Musician's Friend

Hello Readers!

Lots to update so lets jump right in!

Updates:

Soda is my enemy! Grrrr! But hey my production budget is $30 richer!

Picked up a hi-hat while in LA this weekend. This a favorite tool I like to use in my filmmaking as it allows for ultra low, yet finely framed shot angles. You can also use them for in car camera angles or on the table shots, etc. It's basically a super low to the ground tripod. But they're battleship grade and almost as expensive. So that's one less item I'll have to worry about acquiring before June 13th.

Had a very good meeting with Chris Carter, Interim Director of Alumni Relations at St. Mary's College. He pointed out some really great resources for helping me connect to potential alumni interested in working on or assisting the movie production. For instance, SMC In Circle, which is a great online social networking site. So for all you former students and fellow SMC almuni highly recommend you check it out and create an account. Here's the link:

https://smc.affinitycircles.com/smc/auth/login

Latest crew member added.

So technically this crew member should've been profiled last week but in my excitement to try out the first "mail bag" article I completely forgot to do it. So everyone welcome Virginia McCarthy to the crew. Virginia was one of my favorite professor's at St. Mary's College where she teaches a travel course to the Sundance Film Festival. I learned a great deal about working on an independent film from her course as she's worked on many of them as a script supervisor. She's worked on In the Bedroom, The Zodiac, Little Children, La Mission and more.

We sort of lost contact after that course as I went to film school and worked in Hollywood right after. But once I got my position at SMC we quickly reconnected, as she still teaches the awesome course that I took way back in 2001 (great Sundance year btw). So Virginia's involvement with my feature begins with her willing to read the early draft of the script. She gave me some great notes on it and most of all a reassuring confidence boost when she told me she genuinely liked the story even in its rough stage.

We've been meeting often at cafes to not only discuss my feature but her cinematic endeavors as well and I'm happy to say she's agreed to join the team as a Producer. Her invaluable experience as a long time script supervisor will undoubtedly help make my production a success. Plus, it'll also be great to have yet another friend by my side as I make my first movie.

Musicians Wanted:

This week I want to talk about the soundtrack for the feature. While I'd love to use recognizable pop music, there's a problem with that and its called copyright fees. As many of you know, popular music costs thousands if not millions of dollars to purchase the copyright which allows one to use an artists music in a movie, TV show, or commercial. Therefore, since my mirco budget feature can't afford to pay the potentially astronomical amount for pop music rights I'd like to feature new and up and coming artists. Preferably, I'd like to use music from artist in Concord or at least the Bay Area.

So here's how you can help. If you know musicians, bands, solo artists who'd like to potentially have their music placed in my feature film please send them my way. They can be any type of following genres: Hip Hop, Rap, Rock, Alternative, Indie Rock, etc. (no Country!) As always have them email me at gguardado@gmail.com and hopefully I can talk to them more about what kind of sound I'm looking for. Also, for allowing me to use their music I am willing to offer some sort of video service, such as shooting a live gig or perhaps helping to make a music video. I'm all for one artist helping another, so please help me spread the word.

The good news is my brother is a musician so I know I can hit him up for at least one song. So if you're reading this Mike, I'm calling in a favor! He's also in a band called Scrambled Wavelengths. They rocked a show I recently shot at a bar in San Francisco. So hopefully the band will be willing to lend a song to the feature as well (wink, wink). You can find them on www.myspace.com/scrambledwavelengths

Well that's it for this week! One last reminder that the first fundraiser/ birthday party is this Saturday the 29th. If you'd like to come and didn't get an evite, email me at gguardado@gmail.com.

Next week I plan to post a slideshow of the fundraiser pics we're going to take and share how it all went down. Until then....

Forward!

-Gustavo

Mail Bag!

Hello Readers!

Hope you all had a great week. Mine wasn't too bad. So lets start off with some updates,

Updates:

So I fell off the wagon. I had a Dr. Pepper on Saturday, so for those of you who had pools on how long it'd take for me to give in, the winner is three and a half weeks. But in my defense I lasted a lot longer than I thought I would for giving up cold turkey. And the bright side is my production's budget is now $10 richer because of it.

The next update is the recently donated prizes to the fundraiser's raffle! Salon Bella has promised to donate services to the raffle which will include at least one haircut and styling by none other than the super talented Isabel Colla (check out the commercial I produced for them).

Another included prize is a one hour massage from Anne O'Donnovan of Body Elements, who is also an amazingly talented professional. The price has been set for the raffle tickets, which will be $10 each and I'll begin to sell at the end of this week. Don't forget, the fundraiser is August 29th email me at gguardado@gmail.com if you'd like to come or want more info.

Speaking of fundraisers, the next official one will most likely be in November. At that one I plan to premiere my latest short film "Marta's Last Exit." We'll also be doing a silent auction at this event which will have some pretty awesome stuff (more to come on these items in later articles).

The last update is to inform everyone about Opificer's Twitter page. Yup, that's right you can now be informed of a recent blog posting or article via Twitter. I promise not to use Twitter to tweet mindless crap. It'll just be used to inform you of postings on the blog, so spread the word. Look us up at: www. twitter.com/Opificer

Mail Bag!

Alright enough with updates lets answer some questions I've been asked a lot since I started the blog. Oh and allow me to encourage you to either post questions in the "comments" box on the blog or to email them to me directly, again at: gguardado@gmail.com

1. Gus what the hell does Opificer mean? And why's it your production company name?

This is a good one. Opificer means skilled artist, and at the risk of tooting my own horn, that's what I like to think of myself and the people I collaborate with. So it made the most sense to name my company that which I am and strive to be. Good luck finding it in a dictionary as it's not a commonly used word, another reason why I chose it. Hell it took me learning of it from watching the 2008 National Spelling Bee finals.

2. Is your movie autobiographical?

Yes and no. Much of the stories premise is ripped right out of my experiences growing up in good ol C-town. But I've taken quite a bit of artistic license in the names, events, and people (or lack thereof) in which these events actually took place. So I think of it more as a hyper-reality than an autobiography.

3. What about Concord motivated you to create a movie about it?

Growing up in Concord I realized it was a very unique place. It was a somewhat quiet town, but occasionally had big town problems. So it always bothered me that no one had heard of Concord. Whenever I traveled as a kid or met a family member from El Salvador, they always asked what San Francisco was like living in. And I'd have to say "I have no idea! I live 45 miles away and it's like a whole different world."

So for me this movie is as much about sharing the uniqueness of one's hometown with a mass audience who may never have heard of Concord. But at the same time telling a story so familiar to others that one can't help but relate to the characters problems.

4. When is "Marta's Last Exit" coming out?

You can't rush art, is what I always say. But honestly this is the longest it's taken me to finish a movie. But I promise it'll be wrapped up and done by the next fundraiser event in November. Hell I might even finish it sooner if given enough encouragement and pester from my readers (wink-wink, hint, cough).

Well that's it for this week. Please keep the comments and questions coming. Until next time....

Forward!

-Gustavo

Fundraiser Time, Now Name my Movie!

Hello readers! Three weeks off soda! Woot! Woot! Oh and quick shout out to Angela Groppetti Kluver who's been a big help this past week!

As promised last week, I'm giving the details about the first fundraiser for the movie production. So here we go. The event will be on August 29th from 1:30pm to 5:30pm. One of my producers has been very kind enough to host the event which is fantastic as she has a beautiful home with a great backyard. At the event I'll be selling my DVD collection which varies from comedies, action, sci-fi, drama, and a few TV series. We'll also be raffling off prizes which are: Two movie passes to Cinemark Theaters, a DVD bundle pack, and a very nice wine tasting kit from William Sonoma. Lastly, there will be music, beverages and a light assortment of appetizers, after allthis is a fundraiser.

I'll also be screening my first short film which has always been a crowd pleaser. It's called "Chicas on the Way" and always gets people laughing. After the screening I plan to give a brief presentation on the feature movie project (I don't say film, as we're shooting digitally in HD). So if you would like to attend please email me at gguardado@gmail.com so I can send you an evite with the location as I don't want to webcast my producer friend's home address.

On another topic:

I'm having difficulty deciding the title of the feature. So I thought, why not ask my blog readers to give me a hand in the process. So here are some of the titles I'm working on. Again, the movie is a Dramedy, meaning it has elements of comedy but is leaning more toward the drama side. Therefore I want a title that encapsulates that and I also want the word Concord in there as it takes place there. So here are the suggestions, please comment on which ones you like most right here on the blog. Or hell if you like none of the options come up with one of your own.

1. Concord

2. Gerry of Concord

3. Gerry's Concord

4. Gerry the Concordian

5. Gerry's Romantic Crusade of Concord (purposefully cheesy)

Well I look forward to your ideas and feedback. That's it for this week, stay tuned for more info and please keep the question and comments coming.

Forward!

-Gustavo

"That man is a Brownie Hound."

Hello Readers. So as you probably already know, yesterday John Hughes died of a heart attack at age 59. To many people Hughes was an admired artist who so fully captured the 1980's high school experience. His cheeky humor and honest emotion truly touched many a generation.  This is the man whose movies entertained me summer after summer as I constantly watched, re-watched, and shared them with friends and family. His movies have quietly inspired an army of filmmakers myself included. 

Therefore, it's only fitting I pay a little humble homage to a filmmaker and person I never met, but yet feel an artistic connection to. After all, the very movie I'm attempting to make is partially inspired by Hughes's and is indeed set during my time as a high school teenager.

  So while many of us may be sadden that he will no longer entertain us with his artistry, we can breathe a little easier knowing that moviemakers like myself will carry on his filmic legacy with simple homages or outright borrowing from his canon of work.

On that note I leave you with one of my favorite lines from his movies.....

"Do you realize that it's snowing in my room God damit!"

-Chet from Weird Science

I need actors!

Quick Update and Tip:

Two weeks off soda and counting! But my skin is beginning to itch with the desire to pound a Dr. Pepper. Hanging in there tough.

Also, this weekend I was able to convince three really close friends and my wife to help me read aloud the latest draft of the script. This was a huge help as it did many things. For one, it allowed me to find a lot of the typos I failed to catch. But more importantly, it allowed me to hear how well or poor the dialogue is. Hearing your script aloud really helps you to see what's working and what's not. Therefore, I highly recommend if you have a script (even a short one) get together with friends and do an actual table read. You'll be amazed how much it'll improve your perception of the work.

Hello, readers! This week's article is all about casting! Therefore the most appropriate place to start is with the one lead role I've already cast. Allow me to introduce everyone to Angelina Leon who will be playing the character of Melinda, the lead love interest.

Angelina is yet another former student whom I met the very first week I began teaching at St. Mary's. I was fortunate to have been assigned her as an assistant to make my life and the department's lives all easier. Little did Angelina know that she'd actually work as my assistant, as I quickly forced her to help me clean and reorganize the labyrinth mess that was the equipment closet. She quickly proved to me she was a hard worker and completely reliable.

But it wasn't until I needed a last minute actor to do a mock audition for one of my classes that I learned just how valuable Angelina's talents are. Since I knew she had an interest to act I begged her to be my fill in, otherwise I'd have to cancel the lecture topic for that day. She accepted and the rest is history. I was completely blown away at how well she performed, and most importantly how well she took direction. A light bulb went off in my head and a voice within also told me I had just found my lead for my feature.

The next step was to "test" Angelina to see if she was just as amazing a performer on camera as she was in person. Hence, I wrote a six page script that became Marta's Last Exit, my recent short movie. I wrote it to not only test Angelina, but other variables which would affect the feature such as the camera, the crew, the locations, etc. All of which passed with flying colors. But from the reaction people have given the rough cut of the short, Angelina is the feather in my cap.

She's currently living in Los Angeles (or Hell-A as I call it ;) pursuing her acting passion, but has agreed to play the lead and I couldn't be more happy or relieved to have such an important part cast with such an exceptionally talented young actress.

Moving on, lets talk about the many other parts I have. Here's another aspect I could use peoples help with. I have 21 small speaking parts I need filled and six small non-speaking parts. Not to mention the nine leads and supporting roles! What I could use help with is finding people who either have acting experience or have always wanted to act and would take these small parts serious. So here's a list of the various parts and their age range:

1. Ms. Sing the Speech Teacher (30's - 50's)

2. Mrs. Sanchez the Spanish Teacher (30's - 40's),

3. Coach Klien (40's - 50's)

4. JV Coach (40's - 50's),

5. Mindy's Brother (18 - 20's)

6. Brother's Friend (18 -20's)

7. Vice Principal Nathan (40's - 50's)

8. Waitress (20's - 30's)

9. College Counselor (30's - 50's)

10. Mindy's Friend (teens - 20's)

11. Jerk #1 (teens - 20's)

12. Juan the Dishwasher (30's - 50's)

13. Woman Asking Question (40's - 50's)

14. College Tour Guide #1 (18 -20's)

15. College Tour Guide #2 (18 -20's)

16. College Tour Guide #3 (18 -20's)

17. Old Music Professor (50's - 60's)

18. Yearbook Teacher (30's - 50's)

19. Tuxedo Salesman (40's - 50's)

20. and 21. Mariachi Band (any age)

Non Speaking Parts:

1. Movie Theater Employee (teens - 20's)

2. Defeated Student (teens - 20's)

3. Jerk #2 (teens - 20's)

4. Angry Basketball Player (18 - 20's)

5. Referee #1 (30's - 40's)

6. Referee #2 (30's - 40's)

There you go. Those are all the parts I could use help casting. The main leads and supporting roles I'll be holding audtions for. Which may allow me to find some people to fill these parts, but again any help now would be great. That's it for this week, next week I plan to write about the first fundraiser which I hope to hold at the end of this month. So pencil in your calendars!

Forward!

-Gustavo