Production Diary: Stockholm Santa

Dreadylocks

Dreadylocks

It's very exciting times, folks! Stockholm Santa is marching steadily toward production! In this thread
I'm going to document our journey from pre-through-post-production. As tempting as it is to just talk
up the project and make myself sound all super-professional, I'm gong to be as honest as I can here
about how this film is actually getting made.

At best it will be a place for some people to learn something, even if it's what not to do. At worst, well,
there will be a record so that the world will know how and when we died, and what we died fighting for.

Let's start with the basics, for those of you who aren't familiar with the project.

StockholmSanta.png


Download and read the full 8-page script here: http://www.sammigirl.com/santa/StockholmSanta.pdf

Brief Synopsis:
After briefly encountering and falling in love with a mysterious girl, young Brady goes on a mission to
find out who she is and where she came from. His yearning to find her leads him to do something he
never thought he would do: kidnap Santa Claus.

Who's on Board so far?

Sammi Stephans - Director and de-facto Producer

Ernest Worthing (yes, THAT Ernest Worthing!) - Director of Photography
http://http://www.ernestworthing.com/

Mike Farnham - Assistant Director

Joseph Weindl (aka CrackerFunk) - Editor

Dan Scott (aka Wheatgrinder) - Special Effects

Catering and Kraft Services - My Mom

What's have we got done?

The budget has been made, not met, and slashed. All props are either already bought or will be borrowed/donated.
My parents have agreed (to my wonderful surprise) to kick in a little cash plus pay for the food. Everyone
listed above is a volunteer, and the actors will be, too. Most of the meager budget I've got is going to pay
a sound person $50/day.

The script has been broken down and scheduled for a two-day shoot. However since the lead and one of the
other three actors are children, we're going to have a crew call for the day before to get the shots planned.
This way (fingers crossed) we can keep the hours for the kids to a reasonable amount.

schedule.JPG

Day One of shooting we've got 3 5/8 pages; Day Two we've got 4 7/8

[more to follow...]
 
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Update

Ok, we've got a location!

Here's the exterior, try and picture it in winter:

location.jpg


We've had to push back shooting by two weeks to March 9-11, but now all is well.

In other news I've found a couple audition spaces that charge only $8-12 per hour. So I'm going to
book with them, hopefully for Feb 5th and 6th. I'm thinking four hours on that Sunday afternoon,
maybe 12-4 or 1-5. And then Monday late afternoon/evening 3-8pm or 4-9pm.

I'd really love some feedback from you guys if those seem like good days and times to hold the
auditions. Any advice? Your experiences?
 
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Nice to see the wheels are rolling! Of course you gotta hold auditions, but don't forget about my peeps from RVA. There's a whole troupe of them in Chicago, and every single one of them who I've known has been dedicated, professional, and fun! I'll take another look at the script to see if anyone specific pops in my mind (not sure if any of them would be age-appropriate, but I'll take a gander).
 
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Gonzo_Entertainment said:
I'd do 4 to 9 on the Monday. Seems like the best chance to get people who have day jobs and couldn't come Sunday. I actually schedule people at the initial audition, 15 minutes apart.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it.
So you think two days is overkill then? I'm looking at the availability for the space that I'll be booking with. Sunday is open all day, But I can't get in until 5 on the Monday. Argh, I'm having such a hard time deciding what's better. *rips out hair*

Are Sundays usually bad? Does it matter?

Cracker Funk said:
Nice to see the wheels are rolling! Of course you gotta hold auditions, but don't forget about my peeps from RVA. There's a whole troupe of them in Chicago, and every single one of them who I've known has been dedicated, professional, and fun! I'll take another look at the script to see if anyone specific pops in my mind (not sure if any of them would be age-appropriate, but I'll take a gander).
Click to expand...

I do plan on giving them a heads-up about auditions, but I'm basically looking for two children and one person at least middle-aged to play santa. So I wasn't exactly counting on that bearing fruit. lol

rayw said:
Something like this?
StockholmSantaLocation.jpg


:D
Click to expand...

:lol: Yes! Exactly!
 
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Dreadylocks said:
Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it.
So you think two days is overkill then? I'm looking at the availability for the space that I'll be booking with. Sunday is open all day, But I can't get in until 5 on the Monday. Argh, I'm having such a hard time deciding what's better. *rips out hair*

Are Sundays usually bad? Does it matter?
Click to expand...

Since you're looking for kids, I wonder if Sundays might even be a little better for you. Kids don't work dayjobs, but parents sometimes prefer them to not do things on a school night! (extrapolating from my experience AS a kid anyway)

Oh, and if everyone is Avengers, can I be Monkey Joe? (oh, wait, wrong Avengers) :D
 
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JoshL said:
Since you're looking for kids, I wonder if Sundays might even be a little better for you. Kids don't work dayjobs, but parents sometimes prefer them to not do things on a school night! (extrapolating from my experience AS a kid anyway)

Oh, and if everyone is Avengers, can I be Monkey Joe? (oh, wait, wrong Avengers) :D
Click to expand...

I would have to say that the sort of parents who are trying to push their kids into the film industry are probably exactly the sort of parents who would let their children audition on a school night. But Sunday might give you greater flexibility about time.

I wouldn't worry about auditions too much. It's perfectly standard to audition people in Starbucks or at your home (at least it is here in the UK, I'm making one or two assumptions about the US) and if you're a jobbing actor you appreciate that the filmmaker will also have restrictions. Indie actors and indie filmmakers have very similar lifestyles, so don't worry about underwhelming people at the audition stage. If you're smart and enthusiastic that will shine through :)

Nick Hilton,
Executive Producer in charge of biscuits.
 
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Flicker Pictures said:
Ray, have you considered a career in set design? :D

I think Sundays are reasonable.

* I'm kinda bummed my contribution to production didn't show up. USPS rarely fails me. Boo...
Click to expand...

D'oh!

No, it's probably there. Like I said, both my bf and I are really bad about checking the mail, and his key is the only one that works. I'll text him to grab it when he gets home tonight though.
 
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I don't think 2 days is overkill. Scheduling just does two things for you.

1. People will still want to all come at the same times, but you at least have a chance to steer them towards other times. Otherwise it will be a mob followed by nothing, followed by a mob.
2. It's their first audition. Can you get your ass to where you are supposed to be on time for your 5:45 audition. If you can't, it's something to note as a potential issue.
 
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Dreadylocks said:
I do plan on giving them a heads-up about auditions, but I'm basically looking for two children and one person at least middle-aged to play santa. So I wasn't exactly counting on that bearing fruit. lol
Click to expand...

Yeah, not so much. All of the people I'm thinking of are in their mid-twenties. They might know someone, though, it's at least worth a phone-call. Ryan Asher was the casting director on "Antihero", and she completely nailed it. She's close friends with Nicole, so you could reach her that way. Nicole has been pretty active in local theater stuff, so she might know someone to play the elder role. Anyway, thought I'd mention it, but it sounds to me like you've got things on the right track with casting. :)
 
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Casting

Got the space booked for Sunday the 12th from 2-7. Put up the casting notice yesterday afternoon.
We're off to the races!

I've already heard from about a dozen actors and I gotta say I'm really impressed with how much work
these 7 and 8-year-olds have done. I love Chicago :cool:

Cutest part of a resume so far:

Education
Third Grade
Click to expand...

I don't know why but that made me giggle.
 
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