Another 48 Under My Belt

A few days after we completed the Columbus 48 Hour Film Project, I was contacted by Tj Cooley (director of "Survived by..." and director of "Never Gonna Let You Die"), who asked me if I wanted to be on the writing team of a group who were registered for the Cincinnati 48 Hour Film Project. I told him I didn't think I had the stamina to go to Cincinnati and do it again so soon. He told me that the production company, Pariah Dog Productions, would be doing the film here, in Columbus (which is allowed), so I said, okay. He asked me if I felt comfortable leading a writing team and I told him that I did not but I didn't mind being a part of a team.

Then I didn't hear from him so I thought that maybe they decided not to use me, which was okay, too. I only knew a few people from meeting them through the Mid-Ohio Film Association (MOFA) gatherings and I figured that they found a writing team who had worked together before and were happy with that. There was almost a part of me that was relieved because it's a lot of pressure and what if I went completely blank?

A couple days before the weekend, Tj (who was one of the producers of this project) confirmed that I was still on the team and gave me the information about who to contact regarding where HQ would be and what time to be there.

Friday night I arrived at HQ to find a small group standing outside, waiting to hear from Shane Howard (the director) regarding what genre we drew, the character name, character occupation, the prop and the line of dialogue that must be used in the film. Within the hour, we learned that our genre was Superhero, the character to be used was named either Mr./Mrs. Arthur/Arlene Zinnia, acupuncturist, the prop to be used was a tray and the line of dialogue was, "It's the same thing all over again."

It was then I found out I was the only writer. There were writers there but they had signed up for other responsibilities. The script depended on me. It was time for a beer.

But the team spirit was phenomenal and everyone began to brainstorm, tossing out ideas and situations and characters and stories were forming. I wasn't really crazy about the first idea that was developing because, to me, it clearly sounded like Superhero porn. Now, those of you who have read my erotica stories know I am far from a prude but this was disintegrating into nothing but male locker room dick humor (and I was actually participating before I realized that I was going to have to write it and then I shut up). Thankfully, another idea had formed which clicked immediately with everyone and that's what we decided to go with.

By this time it was 10 o'clock PM and the poor actors were texting wondering where the heck the first draft of their script was and I hadn't even started writing yet because we had just set up my office (in the kitchen, facing the microwave, my computer settled on a TV tray - it was bliss, truly - it was the quietest, coolest room in HQ). Once I was set up, Tj described his thoughts of what he wanted to see in the script. Then Shane did a rough outline for me and they left me alone to write. By midnight, I had their first draft and it was sent out to all concerned. The general consensus was it didn't need to be revised at that point so by 2 AM, I was home.

I was back on set at 9:30 AM, Saturday, not because I was required to be, just because I was curious as to how things were going. I saw an abandoned script, picked it up and saw the changes that were made by Shane, I believe. They worked for me because they made more sense with the set changes that had to be revised and they did help the film flow easier. I think Shane was mildly concerned that I'd be difficult about it but as I said to him, this is not my film; this is a team effort and I am part of the team. If it works for the production, it works for me. Although, I do think that if the changes made it an entirely different core story from what we had decided the night before and it was no longer my script, it would only be fair to take my name off it. That wasn't the case.

I hung out until about 3PM and decided to head home. I really wasn't needed and if I wasn't needed then I was concerned I was in the way and I was getting grumpy tired. When I got home, I kept track of the film's progress on Facebook. They wrapped the principal filming by 9:30 PM. Post production was completed at 11:30 AM on Sunday. The film was turned in on time and accepted and it will be shown this Saturday at 5PM. I haven't decided whether or not I will be up to going. I would like to but I have a few health issues that might stand in the way.

I have not seen the finished product and if I do not get to see it on Saturday, I am sure I will see it after the screening, when it is posted. When it's online, I will share it here.

So I have another 48 Hour Film Project under my belt. I went from "I'll never do it again" to doing 2 in one month. And something tells me that if I was asked to do another one in two weeks, I'd probably say yes. They're almost addictive - like tattoos.

I enjoyed working with Pariah Dog Productions very much. They really made my involvement easy and painless. They are a united group of extremely talented people and I hope I get the privilege of working with them again some day.

Anyone else have a 48 they's like me to be a part of? Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?