Remaindered

The Afterglow

From Todd Reynolds, who plays "Detective Bud Flanek" in the movie...

So yesterday afternoon saw a wrap on the shooting of the short Lee Goldberg film Remaindered. Today, as I bask in the afterglow, sipping a cup of Sassafras tea, I cannot help but reflect on how nice it is to be involved in interesting projects. To forge new friendships and cement old ones. To be around creative people, working together in good humor on something that they love. It's good to be alive!

Everyone's photos reflect just how much fun the process was and what a great time the people involved were having. They also show how much I need to start walking again and lose another 400 pounds or so...

(Pictured above -- Todd Reynolds and Lee Goldberg confer on a scene)

From Lewis D. Chaney, who did our lighting...

Remaindered is wrapped. It was a tightly run 2.5 days of shooting but it all got finished and looks great. We had a fantastic crew and great cast working under Lee Goldberg as director. As on any movie, we hit some snafu’s along the way but managed to push thru them and get what we were after.

Once it’s out there, I will get a chance to show you what happens with Hollywood meets Indie in Kentucky.

(Pictured above... Lewis D. Chaney and actors Todd Reynolds and Sebrina Siegel)

Our Leading Lady

From  Sebrina Siegel, our leading lady, posted last night...

Lee asked the cast and crew to write a little blog about their experiences making his film, REMAINDERED, if they felt up to it, and I will...but, with a 9am call, I will do this after we've finished making this film tomorrow!  For now, I'll just say that this has been a wonderful experience playing an incredible character, working with...well, Lee Goldberg as a director, and an extremely talented cast and the most unbelievable crew.  I've had several "firsts" with this film, and gotten over some little humps and insecurities, and simply can't wait to see the finished product.

And from Sebrina, early this afternoon...

Oh...My...God...the unbelievable has happened...you'll never believe it...never, in a million years...just finished the last scene on Lee Goldberg's REMAINDERED and...wait for it, because this is a first for me...we actually wrapped completely on schedule!! TA-DA! (no one will believe me. should have snapped a pic of the damn clock and schedule)!:)

 

What To Wear..or Not

I've spent a lot of time tonight trading emails and photos back-and-forth with our two leads -- Eric Altheide and Sebrina Siegel -- discussing their wardrobe for the film.

Wardrobe is not my strong suit (no pun intended. Okay, maybe intended a little). And it can be awkward discussing what I'd like the actors to wear... or not wear...and what I'd like to see...and not see...in seduction and love scenes. It's not so hard this time, since we aren't going to actually see anybody making love, but it's still a delicate topic, even when the nudity is more implied than seen. So tonight I talked about different kinds of briefs with Eric and the choices in bras, nighties, and the like with Sebrina. It was fine...and they immediately understood what I was going for.

It was more awkward for me when I exec-produced FAST TRACK, a TV movie/pilot I also wrote, and that we shot in Berlin a couple of years ago. In that film, we had two sex scenes...and a key dramatic moment centered on a guy catching his lover as she's having an orgasm with another man. Discussing what we would see, what we wouldn't see, and how the seduction and those scenes would be staged, was something new for me. And, to be honest, I worried about how I'd be able to discuss it with the actors.

But I knew exactly what I wanted, and what I needed, in order for the scenes to work dramatically and visually.  And I figured that all I really had to do was convey that vision to the actors, and then the actual details (what to wear or not to wear, what to touch or not to touch, etc.) wouldn't be so hard to discuss, because they would understood what I was going for, too. And that's how it went. They trusted me... and I trusted them...and it turned out very well.

I can already tell that the same is going to be true for REMAINDERED.  

 

The Movie is Cast!

We've cast my short film REMAINDERED, which I wrote and will be directing in Owensboro, Kentucky in early September, thanks to Zev Buffman, Roxi Witt and all the other terrific folks at the RiverPark Performing Arts Center. 

Eric Altheide is Kevin Dangler, a once-bestselling author trying to get back to the top... 

Sebrina Siegel is Megan, his adoring fan (perhaps too adoring)

And Todd Reynolds is Detective Bud Flanek, Owensboro's answer to Columbo (as he also was in my buddy David Breckman's film MURDER IN KENTUCKY). Robert Denton and Lisa Baldwin play supporting roles. I can't wait to start working with these terrific actors, who were found thanks to the tireless efforts of our casting director Lori Rosas and our producer Rodney Newton.

I'll be keeping you updated on the production of the movie here and on the my blog