New Cast Member Added!

Hello readers!

Just flew back from Nashville and boy are my arms tired (sorry couldn't help it)! Last week I planned to write about my recent trip but then more important stuff happened so that'll have to wait. So lets get caught up.

Updates:

And the 1st Supporting Cast Member is....

I extremely pleased to announce the supporting role of "Miguel"

has been given to my long time collaborating actor Miguel Caballero. Miguel has a rich resume of acting experience. He studied and received his BA in acting at UCLA's School of Theater, Film & TV. He was a member of the Latino Theater Company Laboratory in 2003 - 2005 where he had a leading role in the award winning play Melancholia. His TV resume includes appearances on shows such as CSI: NY, ER, JAG and The Visitor. He has starred in several independent feature films and is currently producing and starring in the much anticipated feature On the Run.

My personal background with Miguel goes back to my first year at LMU. In casting for my first student film I was fortunate enough to meet and cast Miguel for the lead role of my short "Chicas on the Way." I quickly saw once we began working, that Miguel was more than just talented, he was reliable, and he was inquisitive. He didn't simply settle for me to direct him like a puppet on a string, he truly up-ed my game as a director by forcing me to think of things I hadn't considered or offering suggestions about his character or scene which had eluded me.

Therefore, it was a no brainer that I set out to work with him on next two student films at LMU. Miguel took the role of the antagonist in my bastard child of a film "The White Room" and once again took the lead role in my thesis film "Big Meet." After film school, we unfortunately lost track of one another. But as I set out to write the feature length screenplay that would become Love, Concord I completely had Miguel in mind for the supporting role of the older brother. So much so I got lazy and simply named the character Miguel.

As I set out to hold auditions for this role my inner voice told me I had to at least try to get a hold of Mr. Caballero and see if he'd be interested. So by the grace of luck, Miguel didn't change his phone number and soon enough he called back. I offered him the role, he read the script, and the rest is history! Again, it's very exciting to have Miguel on board and already he's doing more than simply offering his acting talents, as he's trying to help me with the casting of the two most difficult roles.

Set Back on Camera Purchase

About two weeks ago I set out to finally buy a Sony EX-1 on eBay as I'm at the point where I need my own prosumer grade HD camera for freelance gigs. I found what looked like a decent deal on eBay. The seller was offering a lot of accessories but the catch was the camera had a lot of hours of use on it, and it look more than a little worn and torn. After asking questions about the appearance of the camera, the seller assured me it was all in excellent working condition an that the digital pictures on eBay were just poorly shot. So I bid and won.

Several days later I got the camera and was enraged to find the camera had a giant crack at the base of the handle and the handle itself was splitting apart exposing it's electronics to the elements. I wrote the seller back immediately telling her I wanted a refund because this was clearly a sign of how poorly treated the camera was. Oh and those "poorly shot" photos were not poorly shot. The camera was filthy with dust and muck. So she replied with an offer to fix the handle for $75 which was unquestionably well below what it would actually cost to repair.

Therefore, I had to file a complaint to eBay to get my refund. Once I did that eBay instructed me to ship the item back. I promptly did just that and two days later I get an email from the seller accusing me of leaving the battery charger and a memory card out of the package. She threatened to not refund my money until she got them back or paid the several hundred dollar cost to replace them.

This chick was a total scam artist, because I not only put everything back that they shipped me I rechecked about 5 times before I gave it to UPS for delivery. When I confronted her about it she then accused me of not requiring a signature for the delivery and that it must have been broken into while sitting in front of her home. Yet another lie! Who would steal a charger and memory card and not a multi-thousand dollar camera sitting in front of a house?

I investigated with UPS and they confirmed the delivery driver hand delivered it to someone at the address. So finally eBay intervened and must have put pressure on her to refund my money. And I'm happy to report I got my money back via PayPal yesterday, two weeks and countless headaches later. I may have lost the $40 bucks to ship it back to them but better that than the several thousand they were trying to scam me out of for a $hit camera!

The moral of the story is....don't buy video cameras or anything of significant value from eBay! Especially if the photos look as crappy as your gut instinct tells you they are. Or in the very least research the buyer before you commit. But in this case this woman really did fool me, because all her seller feedback was positive. So again buyer beware of large value items on eBay. The website may offer a money back guarantee but it's certainly not worth the hassle to save maybe a few hundred bucks.

Well that's all folks! Have a great week!

Forward!

-Gustavo

Casting Away

Hola readers!

Anyone else bugged by the lack of Olympic games coverage? Not that I'm a huge fan, but come on NBC at least try to give it the same coverage as the summer games.

Updates

The 1st Auditions are in the books

On Sunday I began auditioning for Love, Concord. Luckily for my sake we only had one person to look at on Valentines. But Monday we saw quite a few people. I was fortunate to have the help of both my lovely wife Sandra, and the always charming Jimmy Freeman. So thanks to both of them for allowing me to focus on the performances. Overall, I'd say I have good feeling about two of the actors who read for me with one of them being a really important character. We're continuing to hold more auditions this Friday as well as next Tuesday, so again if you know anyone interested in getting some acting experience send them to this link:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/tlg/1604037064.html

Awesome First Meeting with Wardrobe Manager

On Friday night I met for the first time with my wardrobe manager Ash Hakimi. We talked about the screenplay which he read and had complimentary things to say about. But then we dove in and discussed the different characters and how their clothing style would affect their perception on screen. Ash was full of great ideas I hadn't even considered, because I've never read my script solely thinking about costumes. So with his fresh perspective and focus on wardrobe he opened me up to some new ideas I hadn't thought about.

There's a lesson to learn here for other 1st time micro budget feature film directors, when possible always get a specialist to help you with things like wardrobe, props, make up, etc. Because having someone who's only concern is a specific aspect of the film does two things:

1. relieves pressure from the director.

2. gives you a different perspective which can enhance or change your opinion for the better.

Again, I'm very much relieved Ash is on board and I really look forward to continuing our collaboration.

Compression not a Factor between EX-1 and 7D

On Friday afternoon I also happen to attend a users conference at MacWorld. One of the lecturers was a video compression expert who gave a very engaging presentation about how and why compression is so important. I also learned some great tips for how to compress video better in Final Cut Studio 2 and 3! But for the Q & A session, I had the opportunity to ask him if he thought the compression codecs for the Sony EX-1 had an advantage over the Canon 7D. At first he thought I was asking which camera in general was better, so he began to say how the EX-1 is a jack of all trades camera, and how it's better suited for doing multiple kinds of video shoots. But that 7D was the better camera to shoot things that can easily be repeated and how it's much more reliable in low light scenarios.

When I cleared up my question about picking which camera had a better compression scheme for it's video, he essentially said they're both equal on that aspect. Both camera manufactures have done a great job, therefore my fear of the 7D potentially having a weaker compression of its HD video can now be put to rest. With this info in hand and the various sample video I've shot with both cameras I'm really leaning toward the 7D as the camera of choice to shoot Love, Concord.

Last but Not Least

I'm still in desperate need of a Location Manager/Scout for the feature. If you know anyone or are interested please send and email to: loveconcord@gmail.com.

Well there you have it folks. Next week I plan to write about my trip to Nashville, TN. I'm doing a shoot their for my friend and documentary filmmaker Angela Kline. Her documentary is about a painter who's work is collected by many celebrities all across America.

Until then....

Forward!

-Gustavo

The More the Merrier

Hello readers!

I'm finally over my evil cold! Woo hoo! And I made it 5 weeks without a soda. I finally broke down and had one during the Super Bowl, but can you blame me?

Updates:

Love, Concord has a new crew member to add to its growing numbers. I'm happy to announce Ash Hakimi has come aboard as Wardrobe Manager. Ash has a very interesting background. He worked at very fashionable and popular clothing store in Vancouver, Canada where he was an Assistant Manager/top salesperson/ and fashion coordinator. In college Ash split his interests into both film and horticulture. But it was his talents with landscaping that lead him to create his own successful landscape design and installation business called: Utopic Gardens. (www.utopicgardens.com/).

Ash, has been given the latest script and he and I will be meeting soon to start discussing all the various clothes, costumes, and outfits each character will need for the production. Then the task will be to actually plan, organize, and secure what we decide so we'll be ready to go come time to shoot. Ash's enthusiasm and personable attitude truly have me excited to collaborate with him, and I'm sure he'll be a great addition to the crew. Welcome aboard Ash!

Another Interested Concord Filmmaker

Through a chance liaison I recently met Jeff Mosley an established stuntman and actor here in the Bay Area. Jeff was also recently trying to get a feature film project off the ground in Concord and offered to meet with me to offer advice and input on my project. Unfortunately, Jeff's project is currently shelved until he can reorganize his plan of attack to accomplish it, but he wanted to meet with me to offer ways to keep my film from entering the same predicament his is in.

We met yesterday and he truly gave me some very insightful advice and has offered to lend a hand on the production as best he can once we start filming. While I've just met him, and I'm always skeptical of strangers offering "free help," I genuinely feel he legitimately wants to help my production. In the very least simply because, like me, he wants to see the East Bay Area's film community thrive and prosper. His vast experience in the local industry could be a true value to me and most likely will be yet another reason my production is a success. You can look up Jeff's vast experience at

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608444/

Well there you go folks. Next week I hope to write about how auditions go as I plan to hold some this weekend. Until then have a great week!

Forward!

-Gustavo

Hello Readers!

Finally starting to feel normal, but my throat still feels like I swallowed a Costco size hairball. On another side note I'm one month free of soda and feeling great! Woot! Woot! I may sneak one down during the super bowl though. GO SAINTS!

Urgent Positions Need Filling

We're less than five months away from shooting and there are a few key positions I need filled and I don't have a single lead on them. The first and probably most important for pre-production is a location manager. I'm having a big difficulty securing and finding locations for the 17 places we need to shoot at. Not only that, but the places I do have in mind, still need to be contacted and explained about my project. Therefor, if you know anyone who's either interested in becoming a location scout or manager please send them my way. Or if you know someone interested in perhaps producing movies, this would be a great entry level way of becoming a producer. Not having to worry about my locations would releave a heavy burden from me, and allow me to focus on other important director duties.

Another important position I need filled is a wardrobe manager.

What this position entails is someone to help me go through the entire script and decide exactly what each character needs to wear and help either locate, buy, or order the costume and make sure it arrives to the set at the right time on the right day. This would be another great opportunity for someone perhaps interested in costume design or even becoming a producer as this is a department head position which would teach one a lot about how each department works with one another.

Those are the two most important positions I need filled immediately, if you know anyone interested have them contact me via email at: gguardado@gmail.com

Casting Reminder

I've been receiving a lot of headshots from the initial casting call, but I'd still like to get more. I've updated the latest cast openings on Craigslist. Here's the link:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/tlg/1582524079.html

If you know anyone interested in acting please share the link with them. There's a few supporting roles, and 11 minor speaking roles and they are of various ages, genders, and ethnicities.

A Quick Plug for a Fellow Lion

Just want to remind you all More Than a Game a documentary about Lebron James' high school basketball team is now out on DVD! I'm not just mentioning it because I happen to know the director of the movie from film school, I genuinely liked it. This is a great story about what it takes to achieve a dream in the face of poverty and other obstacles. You don't have to be a Lebron James or basketball fan to enjoy this film, so rent it, Netflix it, or buy it! You won't be disappointed, and if you are you have a lump of cole for a heart.

That's it folks. Until next week....

Forward!

-Gustavo