The Park: February 2009

Friday, February 27, 2009

Moving Along a month away

I really haven't written much in awhile, but a lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Mike and I plan on going back to Wilton to do a little more publicity. We've had several auditions for our leading actor. The script had been locked and after some feedback and my own thoughts on the script, I'm deciding to put it through a massive re-write. No worries though, this will have no effect on cast, crew, or plot really. It's just a matter of refining the dialogue.

We're going through the final paperwork to book Merwin Meadows as our primary location and NYU recently approved our insurance for the location. It's a huge relief considering the insurance step can be the most difficult.

Other really great news is that we had our first financial contribution about a week ago. It was a very generous contribution and the money alone will greatly help our camera department. Remember, every little bit helps. $5 here, $10 there - anything and everything helps. The smallest of donations may seem insignificant, but it may be that extra few bucks that gets us the batteries for our sound department, gets us our first aid kit, or helps our few pieces of construction. Whatever it is, it all helps us and the film will be better for it.

Tomorrow we will be audition the first of several children for the film and throughout this week will be the bulk of our auditions. It's really only about a month away, less really and it's scary, but exciting all at the same time.l

Friday, February 13, 2009

Updates

Annnnnnnnnd the latest newss

Please note the latest addition to our crew. Two amazing additions:

Owen Levelle as our cinematographer

and

Matt Porter as our assistant director

Mike and I brought a Wilton-based prospectus (click here to download it) in hopes of finding some funding and catering for our film. We have yet to hear, but it's been less than a week since we were in Wilton. No worries. We're hoping to find enough local business/restaurants to contribute food. We're even hoping to convince businesses to donate one meal or to split the total food and meal contribution with several businesses in order to feed the cast and crew for those five meals. We'll see what happens.

We've gotten verbal confirmation of our two locations and we will soon be clearing the insurance policies for both of those locations. Those will be The Village Market and Merwin Meadows.

Many thanks to Nancy at the VM and Scott at Wilton Parks and Rec. for all their help.

A small sampling the Village Market location scout:

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Starting of February

And we know what February means, right? Just over a month until shooting time!

The latest updates:

The greatest thing about working on this shoot is that I'll be working with some of my best friends. Thankfully, I know they'll be able to put up with me for the most part on set. It gets stressful and after having worked with most of these guys before, things should run relatively smoothly on set. With that being said, Joe Petersen is currently in a production sound course and will be doing the sound mixing for the production. Mallory Westfall has a lot on her plate as the script supervisor and art director (overseeing mostly hair, makeup, and wardrobe).

Mike and I did a thorough breakdown of producing responsibilities to be split between the two of us.

I will be meeting with a promising cinematographer on Tuesday.

AND tomorrow is the big day. Mike and I are headed with the hopes of getting locations booked and finding possible donors for the film. It should be exciting. It's a little nerve-wracking at the same time, but hopefully it will all work out. We'll be taking note of almost everything for our crew and will probably come back to Connecticut again with crew members so they will be prepared to work in the spaces we want to book.

The Park

A stroke of luck hits Nick, a homeless man when he finds a ten-dollar bill on the ground at the park. His newfound fortune is short-lived when he finds himself with the obligation of taking care of Annabelle, a young girl forgotten in the park by her reckless parents. During their time together, Nick depletes his finances caring for Annabelle. It becomes increasingly evident that the relationship between the two is not simply based on obligation or responsibility, but a deep emotional connection related to each one's own sense of abandonment. They lend each other a sense of companionship and courage for the lives they know away from one another.

click HERE for a Wilton-based prospectus

Jill Sapenoff (director, writer, co-producer)

Jill is currently a 3rd year Film and Television Production major at the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Jill has worked on more than 10 student and independent films since starting film school. She has worked as a production assistant on an upcoming Sam Mendes. Jill also worked as the assistant director and stage manager to the "Voices in Conflict" production, which played at The Public Theatre in New York, The Vineyard Theatre, and the Culture Project. Jill continued work on the production through its adaptation to television for CPTV and is credited as the Associate Producer of the televised production. Click HERE for CV.

Mike Wright (co-producer)

Michael Wright is a 3rd year Film and Television Production major at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He has been involved in several student and independent productions, and has held the role of producer on several short films, documentaries, and a music video, both international and domestic. His most recent production role is Line Producer on "A Refugee," an award-winning 16mm color film about the Muslim/Hindu riots in Bangladesh in 2001. Michael is excited to be working with director Jill Sapenoff on "The Park", which reflects her talents as director and screenwriter. Click HERE for Michael's film, "Unfamiliar Faces."

Owen Levelle (cinematographer)

Mallory Westfall (art director, script supervisor)

Mallory is currently a junior majoring in Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She has had experience in student productions ranging from screenwriting to directing to camera work. She has also worked for an independent television company working on factual programming for the A&E Biography Channel. Recently she took part in a training and internship program with the BBC in London. She is very excited to be working with Jill as both an art director and script supervisor.

Nick Mann (assistant director)

Nick Mann is in his third year studying film production at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He recently came back from a semester abroad in Dublin where he focused on screenwriting and traveling for a semester. Immediately prior he attended a summer program in Prague where he wrote, directed, and edited an a short film on 35 mm. The short film that he collaborated on for Apple's Insomnia Film Festival in 2007 came in 3rd place of over 1900 submissions. While Nick serves as an assistant director and 2nd asstant camera on student sets, his true passion is directing his own scripts.