Episode 2 is now up and Live!!!!!

I really want to apologize for the wait on this episode. This was really challenging, but it got done!!!! Without further ado I present "Dogs are a Woman's best Friend" Episode 2: Trifecta

Episode 2 Is on the way

Sorry everyone for the lack of updates, I am 97% finished with editing Episode 2. I've been really busy between auditioning, working and life in general I've been trying to get as much editing completed as possible. Episode 1 was my first time ever editing something of that caliber. I just taught myself Adobe Premiere and dove in head first. One of the most time consuming things is getting the sound just right. Each actor was individually miced as well as a Boom mic, but in post sometimes it still somewhat difficult to get all the audio at the same tone, ambient noises, etc. Audio can make or break a production, no matter what the budget.

I'm hoping to have the ep done and out before the end of this week

Dogs are a Woman's Best Friend: Episode One "Reflections"

Here is the first episode of "Dog's are a Woman's Best Friend" enjoy

January 1, 2011 Mark your Calendars

It's official, the first episode of Dog's are a Woman's Best Friend will premiere on January 1, 2011. Mark your Calendars.

It's official..SAG-E

It's official, after checking my eligibility status online, I and five other wonderful actors are now SAG Eligible. I know I stated in an earlier post I was going to breakdown the process of the paperwork so here we go...


1st step


Fill out the SAG New Media preliminary application. This is a straightforward application which pretty much asks about the name of your production, whether, budget, distribution, etc. etc. The reason I just yadda yadda this is the form is readily available for download from sag's website www.sag.org and can be looked over


You will need to send in a Line Budget and a picture of your D/L along with the preliminary application.


Wait about 48 hours and call the New Media Dept. to confirm that you packet was received. If it was you will get assigned to a SAG rep.


The reps are busy!!! I'm never saying this in a malicious manner, but that's the realness. I can just imagine how much paperwork they have to sift through on a daily basis.


With that said, contact your rep to get acquainted and on their radar. Mine was very helpful and sent my second step packet via email the same day I spoke with her.


2nd Step


The second Packet you receive has all the good stuff you've been waiting for. The main ones to focus on are:


1. SAG New Media Agreement (two copies)

2. SAG - Producers Pension and Health Plans Letter of Adherence

These are the two main forms you need to fill out and mail back first!!!! This will cement you as a SAG Signatory Company.

Here's what will need to be mailed in Post Production

3. SAG Performer Contracts. They will include one for principal and one for Background. Fill these out accordingly. I edited the on my computer, then emailed them to my actors. I collected them during the table read. Make sure all pertinent fields are filled out correctly by both you and the actors. You as the producer will fill out the left side of the contract and the bottom, and the actor will fill out the right side and initial and sign at the bottom.

4. Final Cast List - Pretty much self explanatory.

5. Time Sheet - You will fill this out on the days of production. If you are wearing many hats as I did, make sure your actors sign in and out. You as the producer will fill out the rest after production (Meal breaks, transportation, etc).

6. Taft Hartley Form - You will need to fill out one for each performer you ar T/H into SAG including yourself. There's been a form revision, so you will need to list each actors Birthday on the form. On the second page there are boxes to check as to why you are T/H that actor. I just checked Other and put that the particular actor possessed the necessary skills, look and ability I was seeking. It's not brain surgery people, and doesn't require a dissertation to be written. You will need to Attach a Headshot and Resume for each actor that getting T/H, so please keep the H/r You obtained at the auditions.

There's another form called Form 16-B: SAG Pension and Health Reporting Form. You will only need to fill this out and mail this in if you used Union actors who were paid for their performances. Since everyone was on a deferred contract, this form was not necessary for me to mail in.

I mailed my post production packet on 11/22/2010. On 12/9/2010 after checking and trying to get in contact with my rep just to make sure she received everything and it was in order, I became SAG Eligible!!

Hope this helps anyone interested on taking this journey and every experience will be different. Now, back to editing :)

That's a Wrap!!!!!

Principal Photography is complete. Wow...just wow.

Last week was such a stress inducing week. It seemed everything was going smoothly until the week of shooting. Three days prior to shooting I get a call from my DP that we don't have lights (Maybe I should have mentioned to you all that shooting was scheduled for Sat & Sun) and we would need to try to scramble up something quick. I have never rented equipment before as this is my first rodeo and was absolutely clueless as how to go about acquiring this equipment.

I was psyched when I saw a company that rents what we needed for a reasonable price and after a call and email I had the owner of the company email me the paperwork. He did inform me that the lights would be available at or around 3pm Sat. (cutting it really close as my call times were set to 3pm, based on availability of the location we were scheduled to shoot at) You know what? let me back up for a second to set the tone of where my head was at on that particular day. Wednesday was a horrible horrible day. I had some morning misfortunes, a pinched nerve in my upper back which was making it painful to just breath and a migraine the size of Texas.

 Flash forward to when I get the news that evening while at work to say I was through would be an understatement. Sat. comes and I contact the owner of the lights and he informs me that he is on set and should be available at or around 5pm. I tell him that is too late, but I have some scenes set for Saturday night that we were to film and he says that would work. I contact my actors who were scheduled to shoot that afternoon and tell them that we have moved it to Sunday. They're okay with this and are such good sports. At 6pm we arrive to the location where we were to film the interior apartments scenes and after 45 mins of trying to unlock the door we realize that the owner gave us the wrong key and to top it off the owner of the lights seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth and I will have to move everything to Sunday which I was trying to avoid doing in the first place. I contacted all my actors and crew. and informed them of the new schedule and that I will send out new call sheets that evening.

At this point I felt so discouraged and the thought of calling it all off came across my mind twice. Not to mention that after a week of beautiful weather LA decided to rain on my parade literally. It was nasty cold rainy weather all that day. At about 9pm that evening as I was looking so defeated, my wife turns to me and says maybe it just wasn't meant for us to film on that particular day. This is the reason I love her so much, she is not only very supportive but wise and brutally honest. I finally decide to call it a night and get home at 11pm all the while worrying how I will procure some lights before the morning and before I can even send out a revised call sheet. I get a brainstorm that in hindsight I'm pissed I didn't have earlier. I put out an ad on craigslist for lights. 15 minutes later I get a phone call from Francisco Bulgarelli who has the lights we need and is available on a short notice. Not only will he provide the lights, but he is an experience gaffer which I totally never thought about had I rented the lights in the first place. We come to an agreement and 10 mins later I am sending out new callsheets to both cast and crew.

 That night, I slept like I didn't have a care in the world.

Sunday morning rolls around and it's no longer raining. The Sun is out the birds are chirping and I have a full day of shooting ahead. Let's fast forward. Everyone makes their call times, Francisco is a godsend and works well with the DP Jacob and our sound guy Jon, that I'm in total amazement. The entire cast showed up prepared, on time on book and ready to work. Later that evening while we were walking to the next location I turn and give my wife the biggest hug in the history of hugs and tells her she was absolutely right. We wrapped at 11pm and I can honestly say that I am so thankful and appreciative off all the individuals who came together and rolled with the punches to make this a reality!!!

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Right around the corner

It seems the closer it gets the more of a balancing act I have to perform. We shoot this weekend and at the beginning of the week I was unsure that I'd have my restaurant location locked down. The owner had originally ok'd it but then he wanted to switch the days and times that I originally had everything set for. Thanks to some verbal mediation via my lovely wife, we had our original day and time...Phew!!!

Next up let's shoot this thing then we can all enjoy some turkey :)

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