What Happens when No One Reads the Casting Calls

While we filmed The Making of, we gave out script pages as-needed and out of order, so none of the kids making the film knew what the film was about.

This wasn't on purpose. I'm pretty sure there was a pitch for the film in the casting call (*cough!* I mean "class description.") But it lead to some heart-warming moments. Specifically three of them, because three is a good blogging number. Like #1, when we couldn't get through the Joshua Torres that he wasn't dead.

The Making Of is about an unscrupulous filmmaker using a bunch of kids to make a movie. So naturally, there is a movie being made inside the movie. In this movie within a movie, Joshua Torres dramatically dies.

"I DIE?"

"No. You're an actor pretending to die."

"But I'm DEAD? D:"

"No, you die inside the movie that you're making. .__."

"I DIED."

...on second thought maybe I didn't explain that well enough.

# 2, Brilea, sweet, adorable Briley who came in on the last two weeks of filming to save our hides, approached me at the co-op's end-of-the-year party.

"I think I know what the movie is about, Miss Joy."

"Really?"

"Yes. We are homeschooled so he thinks we're weird but then he works with us and finds out we're not weird."

Oh, darling, we're never not weird.

"...that is wonderful and I love you. That's not what the movie's about. Do you want me to just tell you?"

#3 One of my favorite stories from making this film was when near the end of filming we overheard the teenagers debating, trying to figure out which one of them was the main character.

I stepped in. "Collin plays the main character."

They stared at me like I had lost my mind. "But he's the bad guy!"

It's a good idea to accept that no one reads the casting calls.

But here's what matters to me in this.  Every one of them knew they were important. They knew they were important to the point that any one of them could believe they were the main character. I really, really like that.

 

This year, exhausted, drained, and battered, I showed up to a shoot and played the cast a choppy version of the trailer we were about to release. The flickering figure of Collin got down on his knees, and Adam yelled "WHOA. I NEVER saw that coming!"

They were happy. Hopefully, they know that I'm still working for them, that I'm not going to give up.

Sometimes it's not so bad when they don't read the casting call.

If you haven't seen the trailer for The Making Of yet, you can find it here. Have a great week.

Somebody Save Us: How a Bad Situation Got us Great Teammate

I hate firing people. The bending over backwards trying to make a way to keep someone you like. The ending up flat on your back, knowing it's cut them loose or  sink everyone who's worked so hard. The gaping hole they leave, gushing time and production value while you scramble to fill it.
 
I had a void in my cast, and three weeks left to shoot. That's one day a week with a max of 2 hours 30 minutes that day, if no one wanted to eat.

I had just fired someone. I needed a replacement by the end of the co-op's lunch period.
 
It sounds simple, right? You're asking someone if they want to be in a movie.  But what happened isI went table to table in every lunch room, asking every appropriately aged girl if she could save our film, and every one of them said no.

We'd worked for more than a year on this thing. I didn't want to lose it because I couldn't find one girl.

Chemistry classes. Biology classes. Pottery classes. Financial Peace. Table to table to table and not a single highschool, middle-school, mercy! I'd have taken an elementary kid, not a single person was available to save us.

I combed three lunch rooms and walked down the hall empty handed. I was praying, my chest tight and my head swimming from the lack of food, and I opened a classroom door. And there was Brilea, sitting alone in an empty classroom with her lunch, reading book.

I'm pretty sure I didn't get down on my knees to beg. But I did consider it.

A few minutes later I had explained the schedule, and she was telling me she'd have to talk to her teachers, but she was pretty certain they'd say yes. And she said, "I don't know how good I will be at this, but I will try my very, very best."

If I was gonna cry, I would have done it then.

I wanted to hug her. I reached my hand out, and shook. "Thank you. That's all I need." 

Brilea saved our movie, and a year later, she's still with Rabid Camera. The last week of the shoot year, I realized that she'd never heard the story before, so I told her. And I was like, man. That's a story worth telling.

We're really grateful for every member of our team, but Brilea has the weirdest origin story. Yay.

Sometimes when you have to fire someone it doesn't turn out so bad.