In-World War

Rehearsals begin today

Yup. We're officially one week away from the start of production.

Lots of locations are getting approved and locked. I feel like we're WAY ahead of where we were at this point with locations on Quality of Life. But, we still need more extras and background actors, so if you're interested in being an extra or background actor, contact [email protected]

And today is the first day of rehearsals.

I guess I should go to bed to get some rest beforehand eh?

Screenplay locked.

After a near-all-nighter (it's about 4am), I'm done revising the screenplay. I'll probably make tweaks on the set, but this is the version that's going to press.

Rehearsals start on Monday.

Many planets are aligning, but a few bodies still need to move into their proper orbits. We have a ton of work to do yet on pre-production (yikes), but we're still looking good assuming we work our asses off.

And assuming we get some donations. Every contribution counts -- no matter how small. Please donate now to get us the resources to start strong. It's tax-deductible, in case you hadn't heard.

Sorry, but I gotta keep asking.

One week to go until production begins.

Doing the impossible without a day job

I left my day job yesterday. I'm all in.

Some have said we're crazy for trying to produce a complex sci-fi feature film without a huge budget. We're about a week and a half from the start of production and we understand what they mean.

We're feeling the pain of not having money to throw around and solve our problems.

Pre-production is down to the wire. We need to lock more locations. We need to get props and wardrobe worked out. We need crew signed up. Plus a million other things. All without copious amounts of that magic social lubricant called cash.

It's like rolling a dozen boulders uphill, one after another, all in a row. If one rolls back, they all do.

This DIY filmmaking thing is pretty much an impossible dream, it seems. Sounds great and rebellious and ambitious and daring. But the reality is hard hard work and limited options, highly constrained by resources and by day-jobs for many of us. As the pre-production grinds on toward the inevitable start of production, we're leaping into the unforgiving gap between hopes/dreams and bitter reality.

All of us wonder: will this movie get made? Will it all come together? Shouldn't we get safe, comfortable jobs with a ton of security? Shouldn't we just give up, since the mountain is too tall and we are so small?

But a funny thing is happening.

As we work, as we meet, as more volunteers join the team, ask for favors, look at locations, audition actors, seek help and invite people to join the team -- a possibility has begun to emerge from the cloudy shadows of hype and hope.

We can see the outlines of a real movie starting to materialize out of thin air, like Kirk and Spock beaming down from the Enterprise.

A real genuine no-bullshit camera-rolling, actors-acting-on-location, carry-gear-around, set-up-the-lights, strike-the-set, feed-the-crew, prep-the-next-location, distribute-the-call-sheets, sign-the-paperwork, get-the-insurance, back-up-the-drives and keep-moving-always-keep-moving, failure-is-not-an-option motion-fucking-picture is being born.

Sometimes the impossible can give birth to a beautiful, beautiful thing.

In the meantime, we have a ton of work to do. So back to the grind.

[If you believe in this cause and want to see it succeed, a cash donation today is more effective than hopes, dreams and fairy dust. After all, cash is still king.]

Current status: diving into the deep end

We're less than three weeks before production begins and we've got an unending list of things we need to do.

This was our experience making Quality of Life as well: every time we sit down to do work, the to-do list gets longer, not shorter.

But we have a crack team of hard-working, smart, dedicated filmmakers working on the project and chipping away at the list. And more are joining up every day -- and nearly all are volunteers, giving their time because they believe in the film and want to create something amazing.

Here's a quick rundown of what a few members of our team are working on -- to give you a taste of how much frantic human activity happens in the weeks leading up to an indie film like In-World War:

Casting director Mariel: all main roles cast, offering additional roles to actors we saw in auditions. She is casting about 70 speaking roles, in addition to many dozens more of featured background actors. 

Assistant director Sarah U.: Revising the shooting schedule and creating the 2nd unit shooting schedule (for our guerilla shoots in NYC and Europe).

Line producer Sarah F.: recently stepped up to help with Line Producing and is heading up the location scouting operation (a major activity that nearly everyone is helping with). She's also developing a comprehensive pre-production checklist for the remaining tasks, listing who is responsible for each. She's planning our behind-the-scene footage as well. Lastly, she's also our liaison for the Oakland Film Office (we LOVE them).

Line producer Bryan: getting quotes for insurance, looking into volunteer make-up artists, helping secure locations, researching lunch trucks and more.

Associate producer Diane: coordinating our big production meeting on Saturday, helping secure locations, working to help get us an educational sponsor and more.

Executive producer Ben: weekly status meetings with our frantic Director, DJ Bad Vegan, plus some fundraising assistance.

Director of Photography Donavan: watching films recommended by the Director as visual references and going through the script in detail. Helping secure the camera and assorted gear.

Gaffer Darrell: figuring out the gear requirements (given the scene-by-scene needs and the limited resources available) and staffing for his department.

Associate producer Joey: working on hiring more PAs and helping secure help in creating some of the sci-fi props.

Associate producer Jeremy: also working on hiring more PAs.

Assistant Casting Director and PA Anthony: leading the next round of auditions, helping secure locations and sending out fundraising letters (you may have gotten one -- if not, donate now. It's tax-deductible!).

PA Leslie: helping head up the wardrobe department, helping coordinate the next wave of auditions, helping secure locations, and working to get educational sponsorship of the film

PAs Olivia, Laura, Jean, Danny, Akilah, and others: helping lead the wardrobe department, secure locations, coordinate auditions and more.

Director DJ Bad Vegan: Too much to list, but includes casting, location approval, script revision, overall producing, ceaseless anxiety, fundraising, hiring and much much more. And blogging.

As you can see, Filmmaking is a team sport. We have over 30 people on our crew list as of right now -- and that doesn't even count the 70+ actors. It's pretty amazing looking back to when all we had was an incomplete script.

There comes a point where the momentum picks up and the project takes on a life of its own. We're there.

Make way.

20 days until the camera rolls.

IWW on io9

Leading sci-fi site io9 did a great write-up on the project during their Virtual Worlds week.

io9: Indie Science Fiction Film Tackles Virtual Reality And The War On Terror

I'm a regular reader of the site, so it was really cool seeing us there. A random guy in New Jersey emailed saying he absolutely needed to help out on the project somehow — and that he had just read about it on io9. That's how I found out.

Check out the article and post a comment too if you can, which helps build more interest in the film.

Thanks io9!

[UPDATE] The website Film School Rejects followed up with another piece, giving their take on the film. Hat tip to FSR.

Film School Rejects: 'In-World War' Sounds Like Virtually Brilliant Sci-Fi