Day Four was yet another day of Billy and Kevin in the Barn...this time, scene 55 where the chess game really begins. Poor Kevin has been lying or sitting on a concrete floor and hog-tied to a post with manila ropes for days. He is the MVP of this week for sure. Never once did he complain, say no to anyone's request, or ask for any special treatment, all week. The man is a hero of the shoot. His performances make me cry daily with their beautiful, heartfelt, full-bodied power. He is utterly gracious and kind to every person here. He, in the way of well-raised Texan men, sometimes calls me, and the other ladies on set, "Ma'am". It melts every crew member he says it to up here, but then again so does his entire polite, generous, sweet manner and utterly brilliant talent. His antagonist, Billy, has been incisive, terrifying, multi-layered and astonishing in performance, and hilarious off-camera. The man is a force of nature. I cannot say enough about these two, or about our brave, dust-blown, sweating, yellow-jacket-dodging, ever-so willing and talented crew. I am pinching myself. I actually get to work with these two!!!!!!!!! And with many of my friends from "Camilla Dickinson", though not all because the crew is much smaller this time of course. We have...count them...ONE P.A...for example...Super-P.A. Tom... My wonderful Tallis drove my car over last night and was on set today, which made me the happiest of mothers. I had a fun day working and coming out of the Barn to get to (sadly only briefly) visit with him. He had to catch a plane at 4pm...I was very sad to see him go, as he goes back to college in 3 days. Billy and Kevin, who have little kids, commiserated. After an incredible day of work, in which all my dreams came true and were exceeded by miles; T.J., Tony, Marc, Pete and I went out scouting to replace a location we had lost...and I came home and showered, and now Sarah and I are watching dailies before crashing. I am utterly and completely grateful for the rather sudden chance to do this amazing script with these incredible people. This is the shortest Pre-Pro that Larry and I have done (3 weeks!) and will have to be a pretty darn speedy edit also. But, miracle of daily miracles, I get to go back to work at 6 am tomorrow with two of the best actors working today. God bless them! God bless this crew!

Nearing the End of W.O.R. Pre-Pro

Getting super exciting! ("This is the exciting part, Corrie" - famous daily Larry quote for about a month) After working so long, we are approaching Day One of Principal Photography on Tuesday:)) The past couple of days we did so much that it was almost mind boggling. Tech Scout and Production meeting on the same day (!), then shot-listing, and going through the script with Tony and T.J., creating our pink pages, and poor Larry and Sarah and Mary and Marc and Terry wrestling and wrestling with SAG, who have stiff and incredibly-tough new demands suddenly...Critter and I sorting wardrobe...making hostess items...everyone doing three jobs, as the crew is so small... so it goes. Mr. Zane arrives tomorrow night...we are about to actually make a movie!!! Tonight the out-of-town folks, with no families in town (Larry, Tony, T.J., Critter, and me) barbecued in my rental house back yard. Tony made SCADS of meat to eat all week long - smartie that he is. I am full of excitement and terror. I know that, as always, I won't sleep Monday night, as I never do the night before First Day. Also I need to be at work at something like 5:30 a.m. for TJ and I to go catch scenics. Good times!

Day 13 of W.O.R. Pre-Production

I realized that I should tell my prayer partners, who have not heard from me in this blog in nearly a year, how the Eternal Nine Days of Casting Hell that they were praying for finally turned out! At long last we have deal memos with Billy Zane, Kevin Alejandro, and Mariana Klaveno. I could not be more thrilled to work with these wonderful, talented, gorgeous, generous people. As the last deal memo was made only yesterday, I was given their email addresses at that time, and have had nice correspondence with them. The wonderful Kevin Alejandro has even run all over Vancouver, where he is shooting "Arrow", on his own time, while not on set, and has helped us out with hair and makeup and wardrobe concerns. I already love working with him! Today on the phone he said "This movie is probably as important to me as it is to you." See why I adore him? T.J. Williams, my D.P., and I have been shot-listing and having a blast planning the show, and today we went out to the farm, just the two of us, and planned the tricky bits, including all the fights. My third time scouting the farm was my favorite one, even if the skinny barn cat that I always want to rescue never stopped head-butting T.J.'s and my ankles. We found a shot for a very crucial sad scene that made my tear up when I told it to Larry after the scout. YAY! We roll cameras at around 6 am a week from yesterday, August 27th! I am so excited! I have been strangely not too pumped, but more worried and null, emotionally, for weeks, with all the stress. But it is finally starting to sink in, after such a harrowing first nine days of Pre-Production, that we are actually going ahead and doing this. After a year and a half of planning, money-raising, and most importantly, working with our incredibly-talented writer, Meagan Daine, we have our cast, we found our last location today, and we are, God-willing, set to go in a week!!! I have been living in my little rented house for several weeks, and am finally settling in, though it is gonna be a boarding house for girls quote soon, as all the bedrooms will be full at various times, which is fine; we all have a door to close. Critter Pierce, our Wardrobe Designer, is living with me for one week, and Sarah moves in Friday. Various actors and other folk will stay in the non-Sarah bedroom, and in the laundry room, during the shoot. It will be wacky... Praise the Lord indeed. We are actually making a movie. I almost believe it, after so long not being able to... ((Picture is of Vince De Felice, rock star Art Director, and I plotting a scene in the house on my wonderful office chalkboard wall..))