The 10% Doucher Theorum

I've come up with a theory: 10% of all people you work with in the world are Douches, especially in the "Arts" world. I've been doing this theatre/film stuff for four years now, and most people are a delight and provide not only good performances/work, but provide a nice energy and smile. HOWEVER, some people choose to Douche-out for whatever reason and suck energy in and hoard it for themselves like vampires. Mostly it's people who think too highly of themselves and are nursing a giant insecurity. It's a shame.. but I'm learning to accept that whatever project or show you work in, you're going to have 90% awesomeness and 10% douche-baggery.

I call it "The 10% Doucher Theorum"

Ok, that's all on that.. I don't like to be negative, but I can't help but make observations.

Done!

Today we wrapped on The Mustache. I was very pleased with the outcome. We shot it in 2.5 days, right on schedule. The acting was amazing, I couldn't have been happier. The Canon 7D shot as beautifully as we had hoped and Taka and Tony were great with it. Our sound guys were hard-working and nice. Trang cooked up a storm. Wayne was the best host/jack-of-all-trades ever. Almost everyone joined the spirit and contributed to the nice vibe we had going. No major ordeals or back-of-the-mind worries. I just hope the rest of the cast and crew felt the same way. Now it's up to Giz to edit it all and make sushi out of fish and rice.

I do feel utterly exhausted by it all though. The planning, the people, the mustaches.. A reminder that even good things need to end. I'm back at home now, off to Valentine's Day dinner.

Mustache Shoot - Pre Shoot Tech

Yesterday was all about preparing for the Mustache shoot. Started with me shoveling my car out from a mound of snow, then I went and shoveled my Mom's driveway, then drove to New York to pick up Giz, and we had to make 4 separate stops, for the lights, lenses, camera rigs and then finally to Best Buy for a monitor and hard drive.
Then, we rushed over to the location to meet all the crew. Tony coulnt't make it, but Taka did. We went over lighting schemes and played with the camera. Ethan had the sound working great. Gus and I were stand-ins and had fun spewing out absurdities. Wayne was awesome as host and bought a bunch of snacks and made coffee.

We broke at around 9:15pm.

Now I'm off to get Bonnie and all the wardrobe, stop at Wawa to get hoagies and grape soda for props, and snickers for us to eat. Then, I come back and pick up Trang who has been slaving in the kitched for 3 hours making all kinds of culinary delights for the cast and crew.

Finally, a little prayer that everyone shows up or Day 1.

Missile Command

Less than week till we shoot *The Mustache* This coming week is all about executing and troubleshooting. It's a lot like a game of Missile Command with the scheduling, re-writing, emails, props, food, lights, driving, headaches and prayers that it doesn't snow again!


We had a rehearsal last weekend, which went great. We discovered some things we needed to correct and the cast and crew had a chance to gel. The actors did a really fruitful improv session. We merged the existing script, which was written in my bedroom, with the improv and style of the actors, to hopefully arrive at a real-sounding synergy between writer and actor.

We also got a chance to see the Canon 7D in action and were blown away by the richness and color of the Canon 7D. It is twice as good as our Panasonic DV cameras. I'm picking up Giz and a bunch of equipment in New York this Thursday. More to come...