Working with Actors

Well I met with Jason Hildebrandt, Richard Johnston & Andy (damn, I forgot to get his last name again). We met at Jason & Andy’s and hung out and read the script over. It was pretty good. Some parts they read just great and others not so great but it was a cold reading since they hadn’t read the script over for a while.

The tough part of being a director is trying to get your actors to work within the bounds you’ve envisioned for their characters. I try to leave a wide latitude for the actors to explore in and create a unique character with. I’m open to and encourage any ideas the actors have for their parts. The tough part comes when you don’t feel a certain interpretation is right for the part. You have to say this in a way that tells the actor he did nothing wrong (there can be no wrong when it comes to acting) but you’d like to go in a different direction. Actually that’s easy to explain to Jason, Andy & Richard, they’re very intelligent, open guys who want the film to work as much as I do.

The problem comes when you’re on a set and something like that happens. You don’t want to panic an actor then, when things are not as calm as they are in a rehearsal. You as the director, have to keep everything cool and still get what you want. So I try to keep everything cool... no problem... let’s try it this way... you know? Anyway afterward I stayed to watch David Letterman because Jason had been in a skit called "Pointless Celebrity Cameos" starring Larry Bud Mellman, Tony Randall & Regis. It was really funny. After Jason is huge they’ll use that skit to embarrass him (Dave to Jason when he’s the next Tom Cruise: "You know you were on the Late Show once before, remember...?")

I still need more actors... it’s a priority. Jason said he and Andy would take care of getting me actors. I just have to send him a list of who I need. I’ll do that tonight, I hope, and fax it to him. It’s great having actors who do your casting for you, you know? I just have to stay on top of it so it does get done. They’re great guys.

I talked to a woman from Poughkeepsie who might be able to work on the film. She was listed in the Hudson Valley Film Guide as a PA, Sound Person and Script Supervisor (all jobs I still need to fill). The only problem is she has a job during the week and can only work on the weekends. That’s the same story with my friend Cesar Johnson who was the DP for the six minutes of film I shot for Strangers in a Car. He’s going to Asst. Camera for The Pig Farm but he can only work on weekends also. It’s going to be tough crewing this one. I might have to import people from NYC. And that’s going to cost me... oh boy.

I still haven’t heard from Desiree, the woman who provided fantastic sound on the Six Minutes. I called her twice but she hasn’t called back yet. I’ll call her again tonight.

I stayed home today (I was exhausted from staying up last night after getting back from Jason’s and checking my e-mail). Luckily I had an awesome dream around 2:30pm that will make a great movie one day. That made my laziness totally worth it. Thank God (I feel guilty about such a lack of work today). Anyway I gotta go cook dinner and get to some work tonight. I’ll hopefully finish a schedule for the film tonight. Oh crap, I’m supposed to meet a friend tonight to hear about his feedback for the film... hmmm... He might even invest some money... hmmmm... shit, I’ll probably meet him next week (he said that was OK too). It’s raining really bad out... shit. Oh well. Later.