The Movie Palace Expands

Last night I made dinner for a few crew members: Marcella, Alex and Keturah. We were joined by Carol-Anne McChrystal and her boyfriend Andy.
I had been wondering how best to take advantage of Alex's and Keturah's involvement. They're both so multi-talented, and were so instrumental in so many different ways in helping The MVM complete Une Fleuve Maudit, that I really wanted to be sure I had them both in positions where they could cover as many areas as possible. To that end Alex is actually going to serve as Assistant Producer. He's ideal for this role because of the breadth of his knowledge of film production and post-production. He is a master of Final Cut, DVD Studio Pro and ProTools. He is faboo with any computer. And he is highly skilled with sound and video gear of all sorts. Having him on hand to assist with the filmmaking as well as the theater's sound and video installation will be invaluable.

Keturah will be working with Carol to create a classic movie palace ceiling for the theater. Individually Carol and Keturah are incredible makers with broad and fabulous visions. Together I am certain they will be able to create a tableau for the ceiling that will be as stupendous as any in theater history. We are discussing casting embossed ceiling panels with a space theme. These will be painted and hung with a variety of crystals, stars and other magnificent decorations to transform the ceiling into as phenomenal a vision as the seats and film itself.
I had been toying with different ways to get Carol onto the project. The idea of her and Keturah creating a ceiling is, I think, ideal for their fabulous skills.

As well, The MVM's good friend, and incredible filmmaker, Skye Thorstenson will be back from his NYC sojourn in time to join the crew. Skye is a master of FCP and AfterEffects. He wrote and directed the amazing film The Elk Hotel. Having Skye onboard to handle special effects is going to make Disembody a fabulously watchable film.

This morning I sent my lawyer and my copy editor a second draft of the proposal for the two distribution houses. They should get back to me tomorrow. Then on Monday we can get that sent off and see what happens.

As well, another company I can't talk about openly yet, is a mobile sound producer who may let us use their mobile sound studio to produce the soundtrack. If they come onboard, well that will be pretty fabulous. We'll get a very high end soundtrack CD produced and ready for the film by opening night for certain with their co-operation.

That's all for today. I got a lead on a set designer who may be able to put together the architectural elevations and 3D renderings. I'll follow that up later today.

More good news

In today's news, I wined and dined Alex Lukas and Keturah Cummings last night, and both are onboard for Disembody. This very good news for the project. Both are technically saavy and exceedingly skilled at camerawork. More importantly, it was Alex and Keturah who stepped in at the last minute in May and poured every minute of their free time into Portal 3. There is absolutely no way that Portal 3 would have been finished on time if it had not been for Alex and Keturah.
(It should also be noted, since we're giving out cred where cred is due, that my sister was the third part of the trinity that stepped in at the last minute and helped The MVM pull off a spectacular show/performance in May.)

Alex and Keturah not only helped with tech, like setting up DVD players and TVs in ridiculous configurations, they sewed a curtain at the last minute to shroud the space; they built doorways and secure equipment shelves; painted; and heaven knows what else.

Securing their involvement makes me feel much better about Disembody. As it stands, I believe they are going to be camera crew. Realistically, we are going to be working brutally long days, and I'm going to need more than two camera people. Brining in Alex and Keturah means Amy and Marcella get breaks.
Truthfully, I think it means I have a crew large enough that everyone can take breaks. Everyone except Chadwick, he's the director. Directors get all the credit, so they get no breaks.

As well, I spoke with Nate, glassblower and friend, and he is meeting me next Friday to discuss making the bottles for the signature scents that will be for sale at the concession stand. So, all is moving along at a healthy pace.