Shooting Completed in Arnold!!

We just wrapped the shooting in Arnold -- and just under the wire with the weather. Boy did it get ugly fast, and just as we were packing up. Now the remaining 20 scenes are in the Bay Area, and most are very short.

The movie gods aligned for us, as we not only had help with the weather, but from a kind CHP Officer and a terrific theater director. While shooting at a vista point on Hwy 4, the officer pulled up to make sure everything was okay. I thought he was going to shut us down, but he was just interested in our production and was quickly on his way. He must have called a fellow officer to tell him about it, because a half hour later another one pulled up to watch for a minute before leaving.

The theater director at the Black Bart Playhouse in Murphys was great. We were shooting a quick exterior scene as the main character passes the marquee of the theater, and the director came out and offered to change the marquee to suit our needs. That was awesome of him!

Anyway, lots of good fortune for us in Arnold, great performances by Brian Degan Scott, Ken Newman, and Lance Smith. Now we need to wrap up the Bay Area shoots and finish editing.

Here are a few photos from the shoot. I'll also be posting a few new scenes from the movie in the upcoming weeks.

Thanks to everyone involved!
Dan

Mickey Monroe, disguised as old man, leaves The Nugget, in Murphys, CA.

The marquee reads "Hamlet", which was a change made for our scene at The Black Bart in Murphys.

Lance Smith & Brian Degan Scott in a scene at White Pines Lake (no rain!).

Dave Cowan, sound tech, listens as we get a wide shot.

Our 82-year-old "intern", Ray Sutliff, of Dorrington.

Dave Cowan sets up the jib for an interior shot.

Brian relaxes between shots & Ken Newman books another gig.

Tom Greer & I set up a driveway shot as Dave removes the license plate.

Finally, a sneak peek scene from Nominated!

Many people have asked about seeing some footage from the movie, and I've been reluctant to send anything out that is a spoiler, or doesn't make any sense on it's own.

So, I've edited together a fun scene that is pretty self-contained, with both the star, Brian Degan Scott & co-star Carl Lumbly.

You can check it out here: Nominated Sneak Peek.

Also, Nominated is now listed on IMDB.com!! You can check out our movie page.

Feel free to give me feedback, as we are always tweaking and fine-tuning to make things better.

Happy Holidays!

Dan

Executive Producer Winners - You Picked 'Em!

I excited to announce that after an intense month of voting, Karen M. & Karen S. have been voted in as the Executive Producers for Nominated. That means that they will both receive an on-screen credit, as well as a listed credit on IMDB.com.

Speaking of which, we just got listed!! I'm really happy about it, because from all accounts I've read and heard, it's near impossible for an indie movie to get listed on IMDB while still in production. So, if you wanna see our listing on the premiere internet movie site, just click Nominated.

I'd like to thank the five finalists from our essay contest, and all of those who participated in the voting. It's always fun to include as many people as possible in our shenanigans. You can read all five of the essay entries on the Executive Producer page at our website. The winner is #2, with #3 coming in second place.

Oh yeah, by the way, we are now officially 2/3 completed with shooting!! Still chipping away. Feel free to also follow the movie's progress on Twitter at our Nominated page.

Dan

We've Wrapped on 8 Days in Arnold, CA

We had a VERY productive 8 days of shooting up at the cabin location in Arnold. We shot 16 pages of the script in the first two days - incredible! To put that into perspective, a major studio production will average about 4 pages a day (if they are efficient).

We started the week with Carl Lumbly and Brian Degan Scott, and then had to take a break as Carl was called away to the new NBC TV show Trauma.

During the break we took the opportunity to put some locals to work as extras, shooting them in the neighborhood as they rake their pine needles. This is a constant source of work and exercise in Arnold, as the needles NEVER stop falling. The cool thing during that time was that a local reporter, Kate Gonzales of the Calaveras Enterprise, visited the set and wrote up a nice story. You can read all about The Nominated Top Story, as they have an online version of the paper.

Toward the end of the week we had Jette Newell, Soren Oliver and Julia Smyth join us for two days of great work and hilarious times. We had a lot of fun shooting the scenes with these fine actors, despite the sub-45 degree weather. There was a lot of quick taking off and putting back on of jackets and sweaters between takes.

So, we beat the snow for the most part, as 98% of the exteriors in Arnold have been taken care of. We will visit the mountains once or twice more, but only for 2 days at a time, and mostly indoors.

Next up for us are two days of shooting in the fabulous Backdoor Lounge in Fremont, CA. It's a small bar that will play the perfect double for a small-town mountain watering hole.

As a note, we are still looking for extras for the LA bar scene and the "red carpet" scene (both will be shot in the Bay Area).

Thanks for following along and supporting the cause. It's exciting to actually be shooting this thing, and always fun to hear your feedback and comments!

Cheers,
Dan

My Hometown Paper Writes Me Up

Howdy Everyone.

I was born in fabulous Fremont, California. Home to such notables as MC Hammer, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley. Heck, even the Quarter Pounder from McDonald's was invented in Fremont.

So, when the local Fremont newspaper, The Argus, came calling for an interview with me regarding the movie, I was honored and excited. If you'd like to give it a read, you can click to check out The Story. I think Matt Artz did a very nice job - and most of it is true!

As a side note (like this isn't really the reason for this whole thing), we've begun shooting the movie. we've just knocked out a few scenes here and there, but so far it's been a blast and the footage is terrific.

I hope to post a few scenes soon to give everyone a sneak peak, so stay tuned.
cheers,
Dan

Nominated Auditions: Callbacks at the San Francisco Digital School of Filmmaking

Mike Banks created this video from the
audition callbacks which took place
at the San Francisco School of
Digital Filmmaking.

It looks like it was a lot of fun. I
wish I could have been there!

If you want to be a part of it, watch
for upcoming details on how to be an
extra in some of the bigger scenes.
Information will be coming soon to the
blog and website.

In the meantime.,.

Fundraising for the Movie

Back in June, Mickey Monroe helped The Movie
Fundraising Cause by helping to promote
my Peace Within Recording. Click the link for
details, and maybe even get yourself a copy.

Now I have a new way to assist Dan, and his Non-Profit
Educational Films of America which is sponsoring
the film.

I have published a children's story, and a portion of the
proceeds will be donated to his organization. To learn
more about it, visit CrushProofCar.com, and/or watch
the video below.

If you have any other ideas for cooperation and partnership,
feel free to contact Dan or myself, and let's see what we
can create! :-)