We’re back from our second Fallen Leaf Lake shoot with the RED underwater, and we captured some AMAZING footage of “the Lady,” one more time. As we inch closer to completing principal photography and reporting to you that we are “in the can,” we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and thank our star, Camille Grenier, for all of her hard work, commitment to the role, and talent. Her tenacious hard work, commitment, and talent has paid huge dividends to the storyline. It is an honor to have worked with you Camille, and we look forward to getting completing voice over/ADR and getting this project into post! Please post your congrats for her.

Special thanks, also, to our final production crew who helped us wrap Camille at Fallen Leaf Lake; Phill Gee, William Dauel, Tini Kennedy, and of course the Director’s personal support crew and family, Bill, Bill III, and Alicia. Thank you for helping out on what was a tough final water shoot! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Finally, We wanted to thank our hosts, Mike and Cindy Basso at the General Store in Fallen Leaf Lake. They were kind enough to receive us, help out our support crew, and feed a departing lunch to our crew. They have been an invaluable resource to this film on location, Please visit them and say hello next time you are at Fallen Leaf Lake. ( The General Store ) Also, special thanks to Paul Nordin (our above-water cinematographer,) with continued camera support.

WHAT’S NEXT?

• We have a pickup scene to shoot and then we will be IN THE CAN at last! But this last scene is a little complicated, so we can’t say much about it other than it will take some planning and coordination.
• We then move into post production, editing, VFX, sound mixing and design, and picture lock. But worry not! We have already begun cutting a first pass and plan on bringing in other editors to assist with the pacing and ultimately, the dreadful task of trimming.
• We are attempting to reach out to award winning visual effect departments in an effort to get some key shots sequenced. More on that later.

Because Camille and the Producer get *loads* of questions from Facebook fans every time we post, we want to take a moment to give you and FAQ on the status and expectations of the project.

F.A.Q:

1. Camille, when can we see this film??
We REALLY appreciate your enthusiasm, it tells us that we are on the right track! The complexity of the shoot and the ‘pay as you go’ budget has kept us at a humble pace. Filmmaking is not easy or cheap, and it has been a labor of love through blood, sweat, and tears. That said, we are focusing our efforts on getting this film into the festival circuit for Summer of 2017. Yes, it means a wait, but it will be worth it!

2.  Will you post this film online when completed?
This is a complex question. We can say ….eventually. But it will take some time to make its way through the festival circuit, and during that time, the film will not be available online. When we do post it online, we plan to work on posting it on a pay-per-view site, such as Vimeo. So if you want to see it sooner, we would love for you to come and support the film at a festival when it comes to your neck of the woods.

3.  Why is this taking so long?
It comes down to one word: budget. The director has hit a wall with funds. We shot for a completion grant and missed due to high competition this year, so we have had to work a Pay-As-You-Go production and post-production schedule. Finding locations has also been difficult and expensive, as has paying out our final cast and crew.

4. How long will the finished film be?
We have edited a first rough pass almost 2/3’s complete and it runs long about 22 minutes. Yup, that is why we will be looking towards our editors to do some shaving. That also means that, even if we cut the film down, it will still have to maintain integrity to the story and characters. Hopefully we can look toward a project that has a TRT of around 15-19 minutes. One can hope. The idea is to not lose too much, but enough to still provide a powerful story.

5. Where do you plan on submitting the film?
Right now, we have to be realistic. Film festivals cost money to enter, so we have to be strategic about where we submit this. We want to target festivals with TOP billing, but also ones that would be sympathetic to the style. The top short film festival in Europe is in France, called the Clemont-Ferrand Shorts Film Festival, and since half of Life and the Lady is in French, we hope to receive a sympathetic audience.

While we are in France, of course, we would love to be considered by Cannes, as it is ‘Kind of the Mountain’ in Europe. In the U.S. , festivals like Sundance would be ideal, however, the chance of getting in with a short over 15 minutes is VERY slim. Telluride, Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York festivals are all on the target list. We are confident that we will get screening based on the initial imagery, acting, and storyline.

Thank you, our supporters, for your continued support of cast and crew! Please make sure to LIKE our Facebook Page to stay plugged in to the latest news and info.