On Set

Working on set for Cali Dreamers Disaster or Stupendous! Everyone in the cast of Cali Dreamers was hands on and bought ideas for there characters and really did there homework. Which just alleviated some unwanted stress I’d been carrying in my gut the week before our first shoot day! I arrived on set aka our DP’s house at 9am to start setting up and all my crew started to roll in within the hour. I’ve directed plays for my church in the past and theatre scenes for school but this was my first time as head honcho on a film set and my heart was beating at a rapid pace. I wanted the day to go smooth and the cast to enjoy themselves and feel comfortable enough to give there best performance. So of course I supplied plenty of donuts, candy, fruit and drinks….and it worked! The day flew by, we actually finished ahead of schedule and I ended up calling in “Jasmine” aka Shaifali Ratti in earlier--she came immediately camera ready! Way to go Shaifali! Of course we had a few problems on set I mean hey who ever heard of a day on set without a little drama! Our major dilemma was our lighting issues but we worked it out. Thanks to Sarah and Alpa consistently keeping an eye open for any shadows I missed!
Oh and if you thought our snacks were great you must of forgot about our lunch… DOMINOS PIZZA mmm yea! In the words of Jenny’s trainer Kim “Everyone deserves a break!”
Our second day of shooting…Went even smoother- shout outs to Roe Moore and her filming expertise! We ended up shooting at my apartment complex free of charge which was a major blessing! We shot majority of our outdoor scenes early in the morning to stay out of my managers hair! Even though he did tell us to keep the volume down a few times and we did…well we tried. Come on now its hard enough to perform with a live audience aka noisy neighbors but to keep the volume low while shooting outdoor scenes with LA wind it just doesn’t work out!
Our lunch on day two ended up being snacks because we wrapped so early that everyone was content with breakfast and there was no need to send Sasha on a Subway run!
Overall I rate this experience marvelous !