When I was contacted by Lauren Ayles and Marty Shea to ask me if I was interested in being part of this amazing project, I had no other answer than to say absolutely YES.
The idea of writing, directing and producing a full feature in a collaborative way, reminded me immediately of one of the reasons why I wanted to be a filmmaker: the Surrealists.
The same way Andre Breton and Philippe Soupault decided to write together stories and compiled them into the amazing book “The Magnetic Fields” (1920), this movie captures the essence of blending thoughts, minds and efforts to make a long feature fiction movie, keeping the same character along all the minds working on it but keeping the distinctive characteristics the region, filmmaker and actors have to offer to make it unique at the same time.
We all pitched the scenes we wanted to make, we all took care of our segments in regards to actors, production, etc, and we all read, comment and agreed on the final version of all the short scripts written that now composed the whole movie.
My segment was titled: “Out of Hand”, a script that I ended up writing with Paul Douglas, a very talented writer and long time comedian that brought to the table that comedy knowledge and an unique performance as the “Lawyer” that tries to convince the main character “Man in Brown” to do something he is not supposed to.
My “Man in Brown” was played by veteran actor Bob Coonrod, who has been in plenty of movies sharing the screen with recognized actors like Richard Gere and actresses like Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. From the beginning Bob and Paul were dedicated to their roles and took the time to rehearse the scene and elaborate a moment that is clear now every time I watch the scene, I cannot be happier with the results. From the script to the final cut, the scene is just as funny as the original idea (if not better) and filled with that dark, sarcastic comedy I’m such a fan of.
I must say was lucky to find other great actors to be part of the scene as golfers. First of I want to mention Ka Beesler, an actor that I met along the way via Bob and that from the first time seem like if the “Mad Golfer” role was written just for him. The cast couldn’t be better now with the three main roles assigned to these three great actors. The result was obviously outstanding and as british director Craig Lines said: “…This will definitely be the funniest segment of the film!…”
The golfers were played by: Ralph Goin, Joel Hendrick, Andrew Petry, Morgan Jaye Williams, Richard Houghton, Jerry Guyer, Jeevan and Mike Worley. One week before the shoot one of the actors part from the project leaving a spot for Eric Kuhns who took the role of the “Walker” and did an amazing job.
I have to also thank Elizabeth Hong, Oksana Smetanyuk and James Grim for all their assistance in the production of this scene.
After being declined by a lot of golf courses in town, Mike Worley step up to the plate and through him we were granted permission to shoot at the Pecan Hollow Golf Course in Plano, TX. After seeing this location I was thrilled with the amazing quality of its greens and the diverse landscapes I could use for the film, huge thanks to Steve Heidelberg.
Traci Moore took care of the make up department, providing with her talent all the realism required to accomplish this scene perfectly well. I’m very grateful for such a great team!
Ok, that’s my blog entry for today.
Here is the interview with Marty Shea on CNN about CollabFeature
