I hired a blonde!

When I was working on "Angels on Fire" this past fall, Vanessa Parker pointed something out to me... A couple weeks before we started filming, she said, "We have a very brunette-y cast, have you noticed?" I looked at the actors I was about to work with and she was right. Then it got me thinking. I went back and looked at all the films I'd made up to that point. What I found made me laugh.

In five movies, I've only hired two blondes. All my movies are filled with brunettes. I've also only hired two redheads. Just two blondes. Not that I have anything against blondes. Hell, my wife's a blonde. I'm not sure why it's the case, but in all the movies I've made, Inga Antonio (in "Dorian") and Tanya Mironowski (in "Macbeth" and "Between the Raindrops") are the only blondes I've worked with.

This is a round-about way of telling you that I've cast another blonde... Take that, Nessa! The very talented and absolutely gorgeous (and, yes, BLONDE!) Anne Troup has been hired to play Lily in "People Like Us".



Along with breaking my anti-blonde streak, this also means we're back to being fully cast! For those who have lost track, here is the cast list:

SARAH - Rachel Stander

MATT - James Barry

DIANA - Alma Saraci

JULIA - Kira McGregor

RICK - Clay Dzygun

LILY - Anne Troup

JOEL - Vincent Kirk

RENEE - Jodi Jacobs

ROSEMARIE - Jessy Smith

BRUCE - Thom Houghton

We start shooting again on Saturday. It'll be Alma's first day and Jodi's only day... I'll be back on Sunday to report. Stay tuned!

~Vincent~

Production Diary #5

The last of our REALLY LONG days are behind us!

Yesterday, we shot mostly with Rachel and Kira. Closer to the end of the day, I stepped in front of the camera to finish up my scenes as Joel and we also wrapped Jessy's scenes as Rosemarie. Aside from the sheer length of the day, everything went exceedingly well.

We've got some time off before our next filming day, which makes me happy. With the hiccups early on and the two long Tuesdays, I've worn myself a little down. I'm looking forward to having a chance to recharge.

Our next shooting day is Saturday, March 1st. We'll start shooting scenes with Alma Saraci playing Diana, doing all the scenes with Jodi Jacobs playing Renee, as well as a couple Matt/Rick/Diana scenes. Should be a good time.

Stay tuned!

Watch the Oscars Sunday!

~Vincent~

Production Diary #4

Two more days of filming down! This weekend went very well... which is not to say we didn't have obstacles. Last time, I told you that Tabitha had broken her leg. Turns out, she had to have surgery fairly immediately, so she wasn't able to come back for filming. Jessy Smith, who I'd worked with on "Angels on Fire" was able to step in, so we could keep shooting without interrputing the schedule. She shot two of her three scenes on Saturday with Rachel and I and she did extremely well. Her next day is Tuesday, and then she will be done with her part of the film.



Sunday, we threw Rachel in with the boys. It was so much fun. Everybody got along great. Definitely added to the gag reel. Aside from that, everyone continues to give really impressive performances.


PRODUCTION STILL: Matt, the storyteller, entertains Rick and Sarah.

Tuesday is our next day, with Rachel, Kira, me, and Jessy. Another long day, but should be very productive. I'm also getting very close to announcing our new Lily, so there should be lots of news this week. I'll be back Wednesday with another filming report. Stay tuned!

~Vincent~

Production Diary #3

One more day of filming down on the movie! Should making it through Day Two be as exciting as it is? Whatever, it was a blast.

Today saw filming begin for Rachel Stander as Sarah and Kira McGregor as Julia. It was a longer day than I normally like working, but with all the shakeups and rescheduling, we had a lot of ground to cover. I was a little worried about how today would go, since Kira only had a day or two to prepare for her new role, but you'd never know it. She was a total pro and her and Rachel got on fantastically. We got through just about everything shot that I wanted to get, and the scenes we couldn't fit in have been put on the schedule for next week.





PRODUCTION STILLS: A friendship in trouble (TOP: Rachel Stander as Sarah; BOTTOM: Kira McGregor as Julia)

At the end of the day, I definitely relaxed. The movie's back on track. All is right with the world. These two girls are going to impress everyone. I'm very much looking forward to the next time I shoot with them. Aside from their obvious talents as actors, we've also officially started gathering blooper reel material!

This weekend has two days of filming scheduled. Saturday, we'll shoot some Sarah/Joel/Rosemarie scenes. It'll be Tabitha's first filming day, as well as my first day in front of the camera, which is always a lot of fun. Sunday, we're filming with Rachel, James, and Clay. Putting Rachel together with the boys is bound to be a lot of fun. I'm anticipating more additions to the blooper reel.

That's sit for now. I'll be back on Monday to talk about the events of the weekend. Stay tuned!

~Vincent~

Production Diary #2

No filming has happened since the last post, but there's been enough go on that I thought I should bring you up to speed.

Sadly, Jessica May Stevenson is no longer in the movie. It was a combination of many things, but mostly, I chalk it up to bad timing. Things are going very well for her and she's become considerably more busy than when she first signed on to do the movie. That, her needing more time to recover from being ill, plus other factors, have resulted in us having to part ways. I still adore her, though, and would work with her again in a heartbeat.

Stepping in to replace her is Kira McGregor. Kira was originally cast as Lily in the movie, but she's agreed to play Julia instead. Julia's a great role, and I feel very comfortable with it being in Kira's hands.

Of course, it does mean that I need to film a new Lily. Recasting that role will be much easier than finding a new Julia, since I have about three weeks before I have to shoot Lily's first scene. As soon as the role is filled, I'll let you all know.

So, that would be it.... At least you'd think so. But no, there's more. I get a call tonight from Tabitha Durham, who's playing Rosemarie. She's back East right now on vacation, but is scheduled to come back before her first shooting day (Feb. 16th). She tells me that she broke her leg while skiing! As I'm looking for a bus to step out in front of, she tells me that she's still coming back and, as long as I can shoot around her sitting most of the time, she's good to film. I told her we'd work it out.

That's been my week.

Filming commences this coming Tuesday (the 12th) with Rachel and Kira. Barring any more surprises, I'll let you all know how it went on Wednesday. It's sure to be an interesting post... Stay tuned!

~Vincent~

Production Diary #1

Who said filming was easy? They were lying bastards, whoever they were. If anyone has ever been fooling enough to say that in the first place...

Filming has started on "People Like Us". It wasn't without hiccups, though. The first day was supposed to be Saturday the 2nd. I woke up that morning to an email from Jessica, saying she had had an allergic reaction to some food she'd had the night before. She was swollen and very sick. So, we had to cancel filming that day. That meant rescheduling her scenes, which isn't particularly hard to do. It's just extra work, but it's doable. Jessica was worried that her place in the film would be in danger, but there's no way she's going anywhere. She's way too perfect for the role. So, after a couple hours of bouncing emails with people, we got everything rescheduled that we needed.

Filming actually started on Sunday the 3rd with James Barry and Clay Dzygun. It went extremely well. We didn't film till the evening, so I spend the entire morning and afternoon waiting for the phone call or email telling me there was a problem and we couldn't film, but it didn't happen. In fact, filming went off without any problems whatsoever. I like it when that happens.

James and Clay make a great couple. The first scene we shot brought some very pleasant surprises. I've lived with this script for so long that it's kind of difficult to bring something to a scene that I haven't thought of, but the two of them hit a dynamic during the scene that had never occurred to me. It was really refreshing to watch them interact in a new way. It makes me very excited to see what else they'll come up with throughout filming.


PRODUCTION STILL: Matt (James Barry) and Rick (Clay Dzygun) relax after a long day.

Our next filming day isn't until Tuesday the 12th. It's a long day with Rachel and Jessica. I'll be back either Wednesday or Thursday with another report. Stay tuned!

~Vincent~

Filming starts tomorrow!

The day before filming starts. This is always a weird day for me. It's not nerves. It used to be. On "Macbeth" and "Between the Raindrops", it was nerves. What am I doing? Who am I kidding? This could all be a terrible mistake. Can I actually do this?

On "Dorian", it changed a bit. It wasn't "Can I do this?" anymore. It became "I HAVE to do this". I had been telling people how stunning "Dorian" was going to be for weeks before I actually started shooting it, so by the time production came around, it had occurred to me that I'd better live up to it. In the days leading up to production, things were so crazy and hectic, with last-minutes hurdles appearing everywhere, that I didn't really have time to stress about whether or not I was capable of making the movie I wanted to make; I just knew I had to do it.

"Angels on Fire" brought its own challenges, since I was making the movie as a tribute to both James O'Barr and Brandon Lee, as well as trying out a different kind of movie than I'd done before. I kind of reverted back to the "Can I actually do this" stress, but it was a little easier to deal with, now that I had three movies under my belt.

Now comes "People Like Us"... My stress isn't whether or not I can do it. I know I can. It's a question of "Will this movie FINALLY cross the finish line?" There's such a history with me and this story. Technically, this is the third time I'll try and shoot this script. I first wrote it about four years ago. I tried shooting it while I was in film school and then again about two years ago. Each time, for different reasons, it didn't happen. Some actors have stayed since the beginning and others have came and went. Each time that's happened, though, I feel like the cast has only gotten stronger. That's not to take away from any of the actors I've worked with before, but I think this is easily the strongest ensemble I've ever had on a film. Also, because the movie's taken so long to make, I've had a lot of time to tinker with the script and get it in the strongest shape that I can. At this point, I'm confident in the cast and script enough that all I want to do is just shoot this GODDAMN movie. I've lived with it for years. It's time to get this fucker on the screen. Time to triumph.

Now it's the day before cameras roll. Tomorrow we shoot with Rachel (playing Sarah) and Jessica (playing Julia). Sunday, we start with James (playing Matt) and Clay (playing Rick). It's going to be a blast.

Here's hoping nothing falls from the sky and gets in our way.

~Vincent~