Bedtime with Jimi

Not my Jimi, but that other Jimi.

I'm just listening to this lulling rendition of Red House, and it is totally putting me to sleep. Of course, chainsaws could probably put me to sleep right now.

I'm in love with Jimi Hendrix. I can't think of any singer who has a sexier voice.



Sweet dreams all. Tomorrow's a big day for us. We finally get to meet our Donovan. Fortunately we're too exhausted to be star struck. I just hope I don't yawn when I meet him. ;) *Yawn* (Seriously, I just yawned....) I need sleep.

Goings-Ons

They're auditioning our Kit short-lists in the next room, and it sounds like a real domestic disturbance in there! Ha!

Jim n' I were very careful to omit any f-bombs from our script because we didn't want an R-rating. But I tell ya, those Kits really seem to love dropping 'em in there. Especially the guy whose auditioning right now. He keeps leaning against my office door too. I'm just waiting for it to pop open. Ack! I hope it doesn't!

Anyhow, there are so many things to share, each one deserving it's own post. But it's been another busy, busy week, and I'm friggin' tired, and can't be bothered to write coherently. So I'm just gonna take the liberty to ramble, if that's alright with you. I'll try to hit the high points.

Ummm.... okay. So, BG came in on... Tuesday... I think. Yeah, Tuesday.  He is awesome. In all (and by "all", I mean "both") the movies I've seen him in, he plays a pretty serious guy. But in real life, he's totally not that guy. He's bursting with energy and very comical. He talks fast, peppers his conversation with different accents and dialects just for fun, and sometimes smacks his gum in a Burt Reynolds caricature sort of way.

I also like that he's a 'modest' vegetarian. In other words, he's not the kind of person who makes a big deal about what he will and won't eat. Instead, when speaking with one of our producers about this Saturday's cast n' crew dinner (which will be held at her house), he told her not to go out of her way special ordering something for him. He's fine just eating salad or whatever else is there. Of course, there's no way that would ever happen! But the fact that he didn't want anyone to fuss over him, I thought was incredibly cool.

Anyhow, he hung out in our little office for about a half hour or more chatting with Jim n' I, which is when I almost had the most embarrassing moment ever! He wanted to borrow my laptop to show us this neat little video he made, and I accidentally left my porn folder open....

Hahaha! Just kidding. No, I had my internet browser minimized which was left on FB, and only an hour earlier I had updated my status to "I met Finnley and he is SO nice! And funny too." Fortunately as he scrolled his cursor over the minimized icon, he said, "Oh, Facebook. I don't want to open that." Thank gawd! I would've felt like such a loser if he saw my status was about meeting him. Maybe I should stop updating my FB status from work, and just stick to blogging. ;)

*Jesus! The Kit in the other room just banged hard on the wall, almost giving me a heart attack! A lotta emotion in that room. (And more improvised f-bombs...)*

Alright. I have more to say, but I also have work to do... So... I'm just gonna publish this post for now and continue rambling about other random goings-ons later.

Spoke Too Soon

Just three quick follow-ups to yesterday's post.

1. We found a solution to our VFX conundrum this morning, by changing the scene to be more powerful in another way. Sometimes less is truly more.

2. I just realized that I never told you who we ended up choosing for our Maggie!

Sadly, Maggie # 3 couldn't dredge up the tears needed for the emotional climax. I was listening from the other room really hoping she'd get it, as Jim went through the scene with her four times. Each time she just ended up sounding very whiney and fake. (Sorry, that's not meant to sound as harsh as it does. But you get what I'm saying, right? Like when a kid pretends to cry and they make that whiney voice... Anyway... ) It's too bad, because the rest of her acting was very natural and our Sarah said she felt a real connection to her. We also felt bad because her mother said that she always loses out on parts to Maggie #1, because Maggie #1 knows how to bring on the waterworks. Unfortunately, this role was no exception.

Meanwhile, Maggie # 1's crew was over the moon. She's done a lot of TV movies, but I think this might be her first feature. Her mother had been calling the casting director for weeks, eagerly trying to find out if she got the part. So, good for her. She really is a talented lil' pro.

Actually, if you check out our IMDB page, you'll see that Maggie #1's agent posted her cute mug to our cast list this a.m. It's sort of neat to see new faces slowly appear on there. I'm sure there'll be a real influx of headshots this week.

3. Remember how I was saying that yesterday's commute was the longest ever? Yeah... well, we beat it today by a good 10 - 15 minutes. Almost 2 hours to get to work! Awesome!!

Okay, and now I really gotta get to work.

10 Quickies

1. Jim finally had a chat with DG on the phone today. But the reception was muffled, so it wasn't that great. So far he's had two long calls with BG, who again, seems like a super nice guy. I'm sure DG is too... just hard to get a meaningful vibe off someone when you can hardly hear 'em.

2. We checked out the wardrobe options today for Don, Fin, Sarah and Maggie. Love their colour schemes and their clothing choices! So much fun. Sarah has a few pieces that I wouldn't mind adding to my own closet... ;)

3. Speaking of, I got to meet our Sarah today when she came in for a wardrobe fitting. She's super sweet. She told me that she thought our script was really something special and that it gave her goosebumps. So that was obviously wonderful to hear.  (She had previously told Jim the same thing, but it's always nicer to hear things first-hand.) I think she'll be awesome.

4. We discovered today that our actresses playing Sarah and Maggie were also recently cast in another film together that was shooting this week. Jeez... what are the odds?! Pretty good, I guess. Vancouver's industry must be awfully small. Anyhow, we were worried that they were playing mother and daughter again, but later learned that our Sarah instead tries to harm Maggie in this other flick. Well, that's an interesting switch!

5. Tomorrow I start my first job with the props/set dec department. Alas, I won't be making volcanos (those were being made today while I tweaked the 'yellow' script). Instead, they asked me how I felt about writing the book "The Eternal Return". I'll probably only write 5 - 10 pages of nonsense, but it's still kinda fun. They showed me a print out of the cover design, which they're going to get embossed. So super cool! (Jim just pointed out that my name is actually on the cover as the author. I didn't even notice that! Ha! Even super cooler!)

6. Speaking of props/set dec, I got to check out the microfiche slides they made for our library scene. They wrote actual articles for them. I was impressed! Oh, how I love the props department. They look like they have the most fun.

7. Then again, it's not all fun n' games down in props. I know they're pretty stressed out tonight, as one of the scenes we intended to shoot last, now needs to be done on the first day of filming. In other words, next Monday! And due to budget constraints, we have to figure out how we can possibly pull off this particular scene without using any VFX , in case we end up needing to allocate that money elsewhere before we get to post.

Unfortunately, way too much dough-ray-me has gone into our locations, which means preparing to make sacrifices in other areas. Although, we did manage to say tohellwithya to the insanely over-priced bookstore and IGA in Fort Langely, as we've found two better locations in Pitt Meadows. Hooray for Pitt Meadows! Just another reason to allow things to turn out as they're meant to. I know that this VFX snag will work itself out too and that between my yellow script tweaks and our props department's creativity, we will find a way to make the scene work without them, if need be. (And who knows, if all goes smoothly, hopefully we will have money left over to add those VFX back in during post-production after all.)

8. Emmy makes crazy sounds when he plays with my hair elastics. I always know when he's playing with them, because it's the ONLY time he ever makes that really weird, loud clucking meow. Even though it's totally un-movie-related, I just thought I'd throw that in there because he's doing it right now and driving me nutty.

9. Also un-movie-related (but kinda not), we saw The Social Network on Saturday. Great flick!! (At least we thought so...)

10. I should blow-dry my hair before I go to bed, so I better go. But first, I will add that Jim n' I had the longest commute eva to work this a.m. I think it took us over an hour n' a half to travel what should only take a little over a half hour. Then, Jim was really hoping to leave the office by 4:00 today... but we were there until 8:00, as usual. I'm sooo sleepy. Let's hope tomorrow isn't a repeat. (Ha! Hope springs eternal!)

G'night!

In Da News

Well, today was pretty exciting in the sense that our movie has finally been made public! Yay!

While checking the web stats for our DE blog this morning, I saw that a couple other bloggers have written something about our movie. One of the blogs linked to a blurb in The Province that we weren't aware of. Coolio! (BTW, I'm not providing links to these other sites, because I don't want those other bloggers checking their web stats and then being linked back here. I'd rather keep this blog just between you n' you n' you n' me.)

Afterwards, Jim n' I had to run out to buy him some rain gear (for the inevitable weather he's going to encounter at some point while shooting), so we decided to grab a cheap breakfast at this little 1950's style greasy spoon. While waiting for a booth, we flipped open The Province to the entertainment section and staring us right back in the face was a pic of Danny, followed by the same little blurb posted in The Province online about movies being shot in the area. Fun!

When we got back home later on, I noticed that someone else had commented that they think our movie has a 50/50 chance of being good, which I think is a pretty fair wager, considering the number of deja vu themed movies that have come out these last few years, and the number that've been stinkers. Not to mention, movies are so subjective, we certainly don't expect everyone to like ours. Actually, Jim n' I are very well aware that many of our friends n' family wouldn't enjoy our movie if we weren't the ones who made it. (You can deny it all you want, but we know that most of you will be watching with biased eyes... and that's okay. ;)

Anyhow, the 50/50 comment ended on the note that Jim seems like an interesting guy. (I guess they listened to his interview on the blog?) This made us realize that now more than ever, people will have the freedom to openly trash or praise our art, publicly pass judgement on us, or say whatever else they please.

Fortunately, I don't care. I really love myself, (not in an "Aren't I great?" way, but more in a confident, "I don't give a flyin' fig what anyone else thinks of me" way), so I don't mind too much if someone doesn't like me or my art, because ultimately it doesn't matter.  I'm just hoping that Jim has/quickly develops the same sort of thick skin. I've been saying for years that when the time finally comes, we can't afford to care -- unless, of course, our movie is critically panned. In which case, we'll just have to chalk it up to a life lesson.

Anyhow, either way, we're about to enter a very interesting new phase in our lives - for better or worse. I'm counting on better though, because I live on the bright side like that. And really, anything that takes us closer to achieving our career goals is definitely better!

On a final note, Jim just noticed that our two stars have been posted on our IMDB page today. IMDB has them listed as "rumoured", but I can assure you that they've signed. ;)

Yay! Okay... NOW it feels real!!

Props

If I wasn't a writer, I'd totally work in props or set design. This is actually something I thought about over the years as our script evolved. How would each room look? What would be hanging on the walls, sitting on the table, hiding in the cupboards?

But I've never really had a full grasp of all the work and decision-making that goes into the props process. For example, when Maggie first meets Donovan, she writes something in her notebook. So the other day, our Props Master came into our office with ten different types of notebooks to choose from, with the offer to find some more options if none of them were working.

Then yesterday she approached Jim with a variety of options for calculators, saki cups, backpacks, lowball glasses and watches. Jim said he felt like Jerry Seinfeld in the episode where he was getting his kitchen renovated and the contractor kept asking him about every knob, hinge and screw. Still, I think it's very cool. You wouldn't think that something you hardly even notice would require a discussion, but it does. Definitely something to think about the next time you pop in a DVD or turn on the tube.

Now, sometimes it's as simple as a gut instinct. Like Jim said he liked the shape of the square lowball glass more than the round ones. But other times, broader discussions need to take place. For instance, I got to sit in on a set design meeting the other day, and it came up that there is supposed to be a cross hanging in Fin's kitchen - a geometric symbol that plays into our story in a completely different way later on. So the discussion revolved around what type of cross it is, as we analyzed the characters that we see on the page, as well as what we don't see, but what comes out in the character bios I've written.

At first they suggested a crucifix, but Jim n' I disagreed. Fin's not Catholic, nor is he a super religious man. Jim said that he sees Fin kinda like "Simpson's religious". He goes to church on Sundays, but is not holier-than-thou like the Flanders. Whereas I saw him more as a slightly more casual church-goer. He was raised in the church, but he usually only attends on the very occasional Sunday, and always shows up on holidays. Because he's the police sergeant in this small town, he figures that it's good p.r. to make an appearance now n' then.

Okay, so that settled it. No crucifix. But then what kind of cross would it be?

Now, I always knew what kind of cross it'd be in my mind... but I'm not the director, so I let Jim speak first. ;) Jim said a simple gold cross. To which I questioned, why would Fin own a simple gold cross? If he wasn't hardcore religious, it's not like he'd go out and buy it himself, nor would someone give it to him as a gift. I suppose it could've been something that he or Sheila (whose name has to change, because our clearance report determined that there is a real Sheila Boyd living in Vancouver) inherited it from their church-going parents. But I had a more specific idea.

Because I see Fin as a casual church attendee, he would more than likely have received a palm cross during Easter or Palm Sunday. Of course, when I suggested this, no one knew what I was talking about, so I had to Google it.

I've attended my fair share of Palm Sundays and Easter Sundays growing up. And so I've been a recipient of many-a-palm cross. They're the sort of thing you bring home after church and think, "Now what the heck do I do with this?"

Because it's a cross, most people are generally uncomfortable filing it in the round bin, or tossing it out on their compost pile. And so they usually get pressed in a book, shoved in a drawer, or tacked above a doorway... like Fin's.

When the question arose of whether or not the faded dry palm would register on camera, I suggested that they were also available in green.

Ultimately the final decision is up to Jim. While I can imagine a rationale behind choosing either cross - a palm one or a gold one - I do think the palm cross is a more interesting choice that makes more sense for our character. (Just sayin'...)

So, yeah... I just find all this props and set design stuff really cool. And because I'm so interested in it, Jim asked them if there was any way I could lend them a hand, like building volcanos for the science fair, etc. Because they could use the help, by the sounds of it, they're pretty keen to have me involved. YAY! I can't wait! :)

Donovan

So, I was finally allowed to make our official announcement today on Facebook and over at our DE blog. The secret we've been keeping under wraps (or well, have been *trying* to at least... We did end up telling some people... alright... many people...) since late June/early July is that we've cast Danny Glover!

Like I've mentioned in earlier posts, when we saw his name on our list of options (and there were hundreds of names), it just jumped out at us. He embodies our character so completely - and when we suggested it to les producers, they agreed.

Danny's name wasn't on the first few lists provided to us. And while the options provided on those lists were good, none of the names were nearly as perfect. In retrospect, we have never been so grateful for those first couple rejections. None of our other potential Donovans could compare. (Plus, they were names that you likely wouldn't recognize.) The rejection followed by perfection was definitely a great lesson that has opened me up to a new way of thinking. Where I use to "believe" now I simply "allow".  Things in life will happen as they are meant to - good, bad, or otherwise. What matters is what you take from the experience.

On a somewhat related note, today I stumbled across some other interesting news to share....

Since our move, I haven't had time to be as actively involved with WhyProhibition and the Free Marc Emery campaign as I'd like to be. In fact, I haven't even written Marc Emery back since our wee rally in September, as I've been too busy. And now, as of last week, he's been posted to a new prison in California, where he will stay until Vic Towes brings him home. So I gotta wait until they distribute his new address....

Anyhow, the sick irony is that Emery is a Canadian seed seller who has been sent to a California jail just weeks before the sunny state has their big vote on Proposition 19 on Nov. 2nd. If you're not aware of Prop 19, you can learn a more about it below... as well as get Donovan's take on the issue. ;)

Celebrities throw support behind measure to legalize marijuana

Rock singer Melissa Etheridge, actor Danny Glover join former LAPD deputy chief and others in backing Proposition 19. Opponents of the ballot measure say they are unfazed by the stars' support.

By Ann M. Simmons, Los Angeles Times                                 October 22, 2010

Proposition 19, the California initiative that would legalize marijuana, got a boost Thursday from several Hollywood celebrities who announced they were throwing their support behind the measure.

Rock singer Melissa Etheridge joined actors Danny Glover and Hal Sparks, former LAPD Deputy Chief Steve Downing, former New Mexico Gov.Gary Johnson and activist Sarah Lovering at a news conference at Cafe Was in Hollywood to announce their support for Proposition 19.

The ballot measure would allow adults 21 and older to grow and possess marijuana and would authorize cities and counties to approve the cultivation, sale and taxation of pot.

Etheridge said she was not a regular user of cannabis until she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy. She said she had the choice of using 10 drugs with various side effects or opt for a "natural solution."

Although she has a medicinal license to use marijuana, the singer said she would like to see pot become legal because "I don't want to look like a criminal to my children anymore. I want them to know this is a choice that you make as a responsible adult."

Glover called the law criminalizing marijuana "draconian" and said that Latinos and African Americans are the most affected by it because these minorities typically end up in jail when caught with even the smallest amount of the drug.

Downing and Johnson also described the existing pot law as discriminatory. Although research shows the majority of people who use marijuana are white, the largest number arrested in connection with the drug are "black and brown," Downing said.

He said lifting the prohibition on pot would help quash the black market for cannabis and impede the enrichment of drug cartels.

Opponents of Proposition 19 said they were unfazed by the stars' support for the ballot measure.

"I don't think it's a surprise that Hollywood celebrities are pro-Prop.19 legislation," said Roger Salazar, a spokesman for Public Safety First, the main opposition campaign, backed by state law enforcement groups and the California Chamber of Commerce. "But that's not what it's about. It's about the specifics and the initiatives."

One of those specifics, Salazar said, is that "if you legalize a product and make it available, logically you're going to have an increase in usage."

Alexandra Datig, an acknowledged former addict of marijuana and other drugs, now runs the anti-Proposition 19 group Nip It In The Bud 2010. She stood outside Cafe Was, handing out an open letter to the entertainment community.

"I ask you to reconsider," the letter reads in part. "Many of you are role models to our youth, many of our nation's young talents look up to you, try to emulate you and listen to the advice you give.... Few things can damage a youthful and hopeful career, such as drug use, often starting with marijuana."

The news conference was organized to promote the initiative and draw attention to BuddhaFest, which aims to raise awareness about marijuana. The festival, with entertainment on 10 stages, will start at noon Saturday continue until 2 a.m. Sunday at the Los Angeles Center Studios in downtown L.A.

The Devil's In The Details

Movie productions are like juggling a million little marbles and trying not to drop one. While I've briefly alluded to financial challenges that needed to be ironed out, I thought I'd throw out a few other challenges to give you an idea of your average day in the production office. Here's just a sampling of issues that came up today for discussion...

* "Kit's" agent informed us that he'll be filming a T.V. pilot in L.A. and will therefore be unavailable for two very important shooting days that we need him to be on set. If this cannot be resolved, we may need to find ourselves another Kit. Which would be too bad, because he really made a perfect Kit.

* Due to an influx of bigger budget productions being filmed in Fort Langely, businesses in the community have started raising their prices for opening their doors. This means that all our locations are over-budget. Today we learned that the owner of our oh-so-perfect bookstore now wants $8,000 for ONE day of shooting (and we'd probably only need the store for maybe half a day). I think our producers were budgeting more around the $1500 - $2000 mark. Somehow I doubt this lady makes $8,000/day selling books and giftware... but what do I know?  I think some people let greed overtake their sanity. So we may need to scout for another location.

As it is, I think we're already shooting all our hospital scenes in a school, because the hospital in FL wanted $5000/day for us to shoot in an unused, empty wing in their basement. Because we have a good full day's worth of hospital scenes, I think our producers were almost considering it, until they took a walk around and saw that it's really modern with all kinds of funky colours, which don't exactly scream "1994". (They've since been referring to it as "the Starbucks hospital".) So in that regard, the more affordable school option actually makes sense, since it has a few locker-free hallways that look very clinical. (Poor kids!)

* Because we have yet to find our perfect Maggie, we're calling one of little actors back in for a last minute third audition. Such a hard decision!!

We've decided that our Maggie #2 (the throaty-voiced runner) looks too old to play 11. She's definitely looking more like 13. So she's out of the running.

Meanwhile, since we've cast our perfect Sarah, we've started to reconsider our Maggie #1 (the pro crier), because the two look nothing at all like mother and daughter. Of course, we could just find a father that looks like her, since he'll only be shown in pictures anyway. Also, if we do cast her, we'd definitely like her to cut her hair and potentially lighten it. Not sure about the latter though... lightening hair on children is risky because it could totally end up looking fake. But she's so dark and Sarah's so fair... there's gotta be something more we can do, besides sticking tons of photos of an olive-skinned father in the background.

Finally, our Sarah actor said she felt the best connection with Maggie #3 (the future knock out). But the big question is can the young beauty cry on demand like Maggie #1? (Which is why we're bringing her back in today... to make 'er cry!! ;)

So anyway, that's just a sampling. There are a zillion other little snags that arise hourly and work themselves out through constant discussions. And I'm sure there are even way more problems that neither Jim nor I are ever aware of, because our producers want to protect us from the added stress.

Anyhoo, it's not all sunshine and lollypops, but it's definitely interesting and keeps us on our toes!

I've Worn Lots of Shoes

The other day I was at the grocery store with Kerry and Abby, and Abby was commenting on how she liked my boots. Boy, fashionistas start young, don't they? Although they are quite lovely boots, if I do say so myself. They are my one article of clothing that consistently compels strangers - both girls and guys - to stop me in the street and say, "I love your boots." or "My girlfriend would love those." Not too shabby for a Payless purchase!  But sadly, after three years of wear n' tear, I can't deny that this will be their sunset season.

Last year the zipper broke, but I wasn't ready to part with them just yet. I managed to keep 'em alive by getting the zipper replaced and new lifts on the heels.  But then just last week, I noticed that there is a big crack across the sole - which was just a little crack last year. In fact, I didn't even notice it last year until the cobbler... Wait, is that what you call people who work on shoes? Cobblers? Even if they're located at a dead end in the mall and not some quaint little shop with a wrought iron sign and elves that visit at night? Are they still cobblers - or just shoe repair people? Anyhow, last year the cobbler/shoe repair dude pointed out that there was a tiny crack in the sole that he would not be able to fix. So now here we are a year later, and the split has grown to be the width of my foot. It's with great sadness that I must soon say goodbye forever to my favourite boots...

I don't know if it's just me, but I always have such a terrible time getting rid of footwear, even long after I've stopped wearing them. I've always been attracted to shoes, but not for your stereotypical girly-girl reasons. But for deeper, more emotional reasons.

I'm sure it sounds silly, but I've always felt that a well-worn pair of shoes is like a time-capsuled piece of your soul (pardon the pun). Our shoes take us everywhere we need to go during any given period in our lives. They have physically walked with us through good and bad. They're like an unwritten diary, or an extension of ourselves that we eventually grow out of, or shed when the season is over. I find them powerfully symbolic in countless ways.

(And just as I read this post aloud to Jim, he quoted our favourite movie in his best Forrest Gump impression, "I've worn lots of shoes." That about says it all, doesn't it?)

I still remember in grade 10, we were assigned to do a "persona piece". I took one of my purple sandals and painted a picture of Golden Lake on the inside, which is where I spent most of my summer attending a Leadership Development Camp, and working as a camp counselor/arts n' crafts leader. Then I covered the sole of the shoe in stamps from the letters I received from new camp friends and the campers I counseled. And so began my meaningful shoe obsession...

Anyway, I've gotten way off course here...

Like I was saying, Abby was commenting on my pretty boots (with the cracked sole), which then drew the attention of another grocery shopper, who informed me that there was an amazing shoe sale on at the Shoe Warehouse a few doors down. She said that people were going crazy in there, and that she had just picked up a $179 pair of boots for only $25.

Now, as a girl on a tight budget who has a hole in her runners and cracks in two pairs of boots, I guess you could say that my interest was definitely piqued.

So today, Kerry, Abby n' I went to see what we could see... and I walked away with three great deals off the clearance rack! One pair of boots is very practical and almost shoe-like. I can see myself wearing them the most often. Another pair are tall and brown with a chunky heel. They were marked down again and again and again and again from $279 to $25, so I couldn't resist! The third are tall and stretchy with a square toe, marked down from $80 to $15. I think I'm set for the winter! And yet, I still can't bring myself to part with cracked pair. I almost feel like I should honour the lives they had, by putting them in a shoebox and burying them. Yes, that's how insane my connection is to my shoes. I know. I have issues.

But, believe it or not, the reason I got into this whole shoe story in the first place actually had nothing to do with my purchases today... It was more of a long-winded intro to this website I just came across this evening called Olsen Haus: : Pure Vegan. There are some super fun n' funky shoes on this site and they're all vegan. Who knew that microfiber could be made with recycled TV screens? Wild! Unfortunately, I can't yet afford such eco-friendly shoes, which is why you will always find me pinching pennies at the back of the store.

But someday....

I thought this article was quite interesting. It looks at our environment from a perspective I've never considered before. 

Report puts price tag on environment

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 | 6:10 PM ET

CBC News

The Alaska Highway is surrounded by boreal forest running north towards Whitehorse, Yukon in this file photo. A recent report put the economic impact of Canada's boreal forest at $191 billion a year. (Andy Clark/Reuters)

The economic cost of ignoring environmental degradation is far greater than the costs needed to fix it in the long run, a groundbreaking report published with the support of the United Nations said Tuesday.

The report, entitled "Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature" was written by Pavan Sukhdev, a banker who heads the UN's green economy initiative.

It found that nature provides trillions of dollars in "free" services to the global economy every year, and having to account for all of those services being removed would significantly reduce the world's economic output and cost far more.

"From an economic point of view, the flows of ecosystem services can be seen as the ‘dividend’ that society receives from natural capital," the report said.

"Because we get nature’s services for free, we tend to use them wastefully," said Prof. Stewart Elgie, chair of think-tank Environmental Prosperity, which contributed to the UN's report. "Like a tenant that doesn't pay for electricity, [we tend] to leave the lights on."

Taking an economic perspective, the report proposes that economic instruments can be used to incentivize sustainable environmental practices, and was full of global examples of that in action.

Reducing forest loss by half would generate $3.7 trillion worth of greenhouse gas reductions, the report found, and the largest 3,000 companies in the world cause $2.2 trillion in uncounted environmental costs — the equivalent of more than a third of their annual profits.

Fifteen years ago in New York State, Elgie notes, officials had to replace a water treatment plant. A man-made facility would have cost between $6 and $8 billion US, plus between $300 and $500 million annually to maintain. "Instead they paid a bunch of landowners and farm owners in the Hudson river watershed to restore forests … it cost them about $1 billion US," he said, "[and] water rates in New York were 80 per cent lower than they would have been otherwise."

In Canada, the report found that Canada's northern boreal forest is worth $191 billion a year, for all of the services it provides, from storing greenhouse gases, to filtering water. And the greenbelt that surrounds the Greater Toronto Area contributes $2.6 billion annually worth of flood control, waste treatment, and clean air — roughly $3,487 per hectare.

The emerging carbon market will make the boreal forest more valuable as a carbon sink than for its timber, Elgie says. And once people see nature's true price tag, they might be careful what they buy, he hopes.

A recent OECD report ranked Canada 29th of 33 countries in creating economic incentives to reduce pollution and conserve nature. Aside from progress such as recent expansion of national parks and protected marine areas, Liberal Environment critic Gerard Kennedy says Canada is an environmental laggard.

"[Canada] needs to do more than simply put nature in a museum in a restricted area," Kennedy said. "Outside of those parks, Canada's nature is in distress."

With files from the CBC's Susan Lunn

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/10/19/un-economy-environment-ecosystem.html#ixzz12rBZCHvJ

It's 8:00...

and mon garcon is still stuck in meetings in Burnaby. :( 


I didn't go in today because they were location scouting the bridge in Mission and certain intersections in Fort Langely, and there's never any room for me in the van between Jim, TC, our Production Manager, First A.D., Set Designer, and Location Scout. So I just stayed home and worked on the Blue draft like a good lil' writer. ('Blue' because drafts, schedules, DOOD's (Days Out Of Days... whatever that means) and one-liners are all colour-coded in a specific order, so people are sure they have the latest version.) 


Anyway... so now I'm just sitting here waiting. I know that whenever Jim gets out of his meeting and calls me, it'll still be another 40 minutes give-or-take before he gets home. Until then, this is how I'm feeling...

Yay! A second before I clicked "Publish Post" Jim called. I've been chatting with him for the last while and the GPS says he'll be home in 12 minutes. I suddenly feel much less lonely now. :)

He filled me in on his day, so I might as well share it while I'm here.

The low being the latest financing details, and how HGF is dragging their feet. They plan to   get back to us in 'two weeks', which they've been saying for the last two months!! (Apparently this is par for the course as they like to always be "last money". I wonder if that means they'd be first to recoup? There must be some reason...) 

Meanwhile, the high was checking out more nifty prop stuff. Today our costume designer's assistant brought in some different materials for Jim to approve before she makes Magnolia's 1960's coat. He said she's proposing an amber-coloured shell, a soft white inside lining and a white furry trim. I was really excited to hear about this... although I don't know what I was expecting? It's not like you can pick up a 1960's coat at Zellers. Anyhow, I thought it was pretty cool.

Oh, and now Jim just walked in the door! Yay!

Good bye.

Roses and Thorns Sept. 25 - Oct. 15

It just occurred to me last night that I haven't done a roses n' thorns post in what feels like forever. So much has happened over these last three weeks, and yet it's pretty late and I'm pretty tired, so I'm just going to try n' keep each rose n' thorn as brief as possible.

Here we go...

Rose
Good luck and good bye parties.

Thorn
Packing.

Rose
Smooth move.

Thorn
Adjusting.

Rose
Pre-production excitement.

Thorn

Rush hour commutes.

Rose

Free bus ride to Vancouver. 

Thorn

A two-year old bridge that does not register on our GPS's 2010 maps, which then reroutes us to a ferry terminal that no longer exists. Gah!

Rose

Watching auditions.

Thorn

The location scouting gong show incident.

Rose

An interesting cast of faces.

Thorn

Still undecided about who to cast as Maggie. (But more on that in another post.) 

Rose

Great neighbours. 

Thorn

New appreciation for the phrase, "Everything but the kitchen sink."

Rose

Liduccia Jewelry and my lovely new terra tones necklace.

Thorn

Still waiting on my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project. Damn it... 

Rose

Super cozy bed.

Thorn
Not enough time spent in said super cozy bed, due to constant late nights and early mornings.

Rose

Meaningful and interesting conversations. 

Thorn

Not enough quality time with Jim. We both recognize how spoiled we were in Kelowna, now that we're so insanely busy.  

Rose

Happy four year olds. 

Thorn

Not enough time to paint like a happy four year old due to my workload. (Not even as Jim's assistant - those responsibilities haven't begun yet - but as a writer. There's still a ton to be done.)

Rose

Craft services.

Thorn

Not enough opportunities to cook proper meals. 

Rose

Lots of organic grocery stores. I've almost become a regular at the very quaint Bruce's Country Market down the street. This weekend was Applefest - and I have never seen so many varieties. 

Thorn

Not enough time. Period.

Rose

Feeling very blessed, despite the thorns. I can sleep, eat, paint, and spend time with Jim again in December. 

Now I have over a week's worth of journaling to catch up on, so on that note, I will say g'night and try to catch up on that as well. (Maybe.)

A Day In The Life of Pre-Production

I have to say that it's quite fun watching Jim be a director. For a guy who aspires to be as anti-social as Howard Hughes, could never remember half the names of people at our old office (even though he worked there for almost ten years!), and who has always insisted that he hates small talk -- I just love to watch him as he makes the rounds every morning, saying hello to everyone, making an effort to memorize names, ensuring that every department has what they need from him, and yes, even making the dreaded small talk (which he doesn't seem to mind...)

I've always thought about Jim's ability to direct in more visual terms, but he's really shining in ways I've never seen him shine before. He is an absolutely awesome team leader. Jim is such a nice, down-to-earth guy, and so socially-sensitive to the needs and feelings of others, there's really no doubt that this is what he was born to do, in more ways than I had ever considered. I'm already so proud of what a great director he is.

Then again, everyone who has joined our team has been pretty great... well, at least according to Jim. I've spent most days in our office doing solo work, such as making script edits, writing character bios, drafting official blog entries (which have yet to be published), and taking on the anti-social role that Jim used to covet. Not that I'm anti-social per se. I just have no reason to get out there and interact the way he does. Everyone is busy, and I also have a lot to do. Our producers expressed that they are very happy to have me there, as my responsibilities normally fall on the writer-director which often ends up being the straw to break the camel's back. I couldn't imagine if Jim had to make all these edits while running the circus. His workload is already pretty intense!

Emails start coming in as early as 5:30 a.m. and continue until after midnight. When we're actually at the office, he is sucked into hours upon hours of meetings. Of course, these aren't exactly your boring corporate agenda meetings. They're much more interesting. I always look forward to hearing Jim's two minute recap, as he makes a quick pit-stop by our office to share a handful of trail mix with me before he's out the door and on to his next one. (Craft services rock, btw! But I gotta start bringing a lunch, or else I'll just pick away at the treats all day. Although I do try to opt for the fruit n' gum, instead of the sticky buns n' chocolate bars. ;)

So for example, today Jim's morning began with a Special FX/Stunts meeting, where they discussed what visuals might be easier to do using FX instead of tricky camera work. Like the shimmer of Maggie's pin, when caught in the light. They also discussed how stunts like the car accident and dog bite scene will go down, and a few YouTube clips were provided so we could see some of their dogs' work.

Next Jim found himself in an impromptu Transport meeting, where he discussed the styles of cars our characters will drive, and picked some of them out from a catalog of options.

Right after that, he was pulled into a Locations meeting, where a bunch of the crew tried to nail down which locations we're going to use, and start committing to dates. Some locations have been hard to find in the zone we're shooting, like an old university. While others would be too expensive to dress with our budget, like a large community hall. This is where script changes fall back to me. I have to quickly revise scenes so they work in the locations we can find and afford.

Another tricky issue that effects both location and set design is that our script has apparently a ridiculous number of sets -- 56 to be exact. Each room, hallway, street, etc. is a set, which makes a TON of work for our set design department. They seem to be pretty concerned about being able to pull things off and really need more people on their team. (There's currently about five of them.) I had no idea our script was so crazy ambitious, and am curious to see how it will change over the next two n' a half weeks before we begin shooting.

Jim managed to have a bit of a breather before he headed off to his Props meeting. Apparently, not only do you have an insane number of sets, but we also have a ton of props. Every book, watch, calendar, sticker, etc. mentioned in the script is considered a prop... and we've got a friggin' million of 'em!!

Monday all departments plan to present their budgets, and there is a bit of a concern that currently our script is "not fitting in the box". I guess we'll see how over-budget we are, and then we'll quickly find out how much we have to reel it back in. I have to admit that I'm a little nervous about the outcome of this meeting, (some productions have actually fallen apart at this stage and the movie doesn't get made!) but I know we'll do what we gotta do to make it work. I'm game to tweak the script however I can.

That being said, TC said that most people tend to inflate their departmental budgets for a variety of reasons -- as a safety net, to impress eveyone by coming in under budget later on, or sometimes just for effect -- so once we truly cut the phat, then we'll know what we're dealing with. So, while it all seems a bit dodgy, I'm trying hard not to think about it, and know that everyone will manage... although I can't help but find myself wanting to join our short-staffed set design department to pitch in however I can.

Something tells me that if we can pull off a film as ambitious as ours for our minuet budget, it *will* be recognized and do amazing things for us. Much smaller films in scale have been made for ten times the budget as ours. I don't know how we'll pull this off, but I know that we will!

Anyhow, getting back to Jim's day... so yeah... he had a long meeting with Props, where they discussed everything from the types of pages in Don's journal, to whether or not he would have an answering machine or a chequing account if he just moved back to town after thirty years. Smart people!

This is all such an incredible learning experience. I will definitely be more aware of these sorts of things as we write the next script. Although with any luck, we'll hopefully be working with ten times the budget by then. ;)

Daily Mass Murder... Of Crows

Yesterday I posted Holy Crow! as my Facebook status, and much to some folk's disappointment, I was actually talking about crows. (Not everything can be movie-related, after all. That's just too predictable.) But, I'm telling ya, if you had seen what I saw, you'd exclaim the same thing.

However, this evening I learned that yesterday's visit by a mass murder of crows was not a unique event. Tonight, at almost exactly the same time, around 6:30 p.m., hundreds... no, wait... make that THOUSANDS (Seriously! And I'm not one to exaggerate... ) of crows flocked in, landing on nearby rooftops, telephone wires, and anything else they could perch themselves on. They arrived in overlapping shifts, hundreds flying in and out at a time. On and on and on and on....

I'm sure some wouldn't find this interesting, but I was absolutely captivated!

Since I was done my tweaks for the day, and just waiting around for Jim, (who was trudging through 9 very long hours of location hunting), I stood by my office window and watched them. Some would land on the room just below my window and look up at me. They'd sip from puddles and compete for scraps that others had brought along.

Some crows were large. Some small. Some had nice, shiny plumage, while their brothers n' sisters were dull or missing a few feathers. One had an unusual white patch on his wing - which could've been anything. Some cawed, while others chattered or clucked. Some hopped. Some scuttled. All flew. And when they flew, it was like rush hour traffic in the sky.

I wanted to throw a little chunk of granola bar or pita bread out the window... but I've seen The Birds. It scared the friggin' bejesus outta me as a child! (Not so much as an adult though, I hafta say...) Anyhow, I figured I was safer just quietly watching them, than drawing all 2000 directly to my window sill. BTW, I totally misjudged yesterday when I said there was about 200. Pfft! There's no way... There's thousands of them altogether. Easily thousands!

I admired them for a while, before sitting back at my desk to resume my painfully bored expression while I waited for an email that would answer some of my script questions, when just like clockwork, by 6:50 silence fell over the office. You could hear a pin drop. (Mostly because almost everyone was still location scouting and the office was nearly empty all day.) But when I looked out my window, I saw that they were all gone. Every single one of them!

Where did they come from? Where were they going? And why so many?

I did a quick Google for "thousands of crows Vancouver" just this second, and came across the following article on animaltourism.com. (Just an FYI, our office is pretty close to Willingdon Ave.)

Vancouver Suburb Burnaby Loves Its Crows

Burnaby Crows by Magalie L’Abbé

When crows pick a town to roost in, locals tend to react badly. They think it’s spooky, worry about guano and try to do ridiculous things to drive them off–like shoot them. But one Canadian city sees it another way. Burnaby, BC, loves its crow roost. Thousands of crows have been sleeping together in the seaside town east of Vancouver since at least the 1970s.

“If you go around dusk they cover the sky,” says Kelsey Downey, marketing coordinator for Tourism Burnaby. “I used to go to school right in the area and it’s a pretty amazing site.”

The crows fly eastward over the city at dusk. They’re more concentrated in the winter. And they tend to be seen most around Willingdon Avenue, which is an exit off Highway 1. Downey recommends checking out Still Creek Drive, which runs next to the highway.

Burnaby sticks up for their crows. Kirsten Starcher, who writes the blog Crows to Burnaby [which is really more about arts than crows] is just one of the residents who fretted when a Costco displaced one of the big roost sites in 2006 about how it would impact their crows. “It was sad to lose it,” one crow fan told theVancouver Sun at the time. Another protested on YouTube.

About 500 students each painted their own model crow for an art project Along the Flight Path, that fixed the crows to a fence.  A Vancouver tourism site boasted that the Northwestern Crow was the most conspicuous local bird and that Burnaby had “easily the most amazing gathering in the province.” Crows.net says the Burnaby is “one of the most renowned crow roosts.” It’s great to see a town that appreciates its wildlife.

Here's another interesting article I just found on Canada.com from 2006, where they estimate there to be 20,000 - 32,000 of them. WOW!

See! I'm not a liar. There were thousands of them!

As lame as it sounds, now that I know I can expect a crow show every evening at dusk, it makes late evenings at the office that much more fun. ;) Tonight was no different than the last. We weren't outta there until 8:30 again, and we're back in at 8 a.m. tomorrow. We're pullin' some long days... and I expect that they'll only get longer as we near production. But that's okay. It's nothing to crow about, because I know it'll be totally worth it in the end!

I'm Supposed To Be Editing...

But I can't help but wonder what everyone else in this office is doing?

I see all kinds of filing folders stacked on desks and people rearranging furniture. Each person is making their temporary office their own with lamps, accessories, and even assistants. New faces join us every day.

Speaking of new faces....

I felt bad last night when I was chatting with our front desk Production Assistant, and discovered that she has to wait until everyone has left the floor before she can leave... and it was almost 8:30! She pointed over my shoulder to a gate that she needs to pull across the stairway to lock up. I apologized for keeping her here so late, and tried to make conversation while I waited for Jim to grab his things. I asked her what's the longest she's ever been stuck at a production office for - fully expecting her to say 2 a.m. or something ridiculous. "This is my first day," she replied. Ack! Poor girl! She hid it well, but I know that I'd sure as hell would be bitter if I were waiting to go home for dinner, and had to sit at my desk, bored outta my skull, just surfing the net until everyone finally left. Nothing like a late night on the first day to break a new person in...

Then again, aside from my intimate relationship with Donovan, I guess you could say that I'm new at this office too. In a way, we're all new here, even though it doesn't really feel like it. Maybe it's because we all know our jobs so well and what we're here to do.

Today I am here to do a lil' heart surgery. Or at least that's how it feels like working on the script, knowing that the words I change will have a direct impact on almost everyone else's job -- locations, transport, props, wardrobe, cinematographer, etc. I've never been so aware of this before as I come to understand how others do their jobs and how literally they understand each n' every word on the page.

So on that note, I better get back at it.

Oh, but first, just another side note...  I recently discovered that the first floor of our office is a warehouse for the TV show Fringe. I've never watched the show, but I've heard that they film it in one of these buildings. Nifty! Too bad we're about ten years too late for X-Files, then I might actually be excited and try n' sneak a peek. ;)

Day In A Nutshell

We headed out the door at ten to seven. Dropped Julia off at school. Got stuck in rush hour traffic. Arrived at our production office at 9:10ish.

After some mingling and introductions, we had a three hour concept meeting where everyone sat together and quickly went over the latest draft. I discovered that there's a larger boardroom that I hadn't seen before at the other end of our office. Good thing! Our small boardroom would never accommodate the 16 of us who were in the room -- and there'll be even more joining our team later in the week. I'm quickly understanding the need for all those extra offices!

We read through the "Pink" draft, which I wrapped up late last night, with a few final tweaks before rushing out the door early this a.m. Our next set of changes will be called "Blue" -- unless less than 40 pages are touched, in which case we call it "Pink - Revised". I'm starting to familiarize myself with all the tricky intricacies of Final Draft software.

Next, we headed down to Second Avenue Studios for auditions for a ton of minor characters who all have only a few lines each. Or in some cases, like "Volcano Kid Dad", they had no lines at all. We only wanted to see their look. I grabbed lunch for Jim, TC and I at "The Butler Did It" cafe across the street, and as I waited for one audition to end so I could enter the room, I watched two Sarahs and a Medical Assistant pace in the waiting area and practice their lines. It was kind of neat to watch.

After auditions were over, we "pulled the trigger" on our favourite actors for various roles. I think we've got a nice mix of interesting characters and unique personalities.

Jim n' I then headed back up to our production office, where I started playing around with Final Draft some more so I could figure out how to make our Blue Draft revisions. Meanwhile, Jim had a meeting with our Set Designer and three new people who'll be joining our art department. I think there was a Props Master, a Set Decorator and... a something elser. Maybe a Set Dresser? I believe I heard TC use that title earlier in the day.

While playing on Final Draft, I kept hearing this running sound. Like someone was racing around outside my third floor window, and also clacking on the roof above me. Finally I looked out the window to see what I could see, and there was a MILLION CROWS everywhere on rooftops and swarming through the sky in huge flocks. I've never seen anything like it. The sounds of running feet must've been them running around on the roof above me, or their wings flapping past my window. I couldn't quite figure it out, but it was definitely insane.

Anyway, after his meeting, Jim n' I chatted with AS for a while about our DE website, blog, and IMDB info. She shared a few things she learned about our actors as well. Like how Finnley often brings his guitar on set to jam, as it's how he unwinds. (It's also how Jim unwinds... although I doubt he'll have time for jammin' while filmin'.) AS also mentioned that the weekend before we start shooting, there's usually an exclusive cast n' crew dinner where only a few key people are invited out for dinner n' drinks to get to know each other before production begins. That should be fun. :)

Speaking of getting to know our actors, it looks like our producers are setting calls up later this week between Jim and our Donovan and Finnley, so he can unofficially meet them before he meets him. That'll be kinda exciting for him.

We finally left the office around 8:20ish. But damn our stupid GPS! Even with its 2010 update (which it apparently came with...) it doesn't recognize the Golden Ears Bridge to Maple Ridge, that was built two years ago. So when we tried to take a more direct route from Burnaby to home, it led us to the wrong turn off, so we eventually ended up where the non-existent ferry from Fort Langly to Maple Ridge used to be. On the bright side, I got to see the little town where we'll be shooting most of our movie. Fort Langly is perfect! So completely quaint. Still, getting lost and taking a massive detour took us an extra 40 minutes to get home, which realllllly sucked!

We had quick sandwiches for dinner. Washed up. And now it's almost midnight, and we have to be at the office for 8 tomorrow, which means leaving around 6:50.  Yeesh!

So, that's our day in a nutshell. And now I'm off to beddy-bye.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A.J. n' Kerry invited us up for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner this evening. It was also Abby's 4th birthday, so not only was there pumpkin pie, but also ice cream cake and cupcakes. (And as I type this, I'm playing a sneaky game of "move the cupcake" with Luna, who keeps creeping around trying to steal a lick of my strawberry icing. Brat! I guess I could just eat my cupcake now, but since I think I might burst, I wanna save it... and then slowly savour it later in front of Jim, who promptly inhaled all his desserts in one full swoop. ;)

Our wee contribution to the delicious meal was an attempt at copying Cheryl's famous Waldorf salad. But the dressing didn't taste quite right. I think hers is a bit sweeter. Maybe I needed more sugar? I'm gonna have to ask what she puts in the real thing...

Anyhow, the point of this meandering Thanksgiving post is just to drop a little line to say that I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and have taken the time to count your blessings today.

I wanted to end this brief post with a warm Thanksgiving image, but before I could navigate away from Hotmail to Google, I realized that I had the perfect picture staring me right in the face from my Inbox.

Every year, volunteers decorate the front of my parents' church with fruits and vegetables they have harvested from their gardens. A couple bales of hay or a few leaves are also thrown in for good measure. For as long as I can remember, my folks have always been among the handful of volunteers who help to arrange this annual display. It seems like a lotta work for just one Sunday, but I have to admit that it always looks pretty nice.

So mom just sent me a pic of this year's decorations, and I don't know if it's just me, but it looks a lot more elaborate than the barrel of apples and row of pumpkins n' gourds that I recall from childhood. Take a look....

Anyhow, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (And have fun tidying all that up tomorrow, mom. :)

More Auditions and Production Office

Friday I spent the day painting, washing paint off a three year old, laundry, tickling, stuffing my cats with treats, more painting, more washing paint off a three year old, more laundry, watching Mr. Rogers, and when I had a moment, doing a wee bit of script tweaking. And while I enjoyed my adventures in babysitting land with Abby, Jim returned to Second Avenue Studios to watch some more auditions.

It was a very full day, without a lunch break as a non-stop parade of Maggies, Sarahs, Dean Beltons, Bobbys, Nicks, Doctors, Psych Attendants, and another Robin all came through to perform.

When Jim returned to our production office, he gave me a quick call to gush about the latest round of performers - especially Sarah. The mother of Maggie, Sarah is a bit of a bohemian, and owner of Soul Food Books. While she is not as central to the story as Donovan or Maggie, it is still a pretty important role, as there are a couple very emotional scenes for her to pull off.

For the longest time, we had actually been considering Alanis Morrisette. However, we were getting a lot of pressure from our sales reps to go for a bigger name actor (Alanis has acted in many things... but not enough to be considered marketable). Even so, we all felt that her innate personality is Sarah. It wouldn't be a stretch for her to play the part. I follow AM on FB and she often posts pictures of things like her huge aromatherapy and colour therapy collections, her sage smudge sticks, and pics from new-agey events she has attended. Ultimately, she's the perfect Sarah.

Despite our sales reps' original lack of interest, Jim has been pushing for her and pushing for her. Finally, our producer (who also liked the idea of using her) gave our casting director the go ahead to check in to see what her availability was like. We all knew that she had announced her pregnancy back in August - but we weren't sure just how pregnant she really was. However, when her agent got back to us on Thursday, as it turns out she'll be unavailable come November. (So we're assuming that she's pretty preggers....)

Even though we had been rooting for Alanis for so long, surprisingly we weren't crushed to learn that we couldn't get her. In my heart I do believe that if she wasn't pregnant, she would've done the movie. I also know that we will find the right Sarah, just as we've found the best Donovan and Finnley. And when I got to see the auditions last night, I was very impressed with what I saw.

A few of the Sarahs were very good... but the first one... wow! Not only was she attractive, sweet and very natural, but she really was something special. When she screamed out her lines and ad-libbed further emotion behind them... man! My eyes unexpectedly welled with tears. And even though it was Jim's second time watching her audition, his did too. She's amazing. She brings our words to life in a way I never could've expected. And while we can't officially offer her the part until the rest of our Sarahs audition next week, there's no denying who we want to give it to. Just awesome.

Another nice surprise was one of the Bobbys who auditioned. A very minor character (with maybe only 5 lines), Bobby is in his late teens and is in charge of taking Donovan under his wing at the grocery store. I always imagined Bobby as more of a dude. Shaggy hair, laid back demeanor... y'know, a dude. Meanwhile, Jim said that he's always imagined Bobby as more of a clean cut keener.

Anyhow, about eight Bobbys were auditioned, and the best of the bunch is this McLovin' type guy. Well, I guess he's not *that* geeky, but he's probably the geekiest of them all, and definitely the funniest the way he ad-libbed. I have to say, I'm McLovin' him!

I love surprises like that. Like when you have one sort of character in your head, and then these actors come in with a completely different take that adds so much more colour. It's really, really cool.

I could probably go on and on about other performances, but instead I'm gonna feed two birds in one hand, and switch gears by showing you around our production office now.

So, first of all, it's bigger than I expected. I mean, I had an idea of it's size after Jim described it to me... but originally we both thought that we'd just rent out a couple small rooms. But as it turns out, a movie production needs a lot more space. As it is, we already require offices for Jim n' I, our three producers, our locations guy, our set designer, and our production manager... and there'll be more joining the team as we go along. For instance, I think next week our cinematographer and assistant director (also called the First A.D.  Not to be confused with the director's assistant, who is yours truly) may officially start. Costume design and hair n' makeup people have also been hired, but I'm not sure if they'll require an office or not?

I was also kind of surprised/excited to see that we have a front desk person, who is also known as the production assistant or P.A. So when you first come up the stairs to our floor, her desk is there to greet you in the middle of the open space.

 Wait... here, lemme show you...

Okay, so this is taken from the back wall, and that's her sitting in the middle of the room way up ahead. The staircase is to her left. And if you look beyond that second pillar in the distance, you can kinda see that there is another hallway with even more offices.

Then below is our conference room, which I think might double for our production manager's office, I'm not sure?

If you look at the wall, you'll see two calendars with all kinds of post-it notes. This is where we're trying to figure out our shooting schedule puzzle. We have 20 days to film our movie (with weekends off). We want to rent out each location for as little time as we can, and arrange our locations to be as close as possible, so we're not shooting at one location, then driving across town to shoot at another location. 

It helps if our locations are within the same block or two, and if we can find ways for locations to do double duty. Like we might film Don's bathroom in the same house that we use for Finnley's living room. We need to shoot 6 pages a day, which is extremely ambitious. (Four pages a day is ideal.) So it makes it very hard if we've written a location that is only used once in the script for a half page scene, because it means more set ups, more time wasted, more money... 

Am I boring you yet? Because there's more...

Where things really get tricky (besides the money and time spent at each location, the distance apart, and whether it's shot day or night) is that we only have some of our actors for a limited amount of time. For example, kids can only work 8 hours a day, not 12. Our Finnley actor is only available for 2 weeks. And our Sarah  - once we hire her - is unavailable the first three days of November because she's shooting another film. 

SO, this long winded explanation is to describe the need for all those post-it notes on the calendar. Each note has different scenes written on it that need to be shot on the same day. It's reeeeally effin' complicated to work out the perfect solution to this convoluted puzzle. I don't envy our Production Manager AT ALL! 

Alright, so to the left of this conference room is TC & AS's office, and to the right is ours...

That desk by the far wall belongs to Jim, and mine is closest to the door. It looks kinda boring because we haven't done anything with it yet. I plan on bringing in our "Mayer" award and making our space a little more personal once I start spending some more time there.

Here it is from another angle...

So, yeah... fun, huh?!

It's crazy to think that all those evenings, weekends, and eventually weekdays we spent in our jammies, tappin' away on our computers has amounted to a big production office, people getting hired and paid, and actors breathing life into our little story. Even though it's been such a long time coming, now that we're finally here, it's really quite surreal.

What's also surreal is that Jim learned the other day that our Finnley loves the script so much, that he actually passed along his personal cell number to our producers in case Jim wants to call him to talk about it. Nutty! However, Jim doesn't plan to do so, because he really doesn't have anything to discuss at this time. And he's not the sort of weenie who'd call just for the sake of calling, as I imagine some people would. :P But it's still pretty cool nonetheless.

AND, another thing that's cool is that all these people we work with are so super friendly and nice. They don't make me feel unwelcome... not that I was expecting them to. I guess because they're all so qualified at what they do and are actually required to be there, I just figured that once the writing was done, they'd wonder why I was hanging around. I've always assumed that I wouldn't have much of a place in the production and would gradually bow out of the process at this point. But according to everyone else, that's crazy talk. I'm one of the top key creatives, and therefore, I am important to this production. It's kinda neat to feel like I matter, because I didn't expect it to be this way. Everything I've read suggests that writers are shit on once pre-production starts. Then again, that's Hollywood. And I guess they're not married to the director either. ;)