From Dream to Reality: Shooting "Reinventing Leonard"

Another milestone hit and reason to celebrate: After seven months of development, re-writes and pre-production, Christian Antonio Mejia Acosta, Annie Klein and I got down to business yesterday and began day one of production on "Double-Booked"!

The first film in a series called Reinventing Leonard, "Double-Booked" is the story of a 63-year old curmudgeon and book fanatic forced by circumstances to confront the modern world.

With four hours left before his plane leaves for San Francisco and Thanksgiving with his daughter, Leonard has a problem: he can either pack his clothes or a stack of his favourite books into his tiny suitcase, but he can't do both. A no-brainer you say? And yet anyone who adores books can relate. Will the stubborn old codger conquer his fears and embrace the solution that sits quietly on his bedroom shelf? You'll have to watch it to find out!

"Double-Booked" is an allegory about change, designed to make us laugh and reflect on the new crossroads we face every day as we struggle to adapt to an ever-changing world. And it was a blast to hammer out with Chris before I wrote the script.


But Leonard's story is one thing. Turning it into a movie is a different beast altogether, with its myriad, seemingly insurmountable tasks: acquiring financing (still in progress), assembling the production team (some of them didn't show up at the last minute), nailing down the cast (we had to cut a character due to a dearth of potential actors for the part), finding the location (after months of hits, misses and dead ends) lining up equipment and props (can a wall calendar really be that hard to find in June?), the list goes on.

We were surrounded by mentors and resources at VFS we couldn't have done without and for which we are eternal grateful. But at the end of the day, we were a group of independent, largely inexperienced students making our first film. Which meant we were bound to discover the very best (and only) way to make a movie when you're new: the hard way!

No one has worked harder than Chris to get Leonard off the ground and make it a success. Part man, part machine, and all heart, there's no one else I'd rather work with. He goes and he goes and never stops until things are done, and done right. The guy is passionate, professional, gracious and a fantastic emotional self-manager - indispensable 'musts' when you're sitting in the big boy's chair. Meanwhile, he actually gives a sh*t about his team members and what's going on in their lives, while still helping us to keep our eyes on the ball when it comes to production. Chris, you are in every respect a leader, a visionary and a gentleman.

Annie appeared from somewhere out of the mist, half way in time between my first coffee shop meeting with Chris back in November 2010 and today. What a find! Focused, dignified, sweet and also bullish when need be, she has brought a wealth of film experience, organizational skills and interpersonal finesse I didn't expect at this level. Some might argue it's all just part of being British. Possibly. Whatever the reason, Annie has been an absolute delight to work with. And trust me, I've worked with some real non-delights, wherever they came from!

So what was shooting day like? In a word, long. Very, very long. And fun. And frustrating. And delightful. And delirium-inducing. Probably not unlike almost every other movie shoot going on in the world as we speak. But that's not the point of this post. I'm just excited that after years of hoping and dreaming and preparing to make movies, I'm finally doing it! And that I got the opportunity to work with such an awesome group of people, including Chris and Annie, a fantastic director of photography, Gabriel Medina (with Red camera and all), and a wicked crew that included my wife, Mel, in the role of script supervisor.

I'm telling you, man, it doesn't get any better than this: having a dream, knowing what it is, and going after it until it comes true. That's not Hallmark card goo; it's your soul talking to you. And now no matter what the future holds, I will always be able to say I answered. And in the words of my grandma, that feels pretty good!


To see the Facebook "shooting day" photo album, click here.