Loss

Thanks for being patient during the most trying time of my life. After 2-weeks in the hospital my mother passed away 2 days ago. I love her with all my heart. She is missed so much. She helped so many people during her lifetime. I am grateful to her for all she taught me over the years. She always put herself second when it came to her loved ones. She would not want me to grieve though it is impossible not to. But I get some comfort knowing that she lives. I love you mother.

With that said I plan to honor her wishes by trying to get things rolling around Blue Volcano Productions.

I will email all you soon.

I deleted my old Facebook account and now have a new one. Please join me at
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003077642417

Hope to set up auditions and meetings soon.

Take care

Personal situation

I'll be brief. There is an ongoing family situation that demands most of my waking hours. I have set aside everything for a couple of weeks, at least, to deal with it. I hope to shoot this horror movie in February. I will get back on the emails as soon as I can. Thanks for your understanding.

Please be patient...

I have not yet had time to answer all the inquiries I've gotten regarding Devil's Vein, Blue Volcano Productions next horror shoot. I've had a lot of non-movie-making things to take care of the past few days so please bear with me. That goes for cast & crew prospects. I'm thinking that if all goes half-way as expected I might begin the process of answering the emails tomorrow.

If you are one of the actors/actresses who have not sent me a head-shot and body-shot, please do so. I won't bother sending you any dialogue without those photos. Thanks everyone who has responded. You are all appreciated.

I'll keep it short this evening.

A possible February shoot?

This evening I had to cancel my ad searching from crew members for my upcoming horror production because I had gotten so much response. I've yet had the time to answer everyone's email so please be patient if it takes a few days. I truly wasn't expecting to generate this amount of interest.

I plan to pick my cast by the end of November. I've decided not to rush this thing because I think it can be big if done properly. I want to test my special effects and get them right. I hate corny-looking special effects and prefer to brandish as much realism in the movie as possible. On a small budget it might be difficult but we'll see what I can do.

Once a cast is chosen and the ink is dry on the contracts ensuring me of their warm bodies for the 3 days that I need them, I will break the script down into shots, etc. In a day or two I will move into revision mode and go through 2 or 3 revisions of the script before releasing it in its entirety to the cast and crew.

I've asked a good friend to join me with this production and he has indicated that February might be the earliest he would be able to make the trip to North Carolina. I'm contemplating the pros and cons of waiting this long to begin production but it would allow me to work on raising funding and experimenting with the special effects. I'd really like to have him on the set so what was originally a December shoot might become a February shoot. Such is the life of independent filmmaking. I love it. This will simply give everyone time to clear their schedules for the days I need them. More on this topic when I've made a decision.

Tonight I'm about to fix myself a hot cup of tea and get on with the script. I'm already tired so I probably won't be up past 1 am tonight.

Welcome new crew, looking for others

I want to welcome Erik to the team. Thanks for meeting up with me today in Asheville. You are a great addition to the crew.

I am still open to one or two more individuals.

However, a note to any interested parties - if you say you are going to meet me then meet me. If you cancel on a commitment to meet with me for a mere few minutes, how can I trust that you will show up for 3-4 days in a row? Answer: I can't and I won't. That goes for cast or crew. I don't play games. You know upfront what you are getting and I want to know what I am getting. There are too many dependable individuals out there like Erik to choose from to play games. Period.

With that said, I am building enthusiasm for this project like never before. My first movie took nearly a year to complete, shooting off and on trying to accommodate all schedules. Never again. My second movie was a lot of fun and it too was challenging in that most of the production was shot in 3 days but then I had only 1 main character and 2 supporting characters. This horror movie will have much more depth and breadth. What is common throughout my experiences as a filmmaker is that you always leave knowing that you have made lifetime friends. It's awesome. I would do anything in my power for those who have participated in my projects, not as payback for their help but because of the kinship formed during production. It is a family atmosphere.  

I need to respond to 6 more individuals who want to help out on this production. I wish I could say yes to each of them who have great personalities and attitudes but I can't. I just can't afford to say yes to everyone. So what I'm looking at more than anything is attitude. A great attitude goes further with me than a great resume. I can train someone with a great attitude but I can't give a great attitude to someone who has trained skills but lacks a great attitude.

Enough.

Plethora of talent appears

I finally feel as though I indeed won't die from this damn cold or whatever it was that has hounded me for days. I actually feel human again. Ah, to feel human again when one is not. Anyway, I even scheduled a couple of meetings for tomorrow. Some great prospects came in today for cast and crew. I'm eager to meet with this talent. I really feel positive about recent turn-of-events that have lifted a heavy weight off my shoulders. I feel as though I can go headfirst into this production and wrap it up a few days later with what I need to edit together a great horror movie. I'm very excited and part of that excitement comes from meeting new talented individuals.

For all those actors/actresses who have contacted me, I will soon email a couple of pages of the script to you so you can learn the dialogue. I don't need to hear a lot to know if you are the one of not to be cast in a particular role. I need to find a location in Asheville that will let me hold a very informal audition. I will give at least a 2-week notice so you can prepare and clear your schedule for that brief time. I feel if you can't accommodate me at this time, you probably won't be able to accommodate me for 3 days of production. Anyway, I appreciate your interest.

That's about it for tonight. Thanks and good night.

Script nearing completion

Though still feeling a little under the weather, I managed to work on my script for quite a while over the past two days. Funny how the characters seem to write the script and not me. A few scenes have been changed because they didn't feel right when I got to them. I am now comfortable that the story has become all it can be.

As stated in an earlier post, I may have to postpone the production to January or February if all my cards don't align. I will possibly need two additional crew members, a boom person and a production assistant. These two positions are a must before I set a definitive date to shoot. All else will fall into place. Though I'm happy to receive more portfolios and resumes I am confident that I can now fill my cast from the ones already received.

Today I plan to write more on my script and indulge in good coffee products.