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Pat Peach - Line Producer
Seeing the completed film at Sundance with an audience, who had heard so much about "Stolen Summer," was very rewarding. The series had shown its version of our blemishes, and the critics were yawning at the thought of just how bad our "amateur" production would be. They laughed. They cried. They applauded (in the middle even). The reaction was like people seeing the beautiful child of homely parents; "How could that film come from that series?" Pete handled his Q&A;'s with aplomb, humility and grace, while fighting back the obvious urge to say "neiner, neiner, neiner."
What was amazing about making the first Project Greenlight film was just how much support came from that cache. Everyone wanted to be part of it. It was intriguing to everyone and helped crew members get past the fact that the rates were the lowest most of them had worked for. We had so much press and everyone seemed to know who we were, that it made it easier to get help from vendors and the city. The equipment houses gave us great rates. The film commissions were our liaison with the unions and helped us find locations, crew, and basically bent over backwards for us. We got our 10,000 square feet of newly remodeled loft office space for free. Kodak gave us a great discount. The Hilton gave us fantastic rates and numerous suites. We had huge freebies from our film and sound labs. We had 30 cell phones with 2000 minutes each free, all the bottled water and Starbucks coffee you could drink. We had two big SUV's to drive our cast around for free. There were props and set dressing and wardrobe promos that were huge. Sam Adams financed our wrap party. We had more hats, t-shirts, shoes, jackets and crew wear than on any show I have ever been on.
So, although the Project Greenlight series is portraying the production in a negative light, which is completely different than the experience actually was, ironically, the series is one of the reasons that this production experience was really great. Project Greenlight was the major reason all of the swag and promos and marketing freebies were coming our way. It also made for a harmonious set with cast and crew really behaving themselves due to the constant camera presence. (We have joked about having cameras on all future sets). It helped us make fewer compromises than we might have had to make if we were shooting your basic low budget feature.
Even still, "Stolen Summer" was a low budget film, which meant we didn't have enough money to afford all of the things you need to make a film as close to the script as possible. Ah, the things you do to compensate. We went handheld or dollied when we needed to use a stedicam (i.e. in the Funeral Home). We used a camera car and tow-rig instead of a process trailer (which is actually a 8-11' x 26.5' trailer platform you put a car and camera and crew on and tow behind a camera car). We changed scenes from night to day, interior to exterior, used the boom on the camera dolly instead of a 25' telescoping techno crane in the church. We only "movie burned" the Jacobsen house instead of burning down an entire house. Our prep was rushed, our shooting schedule too short and postproduction was poverty stricken. The biggest compromises, however, came because of a pre-production period that was three weeks too little.
Pete Jones, whose previous movie experience was getting coffee, had just come off a six week blitzkrieg of winning a contest, casting in L.A. Chicago and New York, rewrites, and lots and lots of press. He hadn't had much time to think about directing a film, let alone where he was going to do it and how much it was going to cost. It was a whirlwind and he hadn't even started pre-production.
Pre-production in Chicago was its own whirlwind. We couldn't determine how long our pre-production would be until we knew if Aidan Quinn was in the film or not. It took over a week before we got the word that we had five weeks of shooting instead of four weeks, thanks to Aidan Quinn. Since there was the potential of an actors strike, we couldn't push the start date forward a week. We had to be done by June 21st in case we ran over-schedule. That meant we had to shorten prep from five to four weeks. Not a good thing.
A technicality with the IA and residuals meant our crew had to be all Chicago locals (Eastern States), however, we could hire one IA crewmember from the West. That became the Production Designer, Devorah, thus, we had to hire a local DP, Biagi. We then only had to convince Aidan, who had DP approval, of our local DP choice, with whom we were both very comfortable. Aidan saw the wisdom of Pete getting both of the creative keys he wanted. The studio was also supportive and quickly approved Pete Biagi. He brought a loyal crew, good will and support from the local film community and unions. By the time we got the approvals on Biagi, both he and Devorah had just 3.5 weeks of prep.
Although it is less effective, it is not uncommon on a low budget film not to have shot lists for all of your scenes. Pete and Pete only had 3.5 weeks to first discuss each scene thoroughly from a dramatic and visual point of view, scout and find locations, then do shot lists. With so little prep, Pete Jones's time was limited. Everyone needed a piece of him.
The two Pete's did do shot lists. Not always before we got to the location, but usually the night before or morning of, thanks to bulldog-Bruce. They always changed them, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. It would have been great if they had done them properly and earlier, but it was all on Biagi, since Jones didn't have any experience with creating a shot list. Biagi had to hire a crew, work on budget friendly equipment packages and think about how he would actually shoot each scene once we had found our locations, which were not all locked by Day 1. On top of all that, a week before we started shooting, the camera union, Local 600, began threatening to stop Pete from operating the camera unless we hired a separate camera operator, something that they had agreed to exclude in our original deal. He really could have used another week.
We were still looking for a few key locations when we began shooting. The Beach location Pete and Pete wanted was not acceptable for sound since it was next to an airport. The alternate had not been found and scouted. We did not know which house would be the Burning Rabbi Jacobsen House either. We shifted the schedule twice to accommodate the Burning House and twice for the Beach. The house we eventually found to burn was not found until five days before we shot there. Christina and our location manager, Amy, worked for two days and nights to negotiate with an opportunistic owner, right up until the morning we shot there. The next-door neighbor to the O'Malley house decided he would extort us once we started shooting there. He hovered around the set threatening to stand in the frame and ruin shots and sue us if we stepped on his adjacent property. Christina and the Chicago Film office worked hours appeasing the irate and unreasonable man. They resolved eventually for $1,500.00. The Jacobsen house we had scouted fell out close to principal and we had to find a new one, which also wasn't locked until close to shooting there. There was a lot of drama for Amy in her dept. and Amy and Christina worked triple time keeping us out of hot water. More prep would have helped.
In the Art Department, Devorah, Martha and Mark had an extremely daunting charge; period, 1976 on $40,000 in three weeks. They were exceptionally effective and contributed substantially to the great look of this film. They came in on budget. We never waited on them. However, they worked killer hours especially when we finally locked down the fire location. Their all-nighters included, working to get the hospital cover-set for the baseball field ready, the O'Malley house ready earlier than they had planned, then again to get the kids room ready early, then again to get the Jacobsen house done early, then again....
We had one real transpo guy, Teddy, who was the picture car wrangler. We had a pool of 30 period cars, which were used strategically throughout the film. Otherwise, there was no official transportation department. It was a first for me, but done often by Christina. Sort of Montreal style; motor homes with drivers, P.A./Drivers and certain crewmembers drove their equipment vehicles. Frank was the point man on it for the most part, but Christina oversaw the moves. We never waited and it worked strangely without incident (other than a little fender bender). In the last episode, you see Frank prove why he is dubbed by Bruce; "He is Neo, he is the one." Frank switches so swiftly from 2nd 2nd to transpo captain, that it appears all time stops as he runs for the gas, which starts the car, that wouldn't turn over, which gets the last shot, which was in the movie that Pete made.
We didn't use a traditional extras casting company. We had three very dedicated and talented interns who not only handled recruiting and organizing all of the extras, they also wrangled them on the set. Having short prep and a tiny budget they did a really great job. They also had to deal with their other casting intern, Pete Jones, whose family and friends populate the scenery of "Stolen Summer." The priest at the church Pete attended as a kid, (which became our Church location) made an announcement each Sunday as part of his sermon to help recruit extras for the film.
Christina, Cece, and Bruce put together a great staff. They worked the longest hours of anyone on the show. You would find Christina, Maria and a P.A. and interns in the office on both days off during shooting. They also found us more than 20 production interns -- mostly from Columbia College in Chicago. They were essential cogs in the production machine. We couldn't have done it without them. They were enthusiastic and willing to do whatever grunt-work necessary.
Pete Jones couldn't be budgeted for location costs like a hotel room, since he was considered a local. (Although he hadn't lived there for three years). Pete stayed in my suite during prep and then in one of Aidan's rooms in his suite during shooting. Pete also gave up his per diem to help pay for his assistant, Judd, a godsend. Pete interviewed nonstop and had a camera in his face all day, everyday and many of his days off. His focus with all of that distraction, while remaining somewhat level headed, jovial and unaffected, was an inspiring thing. The whole cast and crew was inspiring as well. It was a really fun, productive set.
So at the end of the day, we did it, we shot the whole movie, on schedule, and on budget. The scenes under the "El" work well in the film. The scene in the car is hilarious. The rainy baseball scene cut together and worked but got cut out for the story. The kids had a great time swimming in Lake Michigan and although we ran out of time with our big crane shot in the water, we have a much more dramatic scene than anyone expected. The movie is good and something we can all be proud of. The performances are excellent and the film looks gorgeous. It actually is a 1976 "reality sandwich."
They are all hard to make, and you always have to compromise. The success or failure of any film has to do with the magic of all of the parts working together. At Sundance, the audience seemed to agree that our parts worked together pretty well.
And all from a contest... How lucky is that?
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