The view outside my bedroom

THE WHOLE TRUTH trailer #2!!

Starring Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery, John Fugelsang, Pisay Pao, Rick Overton, Jim Holmes, Kristina Lilley and Eric Roberts.

Viewer discretion advised: It's an old-fashioned screwball comedy so over the top it flies by non-stop passenger jets to China!

Superstar in Spanish speaking nations Kristina Lilley

She plays Detective Winslow in THE WHOLE TRUTH - talks about working with me as an acting coach!

Rick Overton and John Fuglesang can handle THE WHOLE TRUTH!

Two American comic geniuses in the cast of THE WHOLE TRUTH share what the film is about.

Rick ("Uri Standinoff") and John ("prosecutor Jordan Smith") are frequent guests on The Stephanie Miller Show and are in constant demand for their stand up performances. John recently completed the run of his acclaimed one man show, ALL THE WRONG REASONS, in London.

Eric Roberts talks about playing his hil-arious role

In THE WHOLE TRUTH.

I love casting actors against type - but *only* if they're great actors.

And that certainly describes Eric!

Why Elisabeth Röhm identifies with her wacky character in THE WHOLE TRUTH

In THE WHOLE TRUTH, Elisabeth plays Angela Masters, a super acting coach who, instead of including Hollywood stars as clients, helps criminals with "character transformations" (personality transplants) so they'll appeal to juries just enough to be acquitted.

Life is good - she thinks she has all the answers - until karma steps up to collect for helping all those crooks avoid being accountable for their illegal indiscretions.

And Angela's karmic debt is large.

Terrifying.

And worst of all, publicly humiliating.

Sean Patrick Flanery: Why I wanted THE WHOLE TRUTH!

I can't explain his make-up and state of undress - you'll have to see the movie to understand the scene from which he emerged to talk with us behind the scenes!

Elisabeth Rohm: why she wanted THE WHOLE TRUTH

As I've mentioned, Elisabeth had done no comedy - and she's incredible as Angela in THE WHOLE TRUTH. After studying the classics (Twentieth Century, His Girl Friday, Ball of Fire, so many more) and the comedic performances of the greats: Carole Lombard, Rosiland Russell, Barbara Stanwyck, Lucille Ball and more, she developed her own classic character for which those women would give her (very) high fives!

My turn - working with Elisabeth Röhm

I told the never-done-comedy before actress:

1. comedy is sincerity on steroids

2. comedy requires the actor be fearless

She took it from there.

Producer Larry Estes speaks up!

Larry comes with *quite* the producing pedigree.

Larry was responsible for SEX, LIES AND VIDEO TAPE, among several other indie feature classics (GAS FOOD LODGING, SMOKE SIGNALS). Even with some 80 films under his belt, he says I was full of surprising "firsts" for this seasoned veteran as I made THE WHOLE TRUTH.

THE WHOLE TRUTH executive producer Gary Allen Tucci

He's also my business partner in Heart Break Productionz.

Gary's a self-made man who's been working at physical labor since he was 12 before becoming a captain of industry; he competes in Iron Man events just for fun, but his primary allegiance is to his family - he's a devoted dad and husband.

THE WHOLE TRUTH is his first venture into filmmaking, and his passion for film and the new chapter in his life as an independent film executive producer make him one of the happiest guys you'll meet!






And here is the new poster, thanks to photoshop whiz Josh Garretson, who came to us via photographer Adam Weintraub.

Jim Holmes talks about working on THE WHOLE TRUTH!

Jim Holmes, who plays "Brad Sanders" in THE WHOLE TRUTH, also did a comedy improv session with me on camera during our EPK (electronic press kit - backstage stuff) interview session -- that we're using for the bonus DVD! Editor Stephen Myers thought it too cruel to cut it up. I agree!

The soul of an artist/Everyone's a critic

(I feel a little self-absorbed writing about this while so many courageous Iranians put their lives on the line for fair elections and government transparency. Seems that should be the focus of my thoughts - but so many others are covering this story/issue, I'll just say my heart is with those fighting to better their nation and free it from the grasp of petty tyrants.)

Generating a work of art is a daunting, hellish proposition on a good day.

First, there's the "creating something out of nothing" step. Blank page, empty easel, block of clay, silence, barren stage, bolts of unused fabric, yards of plain lumber, undeveloped film, unfettered website- you get the idea.

From there comes the idea of how to fill that space, actualize the ethereal, so others can view, listen, use or interact with whatever is virtually brought "to life." It moves from the spiritual to the material.

The artist - whether gardener or architect - has something to say. Something to show in his or her own way, using his or her own medium with the support of whatever muse(s) instigates the process.

Every artist has a learning curve - and whether for the love of the art alone or to make a living, with the guidance of mentors, experience, success, teachers, books, videos, coaches or supervisors - each stage has its own level of progress. Sometimes phenomenal, sometimes small strides.

Thomas Edison said he never experienced the more than 6,000 attempts to invent the light bulb "failures." He only saw them as steps toward creating what he envisioned.

Here's my definition of an artist: someone who can't NOT conceive and concoct his or her art. No matter the expense, time, sacrifice, the difficulty or drudgery. It's a passion that cannot be denied for any reason that would sound rational to most. They simply cannot stop doing making they do.

Like, I can't NOT write; I can't NOT direct; I can't NOT work with actors; I can't NOT produce. I can't NOT sing. And I can't NOT take photographs.

So we produce whatever we do for whatever inexplicable reason we do it. It takes thousands of hours, sweat, blood, tears, sleepless nights - depending on the art - collaboration or consultation. And in some cases, a lot of money.

My most recent work for public display is a feature film that showed at a film festival, in its festival incarnation. No film is actually finished until the distributor releases it in whatever form deemed most cost worthy/efficient. So changes may well be made along the way to clarify the vision.

Most people loved/liked it. Those who did not were freakishly harsh. We were not prepared for the hostility that ran deeply not just toward the film and me but the cast.

As usual, the folks who loved it called, emailed, sent flowers and cards to me and our cast. Those amateur critics who didn't went to industry websites. It was as if they were angry - about what?

One person said the film he saw wasn't the film advertised; we aren't responsible for that. I've seen a lot of this at film festivals - descriptions don't fit films. But I never got mad about it or felt the need to attack anyone's work because of it.

Funnily enough, igniting passions on both sides is seen as a good thing by those who market films. "Tapping into people's passion is the name of the game," I'm told.

Listening to good, even great, criticism, can assist one's artistic growth. Being vulnerable around those who are basically name-callers only creates confusion, hurt and wonder about why they're so upset, and why their comments are so personal.

They don't like the genre? Don't watch the genre. Don't understand the film? Maybe read the director's statement or learn something about it. In our case, it's film history. Don't think the film is done the way it "should be?" The way it's been done in the past? Check out why the filmmaker has taken a new path.

It's been a tough week trying to separate the wheat from the chaff, and letting the rest go. I think the reason it's so confusing to me is that I spend almost all my energy creating, so the thought of tearing someone's art down feels like an ill tempered, unnecessary waste of time. If I'm asked for a thoughtful critique, I'm happy to oblige, however.

I recall a friend whose book we celebrated when it came out on amazon.com. The book was about helping people break into the film industry. The writer had the experience, credentials and teaching background to do just that. She spent a long time writing the book and the publisher had a great editor supervise.

As soon as it appeared on amazon.com, absolutely vicious reviews appeared, along with the infamous "one star." The reviews had nothing really to do with the book's contents, but disparaged the subject and for some unknown reason, its author.

My friend was horrified and crushed; I was in complete shock. Why would someone do that for something so well intended, providing literally thousands of dollars' of free advice and education for like $13/US?

Anyone reading the comments, or just seeing the dreaded one star would think it was junk. It was anything but junk, but the person reading the "reviews" would have no idea of the book's true value.

I can only think of one reason someone would do this, other than they simply could: power.

Otherwise powerless people can feel a false sense of power putting someone or something down.

In this day of massive access to online outlets for opinion, there's plenty of powerlessness expressed. Online newspaper stories that allow comments find "opinions" that are shocking in their negativity, harshness and need to be self-righteously "right" about their perceptions. None other exist.

That's the cool thing about being an artist; we're always looking for different ways of seeing something.

OK, be that as it might - what does an artist do with such extreme reactions from an audience? After all, opinions are not facts.

Industry folks say ignore it. They do. Most actors don't read reviews because reviewers can be so fraught with extreme opinions either way - a true crazy maker if you buy into it.

A work of art is just that - like it or not, it's out there and we can't compromise our vision or style or work because a few people don't like it. Or, for that matter, *just* because people love it. We have to be true to ourselves as well as our vision and intent while growing and learning to be better at what we do.

My decision: let the others in the production team who aren't artists read them and bring excellent comments from which we can glow, grow or learn. And direct those who love it to places they can review it as well.

Most people in our audience had no idea they could even submit a "review"; they thought those they read were from professionals. Um, no. Something to be aware of when you read them, especially on industry sites now.

I'm also reading about films and performances that were at first eviscerated by established critics, hurting them at the BO. Here's an abbreviated list:

Star Wars ("Better luck next time, George..")
It's A Wonderful Life!
Wuthering Heights
Bladerunner (by Roger Ebert who now puts it on his top ten of all time)
Bringing Up Baby
The English Patient

Point is, a film, like any work of art - like it or not - will find its audience or not, regardless of what anyone says to persuade you one way or the other!

Case in point ... critics panned Sandra Bullock's new film THE PROPOSAL.

Stick a fork in her, she's done. Too old for the role at 45. Weak script. Bad casting. Even her charm can't save this film, low star rating on IMDb, yadda yadda.

Guess what? It came in #1 at the BO for the weekend, pulling in more than $34 million - beating out lots of now, wow, hip and hep au courant stars and remakes.

Too many folks were jonesin' for Sandra's gorgeous romcom presence and some light hearted, silly, reliable and familiar happy ending entertainment - probably with some old jokes, too.

I admit - as a "serious" indie film maker, I'm seeing it - even buying a little popcorn. And a soda.

Sean Patrick Flanery about working on THE WHOLE TRUTH

After seeing THE WHOLE TRUTH world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival, Sean announced, "I *love* this film! I'm excited as hell about it!"

We held our breath to see what he'd say, 'cause the film is a risky new take on the over the top, old fashioned screwball comedy - so we are thrilled with his proclamation!

BTW, as you'll hear me say in one of my EPK (Electronic Press Kit - behind the scenes) interviews, Sean has a great singing voice! You'll hear it when we release the DVD's - we're dedicating one DVD to all the interviews and backstage fun we had during the shoot. Seriously, Sean could have a new career if he wanted - I hope he agrees to sing if interviewers ask when he's out on the road!

Sean, Sean he's our man!
If he can't sing it, no one can!

EPK fun with Jim, Gary, Larry, Aaron, Danyale and ... moi!

We finished our EPK (electronic press kit) interviews (backstage stuff) for THE WHOLE TRUTH Thursday!

Actor Jim Holmes ("Brad Sanders" in TWT - you may recognize him from a hundred other roles he's had in projects like 24, Boston Legal, films galore), my business partner Gary Allen Tucci, producer Larry Estes and I each chatted about our experiences making the film, working with the entire cast and crew, and our impressions of the film itself.





My assistant, Aaron Heinzen, posed the questions as we sat on the hotseat for Dave Wilson's camera.

Aaron is a pro - in addition to working for radio stations in the past, he is also the color commentator for FOX Sports Northwest (FSN) television at all the Portland Timbers professional MLS soccer games.

There's a big game coming up between the Timbers and chief rival the Seattle Sounders Wednesday, July 1 in case you'd like to catch him in action.

Deal is - Aaron is a former professional soccer player. He played for the Timbers until injuries caught up with him. But he lives in Seattle. So of course as a color commentator for the Timbers if you hear any bias ... it's only because he carries a warm spot in his heart for the team with which he played.



Anyway, he did a great job tossing thoughtful questions at us, then following up on our answers. You'll see the results of our interviews over the next several weeks - but here are some photos of the EPK session I caught as the day progressed.



Here's Gary in the hair and make-up chair. He told us that as we age, little hairs we have in our ears fall out - and cause problems with our equilibrium.

That's why we have trouble negotiating gravity as we get into our senior years.

O...K. Thank you for sharing, Gary!

Fortunately, our hair and make-up artist Danyale Cook avoided cutting his ear hairs so his interview was very balanced.

The beautiful Danyale asked that I not take her picture because she wasn't feeling photogenic. I know I have days like that. But she was kind enough to let us use her Pure Alchemy Salon (completely green, too!) for our interviews. It's a lovely shoppe with a terrific ambiance; nothing pretentious, which is what we're all about.


Danyale puts a little make-up on Gary to bring out his eyes for the camera ... this is a rough and rugged self-made man. He started working at physical labor since he was 12 and does Iron Man competitions for fun.

But he was totally at ease with all the hair and make-up fussing it takes to look good on camera so he could talk about his experience as executive producer for THE WHOLE TRUTH.


"Did you see me in 24?"

"I think everyone did, Jim"

"Did you see me in Boston Legal?"

I actually did an improv sketch on camera with him! It took a lot of nerve performing with this guy - he's the master of timing!

Jim's also a drama teacher for the theater department at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles! Or is that theatre department, Jim? ;-)

Producer Larry Estes gets his hair washed .. Danyale gave him a haircut.

After the taping.

In his EPK interview you'll see Lar with his old do, which is long and mega curly!


Danyale's wanted to get her hands on those curls since she first met him!

Danyale did the brilliant hair work on THE WHOLE TRUTH. She creates phenomenal wigs one hair at a time - she's one of the few hair artists who can do the work she does. She has been with the Seattle Opera for years.




Here's producer Larry with his longer locks as he and executive producer Gary chat.


OK, I won't be insulted. Photographer Dave Wilson and Aaron look at the monitor trying to figure out how to frame me in the most attractive way.


"I don't know. What do you think?"


"Gosh. I don't know. What do you think?"


Guys. I can hear you! ;-)

A fun, productive day - I'll show you the results over the next few weeks!

Rick Overton and John Fugelsang have their say!

Two American comic geniuses with whom I had the pleasure of working on THE WHOLE TRUTH talk about their experience!

What Kristina Lilley says about my acting coaching!

For those who don't know, Kristina Lilley is a famous actress in Spanish-speaking nations and on Telemundo (NBC owned Spanish speaking network) in the US.

She's especially well-known for her roles as villains - bad bad sexy vixens - but in THE WHOLE TRUTH, she plays a good cop (a role she's always wanted to portray!). This is her first role in an English-speaking feature film!

I was her acting coach for two years when she lived in Seattle with her then husband, who was taking advanced studies at the University of Washington. At the end of his studies, they moved back to Colombia, South America, where she resumed her work in television and films.

Kristina got the role by auditioning. Me being her former acting coach did not play a part in her getting cast. But being familiar with her skills, background, dedication, non-diva attitude and how easy she is to work with definitely made me think of her when we were looking at actors to audition for the role.

Here she talks about how she found me through this website - and why it persuaded her to contact me!

What Eric Roberts says about working with me as a director!

First TWT EPK interview posted with Elisabeth Rohm!

Translation:

The first series of backstage interviews (EPK=electronic press kit) for our screwball comedy feature, THE WHOLE TRUTH (TWT), are edited and the first one, featuring leading lady Elisabeth Röhm, is now posted on YouTube. Here it is:


Four more are going up tomorrow - with TWT actors Sean Patrick Flanery, Eric Roberts, Kristina Lilley and the dynamic duo of Rick Overton and John Fugelsang (who interview one another!).

Following that will be more interviews with them well as EPK chats with me, executive producer Gary Allen Tucci and producer Larry Estes.

We're talking about - demystifying - the process, the hard work and the fun that will be engaging and informative for audience members as well as those who are budding filmmakers. I hope you check them out!

Gay penguins hatch egg, raise healthy chick

Two male Humbolt penguin partners at the Bremerhaven Zoo in Germany adopted an egg rejected by its heterosexual parents.

Check out Z and Vielpunkt here.

No other penguins, neighboring storks or gossip mongers at the zoo have opposed the couple's adoption of the stranded chick. In fact, Z and Vielpunkt have pretty much been ignored by all their neighbors, allowing them to do their parenting thing in peace without bias, bigotry, or blasphemy.

Here's a photo of a Humbolt penguin - who chose not to reveal his/her sexuality-->

After the egg hatched - one month after its adoption - they're nurturing the chick just like any other doting parents. Except the heterosexual penguin couple, of course, who rejected the egg.

Four years ago, the zoo tried to entice three male penguin couples into heterosexual relationships and failed. The males showed no interest in females with whom the attendants tried to hook up.

The zoo released a statement concerning the gay parents: "Z and Vielpunkt, both males, gladly accepted their ’Easter gift’ and got straight down to raising it."

The gender of the chick is unknown at this point. The statement continues, "Since the chick arrived, they have been behaving just as you would expect a heterosexual couple to do. The two happy fathers spend their days attentively protecting, caring for and feeding their adopted offspring."

Homosexual and lesbian behavior has been observed in many animal species; they are not castigated, excluded or banished by other animals in their groups. Z and Vielpunkt are one of three same sex pairs among the zoo's Humbolt penguins.

On its Web site, the zoo says, "sex and coupling in our world don't always have something to do with reproduction."

None of the male penguin couples is reported to be interested in joining any branch of the US military, but are legally free to enlist in every other Western nation should they choose to serve.

They have not declared a political party, a specific religion or registered with any specific chick store.

Penguin Portraits

From a recent visit to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, WA USA:

My friend Bob says, "Funny. I thought they'd be more attractive close up. I imagine they are to other penguins."

I replied, "Funny. They say the same thing about us..."




Photos by Colleen Patrick.

Ending more than 7 years of cancer treatment...

In three months, I will have ended more than seven years - nearly eight - of medical treatments and drug dosages to kick breast cancer to the curb.

Two core needle and one surgical biopsies were followed by two lumpectomy surgeries, extended chemotherapy and radiation, which have been augmented with five years of "chemo lite" pills one takes daily (with noticeable side effects that are offset by taking yet another pill).

My chemotherapy was extended because at the end of the first go-round as I started radiation, I came down with appendicitis. Since chemo kills the good cells and the bad cells, anything that can go wrong in your body will because the immune system is beaten down.

The vast majority of appendixes are about 1/2 inch long.

Mine was 7 inches long. And wound around my intestines.

I arrived at the hospital *out of my mind* sick, and they tested me for everything related to cancer and chemo as I was covered with ice to reduce my fever, the temperature of which was somewhere between a white hot flame and hell.

After nearly a full day of experimentation, every bodily fluid sample assessed and a state of delirium, a lowly intern in the back of the room full of experts, doctors and specialists said softly, "It sounds like appendicitis."

The advanced medical staff turned slowly toward him in a way that said he may well be right. The doctor who later wrote up my case for a medical journal started with, "When you hear the sound of hooves, look for horses .."

A quick cat scan later and I was on the operating table.

Not only had my extraordinarily long appendix nearly burst, but it ate through my intestines -- which meant that now I also had E. Coli streaming through my veins. E. Coli can be life-threatening on a good day, but my immune system was MIA as well.

One friend who lives in Chicago changed her plane ticket from Vancouver, BC, to Seattle in order to see me in the hospital, renting a car to drive to Canada after she saw me.

The girl is no teenager, but the only way the nurse told her she could see me is if she were immediate family. My Chinese friend said she was my daughter.

Daughter?? At her age? What? Was I *6* when I had her?

But of course I confirmed our relationship, and for a couple hours, she was my daughter. To be honest, I was so delirious all I remember is her holding my hand and how grateful I was. She had called the hospital to find out what was up with me - most of my friends and family had no idea where I was at that time.

When they did, they were gravely concerned because, well, I was about as sick as sick gets.

After a week in the hospital, I was good as .. well, as good as one can be recovering from a third major surgery within a year, E. Coli., chemo, radiation and of course cancer itself.

My oncology team told me the reason they believed I was able to send cancer packing is because of my attitude. Even through the worst days, I was happy. I tend to have endorphins pumping almost all the time, anyway, but I upped my dosage of feeling good with everything I watched, read and did; as well as the people and pets I hung around. Or who hung around me.

I'm so grateful to so many. Jesse, our mail carrier, schlepped up to my house every day with the mail rather than have me hike down to get it from the box; the Chalupas helped out with a furnace that would keep me warm and fuel prices low; my landlord said don't worry about the rent until I was up and running full tilt again; the well-intended folks who brought me home cooked meals; all the people who helped me track down my kidnapped dog Mistletoe - who was missing 8 full weeks until I found her.

Good times.

Someone asked me how chemo feels. I told him the only way I could describe it would be to imagine that every single cell had a molecular-sized being is inside stabbing me with a very sharp knife.

For all the aforementioned reasons, I was on chemo for a very long time.

Radiation - I was zapped every weekday for 30 some days.

I wrote screenplays, made short films with my actors and worked as an acting coach through most of my major treatment, until my oncology nurse told me I had to simply rest for the rest of my chemo treatments or I could change my positive prognosis; my body was starting to noticeably wear down.

I was very fortunate - I had a different friend or colleague take me to chemo every week; my nurse said she'd never seen someone bring so many people in to sit with them for the 3-5 hour chemical drip.

I even helped someone write a screenplay and assemble a pre-production plan as we sat together for all those hours.

I finally did take some time off to totally rest - and was surprised at how good it felt.

The big day is when they remove the "shunt" that hosts needles for everything from the weekly blood tests to inoculations to the chemo drip.

I still have "chemo flashbacks." It's a miserable feeling that permeates every cell as if I were still taking it. Fortunately, they don't last long.

I'm told it will take years for the chemo chemicals to thoroughly work their way out of my body; I'll be so happy when I no longer have to take the "chemo lite" pills, and therefore the other pills that offset their side effects, as well as lose the weight that somehow comes with breast cancer treatment. I'm told it's the only cancer in which patients gain weight rather than lose it.

Perhaps the best up side is that when I am free of taking those medications, my *real* energy will return. As I've let my friends and colleagues know this date is coming up, they have a little panicked look since I tend to be on the higher side of energetic most days, anyway.

So I've had a clean bill of health for four years, nine months - year #5 is the watershed moment. There are no guarantees in life, but my oncologist tells me he thinks chances of it returning are between infinitesimal and none.

When I was diagnosed, everyone around me was more upset than I. I just thought of it as something with which to deal, like anything else. The thought of being taken down by cancer simply did not compute. I knew it picked the wrong body - the wrong person.

I never let it discourage or upset me because I had so many other things for which to be grateful that were working in my life.

I told someone I thought it better that it struck me rather than someone who was more vulnerable and less capable of kicking it into oblivion, as I knew I would.

Tick tick tick. I can hardly wait for the big day. September 15 is close to my birthday, October 4. It's a time to reflect on how fortunate I am because I lost co-chemo mates along the way.

It's also a time to have a double celebration! A revelry that continues day after day for those two weeks - and the rest of my life.

Facebook

My friend and new media mentor Rich advised me to join Facebook. For professional and personal reasons, especially with THE WHOLE TRUTH finished and ready to roll out, preparing to produce THE LONELY GOATHERD and more.

I have been resisting it after a bad experience with one of its predecessors.

Because I trust Rich completely, I cringed, took a deep breath, clenched my fists, bit the bullet and joined.

Push me over with a whisper.

Almost immediately I heard from folks I didn't know were still alive! All asking to be my "friend"; or vice-versa. Because that's the way it works.

We aren't a face, we're a friend. Maybe the next go-round will just be called the Friendbook.

But they do like you to post your face; and it's pretty much plastered everywhere unless you use the blah blue drawing representing you.

If you're a celebrity, people sign up to be your "fan" so you can keep your followers up to date with where they can see your work, what projects you have coming up, etc. No friend. Fan.

Some celebrities personally post messages to you individually or to their fans as a group; others have an assistant send messages in their name.

I respect those who have a personal touch with their Facebook page.

At any road, it's a lot of work to set everything up - and I keep forgetting details I should include, so I've edited the various segments about 100 times today. I just joined recently and have had a number of other tasks that need attention, so it's sort of a back and forth thing.

And probably will be for a couple weeks.

It's been fun uploading my favorite photos to share with my Facebook friends - many of whom actually are my friends, oddly enough. Or have been over the years; we've only lost touch here and there.

Now we have to decide whether we need a Facebook page for each of our films.

Feel free to chime in.

A must-see sorrowful, shameful US history chapter

This is the iconic image of the haunting history of the US Government's genocidal crusade to eliminate Indians and all tribal peoples from America.

Produced by ReelNative, a group of Native filmmakers, this is a disarmingly even handed recounting of a national history seeped in written and legal evidence; Supreme Court rulings outlining the sovereignty of tribal lands that went unheeded by President Andrew Jackson and southern states.

In fact, Jackson made it a primary goal to rid the nation of its Indian/tribal populations. In his promise to move the Cherokee people to a safe, sovereign region, he set off the Trail of Tears. The thousands of Cherokee were given blankets infested with smallpox. En route to their "new home" during the forced march they faced hunger, sickness, and exhaustion. More than 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokee men, women and children "died" in a mission calculated to decimate their numbers.

You can see the full episodes online here as well as on PBS television stations, and the DVD is also available.

I guarantee you, even the most racist, hard-hearted person will be stricken by the insane, cruel, shockingly cold-hearted treatment of the law-abiding, peace-loving peoples (many of whom had adopted European ways, established an independent, constitutional democracy and addressed the US Government through legal and congressional channels) received at the hands of the US Government from which they are still recovering.

One particularly sickening piece of legislature passed by Jackson: the "Indian Removal Act."

More, the state of Georgia set up land grabs by white people of the Cherokee Nation in western Georgia when the Cherokee Nation was a legally sovereign country. Georgia's government simply ignored the law and stole the land from the Cherokee.

Feeling helpless to address the US Government in the way the government dictated - "legal" avenues - because it turned out to be a waste of time, many took the only path to any sort of autonomy they could: fighting back and violence. Even among themselves.

I have to watch these episodes in fairly short spurts because the information is so incredible - we have been so seriously misinformed about Native Americans and their treatment by the US Government - that it is heartbreaking to witness these facts.

The best part of this series is that, educated, we can all make certain this does not happen again - and try to attend to the destruction that has been needlessly imposed on tribal peoples for the centuries since Christopher Columbus landed.

Elisabeth Röhm's upcoming films!

Tomorrow and Saturday her drama The Spy and the Sparrow enjoys its world premiere and screening at the Seattle International Film Festival!

Next Wednesday, June 17, her drama The Kreutzer Sonata co-starring Danny Huston premieres on IFC (Independent Film Channel) On Demand.

The Kreutzer Sonata enjoyed its world premiere at last year's Edinburgh Inernational Film Festival.

Watch the trailer.

IFC On Demand is a separate channel from IFC, available through your cable TV service; there is a fee to watch the film. Go to your On Demand screen, then find it from there.

The film will be available for a number of weeks through IFC On Demand.

Watch TV live from several nations - FREE

I got to watch Britain's Got Talent - free and live - because of an Internet hookup here, called My peer-to-peer, or Myp2p.

News, sports, music, entertainment and more is available from the US, UK, Russia, Europe and more through this link.

If you speak European languages or are learning, this is a terrific way to tune in any time and listen to the language in action; if it's your native tongue - watch away!

You can register for free (or not) to view - if you register you can report new channels or any that may not be functioning. There's a list of networks (channels) to the left to peruse from several nations in each category (news, sports, entertainment, etc).

Or you can search by nation for a specific type of programing you seek.

Of course the Internet is rife with land mines of problems that we have to educate ourselves to avoid, but my oh my - here's one more reason I LOVE my computer!

Pure, true friendship comes in all sizes

Watch one of the most touching, memorable stories of a genuine, devoted, lifelong friendship here.

THE WHOLE TRUTH celebration photos!

OK - you know who you are ..









































Photos by Frank DiMarco

SIFF filmmakers' dinner

I was invited to an intimate dinner for several SIFF filmmakers last evening, and had a terrific time.

I didn't hob the knob very much; I pretty much stayed with the folks at my table until we all walked amongst each other at the end of the evening.

The good news is that the folks on my table all worked on the Seattle indie sensation, "Humpday," the Lynn Shelton bromance feature about two straight friends who decide to make a gay porn film to win some cash.

I see it Sunday at SIFF.

I sat between Lynn and her camera assistant Nate Miller; across from one of the film's stars, the delightful, darling Alycia Delmore, and Lynn's co-producer Jennifer Maas.

What great food, conversation and stories!

The award-winning director/actor just returned from Cannes, where Humpday played; Magnolia Pictures is the film's distributor. It enjoys a limited US theatrical opening next month with a potential wide release following in typical indie rollout scheme.

International releases aren't far behind (since this blog reaches readers in 104 nations, you may want to check their website for the international release places and dates where you live), although there is no similar colloquial term for the American Humpday in other cultures.

In the US, Wednesday is called "humpday," because Wednesday at noon, we say we're "over the hump" of the week. That is, that is the halfway point of the week, after that it's all "downhill." We've made it over the hump for the week.

"Hump" is also American slang for having sex.

The mind boggles at how other languages will attempt to describe two heterosexual men who decide to make a gay porn film without complicating the title's intent. Some great American films have been killed by bizarre other language titles that made no sense.

She's working on a new film - one that relies on her style of directing actors improvising from a basic script outline she's written - only this one has just two primary characters.

Meanwhile, while I was starting beautiful new friendships with other artists over some fine dining, my assistant Aaron Heinzen was off doing color commentary for the Portland Timbers' soccer match with Montreal Impact on FOX Sports Northwest cable network.

Aaron's a former professional soccer player; his last team was the Timbers - his promising career sadly cut short because of injuries - partly caused by the overuse of incorrect "heading" techniques as a kid. Make sure your coach teaches you how to use your head properly when you're playing soccer, kids!

Today starts my serious work creating a unique distribution/marketing plan for THE WHOLE TRUTH! I am very excited to get started on it. We're getting screening DVD's made of the finished film through our good friends at Modern Digital post production services as we attend to other logistical matters.

Again, my deepest thanks to you blog readers who flew in to Seattle to see TWT!

Second TWT screening - even more successful!

For one thing it started at 4:30 pm, which made a big difference. Tuesday night's world premiere didn't start until about 10 pm. That's late for working folks and students heading for school the next day and folks who flew in from the east - where it's up to 3 hours later in their bodies.

Aaron (Heinzen - my assistant) and I were NOT expecting another sold out screening - the last we heard, several tickets were still available.

But when we arrived? There was an extremely long line of ticket holders and several people who could not get tickets but were hoping for some no-shows to fill empty seats.

I was a little confused. Was there another film showing, too?

"Is that for US?" I asked Aaron.

"Looks like it is," he said.

Sure enough, the place was completely packed.

And the laughs were a-plenty during the film; the applause plenty and often through the credits to the very end. When there was more applause.

Sadly, Elisabeth Röhm had a family medical emergency (NOT life-threatening!) about half an hour before the screening, so she was still in town but could not be there. She was extremely disappointed, as was the audience, but like all of us at Heart Break Productionz, family comes first with Ms. Röhm so they understood.

I conveyed her regrets because she does love this film, our HBPz filmmaking family and Seattle!

My partner at HBPz, Gary Allen Tucci and I started off the q&a, and had the pleasure of introducing our composer, Ragnar Rosinkranz - whose music is such a standout in the film. Again, part of the reason is that not only is he a gifted artist, but we started collaborating at the script level, so he had so much more time to create his phenomenal sounds!

The audience also got to meet Bob Marts, our sound guy. Quite truthfully, I said I hated to show him off because it's like telling everyone about the beautiful woman you're dating; once they know her they'll want to date her, too! But, other filmmakers and TV show guys - hands off! He's OURS!

There was NO ADR (automatic dialogue replacement) or looping required from the actors because of his fantastic work. I am such a sound freak that I've never had to ADR or loop any of the short films I've made - but ADR and looping are *standard* in feature films. None of our stars has ever done a film or TV show that didn't require it. Until THE WHOLE TRUTH!

Character actor Jim Holmes ("Brad Sanders" in the movie) chatted a bit about working on the flm and how much fun he had - he wants to do it all over again on another HBPz film!

Editor Stephen Myers talked about working with me, too ... we had more than our fair share of fun putting it together ("OK .. is this funnier than this? Or is this funnier .. ")

Overall audience reaction: they want to see it again (and again), and can imagine it filling theaters with filmgoers from around the world! From their lips and imaginations to God's project managers ...

This blog is short because I've got a lot of catching up to do around here (especially on sleep); we're getting hot on the distribution leg of our journey. As I explained in an earlier blog, I have a marketing plan that is unique in the industry, but so far seems to be catching on and effective - at least in its early stages.

This coming weekend, I'm posting photos from the reception!

Thanks to everyone who paid your hard earned money to see the film - as I told Mireille and Caitlin, who flew in to see the film - everything we do may be our passion and life's work, but we do it for you, our audience. We *never* take you and your support for granted!

A special thanks to everyone who has sent me emails, notes, cards, flowers, gorgeous plants(!), candy (esp dark chocolate with nuts!) and left comments on my blogs saying how much you loved the film.

If you saw the film and enjoyed yourself (even unexpectedly .. one person told me, "Wow. The film was really great! I never expected it to be nearly this funny..")?

Um .. thank you, too ... ;-)

Consider yourself part of the HBPz family!

THE WHOLE TRUTH World Premiere!

First, the private reception was a *blast!* Family, friends, crew and cast gathered at the 7 Salon with great food, conviviality and conversation.

Andy, our host at the magnificent, huge salon, created a perfect atmosphere - complete with a dj and music that he didn't play so loudly we could actually talk at a reasonable decibel, two bartenders, three film posters strategically placed, tables, glassware, the works.

The food was fantastic - it flew off the plates so we quickly ordered more!

Seattle's film industry folks are known for serving weak, meager, tasteless finger foods; we dished out substantial sustenance for our guests to show them the way to feed guests properly.

Don Woods from the Icicle Ridge Winery in Leavenworth brought his magnificent, award-winning wines for all to taste and drink. A beautiful backdrop graced his table as well.

I got many compliments on the make up job Danyale Cook did for me. Gosh, I hardly recognized myself .. ;-). Lots of photos will be coming soon - I ended up not taking pictures because I was running around so much, but our set photographer took lots of piccies, so I'll share them as soon as Frank sends them to me!

It was a genuine pleasure meeting you blog readers at the reception - Amanda, you looked FAB-ulous! As well as seeing so many of the crew members who made a qualitative and personal difference in making the film. Without them, not only would it not have the quality it does - it wouldn't have the heart. My partner Gary Allen Tucci put it well: we felt like a production family.

And we're all ready to do it over again on our next film THE LONELY GOATHERD as soon as we get the distribution situation taken care of with THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Several folks showed up expecting to buy a ticket when they arrived, only to find there were no more tickets on sale. See how it pays to read my blog? I said tickets were selling out, then sold out right here and they didn't read it.

Many people hoping for "rush" tickets did get seated, however. These are tickets that are sold if there are any seats empty left minutes before the screening.

Because of that, previews and other SIFF business - not to mention me introducing most of our guests - the film started late, and it was already a late screening. Which means it started a little TOO late for most working folks.

But, the comments after the film were wonderful - what a fine film it was; how much they enjoyed it from start to finish, how amazing the music was, how well written, how terrific the performances were, how great the casting, etc. It was all I could have hoped for. The cast, my partner executive producer Gary Allen Tucci, producer Larry Estes and composer Ragnar Rosinkranz all joined me at the front of the room to answer questions and whatever the folks left wanted to say.

Mireille and Caitlin - readers of my blog (you read their comments all the time) and HUGE SPF fans, who flew in from Montreal and the Midwest respectively for the film's WP and will see it again later today(!) at the Wednesday screening - loved the film, got *my* autograph for Louise, a friend of theirs in England and of course spent time with SPF who had a great time entertaining them.

Local folks were impressed with how down to earth Sean is - how fantastic and real all our actors are. But I tend to work with folks who are good people as well - I find them better performers for the very most part.

As for me - to be frank, I was so nervous about how the crowd would react, I was a little distracted - listening for every little chuckle, guffaw, belly laugh, giggle, snort. The thing I was most aware of: there was no fidgeting. This is a good thing.

In a crucial scene that required the audience be silent, a complete hush filled the room. I could not even hear anyone breathing.

I sat between Sean Patrick Flanery and Elisabeth Röhm. Since it was the first time he saw the film, Sean was of course a bit contemplative of his (fantastic) performance and has a soft laugh. Elisabeth was totally relaxed and laughed out loud many times, as did other cast members.

At the end, Sean told me he "Loved it;" that he was "Excited as hell" about the film and its future. Whew. He's a tough critic of his own work and (rightfully) others, so that means a lot to all of us working on and with the film and its distribution.

The audience applauded several times at the end of the film, and because of the late hour, many had to leave at its completion - but several troopers stayed for the q&a with the cast, Gary, Larry, Ragnar and me, which was a lot of fun. I shared a sample of the singing that went on during the shoot. Some of the stuff captured by our sound crew during the shoot will be featured on my blogs as time goes by as well as on the dvd's.

When we left, Elisabeth had to return to relieve her babysitter - she brought her 14-month old. The babysitter noted that Elisabeth's daughter Easton was "amazing." She had never met such a contented toddler - especially after flying! Elisabeth is a phenomenal mom! Easton's dad Ron Wooster was on hand, too for all the festivities - and he's another reason Easton is so well adjusted!

Editor Stephen Myers, Jim Holmes, Rick Overton and I had a sarsaparilla in the bar at their hotel to chat about the film. Everyone considered the film and its premiere a complete success. I think *that* is when I started to breathe again.

Coming home to so many laudatory emails was also rewarding!

OK, well it's going on 3am and I have to get up in just a few hours to rush around running errands with Elisabeth and my assistant Aaron - whose mom came all the way from Yakima to see the film - before the next screening!

To everyone in the audience who shared the world premiere and special evening with us - thank you from the bottom of my heard. You are, after all, the reason we do what we do!

The TWT World Premiere is tonight!

After many months of pre-production, the shoot itself, and the laborious details of post production and marketing, the premiere of THE WHOLE TRUTH takes place at the Seattle International Film Festival tonight.

Tickets to the event are completely sold out.

I'll be on hand with my business partner Gary Allen Tucci, accompanied by stars Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery, Jim Holmes, Rick Overton and Pisay Pao. Eric Roberts is shooting a film with Sly Stallone ("The Expendibles") in New Orleans, John Fugelsang is performing his one-man show in London, England, and Kristina Lilley is working in Colombia.

Producers Larry Estes and Jennifer Roth, editor Stephen Myers and composer Ragnar Rosinkranz will also be there to answer any questions from audience members after the screening.

The day goes like this: Birthday brunch for a very dear longtime friend, joined by her partner and my brother, who flew in from the Midwest to see the world premiere. Back to work with Aaron making last minute arrangements for the night and the rest of the week.

Late this afternoon I get dressed (up, for me), then my make-up will be done by the wonderful Danyale Cook (hair and make up artist - she did a phenomenal job on our actors' hair styles in THE WHOLE TRUTH).

Gary and I are having a private reception for friends, family, cast and crew before the screening, then watching the movie with nearly 300 other folks, after which we're joining the usual suspects as we respond to the audience in a q&a session.

It will be a memorable evening; I'll tell you about it tomorrow - reporting some of the pithy comments from those who were there. I'll also post photos I'm taking.

Meanwhile, there are still a few tickets available for the 4:30 screening tomorrow (Wednesday) at Pacific Place. Again, tickets for tonight's show are completely sold out.

Wish us luck!

Thak you for a near record-breaking May!

I'll find out tomorrow just how many hits my website received over 200,000 in May, the second highest number we've ever received.

UPDATED: May stat: 205,946 hits.

Last October cp.com received 220,511 - that was while we were shooting THE WHOLE TRUTH. I posted updates as often as I could, given that I didn't have time to sleep, anyway while we were making the film...

Of course, I'm sure it was what I had to say about the shoot as its director-writer-producer that drew you here rather than all the photos and gossip and fun we had with the gorgeous Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery, Eric Roberts, Jim Holmes, Rick Overton, Pisay Pao, Kristina Lilley...

Riiiiight.

OK, it's the stars - and they definitely deserve your attention in this film! They're terrific.

Meanwhile, you're tuning in from 104 countries! 104! Thank you so much for reading my website - I hope you have a translator for your language if you don't read English.

The vast majority of you go directly to my blog when you check in; be sure to drop by the home page for new and exciting stuff, too, so you don't miss anything!

Thank you again for dropping by - I feel a special responsibility to you, so I'll be opining here lots more in the coming year.

For day to day stuff, I'm also on Twitter!

And the winner of Britain's Got Talent:

Diversity!

A truly extraordinary act - they deserved to win.

Susan Boyle was a gracious runner-up.

Susan is an inspiration - Diversity -- champions!

See all the excitement here!

Keep your volume low if you're at work!

Film distribution

In this still frame from THE WHOLE TRUTH, acting coach Angela Masters (Elisabeth Röhm) coaches a criminal client as lawyer sidekick Brad Sanders (Jim Holmes) approves.

Something special is happening with our movie, thanks to our appearance in the Seattle International Film Festival, my website and blog, the growing numbers of folks watching the trailer on YouTube, the poster for the film, THE WHOLE TRUTH official website, other entertainment websites and blogs, fan sites, word of mouth and "buzz."

We've been contacted by several legitimate film distributors - worldwide (domestic and international), international (outside US) and domestic (US and, usually, Canada).

At this point we're keeping a list of all interested distributors who have contacted us - and will continue to add to that list through our SIFF screenings, as well as including distribution contacts we already have.

We're checking reputations (some promise but don't pay filmmakers their share of the profits, others are spot on fair and honest) and records for supporting and marketing films they have chosen.

Marketing is a big deal. It's a costly endeavor and we can name the films that died because of inappropriate, poor or totally misguided marketing on a roll of toilet paper, there are so many.

I started marketing THE WHOLE TRUTH in a unique way; one that is intended to raise curiosity and promise about the film without giving away the hundreds of surprises contained within. It's also a thriller/screwball comedy whose genres I've turned on their ears, which means that it's, um, different.

I think it's different in a way audiences will love -- but we'll find out if that's true next week, won't we?

We're also looking for a distribution partner, not someone simply wanting to make the most money from just one film, or a "one-off."

We're going to be making films for many years to come, so we want to hook up with a solid distributor who will be with us for the duration. We're only making quality, entertaining films, and we're looking for someone who feels the same way about marketing and distributing quality, entertaining films.

Meanwhile, here is what the SIFF program viewer wrote up about THE WHOLE TRUTH for their catalogue - I think it reveals the tone and texture of the film very well - it's what most distributors unfamiliar with our film are reading:

Angela Masters is an acting coach with an unusual client list.

Instead of catering to Hollywood celebrities, she gives what could be described as personality transplants—“character transformations,” if you will—to accused criminals.

By making her clients appear slightly more sympathetic to juries, Angela has become a specialist in securing acquittals for some decidedly shady characters.

This lucrative enterprise is interrupted when Angela overhears a client she helped set free plan a heinous crime—then she becomes a target for murder.

Portrayed by Elisabeth Röhm, of Law & Order fame, Angela discovers that escaping death and finding who she really is becomes the most expensive—and rewarding—experience of her life.

The plot points resemble those of a pure courtroom thriller, but Seattle director Colleen Patrick, in her feature debut, has turned the genre on its ear to create a fast-paced and hilarious satire about the current state of the legal system.

Billing itself as 'a screwball comedy—with a twist,' the film contains sharp dialogue and strong comic performances.

Filmed at various locations around Seattle and Tacoma, The Whole Truth packs in rapid-fire laughs, but also neatly skewers the sorry state of the American 'justice' system.

Come this weekend, THE WHOLE TRUTH trailer will also be available through the SIFF online catalogue for them to peruse; the official website is already posted.

World Premiere check list

*Examine proof of poster for printing today
*Pick up posters tomorrow
*Deliver posters to places showing them
*Sell out World Premiere June 2 (check!)
*Sell out subsequent screening June 3 (nearly check!)
*Count guest list for private reception
*Finish ordering food for reception
*Make music selections for reception
*Take Seeker in for grooming Saturday - he stinks like a dog and looks tacky ...
*Get squirt guns for Aaron and me to fend off squirrels trying to get into bird feeders
*Schedule quality time with incoming family, friends and stars
*Make sure HD copy is ready for projectionist with Larry
*Check with John Beresford - make sure website is up to date
*Make sure clothes I'm wearing WP night are laundered
*Check with friend to help with makeup for WP night
*Take the hill! (It's a long walk up a steep hill - great exercise!)
*Tai chi to settle the nerves
*Find the present I bought Gary (forgot the "safe place" I put it)
*Get massage and facial Sunday to relax
*Go over schedule with Aaron to make sure I have time for all I have to do
*See a couple films in the festival to support other filmmakers
*Reflect on everything that's happened over the past year for which I am so incredibly grateful
*Reflect on the lessons I've learned about life, filmmaking, art, friendship, love, writing, directing, producing, and cooking. I'm finally learning to cook.
*Enjoy every moment of the celebration for THE WHOLE TRUTH - I've loved even the tiniest minutia of labor, the slightest detail in prepro, production, post and marketing and bask in my new friendships with some of the greatest talent this nation has to offer. I am profoundly humbled.

THE WHOLE TRUTH poster!

We'll have these plastered all 'round for the world premiere and second screening at the Seattle International Film Festival.

We're also using them to decorate the private reception we're having for cast, crew, friends and family!

Isn't that a terrific shot of Elisabeth Röhm?

It's a still frame from the film, so everyone who sees it will recognize which scene it's from!

At the Official website for THE WHOLE TRUTH, you can click on the poster and it gets quite large!

If you need incredible photoshop artist, we were referred to Josh Garretson by photographer Adam Weintraub!

THE WHOLE TRUTH World Premiere.... SOLD OUT!

The Tuesday, June 2, 9:30 pm screening of THE WHOLE TRUTH is completely sold out.

Every seat taken. Every ticket available - purchased.

If you hold one of these tickets?

I'm thrilled you'll be joining me, Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery, Rick Overton, Jim Holmes and Pisay Pao to welcome the film into the world - along with my business partner Gary Allen Tucci, producers Larry Estes and Jennifer Roth, editor Stephen Myers, composer Ragnar Rosinkranz and some of the cast and crew who made it happen.

We're checking on Wednesday's seating (4:30 pm, screen #11 at Pacific Place in downtown Seattle), which is also expected to sell out.

I'll post those numbers here as soon as I .. um, OK, my assistant Aaron Heinzen .. can get them!

The Gift

Reflecting on what I said about Susan Boyle - that is, being stymied by why she touches me so deeply: truth is I do know what there is about her that connects with so many of us so intensely.

Being someone who has worked with and cast just about every degree of talent over the years, it's not really a je ne sais quoi element. It's a personal energy. It's located within what I consider the soul of the individual, somewhere between the solar plexus and the gut.

I can actually feel it when I'm in the presence of someone who exudes it.

After seeing Amadeus many years ago, I couldn't understand why Salieri wasted his life envying Mozart and others, when he himself had been given such a unique gift: the ability to discern genuine talent. Mozart didn't really excel at his art until he was older - few realized he would create work that would live ... well, forever.

Think of how happy Salieri's life would have been had he adopted Mozart, nurturing his work, protecting him from his father and others who would exploit the man without ever understanding his true genius.

Instead, his jealousy drove him insane - it always does. Jealousy is the fear of losing something we've never had in the first place.

The distinction of a talented person shows up when those who have it work like hell to hone it. To express it, no matter how it comes out, no matter how long it takes.

And it never has to look, sound or feel "perfect."

The Beatles, IMO, are one of the greatest bands in the history of modern music - yet none of its members has a pristine, fantastic or gifted voice. Yet they connected with the hearts of so many regardless of the form their music took along their melodious journey. Their harmony, rhythm, message, joie de vivre; the love of their art and craft was infectious. And they never stopped practicing - growing as artists and human beings.

Which brings me to another subject: what I perceive as cultural differences between (hopefully without being too simplistic or encompassing regarding either group) between UK and US attitudes toward the arts.

We can find a Susan Boyle in the UK because the attitude there is much more respectful of the arts; people pursue their love of an art or craft because it is their passion - without ever considering the possibility of a career as an artist or craftsperson. Sharing it with family, friends and community is reward enough.

I know people in the UK and Europe who love to sing, write, perform, make films, play instruments and more just because their lives would feel incomplete without it. They also have day jobs, have families (functional, even!) and lead "ordinary" lives.

I have sung myself this way for many years, continuing to practice and study just because I love to do it. I sang professionally at one point and didn't like the lifestyle. Too much traveling for this home body. Today I sing for friends, family and special occasions.

In the US, unless there is a direct road or specific career plan - or some path clearly seen as a way to make a living, chances are family and friends frown on the pursuit of an art or craft just for the pure passion of that pursuit.

Been there, done that. When I first stared my film career after leaving journalism, I felt like the lone flea on a very large dog. I have no idea what made me think of that image, but you know, one seldom thinks of an isolated flea. Yes, that's it. On a very large, furry island of that huge canine.

People I knew well - and hardly at all - thought I was crazy. And too old. Support was difficult - if not impossible to come by.

But I couldn't NOT write, direct and produce. It's just a part of me. In the beginning, I thought perhaps I could try to make "something happen" career-wise through ordinary means - like LA. But I soon realized that was something I did not want.

Meanwhile, in Seattle, people were saying that "it" simply couldn't happen here. Go to LA.

I don't mind working in LA; but I have to live in Seattle. It's as much a part of me as my writing, directing, producing, pets, friends, home-

So I decided I would probably have to spend the rest of my life just being happy. Doing what I love on a day to day basis - making mostly short films while writing some 21 feature scripts - surrounding myself with people who understood what I was doing, with no expectation of 'more.'

I don't think it's a fluke that my closest friend is British, living in Manchester.

Beating breast cancer put a crimp in my style for nearly three years, but it didn't stop me from working on my own films as well as coaching actors, writers and directors until I was finally told to stop or my positive prognosis would change.

Next Tuesday, June 2, my business partner Gary Allen Tucci and I will be attending the world premiere of our feature, THE WHOLE TRUTH, a screwball comedy starring Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery and Eric Roberts at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Along with Elisabeth and Sean Patrick, several outstanding supporting actors like Rick Overton and Jim Holmes will be on hand to watch it for the first time along with the rest of the audience. Eric is shooting a film with Sylvester Stallone in New Orleans and can't join us - John Fugelsang will be performing in London.

I hope we see you there!

Grab TWO hankies!!!!

I don't know what there is about Susan Boyle that breaks my heart when she sings .. but I wept like I lost my best friend when I saw her perform her semi-finals number just a few minutes ago on Britain's Got Talent, even though she had a wee rocky start for the first couple notes -- who wouldn't, knowing billions of fans and naysayers all over the world are watching you with such critical eyes.

Here she is!

And she made it to the finals!

Rock on, Susan!!

Sound filmmaking!

When you're watching a film, believe *less* than half of what you hear when Foley artist Jamie "Foley Rambo" Hunsdale creates the sounds you hear on the screen. He works with the sound studio we prefer, Bad Animals.

Foley, (pronounced foal'-ee> is the art/craft of creating sounds that actors and objects appear to make onscreen. In some cases no sound at all is actually recorded when we're shooting, in other cases the microphone catching the scene can't pick up the specific noise needed to make the scene feel real.

Waving an old unraveled cassette tape in front of a high quality microphone, Jamie creates the sound of leaves blowing in the wind.

Scrunching the same cassette tape all bunched up sounds just like footsteps - walking on grass.


Jamie says he has to act out each movement just as the actor does in the film so the sound fits the scene and character perfectly.

Turning the pages of a book, handling a basketball - every boom, buzz, cackle, clack, clang, clank, clap, clatter, crash, jangle and rattle needs to be heard to resonate with the audience - pulling you into the scene.


Something as simple as a character tossing keys into a dish becomes a small production: metals used for keys have to sound like they are just the right size, the right number, the right weight and slide as they would from the distance thrown.


Jamie follows the action on the screen to bring scenes alive with Foley effects - I focus on sound quality for my films because if you can't hear the dialogue and all the action, you don't have the opportunity to feel like you're in the scene. I strive to make you feel like you're right there with the characters.

"Body slams" are tough. How high from the ground is the person on screen when she or he falls? Inside or outside? Alive -- or not so alive?

Here's a progression of Jamie taking off for a landing, and plopping on the sofa cushion to make the sound of a hard body landing!

POW! BODY SLAM LANDED!

Something we take for granted - the sound of clothes.

We need to hear someone putting on or removing a jacket, folding his arms in a judge's garment, pulling a coat closely around her neck, cloth rubbing against cloth as someone walks, pants ripping, the sound of a character brushing off lint from slacks or a shirt.

Jamie uses every type of material to enhance your audio experience of a film, helping you imagine you're hearing what you may or may not be seeing. In some cases, we use sound for action off-screen - you'll believe something is happening that you don't see because of the use of sound effects.

Jamie recently had to replicate the sound of a woman walking in sky-high heels for a film.

He understands all too well how much people suffer for fashion!

Restaurant sounds, money exchanging hands, eating, drinking, walking, dancing, just about anything you've seen a character do onscreen has been enhanced aurally by a foley artist.

Here he jumps up and down like a Hobbit to get just the right sound of an actor landing a leap.

My photo caught him just inches before he lands the leap.

What a great time we had shooting his Foley work - I took many more pictures of Jamie creating Foley sounds, but I don't want to make the blog too long and you definitely get the idea by now!

What makes a Foley artist truly superb is his or her attitude.

Well, here's Jamie after doing about a dozen body slams - ready to do a dozen more if it means getting an absolutely perfect sound fit for your film.


Like everyone at Bad Animals, he's a very sound thinking guy.


No wonder we love working with you, Ram- I mean, Jamie!

The Official Website for THE WHOLE TRUTH is up!!

EDITED TO SAY:

It *is* up now!

Entirely my fault for posting too early that it was ready! But it is now!

Thanks to our superb webmaster (and novelist/poet/lyricist) John Beresford you can see it by clicking here!

More content will be added along the way, but all the basics are there!

By all means, let us know what you think!

THE WHOLE TRUTH world premiere is nearly sold out!

FYI, in case you'd like to join us for the World Premiere screening of the screwball comedy starring Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery and Eric Roberts 9:30pm Tuesday, June 2!

You can get tickets here!

There are more tickets available for the 4:30pm screening Wednesday, June 3, but the house is still 2/3 sold out.

We're thrilled! We were concerned that the late showing time slot on Tuesday and early screening on Wednesday might be a problem for movie goers - but nope! We're filling both houses - and I promise, you won't be disappointed!

Both films will be screened at Pacific Place in downtown Seattle at AMC Theatre, screen #11 on the fourth level. There's parking in the basement and plenty of restaurants of all sorts inside the multiplex mall.

The trailer's also getting more hits, receiving excellent ratings and some nice comments!

Ticket sales are going gangbusters!

Thanks to everyone who's contacted me saying that you've bought your tickets to see THE WHOLE TRUTH's world premiere June 2 - and subsequent screening the next day!

There are still tickets available to buy here. I'll let you know when they're gone - both are expected to be completely sold out soon.

Meanwhile, thanks to our editor Stephen Meyers, here's the online trailer for the film:




Rick Overton narrates. He has a major role (we originally said he "has a large part" but thought better of it ...) in THE WHOLE TRUTH, and does lots of voice work in Hollywood.

THE WHOLE TRUTH tickets are on sale-NOW!

Here. For everyone!

Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery and other stars in the film - and me! - will be on hand to answer your questions, sign autographs, accept your appreciation for their performances and in turn appreciate your presence at our world premiere when the film ends - it's going to be a party!

My assistant Aaron and I dropped by the room in which THE WHOLE TRUTH will be screened Tuesday, June 2 at 9:30pm and Wednesday June 3 at 4:30pm in the Pacific Place AMC Theatres venue.

It will be on screen #11 which holds 285 viewers. It's a fine, state-of-the-art motion picture theater - there's not a bad seat in the house and the screen is the perfect large movie size. Parking is in the basement of the building and hotels for out-of towners/staters/country are a walk away.

SIFF press screenings are currently shown in that theater; not all the films shown will be screened and therefore reviewed. I hope ours is!

Again .. tickets will go quickly, be sure to pounce when the box office opens; I'm not sure how many SIFF members are aware of our film since it's barely been mentioned in SIFF press releases (they don't know what they're missing!) - so chances of getting general public tickets on Friday are great as long as you get them early!

I hope to see you there!

Your first peek at THE WHOLE TRUTH

Here's a still frame directly from the film.

Elisabeth Röhm stars as acting coach Angela Masters. Here she helps her client and pal Gary Langston, played by Sean Patrick Flanery.

It's an emotional time...

My mother was just diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Hopefully, with the new medication available now and treatments, the cruel unstoppable trajectory of the illness will be slowed.

At least she will not have had vital younger years stolen from her as so many have suffered. She is nearly 85; with any luck, she still has several lucid years ahead of her - barring the hallucinations and acute memory loss she periodically suffers now.

Apparently some crucial research to find a prophylactic preventive measure and outright cure involves stem cell investigations.

Neither of which was allowed throughout the eight years GW was in office. Obama re-instituted respect for science and humanity - hopefully we can make up for lost time.

THE WHOLE TRUTH world premiere info!

Tickets go on sale Thursday morning, May 7 .... at the Seattle International Film Festival website.

I suggest you POUNCE on them.

Happily, folks are flying in from all over to see it, and there are lots of local crew members and artists who worked on the film whose friends and family are coming as well.. Some have told me they're buying tickets for June 2 *and* 3 to watch both screenings!

All the stars will be there at both screenings - Elisabeth Rohm, Eric Roberts, Sean Patrick Flanery, Jim Holmes, Rick Overton, John Fugelsang, Pisay Pao and more!

It stays light here until 10pm those days ... so premiere night won't feel late.

Details:

Tuesday, June 2, the world premiere of THE WHOLE TRUTH starts at 9:30 pm at Pacific Place Cinemas in Seattle -- specific location info is here. Arrive early to get a good seat; it's a great threater.

Pacific Place Cinema is located at 600 Pine St # 228, Seattle, WA 98101 (206) 405-2655 Get directions

It's in a several-tiered downtown mall featuring upscale stores like Barney's and fine restaurants.

If you can't make it June 2, it will be playing again the next day, Wednesday, June 3 at 4:30 pm, same theater.

Some of my blog readers have told me they're attending both screenings! I wasn't expecting that - it's pretty flattering! I do not believe anyone will leave disappointed, however.

If you're flying in, there are several hotels offering 10% discounts on rooms for guests attending SIFF. The list of participating hotels is located at the SIFF website - be sure to mention SIFF when you make your reservations, and they can also arrange for your SIFF tickets if you request.

If you are coming to the screening from out of town, please email me so we can get together!

Prepare to laugh yourself silly - I hope to see you there!

Grab your hanky ....

If you are not one of the 10 million plus who have seen Susan Boyle's appearance on Britain's Got Talent online?

Be prepared to be inspired, moved and cry tears of joy when you see this.

From an unemployed church worker to international sensation all within the span of less than a week.

Take that, Simon Cowell - go, Susan!!!

THE WHOLE TRUTH World Premier

Will take place at the Seattle International Film Festival.

We were *just* notified, so we'll know more later - date, time, etc.

Hopefully, our stars Elisabeth Röhm,
















Sean Patrick Flanery,

Eric Roberts,
Jim Holmes,










Kristina Lilley

John Fugelsang
Rick Overton and Pisay Pao will be on hand to see the movie for the first time themselves!

Here's the 4-1-1 on SIFF from its invitation to include THE WHOLE TRUTH:

"Now in its 35th year, the Seattle International Film Festival is the largest and most highly-attended film festival in the United States, showcasing more than 400 films from over 60 countries to an audience of 150,000 attendees annually.

"While new festivals have seemingly emerged in every small and large city worldwide, SIFF was listed by Variety as one of the world’s “50 unmissable film festivals,” and continues to be recognized as one of the top festivals in North America.

"In terms of Seattle, the profile we offer for film is recognized as extremely important in the US. The Festival combines the best aspects of a casual film marketplace with our well-established reputation as a great audience festival that filmmakers love to attend.

(Here's the best part)

"We would be honored to present this film to our audiences and we look forward to receiving your confirmation of its availability."

Kewl!

Enlightenment in the dark

Last night, Saturday, March 28, at 8:30pm I joined millions of others around the planet who chose to turn off all the lights for an hour - including the TV.

I had a nice fire sparkling in the fireplace and got a lot done around the house using a small lantern for light.

I'm a gadget girl - I have something practical to assist every occasion (lots of tools as well), and this little powerful, battery-powered buddy beamed my way brightly.

After doing a number of housekeeping chores, I looked at my single AA battery-operated clock. Positive at least a half hour had passed since "lights out," imagine my surprise when I saw I had only been doing all that work for ten minutes.

So I continued to take care of minor organizing, dusting, polishing and cleaning tasks I'd been postponing. Which took approximately five minutes.

8:45.

OK. What else can I do? I folded laundered clothes and put them away. My computer was running on its battery, but I had taken care of all the work I had to do with it. I have a 7-hour battery for it because I love to write when I travel.

Maybe read. Yes, the lantern was bright enough, so I looked at my stack of "to read" material.

I'm on a hot Voltaire streak now. Buying used books online is my addiction. I never get only one book to start with, I get every book written by or about a subject that takes my fancy.

Not really enough time to delve into something so complex as his works and his biographies.

Taptaptaptaptap.

I texted my assistant, Aaron - whose household was also honoring the blackout. "Time passes slowly in the dark," I wrote.

"Yeah. Just like in the old candle days," he replied.

He made the ultimate sacrifice. A former professional soccer player himself, he's an ardent Seattle Sounders FC (football club) fan, and "lights out" struck right in the middle of their game with Real (pronounced ree-aaal', not re'-al) Salt Lake FC. Surrounded by soccer fans himself, they decided to tape the game and watch it delayed after "lights on."

Very cool. Of course he is making Sounders fans of we who work with him as well.

But I decided, since I hadn't thought to tape the game, I would just watch the end to see who won. The Sounders did, 2-0. Their second season win in a row, leaving the opposing teams scoreless.

Now it's almost 9pm. Another half hour to go.

So I decided to sit back, surrounded by my three affectionate dogs and cuddly cat, and contemplate time and darkness.

When I go camping I love the feeling of being at one with nature and living at her pace. I don't wear a watch because at one time, working as a reporter in television and radio, I was welded to the clock. Always thinking hours ahead - of making deadlines, of what I needed to get done to get the report, the interviews and stories edited in time for the newscasts or to go on live. Our minute would feel like the ordinary person's half hour.

That has actually helped my film directing work. Planning ahead in pre-production helps a shoot go much more smoothly than if anything is left for the last minute.

Petting my furry creatures who typically nap next to or on my lap when I am stationary, I decided to turn out the lights any time in the future I feel time fleeting. It felt great to be motionless, to enjoy the fire and even see the stars flicker outside my window.

I meditate twice a day - morning and evening, but don't necessarily need darkness to ponder all the universe has to offer.

It felt good to know that tens- possibly hundreds of millions of people just like me around the planet chose to cut off our lights voluntarily and contemplate what others must live with all the time. There are still many areas in the world without electricity, including within the USA.

I recall a government program that was supposed to help a Northwest Native American tribe several years ago by giving them refrigerators and other appliances, only to discover they did not have electricity - after they had been delivered.

Saturday night's "Lights Out" venture was not instigated by any government, but many leaders throughout the world included their nations, communities, cities, villages and historical landmarks in the effort to make the world aware that if we all joined in turning out our lights for just one hour at a time when we would ordinarily have them on, we could save phenomenal energy output.

What I decided to do: turn out my lights for an hour when I would ordinarily have them on at least once a week from now on.

Trundling around the house with my little lantern taking care of business was comforting, in a strange way. To think that I'm saving energy as well? Can't be a bad thing.

One person's reality is another person's ...

...you fill in the blank.

Most "serious" film critics consider "reality" a gritty, tough, downer drama.

As if, in the real world there are no laughs, no high points, no fun, no hope, no promise, not a glimmer of a brighter side, no light at the end of the tunnel - only gloom, doom and disaster.

Only worlds in which characters we are lured to care about suffer loss, loneliness, abuse, self-destruction, grief, beatings, arguments, drug addiction, misery and title credits-to-fin strife.

Mind you, even in the most dire of circumstances, in *real* life, we find something to laugh about. Journalists, doctors, nurses, soldiers and others who deal with life and death every day always find something about which to laugh - although in many cases it may not be politically correct because it's usually a "dark humored" way to release the tension of the moment.

I'm not saying every dramatic film needs a laugh or two - although that would actually be more "real."

But there should be at least the minimal understanding in the industry that "serious" films can also be comedies.

Artistically, screwball comedies are the toughest work for an actor. The range is great, the circumstances unusual, the interpretive beats are counted in the hundreds - whereas a serious drama's interpretive (subtextual, emotional) beats can be relatively few by comparison for the average drama.

This is not to dismiss a great dramatic performance in any way - good acting is hard work for any dedicated performer.

But imagine your favorite dramatic actor being in a comedy. How would he or she make the transition? Could he or she make the transition? It takes guts. Comedy is hard - writing, performing and directing - to make it work.

Mercifully, Kate Winslet - someone with whom I hope to work one day - says she's near desperate to be in a good comedy after playing two seriously tortured, self-destructive roles that won her many well-deserved kudos and awards, including the coveted Oscar.

She will bring the same extraordinary, award-winning brilliant talent and massive skills to a comedic character. But she'll have more fun and have to work even harder because great comedic performances demand it. I believe she is a superbly gifted comedic actor. She was hilarious in TV's Extras, and needs a great comedic script to devour!

There are so many different types of comedy - the best, the most intelligent, has anger at its core, but diminishes the power of whatever makes us angry by putting the subject on its ear so we can all laugh about it.

In THE WHOLE TRUTH, it's the injustice of the American "justice" system. I think that pisses off nearly everyone. It certainly does me - enough to produce, write and direct a screwball comedy about the subject embodied in the lead character of Angela Masters, brilliantly played by Elisabeth Röhm. Originally, I started writing it as a drama, ala Michael Clayton.

But I love to entertain audiences, and who would want to sit through that morose bit more than once? Also, we feature filmmakers must devote at least a year of our lives living with these characters and plot twists and turns. Myself? I'd much rather have fun and laugh through the excruciatingly detailed process.

Actually I start all my comedies by writing the "serious" and "real" dramatic logical story, with psychological profiles and backgrounds of the lead characters. Then I flip everything into comedy.

Of course, there are those who believe film should reflect the reality of the difficulties faced by millions of our sisters and brothers around the world. That is absolutely fine with me.

But!

There's a 1941 Preston Sturges film called "Sullivan's Travels." It's about a film director, famous for doing comedies, who decides to do a nitty, gritty, pity drama about how shitty it is out there. To understand just how bad it is, he takes off - without a cent - to find and live with the despondent, miserable and heartbroken "common man."

Long story short - and worth watching - he ends up living with a group of these depressed, disillusioned and destitute folks.

And guess what he discovers they want more than anything?

To. Laugh.

They don't want to see more of the grief they are living.

As he watches a film with them, he sees these former sad sacks lost in laughter, enjoying the socks off a silly cartoon.

He finally realises: he is doing something that actually helps them. That they genuinely want. Something needed in any culture. To laugh, no matter how dire a circumstance.

But I digress.

"Reality."

When I coached actors, we'd role play the all-important casting interview. This is an interview conducted by casting directors or directors intended to gain insight into the actor. It's thought the more open they are, the more intimacy they give their performance. Likewise, the more insightful their answers, the more insight it is believed they'll give their characters.

One of the questions I like to ask: "Tell me about something you'd like to do over again if you could."

Literally 100% of the answers revolved around a mistake they made they'd love to rectify, that they hurt someone and want to take it back for a do-over, take school more seriously instead of blowing it off, tell someone they loved them when they had the chance .. you get the idea.

Finally, a little dismayed by years of never seeing a totally different way to answer the question, I started giving them another type of answer idea, which made them light up, show a ton of subtext and far more personality than their "serious" answers ever did.

We (directors, producers, casting agents) like to be surprised. To see something we weren't expecting.

Here's what I told them: "Instead of going the way of regret, why don't you take the enjoyable route?"

As in:

"Wow. What I'd love to do over... You know, I'd really love to re-live my weekend skiing with my girlfriend at Whistler Mountain. It was amazing. We played all week-end. Skiing, snowboarding, throwing snowballs, building a snow 'person' -- boobs and what have you. The meals were fantastic and we even had a fireplace in our room. Where we built a fire of our own, if you know what I mean. It was the best. I'd love to re-live that weekend; do it all over again."

If you want to make it super real, add that you broke up when you got home fighting over who the better skier is - or whatever really happened. If you broke up.

Or maybe that you got married - and never went skiing again.

Or maybe you got married and actually lived happily ever after.

Whatever really happened.

At the end of shooting THE WHOLE TRUTH, one of our lead actors had to rush off to do another film - which was not going to be fun. It was going to be rushed and working with a not-so-well written script, but for good money.

Like other actors on the production, s/he said it was the most enjoyable production and most difficult work they'd ever done, and was very sad to leave.

His/her parting words: "Well. Back to reality."

I said, "Working on THE WHOLE TRUTH was also reality."

There are different types of reality.

Happiness is just as much a reality as sadness as pushing through the crap out there every day.

As for me, when I realized this? I became much happier.

Seriously, I decided my reality was going to be positive, happy, fun and make the most of whatever the world handed me. A sense of humor is a valid value and personality trait, too, ya know.

That was many years ago.

So far, so good.

The Last Edition Is Published

After 146 years, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer folds.

I hope the few people remaining who keep its online presence pumping do not let it rest in peace.

The Seattle Times becomes the sole daily newspaper for the major metropolis, and it cut several hundred employees within the past year. Like so many other states, Washington has a number of newspapers in smaller cities also in financial jeopardy.

Seeing the probability of the US media's imploding demise from the inside for several years, including radio and television, I have a lengthy and controversial explanation for how this day, and those that will sadly follow suit, came about.

But now's not the time - and my opinion does not matter, anyway. In fact, critics who have predicted this day and so many like them have been great guest speakers at journalism conferences, had fine essays and columns written and reproduced in respected journalism reviews, but our warnings generally went unheeded by those who could have made a difference.

A so-called free press is the key to maintaining a democracy. Informed, educated voters are needed to make wise decisions at the polls and to determine wise policy. Whether a fully functioning free press even exists these days can be debated with the massive "public relations" campaigns that have been influencing so much of our information for so many years.

The distribution of news we used to read in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and other newspapers that are closing down across the nation may take on a different appearance, mostly through the Internet, but the need for tough, ethical journalistic probing and depth, to speak on behalf of those who have no voice, to closely examine those in power, those who control our finances, those who perpetrate wars at a great cost of our nation's priceless blood and treasure - as well as those who operate the fourth estate of media* itself - has never been needed more.



*(I know "media" is a plural noun, properly referred to as "they" - but choose to use as a colloquial, singular term understood by most people.)

Soil + toil = plant parenthood

In the past, I've not been a gardener.

If you're a long time reader, you read about a friend giving me several flowering leafy growths for my front porch planter boxes.

My plant-unfriendly, brown thumb reputation had already spread widely among growing greenery; I swear I could hear them yelling, "NNNNNNNnnnooooooooooooooooooOOOOO! Not with her!!" as they were inserted in soil that was to be their new - and short lived - home.

Well, the home remains, but they were short lived, try as I might to care for them. I learned the hard way that "more water" is not always the key to rejuvenation. Or juvenation, for that matter.

All that is changing.

I am determined to live up to my grandmother's name: Gardner. I know the official spelling for folks who work with the earth to grow things is "gardener," but it's probably just a matter of dropping the vowel somewhere along the line in our family's history.

Though come to think of it, I don't recall anyone doing gardening as a living. There was a house painter, a mechanic, a laundry- .. a- no, no. No gardeners. Oh, well, I'm only familiar with the last two generations and I'm sure way back when...

Fortunately, my assistant Aaron is by my side as we plug new plants into dirt. Since his knowledge does not exceed mine, we're doing a lot of research about the selection of colorful annuals, biennials, perennials, bushes, shrubs and trees.

We've only planted colorful flowers that do well in cold weather. It's unusually chilly for Seattle this time of year (NO, this does NOT refute the notion of our planet's climate crisis, or as some have proclaimed it, "global warming.") - so we've had to stash all the warm-veined growths inside.

They take up a lot of room and there's not enough sunshine to support them living in here with me for many more weeks... so, hopefully, warm weather is on its way. Soon.

Since I love humming birds, we've put two honeysuckle bushes where we can see them when they visit, along with a little hanging hummingbird feeder nearby. Butterflies already grace my limited landscape, so no need to lure any more.

I'm also getting more indoor shade-loving plants because a study I read recently reported (what inspired this whole idea) that people who live with lots of beautiful greenery and flowers inside and outside enjoy healthier, buoyant, resilient lives with much less sickness, chronic illness, diseases and poor health.

I am for that!

A friend is a former editor of Sunset magazine, and every time we go for walks - in a neighborhood or in the country - he always points out every type of flora, including their popular and official (Latin) names, discussing the merits of each plant we pass. He is definitely in touch with his inner gardener. His home has a thriving plant population inside and out, along with a gold fish pond.

He is in demand to speak all over the world about the famous and brilliant people whose gardens he has visited. Each has a garden remarkably suited to the individual's personality.

He's also worked with organic vegetation, and has a very funny story of walking with England's Prince Charles, who is a champion of organic foods. As their walk came to an end, Steve was unexpectedly put in a reception line with the prince to his left and Queen Elizabeth on his right - without ever being properly introduced to her.

He explains that she is a very short woman, so while he has never formally met Her Royal Majesty, he has smelled her. He leaned over her head, took a whiff and, pleased with what he smelled, felt they somehow created a bond. Of fragrance.

When he speaks of, or introduces, me? Rather than mention my non-existent foliage, he says simply, "Colleen has three dogs and a cat." They nod, with sympathetic "I see. Botanically barren," furrowed brows.

But I digress.

I'll take photos of our progress. I'm looking forward to creating scenery inside and out that makes all visitors smile ... and healthy. I'm also looking forward to moving all my new floral roommates outside where they belong ... when the weather warms up. I could be wrong, but I believe the possiblity of ... alergies ... is in the air.

You know what Ben Franklin said about fish and houseguests. Three days. That was four days ago.

I LOVE this quote!

There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge

That is curiosity.

There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others

That is vanity.

There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve

That is love.

—St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Seems to me "serving" in this instance has a myriad of meanings. Anything we can learn to make someone happier, healthier, stronger, more personally empowered, a better person, more (legally) prosperous, more aware, enlightened, generous and accepting, including ourselves, falls into this definition.

As I've said often here, my goal is to learn *everything* before I leave this life. I guess I'll be around a long time - I have so much serving to do!



At your service!

Getting the word out ...

Along with all our post production work on THE WHOLE TRUTH - Friday we're setting up the credits, main titles and subtitles for the film - we are just now starting to develop what we need to show distributors and audiences: namely, websites for THE WHOLE TRUTH as well as Heart Break Productionz, with photos that were taken during the shoot, a trailer, bios of the folks involved, a sample of Ragnar Rosinkranz's amazing music and many more exciting tidbits.

We are starting this process earlier than we planned because distributors have already started to contact us about THE WHOLE TRUTH.

My partner Gary Allen Tucci and I plan on having serious meetings with quality distributors with whom we can create a lifelong relationship rather than just trying to sell one film.

We have three features already underway, with our first in the final stages of post production, so we want to establish a strong association with a distributor who understands what we are doing and that we only want to create quality films for our audience.

With Larry Estes as our producer and negotiator - who already knows many of these people - we believe this is a reasonable goal.

The trailer will probably NOT feature a scene from the film.

Instead, we want to give you a scintillating visual promise of the premise that should compel you to see the film, with photos of our brilliant leading lady (Elisabeth Röhm) as Angela Masters, an acting coach gone wild who gives personality transplants - that is, "character transformations" - to criminals, so they can influence juries just enough to acquit them!

When you see the film, you'll see why we don't want to spoil your visual surprises.

If you're familiar with screwball comedies, I've taken the genre and flipped it on its ear. If you are not? Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. This is definitely an original work. If you're a screenwriting or film making student, forget the "shoulds" and see how rules are broken - what fun is it for a writer/director to repeat a "formula script/movie" you've seen a bazillion times?

I also suggest you sip your soda carefully. We've had a few spit take and nose hose incidents during the test screenings, when the film's editing wasn't completed or sound and appearance polished.

If you're so inclined - and of course you find the film as funny as we do - a sturdy pair of Depends might be in order.

Not ... that I ... would ... know ...

Back to work with me!

Creative collaborators

There are a number of ways artists can be "juiced" or inspired to create fine work.

Franz Schubert's was to be thrilled by nature. Walking or riding through a forest, taking a leisurely paddle across a lake or simply watching birds fly and sing would send his brilliant mind into action, "hearing" the music he composed.

Johann Strauss wrote phenomenal music dedicated to cities and rivers and meadows and other beautiful works created by humans and God.

The inspiration to create can take many forms: a person or a pet; a flower or a plant; a spiritual guide or a talisman; a favorite place or even a very breath of life itself.

Those specifically identified sources of artistic inspiration are generally called a muse.

Innumerable famous painters believed their lovers were their muse; in some cases they claim that a sexual component of a muse-ment is necessary because it replicates the origin of life. This, in turn, imitates the gestation and birth of art.

While there might well be a human with whom one has a sexual relationship who is the primary inspiration for an artist of any craft, too often sexual relationships fade, then disappear. The artists then feel they must continue to find more muses or, they believe, their work will suffer.

The idea of having a muse is a psychological game we all play with ourselves. It's fun and exciting. But an artist who believes that something outside himself or herself influences inspiration for work is at the mercy of a muse.

If one depends on their art/craft for a living, this can get dicey. We can't sit around hoping that someone or something will excite us enough to work - or do our very best work, exceeding all we've accomplished before.

So those who choose a constantly renewable resource as a muse can do very well for their entire working life. A forest, a river, the sky, one's own breath.

Those whose human muses who are sure to be with them forever are also blessed - a devoted spouse, a true friend.

I'm not comparing myself to any great artist, but I have more than one muse - including a person that I only recently realized *is* my human muse. I expect my anthropoid muse to be in my life for as long as we both are alive and beyond. My other muses include my pets, my home, music, drawing, painting, burning candles, live performances, singing, dinner with friends, my breath, my spirituality, the universe, a good massage, and last but not least, nature.

In short, it doesn't take much to inspire me.

I write every day and enjoy it, even when I'm having difficulty figuring out a character, plot. location or story issue. I'm very fortunate that way, and give thanks for it every day. Many writers - including some fine, gifted writers - do not enjoy the process. Some suffer mightily at the sight of a blank screen or piece of paper.

That's one level of creating - whether it's writing, painting, directing, composing, drawing or singing - getting started.

Another level is that of working with a creative collaborator.

This can be a coach, a teacher, a mentor, a knowledgeable spouse or friend, or someone with whom you work who has a significant and special insight into your heart, mind and work.

This person is someone who pushes you to dig deeper, research more, toil harder, reach higher and do better than you ever thought possible - while never doing the work for you. He or she does not even hint at what he or she believes you "should" write, say, do.

My creative collaborator is our literally famous producer, Larry Estes.

He has a way of asking questions about my scripts that make me do whatever it takes to figure out the answers that will make a character's motives laser clear, the character's psychological profile perfect, the character's behavior more believable and the dialogue more true to life.

Larry has never dealt with me in a way that makes me feel I've let him down or not met his expectations. Perhaps it's because he knows how very dedicated I am and how hard I work.

But he does always wonder - "why" something happens or doesn't happened and "how" this could be the outcome, given the circumstances that occurred on page 3?

A little background:

Larry has produced or been part of a production team for more than 80 independent films, many of them memorable award winners (sex, lies and videotape, gas food lodging and so many more). Over the past few decades he's worked with the likes of Steven Soderbergh and a legion of other notable writers, directors, actors - most of whom you'd know on sight or by name.

When I told him I was going to THE L-WORD wrap party? He says, "Say 'hi' to Jennifer Beals ..." as well as one of the directors on the show, and on it goes.

You'd never know it by his demeanor or his attitude. Like me, he's totally down to earth and all about the work. I think we even dress alike. Actually, this is not a good thing and our costumer Rebecca Luke is determined to change that by outfitting me in real clothes that make me look *good!*

Larry likes to find people whose stage in their craft is developed enough that he can consider producing their work, and, hopefully, artists with whom he has fun working. The two too seldom go hand in hand.

Debbie, his wife of nearly 30 years is the love of his life (as he is hers); he understands what a rare and sensational phenomenon this is, so isn't one to need or seek other sources of happiness.

I'm happy to say, however, that we have fun!

The joy of my life since I started working with him (less than a year ago) is to *blow him away!* I *live* to surprise the heck out of him by exceeding every expectation he has for me writing, directing and producing.

The look on his face, the exclamation of his voice, the blizzard blink of his eyes, the shaking of his head, the smile and the breath of disbelief is exhilarating!

Another thing - he doesn't let me "get away" with anything. I try to plug in a "sort of" scene until I can come back and do it right. Um, no. He catches the pseudo scene and, instead of asking, "what the hell is this??" Instead asks, "How would this work?" "Why is she doing this here?" "I'm having trouble following your logic, here."

Yeah, yeah. OK. Then I do it not only "right" but better than anything he thought he'd read on the page.

At least that what he says - and I'm doing the Snoopy dance! Oh, joy!

If you travel around Los Angeles with him, Larry has approximately 2,398 stories of famous people with whom he's worked HERE (as you pass a building) and had dinner at her house THERE (as you pass a lovely home) and THIS IS WHERE (some great film he green-lit or worked on) was made (as you pass what used to be a studio building or low road location).

With Larry's feedback (anyone else who has feedback now goes through him because he's got the knack for asking me just the right questions), I just finished the official white script for THE LONELY GOATHERD.

Now I'm underway, as you know, Gentle Reader, to write the best and most unusual screenplay I've ever written, SPARE CHANGE. I could be intimidated, especially because every one's expectations of it - including mine - are so high, and the lead actors are amazing.

But with Larry as my creative collaborator, and all those muses I told you about? It's just a matter of using the typical formula for writing: place butt in seat, fingers on keys, head in research and background work, keep mind open to receive whatever the universe wants to offer up, and fill up blank screens and paper pages (I tend to write on anything that's nearby).

How lucky am I?

Progress, progress!

Sound work progresses nicely on THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Now that the color correction is completed, it's time to dedicate our attention on all the sound effects, dialogue and music.

Lots of filmmakers believe that "too much" background sound interferes with the audience's attention to dialogue, I believe all that sound makes you feel like you're right in the scene with the characters.

We have to be cautious to make certain what should be sublime and hinted remain that way and not too loud, distracting us from the dialogue, but sound can also work as a comment on what's happening, clue you in on what's coming up, give a special tone to layer the scene and lend all sorts of character to a scene - in some cases, certain sounds and music become characters themselves in a film.

That's definitely true of TWT.

In LA, I had a terrific, insightful time working with the leads of our third feature, another screwball comedy (but much smaller a production than THE LONELY GOATHERD). I have a basic outline of the logical story and psychological profiles of both leads, so the discussion revolved around how these people came to behave in the way they do as dysfunctional adults and parents.

Being the pro's they are, they came up with all sorts of terrific ideas - and that's all I sought. Ideas coming from the people who will portray the characters.

As I left, one of the actors told me that the few times he has worked with a director this way, he received the most major awards and nominations to which an actor can aspire.

Gulp! My work is cut out for me!

Thanks to the invitation from a very generous friend, I attended THE L-WORD wrap party, where I had the opportunity to meet several cast members, crew, and actors who have guest-starred over the past few years of the Showtime program.

What made it most fun for me was the fact that it wasn't shoulder to shoulder crowded (can't stand crowds, me) so I could actually speak with people and the food was *superb.*

Daniela Sea, who plays transsexual Max Sweeney on the show, told me she is spearheading a DVD project dedicated to the memory of thousands who have been killed because they are gay (or believed to be) - she will be telling the personal story of each victim.

According to Daniela, the group with whom she is working has some pretty grim statistics - like every nine days someone *believed* to be gay (whether they are or not) is killed. Hopefully her project will raise awareness and help stop this lamentable lethal legacy.

I'll let you know when the DVD is ready and where to buy it if you'd care to support the educational effort to promote understanding and awareness of a history long overlooked.

She is so enthusiastic about the project, I have no doubt it will receive the respect and notoriety it deserves. Daniela and the brilliant Leisha Hailey ("Alice") are the only two "out" lesbian actors in the large cast of gorgeous women portraying lesbians in THE L-WORD.

Meanwhile, in the Venice neighborhood (which is quite extensive and extremely diverse), I took the opportunity to hang out with a dear friend and her 10-month baby (my honorary "niece" so of course I had to come bearing gifts), which was lots of fun. One thing about babies and animals - they let you know how they feel about you for no other reason than .. well, that's just the way they feel.

Fortunately, she takes a shine to me - I'm *positive* the toys I brought have *nothing* to do with how she feels!

I did not bring anything for the dog they are fostering, however, but he obviously smelled my three dogs and kitty on me and decided I was O-K!

I also met with our LA casting agent Rick Pagano - one of the all-time good folks in the business and superb at his trade; and had a leisurely breakfast with our editor Stephen Meyers, and fine actor in THE WHOLE TRUTH, Jim Holmes.

All this took place within two days, arriving back home early Wednesday morning when my assistant Aaron dashed me over to Bad Animals Studio to continue our sound mixing!

I'm on to shot-sheeting THE LONELY GOATHERD. This is a tedious, time-consuming, detailed task wherein I (as director) list every shot I have in mind for the entire script, scene by scene.

I'll refine this at least one more time from beginning to end before meeting with the Director of Photography to share my ideas and then refine it again, incorporating both our ideas.

Then we create whatever inspiration the actual set, scene and actors provide while we are in full-tilt production shooting, using whatever ideas still work from the shot sheet.

The shot sheet is basically a plan so I can create all the pieces of the visual and sound puzzle that I must put together to form the complete film. As we shoot parts of scenes, I "edit" them in my mind, so I know how the film will look when it is completed as I go to work with our superb editor, Stephen Meyers.

One reason to work with an editor at the script stage - while I'm writing the script, before any preproduction - is to get good ideas for special shots and "cutaways," or details of a scene or character that may not seem apparent but that would cut in nicely for the edited film. Stephen gives me a list of them, which I pass on to the DP, making sure we catch them as we are in production.

Writing that list is what Stephen is doing in LA as I create shot sheets in Seattle!

So much to do....

My eyes look like Wile E. Coyote's after he's suffered a self-inflicted dynamite blast - you know, big with red circles spinning?

Spending days in a dark room working with master colorist Tim Maffia (believe me, no one gives him any grief with that name!) at Modern Digital post production studios on our film THE WHOLE TRUTH has been so much fun, but so very much work! Hour after hour, looking for every teeny tiny detail that needs some sort of color adjustment.

Adjustments to things like on screen eyes that have been the victim of shadowization ... the eyes of our actors can't be clearly seen because they're in shadows - they have to be lightened (film acting is all about the eyes!); areas that are too bright that need to be "crushed," or darkened. Matching room color tones that don't match on their own because each part of a room has been shot on different days. There are many more hue, glow, density, tint, saturation and luminosity details that need attention, but those are the big ticket items.

These sorts of things are normal in color correcting a film - and there are thousands of tiny details that need attention - brightened, darkened, even made a different color.

The more experienced your colorist, like Modern Digital's Tim, the faster this extraordinarily tedious, technical and artistic work can be accomplished.

DP Paul Mailman joined us for a few days; producer Larry Estes did as well. The decisions are the final call of the director (um, that's me), but it's always good to have a fresh pair of eyes on hand.

Tim will work all day tomorrow following notes I left as well as taking care of a bazillion technical issues like "dust busting" - getting rid of nearly microscopic pieces of dust that made their way onto the film.

I have to say, the film really looks fantastic. I think all our actors and crew will be proud to have participated in this project.

Meanwhile I started working with our post production sound crew Mike McAuliffe and Dave Howe last Tuesday at Bad Animals Sound Studio.

That's where top folks do their film sound tracks, major musicians and bands record, lots of voice work for movies, TV, radio and all sorts of media, music and personal sound projects are done.

Sean Penn post-produced his soundtrack for his award-winning feature Into The Wild there.

Every sound other than the words uttered by actors our film are infused into the sound track. Sound sources come from recording them live on our film sets, creating "wild sounds" in the areas we shoot, and creating them (called Foley). Bad Animals' Foley artist is Jamie Hunsdale.

Editor Stephen Myers and I also created some Foley (created) sounds for the film while we were editing. I have to say, this is one of the most fun parts of the otherwise incredibly tedious, detailed and time consuming process of post production for me. Coming from a background working in radio once upon a time makes a big difference.

I co-wrote and acted in a daily radio comedy series for a radio station at a Washington state university I attended, which received a national writing award, as well as acted in weekly radio plays when I attended Syracuse University. In addition to performing numerous vocal roles at both places, we had to come up with ways to make sounds of the drama or comedy we were performing.

Time to rest the peepers - I have to get ready for a trip to LA to work with the two lead actors in the new screwball comedy script I'm developing (that means doing research while I'm writing it and putting all the pieces together), SPARE CHANGE.

We'll be shooting it after completing post production on THE LONELY GOATHERD - which we're shooting after we complete production on THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Yes, I'm working on three feature films simultaneously.

Doesn't everyone?

I am...um, always here to help ....

For better or worse - and in some cases both - I am a helper.

If someone drops something, I pick it up and give it back to the dropee.

I replace items that have fallen off shelves in stores, homes, schools, or pretty much any building I happen to be visiting.

For some unknown reason, people visiting from other countries who speak every language known to humankind stop to ask me for directions. Which I always seem to know - or find for them.

They see right through me.

I'm a helper.

Someone needs assistance crossing the street? No boy scout, me, but I'm an eager crutch, cane or seeing eye dog fill-in.

A friend is getting LASIK surgery; I gave her a lengthy 4-1-1 on caring for her eyes after the operation (having gone through it myself -- keep 'em moist with lots of drops). Her eyes probably glazed over as I gave her the information - she probably knew it all already. But I wished someone had emphasized that to me when I went through it.

Just had to lend support any way I could.

Feeling down? Let me help.

Count on me to know CPR, know how to stop the bleeding and be the first person at a car crash to take the right steps. In fact, I'm a former volunteer firefighter. Several years ago I took care of a farm (including vegetable and fruit plants/trees and animals) in exchange for room and board while I wrote a book - so I joined the only firefighting/first responder unit in the area. Which was volunteer.

What if one of the cows or chickens needed CPR? Or first aid? What if my aging cat Kitzel got sick? What if lightning set the owner's house on fire? Or the nearby forest? Or what if an electrical short set my own little handy person's house on fire? Yep, I should definitely be ready.

Training was tough. When we fought the one house fire that broke out while I was there, between the air tank, yellow suit, boots and hat, I was wearing some 75 pounds of equipment. The water hose (from the water truck - we were out in the boonies without hydrants) is also very heavy. Very.

Here's a helpful hint - do you know the most dangerous part of fighting a house fire is the poison released when furniture and materials containing chemicals become toxic when they burn? We spent a long time learning to automatically put our air masks on before approaching any building fire (we practiced on a couple houses that were burned for us to practice on).

A helpful hint? There I go again.

I suppose it's a natural part of being a teacher or coach, though I try to contain my helper gene to my work, but sometimes I just can't help myself. I mean - I *can* help ... me, too, like I do others - I just can't stop myself.

Take last night.

I was at the grocery store, minding my own beeswax, carefully reading ingredients on packages tempting me, when I saw the head and torso of a man swaying, as if he were becoming faint. I saw he was with a little girl - his daughter?

I took a fast second glance, preparing to rush to his rescue if he really was ready to keel over. My hands were CP-R (CP to the Rescue) ready.

He didn't stop, he kept swaying!

I dashed up to him, putting my hand on his shoulder (first action to take - it gives patients confidence, relaxes them, lowers the heart rate) and asked, "Are you all right?"

Whereupon the little girl reprimanded him with, "I told you, daddy!"

What? Told him what?

They both laughed.

He was kidding around ... holding an oddly shaped large product box that appeared to weigh a lot - that he pretended was too heavy for him to carry. Thus the little dance, swaying under its "weight."

Uh-huh.

After the laughter died down - mine a bit uncomfortable - he thanked me kindly for caring.

You bet. Any time. No one else noticed, did they.

Then I decided maybe I'm not just a helper. Who can be a little too helpful here and there with people who don't really want or need any.

Maybe I'm just someone who cares.

Locking the film

This means the editing process is basically - primarily - finished.

Now it's time to pursue two separate and equally important processes: color correcting and sound mixing.

Color correcting means a technician (in our case at Modern Digital post production in Seattle) "equalizes" and enhances each frame of the film's color in a digital program. In some cases, as in one scene we shot - half of a room was shot on one day, the other half the next. Predictably, each half looks different because the lighting cannot be specifically calibrated to make the picture look exactly like the day before for another location.

I'll sit near the technician, asking for exactly the look I need for the film for every frame of the film. Today there are amazing ways to affect the appearance of a movie. But - if the basics aren't already on the film or video when it's originally made, there's only so much that can help the image in post production.

Fortunately, between DP Paul Mailman, Gaffer Ted Barnes (he's the lighting genius) and Grip Greg Smith, our film is knee deep in production values, depth, color and dramatic detail, highlighting not only our actors but the production design work of Rachel Thomson.

With this rich tapestry, we can pull all sorts of magnificence out of every picture.

The other process, sound mixing, is a finite, weeks-long creation of every sound heard as you watch a movie. Music is mixed with sound effects and dialogue and natural sound and Foley creations. Foley is creating a sound that sounds like another sound.

Like in one scene, a brush is painting a creamy concoction. To get the rich juicy sound of what this *looks* like it will sound, editor Stephen Meyers and I got a paper towel dripping wet, folded it into a small square, and I dragged my finger across it. When the brush is supposed to tap the concoction, I tapped my finger on the soaking wet surface.

Or there might be a sound created by the same thing as the actual sound, only in a confined space. Like a character walking across a gravel road. We put gravel in a box and wearing shoes identical or similar to the character's, someone steps exactly at the speed of the actor onscreen as it's recorded.

It's way fun. Stephen and I created a lot of sounds and sound effects; he's the master.

In the mix there are many channels of sound that need to be sorted and scaled so each can be heard appropriately by you. Is Ragnar Rosinkranz' fabulous music up enough when it is to be heard along with natural sound (sound that can be heard naturally where we filmed the scene).

It's an extremely detailed and distinctly subjective procedure led by the director. But sound technician Dave Howe at Bad Animals studio provides the best of the best from which to choose.

It's all very exciting to me. Sitting day after day over a period of weeks for incredibly long hours as each minuscule piece of the acoustical program is put into place, just as the color correcting procedure calls for the director to attend to each tiny element as it is finessed.

I love it when people think what I do is "glamorous." It's just many many many hours of hard work, putting a huge puzzle with a couple hundred thousand pieces together, creating what is commonly known as one's vision.

Directing is such a massively collaborative effort, but there is a basic vision that drives all of us in the same direction. With a little bit of luck, the outcome is a film that you find worth watching - again and again.

I'm thrilled to report that many people who have seen the test screenings of the film say that is exactly what they want to do - see THE WHOLE TRUTH again! All I can say is after our final edit, the color correction and sound mix, it will look and sound many times better than it was when they saw it.

OK, this could be a problem...

A few days ago, a group of us were location scouting for The Lonely Goatherd (the new feature we're making).

We were up in the snowy mountains, passing farms on our way to and from (one of which we might use for the main goat farm scenes).

At one point, Location Manager Doug Dumas pulled over so I could take pictures of some snow-capped mountains to consider.

As I stepped out of the shotgun passenger seat, "someone" saw an animal behind the farm's fence where we stopped and asked, "Isn't that a goat?"

Now, I'm not going to point fingers at anyone, because it could have been Aaron Heinzen, my assistant, Rachel Thomson, our Production Designer, or Alexis Arnold, our Unit Production Manager.

I have far more class and communications/relationship acumen to say the name out loud.

Because to actually identify the person (Aaron) would make him- or her, of course, look uninformed about the very subject we are filming over the course of a number of weeks during the shoot.

I looked at the animal and couldn't believe my eyes.

"It's a sheep," I said, starting to close my door.

"REALLY? Is it really?" came a chorus from within the van.

"No. That's a goat," insisted *someone* inside.

"Trust me, it's a sheep," I repeated, opening my door to do so.

I closed the door to take my photographs, returning to hear the continuing discussion about whether the animal was a sheep or a goat.

It was a sheep. With a beard.

So, for all my filmmaking colleagues working on The Lonely Goatherd and more who may need to learn the distinction:

Here is a goat.

To hear goat sounds, click here

Here are some sheep. thanks to http://sheep.com.



And how a sheep sounds:

http://www.sheep.com/sounds/baasheep1.wav

The greatest difference, of course, is that you do not count goats to fall asleep.

Be well ... be happy ...

Karen Janes - a name you probably don't recognize - has died after fighting cancer for two years.

A professional musician, she lived in the Seattle area, playing and teaching the piano and double bass.

The way I knew her was that she accompanied me and a bazillion other singers on the piano. There was no type of music she couldn't play. Since I sing a variety of musical styles, it was always fun to include her when I could with the performance.

As you might imagine, the majority of her concert work was done for formal programs, where singers wear black and clasp hands as they perform, reading their music sheets.

Well, the first song for which she accompanied me was "We Need A Little Christmas," a very up tempo tune from the Broadway smash, "Mame."

As I took my place on stage, dressed in colorful seasonal hues, I clasped my hands, she sat perfectly erect, looking at me for her cue. I suddenly turned to her and said, "Hit it, Karen!" And she had her ways with the keys, rocking up the song the way I performed it - moving/dancing around the stage (I introduce myself by saying, "costumes, choreography and arrangement by Colleen Patrick").

I would excuse myself for a costume change. Costume "changes" normally consisted of adding or removing a muffler scarf, a hat, or something normally considered a lesser accessory.

We both had a terrific time - the audience seemed to have *at least* as much fun as we did. We hoped more but wondered how that could happen.

Another song we performed that suprised our audience came at my singing coach's (Nedra Gaskill) birthday bash. Many of her coachees sang a song for Nedra, accompanied by Karen.

I decided to ham it up (surprise, surprise) and perform a song I had never sung before but in *full* costume, with props.

The tune was "Little Girls," from the B'way hit, "Annie." Karen, again with perfect posture, hands hanging over the keys, waited for my cue - which I gave her off stage. With the intro underway (she had a share of ham in her heredity as well), I stumbled on stage in my aged, oversized robe, massive mule slippers, shower cap and whisky flask.

The character I represented, Miss Hannigan, was drunk, you see.

Karen followed my unique cocktail lounge treatment of the song as I made my way through the tables, making a couple passes at men and women in the crowd (Hannigan was drunk, you see), occasionally running back to read the lyrics I was faking, continuing to tunefully lament being surrounded in the orphanage with Little Girls - including Annie, naturally.

I recall her looking at me, carefully trying to follow whatever the heck it was I was doing to that poor song as I rushed back and forth checking on the lyrics that sat on a music stand near her piano, since I'd never performed it before.

Chutzpah CP, that's me.

Comedy 101: you can entertain audiences, convincing them you're funny when you wear a worn old bathrobe, mule slippers, a shower cap and appear to be stumbling drunk using a whiskey flask prop.

The funniest part came at the end, when Nedra's neices - about 5 and 7 years old - were supposed to be afraid of me when I reached out to "strangle" them, chasing them off stage as the song ended.

Instead their eyes were lit up and they only smiled (OK, perhaps they may have been outright laughing at me), not budging a bit as I held the last note of "giiiiiiiiiiiirls..." forever. Finally, I put my hands on my hips, frowned, and said, "You're supposed to be afraid of me and run off stage, remember?"

Ah. Yes. That.

And they ran off, not quite selling the "scared" part. The audience loved it as I shrugged and shook my head - Karen played us off with music she found in her head somewhere. That was difficult because being such a classically trained musician, she was more for reading music than improvising it. But she managed.

Now, lest you think that this is a woman who simply accompanied amateur singers or taught children and adults here over the years because she had no choice; that her talent and accomplishments began and ended here, think again.

She lived here, as so many of us do, out of choice, not out of chance.

Check out some of her credentials.

In the course of her career Karen studied with John Wustman, accompanist to Luciano Pavarotti (I never had the courage to ask if she saw any resemblance between working with me and Pavarotti).

She performed with numerous classical organizations and was a member of various performing groups including: Bellevue Philharmonic (as their principal double bassist) Orchestra, Midsummer Musical Retreat, and Performing Arts Festival Eastside, of which she was past president.

She was the current president of Thalia Allied Artists. Karen worked with the Seattle Opera Review program, the Village Theater (a legit professional equity theater here), many singers and instrumentalists, and regularly accompanied more than 50 concerts a year.

She was sought after as an accompanist for auditions as well, from opera and college auditions to the annual state Solo and Ensemble Contest.

A quiet sort - at least when I was around her - Karen always seemed not quite at peace with herself; never quite happy. When told of her recent passing, the first thing I thought was, "I hope you are at peace now, Karen, and truly happy."

She was 51 years young.

At her memorial next week, I plan to sing, "You Raise Me Up."

A capella.

New email for the production!

First, I have to report that the response to my script, The Lonely Goatherd, has been phenomenal. Actors and crew.

More importantly, we have a new production office email address: thelonelygoatherdmovie@hotmail.com. So our poor correspondent who has suffered from receiving our errant emails will suffer no more. Whew.

Right now we're working on getting The Whole Truth ready for meetings with distributors; we'll fly down to LA as soon as the film is as presentable as we can get it. It's a little long now, so editor Stephen Myers and I will streamline it over the next four or five days.

Composer Ragnar Rosinkranz' music is sensational - everyone loves it!

Between The Lonely Goatherd, The Whole Truth and our third screwball comedy project, Spare Change - I'm looking into various cloning methods!

Friends and friendships

My family moved 17 times by the time I was 17.

My father was in the Air Force, so I am what is deemed a "military brat."

As much as I learned from my thousands of "new kid" experiences, countless people I met and numerous schools I attended- to quote the ever-honest Eric Roberts, with whom I had breakfast one morning as we were preparing for his extraordinary work in my feature film The Whole Truth: "Whoa. That'll make you strange."

OK, I'd much rather consider myself, "unique."

One thing I cherished deeply along the way was friendships. I took them so much more seriously than the kids I met because they actually lived where they were. They knew they'd see their same friends the next day.

I knew our time was precious and I would not be there long. It was tough to leave because I tried so hard to feel like I belonged where ever we were, but was uprooted time and again.

At a very early age I realized that my "hometown" was and always will be where I am standing; where my heart is.

Which is why I have no childhood friends; I also have no awareness of having relatives beyond my immediate and small family. We moved so often I did not have the opportunity to get to know any of them with more than a passing glimpse.

Building a new and chosen family of people and pets has been a blessing.

Sorry for the verbosity - this is a very roundabout way of saying that I defined friends and friendships very early on as people who make me feel like I belong with them, and they belong with me.

It doesn't happen often. In fact, it happens very seldom. But when it does occur, it feels like New Year's eve. There's a little celebration that goes on in my heart. There's a sense of renewal.

As exciting as it is, there's also a sense of comfort, warmth and safety; like we're both better people when we're together or even thinking of one another. Over time, an authentic love develops. There's no pressure of time or deadlines or stress of performance. There is a feeling that we can be carefree without being careless; of being free without being thoughtless.

It is revered. Sacred.

And appreciated.

Well over eleven years, my best friend and I have developed a connection that has grown systematically over every day of all those weeks and months. For months at a time we emailed one another every day through times rough and rife with joy. We speak nearly weekly on Skype.

We're very different "types" of people but we always seem to have something to share or teach one another from a distance of many thousand miles. I live in Seattle, he lives in Manchester, England. I'm single with four pets - he's married with two daughters to whom he is devoted - one of whom is in college now.

In times of travail, we are the first - or among the first - people we call. His wife is more than happy to have him complain to me since he also does it with her and her "whine-0-meter" has a limit, and she knows he would never complain/whine/bitch and moan about her (he never has).

I visited him nearly two years ago for three weeks and had the most wonderful time evah! Go back far enough here and you can read the many blogs about my adventures in England, with tons of photos.

Coming from my background, it's not unusual for people to come and go. And for any number of reasons - one of which is attention. Relationships require time and attention. Generally more in the beginning, though if it's meant to be deep and rich and thrive it takes on a life of its own and fills both people with a contentment, gratification and fun that never ceases.

Friendships also feed my innovative nature - I'm a prolific creative machine whose passion for my work thrives in the company of true friends. I'm a person with few close friends, but they infuse me with energy, a joy of life and never ending inspired vision.

I'm in the midst of developing a new friendship that has all these qualities and more. Again, as exciting as it is, there is also a sensation of safety and satisfaction. Of compassion, non-judgement and acceptance.

Only history will show if it's meant to be another lifelong association.

I like to say I treat my friends like lovers (without the sex!), my lovers like friends. It just feels like the right way to show friends they are as valued as the ought to be in my life.

At last!

My computer has been in the shop getting its AC adapter connection repaired so I have been without access to my blog!

Traveling, writing, visiting relatives, writing, doing more post production work on THE WHOLE TRUTH and writing have pretty much taken my time.

I get to see one of our brilliant actors from TWT perform a lead role this Friday in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - the musical is playing nearby. I love the music and this actress, so it should be a great time.

Lots of folks are emailing me about getting work with us, but here's the scoop: it doesn't help to contact me or send me stuff. All crew are hired through the production office - you can email your credentials to -- an email address that can't be posted here because Blogger.com can't deal with similiar emails sent from a blog. The email with our address is similar to someone else's, so it automatically goes to that someone else. Strange. And inconvenient.

But! We have a website that we will be putting up soon http://thelonelygoatherd.com/ that will have all the information that cannot be posted on blogger.com.

Meanwhile, all actors are auditioned through Complete Casting in Seattle; Rick Pagano and Russell Boast handle all the lead actors auditions in LA.

The crew and actors with whom we will work are excellent. They don't take shortcuts, they're consummate professionals who understand it's the minute details that make all the difference.

The start date for shooting TLG has been pushed, but I'm taking this as an opportunity to do more extremely detailed pre-production work *and* to work out. I need to be in fantastic shape because this is a big film, which will require lots of outdoor hiking, moving, working with animals and all sorts of unexpected physical activities.

I'm actually having a pair of shoes made especially for me so my knees and ankles don't scream at me so much during the shoot, which is expected to last seven weeks. THE WHOLE TRUTH took six weeks.

Post production work continues on TWT, and it only gets better. I'm so so proud of the film, the crew and the actors. The final work - color correction, permanent sound lock, attaching the Heart Break Productionz banner as well as the special opening created for the film - will actually make it look up to 80% better than it does now, using the "low res" editing tapes.

Ragnar Rosinkranz' music is so special, fresh and effective - some scenes that could only be considered "very good" now POP. It's being added now.

After one more secret screening in a regular theater we've rented, we decide what else needs to be "fixed." After those fixes, which take very little time? We work on finishing the locked sounds - sound effects, music, evening the dialogue sound track, etc. That normally takes about three weeks. I won't have to sit in on every session, but for the first several days to get them going and then pop back in toward the end to approve what else is done until it's completed.

Final touches to the picture quality by our friends at Modern Digital post production? And we have ourselves a finished feature film.

I can hardly wait!

Meanwhile, I've outlined the third project we're shooting, SPARE CHANGE, which will be totally different from TLG, which is totally different from TWT.

Failures

After singing my rendition of Janis Joplin's "Piece O' My Heart" at our wrap party for The Whole Truth, several people asked, "Is there anything you CAN'T do?!"

Inferring "do *well*" because my performance was pretty much the crowd pleaser.

I joked, "Yes. Rugs and windows."

But the sad truth is, as my personal assistant Aaron (a very successful person - he played professional soccer until a head injury sent him on to other professions) and I commiserated, there have been many failures in my past.

Not that I believe in the overall concepts of success or failure. Putting too much importance on either can be debilitating. Enjoying life as it comes and is created by me, no matter the challenges handed me, is pretty much my philosophy.

But in these cases?

I think "failure" is appropriate.

Like there was the time I knit muffler scarves for friends and family as Christmas gifts. OK, I did not do enough research on the materials one should use to knit specific items. I chose a bright synthetic yarn that stretched and stretched over time.

My parents came to use their "muffler scarves" as nap blankets. Seriously. They grew so large they covered themselves with them when they stretched out on the sofa to take a nap.

My brother's .. he's more than six feet tall .. well, it grew to the point it touched the floor on either side hung around his neck. I'm not sure whatever became of it though I think wrapping water pipes during a cold streak would be useful.

The last time I saw it, he folded the "scarf" four times which made it so thick he could not wear it driving a car (even walking presented its own problems). I also had the sneaking suspicion he kept it hidden in a closet unless I visited. I figured this out when I saw the .. cobwebs.

Then there was the infamous year I made candles for everyone. Maybe that should be "candles." No, that's a bit harsh because they did burn. Mercifully.

What went awry was the coloring. I started out with the pure white wax, and I forget exactly what I used to infect- I mean affect them with bright hues, but none looked like the standard brightly hued candle you can buy at any store. Somehow I infused them quite accidentally with a sort of icky brownish-bluish-greenish-purpley pigmentation. I tried "fixing" them, adding this and that, but whatever I did only made it worse.

With "it's the thought that counts" sentiment, I wrapped them (people wince at my wrapping - not a reflection on the dreaded gift inside, but wondering how on earth someone who appears to be normally coordinated can make wrapping paper look like a refugee from a fire sale) and gave them to the people I love.

I figured, as long as they keep them away from food they couldn't do much damage - or perhaps if someone is on a diet it just might help them lose their appetite. And they could also brighten a little corner here and there. The basement, garage, outhouse ..

I have had to face my failure(s) in the fields of craftiness. Not crafty, me.

But that's in keeping with being a director. Directors are basically useless when it comes to *doing* anything. Why do you think all those crafty artists are there to help us put the film together?

We're very good at *saying* things, however. "Um, yes, let's make it blue." "No, that won't work." "It needs to be larger but not as large as, say, Simon Cowell's ego."

As long as I don't have to knit or melt wax? So far, so good.

Happy New Year.

May 2009 be your best year ever - enjoy and love every minute of it, doing things at which you excel and those things at which you aren't swell.

See you next year!

Joyeux Noel!

What a terrific Christmas.

Despite a forced delay to visit my family because flights were cancelled from snow and ice deluged Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the entire region besieged with an unexpected snow storm, leaving many of us home bound? (A state of emergency has been declared by governor Christine Gregoire)

I'm celebrating one of my most enjoyable and memorable holidays ever.

First and foremost, everyone - pets and humans - in my world are healthy; my house is lit up for the holidays with a beautiful, glistening Christmas tree hosting 900 lights; fireplace logs flicker warming flames; sweet scents of the season simmer on the stove; holiday music plays, the three pups and kitty are as affectionate and playful as ever.

Because I'm "stranded" and not with my family, many invitations and good wishes have been sent my way; the roads make it treacherously impossible to socialize, however ... AND ... I promised my producers and editor that I would have my page 1 rewrite of The Lonely Goatherd completed by midnight Christmas Eve. Sure enough, I sent it out last night about 11:30pm. A "page 1" rewrite means that the script is rewritten from .. page 1.

The script's tone, characters, comedy and drama have not overwhelmingly changed, but the structure and overall writing is significantly changed and improved. It's much tighter, stronger, clearer, and I think funnier. So I've been working around the clock to meet my self-imposed deadline.

Mind you, we start filming March 30, so it's not the final version that we'll actually shoot, but it is ready for actors to read who want to consider auditioning or meeting with us when we work with LA Casting Directors Russell Boast and Rick Pagano next month. Producer Larry Estes and I will go to Los Angeles for at least a couple days to see everyone we ask to see and actors who ask to see us.

I *love* auditioning because it is an embarrassment of riches - to see and meet with actors who are so talented, gifted and skilled; actors who bring their own special adaptation of the characters - and especially those who bring their heart and soul to the table.

I appreciate interacting with everyone who has obviously worked hard prepping for our session because they want the role. I respond to all they do that is great and give notes (suggestions) when they're close or perhaps to see if another subtext would nail another character. I especially love people who make it clear they are more interested in an excellent performance than assuaging their ego.

As I recall there was only one person I would consider a "pill," but that was at least an entertaining experience.

I *hate* auditioning because I want to hire everyone who is pill-free. It's painful to tell someone who is clearly a special, insightful and great actor they have not been cast. But I always remember people who impress me, and the last time Larry and I were casting in LA for The Whole Truth, some very well known actors met with us even though there were no roles for which they qualified. They just wanted to meet us, let us know what they're up to and listen to what we're doing. As well as sharing our wishes, dreams and goals. Those meetings were memorable.

That being said, with this rewrite of The Lonely Goatherd finished, I'm free to celebrate! I actually have "free time" to do all the other things I love to do!

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah!

The Whole Truth is screened!

I'll just say this: it was incredibly successful.

The response was so positive .. and of course we can actually *hear* people laugh, which is the biggest payoff for a comedy.

How difficult it is to sit through a drama you've filmed as the audience sits there tight-lipped - so you never know if they like it until they leave (or you read about it in tomorrow's newspaper).

Stephen Meyers, our editor supreme, and I locked the film today, cutting bits and scenes here and there to make it tighter, a better paced story and staying true to the characters.

I lost two of my favorite scenes. Ow. It hurt to make those decisions. But it has to be done for the sake of a better film. They were fine scenes but the created a small lull in the otherwise fast-paced story. One was just plain downright gorgeous. The other touching.

We'll include them as extras when we create the DVD.

Some of the comments:

"Elisabeth Röhm is phenomenal. She carries the story from the first frame of the film to the last."

"Eric Roberts was unbelievable. I had no idea he could be so f**king funny!"

"I loved Sean Patrick Flanery. He gave the film a real warmth."

"The film is hilarious - and the characters are still believable."

"Loved the music. It was perfect - in the parts where there was music." (The rest of the music is on its way from composer, who will finish scoring the locked film.)

"The film was actually logical. I liked that. Lots of comedies leave logic behind."

"The actors all felt like they were having a great time - like they were having so much fun performing their roles." ('tis true! We all had a wonderful time and want to work together again!)

There were many comments on the excellent acting - straight across the board, from beginning to end - not a weak link in the group.

The most wonderful comments revolved around how entertaining the whole film is - and how it felt like they were seeing a "real movie" - the first they've seen in a long, long time. Our budget may have been limited, but our imaginations and resourcefulness were not. It has the look of a film with a much greater budget - thanks to the whole cast and crew.

Folks left feeling like they were genuinely entertained by a film that didn't take shortcuts or "write down" to its audience or stupid-up the script to get a cheap laugh, even though there are many "over the top" moments.

Producer and hyper critic Larry Estes was in the audience and was *heard* laughing! Executive producer Gary Allen Tucci laughed all the way through the feature. That was *good* news!

Other things viewers loved:

The wardrobe! Rebecca Luke is the general of our clothing batallion in our "aesthetic army!"

The look of the film! Rachel Thomson is our production designer; Ted Barnes the gaffer (lights!)Paul Mailman the DP (camera!), and Greg Smith our grip (action! Moving and coordinating all the electrical cords and stuff).

We can only hope the audience we invite to the January screening feels the same with all the cuts and improvements we've made. We'll also have an elementary sound mix, the proper opening, color correction and special effects included. After that, we have one more go at the edit, proper sound mixing and the film is ready for you to see!

Whew.

Now back to work on pre-production for our next feature, The Lonely Goatherd!

The post production process is going *well!*

I can't say any more than that ...

It's rewarding and exciting.

When I am able to tell you all the things going on behind the scenes, even in retrospective, I shall. Until then, I'll just let you know how it's going overall.

And that is .. very well!

Um, "The Heart Break Way" is not about being "nice" ....

It's about respecting and appreciating everyone with whom we work.

I realized recently that the Heart Break Productionz philosophy (we call our philosophy "The Heart Break way") of not allowing abusive language or behavior to others on our productions has been misinterpreted to mean that, essentially, because my business partner Gary Allen Tucci and I are "nice," we expect everyone else to be as well.

Um, no.

Here's the deal. Gary is about the most macho person I know. Seriously, he does the Kona Iron Man for fun. He leads massive groups of Teamsters and members of 30 other unions normally known for their tough, strong and protective work and behavior to do extremely dangerous work.

And you'll never hear an abusive word from his mouth.

Likewise, when I'm directing, you won't hear a derisive or abusive word from my mouth.

Because it's not about "nice."

It's about safety.

Gary runs industries that employ thousands of people to work in dangerous life and death environments - repairing, replacing and rebuilding utilities after disasters - electricity, communications, etc.

If one of these people, in the heat of working in downpours, snowstorms, explosions and other threats from human and nature, is verbally abusive to another worker - everyone's life in that vicinity is immediately endangered. They've no longer made their focus the work at hand, but their inappropriate personal biases or uncontrolled anger, which only impedes and intercedes with the high-risk job they are doing.

So somebody says, "Hey, you son of a bitch, move that line over!"

The immediate response is not to move the line, but to respond to the name-caller personally, detracting everyone's focus from where it should be.

The line wasn't moved, it was crossed.

It's all about safety.

In developing a professional, creative environment, actors, technicians, service people, key crew and everyone else involved with making a film need to feel safe in order to do their best work.

So by making people on the production feel safe to go about and do their best work, we are protecting the creative process, which is most vital to me.

The moment an actor feels unsafe because of the way he or she is spoken to or treated? The best performance from him or her is lost unless they have an extraordinary relationship with their director. So in most cases a decent performance might be delivered, but nothing like the person is capable of turning in if they felt safe in the work environment.

To me, that doesn't mean you "spoil" the person. It means treating them professionally, respectfully. Appreciating them and their work, expecting the best from them (behavior and performance) and protecting them from any abuse on the set they might receive from people who might think they can "joke" with them or give them "advice" on how to play a scene or worse, "feedback" about a performance.

Likewise, actors cannot abuse others. There's no reason or excuse for abuse, period.

A creative environment allows for fresh ideas. People feel free to speak up if they see an immediate or potential problem or experience a problem themselves without being on the other end of any retribution.

We can innovate, change things up and improvise to get a better scene without wreaking havoc or pushing anyone's nose out of joint. We're in it together. We make it happen together.

Filmmaking is probably the most collaborative work in the world if it's done properly.

In a safe working environment, people feel free to admit making an error straight away so it can be fixed quickly. Disappointment might be expressed but abuse? Never.

More - a film set is a physically dangerous place. You've read about people being injured and even killed in the news. In addition to possibly injurious sets and props, there are many, many thousands of volts of electricity searing through fat cables; crane shots in windy, rainy weather can be unstable.

Because her director, against the advice of those who knew better, made her look at hyper bright lights, Helen Hunt lost her eyesight for nearly two days during the shooting of TWISTER. What if her eyes had been injured beyond repair?

I've been "accused" of being overly protective of my cast and crew, but really, it's all about creating a professional attitude. No gossip. Respect and appreciate each other so we can create and maintain an environment of safety - protecting not only our physical, emotional and mental well-being, but the creative process and the film itself - which is, or should be, our primary focus.

Make no mistake - there are clear, insightful and sometimes tough love statements made to take care of any issue or problem immediately and properly. Including between Gary and myself. But there's never a doubt of our respect, appreciation, admiration and focus.

We give a great deal of thought to the folks we hire and cast. We've made a few mistakes, and learned from them during the filming of THE WHOLE TRUTH so we're totally on track personnel-wise for the production of THE LONELY GOATHERD.

Respect. Appreciation. They are integral to the definition of being a professional.

They equal not just a great environment in which to work, but a safe place to do what we all love to do most without putting our careers, lives or co-workers in danger. Qualified professionals who understand this work on Heart Break Productionz films.

And we at HBPz think that's really nice.

Opening, closing and credits

We're filling in temporary titles, credits and other written information that will cross the screen starting and ending the film. The permanent titles and credits are added after everything else is finished in post production.

Both are meant to be entertaining ... drawing you in right away and keeping you excited to see what's coming next during its screening and after the film ends.

Editor Stephen Myers and I are looking at it from beginning to end more often now to catch everything we can to tighten, correct, improve, brighten, enlighten, punch up and accentuate.

It appears we will not have to have anyone 'loop' lines .. that is, bring cast members into a sound studio to repeat lines that were somehow lost in the filming process. Our sound mixer Bob Marts is one of the best, and I'm a sound *nut* so while I wasn't counting on it (I've never had to loop any film I've made), I was hoping we wouldn't have to spend the money on looping, but instead on other things that will spice up the look of the film.

The time to have a private screening is coming up .. probably about mid-December .. then last minute touches and it goes in for sound sweetening, color correction and special effects touches. That may all be done in January because of the holidays and scheduling considerations.

Then?

Then it is unleashed on you!

Meanwhile, I'm simultaneously doing my usual director's image detail work and script finessing for our next feature, which is starting to feel pretty exciting to me. I've never worked on fewer than three projects at a time - it keeps me excited, focused (believe it or not) and organized. It also keeps me from going into a funk after I finish a project - at least for too long.

I'm so looking forward to casting the new feature - it's going to be so much fun and I'm going to meet such wonderful, skilled, talented actors as well as welcome back at least some of the folks who starred in THE WHOLE TRUTH! But who? We don't know yet, except for Elisabeth Röhm, who will portray one of the most unusual supporting characters ever to grace the silver screen.

Editing is rocking!

Editor Stephen Myers and I are spending our days finessing THE WHOLE TRUTH rough cut - we shipped the version we're refining to our composer Ragnar Rosinkranz in LA to flesh out the score.

We added the cues he sent us to our copy and they're perfect.

Opening and closing themes fit like a glove. Capturing the film's essence in about :30 seconds for the opening is amazing; the closing is longer because it features the credits and a lot of folks worked on the film.

Plus there's a special surprise included with the credits ... and no, I'm not talking about outtakes -- they are so yesterday!

I'm talking about something very fresh, fun, new and a first. Which I think we'll include in all our Heart Break Productionz feature films.

I start finessing the script for the next feature (a comedy) I'm directing this coming weekend. We may be in LA casting the first part of December, heading for pre-production in January.

Back to work!

The music arrives!

Ragnar Rosinkranz's music arrived over the weekend, which means we start working it into the film tomorrow morning!

We'll take a look at the entire rough cut of The Whole Truth, share notes on what we (editor Stephen Myers and myself) need to do to improve it through editing, including inserts of sound effects, tightening, changing what we can. Then we start adding the musical riffs Ragnar sent us.

That will be day #4 of editing.

Day #5 (Tuesday) will be more of the same .. refine, refine, refine. Focusing closely on every visual detail and movement with each pass, listening to every sound - electronically drawn out to catch every minuscule audible modulation.

This is where the film actually gets made ... and of course we can only work with what was actually shot. "Fixes" in post production are, while having much more potential than they did even a few years ago, are still fairly limited unless the film is shot properly.

We have one action scene that will have special effects, but we had to shoot it a specific way and at a certain speed, prepping it for the special effects folks at Modern Digital to modify after we've finished the editing process.

It's all pretty exciting. But our film is not really changing in editing - it's the same story we shot in the same way it was shot. Some films change drastically in editing because there were problems on the shoot. One such film was the award-winning Annie Hall. Most films that undergo such extensive changes in editing are not as fortunate.

Editing is underway!

Editor Stephen Myers and I are in the editing suite, working full days as of Wednesday.

Monday and Tuesday a group of us went on a location scout trip for our new feature, THE LONELY GOATHERD.

Stephen and I did an initial pass through the rough cut of THE WHOLE TRUTH in about 2.2 days; then we started finessing, adding sound effects and tightening scenes as well as putting scenes in more detailed sequence today.

It's fun and very specific, meticulous work. I am extremely focused on the editing process of TWT, but I enjoy working on more than one project at a time, which is why we're moving into developing our next feature, which we should start shooting in Spring, while also creating our third film, SPARE CHANGE, which I'll be writing along the way through TLG.

I'll have some finessing to do of TLG script which shouldn't take long because it's pretty well finished.

One thing about doing comedy - it's fun to re-live the laughter in the editing room. And the performances, which, in this case are uniformly excellent. We were blessed with a genuinely fabulous, talented, skilled cast, who were also a total delight to work with.

I've learned so much from THE WHOLE TRUTH, and look forward to doing it all over again, using my new knowledge, starting up THE LONELY GOATHERD even before we finish this project.

It's all very exciting.

And of course I'll be particularly excited to see what audiences think of the completed version of THE WHOLE TRUTH!

Confessions ...

Now that the film shooting part is completed for THE WHOLE TRUTH production, I have to tell you some behind the scenes stuff that doesn't necessarily make me the world's greatest comedy writer/director.

It has to do with uncontrollable laughter.

Namely, mine.

I had to bar myself from my own set *twice* for two scenes in which Elisabeth Röhm was performing what was in the script ... and I could not stop laughing. Everyone else was remarkably controlled, wearing muffler scarves in which to guffaw silently, looking at the ceiling as the scene played out, letting tears flow without making a sound.

I tried all those things, and even desperately attempted to "hold it in." I swear at one point I burst a very vital organ because I was in excessive merriment constricting pain the rest of the day. It was like suffering from unexpressed laughter constipation - one just can't back one's self up like that without hurting one's self.

I had to yell "action" and "cut" from a distant location holding a small monitor.

OK, in the name of full disclosure: one of those scenes was performed in a room next to where I was located. Elisabeth had a direct eye line to me and at one point got up from her chair, walked to the door staring at me, and closed it because watching me laugh sent her regaling - preventing her from saying her lines as pathetically as her character was supposed to be feeling.

It wasn't enough. She could still hear me stifling myself through the closed door, so as I say, I moved farther away and fortunately have a very loud voice so the cast and crew could hear "action" and "cut."

Seriously, do Christopher Guest and Frank Oz have these problems?

Elisabeth has a stealth laugh mode. You know she's laughing but she doesn't make a sound. My producer Larry Estes can do the same thing. Larry, his wife Debbie and I went to see Rick Overton and John Fugelsang perform stand-up at a local comedy club. There I was, falling apart at the seams, tears streaming, in genuine pain from laughing so hard, pounding the table with one hand, shielding my head from physical injury by putting my other arm on the table so it would hit only flesh.

Debbie laughed heartily, aloud.

Larry? Seriously, his body was shaking, tears were flowing, the mouth was open .. but not a sound. It was like flying owl laughter. You can't hear owls fly, you know. They're totally silent when their wings "flap." Eeery.

Now, Elisabeth can also make sound, but apparently when it's "appropriate" (whatever the hell that means), she's a stealth laugher.

Eric Roberts is an expressive, audible laugher. I'm proud to say we share that in common.

A few evenings after a long day of shooting a couple of us would get together and plan the next day of production. I would be tired and giddy and suddenly seized with fits of laughter as my colleagues would wait patiently, shaking their heads.

1st Assistant Director Megan Griffiths told passer-by Larry Estes they had no idea how to stop me.

Said Larry, "Watch this."

Tears streaming down my giggling face, I listened closely.

"Vice president Palin," he said, stone faced.

I immediately returned to work, completely focused, not a sound out of this mouth other than the business at hand.

We were all mighty impressed. As was Larry with himself.

Because of course, the election is not funny. It's urgently important that we all participate.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have fought and died over the centuries to achieve our precious right to choose our leaders and decide our future. Women have had the right to vote in the United States only less than one hundred years. Before that, we were not considered "full" citizens and were excluded from taking part in "mainstream" politics.

I mailed my ballot last week.

Vote.

THE WHOLE TRUTH is shot

Finished the film's "martini" today.

Martini is slang for "the final thing to be shot." Probably from a time when the last thing shot meant everyone went out for a martini.

We were as sad as we were happy - we have had an outrageously good time filming and proud of the quality of our work. Coming to an end may mean more sleep, but it also means we don't see one another at 6:30 am or so every week day, so we're going to miss one another.

Elisabeth Röhm wept as she said good-bye to all of us. Fortunately, our leading lady's last scenes required her to cry. She will be missed terribly, though she's already agreed to be in my next feature, THE LONELY GOATHERD. As I've said so many times here, audiences will love her and be shocked at her comedic acumen, not believing this is actually her first stab at comedy.

Today was also Kristina Lilley's last day - she's on her way back to Colombia. Her fans will also be thrilled with her turn at being a veteran police detective - in Spanish speaking nations all over the world, she is known as a sexy villain or a sexy vixen or a sexy-- you get the idea.

The crew was nothing short of marvelous. When a feature wraps, it's time for celebrations and sweet cards and special gifts.

My partner, Gary Tucci, was on hand to witness the last day of production. That was fun.

I thanked every crew member who made THE WHOLE TRUTH such a professional, smooth, quality production. It was their passion and daily dedication that contributed so heavily to this production's success.

I am an extremely happy writer/director. My vision was realized in ways that exceeded my expectations on many levels and met them spot on in most.

Next task: editing, which I love, alongside veteran comedy film editor Stephen Myers. He has been editing dailies (what we shoot every day) since we started and has been sending very positive reports. He requested only one "pickup" shot throughout the whole production, which we picked up earlier this week. Usually there are several more requests because more is missing in the way of "coverage" necessary to visually tell the story properly.

Thanks to a magnificent cast and crew, the film will, I believe, look and sound terrific, attracting an audience looking for a great time at the movies as well as please film affectionado with its multiple visual and conceptual layers.

Tomorrow night is the "wrap party," with lots of music, dancing and karaoke for the crew and cast members who remain here, as well as my formal thank you speech to one and all involved with the success of this production.

Meanwhile, I'll let you know about ongoing developments for development of THE LONELY GOATHERD as well as the evolution of completion and distribution for THE WHOLE TRUTH -- and news about my new script, our third feature, SPARE CHANGE!

Counting down ...

Only two days left to finish shooting THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Eric Roberts left today .. I missed him before he left, so I can assure you there's a little hole in my heart, left empty with the departure of him and his wife Eliza (a certified genius, talented and successful in her own right as well as a wonderful person).

I asked Elisabeth Röhm if she knew of any directors who dropped to the floor and hung on to a departing actor's ankle to prevent him/her from leaving. You know, in a way they'd have to drag me along with every step ...

Miss Law and Order responded, "Colleen. That's assault."

Hmm. Maybe she hasn't heard about directors who do this because they know she'd turn them in... ;-)

John Fugelsang also left - what a magnificent human being this guy is, not to mention super talented and a gifted performer. He put on his one man show for us last Saturday night, FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS (written and performed by him). What an honor to be part of his audience. It's played successfully in New York City off Broadway and in Los Angeles.

He, too, was missed by me before his plane departed. I had to consider that he's a little smaller than Eric -- thinking I might injure him if I clung to his ankle. He'd probably pull a muscle trying to drag me along. Not that he'd want to .. escape .. my grasp. Or anything .. like that.

Rick Overton, Kristina Lilley and Jim Holmes remain ... they are in scenes we're shooting the last two days, along with Elisabeth, our leading lady, of course. I don't even want to think of dealing with that separation. She and I have enjoyed such a wonderful journey on this film, personally and professionally. Her life will never be the same after audiences worldwide witness her magnificent performance. I'm so proud to have participated in her artistic evolution. She leaves Saturday to start a new film on Monday.

*SOB!*

The crew is already getting sad and nostalgic with the end so near. I don't blame them. We've had such a great time making this film, and the outlook for its distribution and success are optimistic. The wrap party is Saturday night, then I'm off for the first vacation I've enjoyed for such a long, long time. I'll be away for a week while my personal assistant Matt Schmidt holds down the fort and takes care of the three wee dogs and kitty.

The big occasion for me today is that I directed a couple action scenes - which ROCKED!

I don't do action scenes the way the industry ordinarily shoots them. You'll have to see the difference for yourself, but it was extremely exciting for me to have everyone land exactly where they had to in the brouhahas.

My energy is greater now than when I started, which makes me very happy. I know why that is and I'm going to continue to work the way that is most beneficial to the film and my energy. It's different from the way films are ordinarily shot, and some people will have to adapt, but that's fine. The point is that the film that gets made for you, the audience, maintains an unsurpassed quality of story, character, writing, production and entertainment values.

I am so blessed to have had this experience, to meet and work with the exceptional professionals I have the past three months (6 weeks full-tilt pre-production, 6 weeks of principal shooting production).

Interestingly, what a lot of people don't understand who don't know me very well is that I am so very busy, I'm not in a position to take on new enterprises or causes other that those with which I'm already involved through Heart Break Productionz and my personal life. I've been approached recently to consider working on or with a number of new projects or causes and attend events - which, unfortunately, I can't join in because of these limits.

And the only actors I now coach are those cast in my feature films.

I haven't changed a bit, but the tasks and passions and relationships that claim my time and attention prevent me from extending myself much farther.

Tonight, I am so extremely happy and proud I am of the hard work we've all done, day after day, getting up at 5am, having such a smooth shoot thanks to these great professionals and all our preparation in pre-production.

And, after directing those action scenes this morning? I. Am. On. Fire!

The down side of being a director

It's said that 90% of the director's job is choosing the right cast.

This is not as simple as it sounds. There are all sorts of casting obstacles for good actors, not the least of which are their schedules.

But if it turns out the way we want, it makes a huge difference in the life of a film.

Casting just the right folks and working with a kick ass crew found by our producers (ultimately chosen by me, but they seek the candidates) comes a close second.

In the case of THE WHOLE TRUTH cast and crew all came together just as they should have, just as I wanted. Knock wood, say a prayer of thanks, light a candle, rub Ho Tai's tummy and head.

But then here comes the down side:

With only five days of shooting left, after being in "shooting battle" shoulder to shoulder with these wonderful folks, their families and pets for 5 weeks, it's coming to an end.

It's like being a parent. You know the kids of whom you are so proud and love so much have to go on their merry way to excel and create even more happiness in their lives (although I hope to work with most of them again and soon), but it is still pretty heartbreaking.

Thus, Heart Break Productionz.

Such marvelous folks, such extraordinary talent, skill, support and collaboration. I'm going to miss them so much. I have such respect and affection for them. I can't imagine not seeing them as I go to work every morning.

After my short vacation, editor Stephen Myers will be here in Seattle editing the film with me for about a month of dedicated toil. The film should be locked Dec. 15, then the music and sound sweetening will be added, completely finishing the film about Jan 30 because of the holiday break. At which time, we'll fill out the film's website with all sorts of goodies and great stuff.

During that time, I'll also be finessing the script for THE LONELY GOATHERD, which we should have mapped out for production by the middle or end of next Month.

What a lovely way to spend Thanksgiving. As for me, my personal Thanksgiving will be spent soaking in every moment I have left to be in the company of such magnificence that is the crew and cast of THE WHOLE TRUTH and of course enjoying our wrap party the night after we wrap.

And looking forward to seeing almost everyone again on the sets and locations of THE LONELY GOATHERD. Two of our major THE WHOLE TRUTH cast members are already cast in THE LONELY GOATHERD, and in distinctly different types of roles, so it will be another hoot and a half!

I can harldly wait.

Until then, my only focus is devoted to the last few days of shooting THE WHOLE TRUTH, capturing scenes and action that complete the moving massive jigsaw that is the puzzle of creating a motion picture.

Film set codes .....

OK.

A bunch of folks on set have little two-way radios with which they speak to one another. They're used for paging, finding, reporting, requesting, informing and connecting the crew and cast of nearly 100.

The person everyone talks about most?

The director.

This is because the director has to respond to everyone about what is needed to make each scene come alive -- colors, materials, looks, clothes, hair, make-up, actor movement, props, set dressing, rehearsal, blocking, shooting -- and more.

For the last three days we've been shooting on a set that took up the entire floor of a major Seattle business building because we housed all our departments there as well as the set on which we were shooting.

Unfortunately, the women's bathroom is on the other side of the building's floor - like a five minute (very fast) walk away.

At least we had a real bathroom, unlike the previous 7 days of shooting wherein we used honey buckets.

At any rate, the code for using the bathroom is "10-1." Ten-one. I also say, "Ten oh-one."

Well, unlike the other 100 or so people in the cast and crew, everyone needs to know where the director is every moment.

So when I would excuse myself for a 10-1, I'd hear radios echo this for my entire walk as I passed offices and crew members wearing the two-way radios. "The director is 10-1." "Colleen is 10-1." "Just saw Colleen passing AD (assistant directors) office." "Locations has its eye on the director who is 10-1." "Colleen is wanted on set - if you see her 10-1, let her know." "Colleen is 10-1 and we're still waiting for her on set - anyone seen her?"

Oh, my goodness. I've lost more weight in my pursuit of 10-1 because I started walking quickly and have graduated to jogging. I expect to be a full-fledged sprinter by the end of the shoot next week.

Is nothing sacred?

Meanwhile, today was magic on the set. Elisabeth Röhm, Eric Roberts, Peter Weinstein, Rick Overton and Jim Holmes were on fire today - we got some amazing performances from each of them.

Only five days left to get the last 15 scenes -- that's three scenes a day. Some are long, others short. It means a lot of work in several locations to wrap everything up.

Only one week left to finish The Whole Truth

Well, actually filming will take another week and two days, but essentially the clock is winding down on all the work left to do to finish our feature film.

In addition to the scenes we have to capture, we have "wild sound" we need to record -- several audio pieces that will be in the film that need to be recorded while the actors and crew are still here, up and running.

Working out of the old (now deserted) Federal Courthouse in Tacoma for seven days was a terrific experience with one tiny exception. No working bathrooms. We were filming on third floor sets and all the offices were located on the third floor, so skipping to the loo meant rushing down by stairs or elevator (lots of essential equipment used that elevator as well) to the honey buckets waiting for us outside the courthouse.

No complaints really, even in the pouring rain we had that "aren't we having fun camping out" sense that got us through with flying colors.

All our stars were totally game for every challenge we have faced, and stayed in great spirits. I love doing comedies because there's lots of laughter.

What's not funny are all the errors made by local media reporting about our feature film. Seems so far the folks writing about us don't really understand how films are made or how the industry works -- thus how very different we are, but they have beliefs about all of it that are apparently unshakable.

We've been reluctant to make ourselves available because it doesn't seem to matter what we say, the same old stuff gets out there with all sorts of built in biases that simply are not factual about the industry or particularly our film.

Yesterday we actually had lunch with a reporter (even though I have absolutely no time to talk with anyone other than staff, cast, crew and family; we made an exception) and sure enough, too much of the same old disappointing stuff appeared.

Interestingly, there is also misinformation galore about the industry within the industry - I found it rampant when I coached actors.

We're very protective of the film's story and characters, which need to be seen for the first time when you see the film or their entertainment value will be devalued. No photographs on set are allowed other than those over which we have control.

Meanwhile, whether from fatigue or the additional complications of finishing the last pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is our feature film, some very minor frustrations have flared, but fortunately nothing has happened that has interfered with the overall pleasure of working on the film - witness the comments left on my blog by people who have worked alongside us!

And at this rate, we are coming in (finishing the film) on time, under budget and because the film is being edited as we shoot it, the rough cut should be completed a week after our final day of shooting - Oct. 31.

I'm off for a week of vacation after the wrap party -- coming back in time to start location scouting for our next feature The Lonely Goatherd and greeting editor Stephen Myers who will come up to Seattle from LA to finish editing the film. I'll be sitting beside him as we finish assembling the motion picture you will see in theaters next year.

I have learned so much from this shoot -- about myself as well as my directing style.

Nothing has felt stressful or overwhelming, and even with the pathetically few and minor glitches that have crossed my path, I've had the time of my life. My energy has actually increased as time has passed; it's done me good to have all the physical activity I've had in addition to the creative and mental challenges. Laughing several times over the course of every day is not only healing and fun, it's downright inspirational.

Speaking of inspirational - our production designer Rachel Thomson has been a virtual wizard. Everything she designs and that her crew dresses is phenomenal. Every scene presents its own set of problems and challenges; Rachel and her crew have done work worthy of every award given to set designers from her creations on The Whole Truth. I can hardly wait for you to see them.

After one month of shooting..

The production continues to move along beautifully - the film looks fantastic.

Working with Eric Roberts is nothing short of a wonderful experience. Fun, professional, personable and wow - his performance must be seen to be believed.

The crew and I have been working very long late hours every day/night this past week, and have a couple more coming up. Courtroom scenes, action scenes, night scenes.

As if she could, Elisabeth Röhm continues to be more and more hilarous, gaining more comedy chops and pulling them out of who knows where.

Sean Patrick Flanery's work is finished. His fans, honestly, will be completely and totally shocked at his work. Trust me. The guy is a million laughs.

We're 2/3 finished, only two more weeks to go. We are all going to miss each other terribly when this film is in the can - cast and crew. But we have the wrap party to celebrate everyone and everything we've done.

I continue to have the time of my life. I'm doing everything - Eric is especially appreciative of all I'm doing. The guy's been acting since he was 5 years young. Seriously.

Half of THE WHOLE TRUTH is told!

We finished up day #15 of our 30-day shoot, and it was full of good spirits!

The weather was with us - beautiful and sunny with an autumnal crispness in the air - as we shot an exterior scene in the middle of Seattle. Lots of people saw what we were doing and recognized Elisabeth Röhm, even though she was wearing a costume that was supposed to "disguise" her character!

A couple of elderly women approached Sean Patrick Flanery, not recognizing him, asking, "What's happening?"

Typically, SPF responded, "Well, the stock market is taking a real hit now, but if you just sit tight, in another three weeks or so the Dow will-"

Whereupon they interrupted him with, "No! We mean what's happening *here!*" Of course he told them we're making a movie, that it's a comedy and it's called THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Interestingly, throughout this venture, lots of folks think I'm from Los Angeles/Hollywood. Nope, even though I've been told for years that the only way to do what I am currently doing is to move to LA, I've stayed in Seattle because I love my life here.

Now I *really* love my life here because I'm able to do what I love, make a living and create films I hope you will want to see over and over!

For the next week, we're shooting in Tacoma - 30 miles away - so I'll be living in a hotel there since I have to be at work by 5:30a.m. My personal assistant Matt Schmidt will keep the home office fires burning, take care of my pups and kitty, as well as taking care of me at the shoot.

Part II, coming up. And we're all looking forward to it.

Congratulations to our editor!

Congratulations to Stephen Myers, our editor, who edited the documentary short DOWNSTREAM - it's on the short list for an Academy Award nomination.

This after the Pixar documentary feature film he edited received an Emmy nomination!

Tomorrow marks the halfway point of finishing THE WHOLE TRUTH. Stephen says it's cutting together beautifully, that the acting is "excellent."

Whew! Just three more weeks before we hold the wrap party!

I mean ... before we shoot our last scene, of course... Yes, yes. That's what I mean...

Day #13 is in the can!

If you're new to this blog, the title does not mean it's in the toilet .. it means it's in the film can. It's been shot and is at the developer's, then a digital copy of what we shot is on its way to the editor in LA.

The days have been full of hard work, getting some very sweet stuff. Great color, acting, depth of field in the scenes, sound.

We finish the scenes we need to shoot at the current location tomorrow, then Friday we're mostly outside.

One thing that distinguishes this shoot: singing. Sean Patrick Flanery and me do most of the singing. But yesterday Elisabeth Röhm led everyone in a spirited version of "All You Need Is Love" while we were waiting for lighting to be perfected. Our sound guys recorded it. Who knows - we may use it for the DVD version of the film.

Next week we're joined by Eric Roberts, Rick Overton, Jim Holmes and John Fugelsang. Sean Patrick Flanery has just a few days left to shoot, then he flies to Toronto to star in the sequel to Boondock Saints. The rest of us will be working for another three weeks to finish the film.

Our composer, Ragnar Rosinkranz, is watching the film being built by the editor in LA .. so he can build the soundtrack as the film is being put together.

The film is looking great, and editor Stephen Myers says it looks "excellent" so far.

In two days, THE WHOLE TRUTH principal shooting will be 50% completed. It's going by so quickly.

We're trying not to get media coverage yet because we want to keep a lot of the film's information under wraps until we're ready to show it to you! But some newspaper bloggers and neighborhood folks who saw our humongous trucks and lights wrote in a Seattle daily newspaper about what they saw us doing. The write up was pretty general, but wow. Some of the folks who read the short article and commented were pretty pissy -- writing suppositions about stuff that didn't happen, assumptions about the subject of the film and dissing it without having anything but minimal information about it.

But, that's show biz, baby, and think of all the people who will say whatever they want when it finally comes out.

At least they will have seen the movie! That is a good thing!

Today's shoutout goes to gafffer Ted Barnes. The gaffer lights the set in a way recommended by the director of photography. Ted is the very best -- lighting makes or breaks the scenes and how they are conveyed, and I have to say, our scenes are conveyed with the *best* lighting!

Lights are big and small, and can be very heavy. Working around as much electricity as we do, it is most important that safety be uppermost in everyone's mind working around all the lights, sound equipment and the heavy equipment it takes to light a 35mm film. Gaffing is very hard work; it requires a lot of knowledge, passion for the work (telling the story in the most dramatic/comedic way) and physical strength. Ted is also great to work with - he's an easy guy to be around.

But I constantly find that folks who know what they're doing and have confidence in their skills and abilities are fantastic filmmaking co-workers.

Week #2 of principal photography completed!

The crew and I are pushing into a fantastic technical and creative groove.

We've moved to several different locations in the past couple days after enjoying filming one part of our story in a very comfortable place. Next week we stay in a single spot for most of the week, and move to a couple more at the end.

I won't give anything away by saying that I believe Elisabeth Röhm won't be ordering a pepperoni pizza any time soon... Here's a direct quote: "I'm going to puke. Let's shoot."

Game girl, that one!

We're right on schedule - no problems we couldn't solve on the spot.

Today's props go to Brad Turner, props assistant, and property master Christopher McFadden! Brad is right there, every time we need a prop on set or on the actor - no matter how outrageous the request. He made disgusting fake dog poop using a popular protein bar (peanut butter-chocolate); it looked like the real thing. Eeew.

Christopher landed us amazing product placements (products we can use on set approved by the company that manufactures them), and landed us the use of several copyrighted publications, including the local daily newspaper the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which created an amazing faux "front page" with stories about our characters.

What I love about our film is that everyone gets to stand out - each department and individual within the 70-person crew is superbly represented on screen.

I'm mostly resting this, my birthday weekend. Before you ask ... 39. And a half. Again. Some friends are taking me out for a low key breakfast to shore up my energy. Directing this film with this crew and this cast is the best birthday present I could ever receive. Every day is like my birthday on the set.

Shoot day #8

All the scenes today were exteriors - that is, they were shot outside. All three in different sections of Seattle's Lincoln Park, ending with a memorable sunset scene.

Our long days of work have been smooth and the dailies look great. Our editor, Stephen Myers, is already building the film. I love editing.

The shout out today is for our extraordinary costumer, Rebecca Luke. Believe me when I say our costumes are nothing short of sensational. She's also been able to get many product placement clothes, worn by our stars so you'll get an eyeful when you see THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Such busy days mean short blogs - but everything is going so very well. We are very very fortunate to be blessed with such magnificent talent in front of and behind the camera.

A newspaper reporter called - she wants to cover the story of our film. I've asked our producers to be our media representatives, since I need to keep focused on making the film until it's finished.

There are no weak scenes in this film - at least so far. They've all been a joy to shoot; my fervent hope is that the story will be woven so well and so tightly you'll enjoy watching it several times.

Sweet shoot on day #6

We went through scene after scene today, smooth as a cool glass of milk goes down with a homemade chocolate cookie right out of the oven.

Actress Pisay Pao will make quite a name for herself in this film - it's her first and she's kicking it out of the park.

The animal trainer relaxed more so the dog did, too; he had a fabulous day of performing.

Elisabeth had a day off today and dropped by the set just to say hello and bring a close friend and the friend's niece to check things out.

The very experienced crew and producers had never heard of a star doing this before - coming on the set when it's their day off just to visit. But Elisabeth had lunch with us, hung out a bit and left to enjoy the rest of her day.

Tomorrow will be the same - we're shooting a very funny longer scene, then the crew is packing up from our current location (in some very huge trucks) and moving to a new location where we'll be shooting a couple exterior scenes.

Both scenes involve walking, but I don't like characters to simply walk, I like them to have a little natural action along the way. Gives the story and the characters more "oomph!"

What delicious fun - loads of hard work with a group of massively talented and positive people making a film of which we're all proud.

Week 1 is in the can!

It's hard to believe seven days have passed since we started shooting the film; that five days of pure filming have already passed.

What a fantastic week it was. Our editor in LA says the dailies are fantastic. He's editing the first four days of shooting over the weekend and says we may need some wild sound for one scene but everything else seems in tact.

I told him I want to avoid looping (where actors say words in a studio - while watching the film - to be inserted on the sound track because their lines are, for whatever reason, lost while the scene is being shot).

I think the audience can always hear the difference between lines said in the heat of the moment in a scene and those said in a studio, where energy is usually considerably lower.

We had a small dust up Friday as we were finishing our first week ... about 12:30 a.m.

I came up with two solutions, which were supported by our producers and DP, so nothing like it will happen again.

We're all having such a good time. Lots of laughter. The crew and cast say how much they enjoy working on the shoot - the crew adding how much they wish they could work on films like it and comedies the rest of their lives!

Well, as soon as THE WHOLE TRUTH is wrapped and off to audiences, we're in pre-production for THE LONELY GOATHERD, so they'll have the opportunity to laugh again relatively soon.

I've been trying to find out what kind of shoes Steven Spielberg wears ... my knees are absolutely killing me. It's not age - it's standing for so many hours every day ... I thought I had comfortable shoes, but I need shoes that are much more comfortable and good for knees.

This weekend I've pretty much stayed in bed, slept and kept off my poor feet/knees. I've taken Advil, used stuff for sore joints, and everything else I could do to ease the pain. I have a pair of shoes coming that are supposed to be the most comfortable shoes *ever,* but that could just been an advertisement

I'm getting major knee braces tomorrow am on the way to set. I'm dressing very comfortably -- one can't be comfortable enough when one is directing because we're going from dawn to dusk on our feet.

I check in every day before we start with hair, make up and wardrobe because they always need for me to approve something, or I have a suggestion. The art dept (set design) and props are my next stops. Everyone is such a pro and on top of their game, they're thrilled the director actually spends time with them. It's resulted in some unbelievable work.

We're in this massive location house tomorrow and Tuesday, then moving on for two days of park scenes. Actually we may start on Tuesday because were a full major scene ahead in the schedule. The editor is sending me any sounds or inserts we need to pick up for all the scenes we've shot before we leave the house.

The actors have been *unbelievably* good. Great, even. Sean Patrick Flanery can do anything and everything and sensationally. Elisabeth Röhm is phenomenal. They're both extremely kind - one of the supportive actors (in her first major American film) was having trouble with lines, and they helped her before I had the chance. The actor nailed it!

Eric Roberts, while working on another film, has also been early prepping for his role on this film. He and his wife Eliza are very excited about this project - and his prep is meticulous. When he, Rick Overton and John Fugelsang arrive, we're going to have a PARTY of stupendous acting!

Back to resting .. I can't get enough rest on weekends .. all I'm doing is lying down, drinking water and juice, eating something good.

Living such a sedentary life before the production office was set up and prepro kicked in, I've worked hard to keep up with the physical labor part of this job. I've already lost noticeable weight and should be in fantastic shape when we wrap!

Then it's immediately on to editing THE WHOLE TRUTH and into prepro for our next project, THE LONELY GOATHERD.

Beginning of shoot day #5

Yesterday's shoot went *very* well. Elisabeth and Sean are at the top of their game, Kristina Lilley kicked butt and Pisay Pao came through like a champ. Little pup TinTin was FABulous.

The crew cannot be praised highly enough. Today Megan Griffiths gets a special shout-out. She's the 1st AD (Assistant Director), who keeps the whole team glued together. She's calm, cool, collected; extremely knowledgeable and professional.

We had a later call yesterday and a call today (start time) at noon, so I'm getting a couple things done today before going in and starting a long day that will go late into the night.

Stephen Myers, our editor in LA, started to receive our dailies (the film already shot and developed - we're shooting 35mm), and says they look fantastic! He should finish editing the first two days of shooting today, and we'll keep progressing daily for the editing from now on.

That means we'll have a rough cut of our film shortly after we finish shooting. I'm taking a week off after the shoot to put my brain back together, then I'll be sitting with Stephen every day as we finish the editing process.

I've already been working with Ragnar Rosinkranz, our composer - he'll be looking at the rough cut as it is built and coming back with more themes and scoring music that we'll finesse along the way and at the end.

Following that is sound perfection and "sweetening." That's where I add all the birds and other ambient sounds that we've been careful to avoid during the filming so I can put them in just the right place.

I'm not posting pictures until the film is finished so you'll want to see it and get a kick out of the "behind the scenes" snapshots that were taken.

Two seniors from the University of Arizona arrived yesterday to begin the process of doing a documentary on the making of THE WHOLE TRUTH. A total of six students will be "covering" us without getting in the way. One of our producers, Larry Estes, teaches a film producing class there - in his "spare time."

They get credit for working on THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Me, too.

writer-director and some sort of producer ... ;-)

Back to work!

Day 3: a memorable scene blows us away!

Elisabeth Röhm and Sean Patrick Flanery performed a scene today that I can't describe because you'll have to see it for yourself to believe just how great it is.

Believe me when I say I do not exaggerate.

I was as proud as proud could be of their performances, captured for generations to come by DP Paul Mailman and his crew.

We all (behind the scenes workers and other cast members) stood or sat there, stunned, at what we had seen and experienced, it was so moving, so incredibly touching.

I couldn't help but wonder: if this is only the third day of our shoot, with 27 more to go, and it's only going to get better?

Oh, my goodness.

Plus that, joining us soon will be the equally ridiculously talented, gifted and skilled actors Rick Overton, Eric Roberts and John Fugelsang.

Truly, we're blessed with an embarrassment of riches.

I can actually get some sleep tonight because we have a later call time tomorrow -- we're shooting into the night. And Friday night we'll be shooting even later.

2nd day of shooting...

We not only made our day, we shot an additonal scene, which means we're ahead of our schedule. Working with DP Paul Mailman and his crew is absolutely dreamy.. not to mention our lead actors.

Truth be told, I'm just too tired to po....

One day down, 29 more to go .. over 6 weeks!

The first day of shooting THE WHOLE TRUTH was nothing short of fantastic.

The crew is the best, the actors are tops. Everyone is professional, skilled and dedicated. Wow.

I'm exhausted, but what a fantastic shoot. DP Paul Mailman and crew are getting splendid pictures and sound. Sean Patrick Flanery is going to blow everyone away with his performance. I'd say it's safe to say audiences will be shocked by Elisabeth Rohm's acting chops and huge range when they see her in action on the big screen.

We "made the day" (got everything we needed to shoot in the day) in time for us to spend at least part of the evening with our families - early call times mean early bed times.

We shot in rain and sunshine - fortunately there was no downpour. Clouds kept challenging our takes -- we were outside all day -- but we still did not have any bizarre number of takes; most were about two or three, and many are just one or two.

I had the time of my life, basking in all that marvelous talent, skill and hard work.

Cameras roll -- tomorrow!

Kristina Lilley has arrived from Bogota, Colombia. Her fans world wide will be surprised to see her play a cop in our comedy feature -- she's an award-winning actress in Spanish speaking nations known worldwide for her villainy and sexpotness (are those really words?) characters. She speaks both English and Spanish without an accent.

I coached her for two years while she lived in Seattle with her family, when she was taken away from her work outside the US. She auditioned and won the role fairly.

I am resting today. It's going to take every ounce of energy I have to make it through the next six weeks directing THE WHOLE TRUTH, so I want to store up as much energy as I can, after working so hard on preproduction over the past several months.

Everyone's up, excited and ready to go.

When we've finished THE WHOLE TRUTH, releasing it to the world, we're starting prepro for our next comedy feature, THE LONELY GOATHERD.

As wonderful as it is to have this get underway - producing and directing the first feature I've written - the best part is being surrounded with so many incredibly talented, skilled and dedicated artists -- crew and talent alike. I'm in heaven!

For THE WHOLE TRUTH website, as we have time, we're adding photos and information about all our actors and crew members. Crew folks are so vital to the creation of a good film, my partner Gary Allen Tucci and me believe they should get their own "face time." They deserve it.

Just like extras actors deserve to eat with everyone else, and what we eat. "Normally," extras don't get the same treatment or meals that the stars and crew enjoy. We don't roll that way.

Back to resting!

Cameras roll in 2 days!

Locations found by Craig Stewart and his staff, are (mostly) locked. Sets are being dressed by Rachel Thomson and her crew with props by Christopher McFadden and his crew as I write this.
Rehearsals have been held with four of our lead actors: Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery, TinTin the 3-pound dog and Jim Holmes. Other lead stars Eric Roberts, Rick Overton and John Fugelsang will be coming soon.

Costumes by Rebecca Luke have been fitted, wigs are being made by hair specialist Danyale Cook, and make-up tests by make up artist Dawn Tunnel.

Director of Photography Paul Mailman has run film tests with gaffer (lighting specialist) Ted Barnes.

Many DP's these days light the set - actors just fit in. We're lighting the actors because Paul and I believe the characters tell the story within well designed and dressed sets.

Stunt Coordinator Michael Hillow kept us safe as we worked our way through an action scene that must be carefully choreographed when we shoot in in a couple weeks.

Winding down tonight, a chilly, overcast Friday night Seattle, I can't help but be proud of the entire crew and cast. We're all working our hearts out for THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Mercifully, so far crew folks just joining us - who have not read the script - are laughing at the right places when they see rehearsals.

Hopefully, you will, too, when you see it in theaters.

I'm celebrating tonight by going to a rude political improv show - taken by my assistant and stand-up comic Matt Schmidt.

Tomorrow I'm invited to a special dinner, after which I'm going to rest all day Sunday because Monday morning, well before dawn, we start our first day of shooting. We're as prepared as we can be, which means that we won't freak out *when* we encounter any problems.

Over the next six weeks, we'll be filming long days Monday through Friday, always preparing for future shooting dates until the last frame of film is shot. What a great adventure.