Lisa Sears as Grandma Doris; Harold Rhosen as Papa Russell
Ryan T. Husk as Mitch
Lisa is an old family friend of mine, and she was the only person that we considered to play Mason’s bohemian grandmother. Harold worked with us on the movie “Funny Business,” and he just killed the audition. Ryan, of course, is one of our producers, but he is also one hell of an actor.
Left to right Ryan Bartley and Phil Biedron
Phil Biedron plays Mason, the lead character, and the “shutterbug” of our movie. We met Phil through one of our mentors, Dan Watanabe, and he blew us away at the audition.
Ryan Bartley we found through LA Casting, and she played the perfect little leading lady, our Lisa.
Hey there curious readers,
It has been a month since my last post. I guess things have been pretty busy in my life, but I have finally gotten around to completing a rough cut of my film.
The rough cut is just roughly all the clips that you want to use, trimmed to their rough length, and roughly put together in the sequence that you think might work. I sent it out to our producers and a select few friends to get back their notes on how I can make it better.
Next I will work on getting what is called a “picture lock,” where I will more or less have the final sequence of video clips, and then it is on to sound design.
Excelsior!
-Michael Kenyon Rosenberg
Hey there lonesome doves,
So after we tallied everything up, we came to a total budget of just under $1000, which is really pretty good for a film of any length. The only major expenses that we had were our paintings, for which our artist got paid; food, which was the bulk of the budget; and make-up, which anyone can tell you is not cheap.
We paid very little for set construction, under $75 bucks for wardrobe, and absolutely nothing for cast, crew, and equipment. We were very blessed.
Darth and I paid for the whole film out of pocket. I could have raised $1000 on Kickstarter in a weekend, but I don’t believe in making other people pay for me to make my dreams come true. Darth and I both work hard for our money, so parting with $500 each is nothing to cough at, but I think it made us work harder for the movie knowing it was our hard earned cash on the line.
Of course, the finances are not complete. Even though I am editing, scoring, doing sound effects, and everything else post-production by myself, we will still have to pay to enter the film in festivals, and to print press packets for said festivals.
Money, why you so easy to spend!
-Michael Kenyon Rosenberg
Good evening faithful readers,
Now that principal photography is wrapped, I have the arduous task of sorting through all of the footage and editing it all together.
I will continue to update this page with the progress of post-production, and I will also be posting production stills and additional information about our cast and crew.
Right now, however, I have the time sensitive issue of getting all of the SAG-AFTRA materials back to the business representative within 10 days of wrapping our shoot, otherwise I will have to pay fines, and ain’t nobody got time for that!
Check out our updated IMDb!
-Michael Kenyon Rosenberg
Ladies and Gentlemen,
That is a wrap!
We wrapped principal photography yesterday. Everything went very smoothly. We were ahead of schedule 90% of the time; we had no major technical issues; all of our cast gave great performances; we had a ton of people come out to be extras; all of our talented crew performed their jobs like clockwork; and the weather gods smiled on us for all of our exterior shots.
I can’t give enough thanks to all of the hard working, professional people that came out and worked on this film for FREE! You all have my enduring love and affection, and I want to send all of you all the positive energy and wish you all the luck in the world.
Now on to post-production! I have a large task ahead of me now to edit and score this film.
Excelsior!
-Michael Kenyon Rosenberg
Hello weary travelers,
Or maybe I’m just projecting. I’m pretty tired right now.
We start production tomorrow. All the contract are printed, the actors are rehearsed, and everyone know what they are going to be doing for the next two days. As director, it is my job to keep it all on track, and direct them to produce my vision.
I have to say that I am fortunate to be working with some very talented people, and it is such a boost of confidence to see them all working so hard to bring my vision to life.
Sleep!
-MKR
Hello true believers!
Last night we had the first of our two rehearsals. We have some fine actors, and I am super happy about how the rehearsals turned out.
We used the rehearsals also as a chance to do a wardrobe fitting and to rehearse not only the lines, but the blocking (or actor’s placement and movements) for the camera. Our DP was there with his camera to catch all of our camera angles in advance of the actual shoot, so we don’t have to waste time during production trying to figure it all out.
We are shooting this weekend, and I am an odd mix of excited and super stressed out. I find myself thinking over every detail over and over again to make sure there isn’t something I’m missing.
After our rehearsal tomorrow, I am going to put together some checklists so that I am prepared for anything. Nowhere is Murphy’s law more present than on a film set during production.
We’ll be ready for you Murphy!
-Michael Kenyon Rosenberg
Hello lonely travelers,
Meet our Director of Photography (DP in film parlance) Robert Reber. A DP can also be referred to as a cinematographer, and they are the crew person responsible for everything involving photography including camera, lighting, grip, and electrical.
I first worked with Robert on a film called Funny Business, where he worked as Key Grip, but he has since worked his way up to be a fantastic cinematographer and a good friend.
Welcome aboard Robert!
-Michael Kenyon Rosenberg
Production is now in full swing.
Last night, we had a production meeting which included the director (myself), a producer, our director of photography, our art director, our wardrobe supervisor, our sound guy, and our makeup supervisor.
We discussed the look of the movie, and many questions were raised and answered. We discussed color themes, symbolism, visual motifs, and cracked a lot of jokes. This film is going to be a lot of fun to make, and everyone we have on board so far is super professional, and more importantly, they are going to make the film better than I ever could have by myself.
Lots to do still!
-Michael Kenyon Rosenberg
Shutterbug 