Auditions

Yesterday, we held the first open call auditions we've had in months. We originally scheduled these auditions back when we were planning to shoot Jonah in October. When we pushed the production until after the new year, we decided to keep the audition date open, focusing not so much on specific parts for Jonah, but as part of our ongoing effort to get more familiar with the local talent pool.

The audition was scheduled to run from 10 am to 2 pm. It was fairly slow for the first couple of hours, during which maybe 10 people showed up. But then, the last two hours, we had about 45 people show up. We didn't get out of there until about 3:30.

In general, I was impressed with the caliber of talent we saw. We seem to be drawing more experienced performers. I'd guess that that was partly because more people have heard of us, partly because we haven't had auditions for awhile, and partly because this audition was publicized more heavily in places where our local experienced acting corps hangs out.

Because we do musicals, we draw a lot of talented singers. But one thing I've noticed that many singers do in an audition: they just stand there and sing. What we hope for is for them to become the character that is singing. Move around, look around, feel the pain, the joy, whatever it is the character is feeling. We typically don't have time in an audition to coach them too much, but if we did, that's what I'd tell them. Convince me that you're not a singer singing a song, you're a character expressing your feelings in the language of movie musicals. It happens maybe in one audition out of 10, but when it does, it is cool and makes it worthwhile.

We also get our share of auditioners who are fans of the series and think it would be fun to be in one of our movies. Sometimes they come as families. They may not have a ton of experience or a great voice, but they believe in what we're trying to do and it feels good to see them express their support in this way. They generally know that they are not looking at a lead role, but an opportunity for a secondary role or even part of the ensemble would mean a lot to them. Just nice, nice people. More than once, they expressed their appreciation for what we're doing and their hope that we would be able to keep producing these for a long time. We express our appreciation for their support and told them we'd do our best.

Also, when we audition, I can't help but feel for the actors and their anxiety levels. I can't help but picture one of my daughters as the auditioner and how I hope that they'd be treated is how I try to treat the auditioners. We try to never cut anybody off (unless they completely blow through the time limits we set), and we always try to find something positive to say. I hope that everybody who auditions for us finds it to be a positive experience, even if it doesn't lead right away to a role in one of our shows.

One last note on auditions. I advise my acting daughters and would say the same to anybody who asks, audition as much as you can. It's the truly uncomfortable part of the entire production process, but it is necessary. And the more you do it, the more comfortable the uncomfortableness becomes. Also, I tell my daughters that because they don't control the casting process, that they shouldn't judge their audition on whether or not they got the role, but on how well they did against their own set of criteria. I know, easier said than done, but worthy saying anyway, I think.

I've heard it said that good casting is 90% of the director's job. I'm not exactly sure of the percentage, but I believe the general gist of that is true. Auditions may not be anybody's favorite thing to do, regardless of what side of the table you're sitting on, but it is necessary.

Liken for the Stage

Getting that much closer to realizing the "Liken for the Stage" series. Finished a few final tweaks to the script of "Nephi & Laban." Still a couple more tweaks needed for the sheet music and music tracks, but then I'm hoping that this will be the start of a useful contribution to the cultural arts efforts of wards and stakes and other groups everywhere.

I'm biased toward these types of activities, since it was in such an activity where I first met my wife. We were paired up in a song called "Eternity is You" (not-so-subtle sign from on high, perhaps?) in the musical "My Turn on Earth." Say what you will about that show, I will be forever indebted to the writers, composers, directors and stake officials who made that show possible in England.

I'm including a picture from the world premiere of the first stage version of "Nephi and Laban." It was put on by a stake up in Edmonton, Alberta. They did a wonderful job, and were most helpful in the process of refining this production for the stage.

I also continued work on "The First Christmas" adaptation. These projects got pushed aside a little so I could focus on some marketing items, but I have been eager to get back to them. The "Christmas" adaptation is a little trickier, given that our version weaves together three separate stories. I think, however, with creative (minimalist) staging, it will work very well. I still plan to have this done by the end of the month.

Post-production work continues on "Daniel." We're pushing to have an official DVD for testing by this Friday.

On marketing

The focus the last few days has been on marketing our series. Of course, all we want to do is just keep making these. But until a broad enough audience discovers our series, we're restricted on how much we can take on.

I remember back when we made our first Liken in 2003 ("Nephi & Laban," or, as it was then called, "I Will Go and Do"), it took everything we had to get that movie made. Many miracles along the way. As we staggered to the finish line (release date), we were naively hoping that "if we built it, they would come." Well, some did come, and more keep coming with each episode. But it still feels like we have a long way to go before "they" have found us. We are so appreciative of all those who share the series with their friends and family. Without them, who knows if we'd still be going.

Our new marketing guru is working really hard on doing some cool stuff with the artwork for the new movies. I'll see if I can post an in-progress version of the Daniel and the Lions graphic. It's not done-done, but I like where it is going. The Samuel poster he has done is really cool. I'll try to post that one soon.

We did some more tweaking on the Daniel picture lock, and it is getting even tighter. So now we're on Picture Lock 2. Rod's been doing a great job.

I stepped into a couple ADR sessions yesterday, with Matt Bellows, who plays our bad guy, Asad, and Matt Dobson, who plays one of his sidekicks, Hamzah. It's fun to hear the audio elements being added to the visuals. In the rough cuts, we only hear the sounds recorded off the camera mics, so there's lots of distracting noises, like the camera's focus motor, people dropping things off camera, directors speaking over the loud speaker. As each distraction is eliminated, there are fewer and fewer things that pull you out of the movie as you watch it. And that makes me happy.

We've got some fun plans for marketing this holiday season. Still a lot of details to work out, but I'm hopeful that they will help take this series to a much broader audience.

Stage adaptations

Just got back from a few days in Southern California, where I went to visit my parents and do some writing. Though it has been devastatingly hot there recently, I enjoyed perfect weather during my trip. Enjoyed a few strolls along the beach and, of course, In-and-Out.

Before I left, I went through the second version of the rough cut of Daniel. Rod, our editor, had made many tweaks. We discussed a few more and he sent it to render. That process takes over night and then some. He then sent me a copy of what we're calling Picture Lock 1, which is supposed to be the finished version of the movie, at least in terms of shot selection and timing. But the fact that we put the "1" after the words Picture Lock suggests that we know there will likely be additional tweaks before all is said and done. That said, Picture Lock 1 is a considerable improvement over Rough Cut 1. Work is proceeding at a feverish pace on the audio elements. Each additional element that gets attached to the project enhances it more and more. I enjoy seeing the transformation the movies make from a rough collection of clips to a finished movie.

In California, I rewrote our stage adaptation of our first installment in the Liken series: Nephi & Laban. I had a few pages of notes I had made after viewing the "world premiere" of the stage version in Canada earlier this year. In addition, I have been in communication with the impressive young university student up there who was the director on the project. Michael had also prepared a 45+ page document called "Directors Notes" which will be invaluable for any ward or stake wanting to take this project on. The rewrite itself was fairly extensive. I added more interaction between the modern-day boy and the ancient characters and between modern-day characters to help cover the set changeovers. In addition to helping to keep the production moving along, I think it adds a new twist on the stage version, so that people who have seen the movie will hopefully find the stage version to be just that right combination of fresh and familiar.

I also started working on the stage version of our fifth movie, "The First Christmas." This is somewhat more challenging, in that this production interweaves three different stories and many different sets. In the movie version, it is no problem to cut back and forth from story to story. Not so easy in the stage version. But so far so good. I'm about halfway through.

After having spent the last several days out of town, tomorrow will most likely be a catch-up day on the many other elements of studio business. Then I hope to return to the adaptation of "The First Christmas" so I can get it done before the end of the week.