Last Thursday, January 12, 2012, we held the first public screening of Red Scare made up of an audience of cast, crew, donors, and other assorted family, & friends. The screening itself went very well (pictures below), but I was unsatisfied with my introductory remarks. It's funny. I thought about what I wanted to say and had a great deal in mind, but when it came time to deliver the remarks, most of that flew out of the window. Maybe it was because I was very conscious about getting through the remarks and onto the show (with trailers and Dark Wings, the movie ran 2 hours, and I wanted to get to it). Maybe it was just ordinary nerves. Regardless, this blog shall serve as a recap of some of the things I said, an attempt at doing a better job of some of the things I said, and a follow up on the night.
First, I have to thank Franks Theatre in Bayonne for allowing us to rent the theatre to screen the movie. Also, happy to say that, while we weren't completely sold out, we came too close to really matter. Of the ticket sales, a percentage is going towards the Simpson-Baber Foundation for the Autistic, which is a really terrific cause.
It was only 11 months ago that we first screened BGR at Franks, but afterwards I couldn't possibly fathom bringing something new there so soon. I was tired, frustrated with a lot of aspects of film making, and just plain burnt out. But then several things happened. Laying awake at night, I began to try to put the pieces of the Red Scare trailer together into a narrative. I knew I didn't want it to be a noir film; I am not a huge noir fan, nor do I know much about the genre. What I do know is comedy, and my favorite style of comedy is big, Mel Brooksian comedy. So, that is the direction I went into. But still, I did not think that it was going to be filmed. I just wanted to write it to get it out of my head. Then, Sean Feuer came to me and asked what we were doing that summer (of 2011). I did not have an answer for him. I was surprised that he wanted to do the whole feature film thing again, but it lit a fuze in my head. Then, Bill (Dautrick) came to me telling me he wanted to direct, and so we started the process.
At this point I really have to thank our donors, especially two of them. My parents have supported me through everything for my entire life, and I couldn't do what I do without them. Without Their support (both my parents and donors), the entire experience of film making wouldn't be nearly as rewarding.
Bill and I met a few times, and (having both been students and fans of Mel Brooks movies) we agreed on almost everything from style to direction to whatever else there was. I really feel that our styles complimented each other and what he did with what I wrote resulted in an amazing collaboration that I am insanely proud of. We didn't always see eye to eye, and occassionally differed on what was best for the movie, but at the end of the day I am incredibly happy with the end result, and know that it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for him.
The cast of Red Scare is truly one of the most amazing casts that I have ever seen gathered. That usually sounds like such a bullshit thing to say, but I really and truly mean it. I couldn't be more proud of everyone in the cast, and if you see the movie you will see what I mean. But their contributions are very visible, whereas some of the behind the scenes work may go unnoticed. Those are the people I want to thank.
One of the first decisions Bill and I made was trying to get Sean Feuer to be our DP. Sean had risen in the ranks of our little troupe last year, and we wanted him to use his incredible gifts and vision towards making Red Scare look as good as it could. If you have seen the movie, you will see just how talented a little genius he is.
Joey Mosca did everything he did on BGR for Red Scare. Everything audio, he was in charge of. However, on this movie, he also recorded a live orchestra and mixed it and got it into the movie in under two weeks. The last day of which began at 6pm and ended at 6am! We both only went slightly mad. That live orchestra, was conducted by the composer of our score, Dan Granda, who (with an extremely limited time) created a majestic, brilliant score that lifts up everything we did to a level undreamt of before.
Tony Pineiro came on as our gaffer, and an excellent job he did. Talent is one thing; knowing what to do is great. But Tony brought a relentless sense of optimism and joy to the shoot that lifted everyone's spirits, and not once was he negative. He also drove us everywhere we went, which was pretty amazing of him.
Loarina Gonzalez started as just an actress for us, and then went on to do makeup for everyone (zombies, me, etc). She helped Tony with lights when he needed, ran slate when needed, helped Joey with the audio recording, sat down with me to help me patiently reschedule when actors schedules changed, gathered the majority of our zombies, and more. As she has repeatedly said, we could not have done it without her.
Tinea Abdallah volunteered to create some of our costumes and she did nothing less than incredible work on everything she did. I had no idea she could do so much when she was cast, but I am so happy that she was part of our team. Miriam Cortez never had just one official title, but she did just about everything on set from slate, to being script supervisor, to helping with locations, to politely removing the kids who constantly asked "I could be in this movie?" I also have to thank my good friend Max Arias who came out of a 13 year retirement from acting to save my ass when some "actors"(and I use that term loosely) dropped out at the very last moment. Matt Hojnacki helped us build, ran cameras occasionally, and just was an all around pleasure to have on set. His enthusiasm was infectious on set and through post. Blake Zawadzki was also instrumental in securing several of our locations. Thanks to all of these fine people.
Isaac is the first person who usually reads my scripts. He offers suggestions, some of which I take, some of which I ignore. For Red Scare, however, he gave some truly wonderful suggestions that actually wound up taking Red Scare to where it needed to be. It would not be the same movie without him. Bob & Dan also gave their early feedback (although much of it was, "More of my character, please." =D) Bob has been reading my stuff for years, and actually gave me the note that he actually didn't have any notes. Either way, all of these peoples' advice was very important to the overall project.
And I wish I said all of that. I said some, and in different ways, but what can you do?
The screening went well. People really seemed to like it. As much as I love BGR, I feel that Red Scare is far more relatable and enjoyable for everyone. I think/hope that this will pay off when it comes to festivals. So far, I have submitted to Tribecca and Comic-Con International Film Festivals. We shall see what happens.
If you've seen the movie (and if you haven't you can get a copy for $25 by emailing me at RedScareMovie@gmail.com), feel free to contact those and other festivals spreading the word of Red Scare and asking/requesting/suggesting that they accept our movie.
The screening is over, but I will have more updates for you as we go on with the festival route. We are going to have to do a lot to top ourselves now. Never fear, though! The fine folks are also working on a number of other upcoming projects, including Loster, a potential Twilight Zone style anthology movie, and more.
The biggest and best things are still to come.
Stay tuned,
Sam
Actor, Writer, Producer
Red Scare
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