We have our two screening dates and times for the Brooklyn Film Festival! Cast and crew will be in attendance at both and I suspect we’ll have some fun post-screening Q&A sessions.
Screenings are Saturday, May 31st at 7:30pm and Sunday, June 8th at 8pm.
For more details and to buy tickets to the premiere, CLICK HERE.
And keep your eye out for info on an after party the night of May 31st!
-bodine
You guys. I am over the moon thrilled to announce that MOVEMENT AND LOCATION will be premiering at the 2014 Brooklyn Film Festival!
I’ve been attending BFF for years and it’s amazing, I have only ever seen stuff that I’ve loved. They program impressive, gorgeous films and I am so honored and also very fucking psyched to be included in company like this. Also, that our world premiere is in the city where we filmed and where Alexis and I and most of the crew and cast live is SO PERFECT. It is so perfect! Brooklyn is my favorite place in the world and it’s exactly where I most want to screen this film first.
More details as the schedule is finalized, but the festival runs from May 30-June 8.
Here’s where I’m going to get all tl;dr so please feel free to skip the rest and don’t worry about missing pertinent details, BUT. If the making a feature on your own aspect is interesting, in the sense of what the feels are like, this is for you. Because I feel crazy. This whole project has made me crazy, in ways that varied and evolved, for the three years I’ve been in it. From writing the script 17 times, through physical production, through the edit, through the thinking and hoping about festivals and distribution options. It’s all been so hard. It’s been a true pushing-molasses-up-a-sandy-hill kind of situation. And there were many moments when I wanted to give up and/or expected that I was on the verge of needing to. It’s why if you happened to hang out with me in the six months following production, I was insane. I apologize for being insane. I am better now. But YOU GUYS the thing that got me through all that confidence crushing bullshit was imagining what it would be like to watch this movie at a festival, with as much of the cast and crew and my family and friends as could possibly attend. And that’s about to happen. Holy shit. It’s a crazy feeling, no less intense than the crazy that came with figuring out how to schedule a 112 page script in 18 days. But the crazy this time is all joy.
Here’s that trailer again in case you haven’t seen it.
Thank you, you guys. Really thank you.
-bodine
Designed by the incomparable Mayumi Ando.
I couldn’t be happier with this design, which, although abstract, I think perfectly communicates the vibe of the film. And I would run out of language before running out of nice things to say about Mayumi, the wonderful woman who made this. She’s my dream girl and a dream collaborator, and I’m grateful she let me rope her in to this project.
It’s been a while since an update, I know, but they’re about to get a bit more regular. I sense this odyssey edging up on a fun phase.
-bodine
Since I last checked in, I picture locked the movie. Can you believe?? I’m finished with the edit. I feel like I’ve been running a marathon for so long, I forgot mid-race that it might end, making the first hint of finish line a total surprise. Now it’s being sound designed and scored and we’re about to submit to festivals.
The wonderful musician scoring the film, Dan Tepfer, got a killer review in the NYT about a performance he just gave at Le Poisson Rouge. Dan is an amazing composer and performer and also a very good friend. I feel really honored that he’s part of this project. If you can catch this guy live, dude, I’m telling you, do it.
But so I meant to hand over the picture locked cut to my unbelievably kind and talented sound designer, Hollis Smith, on my birthday, August 16th (thirty oneDERFUL), but the delivery technically took place two days later. Revising the edit was a very fun phase of this project. Having a full cut, being able to look at it and see a movie, but then going in and doing these tweaks that so deeply resonated throughout the whole of the thing–that was delightful. A nice change of pace from the initial edit, which often felt like throwing myself into a wall. A moment of darkness in particular descended after I had been editing for a few weeks and was only on scene 42 (out of 124). But I guess the lesson there is if you throw something at a wall enough times, you’ll drop the wall eventually.
Man, though. Picture lock is a funny mental hurdle. It marked the first time I would show the movie to someone and not give my standard addendum: if you have any notes, let me know. Now I say, this is it. This is the thing I’ve invested my entire self into for two years. This is what it looks like, basically finished. Which is scary. That is a scary thing to say.
But when I watch this movie, which I have seen hundreds of thousands of millions of times, I still fall into the story. Catherine Missal’s performance still leaves me incredibly moved and Anna Margaret Hollyman still makes me laugh. I remain grateful and amazed that character conversations I had with David Andrew Macdonald and Brendan Griffin blossomed into performances that are worlds better than what I could have imagined hoping for. This cast knocked it out of the park and I am so excited for them to see themselves on a big screen.
We’re close, guys. Thank you so much for your interest and support and love.
-bodine
I was going through pictures on my phone this morning and found some fun ones from production.
This shot, for instance, brings back a lot of feelings. It was our second day of filming, and two weeks after we shot there, the building burned down. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Notice that my script is a sheaf of loose leaf papers. I think by the time we wrapped I had 45 or so of the original 112 pages, and they were absolutely not in order.
I feel honored that we got to film this incredible space, even if our miracle-working production designer Sara Walsh gave it a very different feel.
The above was taken by Maeghan Donohue, who was gracious enough to come to set a few times and get some great behind the scenes stills.
David Andrew Macdonald is extraordinary. There aren’t enough nice things in this world to say about him. He was so easy to act with, so open, so generous. He gave such a nuanced and brilliant performance. Ah. The actors in this thing! They’re so good!
Speaking of which.
Brendan Griffin, man. I don’t even know what to say about him. We get into this industry to make movies with our friends, and when we get to, it’s the most fun thing in the world. It makes everything else seem worth it. Getting to act with Brendan is one of the aspects of this whole project that I most value.
When we went to the costume fitting for the uniforms, I was all IT WILL BE COLD. But Brendan and Casey wouldn’t let me get them these hats.
Their loss I think? The hats are cute! And it was really cold.
But my heart was stolen by Cat Missal. Best attitude award hands down goes to this girl. She nailed a really difficult role. She just nailed it. The film is so much better for her involvement, and the set was so much more fun because of her attitude. She was a joy to have around, and so epically talented. I also got to know (and adore) her mom, Karen.
Oh MAN was it cold. I’m getting a chill just looking at that picture. That day was long, but that scene turned out beautifully. Here are a few more from Maeghan of that day:
Haile! I miss you, Haile. Come back from San Francisco!
Any time Anna Margaret was on set, I was instantly 30% calmer.
She is hilarious and a treasure and a marvel.
Los Angeles took her from me a few years ago, but I’ll keep writing movies if it means getting this girl back on the east coast for a while.
And then OH MY GOD these three:
My key PA, AD and producer. Missy, Dan and Serena. This picture was taken on the last day of filming, and we’re all loopy and exhausted and so fucking happy. It was the first time where I let myself be like, okay. We’ve done it. This will be a movie. I still kind of feel like I’ve pulled off some sort of caper.
This was our wrap party. It sums up my mood well.
There was a karaoke party after the drinking-at-a-bar part of things, and Alexis got this great shot of my parents:
I love these two so much. They have been nothing but supportive for my entire life. What a gift.
-bodine
This has been an insane experience. Today is our last day off – we film tomorrow and Thursday and then we’re wrapped. We’re almost wrapped! That’s an absurd thing right there to get to say and think about. There have been four hundred or so distinct moments when I thought this would continue happening forever. Production is insane. I’ve never had to think about so many things at once (god, costume continuity alone has given me a succession of minor panic attacks), think about feeding so many people for so many days, think about paying so many people for so many days. We’ve weathered bizarre plumbing emergencies. There was an accident to the cube truck that three different insurance companies have found a way to avoid paying for. The blizzard hit when we were meant to shoot a ton of exteriors. The location we shot in for Paul’s apartment was lost in a fire a few days ago. I was punched in the shoulder by a homeless veteran who hassled us on the street on the lower east side. I’ve definitely been yelled at on the phone at least seven times.
I mean it when I say that making this film is the hardest and best thing I’ve ever done. I look around at Serena and Dan and Alexis (not just them but especially, especially them) and think with gratitude that I am getting the chance to make this film, and that is a gift. When I look back on this, I know I won’t be thinking about the long hours or how cold I’ve been or how tired. I’ll think about the lunch break dance parties and crew code names. I’ll think about how many smart, talented people have come together over a script that fell out of my head. I will work with these people forever if I can.
This was taken yesterday by my very good friend Keith Goldberg. We had just filmed the last shot of the movie and Alexis and I are watching it back on the monitor to be sure we have it. Serena is on the right in her amazing hat that I covet. I look like a tenant farmer out of Grapes of Wrath. It seems to sum up everything.
So many people have demonstrated that they believe in the project. By giving to our funding campaign, by reading a draft (or six) of the script, by having drinks with me and saying that making a feature on our own is not a terrible idea. We wrap Thursday, I’ll sleep in on Friday for approximately 25 hours, and I expect to have a rough cut in a month. I can’t wait to edit a teaser.
I’m exhausted but buoyed by gratitude and excitement. Thank you for following this process.
-bodine
I admit I’d hoped to be better at posting to this blog while we film. But it’s so overwhelming! We’ve had six shoot days, and hit our schedule each day and come home with footage that I think is amazing. I want to devote the rest of my life many blog posts to the talent of the rest of the cast. And the attitude and ability of the crew. I’m floored and grateful and having the time of my life.
I’ve already started cutting it because I literally cannot resist. Here are some stills I’ve pulled.