By L. Tanner Smith
Yes, even though we’re in a pandemic, we didn’t reach our funding goal (though, we got enough money to buy more props and feed everybody), I threw out the budget, and we have to take more precautions (such as a skeleton crew, all of whom must wear masks, and lots of hand sanitizer)…we are still pushing forward for production on “Millennial With a Cane” next week, starting July 6th!
Needless to say, a lot has happened since the Covid-19 pandemic turned “normal” into a curse word. Everyone’s been in quarantine, businesses were put on hold (many of them are still in question as of now), and three of our actors even caught the illness (they’ve recovered now). Also, no more MWAC vignettes were filmed–this is what I get for just deciding not to film any the whole month of February. (That doesn’t mean I won’t get to them in the future–who says they all had to be done before production for MWAC? It’s my project; I’ll do whatever I want…to an extent.) And I thought, if I’m still going to shoot MWAC this July, I have to be more creative. Some scenes were rewritten, an actor was replaced*, locations had to be chosen carefully, and we had to have a very small crew for everyone’s safety.
Is that last thing a negative? No way. Why? Because what we lack in resources, we make up for in spirit. (And lucky for us, the cinematographer Keenan Capps also has effective equipment that suit our needs.)
So yeah–we’re doing this! We start shooting for three days next week (July 6th, 8th, and 10th), beginning with actors Heather Elaine and Liz Hackworth. And I’m looking forward to working with them and the rest of the cast.
I’ll post updates every week we’re shooting, so stay tuned!
*McKenzie Stell has been replaced by Elissa Schrader for the role of Meadow Keaton. McKenzie’s fine with this…as long as I cast her in every other film I make from now on.
Millennial With a Cane 