Spiderhole The Movie

Around all the houses on the way to the Dingle Film Festival

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:33:00 +0000

Maurice Galway, the Director of The Dingle Film Festival http://www.dinglefilmfestival.com/ has kindly supported us when it comes to having a Production Screening of Spiderhole at his festival on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. and I am busting a gut and mental spring right now trying to address the myriad technical problems that have descended like ravens pecking apart this fish I am trying to bring home.

Through the gig and the reels, we need a Digital Cinema Environment kitted out head to toe in a particular way, which basically consists of a 2K cinema projector, an appropriate Dolby Audio Processor and then and this is where it gets complicated, THE MEDIA and DECK/PLAYER type from which the master will play off, and or is suitable to the technology of the space. Did you get that!!!!

HDCAMSR the big heavy weight had a few weeks in the ring until it got knocked on its ass. That few weeks involved hours of phone calls. UP IN SMOKE. It's younger brother tried his hand, the HDCAM, this guy lasted about a week, then flew out over the ropes. Next enter the bantam-weight Blu-Ray, one weekend, two rounds, crash, bang, wallop. Now we are entering yet another light heavy weight, a Quicktime, Pro Res (HQ) 4:2:2 with 5.1 surround sound, and this is already slugging a little for air, but still in the fight. Excuse all this, just a little heads up on what it might take, should you find yourself in a similar situation. Never mind entering into the actual bit depth/colour space/graphics cards dimension.

Alas invites have gone out, phone calls have been made and are being made. And the credit card has a speed burn still smoking as I write this. The seats for the first screening, all 100 of them precious little puppies have name tags on their toes, and the sun is out in Kerry for what looks to be a beautiful weekend, but I wont sleep until fedex arrives at my door with a package from Redlab and then I will be blowing a major kiss toward Vinit Borrison across the Atlantic before jumping in the car and gunning it...

Munching at the Grindstone (blog 26)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:55:00 +0000

My humble apologies to anyone that took the time to read this blog only to run smack into the glass of an unresolved void. Reason is that I have been diverted by 4 months of intermittent negotiations which may well very soon be resolved and if dare predict, see SPIDERHOLE completed by June.

For anyone interested there is chatter and press on the airways, have a look at these sites:

www.fangoriaonline.com/home/news/9-film-news/1106-things-get-nasty-in-the-spiderhole-exclusive-pics.html

www.dreadcentral.com/story/born-creator-unveils-spiderhole

Seats please aboard the Twister (blog 25)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:46:00 +0000

Day three and we are starting to make ground. This will be an amorphous experience for everyone involved as circumstances evolve in relation to budget. The breathing room we have above our heads is scant, but should we manage to generate a cohesive spirit then we may just cross the finish line and get a movie made. I love the energy that the actors are exuding, they all possess such wonderful characters and are brim full of boogie. Emma is a riot, she loves to laugh and regale, telling endless cracking good stories on and off set, she is an irrepressible cauldron of energy, and the camera just happens to love her beautiful face, which is great. George too is yet another looker, as in fact are all the actors, Reuben with his soft blue mystical eyes and sculpted features, and Amy with her joyous beaming delightful smile. The casting could not be better, added to which the guys have arrived to Kerry with a visibly contagious affection for one another which makes my job much easier, as I cannot see any issues arise between any of them over the coming weeks.

All of their energies appear to compliment one another exceptionally well, which gratifies something in me with regard to the chemistry involved in the production of this feature, touch wood to date things while not easy, have fallen into place to a certain tune, almost uncannily in fact as episodes have come and gone causing me at times to look to Alan, Daniel, Daithi or Brian with a raised eye-brow 'of what the? how the? holy!!!! did we dodge that bullet'. Emma is naturally somewhat rock and roll in her approach, while Amy is perhaps more composed and studious, Reuben chimes I think with the Amy description while George swings more on Emma's pendulum. George is a very talented guy and does not to my mind possess much vanity, he is a trooper and gives a lot to his role and works hard with a humble attractive attitude. Reuben's approach is definitely considered and studied, he has the mind of a director and I wouldn't be surprised if he excels as one in time. While all the guys are professional, there is also a frisson of wild energy about, and I wonder how peoples spirits will hold out between getting the job done and loving the life they live. In other words the balance between rocking the excitement of all being together and also sustaining the long work days demands.

The crew are solid, moving to a rhythm I can only express as stemming from experience, they are familiar with one another's speed and they link well as a strong unit. Pamela is calling the shots as first AD which is a serious relief to me, as I hear her voice bellow out commands through the age old phrases of classic movie set jargon. Vinit is a real find and a great helms man at the forefront of his team; cool, calm and collected as he drives ahead with strength and enthusiasm for the project, he is an absolute gentleman, and a joy to deal with. Pierre holds his modest corner with a quiet, meticilious, friendly air, about his otherwise rather powerful presence. I have observed him as he quickly but with due attention trains in our PA's to the job at hand, he has a lovely way with people, and is absolutely on top of his job. He is worth his weight in gold. Sean Hearn is everywhere, figuring out problems, building elaborate solutions, and outside smoking cigarettes, chatting and laughing. To think I thought I was hiring a Boom Swinger, and it turns out I get a master gaffer to rescue us from what would have been an insurmountable electrical problem, namely the location. Alphonse is on it and drifting from position to position as he rigs up his sound equipment and acts as both Sound Recorder and Boom Swinger in one. This man is really a badass DJ and composer in his own right, and he lends that certain je ne sais quois to the spirit of this show.

The guys that have come down form FAS are all deep into helping out and assisting, and I must add that I am impressed by their ability to get the job done whatever that may be, as sometimes I have to ask for the performance of menial tasks which I feel a little uncomfortable about, and they just rock on and do not even bat an eyelid. Daniel while of course stressed, is in his element, this is his passion and so he is manic in the bowels of activity, and busy construing his vision and shaping it while learning to articulate with this new team of talented individuals. Daithi rarely surfaces, he has a mammoth task ahead of him as the scenes threaten to rain down havoc on his coat tails, he is one step ahead of us preparing new rooms and avenues of expression, welding, painting, sawing, drilling, cleaning, prop hunting, and on and on in an exhausting cycle day after day. Alan and I are seeing after the tectonics of the trade, I still have numerous legal issues to iron out, plans for London to ratify, logistics to comprehend, and a bevy of individuals to keep on track and inspired.

We are getting in by 8 in the morning with some spillage time and I am already realizing that providing the ingredients for breakfast at the apartments for the cast and crew is not feasible, and as Daniel has called for all along, a cooked breakfast whether organized in a cafe or brought to set will have to be set in train, I will get on this tomorrow. I can well imagine people will get sick of that after a week or so, hence catering is proving an interesting dynamic yet again, of course a catering truck would be the answer, but we don't have such recourse to these industry standard frills being so far from the reach of any major studio activity. The rap time is also about 8 in the evening and then all down to the Allegro for dinner. This routine will soon splinter into numerous parts as people break off into their own rhythms, I just have to make sure everyone is fed and watered for the coming weeks, and hence will have to be capable of a some quick time shape shifting as all plans are subject to the swerving surprise of a twister ride, all aboard, here we go....

Behind the Scenes (blog 24)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:07:00 +0000

Day 2 of what is expected to be a 21 day shoot. Our first day was pretty much decapitated and had it's legs taken out from under, and thus really only counts at this stage as a preliminary run at the course, a limbering exercise, a shaking out of the joints before we take position at the starter line, and boy was it a sobering experience, talk about starting with a bang, we will probably end on a whimper. It is now 10 o'clock and we are just pushing off for the location, already two and half hours late. Daniel is fretting and predicting doom, as it is, this is a butt tight schedule and we cannot afford to loose any ground, today we are scripted to shoot three scenes, as well as having to make up on yesterday, so we got to get those slates a slapping and go go go. I am on the perpetual phone letting everyone know that we are back on track again, thankfully all those that have volunteered to help are standing by and have all had breakfast as I had requested. Everybody is in, Sam is on make up, the camera and scene is being prepared, there is a hustle of activity, about 20 individuals buzzing around, directions being given, and now that we have been given proper permission for take off, we can afford to gun the engines wide open and let them roar as my aim now is for us to get ahead of ourselves and start notching away at this hefty bark of what is to be 131 scenes. Holy...!!!!!

We have a meeting outside the front door of the house once again to explain what just happened and where too now, some roles have changed hands, and suggestions are made. Everybody bursts into a spontaneous round of applause in a mixed expression of due relief and enthusiasm to get cracking. It is 11 O'clock and we are shooting. I have asked Pamela if she would act as first AD and she has agreed. Vinit is our master DOP (director of photography)and he has his superb 1st AC (assistant camera) Pierre Branconnier at his side. Daniel our Director is discussing the shot, Pamela calling the requirements as 1st AD (assistant director) and Sean Hearn setting up the lights as our master Gaffer, and Alphonse A.Lanza in place with his boom recording sound (we have chosen to record directly into the camera). Added to this Pat Coulhane is for the moment on clapper board, George Doyle is sat observing the following set up, we are feeding via the HD/SDI OUT of the camera an output which is a 720P signal and this we are converting via a black magic HD link to a 2:1 image on my 23" Apple HD monitor via the DVI connection, the screen of which has been masked off to give Daniel a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the aspect ratio we have decided to shoot the film on (Lord of The Rings, serious wide screen) and all this is simply to act as an observation point for the Frame and Action to the Director and continuity.

Daithi is down in the depths working on the Production Design. Kevin Goodman is scurrying about making me laugh and pretty much everyone else as he deals with his role as props master, and smoke machine mechanic. Helen Broderick is acting as runner temporarily and doing a superb job as she is constantly back and forth on errands as the list of requests is unending. Angela Boyle is doing Lock Off for the moment and simply has to echo the words, 'Rolling, Quiet on Set.' but not for too long as I intend to rotate everybody that is assisting or working as PA's so that they can leave this film set feeling rewarded, it is not often one gets the chance to work on a feature film in Kerry. Sean Hearn is creating amazing byzantine structures using stands and flags to establish elaborate lighting effects. He really is something, what a worker, industrious, inventive, and utterly competent, this man has come to save the day, he has got to be one of the best in the industry, and we are so lucky to have him come on board as part of Vinit's team.

The actors are at their first positions and we are recording and downloading footage shooting at 4K, the maximum resolution this camera will allow. I have read through the Internet forest of information, that Steven Soderbergh has supposedly said that 2K is a sufficient resolution to print back to 35mm film. We will see about that in time, the plan is to capture the movie at the highest resolution available and then make a HD edit to shop around with, then whatever distributor should show interest in the project can purchase an untouched 4K asset and give it the 'Hollywood' treatment as such. Time will tell. For the moment have a look at the following, a rough edit of some behind the scenes footage from the making of the movie. Simply copy and paste the address beneath into your search field.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI2qQGAJaPY

please if you should like what you see, send this on to your friends and get a little snow ball rolling down that hill!!!

Plough-on (blog 23)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:24:00 +0000

The entire team shaken and stirred, are now dispersing group by group and arranging to meet for dinner at the Allegro, our cornucopia for the next three weeks. The gear is safely packed away for the night and I am trawling the pit of my brain to find inspiration for this new nugget I have to pull clean and gleaming from the coal face. We need a significant injection of cash into the account by tomorrow morning or else we are all to languish like those abandoned souls on Théodore Géricault 'Le Radeau de la Méduse' on a raft drifting at a loose end, a crew without a cause, without a purpose, slowly floating toward despair. I thought this might have happened due to the equipment not making it into the country, now that grim possibility of being cast inert is once more upon us. We have set the stage, but oddly enough we are denied access, pure and simple, none shall pass!! until that cheque shows up in an interim holding account, our hands are tied. I manage to garner some information here and there about the nature of who we are dealing with, as it is necessary to have some kind of portrait of the expectations I should hold in mind when it comes to getting that money back, because I know we will honour our end of the deal, but will he?

First things first, we were back at Alan's house and I am on the phone with our lawyer, painting the scene for him and together formulating over what kind of letter was required to safe guard this transaction, and that turned out to be a letter of trust. I was then able to leave Brian Gormley to his own devices and draft the precise wording so he could get us that letter ASAP. We were back at the books and observing where the Hull was splitting and attempting to predict and plot our way through a possible financial crisis. Out of the experience of the first days expenditure we could with a certain statistical accuracy see into the immediate future to where the major currents of monies were going to gush and surge. And with a certain trepidation visibly see how much more money we would actually require to keep this omnivorous eighteen wheeler oiled and gassed for the next twenty days. Not a pretty forecast, but regardless of that I was going to have to rise to every occasion and attempt to provide upon request up to a point.

What slightly concerns me right now is the thought patterns of those involved, this is a micro-budget movie, not even a low budget movie, a low-budget movie would be a 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 euro. I have stated to all involved how much we have to play with and it is substantially beneath the above bar, and as a friend of mine, the photographer, Sante d'Orazio commented about the fact that we had so little money, expressing that we were actually better off, as we would be forced to invent and use imagination in the place of hard cash. This was a circumstance I was well aware of, and I am used to dealing with people like this and love it, as it is such a laugh watching someone come up with a solution that is usually brilliant. Daithi is a first class, prime example of the species, that can simply invent their way out of a corner, and can do this on the twist of a nickel. And can actually see value in what others might see as trash, hence Daithi's days spent trawling through the scrap yards and creating a set for the movie for free. He just went and did it. Necessity being the Mother of Invention.

Now it is my job to keep spirits up and not allow the mood to falter. It was a trying enough start to the process this morning, bordering on the traumatic, but as Daniel always said "the first couple of days will be hell, until we get into it." but not even Daniel could have foreseen this particular set of circumstances. I arranged for a meeting in Jesse MaCarthy's bar between Alan, Kevin Hannafin and I, where the three of us over a long involved consideration of our predicament hammered out a solution, and that was it, the money was now in my hot fist, all we had to do was get it to the real estate agent as soon as his door cracked open for business in the morning and then call the land lord and clear it with him. Until then there was a definite air of expectancy, anxiety, uncertainty, a sort of quiet unspoken ghost loitered about the place, no one was actually breaking that peculiar silence, for fear of hexing still further our faith, and so we all retired to our comfort zones to rest and get ready for whatever was to come in the morning. Kevin Hannafin had stood up and come to the rescue, his generosity and vision stepping into the breach, and now I felt the might of two powerful allies by my side, Alan and Kevin, both willing to go that extra mile, and neither one blanching in the face of this serious challenge.

Next day Alan and I were outside that office and chatting about whatever, when the time came for us to enter and pass over the cheque, it was DONE PRONTO! then we hopped back into the car, phoned the land lord, informed him of what had just transpired, only to be given an unusual reply. It was Alan that spoke with him and he just looked over at me. Then we drove to the apartments and I called for a meeting, gathering the crew into the casts apartment where I kept stum until I could inform everybody at once as to what the out come proved to be. There they were all eager and as anxious as one would hope from a team that were here to rock and roll. I could clearly see what I had accomplished in getting these individuals together right there and then, and there was definitely an esprit de corps, unified and staring back at what I was about to say.

THE FILM IS OVER. HE HAS DECIDED AGAINST IT. I AM SORRY BUT WE DID ALL WE COULD DO. THIS IS A DISASTER. I watched as eyes glared in dis-belief, some clearly crestfallen, and certain expletives of disappointment were uttered. I spoke some more about how sorry I was to see all this come to naught, and carried on a little while longer until it was time to turn away, bend over and sweep my coat tails up in the air as I hollered out 'BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS!!!! WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS!!!! LET'S GET TO WORK!!!!!!' some people shouted out 'you bastard!! how could you could you do that!!' and other's laughed, and some stood looking rather annoyed at my little charade. I recall Alan walking out behind me laughing to himself and wondering what the hell just happened, and I was laughing as to me we were back from the edge where in fact we had ever so slightly fallen over, but somehow managed to yank ourselves back out, and I had every intention of enjoying the upsurge of energy that was now gushing once again, because just a few hours ago we had been rendered a solemn chain gang, our free spirits manacled in iron, and I found that unbearable, and now we had busted loose and were freed from under them shackles. That was it! there and then there was nothing lurking in my consciousness that could cloy or sully this vision, the above debacle had been a source for concern and did linger across my mind until now. If we stick to the plan, and everybody holds firm under what will be straightened circumstances, then we can make this MOVIE, and do as the land lord said "plough-on.".

There once was a Titan named Atlas (blog 22)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:01:00 +0000

As we walk into the main room so to speak, nerves are certainly on edge, and judging from peoples slanted expressions outside before we entered they all have their fingers crossed and are saying private little prayers to their various gods. Meanwhile back on the floor where the real action is about to unfold Alan, Daithi, the Land Lord, his agents and I are stood in a sort of horse shoe configuration as I watch the man's eyes scan the interiors and literally see his blood begin to boil. Yes we had utterly distressed the space, certainly to the naked eye, or more poignantly for the camera lense. And as this man's fury mounted his eyes darted from one adjustment to the next up along a fiendish scale of absurdities. Once again I cannot describe these elements as they are of course essential to the plot, but suffice it to say should you be in this man's shoe's your head might well have popped off. We made an 11th hour effort to placate what appeared an incoming tidal wave by clearly showing how easily all of this could be undone. Snapping point snapped, and then he let loose, and demanded a huge sum be placed into a bank account and held as a deposit until the house was returned to the condition it was in before we arrived, but that was not all, and as his eyes scanned further afield his temper spilled over and morphed into the following nightmare "In fact, that's it!! stop filming right now...".

Whatever words I had up until then been administering were now being splintered and smashed to pieces between the jaws of a near apoplectic fury, and so as my last vowel flew up the chimney to escape, a deathly silence descended. I looked about at some of the faces here gathered and expressions were grave to say the least, Edward Munch would have been hard pressed to paint the scene. Then I took a look down into myself and settled into a sort of inner quietude and we all simply stood stock still for at least 10 seconds, which seemed a lot longer at the time, while the prospect of all this good Will and luck, and talent and hard work, over a frenetic 11 weeks as well as significant costs seemed now sucked into a super silent inter galactic Black Hole. Zip. Sip. Gone.

If I am allowed to write this, I consider myself a pretty good judge of character, and when I first saw this gentleman in his car and he and Alan spoke briefly, I got a feeling from him that things would ultimately work out, I don't know why, but I said that to Alan as we drove away. And somewhere in this present gulf that little rope ladder was down there while way out of sight, as daft as that may sound. Then Alan O'Sullivan simply asked the gentleman if he could have a word with him outside, they both left the room as the rest of us stood and chatted politely. After a certain time elapsed Alan entered the room again and asked us to join them, I could sense the ice cap was lifted and the freeze thawed. This was true, but new requisites were in place, which once again meant a significant cheque to be lodged into an account as a holding deposit, and a letter drawn up from our lawyer to his, qualifying the affair, BUT! there was to be no more shooting until the cheque was in the bank, which for us was still disastrous as we did not have that money to spare. We all talked together some more in a slightly warmer clime, agreed on matters of responsibility, shook hands, and the guys turned on their heels and left.

Alan O'Sullivan had saved the day and shouldered in under this ominous weight like Atlas hoisting up our little world that is Spiderhole.

Alan and I looked to one another and then walked to inform an anxiously expectant cast and crew of the outcome. They were not to be relieved as such, because we did not have that golden key to deposit, and so some high Latin would now be called for in my next series of incantations. I was going to have to pull a plump turkey out of the next hat I came across, and that had to happen in the next couple of hours. We had managed to get up and rolling for about 1.30 on the first day after dealing with the mornings blizzard, and now we were all land locked once more having tasted a few hours sweet gallop over the meadows, our bob sled slamming four square into this obstacle and sending us all like some Scoobby Doo crew hurtling off and landing humbled on our rear ends, puzzled and bruised.

Right then!! that's it for today!! it's a RAP, this was 6.30 and we would probably have shot as late as possible into that night to make up precious time, but no no, that was not to be, so while everybody slowly broke the gear down, Alan and I were on our phones and preparing for a hard days night.

Daniel had been locked away in the upstairs toilet observing the events, and after he told me a story about what was happening to him as all the above was unfolding for us, and it seems he was in a shit storm of his own, the night he told me about the stress of his predicament at that exact time, while we lay in our opposite beds I laughed like I have never laughed before. And will one of these blogs get round to a description particular of that moment of hilarity. Daniel and I were crying with laughter together once again, but doom was skulking, what else could we do, wear sack cloths and wilt!!!!!????? NO way.

House of Horrors (blog no.21)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:20:00 +0000

Back track a few paces here and let's get some context on this calamity. When I got permission to shoot in this location there was a certain amount of ambiguity resonant on the atmosphere. Permission was got second hand so to speak via an intermediary agent working on behave of the owner. There was a delayed time frame in actually getting the go ahead in the first place, and so I had to hector the agent, by calling on the phone and into his office numerous times. Eventually and in my presence the owner was contacted over the phone and the request articulated to him in a digested form, by this I mean, down playing the matter to be fair as a favour to me in order to assist with furthering my project, and done sincerely as the man trusted me and knows my family, so he was pretty sure the house would be returned as we found it, and this was a given. I did ask the agent there and then if I could speak with the owner on the phone as I had no idea who he was, and wanted to explain what it was we had in mind. As far as he was concerned a film was being shot in the house, FAS were involved and some of the guys renting the premises were also involved, and that was it, but as I had mentioned to the agent and apologized for badgering him, I had a lot of people to deal with and flights to book and it all hinged around this location, hence my urgency. I left there with a green light.

Since then the house was slowly transformed as carefully as possible, this entailed hanging new wall paper over all the original wallpaper and then painting that to the tones we required, also inevitably painting over the walls and doors to generate the desired aesthetic feel, when we would finish shooting those changes would be utterly erased and a newly painted house once again back to it's original condition, or better as the paint work had by now aged considerably. There were other adjustments which I cannot mention simply because knowledge of these would affect the plot for any readers, but once again whatever we worked in the new was a cosmetic adaptation designed specifically to be easily reversed.

And now we were in a stew, the owner had shown up to see what was going on, and I suspect this was due to him being alerted by a neighbour to the fact that a serious commotion was in process about his premises. The morning of the first day I strolled over on seeing one of the neighbours get into his car and had a chat with him about what was going on, the location is situated about 35 yards from his grounds. He was not a happy camper, as he had had problems with certain flack that had spun off from various individuals leaving late night parties at the house, and this man was particularly angry I can tell you, so I had to assure him of our professional intentions, we exchanged numbers and I told him should he have any reason for complaint to call me and I will deal with it immediately. We were going to have a generator running for potentially 16 hours a day in his vicinity, and I was anxious that this be as quiet as possible, it was still not in place by that time as we had only just established the need for a different model. And as the county of Kerry is not a usual haunt for film industry activity, we had to get van's on the road to travel almost 300Km simply to get extra lights from Ardmore Studios in Bray, County Wicklow, and the generator was 150Km away, most essential film related materials that were requested required a significant amount of energy and expenditure to accumulate.

Back to the racing Merc and frantic phone calls as Alan and I headed for the location. I suggested we take an alternative route to speed the process up and by that decision we actually came across the owner in his car. By that time as Alan is a car aficionado, Alan had established who owned the house simply by asking Daithi what car was he driving and what was the registration, there and then he knew the man, and had had dealings with him in the past, and low and behold we crossed paths on the road and so stopped and got out to have a chat. I had spoken with him over the phone while he was on set, I introduced myself, informed him who I was, and told him that I was on my way, but in the mean time he had left and said to Daithi that he would be back at 6 O'clock. He seemed quiet relaxed and approachable sitting his car with the window down as both Alan's exchange simple pleasantries, then Alan mentioned that it was he that was involved with the Film, and so it was simply left that he would be up there soon and we would talk about it. Alan and I jumped into the car and arrived to the front door to a sudden stop, where everyone had gathered dump struck, despondent and utterly confused.

There was a certain element of arriving like the 7th cavalry or deus ex machina about this entrance, as this was a very serious situation, and it had to be surmounted right away. To date nothing has stopped the gallop of this production, while many high fences were thrown in our path, we cleared them all. This was a massive barbed fence, a moot, and a cliff hanger all in one. It was going to take a whole bag of inspired words and actions to get around this problem. And there stood Alan and I being looked too by the entire, crew, cast, extras, and the dogs with anxious eyes, as I simply said "we will get this sorted." and they all cheered and clapped as all everyone wanted to do was get on with making this movie happen. And no one had traveled all this way and put so much time and energy into this for us to be slapped down on the first day of shooting. Daniel was in a state of semi-despair and saying as he has done on numerous occasion "I knew it, it was all to good to be true! I knew something would go wrong." and I would retort, "that's bollocks! this movie is going to get made." and somehow I knew he felt a certain comfort from my big, bold, brash, belligerence, but deep down he seemed to always be prepared for the worst possible disappointment. And I wasn't having any of it.

Now what! we wait, and some people took the time to play swing ball on the lawn and smoke cigarettes and enjoy the sunshine. A representative of the agent arrived on set and I shook his hand and made some preliminary introductions, we walked him to see what the commotion was all about and he was pretty shocked and impressed by what it was we had undertaken, the house had on the surface of things been transformed but as we pointed out all things had been done with serious consideration involved, and steps had been taken with regard to returning the house to it's pre-horror-movie self. He left and returned about 10 minutes later with the owner and the main agent who I had been dealing with from day one, this was it, we had to explain and satisfy our position to a man who had been taken for six by the extent of our vision for his up until then reasonably domestic setting. I shook his hand, and we exchanged a few words then his team, Alan, Daithi and I walked into what was now a Film Set, with an impressive array of equipment, a dolly set up, lights, stands, cables, the beautiful sight of the Red Camera kitted out to the full, and the hallmarks of what seemed an unrecognizable interior as our setting for this pow wow which was about to get heated to the point of combustion. Christ! this is just our very first day of operations, what the hell have we got ourselves in for???

Alas First Day of Shooting (blog 20)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:44:00 +0000

Here we go, day one of what is planned to be a 21 day shoot. We arrive to a set that appears tranquil under the spell of the morning light. The setting for the location is at the end of a drive through a pair of stolid cut stone pillars. Once upon a time horse and carriage would have ferried 'the quality' so to speak, people of money and reputed culture, in a nut shell, The Ascendancy. A Protestant class of the Anglican church who pretty much ruled the country unperturbed by the time this house was built 1827, since many of the rebellions, as they are called, were now great ships on the distant horizon drifting away into the veils of history. And the natives well brow beaten and while sullen, largely in line, for the time being anyhow. Here we were a motley crew disburdening our modern wares and gathering perhaps under the watchful curious eyes of the dead. About to embark on a spree.

We had an arrangement with FAS an Irish governmental sponsored organisation which helps provide training in a variety of fields. Tralee has a superb Television Production Course, largely due to the efforts of Mr.Paul Dolan down the years, steadily building this into a first class facility. The guys and girls that are training there were to be given the experience of assisting on a feature film while in turn we had the use of some of their equipment, such as rails, a dolly, a gib arm and so on, as well as these invaluable hands on deck. This excellent photograph above shows Pat Coulhane, who from the get go was to become a tenacious and resolute energy that I could absolutely rely on. People are beginning to rendezvous and lots of hand shakes set simple firm commitments. There is a bustle of excitement, Kev is up and at it and peeling off tired eyes, he is about to jump into the crew cab and go pick up the various gangs from their apartments. Geroge Doyle has arrived kitted out with all the gadgetry needed to hold down his responsibilities. Daniel and I are waltzing about the house in preparation for the show. This is it, we are at the starters orders, and it is now time to set the stop clock.

As people begin to pour in introductions are made while Alan and I consider our tactics, I am looking over Vinit's request list for more lights which he e-mailed me last night. Questions are being asked and answers given. The new generator has been brought to the set, Sean is having a look at it and kicking it in motion, it is still too loud and so we try to set it up a certain distance from the main rooms, but I am not so happy about this either as it is too close to the neighbours back wall and I can foresee a complaint. Obstacles, obstacles, what to do, Alphonse who arrived yesterday into Shannon and was whisked down to Tralee in Alan's badass Merc (by Joe O'Sullivan, Alan's uncle who will come on board and work over the duration of the shoot) is running some sound checks, the results are so-so and that is not good enough. I find myself on the phone speaking with Jason the utterly reliable Cine Electric connection, giving him the details for the lighting list and then asking for some advice on finding another generator literally right now. A series of phone calls later and we have two vans on the road and by the early afternoon, a big 16 KVA generator parked up and pumping out the wattage, as well as Joe returning with all the lights and extra requests for Vinit. Now that's what I am talking about!!

Food stuffs and materials had to be supplied and runners were back and forth in constant succession to stock the kitchen area with, a coffee machine, cups, paper towels, bottled water, milk, tea, snacks, first aid gear, tea towels, toilet paper, cleaning agents, paper plates, plastic glasses, around and around and around as new requests surfaced and were agreed to. We are breaking ground here and fast, seeds need to be in place and in fruition like yesterday. Roles are being assigned, and then a meeting is called and Brian Nolan goes over his concerns with regard to a fire drill and establishing a fire point, meanwhile we have bought several fire extinguishers and placed them appropriately. Kev is designated health and safety officer as well as props master. Daithi is busy at work on his set which is ever on going. More requests for various electrical parts, paints, tools, props, make up, more food stuffs for snacking on, and on and on and on, as we hemorrhage money but nonetheless get these bolts hammered home as they will hold the rigging that will see us sail through what ever typhoons lay ahead. We hope.

Our first group meeting serves to highlight any concerns and establish roles, we are now a group of about 20 people all keen and razor edged ready to cut the mustard. As I look about I feel a natural rise of emotion within, for here we are, on the shore of Daniel's first feature film, a dream come true for him, and 11 weeks manic effort for me, as well as feeling the fizzing excitement of other's, Alan and Joanne and the hundreds of studious hours of attention paid to this challange, Vinit and all the crew, excited by the prospect of carving our their first feature on The Red Camera. All the actors buzzing with energy and keen to crack on, the FAS team voyaging out into the waters of their first feature also. Brian Nolan still I think amazed that we have reached this point, and clearly excited. Everybody is happy and filled with gusto, we are now an extended band of brother's and sister's, and together we can make this happen. George Doyle is snapping with his high end Canon. Cameras are rolling as the documentary team are capturing the moment, as we all strap ourselves in and I reach out to push that big RED BUTTON. BLAST OFF....HOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Alan is pretty much acting as production manager on the ground in his ultra efficient way, organizing the cars and how we maintain a clear and effective drive way at all times. In the case of an accident, we may need an ambulance or fire brigade up here in a hurry. Consigning roles to various extra people involved, such as dealing with that serious ass generator, this will need to be observed and fueled, rubbish will need to be disposed of frequently and a quality control set in place to maintain the general area, lunches have to be picked up and on site everyday, and the constant string of requests addressed effectively. Cars are coming and going, supplies put in place, and the photograph has now been taken with the SPIDERHOLE clapper board on proud display in Daniel's hands, I am so happy for him, so we are off down the track like a hare and pack of hounds already before I could even hear action shouted as it was all action, ACTION ACTION!!! a mini blizzard was blowing around my ears. At 4 O'Clock Alan and I left for his place since we had to take stock, we had spent a giants fist of money already that day, and it was potentially a threatening situation, how the hell could we maintain a production if it was to keep pounding on like this? we had to a have a look into the books and steady as she goes.

there we were sat at a large table with numerous files and folders open, drinking a cup of tea and talking about the events of the day so far, somewhat relaxed in that moment as it had been a sprint since 5 that morning. Jessica and Abigail, Alan and Joanne's adorable children played about the place and brought a sweet inspiring energy to light. THEN!!! My phone rang, it was George Doyle, he simply said, 'Pat, the Landlord is on the set." this was enough to create a penetrating shiver of ice cold anxiety, we chatted for a little bit until it was obvious that all was not well, fucking far from it, and I needed to be there NOW, I looked to Alan and he read my countenance and was equally struck by this unknown prospect, his face dropped, and my mind blasted a stick a dynamite!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!!! We bounced into his Merc and hit the road twice on the way back to the location, phone calls were constant as the plight unfolded, I was asking Daithi a series of questions, attempting to establish the mood, and this all boiled down to one conclusive and utterly despicable prospect HE HAS STOPPED THE FILM.

eyes wide open (section 19)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:04:00 +0000

I made a phone call at 8.oo in the morning to George Doyle, and this man has played a hugely significant role in the film. George was the Creative Director for a company in Kerry entitled 'Stockbyte' that was sold for a huge sum a couple of years ago, the brain child of Jerry Kennelly's genius. George is a first class photographer and to my mind one of the best in Ireland. He had phoned me a couple of days earlier offering his help as he had been away in South Africa on a project and was just returned and had heard all about the Red Camera Feature I was putting together. Barry Murhpy was the man responsible for that, and is also as far as I am concerned the best interiors photographer in the country. After that initial phone call I had considered him for 1st AD (assistant director) but was also bordering on taking on that role myself as I thought that I would probably be able to articulate for Daniel on certain matters. But this was unrealistic since I still had so much ground to cover and there was no way I could be on set at all times. Then it clicked and was all too obvious. I asked George if he would take on Continuity to which he immediately said yes, the prospect of having him on board is deeply assuring to me, as one of his many qualities would certainly be his particular diligence, and I am sure he will bring his assiduity and professionalism to this production which I have no doubt will serve to lift this film once again up yet another serious notch. And by the way for all of you that have been enquiring about who took these magnificent photographs, well here he is, seated between Samantha and Angela Boyle who assisted him on continuity. Looking like a rock star.

Almost all the photographs through out the course of the blog were shot and colour adjusted by George, the weaker ones were done by me as I search through Aperture and my own collection to substantiate the story. And there it was established over one phone call, we had a first class Stills Photographer, and a man willing to sacrifice three weeks of his time, and it is the men and women of this ilk and character that have collectively made this feature a real contender.

Despite last nights carnage everyone is up reasonably early, as we need to get Samantha into the actors to do make up and then get them to Shindig where we will meet with Gary Brosnan and there they can rifle through the store for costumes, all of which we managed to accomplish for about 12.30. After this we were off to the location as the crew had already been there for a couple of hours preparing for a pre-light and to run some camera tests. The actors were well impressed by the location as Daniel guided them through their footsteps in the manner they should enter according to script. All of our lights from Cine Electric had been brought in to the house and from now on a lot of the gear was going to remain in the location and Kevin was going to act as security guard as well as master of props. There was no way we could break down in the evenings, so I informed our insurance company of these altered plans and got the go ahead.

We have a 6KVA generator courtesy of Alan and with this Sean is trying to establish as to whether that will be sufficient for the job, he has done a thorough investigation into all possible options and we brought in an electrician also to have a look over the location with him and the conclusion is that we will have to use a generator plane and simple, no choice. The house electrics being in such a precarious condition to say the least. After the numerous tests were done I brought the actors to do some shopping for extras they would require in relation to their costumes, and also as I had done previously with Joanne and Sam, shop for some food stuffs as we initially planned to supply breakfast elements to the apartments, cereals, tea/coffee, butter, bacon, eggs, sausages, beans, black and white pudding, milk, water, bread, juice, toiletries, and so on.

There was a gathering of various interested parties showing up to have a look see. My parents arrived, as well as my sister and her daughter Aoife who will have a small role to play, her friend Molly Regan came along as did a plethora of guests, all of which I was glad to see and show them around, as this was the time to do it before we start the lock off so to speak and get cracking, can't afford to escort people about while scenes are being shot, we will need absolute quiet on set, and I will have to be pretty strict about that. The noise of the generator is already posing a problem and in fact we have gone and got another one as Alan's will not be sufficient, we will hire an 8KVA super silent and test this one for sound first thing in the morning.

After these preliminaries were dusted over we drove to my home in Ballyheigue, where we met with Daniel and I fixed something to eat while we all had a laugh looking out pretty tired and peering brain dead off across the distant horizon over some glasses of wine. Tomorrow we are going to start in earnest, and will need to start stabbing home the ice picks one by one as we attempt to scale an unknown ascent. While we hung about Aofie my god daughter and Molly had been busy making themselves up in horror make up, and were both bags full of girly giggles and so excited but too shy to come out and show us, so I went in and strung them across my shoulders and brought out these little bursting artists much to the enjoyment of everybody and then it turns out that Emma and Amy were inspired by what they had done and so was Daniel, and it was decided as a result that Amy's make up would be changed thanks to these creative little souls. The future is bright. And Emma and Amy cooked up an idea where Aoife would be perfect for a part in the film. Good on you girls, and Daniel has decided to run with it.

What lies ahead for us is now slouching from its darkness and we are about to discover what trials and tribulations this experience will sling at us when one dares to take on the enormous task of making a feature film. We will all need to be capable of working like crazy for the next 21 days. I wonder how much partying will go on and how individuals will hold up to the pressures we are about to endure. I dropped the actors back to their apartment, and then went and joined the crew for dinner, eventually getting home about 11 O’Clock to write this and prepare for the morning, Daniel and I will talk no doubt and laugh and enjoy the teasing prospect of the madness we are about to dive straight into with eyes wide open.

Breaking a few eggs (blog 18)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:37:00 +0000

The actors and I are straight into singing together as we listen to the radio loud on the way back from the airport to the apartment. Turns out George has a great voice and is the front man for his Band, TESSA JONES, and he and Emma are both active fanatics of musicals a-z. We get back to the apartments and show the actors where they are staying, introduce them to he crew, leave them and allow them to get settled in, as Alan and I drive to the set to get, Daithi and Kev who were still knee deep on their design undertaking for the interior of the house which has come on leaps and bounds, but still with a lot to do, and even as I write this, April 28th 5.56 a.m. Daithi is still working everyday and is under pressure. That ticking sound in the van was still flittering away until finally as we were actually heading up hill to the entrance for the house, the van completely died, as Alan exclaimed, “she’s gone!!, on my life.” And held out his hands as the lights on the dash board lit up to announce its demise, and we literally free wheeled up a hill for 30 yards and around the corner, and in the front gate. Both of us looked to one another and started laughing at such a close call, that could have been the actors first impression, all of us sitting pretty vacant on the road from the airport to Tralee. Not good. But that is the kind of luck we have had from day one, just making it as we leap frog across the pond over the heads of dozzy alligators.

Nonetheless the van was gunned back to life and we drove in to pick up the laughing cavaliers, and got back to Ballyheigue with Kev holding a fire extinguisher in the back seat in case the engine caught fire, it stalled about 10 times on the way home, free wheeling for about 100 yards, then kicked in again, but got us to home where a quick turn around was arranged, as Alan busted off in his Merc for his house and a super fast change of clothes, and Ivan Godley my cousin agreed over the phone at 20.25 to drive us back into Tralee for our inaugural dinner at Gio's THE ALLEGRO restaurant in Tralee, for 21.00, SORTED. Daniel, Daithi, Kev, Sam and I loitered anxiously outside our house and kicked some dirt. Eventually the green bus swung us in and we picked up Alan and the gorgeous Joanne all sparkling and ready for a night on the tiles. I jumped from the bus still moving near the apartments where the actors were waiting, as we were late, the other’s headed straight to the restaurant where I ferried in the actors to a great commotion and rattle bang boom through the night to Jess MacCarthy’s great pub where we had the entire back area to ourselves, Kevin Hannifan in his ever generous fashion insisting on buying the whooping big rounds, as pints of Guinness filled the air, and laughter rose to a persistent din.

After this and more yada yada yada and rocking good stories we were all coming to know one another pretty fast which is exactly what I had intended as I wanted to inject a BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS energy from the get go. Emma Griffiths Malin and I had been on this level from day one over the phone as we would weave into conversations about mysticism and magic and so on and so forth, then just generally take the piss in a warm and utterly frank fashion. This was how I projected myself to all the actors over the phone, as a thunder and lighting sort of say it mean it Producer. But regardless of this turbo charge all of their personalities are equally high energy and emotionally honest and fun loving, we all immediately bonded and that has been a sustaining energy through rather a few difficult and touch and go moments on the journey so far.

The pub was buzzing as so was I as I had not had pints for a while and the jack was out of the box, plenty of interest and friendly enquiries from the regulars as to what all the fuss was, people coming over and chatting and wishing us luck. Another pillar of pints set down to litter the tables. Slug Slug, out for a fag, in and out and in and out. We then hit a late night hotel setting where cheese ball super suck music was whaling and we hitched to the bar, I grabbed Emma and took her for a jive much to the intrigue of the onlookers, and as she is such a force of course she wanted to lead, but I wasn't having it, so then in a nano-second she relented completely and was gone from my hands which had been hoisting against her lead role energy and now she was a cracked egg on the dance floor having hit it like a brick, this was fucking funny, and so I picked her up and mixed her back into the night. And in time the revelers started to disintegrate, Alan, Joanne, Daithi, Daniel, Samantha and I eventually grabbed a taxi about 4 O'Clock after a night of jaw slamming.

Crack of the Mick (Blog no.17)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:38:00 +0000

It's Friday night and spirits are high, intermittent sleeps are stolen by various individuals as they are lulled to repose by the ocean sounds. Daniel and Vinit are discussing the script, making plans and I am hearing a little voice in he back of my head as I sit with them, and try to snub it out. The voice is saying 'story board' Daniel and I have had arguments about this, as he insists he does not believe in them, and that the top ten directors do not use them. This is ringing alarm bells for me, and I just hope as he keeps telling me he knows all the shots in his head, which is great, but can that be communicated with ease to the crew, we have yet to see. Ah well, we will manage somehow. I am a bit concerned that this is Daniel's first feature and so I feel that all the classic structures can do nothing but assist to make the best movie we possibly can, and that we should employ these techniques. But I am not going to rock the boat immediately. These are good times and they are coming to share together in a vision for the script. Anyway what the fuck do I know, I have never Produced a Movie before, and this one is not being done in the classic fashion, far from it in some respects.

My Mother cooked a thumping Bolognese, I was going to do it but got swamped under other matters. Bottles of wine were popping like blots off the straining Titanic. Guzzling, giggles and good food. kev, Daniel, Daithi and I are sat round a table keeping each other in stitches, this would make a great short sketch in itself, a scene of utter silly inventive whackery pouncing around out of our four fickle mouths. The others started to emerge, Sean and Pierre staggered and jet lagged but ready for more, glasses down, and filled. As the night cruises on into the wee hours Kev, Daithi and Sean end up over in Daithi's apartment playing music as these three are excellent musicians, Sean is a great singer and fountain of classics, song after song and incremental beer cans cracked. Samantha Sheehan arrived late as they had a hell of a journey from Dublin, Trevor was on board and using his large van to pick up the lights from Ardmore, and run Sam about Dublin for last minute make up requirements. Eventually arriving with a van filled to capacity, we all muck in and unload and then get back to getting loaded. I am sallying back and forth between the gang here and the minstrels over there, and I feel good that strong relations are already swinging from the branches and flexing there essential monkey selves, and this goes down deep into the night of the long smiles.

We had a knights of the round table meeting on Saturday here in my house, where were gathered, the crew, consisting of Vinit Borrison, Pamela Corrderio, Sean Hearn and Pierre Branconnier, a great guy to work with and a sweet person. All of the crew are way beyond my expectations, Sean Hearn who was hired as a boom swinger is a force of nature, and a fully kitted hardcore gaffer without who we would be in serious trouble, as he dissected the house like a scalpel slicing every electrical nerve down to its rudiments and set this production on a secure and assured power base. He is also a very sensitive and kindly spirit. Vinit and Brian had returned with the Van full of booty, and we had already unloaded it. Now I introduce, Priscilla, Brian Nolan, Kevin Hannifan, and Alan to the group through the frame work of this meeting set to establish roles and hammer out considerations, such as do we shoot 24 or 25P (24P makes it easier to burn back to film should we be confident that this will go for theatrical release, 25P more suited to DVD market) right now I have to leave.

OK, the meeting went well and lots of technical matters were tabled. Priscilla shot plenty of footage of this convention before we enter the battle field. All uniforms spic and span, no blood shed yet. Then after the meeting is down, everyone begins to shuttle off as I need to get the crew into their apartment we have booked in Tralee within walking distance of the main location, and then Alan and I will go and pick up the actors that are arriving into Kerry Airport. But there is a little hiccup, as while Brian and Vinit were returning from Shannon, the van started to generate an odd ticking sound, which grew progressively worse. Now as we drop the guys to their dwellings, it is at it again and kicking up a right stink. Off we go to the airport, and await the actors, I decided for theatrics to put on a pin stripped Gucci Suit and sun glasses for shits and giggles to appear the right wanker LA producer type on first impression to the cast. As we waited in the arrivals hall, people were wondering what the hell was up, and I restrained my laughter fronting a big ass attitude. Then almost the last people to come through, their they were and all wearing Spiderhole t-shirts that Rueben had designed and visibly excited and brim full of antics. I hollered out 'It's the actors!!!!!!!!!!!!!' and they returned a bevy of shouts and screams much to the entertainment of those onlookers. We all hugged and kissed and Alan stepped in as he had been discreetly filming this fun, and we headed straight for the bar to toast to the coming days. All in high spirits and READY TO ROCK.

The Eagles have landed (blog no.16)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:45:00 +0000

Now everything is almost in place, we just nailed the catering today with a guy named Giovanni Gordini and despite the obvious Italian name, a heritage from his Father, he is very much an Irish man and a strong character, who likes a good wise crack. We have established on a quid pro quo basis, that he will be providing both lunch catered to be picked up everyday by us, and dinner at night to be had in the family restaurant 'The Allegro' in Tralee, and all this in return for a percentage investment. What a massive relief as I was about to get flattened under this comet heading straight for earth, until Gio as he is known, and who is a friend of Alan’s, stepped it to fend off calamity. This is yet another brilliant contribution from Alan’s endlessly generous spirit and energy, I was actually in the Bank re-signing papers again for the Visa card, while Alan was meeting Gio, and he called me to come in and pitch it to him, there I was once more sat across from an individual watching intently as I hopped back on my bike and began peddling like a fruit cake. Yada yada yada yada yada...

I am off to the airport with Daithi in the morning, 5 O’clock kick off, ALL FINGERS AND TOES CROSSED…let the chips fall where they may, I have done my best, now it is in the hands of faith. And there has been a certain feeling of faith about this entire expedition, lady luck has been on our side, which can cause a certain dizzy feeling, since being Irish our natural disposition is to probably expect any day now a funny fucking clown to leap from this box and blow a tasselled honker in our faces. No sign yet, and I don't think he is going to show as I tend to trust the energies that I have rallied together, Daithi, Alan, Joanne and myself, simply mentioning the Irish contribution are all of a stripe more orientated to leaps and bounds when it comes to getting things done, we certainly do not crawl, and so the fences have been speeding by like a heady trip to the Galway Races, and there is a lot at stake on this horse, named SPIDERHOLE. "Come on Spiderhole move your bloomin arse!!!!!."

Daithi and myself are in usual chipper form as we make our merry way to Shannon, and the crew are somewhere out there on the rim of the Atlantic. It is a grand morning once again, and I had a few funny lines with Daniel before I left wishing me luck, who is tucked up in bed with I suspect the entire script playing through his brain.

April 19th 2008 and all is quiet this morning. I am a little hung over. AS YES WE GOT THE CREW INTO THE COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!! But WITHOUT the equipment????? Daithi and myself were splitting our sides on the way up, as we pressed the limits of sanity over the course of the journey, two particularly disturbed minds pushing at the borders. In fact that morning as I walked the beach when the Geese all flew in formation I watched a dog bound along the water line after some sea gulls that just laughed back at him from their secure vantage point, and I thought about how beautiful he was, so powerful, swift and strong, and that I will need to have a heart like his if I am to pump out the energy needed for this shoot, and then immediately the wit side of my soul jumped to the fore and reassured me that I was half way there already, since I may not have the heart of a dog just yet, but I definitely have the MIND OF A DOG.

We arrived at Shannon and grabbed some coffee’s and waited, the flight was 15 minutes late. TICK TOCK TICK TOCK are they going to make it through? After some time passengers began to spill out of the arrivals gate, and Daithi got into position to document the hoped for moment of me delighting in embracing our most welcome guests. The doors swing open and a tall giddy looking character appears to have a snoop over the security line, he has a word with the security guy, and I sense that this is Sean, don’t ask me why, so I call to him, and right enough, it was. The other’s were through immigration and waiting for their bags as was he, but he was itching to get out and smoke. Alas I could relax that there were no complications, thank the LORD! Then after some time, a group appeared, initially I did not recognize Vinit, he seemed smaller than I had construed from that photograph of him we saw on www.creativecow.com where he just seemed to loom large next to his Red Camera, anyway I soon twigged it was him, and off I went to hug and welcome our new friends. Pamela was visibly tried but happy to hug, Vinti was fresh looking with bright generous eyes, and what appears a composed and competent personality. Pierre was strong and humble of aura.

The gang all piled into the crew cab and we headed for customs to get the SKID. Arriving to a few ladies still a wee bit sleepy, only to discover that it was still in transit from Dublin and would not be there until 2.30 that afternoon. SHIT!!! Now what?? we decided to push on for my house and possibly come back that afternoon or the following morning. Sean looks to be a large character, full of smiles and warm enthusiasm and so we all broke the mold and spirited a lively conversation which made the journey sail away. Vinit was also keen to chat and discuss some Irishry, as was Pierre, Pamela slept. And alas we pulled into the side of my home and the guys gasped at the sight of the expansive ocean and distant mountains that spread out to greet their tired souls.

They all unloaded their gear and came into the house to meet Daniel, and have a delicious breakfast prepared by my parents who are equally excited by this whole enterprise of ours. We all laughed and talked through an Irish fry up with lots of coffee and a magical view. Here they were, our golden crew on terra ferma, and delighted to be in Ireland, and music to our ears, wanting to go and see the location as soon as. Wooo!!! no flies, all business, let's rock. I called Brian Nolan and he offered to drive the van back in the morning to the airport to pick up the Red Camera and all it's bells and whistles. This was great as I saw it as a good opportunity for Vinit and Brain to get to know one another over the course of the drive, a four hour round trip. That afternoon we all went along to see the location and they were well impressed by Daithi and Kev's crazed masterpiece. Vinit and Sean scanning every detail and digesting the main course of what it was we are about to consume, and I can tell you we are taking one bit fucking bite of the APPLE.

After this I took the boys to Quinlins pub in Tralee for the best Guinness to be had and we all toasted to the coming days. The excitement and camaraderie was palpable on the air and it felt to me absolutely right that this quantum leap of trust should have transpired between Vinit and I as to my mind almost miraculously here he was smiling that handsome smile of his and raising a glass to the heavens. Next morning he and Brian pushed off early after I introduced them, and flew off on my cycle, with all fingers crossed that the equipment was going to clear customs without a hitch. A couple of hours later as we were once again at breakfast I get the call that THE EAGLE HAS LANDED. Praise the Lord.......

Agents and Air Freight (blog 15)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:46:00 +0000

So yesterday!! More last minute requirements from PS, and these ones happened to be simply differences of interpretation, but none the less have me back on the phone to Paul Jackson and hounding around for clarification. I could not believe it, this equipment was now packed and ready to roll, and here comes another detail with the proviso that UNLESS such and such is in place, we cannot let this kit go!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Then I eventually got it sorted, but that was happening pari passu with a new drama 'THE AGENCY AFFAIR'!!!!!

The actors contracts went out a couple of days before and now issues are being raised, initially simple ones, but nonetheless taxing, questions of inclusions and omissions, positioning credits, full card or sharing which means the actors name is shown either on a single card as in his or her name fills the screen floating there in the darkness, or else names share the card and so on. A lot of questions are being raised one after the other about the details of the contract and requests for clarification, cool, of course, and so I am back writing to and calling my Lawyer (Brian Gormley) and processing these concerns with him, and as we address matters, more begin to rise to the surface, but as he mentioned this could go on and on interminably and there is only a certain amount of help he can give as entering into negotiation with agents over contracts could well be a costly and time consuming affair. I can see another little black dot rising on the horizon to fly in and grow nasty over my little sunshine parade.

The details for the shipping were all finalized, the Carnet sorted and the following is how it all breaks down:

Cartage $75.00
Air Freight $1269.71
Customs and Handling $75.00
Carnet Fee $624.75
Bond $644.00 ($161,000.00)

That bond seems low to me, considering that we have insured for $315,000 worth of equipment. While most of these prices are once off, this is not a total per se, this is ONE WAY, shit!!! I was budgeting less for shipping, well I should say hoped it would be in that honey suckle ball park, now we are realistically looking at a shipping bill coming in as twice as expensive as I had forecast. With these corners pinned down, the budget has taken yet another body blow below my best wishes. And so we are back over budget again, and still the catering issue lingers like a large Italian Mother filled with a capable flowery fist to send me packing with a solid knock out blow.

Then comes the phone calls from Independent Talent Group and concerns regarding the contract and the rock fall of more intense mind training when it comes to dealing with legal speak and trying to keep everybody happy. Brian Gormley had informed me that for the fee that we had agreed upon and was all we could afford, that he could not enter into negotiations with agents, and this is exactly what happened yesterday, and so this is where I am going to be trawling all day today. Brian has already written me an e-mail as of 8.19 this morning informing me that he is busy until about 4.30 and after that he will phone me. By that time I should have enough subject matter issuing from all the agents to try as deftly and comprehensively as possible (and hopefully without incurring much more cost) send this potential gorgon packing back into its lair. Although now the precentage share in the talent pool is being questioned and I foresee a riot.

All the agents are being civil to say the least, and Greg Millard, Emma's agent, while utterly thorough with his break down of concerns and considerations, point by point, which at the time was a cloying weight due to the many other problems I was then dealing with, was also very kindly and supportive to my efforts. Yet these matters have to be addressed, and I am learning to swim and act as lifeguard at the same time. The contracts are involved and obviously legal mine fields, and so I am stepping light footed into the imagined arms of Fred Astaire, while unfortunately for him he has a big bearded Irish dancing partner rather than the fleeting delight of Ginger Rodgers. Better not loose my count now, got to remain poised with good carriage and equanimity, and finish this dance in a gentlemanly fashion.

There was no way I could drive Daithi and the boys to go and pick up this new Van that Des Adams has offered the use of. I was also planning on doing several wire transfers through the account, no go!!!! I had to stick by here in my new office/future editing room, and batten down the hatches until this particular blizzard blew over. Then to add injury to my already beleaguered condition my bank manager called to inform me that someone in the Bank of Ireland in Dublin had misplaced our forms requesting our vital Visa card, CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE THAT???? magnificent timing on their behalf, here I am having just managed to set up a company and get a business account literally two weeks before we begin shooting, and desperately awaiting a Visa which we had hoped to have on Monday, and today is Wednesday, and we are now informed that we will not have one until next Monday at the earliest. GREAT!!! More desperate phone calls to people apologizing about this and trying to persuade them that this is actually the case, can you imagine a client telling you this, YEAH SURE THE BANK LOST YOUR VISA INFO!!!! YEAH YEAH THAT’S OK!! SURE SURE!!! That’s fucking all I needed yesterday. Steven at Snail Trail in England has been great and was sympathetic to the story and will hold the VW until next Monday for us. I have been inspired to say the least by people while working on this production to date, I haven’t really met with one IDIOT. FINGERS CROSSED!!!!!

Some magical moments yesterday, picture a scene where Daniel is sat in question time with Gabriel Galway an exceptionally attractive eleven year old asking uncannily astute questions about the script, as Dan is blown away by his probing intellect. Then a visit to the main location where Daithi and Kev are well into the process of transforming the house, as we walked about and checked out the progress, while the two dogs gamboled about our feet. Then last night up at Alan’s house with Joanne binding the scripts with an old fashioned clunking mechanism designed for the days of laborious painstaking work, as we all sat about enjoying these unbuttoned moments, and our relaxed time together as a group of friends all coming to know one another under the light of this our most extensive creative adventure to date. And almost unbelievably the crew and Red Camera arrive tomorrow morning bright and early, fingers crossed, touch wood, and say a little prayer for all of the great characters that have showed courage and vision to come on board and make this an exciting, fun and to date inspiring journey.

The Earth Begins to Move (blog 14)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:07:00 +0000

Eventually but it is not yet sorted we have reached a figure of $315,000 worth of equipment to be insured which includes the Red Camera, The Sound Equipment, and all the extras from PS (Production Services, based in Canada http://www.psps.com/locations.html). But the guy who calls the final tune has left the office and while Paul tried his best to reach him, his mobile was off. And now I have the adumbration of a deal, but it will not be until the morning that I can send an amended cover letter from our insurance company, in which an agreed figure between all parties can be cut in stone and PS limited be written into our contract as Loss Payees and on and on goes the merry go round of double Dutch and blind Dutch courage without the booze. No gym or sauna for me today. Hard drives and 40 mini DV tapes have been ordered. Kev arrived over and will stay here for the duration as he wants to muck in and get down and dirty. Great to see him, we both kicked straight back into idiot, fun, creative energetics on seeing each other again jumping about the place like blasted guinea fowl.

Alan O'Sullivan and his wife Joanne are the steel cables in the back round holding this structure together. Night after night we have meetings to observe and contain the budget. Alan's book keeping skills are impressive and impeccable. Joanne is always there clearing the way for me and making endless organizing phone calls, and codifying the accounts, their involvement grows day by day, and their excitement is contagious. I can't believe how lucky I was to find both of their energies, to support and move this entire epic forward.

I had a great pitch conversation with Jason at Cine Electric for a hopeful deal with the lights, he will get back to me. We got the offer of Vans and what ever vehicles we need from Des Adams which is superb and very generous of him to want to help. The VW camper is being held until I get our Visa number by Steve at Snail Trail. John Naughten, is sending the copies of the forms we need for the anti money laundering proof of legitimacy for Spiderhole Productions Limited. Brendan Barret a local enterprising individual is off to London tomorrow and will seek out a hotel deal for us in Ealing, which is great. The Tickets are booked for 8 crew, cast, make up and me to leave Kerry Airport early Sunday morning the 11th of May. And I dealt with Robin Williams and had the status of the Carnet clarified, but I cannot relax until I hug Vinit, and tell him some yarns about Irish history on our way to Ballyheigue all sitting in a Van full of the latest camera technology and all about to embark upon the creative twister of a feature film.

Daniel has arrived and is in bed as I write this, we had a series of fun interviews with Priscilla Faye who will shoot the documentary. I thought it went well as an ice breaker, and we had some laughs, as well as capturing our first hour of footage shot at 25P (25 frames per second using a Progressive Scan) I am now three days into my second diet, which is a Cabbage Soup diet administered to patients as a prep for immanent surgery. A supposedly healthy mainstream technique, and a method of safely burning off excess weight, and for me a seven day trial, you can look it up on line, it is good. I have lost 10.5 pounds in 8 days and I feel great, although I could sense my daemon rising with the excitement and male conviviality bubbling over between us all this evening as one can of beer was passed round between them, and some cigarettes smoked, part of me would like nothing more then to nail some pints and get goofy and yet another part of me is determined to follow through and delay gratification until the fat lady sits on my face and I get to munch on the big juicy reward of a fanatical and focused vision.

A new day, 6.30, and the weather is glorious, clear blue skies over a tranquil perfect bay where a fishing boat, Pa Kane I suspect is already out after lobster. A thin glittering frost coated our car as I tramped out for my cycle this morning. Daniel who is used to waking at every turn of his wee baby Gem immediately responds to any movement I make sleeping in a bed along side his, this proximity helps us to hammer out issues and details and have a laugh.

Daithi and Kev will be rising soon as they pull of for the location about 8.30, they have been doing superb work. Between the two of these men you have probably the potential for nuclear fission, they both possess volcanic imaginations, are superb musicians, designers, inventors, and as unorthodox a set of genetic strains as I have ever come across. Daithi's vision for the interiors is manifesting day by day in consultation with Daniel. Kev is as industrious and capable as a van full of monkeys, all gigs and reels, and certainly a one man show. And like the Titans they are this mountain of a task is taking shape fast.

I spoke with Alan about the catering again this morning, and this really is an un-nerving situation, as I just made up the budget and at a casual computation it seems like we have like shoe laces at this stage to play with, but then again shipping has not been finalized and neither has the deal with lights, so I suspect both of those will suck down another couple of shoes, and so we will simply have to tickle some toes for shits and giggles, leaving us with no contingencies and the possibility of a potential catering bill cracking smack back like a laughing boomerang at my forehead. We will possibly have 20 mouths to feed for 21 days, both here and London, better get back on the pitch trail and pan handle for some more gold.

Yesterday had some great moments as various members of the PS team expressed their enthusiasm and support for what we are trying to accomplish, Penny Watier has asked about having the details of the film sent so that they can use it in their PR for the company. I am holding back at the moment from attempting to get any local or national press as I want to keep it as tightly sealed as possible until we get it done. I don’t want any un-necessary disturbances and unforeseen intrusions onto the set which would cost us valuable time. When we have it shot I will bust a gut and chase after stories, from the Irish end of the film spectrum, the British, and then American, as well from the various magazine ladies I have got to know down the years, such as Jo Craven at Vogue and Lucy Yeoman’s at Harper’s and Queen, as well as of course going for the actual industry rags and so on and so forth. All that will be dealt with in its proper order. For now it is all about the big issues of getting everybody and everything thing into the country and comfortably in place so we can all in unison shout ACTION.

A sky full of Geese (blog 13)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:10:00 +0000

Instead of a cycle this morning I decided to take a walk along the glorious beach of Ballyheigue, right outside my window. Felt a bit muscle bound yesterday after six days working out, although moderately (a word my Mother reckons does not exist in my dictionary) so off I went and strutted along surrounded by the wonderful sights of the sea shore, under a bright fresh sun scented blue morning. As I approached what is locally referred to as the Black Rock a magnificent scene unfolded as hundreds of Barnacle Geese flew low over the gently lapping waves, all in symmetry, conking away merrily in their world of industrious harmony. This acted as a trope instilling the impression of a peaceful balm over my spirit, which was much needed, BECAUSE! inside my head, despite Beethoven’s lyrical 7th Symphony actually playing to accompany and enrich my walk, mentally it was Wagner and the flight of the Valkyrie, and these sweet drifting Geese were more like Francis Ford Coppola’s choppers sweeping in for the kill. And like one of those acting Vietnamese fighters on the shore I could not duck for cover as the first BOMB OF THE MORNING whistled in, but had to run for my guns and HAVE A CRACK BACK AS THESE BASTARDS.

One simple e-mail this morning was my incoming missile, and as I opened it, it exploded. Vinit wrote ‘we should make sure PS gets their money for Monday please.' and that was enough to create a miasma of OH SHIT! inside my mind. Seems like someone has maybe got something crucially wrong. When I first pitched Vinit the film it was under the canopy of desiring to hire a Red Camera, then we stepped out from the shade and into the full light of actually discussing Vinit acting as DOP (Director of Photography) which utterly changed the ball park, there and then on the phone Vinit was telling me that he could offer an unbelievable deal should he decide to do that, and of course my little beak dropped open with excitement. Yesterday together we established and clarified upon a myriad of details, and I had possession of the complete equipment list coming into Shannon on the skid and boy is it impressive, all the bells and whistles, and that really means ALL OF THEM.

My offer was that I could pay Vinit and his crew, including the Red Camera, a fixed figure, which translates better when converted into the Canadian $ but is still a lot less than the regular price for that actual contingent of people with a basic kit for a similar period, never mind a super kit; after this there are innumerable expenses extra equipment and lenses, Primes Lenses, Zoom Lenses, and so on and so forth, I priced one classic Zoom for a three week rental here, and that was coming to 2,100 Euro!!!! GUUMMPPPPP!!!!!! One fucking lens!! Now to the core of this mornings Vietnamese cracker, the extra equipment Vinit was getting from PS was in my understanding all material he was able to gather together on his end and through his contacts to add to the over all production quality of the film, but not something we were expected to pay for, as we don’t have that kind of first class leg room, not by a long shot!!! And I had even sent Vinit a copy of the then Budget over three weeks ago, to illustrate where we were at. Maybe I am being a complete guff this morning and seeing problems where there are none, and all is in reality a soothing trope of perfect Geese sweeping down to land across the milky sunlight (as they did on my return journey) or else the world of nature is once again at odds with the inner world of man THIS MAN, whose mind is currently filled by the monstrous symphony of enfilading American choppers.

And the second squadron of attack comes in the shape my to-do list for Monday:

1. Wire Vinit money as he paid for all in bound thickets.

2. Establish dates for return journeys, and make bookings.

3. Insure the equipment and get a copy of certification to PS.

4. Book thickets from Shannon to Stanstead for Sunday May 11th.

5. Book the Ferry for Daithi and Kev to take the equipment to London.

6. Get our credit card details to Trew Audio and pay for the sound gear.

7. Make out a cheque for Shuttle Freight Logistics Inc (the skid).

8. Ascertain what status the Carnet is being made out under.

9. Meet with Gary Brosnan after picking Daniel form the airport.

10. Order Mini DV’s and three 2Terabyte Hard Drives from Komplett.

11. Pay for the VW camper Van and establish time for pick up.

12. Negotiate prices for the lights with Cine electric and organize pick up.

13. Deal with this uncertain catering dilemma.

14. Actors for the last three roles, 2nd Doctor, Daisy and Japanese man.

15. Sort out anti money laundering papers for Philip Lee Solicitors.

16. Get contracts to the agents in London.

17. Order Sam’s last make up requirements, and arrange transport.

18. Figure out a deal for Hotel’s in London.

19. Get Emma and George’s fit size for costumes.

20. Get Movie Magic to draft up the shooting script.

21. Sort out the child acting contract for Gabriel.

Monday April 14th 16.29 and I am in a war zone against the Titanic arms of the clock as this entire film package sways on a knife edge while I act the space filled ping-pong ball batted back and forth between PS and the pre-requisites of their insurance demands and my already in place insurance policy for the equipment which was settled on in the bank this morning as I talked through the process with the indefatigable Paul Jackson who has been a great support from the get go, this was done outside the door of the bank over the phone on my way in for a meeting with Tom Keane our account manager. We settled a premium which came to 632 euro for a liability of $217,000 Canadian and I got Tom to wire the money through there and then and send an e-mail to Paul confirming this transaction which for us would expedite the process of sending a cover letter to Toronto in order to enable that equipment stockpile that Vinit has garnered to be released and packed and the Carnet written up tomorrow for the Freight company to SEND ON OUT.

Not that simple!! PS need an insurance to the value of $250,000 for their equipment alone, and as I was communicating with various members of the company, Penny Watier who was in Los Vagas and Phil Reimer and Leslie Mercado in Toronto, filling in various forms on the run and bouncing phone calls, while knowing there was no way I could pick up Daniel at the airport and get him to a meeting with Ciara at Shindig, since it was now 17.09 and the bank is in fact closed, but I have a call in to Tom and am hoping he can wire money for me to pay for the ever adjusting premium, to assuage any worries they may have and exhibit to them that I am for real and in earnest when it comes to sorting all this out professionally. It is all last minute tilting tower of pizza, as the insurance has to be in place, the equipment has to be got to Shuttle Freight, the skid has to be packed, as it has to be sent to get here in time, and one delay could smash all the eggs. And I have to steward the process from my end with those bloody confusing play station 3 controllers while obscurely observing the play from 3000 miles away.

E-mails and incessant phone calls to Paul, he is away from his desk at a meeting, I have to get the policy changed and work out a new figure, on and on, we eventually get in contact with one another, his day is nearing an end, mine has no real end until who knows when. Umpteen e-mails are sent to try and clarify this $250,000 value, and I can visually see Vinit in my minds eye chucking more gear onto the golden heap, and the company trying to keep pace, and me trying to adapt on the fly to an illusive final figure. FUCKING BANANAS.

Trust and the last minute manoeuvres - blog 12

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:40:00 +0000

Vinit Borrison to the rescue. Vinit used his personal credit card to make the transaction happen, and there I was on a three way phone call admiring his courage and trust in me, while he read his card details to Tyler. This then allowed us to get the desired sound equipment and have it tested in advance, and then packed onto the Skid. Thank you Vinit. Now there is a little bit of context to this and something that has been needling my consciousness all this time, especially when I was giving over details of Alan’s card number to book the flights with his express permission of course, and at my instigation, to Magnet Films Flight Booker. Phone calls were being placed to the credit card company to be aware and observe an immanent transaction (this was an ordeal to set up and in fact never really happened, although we had a case should something go wrong as notice had been given). What happened to me was some incredibly, tacitly, deviously, dastardly, mutha fucker ripped me off over a Craigs List deal in New York.

I was chasing after a Canon 30D and found a superb deal, but the guy happened to be in Toronto, and so via the gigs and the reels and my enthusiasm and desire to make the deal happen, we arranged the whole thing, bank details exchanged and so on and so forth, and when push came to shove, he got the money and I got the custard pie…this guy was brilliant, a master confidence trickster, and one of the nicest sounding guys you can imagine, are you reading this YOU FUCK?? I’ve been your bitch in this life. Actually I forgive you, and hats off, as that was well done. YOU WANKER!!

So Vinit managed to broker that end of the deal, and we were rocking, then Daithi called over and he and I had to spend time looking over the receipts and the budget as it is tight, after which we went to the main location where the students were throwing a big party with some bands playing. This was great, a motley crew, although I didn’t really see anybody else for would be extras for the art studio scene. The bands were blowing up a storm and I was amazed to hear them playing Rory Gallagher, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, and everyone singing and bopping along to the lyrics. I was in a band when I was 19 called JUDE and we used to play similar material, which as of course even then back in 1990 was almost 20 years after the fact, and here I am 18 years later and the Buck has come round again to boogie. I got some video footage for the documentary. Then on my arrival back Vinit had CC-d me on an e-mail he was dealing with over there where insurance on the equipment is becoming a problem, and or some other details I cannot fathom just yet as I rang Vinit at about 12.45 and he said he would ring back but has not yet.

What exactly is happening I am not sure, but I know that while I have in place our employers liability, and public liability, to the tune of 19,500,000 euro, I held back from the equipment insurance as I still don’t have the exact list from Vinit of what will be on the SKID. I did go ahead with a wish list from him, as well as the sound equipment, and FAS equipment, which all came to a value of just over 160,000 euro and would have cost about 680 euro to insure. I had a chat with Paul Jackson our amazingly helpful and positive insurance agent, and he agreed that it would be a good idea to wait and get an exact amount and bring down the premium. Now this might just come back to bite the wrong end up, as I suspect Vinit will call me today looking for equipment insurance details, which I do not have, but could have by Monday afternoon local time here, and have to him by the crack of dawn there. Will this gambit work?? He is under pressure I think in obtaining all the gear he would like, and obviously has to answer to somebody else, SHIT!!! Another stressful waiting game now for me as I go out and find some more money.

Went into a local internet sales based excess digital company named digi-excess to see if I could get 6TB (terabytes) worth of new and reliable hard drives as we will need that if not more of storage space to capture these enormous 4K flies onto and store everything in duplicate…no joy so I will need to order these on line with MY FUCKING NEW VISA yippee on Monday, I hope there is enough latitude for the visa to handle all the transactions that are going to come gushing through all at once.

Blog 11 -Ever the diplomat-

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:58:00 +0000

Up at 6.30, i-pod in ears, bicycle out of the garage, random shuffle on, Serge Gainsbourg, ALRIGHT!! clear morning, and feeling good. Brian Gormley our lawyer came through yesterday, oh boy! but did he have me going for a second!! All is well, and being wrapped up as I write, ( I just looked at the clock it is 9.08 again, funny!!) he is as I have felt from the beginning a thoroughly hard core good guy, and now we have legal documents to beat the the band, template agreements between Spiderhole Productions Limited (SPL) and the investors, template agreements between the script writer and SPL, templates between the Director and SPL, between the Producer and SPL, template agreements for the crew, for the cast, for Gabriel the child actor (this is a special one, and for you young producer out there reading this, this agreement is just to add a little extra complication to your quiet life) and then the template for contributor’s release. That last one is for extra’s really, but also for anyone that talks on the documentary, and even for actors’s in the film that simply have a line or two to deliver. And after that all the actors contracts.

And now just for added drama, enter stage fucking head-on MONEY LAUNDERING, I hear you gasp ‘WHAT DA?? Well I know, I know!!! now that Ireland is air tight with regard to money laundering, I just got an e-mail ( since I have as of yesterday actually set to employing our lawyer formally) directing me to show absolute proof that SPL is a legitimate company by providing our ‘certificate of incorporation’ a copy of the ‘Memorandum and Articles of association’ a list of names and addresses of share holder’s holding 10% or more of the company, and a list of names and addresses of all the Directors of the company, so just go and get it done, whatever is required to set the base for your production firmly on a legal, lawful solid ground. GET IT DONE RIGHT.

The catering drama continues to linger as a probable 7/9000 euro expense for lunch and dinner, that money has not been factored for reasons already mentioned. I have spoken with the restaurants and some have simply dropped off as they could not compete with the best offer I had from Finnegan’s in Tralee. There is another guy right now, but interminably he loves negotiating and I don’t have the time, I just need to know how much per head, he wants to sit down and chat, we already did that. I don’t have the lunch time caterer in the bag either, so this fucker is sitting on my shoulders like a fat bastard, while I try to balance all the other plates on thin sticks and run about like a loony auditioning actors, assuaging Daniel's flotilla of worries about this that and the other and everything, phone calls in the hundreds, logistical acrobatics, making sure ends meet, while banging ahead and carrying the enthusiasm of other's tied on sensitive strings alert to the slightest flicker in my vision. I cannot flounder. And that is what you must learn if you want to produce a movie, YOU CANNOT LOOSE IT. And might be well advised to look up and read about the great diplomats from the past such as Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, as you will be required under pressure to think and think again when smashed by wave after wave of crisis, and you will need to get answers fast, and not under any circumstances, lose your composure.

OK I have got to get cracking now, tonight the students are having a massive party in the house and so I am going to go along with Daithi briefly and scout for extras for the art school scene. I found a great looking guy last night named Ozzy Quadrof who is from Brazil and cool as you like. Just saw young Sam also who opened the door for us that first day into the house, he has a Mohican going on, Travis Bickle back on the beat. I have to go now and get my little sand bucket and shovel and start shifting a mountain of SHIT!!!! See yaa!!!!

A lovely bright Saturday morning over looking the sight of a turquoise ocean. Our mountains across the bay exhibit the slightest dusting of powered snow, and the dawn morning pink is slowly slipping from the clouds. All is tranquil and vital and clam. IS IT FUCK!!!!!!!! Yesterday was a mini D-day landing for this beach head, THE SKID, and all the equipment which is still in a state of flux as regarding what extra sweeties we will have to add to the production value of the moive, in my mind exists like Mike TV scattered to a billion twittering fragments crossing the ether in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (what the fuck was Tim Burton playing at??) oh boy this is a serious moment. And I know Vinit is doing his utmost to broker the best deal possible, as he and I exchanged numerous phone calls yesterday, the SKID is cool and a company in Toronto named Shuttle Freight Logistics are handling that. I have been speaking with Robin Williams who seems a good egg and appears to be on our side.

A new word for me ‘Carnet’ and we need an ATA Carnet, hoo!!! fancy that, here is the definition: ATA Carnets ease the temporary importation of commercial samples (CS), professional equipment (PE), and goods for exhibitions and fairs (EF). They facilitate international business by avoiding extensive customs procedures, eliminating payment of duties and value-added taxes (minimum 20% in Europe, 27% in China), and replacing the purchase of temporary import bonds. So there you go and it will cost us $575 but will allow the all important equipment and Holy Grail of the Red Camera to be moved as soon as we arrive at the airport instead of potentially being blocked up in customs for days and days as we all lay around the set in deep despondency like a scene from ‘Aguirre Wrath of God’  (if you haven’t seen this, go get it, Werner Herzog) and that would not be FUN. NO NO.

So the biggest jig-saw of all is being built and fitted and wrapped and packed, I wonder what the image on the surface is going to look like by Tuesday when it should be lifting off the runway bound for KERRY. There are fences constantly busting the fetlocks of this galloping production, for instance Vinit and Alphonse both wanted to get the Sound Gear and run a check on it yesterday, but that required the equipment being paid for, so the hire company, Trew Audio, simply needed a credit card, WOOOOPS!!!!. I rang the bank this morning and our manager was not working so I had an exchange with his temporary replacement, only to establish that we will have a Visa number but not a physical card on Monday morning, yesterday was Friday, and meanwhile I got my balls tied in a knot knowing that this is a precipitous race to the deadline, yeah I can wire monies no worries as of last Monday, but I have not got a Visa number, hence with a certain sangfroid I am planning and drumming away and watching the dice roll toward an outcome that I have banked upon, but am yet to see in numbers, so those tumbling dice are an actual real energy upon which I am riding, but they could suddenly stop short and show up jokers.

Support from our friends blog.10

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:59:00 +0000

Had a good meeting with Gary Brosnan and his beautiful wife Ciara in relation to costumes. We had a lovely couple of hours together, initially tinkering with their wonderful kids as they were incrementally being packed off to bed and slipping back out again peek by peek to join in this intrigue. I pitched the entire deal to date as Ciara had not heard any of the real details so far, and we talked about various possibilities and they made numerous insightful suggestions to help make this a better movie. When Daniel arrives at the airport on Monday, our first mission will be to go and see Gary and Ciara at their boutique ‘Shindig’ and chose costumes, then Gary the following day is off to Barcelona where he can source the duplicates we will need. We are also trying to chase down mannequin limbs, Gary and I talked about this over the phone last night, and he is actually sourcing them for us and will buy them himself, as he can use them after the shoot. Monday last was catering and costumes in the evening after a full days banging on over the phone. And as it is now 9.08 in the morning and I have been on the move since 7 a.m. the banging on is about to begin again.

The 11th of April 2008 and I am feeling physically good after a cycle and now with a cup of hot water and honey, but that is where the snug bug little fuck head happiness ends!! Yesterday was a twister and as mentioned when rapidly approaching the start date under our present circumstances without all actual monies in place, one begins to reel from time to time as massive fundamentals start to raise their heads like grumpy Krackens and peer down at your wee little skeleton. In other words my beautiful baby of a budget threatens to morph into a little daemonic Damien. Alphonse A Lanza our sound guy had to make arrangements to change his thicket, as he has two gigs before arriving here, one in Amsterdam, one in Paris, so he is going to wrap with us in London and fly to Paris, then back to Toronto. I wrote to him suggesting he change his flight to return from Gatwick with the other’s. For his own reasons he went ahead and booked a change of flight yesterday which cost $595 Canadian, that’s cool, expect I could have a got a cheaper one with Zoom airlines, one way. No Biggy.

BUT!!! We have not booked the return flights yet for the crew as definite dates for their return have not been set in stone, they may want to spend a few days in London after the shoot, wouldn’t you? Meanwhile I am watching prices fluctuate on tickets like a stock broker whose heart rate races with the curve. A one way right now on say the 17th of May is 226 pounds sterling, I need to buy four of these suckers eventually, although another slight complication is that Pierre Branconnier the AC ( assistant camera ) wants to tour around for a while, which OK I can simply give him the money equivalent to do with what he wants at a later date. But this is basically ringing an alarm bell for the crews flights which I can deal with coming in at 3,000 euro, but the PLUS is staggering dangerously near my nice little bone china tea set and waving a stinking snack box about the place. Also I must book Daithi’s ferry from Rosslaire to Pembroke which is how the equipment is getting to London, and the generator, as well as making the call on whether we leave (the crew, Emma Griffiths Malin and I) via Kerry or Shannon as prices are not good from Kerry on Sunday the 11th of May, added to the above I don’t have our company Visa card yet!!!!!!!!

All the big hitters are weighing in now and come Monday I expect a massive rumble for our imaginary Visa card and real Bank account as money will projectile from its punched gut. The Skid (transporting container) is an unknown since Vinit is dealing with that, so shipping which I have factored may also take a wobble, all that gear has to get to Shannon, be ferried to England, ran round the city, zipped off to Gatwick and packed off for Toronto. WITH A FUCKING MASSIVE SIGH OF RELIEF.

Bringing in the big guns blog.9

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:30:00 +0000

The big issues are now in getting the equipment shipped from Toronto to Shannon. This will comprise of a skid with all the camera gear, sound gear and some lights. Vinit is dealing with this on his end and I am just keeping tabs and trying to make sure we can get as much as is possible on board that skid for the best possible price. I am imagining we should have that here by Wednesday or Thursday of next week. The lighting list that Vinit proposed is being dealt with as well, as in surgically, I am snipping off like a blind barber, and trying to reduce the costs as it is at the moment almost four times more expensive than what I have allowed for, got to keep it tight with the proviso that I can probably put more money that way when it comes down to it.

A big problem laughing in my face at the moment is catering. We had the possibility touted that one particular restaurant would handle it all and pretty much for free. IMAGINE THAT!!! But now that seems to have been a possible premature and highly unlikely prospect. I went around to several restaurants on Monday evening, and the best offer from a very good restaurant was 12 euro a head, for a choice of two starters and two mains, with tea and coffee, added to this they would mix it up every night. I mentioned that price to one of the others in the course of conversation and they were amazed, but that is still, let’s say we have 20 sitting down to dinner after shooting every night, that is five grand which I don’t have, and also we need lunch catered into the location everyday, another potential bill of at least 3,500 euro I would imagine. OH SHIT!!!! In a cavalier fashion we took for granted what might have possibly been a gingerly conversation between Alan and this guy, this might now come back to terrorize the budget.

It feels to me that the final aspects of the budget are the ones most fraught with anxiety, as everything depends upon such and such being in place, and I don’t have that delicious last 10,000 euro gold bar to wedge back the avalanche. Kevin Goodman did mention over the phone that he might invest, without any prompting from me, he was just excited by the possibility of it all, I wrote him an e-mail about exactly that and will wait to see his reply. Now the focus is on logistics, getting people in and comfortable, arranging transport at all times, thinking in advance about what requirements people might have, trying to keep it fun and constructive for all involved. I have to get moving on a party peg for this circus tent, got to get a space where we can swing.

We now own the domain www.spiderholethemoive.com and I have spoken with Robert Condon, a great friend of mine and a seriously talented musical mind, about designing a basic blog site to get us off the ground, he is cool with that, Robert will also do a sound track for the documentary, and design our website. Robert is to my mind an incredible composer in the making, a magnum of champagne just waiting to be popped. Paul Ashe yet another brilliant individual thankfully still living in Kerry, who is well cultured and versed has also offered to get involved and will host the site and keep it nice and juicy for those sophisticated Google requisites. Between Paul and his company www.zeitsolutions.com and Robert we will have two capable creative talents to handle this invaluable aspect of the possible PR surge. I just have to dream up the style, content and visuals.

Meanwhile back to the drawing board, and I am now nine pounds the lighter and feeling so much better. Did the three day fast, and also began a regime of cycling first thing in the morning, 7 a.m. at the moment, only for about three miles by the way as I have just quit smoking and have been a Slobadon for an age. Then at mid day I have been going everyday to the gym and using the sauna, added to the above a couple of fast paced walks along the magnificent Ballyheigue beach, for images of this, visit, www.bedandbreakfastkerry.com. Now I am going to supplement this with a protein diet, I had two fillet stakes yesterday, yum yum yum, pigs saucy bum!!!! The aim is to loose twenty pounds, and be capable of giving everybody support and energy over the course of the production without becoming depleted myself. Time will tell. Thank fuck my hitherto deleterious life style has presently been knocked on the head.

Blog 8: Band of Brother's

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:04:00 +0000

The balancing act now is in linking together those that can speak the same technical jargon and simply snip down the list so I can order whatever it is we have to possibly get here from CineElectic in Ardmore Studios, Bray, County Wicklow. Feeling this upper limit squeeze right now financially is not a great feeling, as it seems we are so close and yet? I have entered into the possible madness of a master cleanse right now to top it all off. Water, Grade B Maple Syrup, Lemon Juice, Cayenne Pepper, and that for as many days as I can, I might do 5 as I did that already during the summer. I feel way out of shape, like a slug, without any real or imagined exercise since at least last April, and smoking like a stink dog to boot. The excitement and anxiety of working on this the past two months gets me buzzing and I love to compliment that with contemplative cigarettes. But as of today that is getting kicked right the fuck out, as I am a SLOB and need to loose a stone and get mentally cleansed and physically capable of supporting, managing and entertaining a troop of about roughly 30 people. The state I am in right now is not good enough and I desperately need to get a handle on my inner health and well being.

This is going to be a serious test, no smoking, a minimum of 20 a day addiction, no drinking, and placing my body into the trials of a physical regime. Might go and make use of the gym a few miles up the road, and use their sauna everyday. Got to get militant and execute the fat clown within.

I have also had an issue with the Bank, as our company, SPIDERHOLE PRODUCTIONS LIMITED, is now set up with the CRO (company registrations office) this cost us 600 euro by the way, done by a very helpful individual named John Naughten, who has a corporate services company here in Tralee. But as I arrived into the Bank with our articles of memorandum for our bank manager to be, the company name was still not showing as signed over to Alan and I as directors, so the manager could not proceed, although we did get the tedious formal duties out from under our feet. As it happens by the next evening which was Thursday the 3rd of April, the CRO was showing that it had now changed the names of the company directors to our names, but alas yet another complication arose. The Bank does not buy its information directly from the CRO, so they cannot simply look into the site, which is a pay per view, they wait to see updates from their third party company, who buy their information every couple of days, and as Bank procedure is such, we still do not have a functioning back account. And what is more worrying is that we will not have a Visa card for possibly 5/6 days after the account opens, which I am hoping will be on Monday, and I want to lodge two cheques ASAP.

Today is Thursday the 10th of April, 10 days to go before we begin shooting. I have lost contact with my lawyer which is a little worrying as I need the contracts sorted, have been calling him and leaving messages the past two days, ZERO! I called all the agents yesterday to inform them that the contracts were being drawn up, which is true as Brian Gormley and I went over that, and said that I would e-mail them ASAP, they were all fine and seemingly in no rush anyway, COOL. I don’t think the potential investor Alan and I pitched to last week will come in somehow, I called him Tuesday and he said that he was sitting on the fence and needed to speak with his business partner, bad omen, he asked me to phone the following day, I did that, this time he was with a client, would call me back, worse omen. I will leave it now to Alan on his return from Holiday, as he knows the guy.

A great friend of mine is coming on board to help out over the course of the production and shoot, Kevin Goodman, my co-writer in the band DUCK that I formed in London back in April 2001 initially for a gig at the Kings Head organised by Charles Asprey and I, where we played covers from Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy and AC/DC, we then went on to write original songs and so on. He is a great character and was involved in one of the short video sketches entitled ‘The Clone Brother’s’ that Daithi and I shot back in Daithi’s apartment, we did a number of these and they are the little seeds that got the ball rolling on this project. You can see these on my my space page www.myspace.com/artfinger.

When we made our little sketches I would upload them to Youtube and send the links to friends, Daniel being one of them. He always raved about how much he enjoyed these idiotic episodes, and I think felt utterly frustrated at his position which has ground to a terrible halt from that previous hectic summer flying about scouting locations and being limoed left right and centre. I insisted he come over and join us for a few days and we all knuckle down and make one short each over a three day period, he was excited so I booked him a thicket and now here we are, nine weeks later very close to making his first feature film. Kevin Goodman will drive for us in London amongst other things, we are hiring a silver VW camper van as one of the major props, Kev will drive this at the crack of dawn and pick up the actors form their various addresses, and Daniel from his, and get them to the set. The plan is when and if we get a deal on a hotel, that the crew, including Diathi and I, will all be staying at the one hotel from whence we will be making our way to the locations.

Sound of the pretty pink pig

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:37:00 +0000

So now I have gone over budget, and am waiting to hear by how much in relation to what equipment the sound mixer, Aphonse A Lanza, requires. I am calling Brian Nolan to try and get a communication opened between the two of them as I cannot relay what would be available to us from FAS with any descriptive authority. They exchanged one e-mail I think, and Brian and I had a conflab on the phone, and yes Alphonse quiet rightly wants the best, so after a rummage idea here and there, I simply said ‘fuck it’ I will go and get some more money, which we will need anyway as we were there and then busting buttons in our pants and just about alive under a firm financial threshold. I went out on the pitch trail again, more conversations over the phone and e-mails. Jaw flapping detail yapping, b-ding-b-dang-b-ding!!!!! I had two phone calls that each lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes where a friend over the phone listened with intrigue at this by now accruing substance and pitch technique, pretty far from the first days with Alan, this bone had taken on muscle and hitched on boots and a skirt since then.

I then entered into the waiting game of at least 3 days before I would hear back, after which time it turned out that neither could reach out under their present predicaments even though they were very keen and completely aware of the potential of this, RISK FACTOR kicks in differently for everybody. I was not disappointed, just a little set back as I had thought at least one of these individuals would have had a little more of an adventurous spirit. But it was cool and I just had to rock on. Alan and I went to a friend of his, who owns a large car dealership, and pitched it again, and a good pitch it was, this was on Friday the forth of April. I will call him on Tuesday and hear what he has to say. But as of yesterday we have another individual, a local character, and he has come in for a percentage investment which is great, and I am delighted to see this kind of imagination put forward, this now was a confirmed example of how lucky I was to pitch to Alan O'Sullivan first day, he is steadily steping into the role of Executive Producer and completely supporting my efforts. Now finally I could tell Alphonse to go ahead and get the sound equipment he wanted which included 4 Micron TX700 Lavs.

Hence I am waiting on that Tuesday phone call, with fingers crossed, and hoping for at least another healthy euro investment. I had a meeting a couple of days ago with Priscilla Faye, an attractive young woman who has agreed to use her camera (JVC GY-HD 100) to document all the footage we will need to make THE MAKING OF SPIDERHOLE. She was very happy to have been asked, and seems delighted to be involved in the process, which is what I like to hear. We discussed some ideas about how the documentary should come across, and I will allow her as much input as she wants. Brian made the suggestion of using Priscilla, I had not really met with her before. I am thinking of maybe calling to see her today as I would like to see what a 25P (25 Frames per second shot using a Progressive scan) image looks like on that camera, and also the other frame rate settings, so as to set a look for the doc. We might also use an old 8mm Canon 514XL-S that Kevin Hannafin gave to me as a gift a few months ago. To date I have been capturing the preliminary happenings on my Panasonic NV-GS400, a great little DV camera.

I actually haven’t had a real exchange of any significance with Vinit Borrision for well over a week, I know that he is busy, but I am anxious to establish that we have all the equipment we require, and also want to fix the price for the shipping, knowing that there are a number of items I must hire in Ireland to bolster up the bag. It seems now that monies will be needed for catering which have not been factored in to date, as Alan was given the impression that we would be getting an exceptional deal form a restaurateur in Tralee, oooohhh...NO!! I am beginning to see a big bill here coming off the horizon like a sling shot aimed at my head many moons ago. SHIT!!! And here I am again with my nose like a pretty pink pig pressed to the glass.

Blog 6 - One step at a time -

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:58:00 +0000

I have just got tentative permission also to shoot in yet another instrumental location, the doctor’s waiting room and surgery. I will speak with the doctor tomorrow morning and perhaps go and see it. Also I am holding talks with the actors group The Beehive Theatre in Dingle as we will need some other actors for the minor roles. Added to this I am dealing with AON insurance in Dublin for our quotation, we will have an employers liability of 13,000,000 euro and a public liability of 6,500,000 which will also cover us for the London shoot.

Alan in his brilliant fashion has also added a seven seater van to the pool with a built in generator, the house we are shooting in has a pitiful electrical set up, and a generator will be essential, this van will travel to London ahead of us and will be used to ferry people around during the night shoots. A VW van is being rented as well, a larger than pocket size prop. Added to the above the equipment will also have to be insured, ramping up the premium.

I have engaged the services of a seemingly high end Film Law lawyer, Brian Gormely, this will be expensive but is absolutely necessary for us to be capable of simply qualifying for E&O Insurance, a requisite in the industry as no distributors will touch us without that in place. And the chain of legal release forms from all involved, have to ultimately reside within the company. Brian has been great, an enlightening voice for me along the way, as I have to call on him numerous times. Contracts have been a pain.

Right now as I type this I got the confirmation for the flights last night of the Toronto crew, booked a flight for Alphonse A Lanza the sound mixer coming in from Paris, and I am waiting on hearing of the possibility of more much needed money from London. I haven’t done any editing myself as it was an initial possibility that I might edit the film with Daniel, I am not sure how realistic that would be considering the technical challenge of dealing with the massive Red Camera files, even though we plan on doing an initial HD edit of the footage. I have Octavius’ Black's Wedding yet to edit, Barry Murphy’s wedding also. these I shot as gifts and I promise if either of you are reading this to get round to them ASAP, as well as a gig of a friend of mine named Joe Corre with his band Error Fatale which I shot before Christmas. In other words I have a fuck load of study to do not to mention the process of conceiving the structure of the documentary!!!!!!!!!! Harrayyy!!!

I think the possible main skill one needs to develop as a producer is ones ability to instill confidence and inspire all those around you with the enthusiasm needed to see beyond present circumstances. And to look at little deeper into a matter that might seem a forgone conclusion as actually being possible. That is something that comes with lives myriad experiences and ones own peculiar penchant for romanticism. I am sure there are many types of producers, and I suspect I am most probably atypical, as I am not really a business person, but I can use language, and the power of words to conjure the obvious and/or latent potential for vision in other’s. I feel that most people would love to do something different and interesting given the chance and the right set of circumstances. Life can become overtly predictable and mundane, why not mix it up a little and try your hand in a titillating gamble, especially one that teaches you more about your own character , while also allowing you to see behind the scenes, literally.

I am sure I will have a few gray hairs after this and that might be a small consolation to some of my great friends that are being real men and women, out there raising families as I cavort about the place. I feel privileged to be able to be in the position to do this, and I am going to do my damnedest to pass on what I will experience and learn to you for what it is worth

Daniel and I have had some pretty gritty arguments of late which arise from anxieties I expect. Daniel has had many years of disappointment and certainly no help when it comes to making films, I can’t understand knowing that some people rather close in his circle and involved in the industry have never thrown him a bone. And I expect that his fractious and querulous behavior has something to do with that, but nevertheless Daniel and I have a great laugh together and I know his love for film, and I am committed to stand by him and be the one that helps him climb into his own natural stride. He and I fight furiously, going from a jolly stride to a WHITE HOT tempered bust up, and then back again equally as fast. And personally the fact that people don’t often enough stand by one another and support creative energy in their friends gets on my tits.

The Actors (part 5)

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:22:00 +0000

On screening the footage from the actors that showed up in Soho House for the auditions, Daniel, Daithi, Alan and I were present. Daniel was pretty sure already about George Maguire, that was a given and we all agreed.

But there were uncertainties for his fellow actor, that was until we saw the performance of Reuben Henry-Biggs.

There and then I was convinced and with the same enthusiasm that has brought me this far, vocalized that this guy is a star. I loved his face immediately, the guys were of mixed opinions, but I rammed home that this guy has to be Luke, he is incredible, and perfect for the part, and would provide the perfect dynamic in opposition to George's energy. Within minutes I think everyone else was on board for that and so we made the decision about who the two male leads would be to bring to life Daniel’s script.

I had numerous lively impassioned conversations over the phone with Emma Griffiths Malin. Daniel had attracted her to the role of Molly, and they met from time to time to discuss matters. Emma is a whirlwind amongst many other things and literally brought truck loads of baggage to substantiate her part. She is a fan of horror and musicals and a bloody good actress, she did not have to audition for the part as thanks to YouTube we could see her abilities and trusted that she was more than capable of bringing vitality to the role.

We now had our cast, as in the main players, Amy Noble had been first on board.

John E Regan was a suggestion of Daithi’s an Australian theatre actor, living in Galway with an amazing face, this again we left to faith and trust, as indeed I trust Daithi’s aesthetic implicitly. Eventually we had a sort of casting with John on SKYPE one day, Daniel spoke with him and asked him in his own unique fashion to carry out certain acting scenarios for us live there and then. It was clear to all of us that yes his was more than an interesting face.

With all the actors being contacted and accepting happily our proposition, and negotiations going on back and forth with attempting to drum up an entire Red Camera crew from Toronto, Alan decided to come in for another investment, which was most welcome. Now I was working with a healthy budget and closer to the goal.

I had approached two friends that I thought might come in for another possible investment, but it turned out that they had too much on and so Kevin managed to secure another amount equivalent to a 2.5% stake of the production from a friend of his, so now having reached the initial desired budget before which I had actually gone over, it I still find that things are too tight, in fact a little confusion regarding the sound crew that Vinit has managed to call on board has occurred. I was offering X amount for the crew and was assuming equipment was coming with that, but no, so anyway we have the team but without equipment, so I have to hire that as well as extra lights and so on.

I had a conversation yesterday (March 29th) with a great business minded friend of mine who has recently moved from NYC to London, we had a one hour forty five minute phone call where I hurtled at her the entire pitch as I have done so many times with different individuals to date, she is interested and reading the script on Monday. She would be a superb mind to have on board especially when it comes to the finish line tactics and manoeuvres concerned with approaching the bigger financial players out there.

Waiting to acquire permission to shoot in the house was somewhat agonizing as we had built our hopes and in fact Daniel has begun in earnest the process of seeing the film in that house. We were on a cliff edge and had to approach the owner via his real estate agent, it took about a week to actually get an answer and I had to do some pestering, but alas we got it just before Easter and what would have been an insufferable delay stretching over another 5 days including Bank Holidays. This extra added insecurity to undermine Daniel's mind alas was now put to bed. But as one major factor subsides another looms, actual commitment from Vinit and his team, outside of the infrequent communiques via e-mail and phone calls due to his present work commitments consuming their time in Toronto, phone calls back and forth have dwindled somewhat!!!

laying the corner stones section 4

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:17:00 +0000

We arranged to come back that night and meet at 8 O’Clock with the rest of the students, and we arrived with my Mac Book Pro and there I was sat in their kitchen the only warm room exuded via the fire place, as there is no heating in the house, surrounded by a cool gang of motley individuals, as I pitched once again the story of this film. They were all open and eager and in fact two of them, Jerry Fitzgearld and Ray are both actors and had recently put on a play of Glen Garry Glen Ross at their college, and were keen to read for the acting roles. Jerry is in the process of creating a student film festival in Kerry, and although he did not get an acting role will work on the film while we shoot in the house, Ray will be away in Australia at the time. This is a great opportunity for him to get first hand experience by simply getting up early and walking down the stairs after his mornings toiletries.

Daniel came over again on Monday the 10th of March for three days to see what progress had been made on the ground as well as to work on the props necessary with Daithi as Daithi is our more than competent in fact brilliant Production Designer. The afternoon Dan arrived his plane was delayed by three hours as we had some heavy storms blowing through Ireland and England, added to that a farce where the Bank of Ireland screwed up a money transfer into his account from mine which left him penniless, especially for that all important previous Friday to meet with the actors in Soho House. I eventually got that money back and gave it to him the day after he arrived. With no time to waste we drove from the airport and had our second meeting with all the crew in the house, video footage of which I shot for a planned documentary we are making on the making of the film, Jerry did his screen test as well that evening. We visited the house again the next day this time Alan came and met Daniel and joined us as we photographed the house and measured it out. We all then went to see the second location which Daithi and I happened across while searching on that faithful day for our desperately needed new main location. LOCATION LOFUCKINGCATION.

Shit! I just got some bad news while writing this, a friend of mine named Paul Fryer called me to tell me that Angus Fairhurst has killed himself. God Rest His Soul. He was a good man. He and Sarah Lucas, Abigail Lane, Paul Fryer, Padraig MacEgan and my great friend now also deceased, Donal na Greine, all had a few days together here in Ireland back in 1997, and now two of those souls have gone, it makes me sad and yet passionate as a lust for life must be drummed up from sometimes banal interior states of despondency, and making this film work is an act of exactly that, trying to make living here in Kerry while a magnificent county when it comes to mother nature, it can sometimes be rather dull. Angus’ death will be a terrible loss to a lot of people.

The second location is a 1970’s house in the Spa owned by a lovely couple Brendan and Regina who have been very welcoming. We all went along to see that, and had a chat with Brendan, then went for lunch and talked out logistics. Daniel and Daithi worked day in day out on the shooting script and room requirement layout as well as on props. Daniel will come again probably on Monday the 14th of April as we are scheduled to begin shooting on the 21st for 18 working days in Ireland including Saturdays as well as three days in London, the logistics of which are also extremely involved and costly. Daniel has done lots of painstaking work in organizing that end in relation to scouting out locations and enquiring after parking suspensions.

I have also been working on setting up a limited company here to be entitled ‘Spiderhole Productions Limited’ Daithi and I had a meeting with John Naughten about that on Friday the 14th of March I think, then we had to go back to him on the following Tuesday with regard to good advice he gave on the structure of the company. Alan and I had a meeting with Philip Manzor our account on the Thursday that Daniel left, he has a very sharp and keen mind and is also a good adviser. We should have our articles of memorandum on Wednesday with which to open a business account with the Bank of Ireland, I have had a few phone calls with a young manager in there named Tom Keane who has been very helpful, and it appears if all is in order then we might have a functioning account that evening. This is essential as we will need transparent accountancy details when it comes to applying for a possible finishing grant from The Irish Film Board, Sarah Dillon has been very helpful from that governmental body.

A lot of the aspects of Brian Nolan’s initial concerns in relation to the setting up of the necessary structures of making a feature film have now been set in place, while oddly enough Brian I know is harbouring excitement about it all, he is not overtly on board so to speak. I know he has plenty of other projects on the go, but I did think he might be more full on in the process of this pre-production to date, having written that he has been there on call when I needed to know something everytime, and did come out for a meeting one evening here, where Alan, Daniel, Daithi and I trashed out various elements of the plot. I had wanted to pay him and give him a percentage of the production but I was left unsure as how to structure that myself as I was not at all working with him on the same level of exchange as everyone else, hence he has relinquished my initial offers as all Brian wants is to see the film get made, and he is happy to do whatever he can for free, this type of selfless behaviour is inspiring to me.

Post no.3 onward and upward

noreply@blogger.com (SpiderHole) — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:07:00 +0000

Our then DOP mentioned to Daniel over their first conversation that he might have the possibility of getting his hands on one of these beauties (or beasts). We entered into price negotiations with a couple of English companies during the process of which the daunting reality of this new technology became all too apparent, regardless of this I had set my mind on it no matter what. The quotations from London were budget busting as we now realized we would require an expensive team to handle this new pretty much uncharted territory. A DIT to handle the technical requirements, at 250 pounds sterling a day, and a a first AC at yet another significant sum.

Kevin Hannifan who had lived in Toronto had given me contact details for a friend of his named Peter Parks, a man that runs a serious camera rental company in Toronto. Peter had kindly offered some advice, my next e-mail to him was in relation to the Red Camera, he replied that he did not have one, but gave me the contact details for a guy that did. Vinit Borrision. I called him immediately and on answering his phone he was pelted under a torrential RANT from a delirious yapping novice Irish Producer who initially was in hot pursuit of a pricing deal and by the end of the phone call was offering him the option of being the DP of the film.

Vinit told me that should he decide to do that on the strength of reading the script, that he would give me an unbelievable deal. Little did he know that I thrive on all things unbelievable.

By then unfortunately Daniel had lost confidence in our English DP and in fact he had just left the day before after having come over for his second stay in Ireland, the above mentioned phone call was made Friday evening, March 14th. That which was looking an impossibility, the prospect of shooting with a Red Camera had now become a contender once more. Fingers crossed that Vinit would like the script. Meanwhile Daniel was researching the camera on sites like www.creativecow.com and low and behold came across a picture of Vinit with the camera in all its glory at a symposium in Montreal for Final Cut Pro users and DP’s over there. What were the chances of that?. Daniel was now incredibly excited that he was now teasingly about to have the possibility of having his first feature shot on a camera that will basically have a '35mm' look. No farting around with lower level cameras, I was getting closer to putting into his hands the best possible camera for the job at this point and time.

All of this was going on while I was here studying and learning the trade on the run. At night watching videos on line into the late hours from www.freshdigital.com that were incredibly enlightening for me as I needed to converse with everybody on so many levels.

So here I was learning about the importance of a focus puller and being blown away by what that entailed; anyone reading this will probably laugh at the absurdity of my largess in proportion to my ignorance, but there you go, I say, jump the FUCK in at the deep end. My initial interest beside the fact of a couple of years back in the mid to late 90’s attending the Everyman Cinema in Hamstead in London watching many of the great master pieces from the spectrum of world cinema greats, to my recent early forays into actual editing, and previous to this having written two scripts. And now Producing a feature from scratch. A-Z learning curve in a matter of months, and WHY NOT! My role as a Producer will be to initiate, coordinate and supervise matters such as fund raising, hiring key personnel, and arranging for distributors. But I think this film will be somewhat different as well as the above I am going to have to create the entire vision for where can go and what we can accomplish as a group of talented and courageous individuals, and inspire people to do more for less on his particular adventure.

Meanwhile back on the battle field we had gone through the ordeal of loosing our first chosen location, I recommend not making the same mistake I did by banking on what seems perfect and seeking out more than one location to suit your needs. That same day we went out and found another perfect location, but did I heed the advice I just gave you above? Did I fuck!!! And this lead to another slightly torturous and anxious wait with regard to seeking permission to shoot there after once again setting our hearts and minds upon it. This time we had found a brilliant house built in 1829, Bellmount House, and lived in by a group of interesting somewhat anarchical students. We arrived one afternoon to witness loads of beer bottles and cans all scattered by the front door. Daithi and I had actually come here once before as the house was known to Daithi, during that visit we saw signs of life and thought that a family must be in residence, so we just drove away without further enquiry, it seemed a forgone conclusion. This time it had the hallmarks of what we had hoped for all along, a mecca for students who love to party.

We met with Sam who unwittingly opened the door and was a cool, attractive young musician who showed us around. Our first sight was that part of the ceiling had fallen in in the entrance hallway, the aftermath from a big party one night where someones foot went through the floor. The rooms were huge with grand high ceilings actually in tact!! But the basement was the real gem, great big rooms, one of which houses the band equipment where they can play and rehearse full steam ahead without any grief as there are no immediate neighbours to hector at the noisome mayhem of these students untrammeled nocturnal exploits. Music to our ears.