November 2009
2 posts
Crew: Director of Photography
I can’t say its official (because that’s how this business (biz-nass) works), BUT I can say that we got along smashingly and that I think he is a super smart guy, and that he GETS this script and that I am super-stoked that he wants to direct the photography of ALIVE and WELL.
Ladies and Gentleman, introducing the Director of Photography for such movies as the indie smash hit,...
Backstory: The Script, Part 4
So…I took out across the desert, intending to do some writing, figure out what was missing from the script, and take it easy for a few days.
From the airport, I drove through town and was amazed (as always) at the spectacle that is LAS VEGAS. It’s such a ridiculous place, excess in the worst possible way, but still with a silly charm that is hard to shake. Las Vegas is a different...
August 2009
4 posts
Press: Some Early Online Buzz
Boing! Boing!
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/13/buddy-holly-is-alive.html
ScreenCrave
http://screencrave.com/2009-08-13/jon-heder-buddy-holly/
Press: Variety
Variety Press Release
So. We are official - well, according to Variety. This is the first press release for the film.
3 tags
The Author and the Book:
The book that this entire project is based on is entitled “Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede” by author Bradley Denton. It won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1992 and is probably one of the oddest, most wonderful feel good science fiction books I have ever read. It is almost impossible to explain (or pitch for that matter) in a few...
1 tag
Backstory: The Script, Part 3
So, there we were, with a script that SOMEONE liked, but no real avenues to go down. We continued to send the script out, but it didn’t seem to catching on. A few people expressed interest, thought it was a good project, but ultimately moved on to other things.
And that’s where it stayed - in Limbo - for another year or two.
Then, about a year ago, something happened. A few random...
July 2009
11 posts
2 tags
Backstory: The Script, Part 2
So. the script was dead…or seemed dead at least. It was going nowhere fast. For a year or more, it just sat, collecting dust. Molly when back to her other film projects, and I dove into the commercial world, updating my reel with anything and everything I could get my hands on.
A year or so later, I got an email from Molly saying she was going to renew the option on the book, that she liked...
2 tags
Visual Effects: Initial meetings
Had a great meeting today with a special effects supervisor (who I knew previously from the commercial industry) and a visual effects company who are interested in doing the visual effects for the film.
There were the usual introductions - vis effect super, flame artist, miniature effects director, and a producer or two, but the conversation jumped quickly to the script. I was shocked to learn...
3 tags
Casting:
So we sent the script to Parker Posey, one of my absolute favorites, to see if she would be interested in the role of Susan - Oliver’s therapist. Her agent called back and passed, informing us that she was doing a play at the same time and would not be available. This was about two weeks ago. Bummed. But it was a long shot.
Yesterday, her agent called back, said that Parker had read the...
2 tags
Casting:
Today, we (Molly - Producer, Pam - Casting Director, and I) went back and forth about a million times about our top picks for Gretchen (the female lead opposite Jon), trying really hard to narrow it down to a single name on a page, a single face, a single personality that we felt best reflected Gretchen. That’s not as easy as it sounds, and the process has been going on for weeks, but I...
2 tags
Backstory: The Script, Part 1
When the producer, Molly Mayeux, sent me the script, this note was attached: “We’ll have to do something about this title”.
Underneath that note, the title read “That’ll Be the Day”. The screenplay was written by Steve Tomlin and F. Paul Benz and was based on the book “Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede”, and my first thought was -...
2 tags
Casting:
Just got word that the beautiful and talented Mila Kunis loves the script, wants to do it, and will be filming Darren Aronofsky’s movie at the exact same time. Bummer! Aronooooofffskky!!!! I guess I can’t fault her for that. ;)
Oliver Vale on Twitter [click to go to profile] →
Oliver Vale is now on Twitter and is tweeting, oddly enough, from the year 1988.
1 tag
Current Status: Cast. Jon Heder!
We have officially attached the always funny, Jon Heder (of Napoleon Dynamite fame), to star in the lead role of the film, playing the character Oliver Vale, and are currently working closely with Hollywood veteran, Pam Dixon, our “kickin-ass-and-takin-names” Casting Director, to secure talent for the additional roles.
Current Status: Shoot date.
As of today, July 23rd, 2009, the independent film project “Alive and Well” is slated to begin shooting November 2.
2 tags
Backstory: Playing catch up...
Even though this running account of the film is just starting here online, this film, in some form or fashion, has been in existence for a number of years. As the director attached to the project that entire time, I can say that I saw the first draft of the script almost six years ago. Through those six years, it has undergone some minor changes and some pretty severe ones (at some point I will...
2 tags
What is this...
This is, quite simply, a running log of the making of the independent film, “Alive and Well” - the day in and day out, nuts and bolts of making a feature film. It is an open (as open as it can be) dialogue concerning all aspects of the filmmaking process from screenplay, the rights to the book that it is based on, to the process of getting the script out into the film world, the...