We here at Albion Park Productions are deep in the pre-production process on our first feature, our working title is "Better Homes and Gangsters." For now. We think it's funny, suspenseful and moving. The staged reading proved that its potential wasn't just on the page. We were pleasantly thrilled by the response from the actors and others in the room. We look forward to bringing this bit of cinematic fun to the big screen. And eventually the big screen plasma in your living room.
The script is finished. The parts are mostly cast and the actors committed to the shooting schedule. SAG (Screen Actors Guild) paperwork is being shuffled and submitted. LLC's are being created, lawyers are being consulted and paid. Boy are they being paid. Before anyone else gets paid, the lawyers must be paid. One of the first things we got for our money was that we should probably think about changing the title. Apparently a certain magazine might choose to make trouble. Must we start killing our darlings before we've even really begun? The law is a tough, expensive master.
Principle photography is still a few months away. The budget is....well, the budget money is in the process of being raised (stay tuned here, hint, hint...). It's amazing how many moving parts there are to getting a film underway, even before the first frame is shot.
My two producing partners are doing a lot of the heavy pre-production lifting with me. And once we start production we'll be putting on our "real" hats: Art Hennessey will be directing. Amanda Good Hennessey will be the lead actor and I will be director of photography. Anyone want to line produce?
Creating an online "presence" for a movie that hasn't shot a single frame yet, is challenging. With that in mind, we recently headed to some tennis court on a very chilly fall day with two of our actresses braving it in tennis whites, to try and come up with some images that might hint at the kind of flavor that our upper-class-meets-underworld script encompasses. A little bit screwball, a little bit dangerous, a little bit awkward.
Amanda Good Hennessey and Alexandra Hynes make nice for the camera
