My short film will also be screening at Newport Beach Film Festival! I’m so excited!
Details here: Newport Beach Film Festival
Category Archives: Directing
My short film is hitting the festival circuit!
Sonny Poster
I’m so excited and proud to announce that my short film, SONNY, will have it’s world premiere on March 22nd at a film festival in Los Angeles. Then it will hit a festival in Austin, TX in April. Then it will return to California for a screening at a festival in Burbank! Here’s the details!
Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival - tickets here.
March 21, 2013 to March 24, 2013
International Family Film Festival
May 1, 2013 to May 5, 2013
The ATTIC Film Festival
April 19, 2013 to April 20th, 2013
The poster for my short film!
Here it is! Hot off the presses! The poster for my short film, SONNY! We’re getting so close to begin done with post-production. I can taste it!
Design by Marilee Sweeney. Photography by Lonnie Urven.
My Current Project
It’s been a while since I posted. You might remember in February I mentioned that I had three projects in their third trimester?
Well, one of them has been born!
Meet our little girl, Olivia Grace Fritzsche.
Olivia Grace Fritzsche, on her birth day.
Olivia Grace Fritzsche, at 8 weeks old!
She was born at home, weighing 8 lbs 12 oz and measuring 21 inches long. She slept through the night at 1.5 months and is a sweet and joyful babe. We are so blessed to have her!
The other two projects, the short film, Sonny, and the short film, Jerry & Diane, are still in post. We’d hoped to get them done before Olivia arrived but it just didn’t happen. Soon enough!
Film Friends: Vessie Kazachka
Vessie Kazachka in the set of The Artist (first from the left)!
My friend Vessie Kazachka was Second AC on the Oscar-winning film “The Artist” and I remember her telling us while it was being shot that she thought it was a good film and that she was proud to be working on it. This was before the Weinsteins got wind of it.
Vessie also worked on my short film, Sonny! We are so grateful to her for sharing her mad skillz and very proud to call her friend!
Filed under Directing
Third Trimester!
I have three projects in their third trimester: two short films and a baby.
Sonny is so close to being finished, I can almost taste it! I’ve even started thinking about what to write for my “director’s statement” and am just giddy with the thought of getting to write one! We’re still finishing the score (with the amazing Joel Davis), and we’ve still got the sound design and final mix to do. Also, Ryan is in the middle of working on the color. But we expect to have all these things finished by the end of March! And then we will begin submitting to film festivals.
Jerry & Diane, the short film we shot just before Christmas (December 2011), is in post. I completed an assembly cut and then handed it off to Ryan, who will put his spin on it, then we will slam-bam-thank-you-maam post it here at home: colour, sound mix and everything. I’m really excited with how it turned out! And am excited for people to see and experience these quirky, funny characters. They’re odd and endearing. 
Finally, I’m 6.5 weeks away from my due date with our first child. Even as I type this blog post, the little one is squirming around in my belly. I just had some dark chocolate and I think he (or she?) approves. This is why we’re doing our darndest to get these projects done before April. Because after that, I will focus on the one most important, squishiest, messiest, cutest little project that I’m currently incubating. Literally.
I’ve also got a project in it’s first trimester. I’m working to get a screenplay done before the babe arrives. It’s called Tent City and it’s inspired by a combination of things, such as the short film Sonny to a small extent and to a greater extent the current homelessness crisis in the United States and Canada. It’s currently in outline/treatment form and will hopefully begin to take shape as script pages in early March (second trimester?). I’ve spent the most time crafting the structure and story because I feel more confident with popping out script pages than getting the story right. I’ve just handed off a draft of the treatment to my producing partner (Ryan, again) and am waiting on notes.
I wonder what sort of metaphor I could use Braxton Hick contractions for in the filmmaking process. Any ideas? Perhaps contract negotiations?
Minimalist Filmmaking!
So I just wrapped production as a writer-producer-director on another short film! It’s a 7-page comedy about a guitar lesson gone wrong. It’s called “Jerry & Diane”. I’m really about the performances from my actors and excited about how it looks!
We had the stupendous and fearless Chris Domig playing Jerry.
Chris Domig, JERRY
And the delightful dry and quirky Margaret Rossi Copeland playing Diane.
- Margaret Rossi Copeland, DIANE
And our lovely DP, Danielle Campbell, was a wiz with the Canon 5D Mark II.
Danielle Campbell with Canon 5D and Zacuto Rig
One of the things I enjoyed about this process (other than directing comedy) was that it was a 2-day shoot, with two actors (plus one brief cameo) and a crew of four (including me). We had the DP, a grip/AC, and my husband (who is also my co-producer, editor and colourist) recorded production audio. All of us were experienced professionals who’ve each worn many hats so the short hand was effective. We worked quickly and communicated well. My actors were marvellous. They dove right into the material fearlessly and gave me lots of choices and options to cut with. It’s going to be a delightful little film.
My first short film as a writer-director, called “Sonny“, is still in post-production; but I’m pregnant (due in April 2012!), and my hubby and I wanted to get another project in before the baby consumes our time. We’re hoping to have both projects out of post and heading to the festival circuit by the time the baby arrives in mid-April.
Filed under Directing
On Directing Actors
The Hollywood Reporter has a delightfully short little piece on Tom Hooper and his recent accolades called “The 5 Secrets of Tom Hooper’s ‘King’s Speech’ Success.” In it Hooper says,
“I was at the roundtable with Ethan Coen and he said to me, ‘I’ve never directed an actor in my life,’ and I thought, well — I wonder if that’s true. Because I’m sure if you walk into a Coen brothers setup, a good actor will immediately read so much from the locations, the art direction, where the camera’s placed, from the casting of the other person — that is all directing as well, just because it’s not saying, ‘Now do it this way, now do it that!’”
I think Tom’s on to something. While I do think that “True Grit” was better written than directed and would totally believe that the Coen Bros did not say a word to their actors on that set, I do think that perhaps the writing, costumes, set dec, and camera placement did have an effect on the performance of the actors. It’s probably why, my favourite scene, is also my favourite performance – the courtroom scene.
I find it hard to process this idea from the Coen Bros; because one of the reasons I love directing so much is that I love directing actors. The second reason is that I love directing the camera; but that’s a story for a different day. Directing was initially birthed in me when I would tell my childhood friends, after a rousing round of make-believe, “That was great! Let’s do it again but this time, let’s change a few things.”
True story.
I always found it strange that I was the only one who wanted to play the same story over again. But I digress.
I love directing actors and I can’t imagine being a director and avoiding that joyful experience! I’m not saying that all actors require direction all the time. That’s certainly not true. But the experience of working out the truth of a moment or the truth of a character with a friend is too delicious! Let me play!
You might think that perhaps I am just a frustrated actor, but I promise that I love directing more than I love acting. I’ve done both enough to know which I love more.
I love directing actors.
Filed under Directing
Post-production!!
On the set, talking with Alexander Wright (SONNY).
I’m currently working with Jack Maatman on Sonny, the short film I wrote and directed. Principal photography was in July and because my husband and I were moving across the country (from LA to NYC), we had to put the post-production process on hold until we could get settled enough to work.
Well, recently Jack and I dove back into the editing process and it’s been wonderful! I mean this in the best way possible: I love fighting with him! He definitely keeps me honest as a director. It’s a pleasure.
It’s fascinating to learn while creating. Even while I’m fighting forward for a scene to work, I’m present in two moments. I’m present in the moment where I’m editing with Jack and I’m present in the moment when I shot the scene and I’m learning what I did well and what I did poorly. I’m learning where I should have made an alternate decision. Where I got what I wanted and where I should have done just one more take.
So I’m absorbing all this pentimento-like experience, all while I’m trying to assemble the story, staying true to my original intent, but creating a compelling forward motion. Dizzying, but delightful!!
Filed under Directing
Principal Photography!
So I’ve been busy at work directing the short film I wrote called SONNY. Principal photograph was last week – July 18 thru 23. It was an amazing experience. Quite nearly the best week of my life. I love love loved it!
I’ve directed theatre before and I love directing theatre. I love directing actors! But this was my first time directing a narrative film! And I thought I’d love it… I had a feeling that I’d love it… and I’m happy to say that… I WAS RIGHT! I totally love it!!
I’m going to try to post some thoughts that highlight each day of the week in more detail. In the meantime, here’s a few of my favourite set photography photos!
The Slate
Filed under Directing
