Now Showing at Leo's Video

Just a quick note to point out that the "Beast" is officially on the rental market.
There arent a lot of video rental stores left in the world, and those that are left lean towards the specialty and boutique markets.  "Beast of Bottomless Lake" has found a home in one that quite simply could not suit it better: Leo's Videos in Kelowna.
A substantial portion of the film was lensed in Kelowna, and we met Leo himself while we were at the Okanagan International Film Festival - which he was valiantly working like mad at.
If there was only one DVD rental outlet in the world where "Beast" would be at home, it is Leo's.

Returning to the Scene of the Crime

The relaxing part was the drive up.

On Wednesday Jodie and I picked up Phil (one of our composers) and Erin (his girlfriend) and hit the highway to the Okanagan.  Its not actually that long a trip - about 4 and a half hours, and the company was good.  We dropped Phil and Erin off at their hotel and grabbed lunch before Craig and I met for a TV interview down at "The Sails" - a downtown, lakeside park where we shot a scene in the film three (ulp!) years ago.  It was also, appropriately, across the street from the theatre we'd be screening at.

From there I rushed out to where my Dad and his wife, my Sister and my niece were - at an old friend's place which was where Jodie and I were to get prepared for the evening at.  We really did have long for hugs and hellos before we had to shower and run out the door again to get to the pre-screening party.

I could not be happier that we planned a pre-screening party.  It was really the only reasonable chance I had to say "hi" to most of the people, both from the Okanagan and those who travelled, who had worked on the film and were in attendance.  Even then it was total chaos.  We had the event at Sturgeon Hall - a place that was always good to us.  Right back to when Keith and I first went to Kelowna together and he told me about his idea for a film then called "Nightmare Beast of Blood Lake: A Scientific Overview."  Keith and I spent a lot of our time in Kelowna while on tour at Sturgeon Hall.  They also provided us with a place for extras to get out of the rain when we shot at The Sails... but it didn't rain so they got off easy on that one.  We crammed 'em in on Wednesday night and put their staff on their highest setting.  They were great.
At 5:30 they turned on the news for us (it is normally a sports bar, but we had all but one or two small tables... not to mention there wasn't much gripping sport on).  The interview that Craig and I had done earlier in the day had been turned into a full feature on the news.  We all cheered.

At 6:00 I headed out the door with Rebecca our publicist.  The theatre was less than a block away and the line-up party was under way.  Yes.  "Line up party."  One of our Executive Producers, my old friend Scott John, whose in-laws live in the Okanagan, giving him some additional resources, decided to collude with Rebecca to make sure that all the people standing out in the blazing sun to get tickets had a good time.

We had cast members stopping by and doing interviews. 

Scott's wife Kathy baked a cake with the poster of the film on it!

And she made a bunch of cupcakes that were put together to show the Ogopogo rising out of the depths of the lake.

People got cupcakes and Craig and I cut the cake like a newly married couple.

 

The show was officially sold out.  There were a number of tickets held for festival staff and volunteers and I spent most of my time before the screening doing everything I could to get people who had worked on the film, who for one reason or another had not got tickets yet, into the theatre.  Including giving up my own seat.  My plan was to stand at the back.

That plan didn't quite work out.  Apparently the theatre only allows one person per-seat plus one standing (the usher presumably).  Craig took the place of the usher and I stood outside with Scott and our editor Mike and even Craig's wife Elaine relinquished a seat.

More people arrived after the film had started and had they arrived earlier then perhaps more of us (like Jodie - who was sitting with her parents) who already knew how the film ended would have to wait outside.  Don't get me wrong.  I am not complaining.  This is an AWESOME problem to have.

Apparently the Okanagan Film Festival has never had a sold out show before.  It's kind of cool to be first.  While the early portions of the show played we listened to organizers tell late comers that they were already considering doing a second showing before the festival was over.

When ever we'd hear a peal of laughter from inside, Mike and I would try to guess what had been the inciting joke.  We know the film well enough that we were never wrong.

Eventually people started having to come out to go to the bathroom.  I quickly did the math - there were now less people in the theatre than it's maximum (albeit temporarily).  So I started sneaking in while people were answering nature's call.  By the second half of the film there was always at least one person outside at a time, so I got to witness the audience reactions for the whole last half of the film.

There was little doubt in my mind by the time the credits rolled that they had all had a great time.  As Craig and I walked down the aisle to the front the cheers were pretty awe inspiring.

The Q & A was really short as so much time had been lost at the start due to seating issues.

On my way back up the aisle a woman grabbed me and said "I just had to come tonight.  I did community theatre with Keith when we were kids.  I used to have such a big crush on him."

I answered "I get it.  If I was a girl I'd have had a big crush on him too."

Keith's family - his Mother and Father, his brother and his lady, and of course Janet, Keith's widow were there too.  They were all so happy.  I can't imagine that this film would ever represent closure for any one of them, but it does mean that there's a piece of him that will always be around for all of us.  One of the highlights of my night was seeing the big smile on his Mom, Lainie's face when she arrived at the gala.

The gala itself left something to be desired, but I don't want to get into that.  It was just as well to go elsewhere and quietly raise a glass with friends - after all I had work to do at my job in Vancouver by mid-morning.

Once again, like the day after we won Best Feature in Mississauga, most of my free time during the day on Thursday was spent responding to messages about the film.

Last night before bed I noticed a tweet on Twitter claiming that there was going to be a second screening of the film.  This morning Craig confirmed it and so today, in between tasks at my day job, I spent my time getting the word out that we will be screening Sunday after the awards dinner at 6:30pm at the Black Box Theatre (a part of the Kelowna Community Theatre).  Tickets available at the door.  That's right, we were the opening film of the festival and now we're also the closing film (co-closing film actually - Paul Gross's Gunless is also screening at the same time.)

So, when my weekend begins in a few hours it will be back to the Kelowna Festival - there is a film maker's BBQ that I'm looking forward to on the lake tomorrow and I should really see some other films!

Goodbye Hitler of Green Gables

It’s the day after. Time to take down the tents and sweep out the cages.

Last night around 2AM, Craig declared “Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s a wrap on
the Beast of Bottomless Lake!” I had a very brief moment of emotion – sadness and relief – but I had somehow expected it to be more. I figure that I had anticipated that moment so many times that I had, by the time it actually
happened, already processed those emotions. We picked up our things and headed for the cars. Shook some hands and said “see you in the morning” or “see you
on Sunday” – depending upon who was talking.

I ordered Craig to take today off. So far all evidence suggests that for the most part he has.

Today we inventoried equipment and returned the various bits and pieces. Lights and grip equipment, mics and of course our equipment trailer.

We got a great deal from U-Haul on a trailer. You may be familiar with the current U-Haul corporate image: each of their vehicles has a painting on the side of it, each one representing a landmark from some place in North America. Wyoming: Devil’s Tower. The VLA in Virginia; the CN Tower in Ontario and… as appeared on our trailer… Anne of Green Gables, except a previous renter had spray-painted a Hitler moustache on her — something which continued to amuse us right through to the end of shooting. I hope someone has a photo of it [image below right courtesy of the author].

I drove Gordon out to the ferry, and on the way home had a little chat with Keith. I’d had a chat with Keith on my solo trip to the Okanagan which made me cry. It had been a good way to start the production. I figured I end it the same way. It wasn’t as emotional as the first talk had been. Not even close really. I suppose that we managed to finish pretty strongly — I am sick as a
dog, but apart from that, strongly – and while there were inevitable issues to deal with along the way, we feel really good about most of what we accomplished in this past month. The fact that things have gone well perhaps makes this less emotionally charged than the uncertainty of the beginning was.

But there we go. We are done. …shooting.

— Kennedy
Writer Dude

Delicious Silence

Usually I have the words to say, but tonight I don't. This project is something that I never thought I would be part of, the cast and crew are amazing… dedicated and professional (yet, without pay).

When you take a legend and put it on screen it is a special thing. Thank God the project has already put it in tongue in cheek… never before has $20 gone so far (who thought I was a Druggie?).

I feel blessed that Janet and myself can be part of this. Yes, we are only extras and cooks for the crew, but we have met the most creative and talented people that would dare to be an independent film company. It is refreshing to see a group of people who believe in what they are doing, and where they are going. Despite the sunburns and being dead tired, this group of actors and crew keep going… and going…

It has been our pleasure to try to feed this group and keep them nourished. Thanks to David, Craig and Kennedy and everyone else for letting us be a part of this. I want all of your autographs and eventually a DVD , if the movie sucks or rocks, I will have a great momento… lol.

Believe in what you are doing; we believe in you.

By the way, watch out Penticton: we are the un-official tour guides for the night crew (Sat 19^th) and only trouble follows us… lol

CHEERS!

— Garner and Janet Stone (your cooks)

Jinkies!

The Secret believers would have me think that I brought this on myself, maybe I did…

Before we began principle shooting, the cast got together for a read-through in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago and then rehearsed some scenes. Fabulous idea. A great opportunity for us get to know each other and work out some of the technicalities of blocking (which will potentially save some time on set). We made some great discoveries, one of the biggest being the parallels of the Beast story to that of one of our greatest television series of our generation: Scooby-Doo.

Cool. Except I don’t wanna be Velma!!

Today on set, these Scooby-ish parallels began to show. We started off our day shooting the arrival of the team in Kelowna. The Juanabees van (‘The Mystery Machine’) rolls up to the resort, stops and the team piles out. Great, nice easy shot. Stewart (‘Shaggy’, played by Kennedy Goodkey) drives the van, hits the mark perfectly, we get out of the van and hit our actor marks. The van doesn’t understand that once it hits its mark, it is to stay in position. No. It wants to be the center of attention and pull focus from the actors so it starts rolling backwards. David Nykl [below, wearing hat] stays in character as Paul (or is that Fred?) and simply points out the rolling van to Stewart, who saves it from rolling into the hotel guests’ parked cars. Umm, no need to try to recreate this golden comedic moment for our other takes – it happened every time. The Juanabees van just didn’t ‘juana’ stay put.

Then we moved inside the lobby of the Manteo Resort (soooo beautiful!) for our next shot of the day. Paul runs into some problems with the team’s room reservations and pisses off the wrong hotel clerk (played masterfully by Rebecca Coleman). The scene starts with Paul, in line to check in and the rest of the team enters part way through the scene. So Stewart, Sondra (‘Daphne’ played by Leanne Jijian Hume), Neville (‘Scooby-Doo’, no acting required by Roger Haskett), Ernie (sharing the role of ‘Scrappy’, played by Fabrice Grover) and Leslie (moi) enter into the scene just when Paul is losing our room reservations. While waiting for action, Fabrice and Leanne were chatting with one of the employees of the Manteo. I stepped in to join the conversation only to have this resort employee turn to me look me up & down and say, “You must be the ‘Velma’ character.” Jinkies!

Lesson learned. Spend less time wishing I wasn’t cast in a role reminiscent of the unattractive, closeted lesbian character from a ’70s cartoon, spend more time manifesting a fabulous experience in B.C.’s stunning Okanagan with an unbelievably fantastic assembly of crew, cast, and countless volunteers. No need. It’s already manifested!

— Bronwen

P.S.: Check out my cat Hornhine on www.cutewithchris.com, he's a guest star on episode #115 and his name is mentioned on this week’s episode #120!

"Next!!" — A tale of two hats (part deux)

Well, here it is, the big day. The day I have been looking forward to all these months. Today I get to shoot my scene.

We were shooting today at the Manteo Resort (www.manteo.com), which is — to quote the script — "gorgeous". Right on the lake, beautiful buildings, and our holding is in a large upstairs room with a massive deck overlooking the resort and the water. A far cry from yesterday's holding — this felt like the lap of luxury.

The first shot of the day was of “Paul” and the gang (henceforth known as the Scoobys), entering the resort in their van and getting out at the front entrance. The second scene takes place inside the resort, at the check-in counter, and I am the check-in clerk. Unbeknownst to Paul, however, there has been some sabotage, and the check-in does not go smoothly.

Because we were shooting at the actual check-in counter of the actual resort, we had to actually stop, fairly often actually, to let the the actual check-in clerks do their actual job.

I went to set around noon, I think, complete with my funky, green Manteo uniform. The scene was further complicated by the presence of background performers; necessary for sure, but adding an extra layer of work for our Director, Craig March [photo, right].

We wrapped up the whole scene around 4:30. There was no way we could stop for lunch, because the Manteo people were being so great letting us use their space, we needed to get the shot and get out of there as fast as possible. So we just pushed through. I was pretty pooped by the end of it. I think I had only had a bagel for breakfast, and then some kind of power bar thingy, so by the time we got to the end of the scene, I was tired and hungry, and we were all getting a little punchy.

Still, it felt great. The work was good, I think, and we had so much fun. It was amazing for me to be there, on set, with the other actors, to take my place there, to rightfully belong.

My favourite part of the day, however, had nothing to do with acting or being on set. It was after, at the ranch, eating dinner, having a glass of wine around the big table outside with the gang. Talking, telling stories about our days and our lives, just kicking back and hanging out.

We also stayed up to watch the 11 o'clock news together. CHBC aired a story on The Beast of Bottomless Lake.

Pretty perfect day.

— Rebecca

The Beast Un-Leashed (Tuesday Crew Report)

It's this time of year that the Ogopogo sightings start each season and old timers (including myself) will confirm this.

I never imaged that there would be an Ogopogo-based movie in the Okanagan and I would be part of the crew. Day Two was a scorcher with the temperature at 30°C [or 85°F] on the rocks over-looking the lake. What a location: the landscape highlighted with the burned-out trees from the 2003 big burn in the Valley.

I am up this second day of the shoot with Kennedy Goodkey and actor Mike Antonakos (the bad guy in a comedy?) in a VW van named ‘Little Miss Jaunabys’ or some such.

On the way up we stopped for supplies in Westbank B.C. and said ‘hello’ to veteran actor John B. Lowe, who was just leaving town for back east. On the set in east Kelowna, we had to pack in the ‘jib boom’ and other camera-related equipment. The set is only about 200 acres, but we are all over the hillside with Okanagan Lake as a back drop [image right; ©2007 Fabrice Grover]. You got to see this movie just for these views.

I helped with camera crew in am then set up jib boom and then back to the "Circus" or craft area. Today is media day as well, as the local TV station sent out a crew and then the local radio station interviews Rebecca our publicist [check out her post about Media Day below]. Actor Mark gives us the native pronunciation of the Breast which sort sounds like “Na Hi It” (please don't write me letter about that).

Back to the "ranch" and crew headquarters with David Jevons who fills in today as 1st AD. Everyone is red with sunburns and dog tired. Me too.

The picture below I personally took about 10 years ago, in Okanagan lake [click for big version]. Who knew?

Night all.

— Ted Farkas

The Heat Was Hot, We Nearly Froze

It was Tuesday the 15^th of May.

We started early due to the inevitable first day jitters of "wow, did we bite off more than we could chew?"

Other than that, all of us were stoked for the new day of shooting.

We arrived to the location around 9AM. It appeared to be a great day for lighting, with barely a cloud in sight.

However, it's best if you're used to being in desert-like terrain with little shade in sight. If you are, then you'd already understand that the morning is deceivingly slightly cool which, as the day goes by, grows in intensity to a temperature at which heat stroke is nearly impossible to avoid.

I, myself, suffered the wrath of such a merciless terrain. Yet I, nor the crew or cast was about to be beaten by sickness and fatigue of the blasted heat.

We carried on following the ideal which had been laid out by a man who did so much for the independent film community. As a result of his example of dedication, that for us to be attempting the near impossible — to go far beyond just a simple harsh terrain, a budget that most would laugh at, or nearly being shut down due to a ignorant Union — nothing could stop us.

— Devin Schule

A tale of two hats

If there’s one thing you learn in a hurry about making an independent feature film, it’s that everyone pitches in. The name of the game is getting the job done, and if that means that the star of the film has to schlepp equipment, well, then so be it.

I am no exception to this rule. I wear two hats in this production — I serve as publicist, and also as an actor.

Tuesday, it was publicity. We sent out a media call to the press, inviting them to come by and get some footage of us shooting the film, and interview some of the key players. It was very successful. CHBC showed up to shoot footage for the evening news, Shaw showed up to get footage for their magazine, the Kelowna Daily Courier sent a photographer, and then CKOV showed up to do an interview for the radio.

Despite being run off my feet, it was great. A great success by any standard.

It’s a big deal for us to be getting this kind of coverage. We are a small production, low budget, and in order for us to be successful, we need to build a buzz. And the press is a big part of that.

Woo-Hoo!

Add to that the fact that we had a great day of shooting, despite the fact that one of our crew got heatstroke. It was freakin’ gorgeous here today, 28°, hot and sunny. Did I mention the spectacular scenery? And the incredible work?

I love this.

Tomorrow’s hat: actor. Bitchy hotel clerk lives.

Check back.

— Rebecca

International Affairs (and Break-Ups)

There are times when you say things and times when you don't say things; I don't often know the difference, which can be charming at times, and at times it can get you (meaning me) kicked out of countries (meaning Canada) on the day before I was supposed to join fellow Beasts on the travel to the (only mythical, to me) land of Kelowna, to assist crewing on this great motion picture, which I stumbled across last year on the internet and have been intrigued by ever since…

Basically what happened is — after four hours on a train and four hours on a bus — I said too much to the Canadian border guard(s) about my prospective activities, who told me I couldn't enter without a work permit, made me walk back across the border in shame, only to be harassed by the American border guards who thought I was trying to sneak in from Canada… then wait three hours for a bus, during which time I made the embarrassing call to Kennedy to let him know that I would not be making it to the shoot, and after which time, I had to board the bus last, due to my ‘thug’ status.

I was somewhat delirious by this time, as I hadn't eaten much and had almost been kicked out of two countries, so it thankfully all seemed kind of funny.

Sitting near me on the bus back to Seattle, there were these two teenage Canadian boys who were all excited about moving to the States; sad that they wouldn't be able to go to bars, happy that they could still buy cigarettes, wondering where all the enormous road signs were (?), laughing about gallons and miles, and suddenly one of them became very panicked that there might not be any Tim Hortons in the U.S. (which there are not, except for a few on the East Coast). The other one assured him that this was preposterous, ‘of course there are Tim Hortons everywhere!’ I almost opened my mouth, but I thought, this just might be one of those times when you don't say something.

So I practised not saying anything. And now there are two teenage boys wandering around Seattle searching for a Tim Hortons that doesn't exist. But that's how it rolls in international travels, boys. That's just how it rolls.

Anyway, I wish everyone the best of luck on the shoot and thanks for allowing me to be a part of it… you have my support from the lawful distance of bordering lands!

— Brie Williams

Wrestling, pants, “Big-Me”, and drawing

In the film, I have to wear short shorts, but I didn’t have any. So my Mom cut off my jeans with the hole in the knee and made them into short shorts. I started singing: “Who wears short shorts? I wear short shorts!”

Also, to pass the time while I was waiting to film, I drew a drawing of me wrestling three tires and a hockey stick. Then Craig March — the director of The Beast of Bottomless Lake — saw my drawing and put it in the film! Finally, my other “art” has been put on display!

When we were filming, I had to go into freezing water with socks and sandals and wrestle three tires and a hockey stick (Ogopogo). It was fun because I got to make all these weird, funny faces in front of a camera!

Since I play the younger version of the main character ‘Paul’, I had to look like David Nykl, so I loaned him the necklace I wore during the shoot. Now he looks just like me! We call ourselves “Big-Me” and “Mini-Me”!

Thanks to Craig, Kennedy, Keith, and the rest of the Beast… gang for this great experience!

See you on the big screen!

— Thomas Fournier

Union Tale Finale

Oh this is precious.

I’m really just going to let this one speak for itself, with the minimal amount of set up.

An email from a few days after we submitted our package to UBCP:

From: Lesley Brady
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 4:18 PM
To: Kennedy Goodkey
Subject: Beast of....

Kennedy:

We will require the completed list (appendix A) with all partners listed and signed off before we can counter sign to accept it. How soon will you be able to get that? Also, when do you go to camera?

Regarding your insurance, will you please provide, when available, proof of your insurance?

Thanks,

Lesley Brady
Business Agent, Film & Television
Union of BC Performers

And my response:

From: Kennedy Goodkey
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 4:32 PM
To: Lesley Brady
Subject: RE: Beast of....

Lesley,

Partners list... oh crap... we've had a miscommunication then. From my understanding of your's and my previous conversation, the real concern was the UBCP members - and the rest could wait.
Umm, I will look at it first thing tomorrow and get a realistic guess. With so many of the partners in the Okanagan<>th,

Insurance... I understand that it was paid today - I will make arrangements to have proof send ASAP.

Kennedy

The day I dutifully got those additional signatures in was Monday May 7^th. That day Lesley and I had about email exchanges and again the next day. The specific content is rather dull and boring, the important point being that we talked several times back and forth about the details of the additional signatures and nothing else – I have these emails, but I’m not going to bore you with them.

Since then…

Not a word. Not a thing. We have waited by the phone for the call saying “Alright! Go ahead!”
Today is the last business day before we go to camera. Still nothing. With two hours before the Union office closed I sent the following email as a response to the thread that inquired and provided a response to our first day of filming – so all of that information was included:

From: Kennedy Goodkey
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 2:30 PM
To: Lesley Brady
Subject: RE: Beast of....

Hi Lesley,

Just checking in to see where things are at on your end in the MIP?

- Kennedy

The response: (I have redacted the names of the innocent.)

From: Lesley Brady
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 2:30 PM
To: Kennedy Goodkey
Subject: RE: Out of Office AutoReply: Beast of....

Thank you for your email. Please note that I am currently away on vacation and will not be returning until Monday, May 28^th.

If you require more immediate assistance please redirect your email to Txxxx Cxxxx, Manager Film & Television at txxxx.cxxxx@ubcp.com.

If your inquiry is regarding our Ultra Low Budget Program, please forward your inquries to Lxxxx Lxxxxx at lxxxx.lxxxxxx@ubcp.com.

Thanks and have a great day.
Lesley Brady

Do you think she ONCE mentioned that she was going away? No.

I sent the following email to the redacted ladies mentioned above:

From: Kennedy Goodkey
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 3:21 PM
To: lxxxx.lxxxxxx@ubcp.com; txxxx.cxxxx@ubcp.com
Subject: RE: Out of Office AutoReply: Beast of....

Lxxxx & Txxxx - (Apologies I'm not quite certain which of you this should be addressed to.)

We have a MIP application in to Lesley Brady (Submitted April 23rd) and we have not heard back on it. We go to camera on Monday (May 14^th) which she was explicitly informed of on April 25^th, if it was not communicated earlier. I.E. Today is the last business day. We even emailed each other as recently as Tuesday of this week - and I felt all looked well so I did not worry.

Until today...

I sent her an email inquiring about the status a few minutes ago and got the Out of Office Auto-Reply directing me to each of you in various circumstances, and I'm not sure which applies.

Sorry that this is very 'last minute' - the folly of my being too patient.

My number here is 604-xxx-xxxx. Or via email at this address.

I'm not sure what the prudent way to proceed would be.

- Kennedy Goodkey

Now, there IS a happy ending to the story. Redacted Lady #1, Lxxxx (which is not pronounced the way it is spelled) phoned the Provost Pictures office around 4pm with news.

Long story short: The person who is signing off on the application was not available before Lesley left for vacation. The application will likely be signed off on on Monday. If not it will be shortly thereafter. Lesley just neglected to inform us.

“So, let me get this absolutely clear, Lxxxx. We can go ahead with impunity, despite not having official word.”

“Yes.”

“Thanks Lxxxx.”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go find a squirrel to shit upon.

— Kennedy

A Bird Shit on a Squirrel

This may be my last entry until we are finished shooting. It almost certainly will be until we return from K-Town.

We've taken to calling the Okanagan portion of the shoot 'K-Town' which is a bit of a misnomer. We are shooting in Kelowna — which has a store called 'K-Town Souvenirs', so I suppose Kelowna is K-Town. But in fact we are shooting more in Summerland (home of the late — and arguably first great — Canadian playwright, George Ryga) than anywhere else.

Craig has left for K-Town this evening. I am left here. My 'to-do' list is by now very short and can be summed up by the single word 'pack.' Saying that all I have left to do is 'pack' is a bit specious though. What I have to do is pack a fully ordinanced army and get them to K-Town by Saturday.

Sleep? Whatever. I remember what sleep tastes like. It IS something that you taste… right?

I soldier on.

I don't know who it was who first said something to the effect of ‘commit to your shooting date and all the problems will solve themselves.' I should point out that anyone who can't make that claim is a failed independent film-maker and has no credibility to take seriously. So far we've had a lot of luck in the 'problems will solve themselves' department. Especially in the past three days. A lot of ulcer-makers have in fact solved themselves.

For example, 45 minutes after our third (yes, THIRD) special props builder who was building the 'Ness-Sled' called to bail on me, my upstairs neighbour — entirely unaware of my plight — knocked on my door to tell me about a friend of his who he works with who… do I even have to finish this sentence?

The list goes on. And I think a lot of that has to do with the act of soldiering on, not caring about the crap that comes your way.

Late last week I was on the phone with Craig — we must talk more than he and his wife have this month — and was in the middle of explaining some situation or another to him (it's truly irrelevant what). As I was talking, a squirrel was walking along the fence in front of the office (oh, how I long for the day when I can call it an 'apartment'… 'MY apartment' again) when suddenly out of the blue, swooped a bird. And the damned thing shit-bombed the squirrel! Dead on, too! The squirrel kept on walking.

Whatever sentence I was in the middle of saying was immediately high-jacked by the exclamation "A bird just shit on a squirrel!"

How unlikely is it that a bird would try that, let alone actually hit? And the squirrel just kept on going along the fence.

Craig suggested that that should be our motto: "A bird shit on a squirrel." No matter how bizarre or unlikely the mishap, keep soldiering on, just like that squirrel.

And it seems as though there is nothing left that can stop us.

Well, there IS the union thing again.

"Again?", you ask, "What ‘Union thing’?"

Well, we didn't talk about it before for any number of political reasons. But it's now too late for it to be an issue. Last Summer when we postponed, it wasn't quite as our official story has been, that “the forest fires in the US blew too much smoke into the Okanagan”; which they did, but we COULD have shot through that, as unpleasant as it would have been. It was the actors’ union. OUR union. They refused to let us make the movie. I'm not going to get into it in detail. Suffice to say that with less than two weeks to go, they disallowed our low-budget waiver. Our waiver which clearly met all the stated stipulations of the low-budget program.

Over the past months they provided us a new option - a new option which we are the pilot project for. The MIP - Member Initiated Production. We've done our best to help them identify the issues with it, and again we've met the requirements… which was not easy, as they several times told us one thing, then turned around and told us that they had made a mistake and that the 'other thing' was the case. One of these cost us nearly two weeks… ending only earlier this week! The other was solved in a day… ALSO this week.

I may elaborate later, but I've got an army to move.

For the record, the union requires that you submit TWO weeks in advance. We submitted in advance three weeks to the day.

We shoot on Monday. Five days away from my writing this. They still haven't said 'yes.' And when they do, we still have to make offers to our cast's agents… uh, WHEN am I doing THAT? Remember I have to muster the army?! Craig is already in K-Town with David.

The fact is, we've committed far too many resources to this project already; resources we can't get back. And by now, all our Union actors are producers of the project. If the Union happened to say 'no' right now, do you think there is a labour court in the country that would agree with them and say "You can't be in this film THAT YOU ARE PRODUCING"?! I doubt it.

But let's say that anywhere between tomorrow morning and Monday when cameras roll and no-one is here in 'Provost Pictures’ Office' to take the call, that the Union calls and says "Sorry!" Not that this is how they did it last time; last time they left voice mail just as they closed their office for a long-weekend, the cowards!

It just doesn't matter what kind of shit bomb they dump on us, we're going to keep walking along that fence.

In any case, it's fucking asinine that we've now TWO business days before the shoot and we haven't heard from them.

— Kennedy

Method Acting

I’ve never been one to take method acting too seriously. I always identify with Sir Lawrence Olivier when I tell (or hear) the famous Marathon Man Dustin Hoffman/Olivier exchange (I do wish my career would identify with Sir Lawrence Oliver [or Dustin Hoffman for that matter!]). However, after the first read-thru, going out to Tim Hortons to get some sandwiches for some of the cast and crew, I seemed to be shanghaied by the spirit of my character “Neville.” What should have been a 15–20 minute excursion turned into a hour-and-a-half long series of mishaps which, at the time, felt extremely tragic but quickly resolved into a comedy once the experience was over; which is what The Beast of Bottomless Lake is, isn’t it? A tragedy to those living through it but a comedy to those watching it.

It started out simply enough: David Nykl, who is playing Paul – a hapless character just like Neville! (oh why did we go together? Why didn’t I pick one of the responsible characters in the movie to go get lunch with??? Ah, hindsight!) Anyhow, David and I following somewhat vague directions start walking (actually David is on his bicycle – which I have to admit he didn’t even offer to double me on! What rudeness!) and immediately go the wrong way. It takes us 4 or 5 blocks to realize our mistake and once corrected we continue on our way, having what I must say is a very pleasant conversation. Passing the Cactus Club, David convinces me that we should stop and eat there (far nicer that Tim Hortons he points out, and I counter that the cute waitresses are a bonus). Yes, it was very hard for him to convince me to eat at the Cactus Club (twist that rubber arm!). And to seal the deal, he quite rightly points out that I can go to Tim Hortons, which we both think is only one block away, after I order my food and pick up the sandwiches only to return to C Club in time to eat my hot food. Ahhh, the best laid plans of mice and men (I’m not sure where I stand in that comparison).

At this point, things start to go horribly awry.

It’s a hot day, so I leave my jacket at the Club only to return immediately to retrieve the paper with all the food orders on it. Aha! Things are going well; disaster averted. Imagine how embarrassing to arrive at T.H. (Tim Hortons) only to realize the food order is sitting in a jacket pocket at the C.C. (Cactus Club). Full of sunshine and happiness over disaster averted, I (or shall I say ‘Neville’ at this point, because he has definitely started to take over) walk to TH only to find that TH is not where our vague directions led us to expect it to be. Quel surprise!

Having no one to ask where it is, Neville pulls out his phone and — with ease — tracks down its actual location. It’s another 2 (long!) blocks away. Thinking of my meal about to be served, Neville breaks into a jog. Construction on the street has removed the sidewalk and replaced it with a dirt track liberally strewn with rocks (actually think boulders; that is more their size). Jogging around a woman who must be the slowest walker in the world, I (Neville) step on a boulder and manage to twist my knee (ouch!). Now, sweating and limping (ok, limping only a little – but it sounds good doesn’t it: “sweating and limping”?) I jog-hop the 2 blocks to TH. Yeah, there it is!

Entering TH I wait (impatiently) in line and finally get waved over to the “cash only” counter. But no problem I have collected the cash from the cast/crew so I place the order (which took quite a while as actors, it turns out, have very specific ideas of what belongs on a sandwich!). Payment time. I empty my normal money carrying pocket: you know, the one where you always stick your money. But sadly there is only a $10 bill in it. No problem! I remember putting the money in a different pocket so it wouldn’t get mixed up with my money. Smart! I congratulate myself on my foresight as I start to check my other pockets… I’m not so congratulatory as I check them again when they turn up empty… and again.

What the hell? I look at the floor. Did I drop the money?

And then it hits me: I must have put the money in my jacket pocket with the food order!?! Getting a little desperate, I offer my Visa®. But no, TH for some unknown reason doesn’t accept Visa® (Who the hell doesn’t accept Visa®!???).

Sweating a little more and causing a little bit of a commotion, I hit on Interac™. Saved! Except we have to switch lines since I’m in a cash-only line.

Ok, once that is done and I bump (on instruction of the staff, I might add) an elderly gentleman who was just about to order his lunch out of his line (who insists on standing right behind me — and I mean RIGHT behind me), I offer up my card and watch in amazement as it doesn’t work.

5 attempts… 8 attempts… Manager is called over… plastic bag is found and more attempts are made with plastic wrapped around my card… (remember the elderly gentleman? He is muttering not so quietly into what feels like the back of my neck things that shouldn’t come out an elderly gentleman’s mouth).

Finally the manager gives up and insists that she can not enter the numbers into the machine rather than swiping it. At this point, much of the lunch crowd is thinking: “boy, this lunch is more entertaining than normal” since there is no hiding what has been going on. Really sweating and feeling very desperate, I suggest the only option: hold my food order ’til I can return with money.

Jog-hop-limp the 3 blocks back to CC. I arrive to see David enjoying a tasty meal and my meal growing cold in front of my spot. I check my jacket. Yes! The money is in it. Good! You got to see the good at moments like this. I sit down and half eat my meal as we have now been gone for a long time. David, the gentleman — not to be confused with earlier elderly gentleman — offers to pay for my lunch. Great! Things are looking up! In a fit of generosity, David offers me his bike. Things are better and better!

However, it take David 2 tries to get his bike key off of his (rather large (!) key ring). Finally he gives up and gives me the whole set. It takes me a minute to unlock his bike lock and then I can not figure out where the lock goes. The lock holder doesn’t seem to like the lock. I’m stumped. I think of throwing the lock into the middle of the street hoping a big truck comes along to destroy it. David comes out (from his leisurely lunch, I think darkly) and snatches the lock out of my hand and explains as one would to a child that the lock is bungee corded down to the rat-trap. Of course! How did I not see that (I think sarcastically)! But then I get the last laugh! Ha! David can’t get his lock to lock. (David was channeling Paul at this point I am convinced.) Finally the lock is locked and bungeed down and I am up on his bike picking up speed as I race to TH. Oh oh, I forgot about the non-existent sidewalk. I slow down to avoid the boulders but mistakenly go a little too slow so I lose maneuverability and ride over a smallish boulder.

SNAP.

What the hell was that? The pedals stop moving and as I dismount in confusion I realize that the extra bungee cord not being used to hold down the lock has wound itself around the back tire and gear area! ARRRRGGGGG! Oh, and to top it off the bungee hook has wedged itself into the spokes and is strangling the wheel so that I can’t release the pressure on the cord.

Fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck I am muttering (well muttering is not really the right word; it’s more like a contained yell) only to look up at a shadow passing by to realize it is a mother with a young child in a stroller. Oops!

After playing around with the wheel, spokes and cord for 5 minutes or so, I finally untangle the cord. Praying to Ogopogo, I test the wheel and everything seems to be working. Back up on the bike and off to TH. The rest is somewhat anticlimactic as it goes smoothly. Nervously riding back to the studio, though, I check over my shoulder for cars, dogs, bikes, raccoons, birds, whatever because I do not trust this day to end without my visiting the hospital.

Now, as I said from at the start: I’m not into ‘Method’ much. After this day I’ll be happy to stay distant from it for a long time.

- Roger

Egg and Tuna Salad Work Their Magic

Okay - So I have been asked to write a blog about the first weekend of rehearsal for The Beast of Bottomless Lake. I have never “Blogged” before… it all seems a little strange but here goes…

So meeting everyone for the first time on Saturday was very cool. It was great to actually see the people who are going to bring the script to life. Watching “Neville” try on all of his costumes was pretty hilarious… who knew that costumes alone could steal the show quite like that? The costumes seemed to have quite the effect on Roger causing him to be quite Neville-like and take about an hour-and-a-half to get sandwiches for lunch from Timmy’s two blocks away… Long story… no one stayed lost… everyone did make it back alive… eventually.

Egg and Tuna Salad were successful mood managers and we managed to get through the afternoon of costume fittings and group photos and no one else got lost for the rest of the day.

On Sunday we blocked out a couple of the scenes that are quite physical or are scheduled on one of the really jam-packed days. That was pretty fantastic. A bit of a luxury to be able to work on a scene without the pressure of a crew, location time running out, or even a camera running. It was great to get a small sense of where each actor is taking their character… which we be very helpful this week when I am doing script-work, homework, etc.

I realized today that a map of my journey (as “Sondra”) from Paul to Stuart is where I will start my homework. I think that I will go through and ask myself five or seven of the same questions in each scene and start to map the arc that way. I am looking forward to getting started on that.

To finish the weekend off, we had a business meeting that gave us as much info as is available schedule-wise at the moment. We talked about accommodation and transportation. So far so good. Everyone seems to really be on board… all pulling in the same direction and excited to get started. Now I just have to pack…

— Leanne

Back in the Saddle

It may seem that we fell way behind in our blogging.

Not truly the case.

For reasons I may get into at a later time, we got sidelined in the fall.

But we are back on.

Beast of Bottomless Lake is set to shoot in May of 2007, and there is no stopping us now.

The Okanagan dates are firmly set. The Vancouver portion is in the works.

It's going to be crazy. There is still an awful lot of work to be done.

Hopefully we'll think to update this more regularly, and perhaps even go back and tell the tale of the past six months.

- Kennedy

A Good Start

Kennedy asked me to write a little something about our first few days of shooting. Overall, it would appear we are off to a good start on the production. The crew all arrived in Penticton late on Sunday night and set-up to film the actor playing Buck being attacked by the Ogopogo. Through the dense clouds of smoke from the fog machine and ‘special aquatic effects’ (i.e.: buckets of water) the first scene of The Beast of Bottomless Lake was finally filmed.

After only a few hours sleep we were all up the next morning and off to Kelowna to visit our friends at CATO. Further interviews of potential crew transpired. We even had one résumé with "Pyrotechnics (self taught)" listed. It was nice to catch up with familiar faces from the casting last year.

Shari, our excellent DP decided on sushi for lunch and we managed to find the slowest take-away in the Okanagan.

We visited the Kelowna Princess and looked around, chatting to Bob the skipper. We found out that over 25 weddings have taken place on the boat, all on the same day! It was then off to see the Summerland yacht club where we found they have had a new bar put in. They must of known I was coming.

The next day saw us at a marina to film the real Buck and his news interview. Despite cold temperatures the crew soldiered on. Patrick, our slightly eccentric sound guy insisted the sub-zero weather was nothing and wore a T-shirt. He then removed a sock to help fashion a furry! The more sane members of the cast and crew grabbed whatever was near to hand to keep warm, be it other crew members' clothes or the crew themselves. Kennedy, our illustrious writer, found that his raging heart was all that was needed to keep him toasty and proceeded to flirt with our glamorous newscaster Dorothy. Obviously, as I run an equal opportunities production, I will now be insisting he flirts with all our actors, both male and female, for the rest of the shoot.

The search still continues to fill our final crew positions. We were hoping to hire more locals from the Okanagan but it seems they are all still hibernating from the cold. If anyone out there is interested please contact Provost Pictures, you never know you may end up part of the dream team. There are only a few weeks to go till production starts.

In the afternoon the sun came out and we filmed Chief Bigsky (pronounced Big-ski). It was a beautiful moment that reduced our sensitive director to tears. An eagle even soared overhead watching the set with a keen eye. That reminds me: I really must cut the craft services budget.

We are still looking for a van for the film. If you or anyone you know has a VW camper-style van, please get in touch. There are also the last few shares in the movie available for sale. I’m sure investment analysts around the world are rushing for these, so act fast.

— David Jevons, Producer

Going Dark

I'm about to head out the door to our second day of rehearsals.

But before I do I figured I should do a quick entry. What may be my last entry until we return from the Okanagan, possibly even 'til we're finished production.

I'm trying to encourage Craig to do one last entry too - if I'm not going to get to write, he certainly isn't.

For the next while all the entries in here will be done by cast and crew. Enjoy their journey!

I also wanted to acknowledge that from this entry onwards, the posts are original to this blog, not transfered from the old one.

T-Minus one week. Yikes!

- Kennedy

Beastly Dreams

I wake up yesterday morning to my wife looking at me kind of funny with this grin on her face and she says, “You were sleep-talking last night.”

I reply with, “Oh yeah, what about?”

“You woke me up talking about casting for the movie. You were talking about casting a female and her audition was pretty great and what did I think. You kept on talking and I finally pinched you and asked if you were awake and your reply was, ‘Of course I'm awake!’ in a rather grumpy tone and that was the end of it.

“The conversation ended and I went back to sleep knowing you were asleep the whole time.”

Okay, when one starts talking about the movie in one’s sleep, one is a little obsessed.

But I am glad that I am obsessed.

I'm glad that this is all-consuming.

I'm glad that I am dreaming out loud about our dream of making The Beast of Bottomless Lake.

- Craig

Hugs all around!

What a fabulous evening that was! Meet the cast and crew. With the exception of having met the director, Craig, once at the audition, everyone else was a total stranger to me. By the time I had to run to catch my ferry, well…

I’ve done much more work on the stage than I have in film. I love the rehearsal process of theatre as much as, perhaps more than, the actual performance. Strangers gradually become acquaintances, often friends. In front of your eyes actors’ personalities morph into something else; characters who develop relationships with each other, with the cast, with their creators. It’s a beautiful, crazy time.

I felt the beginnings of that process last night; like being part of the birth of a new family. I’m usually a ‘day player’ in film so I miss out on most of this process. I feel so excited and privileged to be joining this project in early days. Well, not that early really. The project has been working up to last night for about eight years. But I feel like I’m entering the flow way upstream this time, and I’m excited about the trip.

The first time I read the sides for my audition, I knew there was something special about this film, and I felt the first pangs of “I want to be a part of this.” When the director came over and gave me a hug after the audition, I was hooked.

Apparently he hugs a lot, but what are families for? So let’s hug away and watch this baby grow.

Cheers,

— Gordon / ‘Clive’