Working on last year’s Renaissance Guild/PDP co-production of Rumors was really an incredible experience, as you likely remember from my Rumors Control series. I’d learned so much, gained some great new friends, and was pretty sad to see it all end.
But now I get to go through it all over again. Continue reading
While the goal of all movies is to entertain, the kind of film in which I believe goes one step further. It compels the spectator to examine one facet or another of his own conscience. It stimulates thought and sets the mental juices flowing.
– Sidney Lumet (as quoted in his New York Times obituary)
At PDP, we have a reading list of essential books about the art, craft, and business of entertainment. A couple of years ago, during our Scene From Both Sides class, Nikki and I updated it for the students, and have kept up with it ever since.
I take that list pretty seriously. And when we were preparing it for that class, I knew that there was one book that had to be on it, the one book that for me is not merely essential, but necessary for everyone who’s serious about film: Making Movies, by Sidney Lumet. Continue reading
Given the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey nature of production schedules, it’s pretty standard for effect to precede cause when you’re putting a story on film. The cast, crew, and locations you need for Scene 3 might only be available before those you need for Scenes 1 and 2, so it’s often a necessity to work out of sequence. So it’s been with Three Yellow Roses.
Having filmed a steak dinner on our first day of production, Tuesday evening brought us to Green Fields Market to film the shopping trip before said dinner, and another trip taking place some time after it. Given that one of the themes of the film is the relationship between past, present and future, it seems fitting that our production schedule brings them together as it does. Continue reading
In the tongue of our trade, the last set-up is known as the Martini Shot. When we were working on La Vida de Noche, as Pete and Wes were setting up our first shot, I wondered if there was a similar name for that first set-up.
After last night, I may have to start calling it the Steak Shot.
The slate we’ll be using on our next film is a really nice affair. It’s a dry-erase clapboard (very like the one you’ll see to your left) that Nikki picked up at MPS Studios in Dallas as a birthday present in 2009.
And tonight we’ll be using it to call “action” on one of our projects for the first time. Continue reading
One of my earliest experiences in the PrimaDonna universe (or could I say “PrimaDonniverse”?) was a table read for a film then known as Dream Healer (which ultimately premiered as Dream Healing). It was a great experience, and looking back, the foreshadowing of the moment was so blatant only someone like me could have missed it, as I met so many people I’d ultimately come to know as friends and colleagues.
Among those actors (as the Dream Healer herself) was a girl by the name of Gabi Walker. I was genuinely impressed by the talent she showed at that reading, and even more impressed with her poise and character. So it was hardly a surprise to learn that she was one of Nikki’s students.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that working with kids was an important part of my PDP experience well before the beginning of it all. And as you’ve probably figured out from recent posts, that continues today. Continue reading
As you can likely see from my last couple of posts, the year to date has been one for expanding our creative horizons. And while I’ve been working on building my résumé as a practicing screenwriter, my boss has also found a new venue for her passions and mission… Continue reading
Writing is really, really, really difficult. Have I mentioned that recently? Difficult. There, I mentioned it again. DIFFICULT!!!
– given the post’s title, is it completely redundant of me to say this is from Steven Moffat?
It’s weird to see such a comment about writing coming from someone who’s so damn good at it. But as a writer who still classifies himself as Aspiring and therefore can’t believe he shares a calling with the guy who gave us the likes of “Blink” and “The Big Bang”, I hope I understand where he’s coming from. Continue reading
If you’re in San Antonio, it’s hard to think of a better place to spend New Year’s Eve than the roof of the Cameo Theatre. You get a great show, and if there’s room for you up there, you get a fantastic view of the downtown fireworks. Much as I loathe the term “bucket list”, seeing in a new year at the Cameo, alongside friends both old and new, really is one of those things you just have to do.
For me, standing on that roof last night, watching those fireworks unfurl, became a strange kind of meditative experience, much like staring into the candle. That moment when the old year and the new meet is one of the few times when you can simultaneously look back and look forward. And there was a lot to look back upon in 2010, just as I know there’ll be a lot to look forward to in 2011. Continue reading
The Little Carver Civic Center now bears no trace of the Brocks, Gormans, Ganzes, Cusacks, or Coopers. There’s nothing left for Officers Welch and Pudney to investigate. We struck the Rumors set today, and all the props and set pieces that helped bring the play to life have been taken down and returned to their respective places of origin.
Needless to say, it was a rather bittersweet two days. From the cast’s final bow yesterday afternoon, to our post-show celebration at Pappadeaux last night, to the drive home after returning the last of the props in my care, it’s been a time heavy with goodbye. And I kinda hate goodbyes, especially after the experience I’ve had these last two months. Continue reading
Lee Hurtado, Writer 