In the Works: 3 Days Short Film Part 2

The script itself was refined and cut down from 20 pages with several actors to around 12 pages with 2 actors. Official preproduction began around February of 2005. A small budget was being formed, script breakdowns were happening, and the search for crew began. With a small crew established, the script breakdown and budget complete, we decided on production dates which would take place on one weekend.

After this, it was time to bring in our actors. Bert Rotundo helped us in casting. A funny talented guy who had the patience and endurance to persevere through the filming of POI, I stayed in contact with him for several reasons. One, is because he's just an all around stand up guy who works hard and loves what he does. He is reliable, charismatic, and funny. Two, he is experienced with the acting scene and has the IMDB credits to back it up which prompted me to contact him to help out in the search for the actors we needed. First we had to push through hundreds of headshots I received through a casting website. More people than I thought applied for the roles of abused woman and disturbed crazy guy. Bert actually drove from Los Angeles to my dump out in Redlands to help me sort through all of these people, cull the herd, and place calls to the people we thought would be interesting. Since I had already rented a place for a couple of hours in Hollywood for auditions, calling and setting up audition appointments was cake.

The auditions themselves went rather smooth and Bert was invaluable in helping stage and direct scenes as a casting director for my little film. Our fantastic production designer, Jo Ann Avila played opposite of all of these actors, reading lines and playing off their mood. Jo Ann has this incredible sense of style and knows interior design which made her perfect for that position. She also coordinated 95% of the catering which rocked. I digress a bit, this audition would also be the first time I would encounter trouble with potential crew members. I won't go into the drama of it all, but it was a valuable experience and one that tested my skills as a leader and boss.