This has nothing to do with fire or flame but I figured that it was a good attention getter...

So over the last week we did a lot of casting, casting, casting! I am amazed at how many great actors I was able to see over a four day period. It was really one of those situations where you had two or three AMAZING people up for one roll. Those were the really hard choices... but what a great problem to have! I'm still use to casting in San Francisco where you put out a posting and get 5 people responding and you make a choice from there. I must have seen 30 people for Mason and 30 people for Layla alone! I wish I had more projects to fill great people into more roles, it's a shame that I can't work with them all.

Beyond that, we hit another great milestone... SHOT LISTS! Albert (the DP) and I sat down over the last two days and hacked and re-shaped my shot lists to create a set of shots that I think is workable within our schedule and will give us a lot of really wonderful moments in every episode. We have started to pass them on to IFC... now I have to see if anyone can decipher my list notation. I have a feeling I should start doing more boards to explain a lot of these new shots.

We are 1 week away and I'm really feeling confident about how everything is shaping up. I can really see it all coming together and the more I see it the more excited I am.

Now it's on to the daily schedule. I think when I see everything I have to do in a day I may take back that confident comment. ;)

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Stu here, and it's been a little more of Steve on the blog lately because I've been writing pretty much non-stop for the past week.

There's been a lot of notes coming down the pipe, and last week, as Steve mentioned, we had a large conference call. IFC let us know they wanted to bring on a writing resource because I was handling all seven episodes, and all of these notes, in a very short period of time.

Now, as a writer, hearing that someone wants to bring on a writing consultant usually doesn't go over so well. You wonder if your story is coming out wrong, or if someone is trying to change it by bringing another cook into the kitchen. Luckily, in this case, neither was true.

Ron Geiger came on, and he was a fantastic resource right from the start. He really got us to open up the idea of the series, not by impressing his own ideas, but by asking questions about what we wanted. Through those questions, he got me thinking about characters in new ways, and he suggested that we create specific moments at the start of each episode to help us get closer to who these people are. When you're writing a web series just a few minutes long, that's really important, and it was a great suggestion.

After brainstorming and throwing around more ideas with Ron, I spent the entire weekend revising the first half of the series and finishing off the second half. I shared the scripts with Ron and Steve (both were quite happy with them) and addressed a few of their notes...and then we turned them in to IFC.

This is when the writer gets nervous. You've received your first round of feedback, you've taken in some suggestions...but in the end, the execution is entirely on your shoulders.

Yesterday, the verdict arrived.

We had another call with the top brass from IFC at the end of the day. I was prepared - I had my notebook out, laptop and scripts open, and an open mind prepared for a lot of notes. Instead, we heard nothing but great things. Everyone was really happy with what had been accomplished over the weekend, and felt the scripts were 90% there. A couple last notes and thoughts came out, but it was a really good call. Now...I can see the finish line.

10% left. Time to bring this thing home.

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No... I'm not in traction, today I really feel that the production has gained traction.

We locked down two of our most difficult locations, got all seven scripts into IFC for approval and start the audition process today.

A lot of talented people came through the doors and one of my biggest problems is when you see someone so talented and gifted but they are just not right for the roles you have. I hate that. I wish I had a role for all the people that came in but sometimes you just have to make a note of them and then find something in the future you can work on together.

Tomorrow is the full tech scout for the Redbull offices with our Production Designer, DP and Gaffer. I can't wait to walk them through the locations and see what ideas they will have to improve every set.

I love this stuff. :)

By Stephen Sprinkles | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (0)

Stu and I met with our new writing consultant, Ron Geiger today. It was a very productive meeting and I think we may have broken into a whole new way to approach the series. Ron came at the series from a slightly different way and I have to say that it mixes very well with what Stu and I wanted to accomplish with the story. At the end of the meeting Stu went back to writing and I went home to look at what we have of the scripts that might survive and let me start planning...

I have to say that a lot of things are up for grabs but there are a few scenes that I feel strongly will stay pretty close to what we have now and that will let me start some of my process in getting together a shooting plan.

Finally I think we have found our last location today, a 45 foot by 45 foot plot of land that we will be transforming for our own purposes. I still can't believe that it was an empty plot of land that was the most difficult to find in LA. If we had been in Northern California it would have been no problem but down here it seems to be as precious as gold...

Fortunately, I think we have hit a little mother load! I will start to do my Walter Huston "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" dance... look at me go!

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Yesterday was a bit of a speed bump. We were told that there was an emergency in the morning and that there would be a call at 3:15 to sort it out.

I have to say that when you have hours to think of what could be going on and no one is telling you, your mind has ample opportunity to wander to the worst scenarios. There was a moment there where I thought everything had gone south and they were coming to kick me out of Stun's offices.

Fortunately it was not anything as bad.

IFC wants to make sure that the scripts are the best that they can be and to that end they want to give Stu a writing resource to help him on the script polish next week. Which is a good thing. I'm happy that Stu will have some fresh eyes in the final stage of writing and, of course, I want the scripts to be the best that they can be BUT... I'm a little worried.

We are about 2 and 1/2 weeks out of production and I don't have any locked scripts to plan a schedule, lock locations or produce shot lists, staging, etc. Locations could change, scene intentions could change, motivation for characters could change, my sure footing feels a bit unsure today.

If I continue to work on my shooting plan I can fall in love with it and when the next stage of scripts come in, nothing I planned may fit and I may be so in love with a shot that I don't see that it no longer works. I wonder if this is par for course or if this is just me going though my own angst.

All I can do right now is hold on and try to adapt the best I can.

By Stephen Sprinkles | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (0)

Stu here, and as Steve's last entry revealed, our treatments have been approved!

Let me say this - I learned more about writing treatments in the past week-and-a-half then I ever learned in film school. It's one of those lessons that can only be learned practically, no matter how many times you do it in the classroom. There's a lot of give-and-take, a lot of differing opinions, a lot of questions.

As a writer, I tend to be more 'elusive' - I want you to ask what's coming next or be questioning (in a good way) what just happened and why. I think it's good to have an audience engaged and active in your story.

But with treatments...you are dealing with an entirely different animal. You need to be direct, to-the-point, and spell out whatever is going to happen. There's no room for 'style' in a treatment, and I found that out pretty fast. There were details I wanted to explore further in the scripts, but, with this being a short web series, it was important for us to hammer out every single story beat in advance.

I think everyone, from Steve, to Stun, to IFC and Red Bull, really got me to open up the story and ask the hard questions earlier than I normally would. It got me actively thinking about where this whole series was going, and what was the best path to reach that end-point.

So, I know my destination. And I know the path. Now it's just time to get there.

There are few greater joys in this world.

By Stuart Chait | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (0)

Steve here with a big announcment... We hit our first big milestone... getting all the treatments for the entire series approved! Weeeee!

This is a huge step forward and we got to do all the stories we wanted to do with very few notes from IFC or Redbull, which is a huge vote of confidence in what we thought the series could be and what we wanted to do with it. There were moments when Stu pitched stories to me where I wondered if we were going too dark for some of the stories but the main response we got was "We're IFC, we love dark!"

Today I started working in the Stun offices full time for the pre-production process. I have an office. Me. In an office. Me. There is something wrong with that. Aren't offices usually reserved for big shots or studio executives? Being a guy who is use to sitting in a dark hole working by myself this is just another of those moments where I realize how much bigger this will be than any other production I have ever done.

Oh! I forgot, I saw Stu and Myself on IFC on Saturday for the promo that tells people we won the series and showed a few quick clips. I was on TV! I was on TV! ;)

I did notice that I really did come off as stiff as I thought. This is just proof that I am far better behind the camera. I should have hired an actor to play me.

By Stephen Sprinkles | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (0)

- So, once again, Steve gets to have all the fun. He's updated you on the interview he did yesterday, being in front of the camera, etc....although, I think he probably belongs behind it from what I saw. (...I'll pay for that one later, I'm sure. I'll just have to write some very crazy scenes to keep him busy...)

We had our first 'face-to-face'* with the guys at Stun Creative today, and it went over pretty well, I thought. We're both being followed by cameras now during the creative process, so for the first time, I have an idea of what it must be like to be on a reality show. It's...interesting. Let's just say I won't be auditioning for Tila Tequila anytime soon.

We went around, did introductions - Brad and Mark are the two heads of Stun, Christian is heading up financial, and Paul is kind of the renaissance man who we'll be working with most frequently. Then we moved on to the breakdown we'd talked about during that first conference call, and just started looking at it logistically - some basic notes about making sure that everything will be feasible within our budget and within our production timeline.

It's exciting...I've been working for the past few years on documentary series for the History Channel, so I've sat in on production meetings before, but now we were meeting about something that was purely dependent on what I was going to write. Non-fiction provides a really incredible working environment, a great basis for learning to tell stories...but there's always something really compelling about being able to do whatever you want...okay, not 'whatever' you want, but you get the idea.

Things are starting to get more concrete...and the meeting has really gotten my imagination jump-started. It's going to be a really incredible summer...

(*note to self: try not to sound so LA in future entries)

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The end of the first serious week of ramp up is over and it's hard not to feel a little dizzy. So much has happened so fast. Since my last post we met with the Redbull team and were told what resources they were bringing to the party. It's pretty amazing to see it all. Beyond the support they are giving to the contest they are allowing us unbelievable access to their facilities and relationships to kick this whole thing into the stratosphere. If everything is not amazing I know that it will have nothing to do with the support I have received. I really couldn't have asked for more.

Beyond that, we submitted our treatments for each episode and the series arc on Friday, saw the production schedule and are ramping up for the casting and crewing of the film. This is where it starts to feel like a roller coaster because I am sure the ride is getting faster and is about to have unexpected turns. Now I have to make sure that I don't fall out of my seat on a loop... I did that once in a dream... I remember it being... unpleasant. ;)

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Well, hello! Steve here with a little post about what's been happening today...

Today we met with Stun Creative for the first time... well, in person anyway. No matter what changes happen with the way films get made I still think that this is a people business and it's always great to put a face to a name.

Everyone we met today was really great and seeing how excited they were about the project ramped me up into a crazy, nearly vibrating out of my chair overdrive. Of course there were a few concerns with what Stu and I thought we might be able to do but this is an indie production and apparently asking for all digital sets and Jar-Jar Binks in every episode was just a little out of our reach. Oh well, maybe next time. ;)

The resources that Mark and Brad from Stun are bringing to the table is a little awe inspiring for someone who is used to having to beg borrow and steal for every production. Plus, they gave us muffins! It's amazing how easy it is to win a place in my heart with baked goods.

The meeting was taped for the behind the scenes video as well, I guess that is something that I am going to have to get used to... so I should just out myself now and let you know that I bite my nails. Not only that, I do it and I'm not ashamed. Much to the horror of my mother. Best I just own up to it now. With all the cameras around me, I keep thinking I'm going to be on a reality show where I have to complete a bunch of physical challenges to make the film. If that happens, the whole production is in trouble because my goal is to be like Orson Welles... not that I think I'm anywhere in the league of Welles as a filmmaker, I mean that I am a very lazy man and I hope to one day be ferried around in a wheelchair on set.

You gotta dream big! ;)

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Hi everyone! This is Steve and today I get to relate one of the most surreal experiences in my life... being on the business side of the camera.

I tried acting in college and I quickly found out that I really should be on the OTHER side of the camera.

Unless you like really bad acting... in which case, I am the actor you have been looking for!

IFC arranged for a camera crew to come over to my apartment and film a few promo and end tag sound bites to help promote the series. This sounds pretty simple, right? It was when I only had to say things like "Only on IFC, always uncut" but apparently I can't string more than two sentences together at a time and it took forever to get four complete sentences out of me. I think I'm going to have to start being a LOT nicer to my actors... well... maybe not. ;)

After that I was interviewed about winning the contest, what my hopes for the series are and some thoughts about indie film. It's a trip to think that someone out there is going to listen to all this.

Now, here is the moment where I knew I had arrived... after the interview I started wrapping the gear and doing the load out with the crew. Yep... I'm a star.

By Stephen Sprinkles in Red Bull, Steve Sprinkles | Link | 0 Comments | Recommended (0)

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Hi everyone! I'm Steve Sprinkles and over the next few months Stu and I will be checking in to write about our experiences as the winners in the Red Bull After Hours Web Series Contest. Say that three times fast. ;)

I guess the place to start is the day I got the phone call from IFC...

No... wait... I should start farther back... back when the earth's crust was starting to cool. No, that's too far.

A little over a year ago I had finished a film called "The Last Woman on Earth" and I had uploaded it to IFC's Media Lab. I was fortunate enough to get enough votes to have it play on IFC. It's amazing what threatening people to vote will get them to do. ;)

After the film had played on the channel, there were a few phone conversations that I had with IFC. They were thinking that they might want to use me for another project. Unfortunately, it was not to be and I went on my way, continuing to make films.

Fast forward to present day and Stu and I have made a film for IFC's new contest, the one you are, hopefully, watching now... you're not watching it? Go watch it and then come back. I'll wait.

So... right after we found out we were a finalist, I got hit with a little pit in my stomach fear that I had been in a place like this before. So I made peace with the fact that with four other films in competition we only have a 20% chance of winning and that if I didn't enjoy the process of making the film enough then I should probably be looking into some other line of work anyway.

Then the phone rang... (see, I worked that title in!)

I was at work and I looked down at my phone... it was a 212 number. Someone from New York was calling and since I know none of my family in New York would be calling me at that time I ran for a quiet place where I could take the call. The conversation went a little something like this:

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- Hello all, this is Stuart Chait, and I'm the writer of 'Pushing Twilight'. Steve (the director) has already updated you on how we heard the amazing news of being selected as the winners of this challenge, so now it falls on me to get to the business side of things. (All you writers out there, get used to this - the director always gets to have all the fun.)

Today we started the real work, bright and early at 9 AM, with our 'kick-off' conference call. We spoke with all the creative minds behind this 'After Hours' project - representatives from IFC, Red Bull, and Stun Creative, the production company who's going to help Steve and I bring this whole thing to fruition.

I have to admit, I started off pretty nervous, and let Steve do most of the talking. After all, he'd already been in contact with IFC, and I was hearing a lot of new voices for the first time. But slowly I think I started to get into things, as we both got to talk up our backgrounds and what we thought of winning this amazing opportunity (did I use that description already?...I may have to start using a thesaurus while writing these entries...)

Soon, we were launching into our proposed episode breakdown for the series, which Steve and I had gone over the previous night till around 1:30 AM (the first, I'm sure, of many long nights to come). I think I did most of the talking from here, probably in a rambling fashion. But everyone managed to stay awake (always a positive sign) and seemed happy with the breakdown, even if it was a little...let's say...'ambitious'.

We closed the call with how the process will work from here (all that logistical stuff about who calls who, etc.) There'll be notes on our breakdown coming soon, especially on how to shoot this thing on a realistic timeline and budget...but that's the fun part.

Right now, I'm still a little in awe...and I can't wait to get started.

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