Me being me and all, I might have missed it entirely, but for a couple of notifications from my LinkedIn app that friends were congratulating me on my work anniversary.
That was the reminder that this week marks seven years that I’ve been working with Nikki and Chadd at PrimaDonna Productions, Inc.
Seven years… Continue reading
As I write this, I’ve just e-mailed Chadd and Nikki with the first draft of our play. Continue reading
Friday, 8:43pm…
I’m at my desk, notes in hand, going over my shot list, making sure I have everything I need – or at least a way to find it – for tomorrow.
Continue reading
Were I to put a lesson to the production of Magnolia, it would have to be that patience, persistence, and preparation ultimately pay off. (Were I to put a lesson to my blogging, it might be that I rely a little too heavily on alliteration – but that’s a post for another day…)
Over six weeks, we’d had to make occasional adjustments for locations, actor availability, and especially the weather. We’d faced drought one week, deluge the next. But Nikki and Chadd had brought a great team together, so we were able to keep moving forward, knowing that as long as we kept doing our work, it would still come together.
And in our last weekend of principal photography, it really did come together. Continue reading
It pretty effectively goes without saying that filmmaking, especially independent filmmaking, is a process of adjustments. The unexpected will happen; there’s no way around that. And while I’m not entirely convinced it’s possible to expect the unexpected – if you could, it wouldn’t really be unexpected, would it? – it’s still possible to prepare for it, to be ready to make the necessary adjustments to get the shot.
Over the last few days of production, Magnolia has been an object lesson in how to be ready. Continue reading
My first experience as a PrimaDonna production assistant (a PDPA, if you will) was on Dating Danielle, almost exactly 5 years ago this weekend. I have a lot of great memories of those 48 hours, but one of the greatest has to be the spirit that developed between cast and crew, as we all bonded while shooting on one of the hottest days of the year.
August is funny that way… Continue reading
While I’ve enjoyed my recent forays into performance (from Site 13 to Glamour in Glitter to my appearance at Texas Comicon), at heart I’m really a behind-the-scenes guy. I love the process, the work of making movies that most moviegoers may never see.
So I’m thrilled to be getting back to the other side of that camera for PDP‘s next project.
It’s been something of an arc in this blog (if blogs can be said to have arcs) that I really haven’t seen as much of San Antonio as I should have by my age. That’s pretty much all on me – in my younger years I wasn’t as interested in getting out and meeting people and experiencing the world. It took a little time, and some much-valued inspiration from friends, but I did ultimately choose the path of engagement. And I’d like to think I’m better off for it.
All of which should tag this post as #MakingUpForLostTime. Continue reading
Even the smallest art show is an ambitious undertaking. An art show with live models might be more so. And an art show with live models impersonating pop-cultural icons? To pull something like that off, you need great people at every level.
With Glamour in Glitter, we had them. Continue reading
In the last year, the concept of crowdfunding (most popularly defined as the idea of financing a project through internet donations and pledges) has quickly become a pop-cultural phenomenon. As a case study, I submit to you one Amanda Palmer, a singer/songwriter who launched a Kickstarter page ten days ago to help fund her next album; within about five hours, it had reached its goal of $100,000. As of this moment, with 20 days left, that album’s about 635% funded. I repeat, 635%.
The promise of crowdfunding is that it strengthens the bond between artists and fans/consumers, and allows them to share in the creative act in a way that I hope remains positive. As Palmer’s husband recently said, “I love the way that Kickstarter allows people both to be patrons of the arts and to directly support the creation and manufacture of the thing they want.”
All of which provides a nice teaser for what we’re working on right now… Continue reading
Lee Hurtado, Writer 