"Kenny" Guerrilla Filmmaking Case Study with Clayton Jacobson

Our good friend Clayton Jacobson is giving a talk on his awesome feature film "Kenny" next Monday at the Classic Cinema in Elsternwick. "Kenny" was an absolute sensation (both critically and commercially) when it was released and it's an incredible example of independent filmmaking. If you're at all interested in indie film, or if you've ever thought about tackling your own independent project, then I can't recommend this enough!

Play It Safe - Video Update #2

Hey guys, massive apologies for the big delay in updates. At long last we have another video update online! We actually shot this several months back, but all the info is still legit so check it out here if you have a few spare minutes...

Behind The Scenes: Blocks 09 and 10

Hey guys, I thought it was high time for another quick update on how Play It Safe is coming along. Post production is going very well, and we screened the entire film for some of our core crew members for the first time a few weeks ago. Not only was is very rewarding to be able to show the guys what they've been working so hard on for so long, but it was amazing to get their feedback on how the edit is coming along. Right now, Raechel and I are working hard on our third cut of the film and we'll be testing it on some real audience members (i.e. people who weren't involved in the film's production) for the very first time within the next two weeks!

Act 1 Roughcut Screening

Last week we hit another milestone in post-production as we screened the first half hour of Play It Safe for some our key team members (including cinematographer Sherwin Akbarzadeh, music supervisor & AP Oscar O'Bryan, and my good pal & longtime-collaborator Maia Tarrell). This was the very first time anyone other than Raechel and I had watched such a large chunk of the film which made the event equal parts exciting and nerve wracking. It was all smooth sailing once we got going though, and Rae & I collected a boatload of really valuable feedback. We're already back hard at work tweaking the edit with the aim for all five of us to reconvene to review the entire film within the next month.

Behind The Scenes: Block 08

Apologies (again) for the lack of updates folks. Raechel and I are still busily working away at the edit, and on Thursday night we'll be holding our first review screening of the film's first act with some of the key members of the creative team. More news about that should hopefully be coming later this week. In the meanwhile, let's get back to our retrospective behind the scenes coverage.

Review of First Assembly

I am very happy to announce that after more than two and half years we now not only have a film "in the can", but we have a film that can actually be watched!

Behind The Scenes: Block 07

Back in early February we had what was almost certainly the challenging and intense weekend of shooting of Play It Safe's entire production. The scenes we shot are from the very end of Play It Safe's first act, where (the protagonist) Jamie's band has their final gig. We had a massive amount of coverage to get, there were three different musical acts to film, three dialogue scenes, a buttload of extras to manage, and to make matters worse we were forced to find a new location only two days before the shoot! I can safely say that this weekend was definitely the most stressful one I have ever encountered.

Quick Update: July 2013

Welp, I'm ashamed to say that this update is very much overdue! A massive amount has happened since my last proper post in December last year, and while I often intended to write updates I've unfortunately found myself much too busy. However, the good news is that I've been busy working hard on Play It Safe! So much so that we wrapped up principle photography in early April, AND now we are only a couple of weeks away from having our first assembly!

Play It Safe - Video Update #1

At long last, it is my great pleasure to show you the very first snippets of footage from Play It Safe!

Recording The Band

On Sunday we hit Blank Tape Studios to record a bunch of music for Play It Safe! I'm listening to the tracks right now, and I have to say that it's a very surreal experience! I've been talking to Nathan and Oscar about these songs for more than a year now and to finally have them sitting on my computer is just incredible.