Musings of an Idiot

Last weekend was relaxing and a complete 180 to what this week has been. Mary and me canceled the trip to White Island at the last minute as the weather forecast said gale force winds and it was highly unlikely that the tour would have gone ahead plus it was bad weather on Friday as well - so driving down to Whakatane would have been one massive mission. So instead we made an impromptu program and went up north - not too north though. It was a lazy weekend exploring some wonderful countryside and the gorgeous beaches that NZ has to offer, eating lovely food and simply lazing about. It is much easier to just show the photos and show the beauty that the trip turned out to be.

This week started off with an unexpected system shock with a meeting between 2 of us producers for 'Nowhere to Love' and the legal firm representing the movie. We are trying to sort out the matter of rights and title to the movie, so that the work on the script can start again. The meeting went well but was a definite shock to me as I wasn't expecting quite a few things that came out of the meeting. So after having a think I have decided not to direct 'Nowhere to Love' - I will only be attached to the project as a producer - that is once the 'rights' thing gets cleared up. More on that once things are a bit more clear about the happenings with the movie.

The meeting put me in a frame of mind where I couldn't really work on editing 'Five' - which was the plan as I got 2 days off in a row from my work at TVNZ. Thank God for the acting class in the evening, which snapped me out of it. Tuesday was spent trimming the cut further with 'Five' and it is now down to 74 minutes minus the end credits - so the final duration will probably be around the 78 minute mark. Wednesday was my first solo shift in a new work area at TVNZ and it was exciting - so now I will be jumping between different areas, which is a great way to work.

Over the past couple of days I have spent about 2 hours a day working on the first rough colour grade on FIVE - so that when we submit it for consideration for the Auckland International Film Festival - it is not as rough and visually jarring. Benji has started doing the first audio clean-up pass, so that the audio levels are consistent and don't take away from viewing the rough cut. The deadline for getting the DVD screener in for the selection process is this coming Friday (I managed to get a few extra days for the project) and it will be long work days till that point. Once the screener goes in - we need to keep chugging away on sound and possibly start arranging for some ADR sessions before one of the talents leaves the country for her OE (Overseas Experience). Ilke Gers - a friend of one of the talents has come on board to design the poster for the movie and I am looking forward to how that's going to shape up - I am definitely excited about it. So yeah - there is a whole lot of 'Five' on my mind plus there is my usual freelance work occupying the rest of my time. Besides 'Five' - there is atleast one solid project on the horizon (no - I am not talking about 'Nowhere') and details about that will follow once work on that project kick starts.

It is that time of the year where one has to file their tax returns and this time around there is a new person (with the same accounting firm) handling the Unkreative Artists and my accounts. It was amusing trying to explain to them why we are spending so much money on making a movie but not seeing any income straight away. I told him that I am still working on the movie and that income from the movie won't accrue anytime soon since I have to finish editing it and sell it and then hopefully see some returns before the end of the next financial year - the voice on the other end said 'Oh!' as if they understood what I was saying but it was definitely more preplexed than before it asked the question. Keeping fingers crossed that we make some money on the movie this time. If we don't then the next movie will be truly 'zero budget'.

That's it from me for now.

Till later

Amit

[BTW - I just laid a complaint to the police because there was this car which followed me for 2 nights in a row now- it is too much of a coincidence, especially when this has happened when I return from my night shift at TVNZ at different points in time. It is a bit bizarre so thought I would mention it - nothing to worry about yet. It must be my vivid clarity of instincts but will get to know for sure if it happens again. How is that for topping off a crazy week? The car registration no. is WC 3149 incase you are wondering.]