48 Hours in Purgatory

Production 2.0

Well, it seems strange to say that a movie that's already been made is under production.  Despite that, it's true.

As we went full speed through hoops and over speed bumps in the production process we had some fun, but the journey ultimately knocked the wheels off the bus.

So here I sit, the day after a production meeting with an entirely new crew, about to embrak on the righting of a significant wrong.  48 Hours in Purgatory is about to become what it was supposed to be.

What does it all mean?  Well, I suppose for the general masses, not much.  For a few of us, though, it means a lot.

For me, it means recognizing a lot (there's an understatement) of work and energy must be chalked up to a learning experience.  It's tough to swallow, but you've got to man up and admit when you no longer are travelling the road you should be.  A million technical reasons aside, I had to finally look over the whole entity of our film and admit that it was not "right."  I also had to scrape numerous people off of numerous ceilings and brace myself for the ensuing anger of those affected by the hard decisions myself and the producers had to make.

So here we are, a good little jaunt past "square one" and running along at high-speed.  No major studio involvement, no creative hiccups, no sudden dis-associations, and no union-reated predicaments.

The old script has been shredded and the screenplay has been taken back to the day of it's birth and set on a more careful course.  The vision can be summed up in purity.  A glimpse into one man's love, madness, fall and redemption.  Truth.

It means that contractually and artistically, some roles have been recast, while others have been eliminated.  It hurts in the real world, but it's the proof of love for the world we're creating.  The budget is tighter, but the crew and production value are expanded thanks to some wonderful professionals who are going all-in for the love of the story.  As a writer, it's amazing to share that feeling with others.

It's a unique situation for a first-time director to be in, as well.  I think so, anyway.  How many people get a chance to make their first film better before even moving on to the second one.

It means Skinless Jazz has to wait, probably a couple of years, but that's ok.  For the best, probably.

Anyway, off I go to leave the land of bloggish-ponderances and to begin approving schedules and casting decisions.

Until next time.

Jason

PS. Just a quick shout-out to those who played the game.  You guys were great and some of this is for you.