The skin of our teeth

We have been talking to some experts in the industry, and according to them we probably do not have to conform with the onerous demands of a big production because we are under 15 minutes. We had been told we needed all sorts of documentation and contracts and so on. Anyway, it now feels like a threshold has been crossed and the rest is a done deal. Though we still haven't cast our major Aboriginal Actress - she's a pivotal part so we're getting worried. I went up Red Hill with my daughter Rose today looking for a kangaroo carcase to pose the Yowie over for a new Youtube video. Saw live roo's but no dead ones. As we came off the hill a security guard gave us a hard look because we had parked at the back of Telstra - so we gave him a little wave. Made a fake bottle of Yowie oil ('the good oil') today for a funny new montage that J the director has come up with. At least the coffee cups, Tshirts, hats, costumes, crossbows, whiskey bottles, (and so on) are all done. I am exhausted. But of course I can't afford to be; nothing's happened yet! There are some creative tensions which are quite understandable. Naturally the visual people want the most spectacular golden vista's imaginable - the dramatic types want darkness and tension - the producers want everything set in concrete and time-limited - the director and writer are still tweaking the script - and so on. Watch this space.

UPDATE: We've cast our Geraldine character. This is a breakthrough. And everyone's now fixed up for insurances, we think. Accommodation is more or less arranged and food is allocated for a week. My friend N is flying over form NZ to help with the vittles. He'll be ably assisted by another NZ friend and by my wife and daughters. My daughters originally had speaking parts in the movie and were each going to be clutching a toy. That was several years ago, and the eldest is now a teenager. So much for toys and the passage of time!

Bigger than Ben who?

I started by trying to get a few good people together to make this movie. They in turn have attracted their friends, and suddenly there's a crack team to take this project to a very high level indeed. I'm not exactly sidelined but I've definitely been given my own little niche - which suits me fine - and let the knowledgeable people do their thing. For weeks it was: F900 or Red camera? do we have the budget for Red? probably not - OK, whose arm can we twist? leg can we pull? back can we scratch? (strange how these are all anatomic terms!) - to get the best deal on the best gear. Various favours and friends are called upon, and suddenly it's all done - we have the Red camera and the award winning team clustered around it. Super. Now what? Well, it's more production meetings and tying up of loose ends. Accommodation is arranged and sandwiches galore are planned, along with barbecues and salads. A beer sponsor is on the counter - yippee! and even a wine sponsor. Most people have waived their fees, which is great - all for the love of film and a week in the Blue mountains spinning yarns over a few red wines.

In the last few weeks I have made: two crossbows, about 15 Tshirts; ten coffee cups; three facial wounds; an orbital contusion (an early black eye), various envelopes, cards and photo's, and refined two monkey suits. Next week I'm going to get contact lenses - Yowies generally don't wear glasses. I saw a wonderful Yeti suit by Weta studios (check out 'NZ rescue yeti' on Youtube) and asked if I could hire it - a mere $15000 a week. I said thanks, I'll do my own. So far the Yowie suit's cost me about $1000.