Reaper, Inc. — Part 3 — Producing 1
AKA COIVD19
AKA “I’ll Be Fine”
As far as I can tell there is no due date to finish hand over the finished webseries. Obviously we don’t want to sit on it forever and of course we are beyond excited about this amazing opportunity but we want to do it right. We want to make something special. Will it go viral? Will we get a second season (if thats even an option)? Will something else entirely happen?
We don’t know. I don’t know. The only way to know is to make the thing and pour our hearts and souls into it.
That being said, without rushing things, at the time of winning, the plan was to finish writing and turn over the scripts for final approval late March 2020, early April 2020. We were going to cast, hire key crew (I’m looking at you currently not yet hired Production Desinger), book locations, rehearse, and block in April/May. We were going to shoot for about a week in late May and hopefully hand everything over Late June/Early July. When planning and discussing time frames that we knew that our schedule isn’t impossible, hard sure, maybe a little optimistic, but 100% doable.
Then COVID19 spread. On 03/11/2020 (I think) President Trump announced that international travel was banned/restricted and a couple days later (03/13/2020 I think) he declared a state of emergency and suddenly everything changed in a manner of days.
Without going into really going into the politics and thought behind all this I knew I only had one choice — push back production till a date when it’s safe to do so. I can’t ask anyone in good conscience to come out and shoot during a dangerous and unsure time.
The safety and health of my cast and crew comes first. As much as pushing back an amazing opportunity hurts and sucks it’s the right and only course of action I see. I don’t feel saying “I’ll be fine” and soldiering forward with production is at all an appropriate.
What are the next steps? Quite frankly it’s just to write and fine tune the scripts. After that is to work on a look book, rough shot lists, and really work on the budget. I would love to book actors, venues, and crew but other then those who have been with me since day one it’s just not realistic right now.
So when are we planning on shooting? I honestly don’t know. Right now we are looking at late June 2020 or Mid July 2020. However it all depends on COVID19. This could all clear up by April 2020(not a prediction!) and we could still be good for late May 2020 or it could be an issue all summer 2020 (once again not a prediction!) and we are looking at a fall shoot date.
Who knows — extra time writing, extra time casting, extra time planning might be a blessing in disguise or the weight of it dangling from my neck might drive me mad. Either way the show must (somehow) go on!
Be safe out there.
See you in the next installment!
Want to follow this whole journey from beginning? Start here!
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P.S. Filmaka didn’t directly sponsor this blog other than giving me 35,000 to make a webseries.
