Laura and I started this process, no matter how far it seemed, we always acted with the intention of making this film and seeing it through. Yes, we’ve gone through growing pains; there were times when we wanted to forget the whole thing (because everything costs so much $$$$) and there were a few times when we would have loved to duke it out (again $$$$). We were under a lot of pressure because; we put up all our money into this venture, we had a HUGE cast and crew (especially the November shoot) to take care of and most important, we needed to DELIVER. This was our dream and we were one of the few who are privileged enough to pursue it and see it come to fruition. We made a FEATURE FILM!

A friend of mine thinks we spent too much $$$ on the film. He's working on a script and he plans to get our production value and quality with his $900 camera and a 3-4 person crew. I didn’t want to argue with him but I have to say that I was a little insulted. My production value was aided by the equipment we used (HVX 200 with Zeiss lenses, can’t remember if they were super speed or ultra prime) but the majority of it came from the cast and crew’s talent and experience. They made my story come alive and it was their hard work and dedication that gave me the production value I got. My friend is going to shoot his film himself and he’s going to direct it too. I’m not saying it’s not doable because it is. However, if you are going to tackle a film on your own, you need to write it with minimal locations and few actors. A strong team behind you is also key. He’s going to use the film White Red Panic as his model http://www.vimeo.com/1333375?pg=embed&sec=1333375

I saw a little bit of this film and it looks good. However, Love 10 to 1 is a romantic comedy and we have a lot of characters and a lot of locations. Romantic comedies look a certain way, our model for making this film was not a film we saw online. We wanted to make Love Actually meets Sex and the City on an ultra low budget. This was our dream and because we got such a late start at it we felt we had to do this right. If Love 10 to 1 was a horror movie and we would have used The Blair Witch Project as our model then it would be a different story.

People look at Robert Rodriguez and how he got into the industry and think they can do it that way too but he’s the exception, not the norm. Like everyone else who makes a film, I would like to make this a career, I would like to be hired to direct and hopefully this film can open the doors to those possibilities. I started preproduction in my head for my next two films. When my edit is done I’ll focus on pre-pro for the next two.

I have one day of establishing shots and Christine has her scenes with Ma, Grandma & Jenny to shoot. I’m very excited to roll up my sleeves and get to work on that. I need to backtrack, if you read the previous blog that Christine posted – What an exciting addition to our wonderful cast! Emily Kuroda as Ma and Takayo Fischer as Grandma, way to go Christine - please blog about this:-)

I am so proud of the work we’ve done and that from the beginning we set high standards for our film. I don’t know where our film will take us but I’m looking forward to the journey.

xoxo,
Lucy

Staying True To Your Vision

I have so many things to blog about; I promise to catch up soon. I wanted to share my excitement with you all. I’ve been watching the footage and it looks amazing. Matt, Brian and the rest of the crew did a great job and the cast was phenomenal. I am so blessed, grateful and thankful that the images I’m looking at belong to the film I set out to make.

In my journey making this film I’ve learned so much, I’ve had both good and bad experiences. The most frustrating thing I’ve gone through was watching the footage I shot last November and just saying “What the F*ck”. I shot scenes that shared the same locations as Christine’s and Laura’s, I’m glad I did not shoot anything else because the images I was looking at were not what I envisioned. That footage will end up on the deleted section of the DVD. It’s not to say that the footage wasn’t shot well (with the exception of the frame rate issue) the footage looks good but it’s not my vision. Ultimately, I hold myself responsible because I was the director, I should have said something.

The most powerful lesson I learned is that when you see something that’s not going the way you envisioned it, speak up. Once that day is over you most likely won’t be able to go back to that location. The same goes for the people you are working with; if someone is not working out, or if someone does not deliver or make good on what they said they were going to do, it’s ok to fire them.

Fast forward 7 months later and I love every frame we shot. Matthew (Matt) Boyd the cinematographer never questioned what I wanted but he came with suggestions that improved my vision. We work well together, we like a lot of the same music and that helped. We never watched movies for references but we listened to a lot of music, I explained my vision of what I wanted through songs, particularly The Fabulous Miss Wendy’s (because she’s pretty much letting me use all her songs). I would tell Matt, this song will go on this scene and we would start from there.

As I watched the footage, I laughed and almost shed a tear – I tried to contain myself because I did not want my mascara and eyeliner to run (I went to a networking event so I had to get dolled up and I did not want raccoon eyes). The clip that almost made me cry was of Shane and Dustin walking on the beach at sunset, they were shot in a beautiful silhouette against the Santa Monica Mountains as the sun was setting. I remember when we shot that scene, so many things were going through my mind, particularly the hundreds of hikes I’ve taken on those mountains thinking about that very moment. I remember saying Thank You God. Shooting it was magical but watching it back was indescribable. I LOVED IT. I was so excited I could have burst.

The mistake I made the last time was that I watched a lot of films with Leah (the other dp). I’m sure that works for other people but in retrospect, that didn’t work for me and maybe that’s why I didn’t feel that the November footage was my vision.

As a filmmaker you need to figure out what works for you and what works for your particular project.

The next film I shoot with Matt may have us watching some shows on The Food Network because the story deals with food or maybe I’ll take a cooking class, who knows.

Stay true to your vision and figure out a way to get it; that usually starts with a kick ass team who can bring it!

xoxo,
Lucy

I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues, or is it the Blahs?

There are so many hurdles and hoops one has to jump to get a film made. I've jumped the hoops, I've faced the road blocks and yet, my film still needs to be shot. I could have shot the film back in November but the film would have SUCKED. I wasn't happy with the direction the script had taken, you ask people for opinions and you'll get them good and bad - unfortunately, I listened to the bad ones. I've remedied that situation and I'm happy with the script.

There are three things that are making this harder and more challenging for me:

1. My mom's cancer which was in remission for the last 14 years decided to rear it's ugly head in December of 2006. My mom was in and out of the hospital - I say in and out because she got chemo from January - March and in April the cancer was gone - then in July it was back and she had to go for more chemo, and in November it was gone. When she went for her next check up in February of 2008, the Pet Scan showed that the cancer is back and bigger than the original. When she went to get the cat scan, the insurance denied it and the hospital sent her home. My mom was upsed and she's been through so much that she didn't feel like fighting or arguing with the hospital. My sister Onahoua was the first to hear about the incident and she took it upon herself to go to war with the insurance and the hospital. Seeing how she's been dealing with all the beaurocracy and bullshit while performing 8 shows a week in a very emotionally charged play, earned her my deepest, utmost respect. I'm glad she took over because I'm so sick of hospitals, illness, insurance etc. The first time my mom had cancer I was the one who went to all the radiation treatments and the experience left me numb. We're still waiting to hear if the cat scan got approved. Regardless, my mom's appointment for the cat scan is for this Friday and if the insurance doesn't approve it, the procedure costs $15,000 and that's not including all the additional fees that go with walking into a hospital. The insurance doesn't feel that the cat scan is a necessary procedure, they have approved both procedures in the past. It's frustrating dealing with this and trying to make a movie on top of it.

I'll leave reasons 2 & 3 for another blog, I've shared too much personal stuff already. If you read the blog I Could Never Be Your Woman, you'll understand why I related to Amy Heckerling's woes.

Hearing about the problem with the frame rate and how much it's going to cost to fix it didn't help. I took the advise of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde and got a mani/pedi after work. I told Christine I'd buy a lottery ticket because the the jackpot is at 220M but my manicurist took so long to get to me and I missed buying the ticket - Darn.

Hopefully this sadness and blahness I'm going through will be over soon.

I'm going to Denver this weekend to see Onahoua perform. The people who have seen it say it's her best work yet. I can't wait to see the play but I'm looking forward to seeing her play Shane.

xoxo,
Lucy

2008: Oh What a Year!

I have an important filmmaking tip below, but before I get into that, please bear with me for a paragraph or so:

This is how 2008 has panned out so far:  while I'm out of the country the first part of Jan 2008, I find out that my apartment flooded during the LA rains.  Mold sprouted from the walls.  My landlady gave my roommate and me three days to find another place because she needed six months to replaster the place (i.e., kick us out so that she can raise the rent).  My roommate (who developed a bad respiratory problem because of the mold) scrambles to find another place--rent is of course more expensive everywhere.   Since I'm still out of the country, I ask Lisa to just move me into the new place.  She moves there (during which time her dad falls down the stairs while helping her move) and finds a dirty apartment and the frig doesn't work.   I get back into town and it starts pouring again, and again, the ceiling is leaking at the new apartment.  The phone doesn't work, which we found later was due to someone cutting the phone lines.   We tried to get DSL, but for whatever reason, AT&T can't figure out how to turn on the DSL at the apartment, even though all our neighbors have DSL (this took about a month of back and forth trouble-shooting).  Meanwhile, I'm still trying to get paid for work that I performed in December 2007, but my follow-up calls and emails for payment remain unreturned.  And, the topping on the cake: our downstairs neighbor is CRAZY (that's an all-caps CRAZY) and a total NIGHTMARE (of the Single, White Female Over Sixty variety).  There is MORE to all this insanity, but I'll spare you the details.  

But despite all this, there have been blessings.  And I'm happy to report that I (well, Laura really) found a fantastic editor who has been a pleasure to work with.  Thank you, Universe.  So Ricardo, the editor, calls me tonight and tells me that some of the footage was recorded at a rate of 59.94 fps, while the rest of the footage was shot at a 23.98 fps.  This is a problem, one of which is that sound will not sync properly with the different frame rates, plus it makes editing a b*tch.  So, we need to find a way to convert the scenes shot at 59.94 fps to 23.98.  The problem has a solution, but at what cost?  I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough.  So lesson here is, make sure that when you're shooting to keep your frame rates consistent.  Be anal and insist on getting it right during production, not in post.  

I found this nice quote tonight while surfing the internet (i.e., procrastinating) that I'd like to share with you.  It doesn't have anything to do with frame rates, or nightmare apartment stories, but it's inspiring to me:

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back--Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.  All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.  A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."  (for source of quote, see www.goethesociety.org/pages/quotescom.html)

We are committed to getting this film done.  Come hell or high water (literally)--bring it on baby!

Happy Valentine's Day from Dirty Virgin

In the Spirit of Good Karma

Please take some time to read the article below. I cringed as I read it (and I know Christine and Laura will too). In a much smaller, minute, miniscule, itty bitty scale (our budget was nowhere near what this was) it hit very close to home for different reasons.

This blog was supposed to be an honest account of the making of Love 10 to 1. In the last four years (it took about two to write, with writers and directors coming and going) we've endured a lot of hardships and met a lot of scummy people. In the spirit of Good Karma, we've refrained from blogging about certain experiences.

Christine, Laura and I got together last week and I urged them to blog. The subject of what should/shouldn't we blog about came up. Again, we decided that certain things should be kept private. Christine said her blogging would discourage other filmmakers, but we agreed that we should all blog about the unpleasant situations we've encountered. I'm just not there yet.

I promise that at some point, maybe when the film is completed, we will each take the time to share those experiences with our readers. We are not interested in discouraging anyone's dreams, just giving you a reality check on what it takes to put your money where your dreams are in order to make them come true.

With all of that said, we have also met AMAZING people along the way and collected an enormous amount of experience and resources.

At the end of the day I am grateful for it all.

xoxo,

Lucy

Don't F*CK w/SAG

My Sag rep almost gave me a heart attack the other day because he has not received my SAG paper work for the two days of shooting for Love Song. We played phone tag for about a 2 weeks. It was very hard getting through to him on the phone and the last message that he left me said something along the lines of being fined and getting an injunction put on the film EEEEEEEEEEEK!

This is the last thing any filmmaker wants to hear. I sent him an email letting him know that I had sent the paperwork and had the tracking number from the post office. I told him I had copies I could send him. The email was followed by another two calls and finally, on Monday we spoke.

All is good now, I can breathe again. He said I can send him the copies but I need to sign a few documents that they need originals of.

The almost heart attack is over and I'm grateful to my SAG rep for following up on the status of the project. So to all your actors out there, your union does work for you:-)

I love my actors and I would never mess with their union. Despite what Christine may have said on one of the earlier blogs, WE LOVE SAG.

xoxo,
Lucy

Our Cast - Part II - Love Song (Dirty Virgin's Gig)

Onahoua & The Fabulous Miss Wendy

Onahoua, The Fabulous Miss Wendy & Gerry - Where's Justin??

Onahoua & The Fabulous Miss Wendy

Onahoua


We are waiting on additional pics because apparently someone has all the pics of David Villar (Dustin). You can scroll down and see him with ME. Yes, I know, I'm the envy of all the girls but if you ask nicely, he'll hug you & pose for a picture with you too:-)

I have a hot pic of Justin taking his shirt off but I should ask him if it's ok to post yet another picture of him w/out a shirt - what do you say Justin?

xoxo,
Lucy

Our Cast - Love 10 to 1 (The first story) Jenny & her girlfriends

Ashley, Jesse, Shireen & Cazzie

Ashley, Jesse, Shireen & Cazzie

Jesse, Shireen & Cazzie

Christine directs the ladies



xoxo,
Lucy

Our Super Crew - Part I

The Camera Crew - Isaiah, Leah, Paul & Sandra

Grip & Electric - Casey, Jeff & Brian (Amy our script sup. in background)

Carrie the sound master

Leah

Sandra

Greetings Folks & Welcome to 2008

I’m very excited at the possibilities this year holds for me. Love Song will finally see the light of day. I’m so excited about that, I’ve lived with these characters for so long and it will be such a relief to FINALLY bring them to life. My actors are AMAZING and I deeply love and appreciate their contribution. Onahoua Rodriguez, David Villar, Justin Klosky, Daniella Alonso and Mari Marks are wonderful people and I am so blessed that they are still with me despite the length of time it’s taken.

During the last round of production I made a lot changes to the script. Changes that were not in the best interest of the story. After the first round of production, I went through a period of hibernation. I’ve seen Christine and Laura three times since November. Most of that time was spent getting my energy back and enjoying the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays.

In early December I re-read the script and IT SUCKED. I went back to the version that I intended on shooting and changed one of the scenes that took place in Dustin’s office. That scene now takes place at Shane and Dustin’s house. The day we had the office, I was not able to shoot my scenes and we were not going to be able to go back to that location. I guess things happen for a reason because the story is where I need it to be and having that scene take place in the house makes more sense.

Our production guru Brian Sorbo gave me a great piece of advice. He told me that “You never get to go back to your projects...time pushes on relentlessly. What you do now you live with for the rest of your life, so it is imperative that you speak with your true voice. You must live your life and create your projects from your heart. Nothing else will survive. The things that you do from your heart will feed you throughout your life.” He’s right. I will carry this with me forever because it’s so true.

I got swept up in the momentum of certain situations and I lost sight and sound of my voice. With so many people telling you so many different ways to do something you sometimes forget to ask yourself how to get it done. You should listen to the advice of others but you must trust your instincts and follow your heart and mind. The best way to sum it up is to heed Polonius' advice to his son Laertes in Hamlet; “This above all: to thine own self be true”.

I am also super excited because I heard the song that The Fabulous Miss Wendy wants me to shoot a video for. In exchange for using her song in my film, I told her I’d shoot a video for one of the songs on her upcoming album. The song is called “Jailbait”. I’ll let you know when it’s on iTunes. I sent her two treatments and I’ll see which one she likes. Jenna Edwards is going to produce that for me. Jenna and I want to shoot 3-4 videos for bands we know and use that to generate work directing and producing music videos.

I did not make any resolutions this year, except to keep on working towards my goals.

I hope 2008 proves to be a successful year for all. Onward & Upwards

xoxo,

Lucy

It's All In The Starzzzz!

Christine is a Pisces; Lucy, Laura and about 75% of the Love 10 to 1 cast & crew are bullish (Taurus). Here's what 2008 holds for Christine, Lucy & Laura (at least according to the cosmos). Not a Pisces or a Taurus? See what the stars have in store for you in 2008. http://www.astrology.com/year/

Taurus
OVERVIEW: Grounded and practical Taurus will experience extra boosts of optimism and find time to bring creative projects to the forefront, this year. Your personal needs will be met the more you tune into your spiritual side, and your growth will be directly connected with your ability to accept your deep philosophical transformation. You will continue to work out how you can use your creative side to improve your finances.
Methodically organizing your perceptions as they come to you will enhance your career. Weighing choices carefully as they arise before making decisions will be very important, this year. Take advantage of this expansive time and act upon your desire to enroll in new classes. You could greatly benefit by finishing that degree or get that certificate you've been working on. Likewise, educational trips and romantic vacations exploring different philosophies and arts will give you insight and help you jumpstart your projects and articulate new ideas. You derive nourishment and balance taking sojourns to the mountains or lakeside retreats. You will also benefit by sharing the creative wisdom you have acquired, and see results as your ideas are folded into mainstream values.
This is a good time to follow that urge to express your deep inner changes in your personal growth and publish or write your own books. You enjoy sharing your musical talents, and creating a new musical piece is a very strong possibility. You can be very successful in expressing your higher principles, whether it is work related or community oriented. Expect monetary returns when you put your ideas into practice.

CAREER: You will spend most of this year exercising your creativity and helping others, which will bring you great financial rewards and success. A high-minded and productive energy will focus your emotional sensitivity to the needs of your co-workers and associates. Your expansive ideas will serve humanity in a bigger way through understanding your own basic needs. You find, as you channel your creative talents, you easily come upon opportunities to be of service to others.

You need to continually work on clearly communicating and promoting your ideas and surrounding yourself with a team of people to support them. You are a hard worker and expect others to help and do their share. With all of these gifts, a position or power or promotion is likely. In this leadership position, you will find a platform for teaching others how to succeed. By the end of the year, all of these changes will lead to the financial rewards you seek, leaving you in a much more secure financial position.

Pisces
OVERVIEW: Pisces thrives through creative transportation and unique social experiences. There will be changes in the way you develop your inner-self, this year. Your ability to multitask will continue, as you become involved in more humanitarian projects. You have tremendous vitality and courage, and a healthy sense of who you are. You usually put your best foot forward, and are possessed by an innate charm and magnetism. You love being physically active, usually with others. You learn to take more responsibility by being diplomatic and tactful.
Your capacity for childlike wonder is a wonderful creative outlet. Sometimes, you may feel an unconscious pull toward an objective or goal that you do not fully understand. You also may be tempted to participate in many activities just to be involved for the social aspects of being around fun-loving people. Your task is to attempt to make conscious choices in these areas, and to become more aware of your true objectives based on your own values and goals, independent from the approval of others. Find happiness by connecting with your higher self, and by helping people to move closer together.

CAREER: You are very attracted by variety in your career and enjoy having a profession in the arts. You have a natural grace and compassion working with people, and they appreciate and respect your help and wisdom. Your creative imagination needs to be indulged when you take the time to meditate and recharge your emotional energy. You love expanding your consciousness and passionately desire to bring your higher ideals and visionary philosophy to mainstream.
Travel and the exploration of your utopian ideals help to bring your vision and work to the world. You have a great passion for using your dreams to reflect truths about reality and a natural ability to teach and share with others. This year will be about learning the best ways to direct this energy to help others. Your insight is grounded in reality and you create harmony in your work, mainly because of having the same purpose and visions as those you collaborate with.
For this reason, it is important that the people you surround yourself with share a collective vision and goal. By the end of the year, you may go through many internal changes in the course of pursuing your vision. You are a real powerhouse, and enjoy being your own boss.

Gratitude & Reflection

For me, December has always been a time for reflection and a time to write down all I am thankful for. I am grateful every day for all I have, but at Christmas I have always taken stock of my good fortune and I make an extra special effort to let the universe know how appreciative I truly am. I was raised Catholic so no pc bs from me, I LOVE CHRISTMAS and I also love St. Pattie’s day but that’s more from being a NYer and loving the color green than anything religious, oh and Halloween, those are my favorite holidays but Christmas is by far, my favorite. One of the things I’m most grateful for is the fact that we FINALLY started shooting. I am grateful for all the people who contributed to getting us here. The support of our friends and family was invaluable and our cast and crew are an amazing and talented group of people. I will forever be grateful for everybody’s support and encouragement.

So this being a blog about our film, I wanted to share with you what this film means to me, the story rather than the making of. Someone asked me what the three stories mean to me and if I can relate to the characters, especially the ones I didn’t write. The answer is yes, I can relate to Jenny as much as I can relate to Shane and as much as I can relate to Jim (Laura’s and my version of him). My friend was not surprised that I related to characters I wrote but found it odd that I would be as passionate about characters I didn’t write. I explained to her that the appeal of the film is that the characters are universal and can speak to everybody because these characters want what we want.

There are three stories that make up Love 10 to 1. The film delves into the lives of three individuals who all want the same thing, LOVE. It’s about the people they come in contact with, and the coincidences that bind them. Even though they live in this big city, they cross paths with each other, frequent the same places and on occasion, interact with the same people.



Jenny is constantly surrounded by friends, family and strangers, yet, there’s something missing. For me, this first story represents the vast world we live in and our quest for happiness.



While Shane’s life as an up and coming rock star has her interacting with a bigger world than Jenny’s, she limits her personal life to people that she trusts; her band, her manager and her roommate. It represents the smaller world we create for ourselves. This story is about realizing that sometimes, what’s missing is usually right in your own back yard.



By the time we get to the last story about Jim, Shane’s guitar player, the world is even smaller, much more personal and raw. When Jim, the groupie magnet randomly meets Jenny, the 29 year old virgin they both come to realize that while their lives and experiences are substantially different, neither can pass up what could be a rare chance for a heartfelt connection. It’s about carpe diem, seizing that moment and staying there for as long as you can.



For me, the film is about opening yourself to the possibilities that the universe sends your way. It’s about being aware of opportunities and realizing that most of the times, what you want most has always been there. It’s about accepting those rare encounters when they are presented to you and seizing that moment. People who come from a different place, physically and emotional can get along and even fall in love. A relationship with a foundation built on tolerance, compassion, and understanding can lead to a lifetime of happiness no matter what your bliss is.

So with this sappy sentiment, I hope you all have a Great Holiday, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Joyous Kwanzaa and a Fantabulous Festivus.

xoxo,
Lucy

In Case You Are Wondering What We Look Like

Christine, Lucy, Shireen & Laura

Who Cares How Much It Costs!

“Who cares how much it costs, you’re doing it Lucy, this is something you’ve been trying to get off the ground for years” a quote from my friend Bob (an actor and future director). This was his reply to my bitching about how much $$ I’ve spent to shoot two days of my film. He’s right though. I’m so grateful that I’m one of the lucky few who actually gets to pursue their dreams. Christine and I have had this conversation before, usually after we bitch about $$. This is how we justify all the money we are spending on following our dreams and achieving our goals.



I need to come up with the rest of my funding to finish shooting in March. I’ll also need money for post, traveling to festivals, and of course marketing. However, for right now I’ll be happy to get money to finish shooting in March. I need to have ½ the money by mid January and then the other half by mid February. I want to have all my $$ in the bank by mid February in order to shoot in March. There’s no way I’m going at it not knowing where the money is coming from like this last round. The funny thing is that the money came, very last minute but it came. I will spare myself that headache. I do want to have the film shot by mid April and then it’s off to editing.

Speaking of editing, we’ve been having a hard time finding someone good to work within our budget. We can’t afford one editor to do all three shorts. Laura was going to ask for a favor from an editor friends and see if he could give her a somewhat affordable rate. That hasn’t panned out too well so at this point, at least Laura and I are planning on doing our own rough cuts and then handing that to an editor to polish.

My good friend Tara Veneruso who runs MoviesByWomen and The Edit Studio is kind enough to let me use her space in her spare time so I can learn to edit. It’s something I’ve been putting off for a while but I feel strongly that directors should learn to edit. Not that they should edit their own films but it’s a skill you should have.

I’ll be at the mercy of my friends and family again and hopefully they’ll be as generous as they were the last time.

Maybe I should buy a money tree. Here’s to fundraising and learning to edit.

Lucy

A forward motion...

Although there is a lot of work to be done on the film, I feel a sense of forward motion and completion.

I have now had the chance to work with all three, amazing, creative, smart, talented, fun, but very different directors. We have shot almost all but 30 percent of the film from my understanding (I could be wrong) but that's what it feels like. I have gone through an experience that has changed my perspective on film making and acting as a whole.

All three of these ladies have a very specific idea of what they want and I think they are going about it in such a positive and collective manner. It can not be easy to constantly get what you want but whether or not Christine, Lucy and Laura are they are making the cast, crew and entire production team, in my opinion, feel like that is the case.

I am excited to see what comes of the footage we have shot thus far and eager to start work again in March. Until then...happy and healthy holidays.

JBK

I Wonder If They Would Have Sued Me?!?!

I LOVE the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They are one of my favorite bands. The original title for Love Song was Californication. I wanted to pay homage to the group, but also, Cali, is the character who tries to come between Shane & Dustin.

The day I saw the billboards all over Sunset Blvd. announcing the new Showtime series I was pissed. I kept thinking, if only I could have gotten my act together sooner and done my film. My other thoughts were mean; I hope it sucks, I hope no body watches etc. Then I decided to change the name to Love Song because there are two songs in the film with the same title. One is by The Fabulous Miss Wendy and the other one is by J.K. Music (Love Song, Yo!).

I have to say that I was shocked when I saw the article below. I figured that I could get away with naming my short Californication because the reality is that my film would never be competition for the band or take away from their earnings. I do agree that the title/name Californication was made famous by the band regardless of what the show's creator says.

I don't disagree with the band's action, particularly because it sounds like they were never consulted and the Showtime series has referred to Dani's character as Dani California on a number of occasions. I do like the show, it's well written and well acted. I'm surprised that Showtime or the show's creator never bothered to consult the band. They seem like pretty cool guys and if approached properly, they probably would have been on board.

My next film will probably be the short version of Take The A Train - I took the title from a song by Charles Mingus. The film takes place in Washington Heights where the A train is the iron horse of choice. I hope his estate does not put an injunction on my film!

I love music and everything I've written has been named after a song. Am I in trouble?

What do you think?

Lucy




The Red Hot Chili Peppers sue Showtime

By the Associated Press
November 20, 2007
The Red Hot Chili Peppers on Monday sued Showtime Networks over the name of the television series "Californication," which is also the name of the band's 1999 album and a single on it.

The lawsuit alleges unfair competition, dilution of the value of the name and unjust enrichment, claiming the title is "inherently distinctive, famous ... and immediately associated in the mind of the consumer" with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

"Californication is the signature CD, video and song of the band's career, and for some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right," said the band's lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, in a statement.

The television series stars David Duchovny as a novelist suffering from writers' block and a mid-life crisis.

The show features a character named "Dani California," which is also the title of a Red Hot Chili Peppers song released in 2006, according to the lawsuit.

The suit also names the show's creator and executive producer, Tom Kapinos, and two production companies, Twilight Time Films and Aggressive Mediocrity, Inc.

A call Monday to an attorney for Showtime was not immediately returned. Attempts to find a listing for Kapinos were not successful.

The suit seeks a permanent injunction barring Showtime and the other defendants from using the title "Californication" for the show, damages and restitution and disgorgement of all profits derived by the defendants.

In July 2007, Kapinos told reporters at a Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills that he first heard the term in reference to Oregon.

"Apparently in the '70s there were bumper stickers that said 'Don't Californicate Oregon,' because Californians were coming up there, and I just thought it was a great, great title for this show," said Kapinos.