12 Dec A Bird’s Nest Producer talks about life on set

A Bird’s Nest producer, Adam Duncan talks about life on set…

When I think about “A Bird’s Nest” I feel like a proud parent.  Perhaps the proud weird uncle is a better term.  I’ve been fortunate enough to see “A Bird’s Nest” grow from the tiniest speck of an idea, and to see it through to a full blown adult sized award winning film. The process was memorable, rewarding and grueling.

Christine Chen and I had long discussed our desire to make a festival quality film with gravity, with emotional depth and a strong emphasis on cinematic value.  After writing several scripts that we were not completely satisfied with, Christine told me about a short story written by her friend, Eric Hwang.  I didn’t even need to read the story.  As she spoke I immediately saw the film in my head and I knew, we both knew that this was our film. Thus, in a Starbucks in South Austin, “A Bird’s Nest” was born.

I would love to talk all day about all of the good times we had making this film. There is so much I could say about the entire process from conception through pre-production, principal photography to the last days of post-production, but despite all of the amazing times I had making this film, the best memories are anonymously watching “A Bird’s Nest” in a packed theater hearing the collective gasps and laughter and seeing the woman next to me wipe tears from her eyes. I loved seeing peoples’ reactions.  I loved hearing fellow filmmakers tell us that we may have a screw loose.  I loved making something that people talk about.  That is what we set out to do, and these are the best memories.

Yes, I produced “A Bird’s Nest.”  Yes, I was there from beginning to end.  Yes, I even acted in it a bit, but the truth is I’m not the one who made it.  This film was made by our skeleton crew of Jason Cates, Roxanne McDanel and Alex Walker, who don’t require sleep and laugh in the face of shooting in flash floods.  It was made by the skill of Alex Covert, Jet Jaguar and Nick Longoria giving us sound and music.  It was made by Deke Garner and Gracie Grenier, giving life to lifeless characters.  It was made by Christine Chen (who I secretly think is a robot) who pretty much did everything.  There are so many other people too.  It’s crazy how many people are involved.

It’s a cool thing to see a film through from idea to full blown movie awesomeness. I feel like a proud weird uncle.

-Weird Uncle Adam