That's a wrap!

Well... that's it! The final footage is "in the can". The last shoot, the
"community theater" stuff was shot at Chanticleers Theater in Castro Valley. We got everything we needed and the movie is now in the post production stage. If all goes well, we should have a first screening by mid-July.





The last two days of shooting went well, thanks to many wonderful people! I'd like to thank Chanticleers Theater, and especially Floyd and Gary, for their hospitality and help. And of course permission to use their great little theater. Chanticleers fit our needs perfectly. And Floyd and Gary bent over backwards to accommodate any needs that we had. And our actors did a fantastic job! Lance and Donna were amazing, as always. And what can I say about Brian... this movie wouldn't exist without the talent of my friend Brian Scott. He did a fantastic job, as usual. Thanks Brian for sacrificing your skin for the make up! And all our extras did a great job too. Thanks to the crew for all their work and time. And especially Dave Cowan... not only for his film crew work, but for catering the shoot as well!




We're feverishly working on the post production now. There will be several
screenings, hopefully in a
neighborhood near you!
We'll keep you posted.


Thanks again to everyone who has helped out in the production. Dan

The Oscars Come To Town!

Not sure why I did this, but I managed to save the four most complicated scenes for the end of the production?? Maybe it was the complicated logistics of locations, numerous extras, wardrobe and the ever-present budget constraints - or maybe I was just scared to face the challenges. Who knows?

Either way, I'm happy to report that two of the aforementioned complicated scenes are done!

We knocked off the Red Carpet scene and the Oscar Kodak Theater scene. With the help of many wonderful volunteers - both in front of the camera and behind - we got some wonderful footage. The shoots took two solid days (all of which will cover about three pages of the script), but the results are fantastic!

I'd be remiss if I did not thank the wonderful people at Ohlone College in fabulous Fremont, CA for the use of the beautiful Jackson Theater, as well as Creative Video Services for the use of their Panasonic HPX3000 camera. Without either of those fantastic supporters, we would not have been able to get the scenes to look realistic.

So, that leaves us with two remaining scenes to shoot - believe it or not! We started shooting in November of 2009, and we should wrap in a few weeks. What a crazy and fantastic ride it has been.

By the way, the two remaining scenes are set in a small community theater, and we're still looking for a location. Anybody with a lead to a great location in the SF Bay Area, please send me a note at: dan@nominatedthemovie.com

I look forward to the next post when I can tell you all that we have wrapped! Then it's on to test screenings and then festivals!!

thanks,

Dan

We're in the Home Stretch!

Brian Degan Scott & Ken Newman work the scene

We wrapped an exciting day of shooting at the Fabulous Mojo Lounge in Fremont, CA. The owner, Dennis Briggs, was an unbelievably gracious host as he watched us take over his bar. This was a tough morning, starting with the 5:30 a.m. call time, through the bucking hooker shots (what a degenerate my star is).

This is a big scene in the movie - scene 3 to be exact - as it sets up the entire story. We shot we the Panasonic HPX 3000, courtesy of Creative Video Services, and the camera was incredible in the low light environment. We were able to shoot with almost 100% available light from the bar's lighting. We only supplemented the practical lights with a 150 watt key on the actor's faces, and a 300 watt to light up the far background.

Incredible acting by Brian Degan Scott & Ken Newman, with fantastic hooker-like performances from Susi Damilano & Zehra Berkman!

Couple more scenes to go, and we can wrap the shooting!! The editing has been on-going, so we're probably 40% done with that. We'll have a few tests screening when we're done, so stay tuned for those dates.

thanks,

Dan

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