New transistion class today. Rehearsed with Brett afterwards. In good shape!
Borrowed some stuff from BGPlayers for the shoot.
Jam has an audition for tomorrow!
$400 = new brakes and machined rotors on all the wheels!
Also = 2.5 hours to keep munchkin busy without any toys which = lunch at Dennys (very posh - it just happened to be across the road from Midas!) and a grand tour of Home Depot. Oh yes, I know how to show my son a good time!
The car is amazing again. Brakes like lush pile carpet. Just the gentle feel of beautifully smooth brakes engaging - it's wonderful! Yep, I need to get out more.
Dropped around to the photolab to order my new headshots. Proofingon Tuesday.
Completely moved the Studio around for the shoot. Took 2.5 hours! Everything is piled, eight boxes high in one corner. And it's still cramped.
Printed up the badges for Check-in. Still need to draw up a shotlist...

A bunch of great news stories for you...
Phoney doctor gives free breast exams
UK drivers trust GPS more than their own eyes
Finally, the guy who 'lost' the patents which would have paid him for every iPod sold (gutted!)

"Act like it's the last time you'll ever act"

Rehearsed the scene with Rich at his apartment today a few times. It was so much more connected than Monday's class. We're in a lot better shape! Phew. [Happy]
Class was great with S. Came to Brett's door and everything was on track. Sean gave us a 'good work'. Post class, rehearsed CheckIn with Brett a couple of times and hit the local coffee shop to riff some more. It was nicely loose, we tried different things and different speeds [Happy]. That's going to be the best thing about Saturday (I'm hoping and praying) that we can try all sorts of things. Yes, it's a pain in the arse to be writer, director, producer, make-up, crafty, set builder, art dept and the shoot location as well but it does put you in control. One thing's for sure - something's going to go tits up on Saturday but I'm going to embrace it, not be scared. Ahhh, the fun of lo-budget filmmaking [Panic].
Also saw MarieN and went thru her script with her. I was surprised how passionate I was about the story and the characters and I think she was very happy that I liked it. Just a few things to change but for the most part, should be a good film. She thanked me very much and told me that she would love me to see the rewrite when it's done. I told her I'm up for it! [Happy]
Littl'un is being a terror at the moment. He says No an awful lot now and bedtime was another nightmare process we had to stagger thru tonight. Screaming at the top of his lungs and refusing to stay in bed. Parenthood is a blessing, it really is [Really annoying and frustrating].
Carried on the shot list. There are going to be a lot of shots!! Glad we have the whole day!
Considering letting Gary & Robert put up the tent in the back garden on Friday night to save them having to get a hotel or have to go home. Should be fun!

Ditched LA and headed for the coun-ry-zide and Underwoods family farm.
Yes, I know, family stuff is dull to read about but WTH are you doing here otherwise? Bugger off if you're bored. And you're checking out blogs on the 'net because...
So, 45 miles, past Thousand Oaks (that's a long way) and into the country. Met a guy from Walton-On-Thames who's working out here now, dressed up like a jolly farmer, dungarees, straw hat, the lot! He seemed VERY happy to have swapped the UK for the US (aren't we all). Anyway, it was hot and no, we didn't slap on the sunblock (silly us). First off, we headed out to the PUO strawberries on a trailer behind a tractor. Very cool for the kids, of course. The strawbs were few and far between, another week and they would have been everywhere. Well, we filled a punnet having used our hawkeyes to zero in on them. Back to base and off to the petting zoo and activity playground (I told you this was gripping stuff, didn't I). Littl'un spent most of his time trying to extract animal feed from the little vending machines next to each enclosure (very smart idea, at 25c a pop!) without paying for it, with some success I may add. He had lots of fun in the playground and took an almighty tumble down a dirt hill. Boys will be boys. One cool thing they had done was to built an aerial walkway for the goats to wander along into another enclosure, complete with a truck and a small house half way along. Sunburnt but happy, we headed home. No callback from yesterday. I'll carry on scanning the breakdowns for jobs...
Feeling a little stressed about the shoot on Saturday although I stayed away from the script today - I need to 'forget' it a bit. Started reading 'NAM' by Mark Baker. It's one of our set books for class. It's pretty scary stuff.

Monday... Audition for Hefty. Shane L casting. She rocks! Playing a guy at his BBQ. With another actor, one was Hero guy and the other was the 'loser'. Seemed to go well. I really need to book one of these, soon!
Off to class. Oh my god, I was bad! The scene with Richard was a complete recitation of the script. No listening, no working off, just both of us heading for the door at the end. It was so bad, I felt it myself and begged that it would end, soon.
Yep, T was as unimpressed as I was and proceeded to tell the class why it was so bad (actually, they already knew!). We need to move back a little and do some doors and activities with the scene. Take away the focus from the words and say them our own way. Try and freshen it up a little. Same again next week!
Cedric is back - yea! He worked with Chris and they were great.
Did a read thru woth Brett after class and we did the standard 'first read' technique. I know the words far too well. I suppose having written it, I can't be too hard on myself. I don't want to get hung up on it, though. The way everything went today, I could end up stressing so much that I screw up the shoot on Saturday. I have far too much to think about...
Oh, BethA almost missed another audition. I totally missed the email audition notice. S from D called to tell me. BethA is pissed although she was able to make it.
Julie's pic is up.
Finished MarieN's script.

Easter day and chocolate galore, of course. Littl'un enjoyed his Easter basket and his mini indoor egg hunt! He spent most of the day trying to delve into his chocolate supply but we kept his consumption down to a minimum! I, on the other hand, had rather a lot of sugar during the day! Went for a walk and took in the beautiful day.
Did some more work on the shooting script. Spoke to John and Mum!

You have to admire enterprising entrepreneurs, basically selling stuff back to the people they stole it from... classic. Give these guys a Dunkin Donuts franchise!!

Hit the Zoo today for Easter Bunny stuff. It was packed with people!! I felt like we were on show to the chimps, not the other way around. What they must think when they see us packed in front of a gurad rail, taking pics and pointing at them, I will, of course, never know. Based on the assumed average IQ of the cross section of those folks standing in front of the chimp house, the primates seemed to be the more intelligent of the two species. We also went through the Reptile House which, funnily enough, we have never seen before. I suppose it has always been there... I don;t mean from the dawn of time, I mean always as in since the Zoo was buit. Anyway, there are some very interesting critters in there and some downright dangerous ones too! A fair sprinkling of rattlesnacks, lizards and other cold blooded fellas, I'm glad that my first brush with them was with a fairly thick piece of glass between us.
Hit the library and picked up the other couple of books I needed for class. Also "How to turn $5000 into a million" book (which has been out since the year dot and retails for a shedload on amazon so I thought I check it out) and 'It would be nice if you weren't here'. Renewed a stack of plays as well. I have some heavy reading to do. Add to that cramming for the shoot of my script next Saturday, British-ising Marie's script and reviewing the Hooters scene for Monday and I have a lot to read in teh next coupl'a days.
Watched 'The Weatherman' which I actually enjoyed. Great performances from everyone, especially Nicholas Cage and Sir Michael Caine. The two kids in the movie did a great job too.
M finally read my script while I walked the dog and she said it was 'Interesting'. She also said how was I going to play a 25 year old drummer from Indiana. Was I going to do my fake American accent and could I get away with playing mid 20s. I then told her that I was playing the OTHER part (there's only two people in it)! I told her to wait and see it on the screen!
M made up munchkin's Easter basket and I put a little something together for her too. Ahhhh, yes, I'm like that.
Here's a fun Springtime Bunny story...
which has been verfied here...