“I’m going to Disney World!”
Principle photography has wrapped, wrap party was enjoyed by all, grip equipment and camera package were returned over 300 miles away from each other, and now I finally have a small window to quickly recap the events of the last few months before a tidal wave of more work knocks me back into near-radio silence.
All I can say is, “wow.” We did it. We took a script and a huge leap of faith and accomplished what a lot of people only sit around talking about doing. It’s hard to think that less than a week ago we were knee-deep in production since it feels like forever ago that we wrapped. Right now, Ren and I are living in the LobsterHouse, covered in the grime of blood, sweat, and tears of over 15 people who called this place home for two months. An old calendar with days crossed out, empty film cans in the living room, an inch of sand and shells clogging up the bathtub, the garage covered with random props and forgotten call sheets – it’s like Ground Zero.
The Treasure Coast now knows our names. Every other day we were featured in the local papers. We were even in it again today and there’s a huge write-up that’s going to hit in a month. The hype and the community surrounding this film has insured that my company and I will have a home in the Treasure Coast to make films for quite some time.
Quite a different story three months ago. When we first moved to Stuart in June, after over a year of pre-production in New England, we had nothing. Due to several unforeseen mishaps, Ren and I were left practically dead in the water. The crew was on their way in only a few weeks and we didn’t have a dime to make the film. Any other team would pack up and leave, with their tails between their legs – but the fact was, Natalie, Queen of Scots had to be made. It was the right story at the right time. That’s all that mattered – every other problem, be damned. I don’t really have to go into what happened next, since the romance of this shoot has been chronicled so well in other mediums. Fact is, we did it.
The time now is my favorite season of the year. I eat it up. Everyone on this crew should enjoy it. Bask in it. The time when all the people who thought we were crazy – the “I told you so” people (if the film failed), magically turn into “Oh, I always knew they would do it” people. The more polite way to refer to them is “Fair Weather Friends.”
Obviously, there is still work to do, still money to raise, still loose ends to tie – but that all pales in comparison to the movie, itself. I am extremely lucky and grateful that I was able to write and direct this film at the age of 24 (I get it, I’m an infant).
So now we look to the bigger picture. Shifting gears to a post-production mindset. Two major NQOS projects are on the table – one for the movie and one to promote the movie – but both are secret for now (as I’m still trying to convince Ren that the first one is a good idea [for the record, it is]).
Congratulations to everyone involved (and there are a lot of you), I’ll be thanking all of you in the upcoming weeks ahead, but for now, well done!
I am now off to enjoy my first real day off in three months. “You just wrote and directed your first feature film, what are you going to do now?!”
See you all in the Magic Kingdom!
