It’s one week until we shoot the first episode of the web series and I’m liking where things are going. It’s taken a long time for things to come together and they are finally starting to. I finally have the full cast and that only happened right after I got back from LA. One of the people I auditioned for the lead role has taken the part of the younger brother. This was key as, as my screenwriting lab mentor mentioned to me, the acting has to be right on as well as the writing. I’m confident in my writing but was worried about the actors. After today’s rehearsal, I’m not so worried about any of the actors anymore. So the casting has finally come together, now if we can get rehearsals going. I still haven’t had a full rehearsal yet because of various scheduling issues. If one actor is working their job, another one is away for the weekend. It’s been piecemeal. Luckily with this script I’m able to segment it a little more and work with each actor or groups of actors separately. Once I hear everyone read it all the way through in the same room together I’ll be very happy.
One of my best friends has written theme music that is really perfect for the show. His name is Antonio Jacobs, who also works under the name Blacklieder (look on my blogroll or my homepage for a link) or with his band Jazzique, so be on the look out for him (he’s been tapped to go to a NEH summer institute in Germany to study Bach). I’m telling him to get ready to make money in ring tones. The only hurdle now is the technical stuff. I was supposed to have settled that today, but another scheduling issue messed that up. However It did give me a chance to talk with my technical director and get an idea of visually setting the stage. This however sets me back and we still don’t know exactly which cameras we’ll be using and whatnot to set the look. I have ideas but unless you have the hardware to play around with, it’s just theoretical. Next I’ve got to get the costumes and set design in order. I’m ordering some ASU stuff online, have to run to the only army surplus store I know on Newbury street to get desert camos and a Che Guevarra T-shirt, and find various things to design the interior of a Latino household in Arizona.
It’s been a challenge but I’m always one to rise to a creative challenge.