Much finished, much more to do

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

High school. Done! Script for Complexity. Done! Casting of roles. Done! With so many items checked off his to-do list, maybe filmmaker Adam Bogoch can relax a bit this summer. Not a chance.

“It didn’t seem real, or like it was actually happening,” said Adam about grad. “I just showed up and everyone looked so beautiful and there were photos and I’d smile, then the night was over.... I think it was a successful night for King David and for the graduates. I won the entrepreneurial award, which was an honor. It’s hard to sum up that whole day; it was amazing, but way too short. My thanks go out to all who organized it and all who attended, but most of all the graduating class!”

With school over – for now – Adam can direct all of his attention to his film, which is well into the production process. The script was finalized in May and casting was recently completed as well.

“The last additions are big ones,” said Adam. “Veteran actress Elizabeth Connor will play our lead antagonist, Sylvia, who makes Clara’s life miserable. Clara will be played by Emilie Ullerup and Emilie’s boyfriend, Kyle Cassie, a Leo Award-nominated actor, will play a lawyer named Calvin. Kyle is best known for CBC’s jPod, in which Emilie also starred, and he has been on Andromeda and The L Word.

“As for crew,” continued Adam, “we have signed cinematographer Paul Mitchnick as our director of photography (DOP). Paul is so incredibly out of our league ... oh yes, we recognize this! He’s brilliant; he’s been involved with X2: X-Men United, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and was the DOP for the award-winning film Fetching Cody. On our other camera, we have Harvey LaRoque. Harvey is on Paul’s level of experience and talent. Harvey’s been involved with X2, Elektra and I, Robot.

“We’ve hired our sound guys, camera assistants, the gaffer, wardrobe supervisor, the grip; we have our make-up artists from Vancouver Film School, we have our stand-ins for Emilie and Patrick Spencer, who plays the male lead. We ... well, we have who we need!”

There will be a read-through of the script by the entire cast on June 28. “A couple hours after, we will begin rehearsals for two days, to get everyone in tune with everyone else and themselves,” explained Adam. “Not only will I be running rehearsals with Mattie [Shisko], but I’ll also be involved in making sure that I, as my character Parker, am in the right place before we begin filming on the fifth of July.”

Lest anyone think that filmmaking is a unidirectional process, Adam shared the following story. After a day at school school, after addressing several issues raised by Mattie, his producer, via text-messaging, and after a few phone calls, he went for a run.

“When I’m on my run, I get a text, ‘Call me, I’ve had an epiphany.’ So I call Mattie, she tells me I need to add more to the script because there’s a moment missing ... the script’s been finalized for a month and I have another re-write ... another re-write means more time at a certain location, more time for actors and crew to be there ... more money to be spent.”

Among other challenges are finding locations and wardrobe.

“Locations have been a huge issue,” said Adam. In addition to affordability, he also has “to go to each one and make sure it works, how many electrical plugs they have, what parking is like, what the natural light is like, if I have any shooting ideas for each particular location and so on.”

Adam and assistant director Anthony Epp work together to schedule all the actors and crew for locations that may end up changing. “I can’t even explain it properly ... it’s stressful,” said Adam, adding, “Luckily, Anthony does most of it.”

As for wardrobe, Adam is working with Allan and Ava Loomer to make sure all the characters have everything they need. About the items the Loomers can’t provide, Adam lamented, “Why the hell are clothes so expensive?! It’s so important though.... When the audience is watching these characters, they have to believe that they’d wear what they wear.”

The pace seems incredibly hectic and, while Adam might get “15 texts” and a call “an hour later from Mattie, giving me 20 other things to do,” he’s not the only one stressed out. In response to Adam’s request to Mattie to contribute to this article, she e-mailed, tongue-in-cheek:

“‘Six sentences,’ Adam says. ‘All you have to do is write me six sentences for the article ... you write me more in an e-mail every day!’ Sure Adam, no problem, when would you like me to do that? Maybe at 6 a.m., when I’m responding to four overnight e-mails from my first AD [assistant director] and seven e-mails from my cast members who would like to know exactly which days they are working. Or how about in between the three phone calls in less than half an hour from my DOP that I have to take while I’m grocery shopping because, at 9 p.m., I’ve realized there is nothing in the fridge for the kids’ lunches tomorrow and I run around Safeway trying to remember to book the Panasonic 300 rather than the 170, or was that the other way around? Or maybe after I let my B Camera man go because we couldn’t give him enough money, or in between deal memos, union waivers, insurance quotes, casting, begging talent to come and work for free or balancing a budget when nobody knows exactly how much money we will have. Or, after a 10-hour teaching day, getting my five-year-old to his softball game ... without his mitt ... phone glued to my ear because my eight-year-old is running a fever and my babysitter bailed coz she has a date. Or maybe I could get it done after my director has text-messaged me for the 15th time at 11 p.m. asking if I’ve done that article yet! Sure Adam, finding time as your producer to write six sentences shouldn’t be a problem at all!!!!!”

Putting together next month’s column should be interesting.

Making a high-quality film costs a lot of money. According to Adam, “The response has been good, but we need great!” To purchase a credit, send a cheque payable to Redhaired Productions, 6209 Tisdall St., Vancouver, B.C., V5Z 3N5: executive producer (title credit) is $5,000 and up, producer (title credit) is $2,500, co-producer (end credit) $1,000, associate producer (end credit) $500, and thanks (end credit) $100. For more information, contact [email protected].

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