When we (Christine Chen and I) decided to make “Ya Albi,” a film about a Syrian refugee, we knew that we may be dealing with a topic that could be political or controversial. We didn’t care about that though, because we just didn’t see it that way. We just wanted to make a good film about the human condition through the eyes of an immigrant that was relevant to today’s world without any political agenda.
So I’ll be honest, this was a very last minute thing. I mean I knew what I wanted to do, Christine and I talked about it for a hot second. I knew it had to get done, but yet again here I was editing late into the night to finish it up.
This past weekend we did a little shoot with Jacob Rachniowsk and Taylor Davis(featured in the photo below) from Cloud9 Drones.
The Rocket Brothers shoot was awesome, mostly because it started in the afternoon (which is always awesome) and ended on time (also awesome.) Just kidding… What made it awesome was the people, cast and crew. The band was the nicest bunch of folks I’d met in awhile, and the crew was in high spirits like usual.
On the first day of arriving in Shreveport to film A Bird’s Nest the crew went out into a wooded area where we would be filming a good portion of the film. We started by checking out the more accessible areas, then moved on to an area that we had to walk a good distance to the actual area we shot at. This sequence of photos was taken during that walk.
Director of Photography, Alex Walker talks about filming A Bird’s Nest They say film crews are the ultimate problem solvers. Shortly after Katrina hit NOLA back in 04 I was working on a production when the Key Grip remarked that filmmakers should have been sent instead of FEMA. After the experiences we had shooting A Bird’s Nest, I tend to agree. The script paints a picture of a troubled child who turns to the macabre for his outlet in life. The challenge was to create a sense of understanding between the audience and the anti-hero of the story without betraying…
This was almost the Holiday Special that was never uploaded, but thanks to the awesome Kellie Penna she got it all done and uploaded. Now here it is for you to view and enjoy. Tomorrow Kellie herself will give you a rundown of all the hard work that went into producing this video.
….but you’ll have to wait till tomorrow for it. Check back tomorrow at 10am for our brand new holiday special.
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…
Making my first feature, Funemployment, has been an epic adventure… one of the most difficult journeys that I have ever taken as a filmmaker. Would I do it all over again? Hell yes. I am 200x the filmmaker I was before I started because I learned so much. Here are some things that I learned.