Making History, One Frame at a Time!

Hello readers!

Who else is looking forward to baseball season? I personally am looking forward to another season of being a frustrated A's fan, but who knows maybe they'll surprise me this year. :)

Updates:

The Next Event is on the Books

Mark your calendars folks the next fundraiser is set for Friday May 7th, 2010. It will be a comedy night with about 6 (we may still add one more) comics performing their stand up acts. The comics include: JR Bennett, Bernie Anderson, Melanie Bega, Emmanuel Baja and headlining will be Natasha Muse. The MC of the event will be Peter Kim.

The event will be located at the same venue we held our film festival: The 9th Street Independent Film Center at 145 Ninth Street in San Francisco. Doors will open at 7:45 and the event will promptly start at 8pm. The event will end at 9:30 but we, the organizers, plan to meet at the 111 Minna Gallery/Bar for a little after party celebration. Which is just two quick BART stops away from the Civic Center BART station (which is closest to the Film Center).

Tickets will be $10 if purchased in advance and $12 at the door. There will be snacks and refreshments sold at the event as well.

If you'd like to buy your advance tickets before the May 5th deadline please email me at gguardado@gmail.com so I can arrange where to send your payment. Seating is limited to 80 people with a standing room only section of about 10-15 people. Our last event at this venue sold out so buy your tickets soon! Hope to see you all there!

Call Backs

I'm excited about tomorrow as I'll be holding call backs for key roles in the film. And to better help guide my decision, Angelina, my lead actress will be coming up from southern California to help the call back actors run the scenes they'll be auditioning. She has done this before with, Jorge, and their chemistry is what helped seal the deal on my decision for the Gerry role. Therefore, I'm really looking forward to seeing what these actors can do with my lead actress already impressive performance of her character.

Concord Historical Society

A few weeks ago I stopped by the Concord Historical society to seek out their endorsement for the feature. Part of the reasoning behind it was that since this is the first feature film to be set in the city of Concord, technically my film is making history. Therefore, it only seems natural for me to want this reputable society to endorse my film. After giving them a brief presentation about my goals for the film as well as giving them a written synopsis of the plot, they told me they would consider it and get back to me.

I later spoke to the society's Board of Directors President, Lloyd Crenna who told me he didn't think the society could endorse the film until it sees it. Which makes perfect sense. However, he did invite me to write a brief summary of the project so that it may be included in their quarterly newsletter. I'll keep you guys posted on this development. In the mean time check out their website if you're from Concord or need to do research on the history of it, they're a great resource and all very friendly too:

http://www.conhistsoc.org/

Well that's all for this week. Be sure to stay posted as I'm planing to make a major announcement in the near future (we've got something really interesting a brewing! Hehehehe).

Until next week....

Forward!

-Gustavo

The Leads Are Now Two!

Hello readers!

Just got back from LA and boy are my lungs tired, "cough! Cough!" Hehehe. You know cause of the smog. Anyways lets jump in.

Updates:

And the lead role goes to....

First and foremost I have very exciting news. After months of search-

ing, auditions, and random submissions Love, Concord has officially casted it's #1 lead role of Gerry Guerra . And I'm happy to announce the role had been accepted by Jorge Ezra Diaz. Jorge is a very talented up and coming actor who recently just finished a feature film in where he played a lead entitles "Budz House" but he has also appeared on "Boston Public" and "The Brothers Garcia" check out his IMDB link:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0246612/

He also happens to be a St. Mary's College Alumni, class of 2006 (are you starting to notice a pattern with my cast and crew?). But our history is a bit of a funny one. Let's start with our "re-introduction" this past November by my producer Virginia McCarthy. We met on the set of a feature film none of us were working on and right away we could both tell we knew each other but didn't know how. We discovered through Virginia that we were both SMC alumni, but since he graduated a semester before I began teaching there in the fall of 2006, we couldn't quite place it. It took him giving me his headshot and resume to realize we had met on a former student of mine's thesis film in which I served as Director of Photography and he had a small part. Hence the "re-introduction."

Jorge and I later got together with my lead actress Angelina Leon (SMC Class of 07) for a "call back audition." He and Angelina did two scenes together and also did some improv as well. It was easy to see how talented and well prepared Jorge was. But as he was the first person I'd seen try out the part of Gerry I had no reference to truly judge him by. So after seeing several other actors try out for the part, I had Jorge do another scene with Miguel Caballero my actor playing Gerry's brother. Right off the bat their chemistry just mixed perfectly. So after a brief discussion with Miguel after Jorge left we both easily agreed he was a perfect Gerry. So again, with great pleasure and a huge sigh of relief, I once again want to welcome Jorge aboard.

Fundraiser #4

This weekend was our LA fundraiser and while a smaller gathering than I'd hoped it was still a successful event. I want to give a big thank you to the Luna and Simeon families. Araceli and Fermin Luna graciously hosted the event in there beautiful home in Walnut. Also, my mother-in-law Leticia Simeon kindly prepared her delicious homemade Mexican rice and beans for the event which, by the looks of our guests were a true success. Thanks to both families once again for your kind selfless generosity.

We had several winners at the event and here they are:

Frances Leon won the Coppola Merlot wine bottle

Lily Ortiz took home Two tickets to Regal Cinema Theaters

As did Claudia Simeon

And Hanieh Jodat won the $25 gift card to Jamba Juice.

Thanks to everyone who came and all you Bay Area readers stay tuned as we're working on the next fundraiser and it's going to be something we haven't done yet!

Well that's all for this week. Tomorrow I'm taking a much needed day off from pre-production as I've been working pretty much everyday for the past two weeks. Until next week....

Forward!

-Gus

The Crew Keeps Growing!

Hello readers!

Is anyone else still dragging around because of Day-lights-saving? Cause it feels like I've needed a nap every afternoon this week!

Updates:

Our First Production Assistant:

I'd like to welcome our first of many production assistant, Alana Ubeda.

Alana will be graduating from St. Mary's College this spring with a BA in Communication. And surprise, surprise she's a former student of mine! Alana not only took several of my video classes she was also an active member of Gael Vision the student tv station of which I was the faculty advisor. But it was Alana's amazing talent at video editing which really impressed me and sometimes frustrated me ;) Alana was so naturally talented at editing that at times she didn't take my constructive criticism so well. Plus she liked to give me crap or test my patience with how often she checked her text messages in class, but all in all Alana was one of my most dedicated students and I'm glad she'll be working on my feature film.

Speaking of, while Alana will be doing the typical production assistant tasks, we've given her the specific task of touching up our actors make-up. While we hope to get volunteer dedicated make-up artists (especially for the prom scene) for the smaller scenes having a full time make-up artist may or may not be necessary. Therefore, with Alana on the set we'll always have someone ready to take responsibility for the consistency of the make-up for our actors. Welcome aboard Alana!

Second Producer Hits the Ground Running:

Our new producer, Kristin Youell, is already proving how invaluable she is. For instance, she was instrumental in writing a proposal we plan to use to approach businesses for contributions to the feature film. She has also begun planning the next fundraiser, which will once again be held in the Bay Area. And last but not least she's currently helping me lock down locations for the production. She's definitely hit the ground running and I'm so relieved to have her help.

Casting:

We're very close to being done casting our major roles for the feature. And we've made good progress with the supporting roles too. However, we're still not quite done. Hopefully once I return from my trip to LA we'll be able to get our last rounds of casting done.

LA Party/Fundraiser:

So as many of you should know by now we're having our 4th fundraiser in LA this weekend March 20th. There will be food and As before we're holding a raffle which everyone automatically is entered in with their $10 entrance fee. But we'll be selling additional raffle tickets for $5 each to better your odds of winning. The prizes so far will be:

1. Your choice of any two of my used DVDs for sale

2. A bottle of Copola Wine

3. Two movie passes to any Regal theater.

4. A $25 gift card to Jamba Juice.

If you need info on how to get to the party please email me at gguardado@gmail.com. Hope to see you there.

Lastly, I just want to thank all our new "Fan Page Followers." For those who don't know we now have a "Love, Concord Fan Page" on Face Book. Please help spread the word and join! The larger the fan base we create the better chances we'll have at selling the film and getting accepted to film festivals. Here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Love-Concord-Movie-Fan-Page/347397132388?ref=sgm#!/pages/Love-Concord-Movie-Fan-Page/347397132388?v=wall&ref=sgm

Well that's all for this week folks.

And Two More Join the Party

Hello readers!

Sorry for the delay in this weeks posting, but I've been real busy with meetings and auditions this week that I've had no time to write. Alas, I'm free so here we go!

Updates:

Newest Cast Member Added:

I'd like to introduce Mary Lekich who will be playing the role of Ms. Sing

the speech teacher in our feature. Mary is one of the many people who responded to my Craigslist ad and boy am I glad she did. Her resume includes such accomplishments as voice over work, acting in video and theater, and modeling. Mary came and auditioned for me and did a great job of picking up the character on a "cold read" (meaning she had no advance preparation for the audition). She really sold me on her commit

ment to her character when she, in her spare time, emailed me photos of herself looking less glamourous and more raggedy as her character description states. While her part is a small one of only two scenes I highly look forward to working with Mary and can check off yet another character on my "to be casted" list. Welcome aboard Mary!

New Crew Member Added:

I'm extremely pleased to announce our newest crew member Kristin Youell who has come on board to be a "Co-Producer." Kristin and I know each other through two of my favorite people Anthony Giovannetti and his sister Christina Giovannetti. As Kristin and I kept running into each other at Giovannetti social events we discovered we had a common interest in film. While everyone knows I want to be behind the camera, Kristin on the other hand wants to be in front of it. As she put to me recently, she knew she wanted to be an actress ever since she was around 4 years old and performed ballet on a 2 x 4 in the living room floor of her house.

Recently when Kristin noticed I wrote about needing a locations manager the light bulb went off in her mind and realized this could be a great opportunity to learn more about acting in the round about way of helping to make a film. So she contacted me with her willingness to offer her services as a producer, we met, discussed the position and the project, and I'm happy to say that she's officially on board. Her background in banking and her charismatic personality I'm sure will be invaluable as she sets out to lock down the locations for the shoots as well as other tasks. Not to mention I look forward to spending time truly getting to know her as we only seem to ever see each other in loud social gatherings. Welcome aboard Kristin!

Check out her website at: www.kristinyouell.com

Coffee Anyone?

This week I'd also like to mention the first official donation which has been made to the feature. Everyone who's ever worked on a feature film (and some shorts too) will tell you not having coffee available on the set in the morning can result in mutiny. But as my film has a limited budget it was a cost I was not looking forward to spend (not much of a regular coffee in the morning drinker). However, Kim Wilborn and Jennifer Freeman the respective mother and sister of my awesome former student Jimmy Freeman; have graciously offered to stock pile the free 1lb of coffee they earn each week working at Starbucks in order to give it to us once we begin shooting. So my crew will have name brand coffee and I can now use the savings of that cost to pay for other much needed necessities. Therefor, in advance appreciation of the cast and crew, thank you Kim and Jennifer for your awesome selflessness and amazing contribution to the production. Generosity and kindness seem to be genetic trait this family.

The Power of Face Book!

Lastly, I'd like to share that Love, Concord has an official fan page on Face Book. Here it is:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Love-Concord-Movie-Fan-Page/347397132388?ref=sgm

On goal of the page is to build up an audience for the finished film, but also like the blog it's there to keep you all informed with what is currently going on with the production, how one can help, and other interesting news.

So please share the fan page with any and everyone you know and please help us build it's numbers as this will dramatically help with the productions ability to lock down distribution. Thanks!

Well that's all for now folks. All you LA folks don't forget the party/fundraiser next Saturday March 20th. If you haven't got an Evite and for more info on that feel free to email me at gguardado@gmail.com.

Forward!

-Gustavo

4th Fundraiser Announcement

Hello readers,

Welcome to March! We're just 102 days away from shooting. Being so close to only having double digit days left is getting pretty nerve racking. But I'm confident I and my cast and crew will be ready for the first day!

Updates:

Fourth Fundraiser to be held in Los Angeles

That's right folks Love, Concord's fourth fundraiser party will be held on March 20 in Los Angeles. The reason being is because my gracious in-laws have been wanting to help out and have offered to help me throw and host a fundraiser there. Therefore, the next event will be hosted at the beautiful home of my sister-in-law Araceli and her husband Fermin. The other reason we're throwing this event in SoCal is because, as Sandra and I use to live there, we have lots of friends who are really anxious to learn about my production. Not to mention I have a few former SMC students now residing in LA so it just makes sense to at least have one event there.

The details are still being worked out, but as before you can expect us to have a raffle, awesome food, and at least one screening of one of my films. So all you SoCal folks who've been following the blog and have wanted to come to my events but couldn't because of the distance, now's your chance to participate! I guarantee you'll have a great time as all the previous three events have been lots of fun! So mark your calendars for March 20th and stay tuned for more info. I'll also be sending out Evites, so if you'd like to be included on that please let me know!

Auditions Going Well

With all the excitement of Miguel joining the cast I forgot to mention how the auditions have been going. So far so good. I've seen and met a lot of really nice and talented people. In fact I'm close to giving a few of the parts based on what I've seen. However, my gut tells me I still need to see a few more people before I officially cast those certain parts.

The one thing I've been struggling with is finding someone for the lead role of Gerry and the major supporting roles. While I've seen a few people who've read for "Gerry" I really feel I need to see a lot more people for this role as he's so critical to the success of the movie. And unfortunately there's only been two people who I've liked so far for Gerry. Both of whom have difficulties attached to whether or not they can do the film, one is a minor and the other lives in LA. So the casting will continue, but again, I plan to announce new cast members soon so stay tuned!

Well that's it for this week. Again all you LA folk mark your calendars for March 20th! I hope to see many of you there.

Forward!

-Gustavo