Many people asked me, what it was like to make this movie from concept to post production. I have to say, I played around with the idea in my head for over a year prior to getting started. I kept going back and forth in my head, knowing I wanted to develop this project, but just not knowing if I was going to write a book or go ahead and make it into a movie. Having a passion for film, I followed my deepest intuition, that the calling for this project was to be a film.

The next step was to actually write the script and walk the walk. I already had a vision and knew where I wanted to take the story line, therefore it was just a matter of setting it up and putting it down on paper. This was the easiest part in the whole production. It took no money and I depended on no one, but myself. It turned out to be a harder project then I expected, but I got through it.

I learned, according to other filmmakers, the biggest problem would be financing the project. I already knew from many friends that finding funding was difficult, but I was determined to make this happen come hell or high water. I was totally focused on making this happen and I new it was a big risk, but I decided that I believed in the project enough that I was going to finance the project myself.

The next step was pre-production. Everything seemed to be running smoothly and coming together. I called in many industry favors and found that many friends were excited about the project and willing to help out. I could not have done this without much of their love, help, and support. Now it was time for production. We had set up a talented cast and crew and it was just a matter of shooting the film.

The first two days of shooting ran smoothly. Except for the occasional mishap: unwanted down-pour of rain over our equipment, being locked out of our second location by two hours and setting our schedule back, loosing our parking space for the picture car and causing for creative decision making and having to work around those circumstances, but yet nothing I could not handle.

The third day was the hardest for many reasons. First, we lost one of our major location. That was disappointing and set the production back. Then by the end of the day, I was filming with a skeleton crew in a extremely tight location. The crew had to haul the heavy equipment up six flights of stairs with no elevator. The crew was exhausted, but yet continued to work under those difficult circumstances. Taking us way over a fourteen hours work day. After dealing with stressful difficulties, little sleep, having to live through a highly emotional scene the day before, and having to juggle all the different responsibilities that the production entailed. I was so relieved that that day was over. I had to take two days off to recover before resuming our final day of filming.

Finally post production was quite tedious. After sitting through forty hours of dailies, picking out the right music to fit the project, and going through another eighty hours of editing. I was ready for this to come to an end. I had to push myself to meet the deadline that I had originally set for myself, in order to get this film out on time and “in the cann”. Already as it is, I was two months behind the schedule, which I set in pre-production. There was no more time to waste.

Looking back on the process, as a first time filmmaker. I am so happy and thankful, I had a fantastic team of people behind me, and friends and family, who were totally supportive of my project. Having been in the entertainment industry for over eight years, I thought I had already a good knowledge of filmmaking, but the truth is I learned so much more making this short film. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a career in the industry, because it gave me insight into every aspect of production and gave me a better understanding and appreciation of all aspects of the process.

I hope you enjoy reading this and I look forward to your feedback.

Always,

Michael