Sunday, March 23, 2008

Thank You.

If I didn’t say it before, auditions went really well; and I would like to say thank you to everyone who made that possible.

Jenn Sheets - Without complaint and without fail, Jenn has consistently taken every mediocre and amateurish marketing/packaging/PR concept Luke and I have had and transformed it into a creative and professional representation that we would have never imagined. Somehow she always gets it right. Anything Jenn is involved with she raises notches above what it was before. Anytime you look at something of ours and say, "Wow, these guys really have it together," well, that’s Jenn Sheets. She’s so involved with everything from design, to being a sounding board, to being an insightful outside voice, to making runs to the store, that it’s sometimes easy to forget to say thank you. Most recently, I tried to show my appreciation by backing into her car. Thank you Jenn. We really couldn’t have done it without you.

Jen McDonald - Jen gets dragged around to everything we do. And once again, it’s so easy to take her for granted. She never complains, is always willing to do whatever we ask of her, and is always there. I’m still not sure she knew what she was getting into when she married into the family, but she always takes everything with a smile and a resolution to to do whatever we’ve asked. At auditions she helped rectify a major screw-up of mine (we don’t need to go into details, right?), saving the day, helping prevent what could have been a disastrous situation. But, she got to take Brandon home. So we should be even.

Jenny Moss - Jenny was a late addition to the audition team. We realized at the last moment we were desperately in need of someone to work as liaison between the actors and those auditioning the actors. It’s a very important job. She had to control the pace and make sure we don’t bottleneck into something ugly. Never once did she drop the ball. And never once did she make it so that we had anything to do but do what we were there for - watching actor’s audition. Thank you Jenny.

Advocate Printing - If Jenn makes us look good, then these guys make us look even better. From signs to cards to everything in between, they just kept dishing it out to us. And all within about a one-day turn around. But, you know, I can honestly say we never expected anything less from these guys. It’s always been that way and I’m sure it always will. Matt - your time, effort, and skill are greatly appreciated.

The Rutledge - When I went in to ask if we could hold auditions at the Rutledge, this is how my conversation went with Frank and Andy -

Me: Do you think we could...

The Rutledge: What do you need? We can get it done for you.

From the very start The Rutledge was willing to help in any way they could. They weren’t even supposed to be open on Sunday and I definitely don’t think they were supposed to have the bar and kitchen open. They were so much more accomodating then we could have possibly asked for. They gave us everything we requested and went above and beyond that. John, Andy, and Frank - Thank you. We couldn’t have done it without you.

The Actors - Needless to say, we didn’t exactly present much specific information in our advertisements. If you came to our auditions, you came on faith. Faith that you had something to offer and faith that we would realize it. I can’t say thank you enough to everyone who came out. You made our day. We had no idea what kind of turnout we would get. And we definitely had no idea we would get so much talent to choose from. Thank You.

So, thank you once again to everybody. Hopefully this will buy us a couple more months of favors.

Chad

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Thursday, March 20, 2008

It Has Begun

A long whirlwind of a weekend. The auditions are over…for now. Nat’s on a plane back to the coast. Luke’s given up a one-day acting career and gone back to songwriting. Brandon’s doing whatever it is he does (today.) And I’m blissfully immersed (don’t tell me I can’t do 62 setups for a 4 minute scene), editing what might possibly be the best footage ever shot at Ft. Nashborough; at least on tuesday. But, and I will add, on any tuesday of any year. The Nashville 9 is officially underway.

More on the shoot later. Auditions have to take precedence.

Energetic, encouraging, occasionally terrifying, informative, a bit unnerving, and the most fun I’ve had in a while. A complete success. I love auditions. The unexpected is mandatory. Preparation is futile. Whoever decided the verb "to audition" is the correct form for those behind the camera, as well as in front of, had it spot on. Of course I’m there to see what these actors can do, but it’s also a chance for me to test myself. Can I roll with whatever happens. Can I get thrown a curveball, hit it out of the park, and keep giving them enough confidence to think they might be able to get the next one by me. Can I just shut up, let those people up there show me just why it is they deserve to be up there, and just why I’m lucky enough to be out there watching them pour it out. I love auditions. I go in thinking I’m looking for actors and go out knowing I was really looking for 3 more utterly offensive jokes, a psychic to tell me we’re going to need a lot of duct tape, the best leave-in conditioner to use on a full-length beard, and that running scenes are the only acceptable types of nudity. I love auditions.

Chad

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