Thomas came up with the idea 2007, I was in LA at the time. I was on the bus going from Sherman Oaks to Hollywood and he was here in Drogheda and we were texting back and forth (Cost me a bloody fortune!) But he told me his idea and I thought it was great. I was a little jealous to be quite honest, we were actually work separately at that stage, disillusioned by several years of rejected scripts lead us to go our separate ways for a time.
So I went about my business, when several months later, June 2008 in fact, Thomas and I met again at my Grandmother's funeral. We got talking at the wake, asking each other about what the other was working on, nothing really, so we decided that perhaps we should give it another go and see if we could write something new.
We met a couple of weeks later to talk about it. Thomas had a new idea for a short film. I thought about getting back to work on 'The Anatomist'. We figured trying to make another short was a waist of time. For the amount of time and energy that would go into it we could, should at this stage, make a low-budget feature film. And 'The Anatomist' would be a huge amount of work for no return. I mentioned Thomas' idea, 'Night', I said if you're up for it we could write that. Thomas said yes.
He had the start of the script, and a vague idea of how to get to the middle and, and the final scene and that was it. But it was enough. We sat down for two weeks and mapped out the story, we changed the entire centre piece of the film, the main action, added new characters, took a couple away and crafter the story, while trying to keep the feeling and atmosphere that existed in the original idea.
We blasted that into script form in the following two weeks. So by the end of the summer '08 we had a script to work from. Neither of us had any idea in would be another 14 months before we could call the first draft done. Life got in the way I guess. Thomas got busy at work. I ended up shooting Slán and 140, while Thomas started prepping an ill fated animated short called McBride. But nowhere along the line did we ever think we wouldn't finish it. We just took our time with this one. Let it breathe.
So it's in the hands of a few trusted people at the moment. We'll see what they think and figure out our next move after that. Hopefully it will be a step in the production direction!
Then came Wednesday. I was suppose to by shooting this week. I have a paying gig which is being delayed and delayed. Largely due to access to a camera, but also the weather. I finally got the camera, but it hasn't stopped raining since. Incredibly frustrating.
Same day I got word from Network Ireland Television their UK distributor was in town and they wanted to rush through a contract for Bill, For Short and get it onto their Documentary presentation DVD. Great news! But it also meant they needed a Beta. I don't have one! Unfortunately with cash being the way it is I couldn't afford to pay someone to transfer it. So I scrambled, to no avail, to find something. They then told me a mini DV would work for the time being - great I thought, I have the camera, no worries - you would think...
But I had tech issues on both computers and for some unknown reason and could not output the film to tape... maybe the firewire cable I have is out of commission, I don't know, but after the initial thrill of getting signed, I spent most of the day banging my head against the desk thinking it wasn't going to happen. Luckily they agreed to take a hi res .mov file on disc for now. But I still need to organise the Beta. That's a headache for another week!
Yesterday and today were washouts for filming, a week wasted on that job. The distraction of getting Bill, For Short organised and a few other things meant I didn't get a chance to work on the final cut of 140, so I'm a week behind on that. But I did get a call from Dermot O'Mahony, the composer, who popped in to have a look at the film, he liked it I'm happy to say and liked the situ of his music. Later that day he provided me with 2 new, and awesome tracks, with more to come.
Today was spent paying bills and posting films. I bought a cool toy chest/bench for the babies room fro next to nothing and a second biography of Sam Speigel for €3! Hurray! I also rented Drag Me To Hell for tonight in celebration of the season!
So all in all a week of ups and downs. But I guess more ups then downs. I still have lots of work to do before the baby arrives, domestic and film-wise. So hopefully time doesn't get away from me and I can get 140 finished and out to the filmmakers for their screenings. A week of ups would help!!!
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