Paper Trail Updates

Hello everyone. Sorry there hasn't been a post in a while, it's been really really busy around here in Gradual Upgradeville.

For those of you following Paper Trail, here's an update or five for you.

- We cast one of the roles which we're very happy about. Rebecca Hay will be playing the part of Sophia, the main character's girlfriend. Rebecca is a very gifted actor, we're thrilled to have her on the show.

-Davin has found us a major warehouse location, it's totally sweet. This is where the climax of the film takes place. You can check it out at this link. http://www.youtube.com/user/GradualUpgrade

- We also snagged a sweet house location, which for some reason is a real pain in the ass to do in Vancouver, so this is considered a major victory.

- Our prop weapons are being created from scratch as I type...very exciting.

- Davin is going to look very dangerous in this film...prosthetics...

That's it for now!

Please Donate and Eat Cookies!

Hey everyone,

Davin and I are starting our fundraising campaign for our new film.  What is our new film you ask?  Check out the link below.  

 

As one of our Fundraising events, we are working with the Bonté Foods Frozen Cookie Dough Program.  I have attached Bonté Foods Frozen Cookie Dough Fundraising documentation so you will be fully versed on their Program.
Here is where I need your help.  The estimated cost associated with this specific “Short” film project is $20,000.00.  As you can imagine, the more Frozen Cookie Dough sold, the more money raised for the Project.  Our Fundraising Goal from the Frozen Cookie Dough Fundraiser is $4000.00.   100% of ALL money raised through the various fundraising events will go directly towards the making of the Film – written, directed and produced by our Fredericton Film Makers.   
Can I count on your support by asking you to help me sell the Frozen Cookie Dough?  I will provide you with a sell sheet and all you need to do is sell the Frozen Cookie Dough (which really sells itself – by telling your co-workers, friends and family about the Frozen Cookie Dough) and collect the money.  Once the Selling Campaign is completed and I receive the Frozen Cookie Dough shipment, I will deliver your orders to you for distribution.  As a special thank you for your help, for every 5 cases you sell, you will receive one (1) pail (of your choice) of Frozen Cookie Dough FREE!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=92335791282&ref=mf

Creating a crew

Making a film is a monumental task and if you're smart you want to surround yourself with the best people that you can.  Sometimes money can get in the way and sometimes circumstances hinder the ability for you to choose your crew.

As a producer you don't really have to worry to much about the smaller details of who all your grips are going to be, you really only have to worry about your department heads, because it's up to these guys to bring on people who they know and trust and can work under them.

I've reached a point where I'm comfortable with the people I'm surrounding myself with and trust these people to bring other people into the fold because if I feel that my department heads are competent and hard workers then in turn they would want to bring on competent and hard workers because their name and image is on the line.  

This trust was not built overnight, but over a course of several films.  Some films that worked and others that have failed miserably.  Each of these films have cemented my thoughts on people I've worked with and I have made rules and guidelines about who I want to work with and under what conditions.

Of course I've made mistakes and some assumptions along the way about people and I've learned from those mistakes.  

I find one of the biggest mistakes that people tend to make starting out is making movies with their friends. Now before you sick the dogs on me, know that friends and friendship do have it's place in this world, but you have to be careful.  Once you move beyond, high school projects/just for fun/film school projects, movie making becomes a business and you are making a product to sell. Working with someone because of friendship or loyalty may very well end up ruining your film and your friendship.

Personally I keep people around that I know and trust.  I wouldn't say I'm "friends" with them, but I'm certainly more than acquaintances.  I was once reading an interview with Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller fame and he described the secret of their success as a business.  On stage they are the best of buds and have a great time, but when the lights go down and audience goes home they go their separate ways.  Basically they're work buddies.  That's how I feel about the film business.  

At the end of the day if you are a serious filmmaker then the movie comes first. I suggest before investing your money or someone elses moeny that you stand back take a moment a be objective as to who you bring into the fold.  

How hard can re-shoots be?

So Bitter Sweet SINphony has just re-wrapped and I'm slightly balder for it.

We wrapped the show last November and because of technical issues we had to fly back to Vancouver to fix things.  There's a reason why executives try to avoid re-shoots as much as possible!

As a producer there were many things that I had to do to ensure that the film got finished and all of this being done from Fredericton, NB.

I had exactly 4 days total to get everything shot.  As it turns out we were able to cram in, two and a half very busy days to get things done.  

Locations...It's six months later.  One of the bigger issues with locations besides trying to get them again, was trying to get them to fit in with my 4 day schedule.  Some guys can only let you shoot on the weekend, other guys at night, or early in the day.  As it turns out I caught a break and was able to jumble everything together and cut the shooting days down to 2 very busy busy days.

We lost our original house location, then I got it back, only to lose it again.  I was able to find a new house, but this one really didn't fit the story too well. Luckily Edgar met a guy on the flight up from Mexico who was more than willing to lend his house.  

I also had to re-negotiate getting the bar location (got that for free this time) as well as getting the crew back onto the Northshore studios lot.  The location we shot there was actually being rented out this time so we lost our office.  However on the day I noticed that the company that had rented it hadn't completely moved in.  I convinced security to let me in and Edgar (director) was able to get the shots he desperately needed to tell his story.

After that I had to make sure all our actors where on board.  Our main character had a big beard, so I had to make sure he was able to grow it.  If he was already committed to another show without a beard that could have derailed the whole thing.  Our lead actress was flying back to Mexico so our production dates had to work around her, as well as work around getting the gear and the rest of the crew....

Then there's the crew, how many of these guys moved on to other shows and are busy?  As it turned out most of them were able to come back with minimal convincing.  

After all those logistics you have to get into the smaller things like prop and makeup, which is getting out of producer territory and more into the other departments.  

The director of photography has to match lighting schemes that he and his crew devised.  The painful thing about doing this is you've had time to figure out how to light something better, however you can't go too overboard because it won't match what you've established previously.

And arguably the most important thing is getting the director and actors back on the same page to try and re-create what they had done 6 months ago.

I watched the dailies yesterday and am happy to report that the film is looking good and once all the layers have been put into place it should be a nice tight little story.

New Film...mmmm

I'm flying over to my home away from home, Vancouver this week to do some re-shoots on a film I produced last November. 

While I'm there, I'll be meeting up with Bjorn who will again be DPing a show I'll be working on.  I'm excited about this meeting because this is where things are really going to start rolling for the new film that Davin and I will be shooting.  

After that, Davin, Ricmond and I will all be flying back to Fredericton to work on some of the major stunt work that will be in the film.  

I still don't want to give away the script...however I can say that we've been working on it for several months and it's pretty much complete. 

Our expectations for this film is very high and I consider this as our "summer blockbuster".  

Fred Rock 2009

Yesterday was the big media release for Fred Rock 2009!  LIVE AND THE BLACK CROWES are headlining!  

Today I can finally talk about all the stuff I've been working on for the last month or two.

As you may or may not have heard Fred Rock is a 3 day music rock festival that is taking place right here in Fredericton, NB!

In preparation for this giant event Gradual Upgrade was brought on to help document and promote what is surely going to be one of the biggest events this year in Fredericton.  

This spot was designed as the launching point for Fred Rock and was showcased yesterday for the first time at the media release in front of several hundred people including dozens of press.   

The idea for this first spot was to appeal to the youtube generation.  Gradual Upgrade has been doing skits for a long time and this seemed to be the natural way to kick things off.  

We shot this at the Fredericton Raceway in sub zero temperatures in the middle of a snow storm.  Davin was in town for the shoot,  which made life so much easier.  Alana Matheson, whoI worked with on Dead To The World helped out as well.  

We had, what seemed to be a rocket engine just off to the side of the camera in the close up shots to keep Crash and Danielle warm in between takes.  Davin melted his coat trying to get warm and I melted the inside of my gloves.

This was also the first time that we teamed up with Crash to shoot something and must say that he was amazing and was a lot of fun during the shoot.

I've pitched two more spots, both of which will be extremely complicated but will look more like a traditional commercial.  I'll keep you posted as things move along.

Check out all things Fred Rock here.

Travis

New Projects

I'm excited to say that Gradual Upgrade has several projects on the go! 

Davin has an action flick that he is currently devloping for a shoot sometime in spring.

Summer time has Davin and I hooking up in Vancouver shooting our biggest project to date.  I can't really give any details except that it is a short film, approx 10 minutes and that it's going to have a very intense fight sequence and will have a summer blockbuster vibe.

The fighting is going to be so intense that I've been going to the gym since Nov to get my body into shape so I can handle the rigours of the shoot.

After we finish our big film, I'm going solo to direct a dramatic short.  This film will be a complete 180 from our "summer blockbuster" style movie and will be more of a character piece.  I'm pretty excited about the script and so is my potential lead actor, this guy right here.... also check this out.  

Once things get into production mode I'll be less vague on the projects.

Travis