Back in the USS A
Crazy week indeed. Frrrrreezing temperatures in Europe, crazy schedules, lost flights and suitcases, panels and roundtables, tours and studios, casting calls, late-night, hungover 3 hour budget discussions; all, I would love to say, in good fun given the spirit of the season, but in reality, it got a little stressful. On our way there, we missed a connection and had to have been in the studios where we shall be shooting our comedy the very next day. Didn’t happen. Instead, we were stuck in an airport hotel under arctic temperatures, waiting for the first flight out so that I wouldn’t also miss a round table I was speaking on. Didn’t happen. I missed it. That was the beginning of a whirlwind tour of Europe where we cancelled one of our destinations, missed a connections and re-did our schedule like five times.
In general however, it was very productive. Our partners in Europe, (this is where it gets important) who we were a little apprehensive about their lack of experience, turns out are very productive and were the only ones actually shooting a movie at a studio where we also want to shoot our film. The pressure is actually on us. Our lackadaisical casting process is catching up to us. And although we have the number one casting agent in the UK working for us, we should’ve wrapped the names already a long time ago. Now we’re moving in the right direction, but am hoping still for more speed in getting everything going. You see, in the independent world and at our level, specially on movies of this sort, it sometimes comes down to exactly where you can apply the right pressure. In this case, the pressure is on us, we have to deliver cast that we have promised. In that regard, once we start being able to confirm names, THEN, the pressure shifts, and trust me, I will apply it hard. Once I have the names, our partners then have to deliver, both in Europe and here in the US. I’m waiting for that moment but I need to make sure everything is correct and proper before I do that.
As I’ve said before, on our comedy, I’ve become a little frustrated with our partner’s slowness here, but then, as a producer you decide to either go on or not. In this case we decide to go on, knowing full well about the potential shortcomings our partners have now shown. We believe in the project and must strap on for the ride.
But now, I will sleep. Jet-Lag is proving heavy.
