"Mother's Day" Title Card

It was a FANTASTIC WEEKEND.  The Locations: a home in Pacific Palisades and a doctor’s office in Culver City.  The Actors: Derek Meeker (DAVID), Keri Blunt (VANESSA), Brendan Parry Kaufman (DR. PARKER) and Grant McLellen (ALEX.)  The Crew: lean and all pro; everyone wore about 17 hats each.  The Food:  Delicious and plentiful.  The Camera:  Sony XDCAM EX PMW-EX1 Camcorder.  Me: hellaciously sick with the flu. But I kept my mucus to myself, mostly.

Director David J. Eagle steered the ship as we filmed all day Saturday (complete with rainstorms) and most of the day Sunday.  But, we still wrapped both days ahead of time.  It was a weekend shoot I’ll never forget as I watched this production team work tirelessly to bring this short film to life.  I am SO proud of everyone who put so much passion and effort into making this thing a reality.  And I thank you all too, for reading this post and letting me express my appreciation.

From the DC Shorts Website

screened alongside live performances from local stand-up comedians. The 3-day weekend events take place at the Riot Act Comedy Theater once a month, details on their website. Our dark comedy short “Heart Says It All” has been screening regularly there; it screens again on Saturday, February 4 at 10:00 p.m. We appreciate the additional exposure DC Shorts LAUGHS has given our film and enthusiastically recommend that short filmmakers include DC Shorts in their festival strategy. As an added bonus, DC Shorts has used our iconic “WTF?” candy heart screen grab liberally on their websites and catalog, giving us even more mileage. Thanks again DC Shorts!!

Welcome, 2012. We’re glad you’re here. 2011 was a tough year for a lot of people including me, and I’m eager to pop the cork on a new year with some new opportunities and hopefully, a little luck. Don’t get me wrong though; 2011 brought some great accomplishments for me: I started my first production company, Roughsketch Films LLC and I’ve been working with some very talented people in order to get that spaceship off the ground. I’ve also seen two web series that I helped produce get the launches they deserve… thriller “The Apocalyse Diaries” (written and directed by Clea Frost) and comedy “The Nanny Interviews” (written and helmed by Nicole Sacker.) I’m also proud that director Matthew Brewer has released his film interpretation of my short script “Let Us Prey” and that dramatic story is certain to get some notice. The short film “Heart Says It All” directed by David J. Eagle had a very successful run; that short still continues to be screened regularly by the DC Shorts “Laughs” series and is in fact playing Saturday, February 5th at 10:00 p.m. David and I are currently working on another short, “Mother’s Day” and we hope to have filming wrapped by the end of January.

So what’s in store for 2012? Well, I’m very close to getting my first feature produced; more details will emerge once they have solidified a bit. I’m also working on a new short screenplay that addresses the subject of bullying so I’m excited and passionate about that. I’m also working with my crew on developing a completely unique web series, the likes have not yet been seen. Oh, and I’m starting a new part-time gig, teaching SCREENWRITING at Columbia College Hollywood, a very cool film school and liberal arts college. And I’m grateful for all that stuff, but I’m hoping there’s even more on the horizon. Thanks for checking out my blog and I hope you have a happy and prosperous New Year!!

Just a few of the talented folks who auditioned today for “Mother’s Day.”

    Wow, what a day it was! We auditioned about 50 talented actors today to fill the roles of the family featured in our latest short film, “Mother’s Day”, to be filmed in a few weeks. Casting directors Jan Glaser and Maggie McClean heralded an army of candidates to our casting facility and we spent the day going over the script and interviewing actors to fill the roles. Of key importance in our minds was finding a young boy to play Alex, the primary role in our film. The character of Alex needs a definite balance between youthful exuberance and a sense of an ”old soul” that isn’t easy to find. Jan and Maggie did a terrific job of finding candidates that had the qualities we are hoping to see for not only young Alex, but his Mom and Dad as well. I’m not going to tell what the film’s about, that would be giving it away. But we did get some excellent feedback from the auditioners today about the story and that made me feel extra good, ’cause I wrote it! We have another full day of casting on Monday, so hopefully our little imaginary family will come together soon and we can get to the hard work of preparing for a shoot in, what, two weeks…??

It’s Back! I first mentioned producing the short film “Mother’s Day” back in July, but scheduling conflicts prevented us from moving forward at that time.  Now, we’re set to film the short in early December for a January 2012 release.  David J. Eagle, who directed last year’s “Heart Says It All”, will be helming once again, along with son Jesse as DP.  “Heart” really exceeded our expectations for a short; it screened at 7 festivals across the country and was broadcast on TV.  The short also garnered not one, but TWO distribution offers!  We’ve been studying the competitive landscape at festivals over the last year and have even higher expectations for “Mother’s Day”. It’s a poignant story about what an 8-year-old boy named Alex needs to do in order to celebrate Mother’s Day with his family. One challenge we face is casting the 8-year-old lead; he needs to have a unique combination of child and adult traits. Fortunately, we are working with veteran casting directors Jan Glaser and Maggie McLean to help us find just the right kid for the job. “Mother’s Day” will also be the first film I co-produce under my shingle Roughsketch Films so I’m really excited about that, too. More on this project as it develops!

Video "Scriptapalooza Alumni"

Hey, just a cool little thing, Scriptapalooza included me on a video montage they did of some of their alumni, past winners and finalists. Scriptapalooza is pretty renowned for being an awesome screenwriting competition and most people in the Biz have heard of them, so I’m proud to be a past semi-finalist with my script, “My Dirty Secrets.” You can check out the video by going to Scriptapalooza and clicking on “Alumni Video.” Anyway, I take any recognition I can get, so I’m grateful the folks at Scriptapalooza for making my day.