Mostly Rain-Free in Fairfield

Today we had an extremely enjoyable shooting day in the lovely town of Fairfield, Washington went off with much relief, though the skies were very threatening; and at one point mildly did let loose. Mike Vukas showed up to say hi on his way back to Portland, and Grimm. The "kids" rode bikes through the town, laughing and being adorable. They chose a lamp and a bike by the "lawn" of the amazing Rita (Suzy Hunt). Then, too-soon, we had to go to lunch, which was in itself amusing, next to the Seattle contingent of Suzy, Hans Altweis, and Chuck Leggett. With whom we filmed scenes 1 and 2 of the movie, respectively. SO much fun to have Seattle friends here! Rich Cowan and Danny Heigh also shared a table with Chuck, which was a hoot. And tonight we just had a wonderful "Seattle wrap party", with Kevin, Mariana, Larry, Sarah, Suzy, Hans, and Chuck. Such fun; the mingling of different worlds. And now I am way too sleepy to stay up one more moment...it is supposed to rain tomorrow...hope it is wrong!

Small Town Life

Day 7 - So far the threatened thunderstorms have held off...please keep those weather-handling prayers coming! After yesterday's very tough and intense day in the barn, today we filmed in the sweetest small town ever, with the inimitable Billy, and the astonishingly-lovely and gracious Mariana (her first day), but also with three wonderful members of the Seattle theater/film tribe Carol Roscoe, Richard Ziman, and Scott C. Brown. I love them all SO much!!! And tonight we got the Keller Meets Rebecca scene at sunset...and they literally walked INTO the sunset, as their love story began...oh so very sweet... Then we had an incredible dinner at the E.J. Roberts restaurant, and as we were finishing a discussion of ghosts, angels, and flying saucers in Greece, three people walked by... our three day-player actors for tomorrow! Chuck Leggett, Hans Altweis, and Suzy Hunt! We had a fun reunion. We are in a very friendly town, that gets more wonderful in summer when eating outdoors in the warm air. Of course it started raining at the end but it was minimal, and the thunder and lightning were just lovely at night when not filming...praying hard that we get sun or at least lack of rain tomorrow... Tonight in honor of Mariana's first day working, the proprietress brought out a bottle of Prohibition-era Scotch that had been hidden in the floorboards of the mansion then. It does not get more surreal than that. We each got a tiny sip. Amazing. Back to town tomorrow. I can't wait. We get to film Kevin sans wig for the very first time, when he rides around town with Mariana on bikes, courting. And film the tribunal and hospital and yard sale scenes. Did I mention that I love my life? I so do. Miss my family tremendously, but I love. My. Life.

Letter to the W.o.R. Crew Today

Dear W.o.R. Dust Warriors, I really cannot thank you enough for being a part of this show. Through dust and through heat, through bees and through bondage (in Kevin's case), you are all utter champs. I know we are few, but it is my goal to someday, in reflection, have you say "We few, we happy few…" rather than... less…nice... things… Every one of us is bringing his or her "A-Game", and I could not be more grateful. I have never worked with a feature film crew this small, or this dedicated. You are all doing the seemingly-impossible, with utter skill, great grace and good cheer. You are very much my heroes. "And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day." I hope you are getting a little excited, as I am, about the amazing footage we are getting. We are getting it because of you. And for your reading pleasure, here is an article by our own Larry Estes:) http://rikaroo.com/sex-lies-and-videotape-1989/ Love you all more than sleep! Corrie www.kairos-productions.com

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..))

With Mom in Saint Joseph's Hospital

All is well for now from Saint Joe's in Bellingham. Mom had a mini- stroke early yesterday morning. Teresa did just the right thing and called the EMTs, who medivac-d Mom from Orcas to Bellingham, as I was simultaneously driving northward for an hour and a half to meet her in the E.R. She has had a moderately high heart rate, and is on 4 liters of O2. Has negative CAT scan and X-rays. Doctor Kim, her ER doc, offered her a carotid ultrasound or an MRI; she declined, as he said they would probably not tell us more. She is stable and lucid, feisty and clear as a bell, and there have been no other strokes here. Dr. Kim thinks she can go home tomorrow. I am flared up from sleeping on the Horrific Torture Couch of Hell here, and about to go mad from the fact that I can't have any sleep, they really do come in for some reason every five or ten minutes and they all shout. I spent nearly two weeks in Swedish Hospital with Mom in April, and two weeks two years ago, and did fine, but then again I had cots with some sort of back support. I may not make it another night here, I am in so much pain, and so sleep-deprived that I am near tears. I may have to go to a hotel at least while she sleeps. I hate leaving her but...yeah... It has been a very tough summer, with being fired two times, publicly and embarrassingly, and the other struggles that we have had. I am very low. Trusting that God can pull us back out of this tunnel, as is God's wont. I miss normal, or what passes for it in our crazy life. Terry is in three plays back to back until February. I have no job prospects, and a beautiful movie that has not sold. Yeah.