Damian’s Feed

Watch The Heist here
One night I was surfing around the different groups on Vimeo, and found the contest “Beyond the Still” co-sponsored by Canon and Vimeo.  I watched “The Cabbie” by Vincent Laforet and read the contest rules. I liked the idea of continuing the story of another through a single evocative last still:

and after working on a feature-length project in post for a few years, I was attracted by the idea of doing something quickly with a ‘hard’ deadline.  Best of all, I had access to a Canon 7D and felt the contest would help me test the possibilities of this camera.  After reading the contest rules, I said to myself, “I want to do this”.

For me personally, it was both the best and worst of times to embark on a new project.  The good news was that I could pool resources that I had established in New York City while shooting previous projects.  The bad news was that I was stretched very thin financially, so this project was going to have to come about quick and cheap, which also implied dirty.
Because the contest emphasized the visual aspect of film, giving 75% attention to photography and cinematography,  it was an advantage to use New York as the setting because of the inexhaustible opportunities the city offers for beautiful imagery.  From a writer-director’s point of view,  however,  the story was more important than the  25% allocated by the contest and depended on having a good script and professional actors.  Again, the City offered the advantage of a large pool of  talented, well-trained actors.  However, shooting in New York had its disadvantages:  Cold weather and high real estate prices.  We would be in production during February, the coldest month of the year.  That meant finding an interior location where I could work with actors in relative warmth and safety for next to nothing.  Fortunately a fellow artist was about to move into a small studio in Long Island City and allowed me to use it as a location during the week prior to the contest deadline.  That would be cutting it very close, but I decided to go forward with the project anyway.

Photography is one of my greatest passions and my haven.  If I am worried or distracted, I sling a camera over my shoulder, go out for a walk, and start shooting pictures. I like to find the extraordinary and beautiful inside the ordinary and overlooked. It is my version of zen meditation.
Filmmaking is not like that.  In fact, it is just the opposite.  As preproduction gears up, there are thousands of little details to take care of, and not enough time (especially in this case) to resolve them all.  That is why filmmaking is seldom a solo affair, but a team effort.  Fortunately, Laura Hammer and Chris Ferretti came on board, and I was able to concentrate on the script, and plan the photography.

Laura set up the fastest and most efficient casting I’ve ever seen a producer do, using online networks. Then BTS drama conservatory threw us a lifeline by letting us cast in their studio. Out of the 500 head shots and resumes submitted we narrowed our selection down to 20. In many ways we weren’t casting for a particular type but out of a pool of ideas for characters that we could cast into several projects. I wrote several scenes for sides the night before. Being an actress herself, Laura had an expert eye for scanning through resumes and the turnout was impressive. The session had the elated energy and movement of a workshop rather than the cold judgment of the usual casting call. At least this was my intention because I knew actors, young in particular, took a little bit of patience to crack open and let themselves shine.

I was immediately struck with both Jason Vail and Rayland Van Blake as Laura had them read together. There was a tension onscreen and a respect off screen that reminded me of the film The Defiant Ones by director, Stanley Kramer—Obviously this was a vague reminiscence and the two had tons of experience and good reels on You Tube.  Sofia Szabo had a combination of beauty and strength tempered with patience and strong work ethic. I also cast veteran actor Peter Disenna to bring grounding and wisdom. Given the time constraints I couldn’t shoot the role I had originally intended for Sofia so I rewrote her a new role. We had only days before the deadline…