LAST MINUTE TITLES

I email everyone apologizing for yesterday's bitchy email.

I haven’t heard a thing from the guy who is doing the titles and credits. He is so fired. Torrence agrees to come to the rescue.

Lesson: Some times professionals are not very professional.

BAD DAY

My car broke down and I don't know what is wrong with it. I wonder if it has anything to do with me crashing it against a pilar at Madstone's parking. Email to cast and crew regarding the name change:

Subject: Very important info about the film

Which film are you asking? The one you were in or were part of the staff and crew. The one you can't remember the name of because you are bad at numbers or too lazy to memorize or whatever. It was brought up to my attention, from the very beginning, that having so many numbers for a title would make it difficult for people to talk about the film or market the film. Of course, I ignored the comments. I even ignored the many signs and evidence, including watching the lead actress make up a number and blunder as she answered questions from an interviewer. Not even the producer was able to memorize the number. Soooooooooooooooo.....I changed the name of the film. The name of the film is now "Poly Esther." When you watch the film you'll know why. It is not polyester. It is POLY ESTHER. Two words. Okay? bye for now, tc

The mechanic advises me to stop crashing my car against walls and then hands me a $300 invoice.

ONE SHEET DONE

I go to Paul’s to finalize the poster. He changes a lot, but it is for the better. I love the poster.

I GIVE IN

On my way to my best friend’s birthday luncheon, I decide to change the film’s title to “Poly Esther.”

NO MORE 540 847 67...???

Paul finishes two drafts of the poster. They are great. I circulate the drafts and get some opinions.

The Truckees call me telling me they can’t remember the name of the film and that I should consider changing it to something more marketable. I am reluctant at first, but then I remember no one can remember the name of the film but me. I consult with many people and they all agree with the Truckees. What should I call it then?

IN TJ FOR THE SOUND DESIGN

I go to Tijuana to deliver the sound files to Edgar and Aaron. As always, we spent most of the time talking about films and gossiping. We finally get down to business and Edgar and I are totally in sync with regards to the sound. He even knew what non-literal sounds were. I leave confident that he knows what I want. He is very talented.

FOLEY FROM CANADA

I hire the foley mixer for "Requiem for a Dream" to do the foley. One less thing to worry about.

I THINK I GOT A SOUND DESIGNER

Got an e-mail from Peat telling me the name of the song is now “Poly Esther” and another from Aaron Soto asking me when I am going to TJ for the sound design. Huh???

THE SONG

I meet Peat and Cady at M-Theory to pick up the song for the end credits. I can’t wait to hear it, since the title is “Polyester Messed Her.” How they knew about my feelings for polyester, I’ll never know. Cady calls me to see how I liked it. I tell him I could not love it more. Later, I begin downloading phone rings from the internet and reading about sound design. I learn what non-literal sounds are.

AT BELLY UP TAVERN

I get the score. I can’t wait to hear it. Should I hear it alone or with the film? I rush home and start listening, but then I start wondering what images the sound corresponds to, so I stop. I sync it up to the film. Wow.

Lesson: If you find the right collaborators, you will never be disappointed.

THE SCORE IS DONE

Cady calls me to inform me that the score is finished. He hopes I like it because they did whatever they wanted since that is what I told them to do.

I am worried. I still don’t have a sound designer. Am I really going to have to do it myself? I don’t know shit about sound.

HYPE-OPP AT THE SDLFF

Dulce and Israel get interviewed about the film and they can’t remember the name of it. They just make up numbers. I get interviewed by Avenida Libre and I can hardly enunciate the numbers and I fumble the synopsis because I am afraid I will mix Spanish and English and I will be called a pocha. It takes us forever, as always, to get out of the theater to go to the party. I start bitching about how we always get to the parties late and the food and booze are gone. Can’t we continue shmoozing at the party? Laura hasn’t even gotten dressed yet, so we have to stop at my apartment on the way to the Westgate. Giancarlo, Israel and I have a beer and watch my silent draft while we wait for Laura to get ready. Finally, we get to the party. Luckily, they still have food in the VIP section. I notice there is a lot more silicon around this year than last and that the hotel is now under fascist management. The security guards walk around with megaphones kicking people out. Of course, no one pays attention and I get in a fight with the security guards. They try to threaten me, but I just call them fascists. This is at the fancy Westgate Hotel. We squeeze into an elevator to go to one of the rooms to continue partying. Laura says that the girls in the room are hookers. How would she know? Just because they look the part doesn’t mean they charge. We get invited to another party downtown, but Laura and Giancarlo insist they want food. We go to a taco stand and I buy us dinner. We go back to the party, but it is dead and it is almost 4 a.m. , so we go home. We have to be back at the theater at 1:30 p.m. for the “Insecto” screening, so we better get to bed soon.

Lesson: You need to be prepared to talk about your film. Memorize and rehearse your spiel. Hype and buzz are key.

SOMETIMES IT IS A CRAPINTOSH!

Shit! I try to burn a DVD and my computer keeps spitting them out. Is it because they are not Apple DVDs?

Natalia and my friend Rafael accompany me to the Casbah. We get there right as the Truckees are starting their set. Later, I tell Cady about the problem with the DVD burning. He tells me there are two types of DVDs: DVD+R and DVD-R. Which one does my computer use? Oops. You learn something every day.

WE CAN LIVE WITH 14:30 MINUTES

We finish the final cut and we celebrate doing a shot of vodka. I think it was vodka.

THE HELL WITH WALTER MURCH

Chris Fernanco, the editor, had previously given me a rough cut which I had not looked at. We watch it together and I notice he has cut out entire sequences. That is not going to happen. I cannot let go. “But Walter Murch says--” nah, it is not happening. The film will be as long as it has to be and not a frame less. So we start all over. Chris asks permission to go to the bathroom. I AM NOT A FASCIST! His roommates are party animals. Chris informs me that he has to take a break from 9 to 10 to watch the Sopranos. His roommate suggests they watch a rerun later in the week since they can’t watch it together because they have guests. Chris is reluctant, but we convince him. I promised the Truckees a final cut on St. Patrick’s Day.

SDLFF OPENING NIGHT

I like being an executive producer. I think I’ll do it more often. At the screening of “When the World Went Away,” Aaron tells me Edgar is waiting for me and he wants to do the sound design. That’s weird. Laura told me Edgar was going to be too busy. After the screening Aaron, Israel, Giancarlo and I go to the opening night party. Free pens from Don Julio tequila, but no free booze--too late getting to the party. We take a few pens each and leave.

MEET TRUCKEES AT JAVA JOE’S

I take my sister with me. She is worried that it is going to get late and she won’t get enough sleep. Her usual bedtime is 9:00 p.m. We get to Java Joe’s. There are three Truckees instead of two and Peat is on the drums. I introduce myself to Peat before the show.

So I find out that their real names are Patrick (Peat) and Chris (Cady) and they are not brothers. At Lestat’s I really thought their were brothers, even though they don’t look alike which doesn’t matter because people don’t believe Hen and I are sisters and we are. Anyway, I show them the trailer and the very rough cut I put together for the CUFF. They like it. They are doing the music. Great. So we talk for a long time and my sister keeps giving me dirty looks because it is way past her bed time. I tell them to do whatever they want with the music. I don’t think they believe me, so I explain that, normally, I am a control freak and I always tell people what to do and not just in filmmaking. Always. Not this time. Time to go, we shake on it.

CALL TO MR. PEAT M. TRUCKEE

I call Peat while he is buying a refrigerator. He is very nice on the phone. I recognize his voice. He is not the one I said had a nice butt, he’s the other one. We decide to meet after their gig tomorrow night.

E-MAIL TO TRUCKEES

Dear Truckee Brothers,

Last Friday I had the great pleasure of seeing you perform at Lestat's. I was blown away by your talent, stage presence and great songs. I am a local independent award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter and I am currently in the post-production stages of my latest short film entitled "540 847 67…" a.k.a. The Chia Pet Project (Winner First Place Screenplay BestFest 2003 and recipient of film grant from Eastman Kodak). I have been looking for original music for my film, but I have not been able to find an artist with whom I feel artistic affinity. That is, until now. I write with the hope that you would be interested in and willing to write an original song for my film, or give me festival rights to one of your songs. If you are interested, let me know and we can talk about the project in detail. Below please find some information on the project and my film resume. Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon.

tc

Soon thereafter, Peat M. Truckee writes me back. The Truckees are interested and want to meet. I can’t believe it. I e-mail my sister very excited. I am so excited I can’t eat lunch.

CHICKEN POT PIE AT LESTAT’S

Kim and Sammy called me and invited me to Lestat’s to go see these guys whom they saw at open mike night which they say are really good. I should stay home and write, but I go anyway. As the Truckee Brothers are doing their sound check, I remark that the tall dark one has a nice butt. Sammy laughs and shakes his head. What? He does! Back to the music. Every song is different. I turn to Sammy and tell him I would give my film to these guys and tell them to score it. Just like that. Do whatever you want dudes. After the performance we go to an Irish pub nearby and down some pints as the lads would say. Something like that, I’m not Irish. The Truckees show up and I think of going up to them and introducing myself, give them my card, ask them to score my film. I don’t because even after three Stellas, I am still too shy. I’ll just write them an e-mail.

Lesson: There is no shyness in filmmaking.