When it comes to any film, doing your homework in preproduction will save you loads of headache throughout the other stages of production. I learned this years ago working for Lynda Obst while we were prepping and then shooting the Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey feature “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” For someone who loves to get the ball rolling, it’s frustrating to have to go through rewrite after rewrite and do months of planning, but in the end, all the work you put into it really pays off.

Brad and I wrote a feature together last year about a family with twins. We wrote it specifically to be shot in our home and surrounding areas to save on the budget. We also wrote the mother character for me to play. We called the film GREG as a temp title.

In the original, Greg is kidnapped, and the family must join the search for their missing son that mysteriously has no leads, disappearing evidence, and redacted accounts in the police report. After hiring an expert to help, they realize the police is hiding something huge. There’s a science fiction edge to the film and a twist that makes it really cool.

In our revised version of the script, Greg is now Ashley. We are discussing possible titles now for the feature and putting the last tweaks on the script. We plan to hold a casting soon and shoot a pitch reel, so we can raise funds. I’ll be keeping you up to date as we proceed.

In addition to working on this feature, I’ve also been writing my other features and have taken some down time to write a few shorts. One is called Chase Burns about an FBI agent whose sister is kidnapped by a serial killer. It’s an action thriller that is quite dark but has a happy ending.

Another short I wrote is a 30 page time-travel viking comedy that is laugh out loud funny. I’ve never written anything like this before and had no idea I could be so hilarious. I’m not sure where this side of me came from, but I stayed up writing furiously and laughing till I nearly cried because it was so funny. I’d love to shoot it just cause it’s so cute, and I think others would really enjoy it. Not sure if that will happen though because it would take a lot of time and money. The idea itself is feature worthy, so I may pick it up again with that in mind.

As you can probably tell, I write all the time, and when I’m not writing, I’m planning. It’s hard to step away from my writing because it’s such a part of me, but I also find it frustrating that I can’t just jump into production on every project I write. I want to see it all come to life and since my mind is very visual, I already envision the finished project so clearly that it’s painful not to be able to just do it all. My writing archive is huge and growing by the day. I also see the threads of everything I read or watch make their way into my writing subconsciously. It makes it all the more important to feed my brain well.

This entry was posted on April 21, 2014 at 7:40 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Production by Blinking Dog Productions No Comments Yet