Delays to 'I Don't Bite'

I'd like to share with you an e-mail I sent to the cast of 'I Don't Bite' a couple of days ago - 


Hi guys

I just wanted to apologise to you all for not catching up with you recently, it must have felt a bit like I'd forgotten all about you and that I wasn't doing anything with I Don't Bite at all. I didn't and I was, in fact, a fair bit has happened and it's time I gave you guys an update.

Right, the most important info first. My bother and I have made the really difficult decision to postpone the shoot for 'I Don't Bite'. As you know the plan was to shoot in February 2012, now it looks like it will be closer to November 2012 before cameras roll.

I'll let that sink in for a second

This was not a happy decision for us to make but we have some very good reasons which I'm going to explain to you now. 

The main and overriding decision for the delay in the shoot is that I want 'I Don't Bite' to be the best film it can possibly be and with the time available between now and February, there just isn't time to get done everything that needs to be done to make that possible. I have started the process finding a Director of Photography for the film, a process that is taking significantly longer than I expected. By getting a DoP in, I'm also going to probably need a sound recordist as well. Depending who I get for both, I will need to source some equipment for the shoot. We need locations, we need a van, we need props, we need make-up and special effects, we need to get someone to choreograph the physical stuff, and we need to cast the character of Will the Cameraman because I need to focus on directing. 

Since my daughter has been born I have significantly less free time to devote to this than I did when I shot 'Little Things', something I realised when I shot 'Colleagues' with Richie a couple of weeks ago. 'Colleagues' was a far less ambitious shoot than 'I Don't Bite' will be and yet I still struggled to get everything done. As a result, the first task I am going to look at, is to find a Production Manager. Some one  who can do things like find locations and props and organise all of the things that I don't have time to do. Incidentally if any of you know some one who would want such a task please let me know. Experience is not an issue, I just want some one organised, enthusiastic, reliable and local. 

Something else prompted me to delay. Richie has been cast in Andrew Gale's new film 'Doghead' which is shooting over every weekend in February and March. I have no desire to compete with Andrew for his time, it isn't fair to Andrew, it isn't fair to you guys and it isn't fair to me. I have far too much respect for Andrew and for how difficult the process of making a film is to add a further obstacle to getting everything done, and if either of our schedules change it is not fair to put Richie in the middle.

So why am I postponing so long?

Couple of reasons. First, 'I Don't Bite' mostly takes place in the dark. If you wan the most darkness possible, shoot in the winter. By the end of March the clocks will go forward and the evenings will be light again. The clocks won't go back again until the end of October, therefore the sensible time to postpone until is November. The second reason is that it gives plenty time to get everything done.

The last reason is that, because the production is now significantly bigger than I initially anticipated I am now looking into the possibility of getting some funding rather than the money just coming from mine and Peter's pockets. I'm looking at some crowd funding options like kickstarter, I'm also thinking about selling 'Colleagues' when it is done. Whatever I decide, you guys will be the first to know. Things like crowd sourcing are most effective when you have time to promote the production, that means leaving the timeframe that people have to invest open as long as possible and promoting it with things like video testimonials.

So is that it for now?

Well no not quite.

First up I need to know from you guys if November is going to be convenient. Do you have any other plans or projects in November that I need to know about before I can schedule the shoot. I know it's quite a bit in advance but because of how big the production now is and how many people are likely to be involved, when I get a date it's going to need to be pretty set in stone

Second. Do any of you know some one when would be interested in being production manager. Like I said, the most desirable qualities are enthusiasm, reliability, organised and local. Experience would be nice but is far from essential. 

Third. In the intervening months I may play around with a couple of quick and easy shorts like I did with Richie for 'Colleagues', so I might be sending some of you a a script or two over the coming weeks and months to see if you are interested.

Fourth. If we decide to use something like kickstarter for crowd funding, we'll need to make some sort of promotional video, and for that I'll probably need you guys.

And lastly. Peter and I will be locking the script for 'I Don't Bite' into a near final draft over the next couple of weeks, when that's done I'd like to do another read through with you guys to see how the dialogue sounds out loud. That will help us write the final draft. After that we'll look at starting to rehearse. Peter and I are also in the process of putting together some fake social media sites for the films characters, blogs, twitter feeds, facebook pages and the like. These will hopefully be pretty useful to you to get a bit of background on the characters but when the time comes I'd also like your help promoting these sites.

Guys, I'm really sorry about the delay. I hope that it doesn't mess you around too much. I had to make the decision to either make 'I Don't Bite' quickly or make it right, I hope you agree with the choice I made.

In the meantime, have a great Christmas and I'll talk to you all soon.

Shocker


Did we make the right decision? only time will tell

Colleague is in the Can

Finally shot 'Colleagues' on Saturday. Really pleased with the results so far. Rough cut of the film is done, just need to tidy it up and sort out the audio and it'll be finished. 

Big thanks to Richie and Chris for two excellent performances, to Arun for recording the sound and to Rach for the patience to put up with my time consuming pastime. 

Not sure what to do with it when it's completely done. Was thinking about using it as a fundraiser for 'I Don't Bite', maybe start looking at festivals and competitions again, maybe just stick it up online and carry on to the next one. Don't know. Any thoughts?