Corvus Films

I have found that the most difficult part of a blog is in keeping up with the blog… Meaning, I always seem to have something to say (ask my wife), but not enough time to write it all down.
My intention in starting this blog was not only to keep interested parties up to speed on production and development (hi mom and dad!), but also to keep a diary of my experiences for myself and for other would-be writers/directors/producers/musicians.
This past year has taught me a lot about movie making, development and crew wrangling. It began with a simple idea to write a short screenplay about a Sylvia Brown-esque psychic, a faker who doesn’t care about her “craft” any longer and only goes through the motions long enough to separate her mark from their cash, and suddenly I ended up with a full blown production, re-casting roles and running through 3 cinematographers (and boy am I glad we ended up with Ali). It was never my intention to become a “producer,” I just wanted to write and to make music for film, create it the way I saw fit and not to hand it off to some stranger (getting another person to shoot your screenplay is another nightmare unto itself). During production I found joy in the little details that coalesce to form a larger picture. Working with the crew and the meticulous planning I went through with Darrin and Suzette to secure locations, work out kinks in the script, cast actors (I was wholly unprepared for that!), provide food, troubleshoot, budget, re-budget for overruns, schedule, re-schedule the entire production with a weeks notice and on and on gave me some insight not only into the mechanations of producing a short (imagine a feature on a shoe string budget! some people do it though), but also into human nature and how to collaborate and get from people what you want while giving them what they want.
At the time I jumped into developing the full production it seemed like a lark, a bit of fun that would work itself out as we went along. What I ended up with was a lot more time on details, details I never even imagined, and a barely controlled chaos of moving targets.
Still, I wouldn’t change a thing. At any moment it felt like the entire production might fall apart and while negotiating with DP #2 and pushing the shoot back three weeks I almost threw in the towel; needless to say things will be done smarter, not harder, next time.
I remember reading Thrasher magazine when I was in junior high school, I had my walls plastered with skaters from the Powell-Peralta team: Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Mike McGill, Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen and Mike Vallely. Film making, like anything else in life done well, looks easy from afar when applied with skill by other experienced producers and filmmakers. As I learned quickly through bruises and fractures while trying to skateboard (sorry mom), Tony Hawk probably didn’t jump on a board and do a back flip off a half pipe his first time, it took patience and time and practice and likely more than a few broken bones…
-Jeremy