Production Update #43: Another Summer Shoot…

To All the Heary Souls Who Still Think We'll Finish Slade's Never-Ending Indie Film Experience:

Yes, it has required a ridiculous amount of patience (5+ years), a good deal of cash raised from freelance jobs, and a near-foolish belief in the intangible, but we've finally reached the 70 minute mark -- that's right, 70 minutes of a 16mm feature film locked and in the can. Just 12 pages of script left to shoot to finally wrap this thing up. And the goal is to do this in the next 2 months:

SHOOT: This Sunday July 12, 2008 2pm-6pm at Luther and Alice Myers' Farm near Fridinger Mill.

We will be hiking through the tall grass and woods of the back country (including a little marsh) of Carroll County, so come prepared with long pants, hiking boots that can get wet, hat, insect repellent, sunscreen, and a water bottle.

The footage will be part of a travel montage -- 8 to10 "ride-bys" of 2 actors (Campbell, Myers) on horseback as they travel cross country.

That's why we'll need a few extra hands -- and strong backs -- to help carry the camera, tripod, slate and audio gear over rural trails and through a field or two. I just finished scouting out all the camera positions this morning and came home with a dozen deer ticks in tow.

And yes, we will plan the classic indie film meal break around 6pm -- probably pizza delivered from Pizza Garden in Manchester (as usual, I'll spring for that).

Barring bad weather, equipment failure, and other unspecified catastrophe, it should be a fairly straight forward, but physically challenging shoot...

If you have half a day, want some exercise, and need a cool item to throw on a resume (Production Assistant on a truly independent feature), I'm sure we can put you to good use.

As always, thanks so much to EVERYONE for their continued patience and faith in this project... or at least for humoring me and pretending you do.

Confirmed  cast & crew for Sunday July 12 shoot:

* Novia Campbell -- actor "Talia"

* Luther Myers -- actor "Luke"

* Gordon Masters -- production audio recordist

* Jonathan Slade -- writer/director -- I will be filling in for Bob Sapora as camera operator since he is on vacation on the West Coast.

* Alice Myers -- horse wrangler

As some of you know, I've been awarded an academic sabbatical by McDaniel College during the Spring 2010 semester to wrap up principal photography on this project, and to work on post-production and marketing for the film.