Location Sundae: Los Angeles

The amazing thing about filming in LA is the ice cream store selection of possibilities that topped off by the best weather in the world, make for the best  LOCATION SUNDAE - ever!
There are beaches and mountains, a forest even. There are culturally identified neighborhoods like Chinatown and landmark fixtures like Farmer's Market. There are train tracks and rivers, sandy beaches and upscale clubs, grassy green cemeteries and oil rigs. There are modern buildings and a nineteen forties downtown. There are rock ridges sure to be in the old west and stretches of sunset that will have you thinking you are back in the hippie-dippy sixties.
What makes the location sundae even more tasty is that all these locations are free.
As a low budget company we often have to rely on the 'kindness of strangers' for locations and kindness is what we get. We've shot at cafes, coffee shops, vintage stores, markets, houses, apartments and even a hospital through the generosity of some and admittedly, some intestinal fortitude on our part as well.
We are not alone in our non-permit, non-pay, location shooting in sunny so-cal and we are grateful for all LALAland has to offer.
Now that the statute of limitations has run out (we are kidding, kind of) here's a true story:
In one of our earliest shoots, we did a short called "Severe in Savanagh." One half was was set back in the sixties, which we shot at a generous friend's house (thank you again Jonas), the other half was set in the present day. One of our lead actors, Ashton, told us about a house that was across the street from him in Beachwood Canyon that was being renovated. It had a spectacular view and an amazing swimming pool. He also said the owners were never there and the workers weren't there on the weekends.
Should we use it? Naw, of course not.
But we did. We spent the next 48 hours  shooting a party scene and ultimately a suicide scene at this sumptuous pool and house. Thirty actors and six crew members drank, laughed, splashed, and fired a fake gun, with ne'r a nosey neighbor calling the cops!
If filmmakers have a story to tell, a camera, actors to tell it with and passion and drive to make it happen, it will and can, particularly in the location sundae known as Los Angeles.
Footage will follow on here someday soon -

Casting - Please Remember to Look Like Your Headshot

I can't believe anyone even has to verbalizer this, but you do. As we get ready to cast a pair of upcoming web episodes we are reminded of the headshots that looked nothing like the actors attached to them. The balding, pushing-sixty actor with the twenty-year-old headshot that he submitted for the role of a man in his late thirties.  Or the tatted-up woman with the shaved head who submitted a long-haired headshot for a bubbly, frilly, conservative, girly-girl. I get that they are actors, but how can either one act their way into having hair, reversing their age, or removing an arm full of tattoos?
The truth is we love casting. It's always more a fun day than a fucked day. There is nothing more exciting than hearing talented men and women bring life to words and adding their own perspective on the characters drawn in your head. We give actors water, cookies and scenes to play with. They give us nuance, smiles and imaginary people brought to life.
There is no hard and fast rule to casting for us, but we do have lessons learned from miss-castings in the past. We don't cast real life significant others - that's a natural disaster waiting to happen and has. If an actor has white powder under their nose and talks a lot or smells like a vat of Jack Daniels, we usually pass. If an actor has more attitude than the combined attitude of the rest of the people in the room, that's a no-go. If an actor farts while entering the room loud enough to hear and just ignores it, we usually pass on that one too.
We look for chemistry, talent. flexibility and family. Our sets are playful, creative places that are like the  slightly dysfunctional family you grew up with and love, particularly at Christmas.
So we're off to post for the casting roles now. Wish us no balding trying-to-pass-as-thirty year-olds and some girlie-girls in skirts. You'll be able to watch who we went with soon at www.spentv.com.