6/25/09 Finding a New Director

After Ron McLellen had to drop out of working with me on the vampire short "History of the Vampire" for the anthology film LAST CALL I scrambled to come up with another person to take his place. As luck would have it a friend of mine Bren Allison-Pettingill was interested in working with me again and the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

We spoke today discussing the script and any possible changes that she might want to the story and her ideas were all very valid. One of her key contributions is that she thought the two main characters of Jackaboc and William spend too much time sitting at the bar not doing much. She thinks that they should be doing something other then that which she suggested the action of playing darts. I agreed that this could be a possibility.

She also suggested that there be a stronger modivating factor for the William character to remain in the bar all the while paying little attention to the story that Jackaboc is trying to tell him. This was also another idea that I had no problem with implimenting into the script.

After we discussed all the possibilities she said she wanted to read over the script again with all these new ideas in her head before officially jumping on the board the project. If she does agree she will be a great asset to the film as she will definitely bring a different approach to the film then McLellen primarily because McLellen has done mostly horror films and she has done adventure, drama, and comedy so they are both coming from two different backgrounds.

This should all be very interesting.

6/20/09 Hiring a Director

After a long talk with director Ron McLellen it was decided that he should no longer direct my screenplay HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRES for the vampire anthology LAST CALL (which is Executive Produced by Ondie Daniel). He is currently heavy in post on his own film EVIL IN THE FLESH which was filmed last year and is heavy in CGI effects right now. He is also prepping production on a HALLOWEEN fan-film and these two obligations prompted him to step down from behind the camera on my project.

Instead I now find myself looking for a new director for the screenplay which will also be aproved by Daniel. My second choice is Bren Allison-Pettingill who directed the film 6 DEGREES OF DESPERATION last year (among having directed many other short films and documentaries). I sent her both the original screenplay and the McLellen approved version for her consideration.

The reason I did this is because I want to give her the oportunity to read the screenplay as originally developed before McLellen & I did rewrites. I prefer the original version although I was always up for changing details to suit the director. I want to give Allison-Pettingill the opportunity to give her own input into the production.

Right now the only characters cast are minor characters with the exception of the WIFE in which actress Amy Wolkis (whom I worked with on BAD LAND and EVIL IN THE FLESH) is attatched. Many of the minor characters and vampires will be played by actors from the haunted house attraction Netherworld. The artists of Netherworld are also providing make-up, stunts, and CGI, among other technical support, to the film.

If Allison-Pettingill decides that she is not interested then I will direct the film myself which was never out of the range of possibility. Either way I look forward to working on the film and with Daniel again since the last time we worked together she was the Casting director for my film HOUSE OF SECRETS (when it was known as SHIVER).

06/05/09 The Reading of the Screenplay with Actors

Producer Ondie Daniel put together a tean of actors (both cast and not cast) for the reading of my screenplay HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRES in order to work out some of the problems (if any) with the script prior to casting later this month. It was interesting as I originally didn't think that the reading would be all that benificial since I had already did a re-write of the screenplay changes things to meet expectations of director Ron McLellen, who at the last minute could not make it to the reading for personal reasons.

The reading was actually beneficial in that the notes that cast & writers had helped me see the problems with the story when I changed some of the motivations of the main character WILLIAM. These were small things but nevertheless things that when I change them will make the screenplay stronger as a whole.

The meeting/reading was also good in that it gave me and Ondie our first real meeting together on the production and we actually came to some decisions about my production and the entire production as a whole. I was also able to get the title of the film - LAST CALL, and I got a look at the film's promo art work that will be on the tee-shirts (among other items).

Now I've got to contact actors and try to put together other production items to get this film on the move.

05/31/09 Rewriting the Script

Emailed the director approved version of HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRE to producer Ondie Daniel and director Ron McLellen yesterday (in addition to actor Chris Whitley, more on that later). Par my conversation with McLellen it was decided that the main character in the screenplay WILLIAM should not know he is a vampire, which upon closer examination I agreed with, so I incorporated those ideas into the current version of the screenplay.

HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRE is just one story of five in the Daniel produced vampire anthology (title currently unknown) of which I contributed one of the stories and wanted McLellen to direct if I was not going to do so myself. I could have easily done the film myself but I want to see how someone else interprets my work so I'm being very hands off on the production of the film.

Another fact is that I do not particularly like vampire films as the majority of the ones I've seen (which is a substantial amount) are dull and uninteresting. I just think the monster itself is dull and uninteresting. But I came up with a story that put my love of horror films and the vampire mythos on its head (or at least I hope it does). I hope the story is both informative and funny at the same time even in the gore-soaked bloody parts at the end (which I had a oy in writing).

I hope the film comes off just 70% as originally intended because then I know I'm closer to writing the type of screenplay that any director can come in and adequately interpret which is my true goal with this endeavor.

We'll see how the re-writes are taken when Daniel and McLellen give me feedback.

04/27/09 Turning In The Script

I gave Ondie Daniel my screenplay "History of the Vampire" last week. This short script is part of a vampire anthology she is producing. I agreed to contribute a script although I may or may not direct or even have anything to do with it. Although I would love to direct the screenplay, I think it would be more interesting for me to watch someone else interpret my writing. Right now I'm just waiting for feedback in regards to whether or not the screenplay is right for the film she is producing.



I designed the screen-story to be an homage to vampire films while also being a kind of "intro" to vampires. Since I don't particularly have an interest in vampires, vampire films, or this sub-genre of horror to begin with coming up with a story for Daniel's "Untitled Vampire Anthology" was a feat unto itself. The only way I got through it is by loosely basing the story and structure of the story on a thus far abandoned screenplay from almost eight years ago. Although I had very little initial interest the story seemed to write itself as it took me only two days to write the first draft (which came in at just under 30 pages).



Since giving the script to Daniel, we've discussed the possibility of Ron McLellen directing the film. I both like and loathe this idea. I like this idea because by having a seasoned filmmaker on board I can be assured of the high quality and production values but I loathe this idea as McLellen has a knack of dumbing-down his scripts and there is a lot of ambiguous moments in the screenplay that I don't want to be made obvious.



Upon reading the screenplay we discussed a few items mainly that he wants to change the ending so that the two barflies exit the bar and the audience has no doubts that they are vampires because they change into vampires to help a third one who is being attacked by vampire hunters. When I heard him say this I immediately knew that he didn't get the story as everything in the story is ambiguous in regards to the vampires and my point was to show that vampires in the modern age can hide in plane sight even from their own kind. If you reveal the two barflies as vampires then you loose the whole point that I'm trying to make with the story. He also wanted to change a lot of the dialogue since my original had very little and it was meant to be brutal and fast and disturbing. By adding more dialogue you miss the element of the brutality because the characters are being too talkative. The dialogue that is present is very stylized because the less said the better.



Now, I know I'll have to do another re-write of the screenplay which I am prepared to do but based on the input of Daniel and the rest of the producers. After that I will wash my hands free and leave it up to the director to deliver a good story. I'm fully prepared to see a finished product that is barely recognizable from my own. This is one of the reasons why I'm working on this production which is to see how I can work as a writer with other people.



I await Daniel's response to the script before doing anything.