Blocking

Sun Tzu says a battle is won in the preparations. Chuck DeRosa (Cinematographer), Phil Napolitano (2nd AD), and I are blocking the movie, start to finish. We have to block it and rehearse it like crazy before a single actor sets foot on set. There's nothing worse than actors standing around bored while the director scratches his head.

(Phil and Chuck at work)

Phil is a work horse, and drew up battle maps of the whole location. Chuck and I are trying to come up with creative ways to navigate from scene to scene, while preserving the integrity and momentum of the script.

We've divided the script into 23 "scenes" and mapped each section accordingly.

Chuck and I have been watching a flood of movies to prepare for the camera blocking. We're using "Elephant" traveling shots a la Gus van Sant, "Masculin-Feminin" medium close ups a la Jean-Luc Godard, "8 1/2" swiveling tracking shots a la Federico Fellini, and static "Before Sunrise" two shots a la Richard Linklater.

My two biggest sources of inspiration for The Last Hurrah are Woody Allen and Richard Linklater. Not only is their often neurotic and philosophical dialog an influence on the script, but I'm drawing enormous creative sustenance from their style of shooting.

"Slacker" uses handoffs and reveals to pass the POV from character to character - a narrative style I've enjoyed performing hundreds of times in improv. And nearly every single scene in "Annie Hall" takes breathtaking risks of cinematography and sound design. Long shots, 360's, POV's, tracking backwards through a crowded party - all elements we will incorporate into The Last Hurrah.

For sound design, Chuck and I are watching a lot of Robert Altman. We've had some discussion on how to cross fade from conversation to conversation throughout the party, and I've strongly decided I want the sound to motivate the camera, and not vice versa. Chuck shares my religious convictions on POV. I don't even like establishing shots. A single instant of unmotivated camera movement creates massive POV issues.

For lighting design, Chuck and I are assigning thematic moods to each section of the map, to make the movie feel as if it has distinctive scenes, even though we never cut. Thus we have a map divided into sections labeled "Heaven," "Hell," "Eden," "Police Interrogation," "Limbo" - it would probably seem like nonsense if I posted it here. Best to keep some things hidden.

The weather is scorching hot, but Phil is a trooper and I love how fast we can bust through our work.

General Patton

I've told Chuck (Cinematographer) my strategy for blocking and rehearsing The Last Hurrah is the "General Patton." Basically, we're going to drive straight to Berlin without stopping. George S. Patton's genius as a World War II general is that he didn't pause to clean out every Nazi battalion between Normandy and Berlin. He skirted past some of them so he could quickly strike Nazi Germany at its heart. Then, other allied armies filled in the gaps Patton skipped along the way.

For The Last Hurrah, we're doing a fast blocking pass all the way through to page 108. Then, we'll fill in the trickier details in subsequent passes. I want every shot in this movie to be well composed and visually interesting. But I don't expect to solve them all sequentially without costing valuable time.

For what it's worth, this is basically my writing process as well. Speed is of the essence. The faster I work, the more confident I am that my intuition is guiding me.

Rewrites

I've done six script rewrites in the past two and half weeks. Because we are shooting in one take, there will be no room to make changes in the editing room. I've got one chance to get it right. Our producer table read two weeks ago timed out at 67 minutes, which was terrifying. I did some math on my 88 pages, figuring out exactly which halves of the three acts were light, and added 20 pages in my first rewrite. I had one day to do this rewrite because I'm so busy finding a location and actors.

What's funny is that this script - garnering all this nice attention and momentum - is a first draft written in one weekend. So up until this first table read, I had never actually read the script I wrote.

The next few rewrites I did were for pacing and character arcs. Not every moment needs to be incessant dialog. I've also rewritten the script to accommodate our location and better fit the actors we've signed on. During each of the auditions I listened to how the lines match each actor's personality, and fine tuned accordingly.

For Valerie, I entirely threw out most of her scenes and wrote brand new ones that I think work better. For Gary, I nearly doubled his number of scenes because I think his character is one of the bright spots in the story.

As a writer, I crave feedback and script notes. It's interesting to see where good notes come from. My manager and agents did not offer any notes on the script. Meanwhile, our film editor, Jay Trautman, gave me extremely useful and specific notes.

For this last rewrite, I read all 108 pages out loud with my stopwatch, and timed in at 76 minutes. This is somewhat unsettling, but Chuck (our cinematographer) insists the pacing on set will add a lot of time to the script. Chuck seems confident and I have no choice at this point but to go with his gut. He has much more experience than I do.

On a personal note, I can't wait to mentally switch from playing the introverted writer to playing the extroverted director. The first actor table read is July 2nd. By that day I need to switch hats, analyzing and interpreting the script as if it was written by someone else. This is the process that feels natural to me.

Casting Will

I am so happy we have found Zack Bennett to play the lead role of Will. Special thanks to Gary Cairns for the introduction. Zack is 19, and from what I can tell, some sort of prodigy. He is incredibly natural - a completely unselfconscious actor. When he delivers lines, I see the thought process in his eyes, I see the wheels turning in his mind. He seems to be coming up with his lines extemporaneously, and only in retrospect do I realize that I wrote what's coming out of his mouth. We're incredibly lucky to have him onboard.

(Zack with beard, Jon without)

Zack's Backstory

I auditioned Zack for the role of "God," a random Los Angeles hipster who crashes the party. Zack's first cold read was magnificent, and in his second try, I noticed he wasn't even looking at the page anymore. He'd already memorized it. Keeping my face calm, I politely asked him to read for the lead role of Will.

And in a cold reading, with no preparation, Zack knocked it out of the park.

Zack's Call Back

I wanted to give the producers the chance to say "yes" to Zack as well. So I brought him in for a call back. I also wanted to see how Valerie worked with him, and give her a voice in who we cast for the lead.

Zack and Val were so relaxed together. As I filmed their audition, I gradually let it devolve into actor exercises because it was so much fun to work with them. I had them improvise their own conversation and gradually segue into their scene once they were comfortable. This is how the camera will find them when we shoot. They played off each other wonderfully.

Zack is so unselfconscious he will lean his head back and close his eyes for half a scene. He will make choices so human that it seems I've never seen them on camera before.

I was hoping to cast a young Woody Allen, someone with big vocal arcs, strong dialog punches and fast comedic delivery. But in Zack I feel we've found something different, more dramatic, and possibly, new.

The Casting Couch

Socrates had a number of useful things to say. Know thyself and whatnot. But perhaps his most important message was to constantly keep in mind how little you know. As a new director, I'm constantly doing my best not to B.S. anyone, over-represent my knowledge, or generally make the mistake of assuming I have any idea what I'm doing. This attitude has its pros and cons.

On the con side, I have wasted countless hours in the past month patiently listening to everyone's advice, even when I know it's complete hogwash. Nearly everyone involved in the production so far has invested at least an hour in trying to persuade me to abandon the "one take" idea. I wish my teammates invested their time in trying to figure out ways to make my ideas work, instead of trying to figure out ways my ideas won't work.

On the pro side, listening to everyone's doubts forces me to bolster my arguments which, in turn fortifies my own convictions. If nobody questioned me, it would be too easy to misstep.

Up is Down, Down is Up

All this being said, and in full recognition of my humble status as a first time director of a micro-budget movie, it is intriguing to notice the strange power a director is afforded. The script is now being passed around town and appearing on tracking boards. Managers and agents are twisting my arm to meet with their actors. People I don't know are sending in audition tapes reading for parts. I don't even know how they got the script. I'm having lunch with gifted actors who - in some cases - are begging me for a part.

The floor of my room is covered with headshots of eugenically perfect human beings. Beautiful women I would normally be terrified of. Handsome guys who probably bench pressed guys like me in high school. Basically, people who would normally ignore me are suddenly treating me as though I wield some modicum of power. Don't they know I'm a writer? It's astonishing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm tickled by the attention. And no disrespect to anyone - I know what it means to struggle. But Hollywood is a strange machine.

Casting

It's as though the characters are stepping out of my psyche and into the real world. I took one look at Gary Cairns' headshot and said: "there's The Trip."

Gary blew my mind in his audition. We were reading lines, and I fed him the set up, "Trip, maybe you should be on Ritalin, like, prescribed by a doctor." In character, he sat there and pondered my question. He must have counted to 30 in his head before finally replying, "Nah man, I'm cool." It was such a bold choice. The confidence to build that long before delivering his punch line. I gave him the part on the spot.

Gary then got me in touch with his friend David Wachs. Again, I took one look at David's headshots and knew, there's "Jason." David rocked his audition. We read "Jason's" big seduction scene - with me playing "Melissa" - but it didn't slow David down a bit. He dove into character with complete commitment. David is focused, intense, and yet incredibly easy going. It's such an honor to meet these fantastic actors!

We've also signed on Valerie Azlynn. Val and I bonded because she's also from Connecticut by way of New York. Like her character "Nicole," Val is Irish-Catholic, and an East Coaster. She cracked me up in our informal audition by making quirky, likable choices - letting her own personality shine through in her character.

I'm absolutely amazed at the caliber of actors we are attracting to The Last Hurrah. It also builds my confidence tremendously to find the actors so enthusiastic about the material. Lord knows they are not signing on to this project for the money! This means they are doing it for the right reasons, which is awesome. Online Reels

I've quickly found that the best thing an actor can have is an online reel. It doesn't matter if the underlying reel material is awful - good acting is good acting. You can send in a cringe-worthy student film, but if the actor has a screen presence - it will shine through.

Obviously, after one week of directing I'm no big expert, but it seems to me that acting reels are a huge courtesy to the director. I only have to bring in people I know are good - so I'm not wasting anyone's time! There is an actress named Alicia Ziegler whose acting reel is completely impressive. If we can get her, it will be terrific. We have one week to cast the entire movie!

My Strategy

I've found that once I see an online reel, I know if I want an actor. The face-to-face meeting is purely for personality. I am having all the actors do a one-on-one cold reading with me. This is to see how they work with me and take direction. This is going to be such a technically challenging shoot, I need to know if the actor is truly enthusiastic about the material and can take direction on the fly.

The cold read has proven to be a good strategy, as one actor has already flipped out. I asked her to cold read and she threw a full on fit. She yelled at me, called me arrogant, and walked out. Suffice it to say I was mortified.

The irony is, I never had any intention of casting this woman in the first place. Despite my packed schedule, my manager had insisted I give the woman an audition as a favor to her manager. He said it would be "good politics." Humph. Chalk it up to another valuable learning experience!

Location

When I decided to write my own movie, I set it entirely in one house, because that was the single cheapest location I could think of. Now, after a lot of searching, and three houses that were really, really close, I think we've found a winner. It's a beautiful multi-million dollar home, and perfect to suggest that the character of Lex is having a party at her parent's palace while they are out of town. I'll have to rewrite the script to fit the house, but if we can sign the papers, it might be perfect.

The best part: we are getting the location for one month for $2,500.

How we got the deal

The owner is completing renovations on his kitchen July 3rd. This prevents him from renting the house for the month of July. Thus, any money he receives from us is found money, as long as we carry a million dollars in location insurance! Richie found the house using craigslist, and deserves a lot of credit for patiently working with the home owner through a complex negotiation. I think we are extremely fortunate.

I love the house! It has all of the important requirements: a spacious backyard, a piano in the living room, a floor layout to roughly accommodate the script, and plenty of outdoor space for building video village, makeup, wardrobe, craft service, and sound HQ. The house is bordered by a vacant lot, a parking lot, and a quiet neighbor - so noise complaints may be manageable. Best of all, it's located in the center of Los Angeles - easy commuting for everyone. Fingers crossed.

First Pre-Production Meeting

Tonight we had our first pre-production meeting for The Last Hurrah. From my corporate days, I set my watch on the table and begin the meeting at 09:00:00 - regardless of if everyone has arrived. This trains Los Angelinos to arrive on time. I pass out typed agendas because if there's anything I care about in this world, it's an efficient meeting that respects everyone's time.  I would run meetings with Roberts Rules of Order if I could.

If I'm honest, I still have no idea if a one take movie is technically possible. I need empirical proof. So my first goal - before wasting a lot of people's time - is to organize a test run. I want to use the exact equipment we will use on set to shoot a five minute trial. I need to know how continuous time will feel, how the character hand offs will work, and if viewing hand held will make everyone carsick!

Assuming the test run works, our team has three weeks to workshop the script, find a location, crew up, and cast the movie.

Oh. And money. We need to raise money.

For posterity :) here is our first meeting agenda.

June 4, 9:00pm General Meeting - The Last Hurrah AGENDA

1. Introductions 2. Location - Pooling our Resources 3. Test Run of Shoot 4. Equipment for Test Run and Shoot - What Do We Need? 5. Sound Person - Pooling our Resources 6. Other crew - What Do We Need? 7. Our Production Roles 8. Set Tentative Date for Audition, Briefly Discuss Actors and Cast 9. Set Date for Workshopping script

Choosing the Director

I sent the script to some friends interested in Producing.  Three out of five of them agreed to come onboard.  Together, my team has a combined producing experience of zero years.  But we are all good friends, nice people, and let's face it - working for free. Having signed on the producers, I was surprised when one of them immediately took it upon himself to convince me not to direct.  Another one immediately set to work convincing me to abandon the one take concept.  I spent uncomfortable hours watching the reels of other completely unknown directors, and hearing pleading arguments for why I should just add cuts to my movie to make it more "normal."

After hours of argument, I think I am getting to direct my microbudget movie myself while protecting my script from my volunteer producers!

The Decision to Direct

I'll grant that I have never directed a feature film before.  I'll also grant that every director, at some point in their career, had never directed a feature film before.

I'll grant that there are many movies I am not qualified to direct.  If you gave me $100 million tomorrow to direct the next Hollywood action-thriller, I would almost certainly botch something up.

But a microbudget comedy I wrote for fun?  With no stunts or special effects?  It's like directing a play, or directing sketch comedy.  And that's something I've done hundreds of times.  The whole point of writing The Last Hurrah was to write something I could make myself.

Cinematographer

I met Chuck DeRosa (Cinematographer) at a friend's birthday party at The Dresden. We had similar taste in movies and I liked him from the start. Chuck mentioned he was a DP, so I told him I wrote a script in one take. I asked him if he thought it would be possible to shoot such a thing. Chuck said, "Send me the script." I sent him the script and promptly forgot about it. I was surprised a few weeks later when Chuck called me and said those magic works that burrow straight to a writer's heart: "I love it."

I went over to Chuck's house for a beer and watched his DP reel. I was incredibly relieved to find that he was extremely talented. It would have been awkward if he was a hack! Chuck has a great sense of framing and lighting, and shoots a lot of 35 in his spare time as well. Perhaps most importantly, Chuck has a lot of the on-set experience that I lack. We shook hands and decided to make The Last Hurrah.

(This is Chuck DeRosa, lounging)

Writing the Script

I wrote The Last Hurrah for fun on a weekend in November 2005. I was in a strange place at the time. Although, I suppose I am always in a strange place.

In October, my reps had gone out with my script "The Pirates of Nantucket." Everyone clapped me on the back and told me I would make a lot of money on it. Reading the tracking boards, my manager told me to go out and get drunk. The script was sent out to 26 production companies and read by 44 production companies by the end of the day. But despite the excitement, no studios bought it because Fox had just set up a deal for a competing project, "Midlife Pirates."

Undeterred, we went out with a new script the next month. I was very excited that my comedy, "The Last Man on Earth" received similar praise and attention. But again, Kevin James had a project by the same name, so no studios bid on my script.

I went on to complete nine screenplays that year. After years of study and practice, I was confident in my abilities. I'd performed in hundreds of improv shows, written dozens of sketch shows, taken dozens of writing classes, and written thousands of pages of material. They say Hollywood is the only place where you can die of encouragement. On every studio meeting I went on, I felt pumped full of attention and praise. But one thing was becoming abundantly clear: Hollywood is full of perfectly competent writers who never have a screenplay produced.

Writing The Last Hurrah

I decided to write a screenplay that would cost zero dollars. Something no production company could say no to! To cut costs, I knew the script had to take place in one location. I knew it needed a hook. And I also knew I wanted to practice my dialog writing...

So I decided to write a comedy in a single take. One slug line followed by 88 pages of dialog. I gave it 12 act story structure and arced all the characters in a single continuous scene. Multiple plot lines are followed through camera hand-offs, a la Slacker. I wanted to see if I could maintain audience interest, or even make the audience forget I wasn't cutting.

It was a blast. I wrote it over a weekend.  Just three days in my pajamas eating Chef Boyardee. Sitting in front of my computer with my eyes closed, transcribing what I hear.  It came out fully formed.

I wrote The Last Hurrah for me and not for Hollywood - I knew it was indy and not commercial. For fun, I showed the script to my manager and agents and was shocked when they said they loved it. Excited, I told my manager I wanted to produce it. But he advised me I'd be wasting my time, and that I should focus on writing scripts that can sell to the major studios!

So like most of my scripts, I put The Last Hurrah in a drawer and forgot about it.