So many years ago I wrote a pilot for a potential TV show called "Shots". This was when I just got into writing. It was supposed to be like Entourage with a Jamaican flair but on a budget because Jamaica just doesn't have film funding capital like that.
I think we wrote and shot this in 2007 or 2008. My first time working on a set of a film production. Interesting fact. I met international recording artists Chronixx on that set weeks before he launched and became big. I don't know how he is now because I have literally not seen him in persons since that day, but back then he was very respectful and humble, anyway, I digress. So this shoot was riddled with problems and several scenes had to be reshot which was also riddled with problems. This will underscore the need for a good Assistant Director (AD).
First Attempt
So we had been rehearsing with the actors for weeks. Our main actor however was a problem. He always seemed uninterested in the script. Everytime we asked what was wrong he would say "Nothing, just tired". It was obvious he had a problem. Anyway, every rehearsal I would rewrite the script basically to match the accidental improvs that came out in rehearsal that I liked as well as to bring out more in the characters. Eventually the lead started liking the script and getting into it. We got to a place we thought was perfect, we set a date got the locations and we were ready to go. Bill and Ted Guitar fingers.
So, as usual we call everyone the day before to make sure everyone is still confirmed and aware of call times. Not only does everyone confirm but they express how excited they were to be on set. BANG! I'm now so excited I can't sleep. I am up bright and early. Get to HQ and drive out with all the equipment. Actors are on location but...where is the lead actor? "You have reached the voicemail of..." redial "You have reached the voicemail of..." dafuq?
So I meet with the Director Robin Chin from Enhanced Realizm Studio and tell him what's up. Now Robin is a pretty laid back guy and the look on his face was not pleasant. Immediately he was like "Did you call him?" I'm like "Yes!", "Call him again". This conversation happened several times throughout the day. So I call and I call and I call. Nada! So we make a plan to shoot around the lead to by time till we hear from him. We shoot all the scenes that don't have him in it. Eventually by mid afternoon we run out of things to shoot and the final location for that day was waiting on us to get started. They gave us the entire day to shoot but once night hit we were supposed to be out of there. At 3pm things were looking bleak with roughly 3 hours of daylight left.
So...yeah I know I am starting a lot of sentences with "So" but it's one of those kind of stories. So, we finally get a call from our lead actor who said he did not realize we were shooting today, he thought it was a regular rehearsal. Looooong pregnant pause on my end. "Dude, we literally spoke about this yesterday. You said you were coming. All the other actors heard the same thing and they are here." Then he went on to say he was recording in the studio until 5 am and he was tired and not feeling well. "WTF! Dude we are shooting now we need you now." Excuses excuses excuses. The director hears me arguing and grabs the phone tells him drink some soup and get down here. Literally dude just says nah, he's tired. "Good luck". Dial tone. Our shoot is looking pretty screwed at this point. The bulk of the scenes involve the main character as you would imagine and he is not coming.
So I called up an actor I knew (Max) and asked him if he could learn a script in 30 minutes and play a role. I have to thank this dude immensely because he didn't hesitate to say yes and he was around the corner. I picked him up from the supermarket carried him home to change while he learned the script during the car ride and in between takes. The production continued at 4pm. The owner of the bar and restaurant who was a good friend of the Director gave us a few more hours but we had to be out by the time the bar opened. We took it even though we knew it was not enough time. We had to get something to edit a story together.
Well, despite our best efforts and being rushed out of the restaurant at 8:30 pm, what we had was not good. Max, our trooper was not happy with the end result and rightfully declined to be credited on the project. If you want to know how that turned out, here is the original short.
Ugh! Cringe.
Second Attempt
After that debacle a few of the actors left the project. We decided we had to reshoot this. We recast, scouted and secured better locations and to be honest it was looking like this was turning out to be divine intervention because the new set of actors were pretty good and gung ho about the project. We were ready. The first scene we shot was the poker scene. Meant to demonstrate the dynamic between the characters. That day went smoothly. Again bear in mind we were all young filmmakers and looking back now I see so many flaws, but for the level we were at, that day went nearly perfect aside from one actor not remembering his lines and throwing everyone off, which shows in the performance.
On a high from day one, confidence was up on day 2. We were shooting at Morgan's Harbour in Kingston. We had our extras and main cast but there was a very key person missing. Our protagonist. Where the hell was he? He was out of town, thought he could run an errand and get back in time but he ran into car trouble and could not get back in time. FACE PALM!
We tried to pull off getting a makeshift actor on short notice. We couldn't. We filmed all the scenes that didn't have him in it, but it just didn't work out. The following week we had to do a reshoot. We changed locations. AGAIN! this day was riddled with problems. Everyone was on set except the makeup artist. Shoot was supposed to start at 8 am. so we needed make up at 6:30 am. Where was she? The AD went to pick her up and then he went missing for hours (Hmmm!). She eventually got to location and took forever to get everyone ready and on top of it was constantly missing throughout the shoot. So whenever we needed a touch up there was a man hunt out for her. In fact I can't even recall the AD sticking around after 4pm. Man what a day.
That was not the worst thing to happen. Remember the guy who went on the out of town trip the week before. He did it again. I was beginning to think this shoot was cursed but we were determined to fix it. One of our actors brought another actor with him as an extra. We bumped him up to a protagonist. We were fine with the energy he brought considering he literally was learning the script while shooting. Then we got stuck on a take forever because he could not pronounce the word "realtor". Eventually we had to just change the word and move on. Then there were several arguments with the 1st Camera over various shots, one of the actresses started to get uptight. Things were going downhill but we were fighting it. We got the shots we needed though not completely satisfied. We had a story.
We had to scrap one particular scene which I honestly thought was completely necessary but the actor in that scene was very off his game that day and none of the takes were good. If we left it in you would feel the production quality drop.
Sigh! In the end, we created a 20 minute pilot which I was not completely happy with and have had a lot of introspection over. I have re-written the script a few times but the PTSD prevented me from ever finishing. 2 of the actors dropped out. One because he moved to Japan and the other decided to give up on acting. The remaining two have been bugging me for years to do a rewrite and the Director still wants to reshoot. Interestingly enough, while I have grown as a writer and see the immense flaws in the script, people really liked it. People still hound me to this day asking when are they going to see the continuation. Well, now that we are all under quarantine, maybe I will finish this. Another gritty story about unwavering friendship is needed in this day and age. Let's see.