I know it’s been a while since I last posted anything, but I’m excited to announce that Because I Love You(2016) is a Semi Finalist at LA Cine Fest!
Exciting stuff right!? So I had the privilege to work on this amazing short film a little over a year ago. This project is one of my more meaningful projects because of the message behind the film.
The film itself is about Audrey (Diana Diaz) who after escaping her abusive ex boyfriend (Derrick Dover) falls into a spiral of depression and paranoia. Her mother (Paula Lauzon) pushes her farther by conveying a message from Derrick asking for another chance. Audrey’s cousin, Charlotte (Stephanie Mills), wants to help her out of this vicious cycle, but only she can help herself when her nightmare comes to visit.
We will learn if we’re finalist by hopefully the end of next week. So keep an eye out for more announcements regarding this beautiful short film 🙂
Sorry I haven’t been posting lately. If you’ve been keeping up with my via social media, you can see that I’m (currently as I write this post) 13 days away from graduation! Woo! Exciting stuff guys!
Well during this semester, I’ve been keeping very busy. I produced a pilot on youtube (for a class), coordinated a PSA for the Orange County D.A’s office, producing a short to be filming at the end of July, all while juggling exams, papers and projects. So, yeah – been staying pretty busy.
Anywho, there is one project that I had wrapped back in the beginning of April that I never got a chance to write about. So I’m going to write about it now.
Over the semester, I had the chance of co-showrunning a pilot for YouTube called Nessa Knows. The show itself is about a Vanessa (played by Alexandria Lewis), a senior in high school, who learns that she has a unique gift of reading minds, but her insight becomes both a gift and curse. She soon realizes the world is full of stereotypes, and learns the true nature of the people she interacts with everyday.
Long story short, this show was fairly difficult to run because, unfortunately we had a difficult personality on the crew that kept holding us back. However, she did pull through with production. Not so much during wrap and post. But what are you going to do? You deal with it, work around it, and move on.
On the upside, the final product turned out to be pretty good. I’ve attached a link below 🙂 And for our final we’ll be making an indiegogo campaign for the show. So if you like the pilot, you can keep an eye out for that!
Well, enough of my rambling. On to my next piece of good news! Post to follow shortly after! 🙂
Just wrapped up another shoot. And as always I loved every minute of it. I know that I work in the Production Office the whole time and pretty much handle paperwork for most of my day during production, but I’m not complaining. To be honest I really love it. I know what you’re thinking. You’re probably thinking, “if you love paperwork so much why don’t you just work a 9-5 like most people?” And my answer is because I will most likely not have the same amount of love for that job, that I have for this. I know that if I did that, I would have hated coming into work. I would have always just dreaded the day until I got off. Yes the hours on set are long, but it doesn’t feel that way. Well not to me at least.
I also think I’m getting a better handle on being an Office PA too. And I’m hoping that within the next few months I might be able to move up to Production Secretary or APOC (Asst Prod Office Coord) and then eventually become a Line Producer/UPM.
What I love most about film production jobs is that they’re not all the same. The job’s never the same. There’s always something new to learn. AND I’m not stuck in the same location every time. Maybe that’s what scares a lot of people from not pursuing a career in the arts. Because there’s not stability in it. And most people out there, want the stability you know?
Well that’s all I have to say. I hope you enjoyed reading this as well as looking at my lovely pictures too. I try to keep it interesting for you, don’t want to let it all just be boring text you know? 😉
I can’t believe that after this semester it’s good bye school forever and hello adulting. What I find interesting is that I’m not that scared about the future. Sure it’s going to be daunting because it’s going to take me a while to get work but I’m not scared. I’m going to continue to look for work while I’m in school, like how I did this semester.
Last semester however did kick my ass. I had to write a 30 page script, produce a lecture series and a horror trailer, and then focus on academics. Granted the first three are also for school too. So let’s break it down.
To start off writing is not one of my strongest suits. Last semester I even had trouble writing a five page script, well that was more so to cut down my original seven to five. Hence why I went to my professor’s office hours almost every time he had them last semester. However, this semester I know I should have gone to my professor’s office hours, but I didn’t. I don’t know why, but I didn’t feel like he would give me the same criticism as the one I had last semester. Anyways, writing that 30-pager was a mission.
30pg mission
I have some high hopes though for this semester. Not just because I’ll be finishing up with school (maybe forver…?) but because I have a lot of things going for me this semester. First off, if you haven’t noticed one of the projects that I was developing fell through. Which wasn’t that surprising to me. But after I realized that it really wasn’t going to go anywhere, I suddenly felt like I was in a rut in terms of my film career. I wasn’t producing anything any time soon and I wasn’t necessarily looking for work. So I was in a rut. That was until I was talking to a friend of mine and we just decided, “You know what f*ck it. Let’s gather up the crew and make something this semester. Doesn’t matter what it is, as long as we shoot something.” That thought gave me the boost I needed to get out of my rut. And soon following that, I was offered the job to work for the University as a Student Assistant for one of the film classes.
Just goes to show you, that if things look bleak now does not mean that they’ll look bleak forever. Just for the time being. So pretty much moral of the story: when life gets you down, get back up and kick some major ass and take names.
This entire summer has been one hell of a ride. Definitely got more hands on learning with the industry. I got to intern on two features and a digital series. PA on a commercial and a feature. And produce (well in the process of producing) a short film. All while interning at a small production company out in Studio City. Yeah… one hell of a ride and many hours of sitting in that infamous Los Angeles traffic.
I have definitely been blessed to be given all of these opportunities that have helped me learn and guide me through the belly of this beast we call show business. What I love most about entertainment is that nothing will ever truly be the same job. It’s constantly changing and evolving and well you have to learn to adapt or get eaten alive.
This past project that I got to Office PA for was definitely the job that kicked my ass in terms of learning experiences. This was my first real taste of being an Office PA. And to be completely honest, I loved every minute of it. Sure the job is tough and it royally kicked my ass but I’ll be coming out of it with more knowledge that I can bring to other jobs.
I feel that when it comes to learning or preparing for the jobs that you want in entertainment it’s all based on experience. Sure you can buy all the books and go to all the classes, but really there is nothing like being thrown into the ring and getting down.
I remember when I stepped onto the set of my first feature I was shadowing the UPM (Unit Production Manager) and I asked her, “Is there anything you can tell me that I should know to prepare to be a UPM, Line, Coordinator, etc.” And she told me that there’s nothing she could really tell me except that you just learn from the different shows you get on. Each show is different. And you just learn to adapt and go from there. Another discouraged me from going down that road because all you do is paperwork. And I told him that as strange as this is going to sound I actually like paperwork. There’s a strange solace for me just knowing that I understand everything that I read. I like dealing with logistics more than creative. I think it’s mainly because I’m having a hard time creating so I’d rather help with the process of creating something. That and I also feel that there’s just too much pressure to be creative now. Everyone is creating something. But no one is truly going out there and creating anything.
From that first feature I had landed my first industry internship where I got to see what it was like to work for a small production company. My experience here was and will truly be invaluable. I learned so much of what goes into creating a show, from prep to production. As well as what it takes to run a small independent production company.
While working there I had managed to get onto a commercial which then led to my second feature, both of which I had Set PA’d for, and then finally hopping on to my third feature while developing my fourth short film.
Views from the third.
I learned so much over the summer and I will never forget what I’ve learned and who I’ve met in the process and what they taught me.
And just like every “champagne” shot called, there is always this bittersweet feeling of knowing that something has come to a close. But with every new end is the start of a wonderfully unknown beginning. Fall 2016 I’m ready to see what you have in store for me.
As of 15 June 2016 at 11:00AM, my chapter entitled the above title has officially come to a close.
It has been quite a journey and a little bittersweet to say the least on closing this chapter of my life. Throughout the process I could see that I have truly grown into my skill set as a short film producer. But it is not only that, I feel as if I have grown as a person working on this film. I have grown sympathetic and more compassionate towards women who have gone through abusive relationships. Trauma like that never truly leaves the victim, or survivor, but with some time and reflection they learn to cope and move on as best as they can.
The film itself is about a woman on her journey towards self healing after an abusive relationship. She is haunted by the past of her abusive ex boyfriend and must finally confront what has happened to her in order to regain control of her life.
Being able to see all of the hard work that the cast and crew put into this film and finally being able to see it on the big screen was definitely something else.
And now we’re onto the 2016-2017 film festival circuit! Will keep you all posted! Wish us luck!
For the past month or so I have been given the opportunity to intern on two shoots, both of which I was able to shadow and learn quite a bit from Production Coordinators. One was a feature and the other was for a digital series.
It was through the feature and digital series that I learned two new possible roles that I could really get into and be really good at, Unit Production Manager and/or Production Coordinator. Both of these roles really feed into my meticulous side and strange love for paperwork and organizing. For those of you who don’t know, both roles deal with the logistical side of production. So it’s dealing with vendors, locations, time cards, etc. etc. etc. Pretty much how to make a feature with the time and budget allocated to you. Fun right? (side note: there is no sarcasm intended at all with that last statement)
It was also through these projects that I learned how much more challenging it is to create a feature and a web series because of all the other elements that are added into it. Shorts compared to these are definitely a cake walk.
It is true what they say about the more shoots that you do the more you learn and the more experience you gain. You can’t truly go into this business knowing exactly what it is you’ll be doing in the role you signed up for. But then again, where is the fun in repetition right?
It’s been a little over a year since I first made this short film but I’m still proud of it nonetheless. Mostly because it is my baby. This is the first film that I ever produced and became the project that put me towards the path of what I love to do.
Let me give you a little background to this story….
When I originally wrote this, I wrote it as a short story because I was “taking a break” from studying. I was in Panera looking around the dining area when I saw this old man looking somberly into his coffee. And as I looked at him I began to question why? What happened to him to make him look so melancholy. And that was when I started to write about the possible why’s….
After a little positive feedback on the story itself and an experience on a set that I will never forget, I thought to myself, “You know what, if they can do it, I can do it too.” So I read up on how to produce indie films. I bought and read as many books and articles as I could. And then I started development and pre production for the project.
The story itself is about a woman reflecting on her current predicament in her life at that moment. Originally I thought about doing about four actresses who look the same, but then I was advised that maybe going for the same actress for all four roles and a double for a couple of interaction scenes would be the better course of action. And that was exactly what I had done.
As I wrote the short story and the script for this I knew that I had wanted to shoot this in black and white. Not because shooting in black and white means the audience is going to start paying more attention to the story rather than the details on the screen. Not that one, I hadn’t learned that in film school yet. It was mainly because I knew shooting this in black and white was going to look so much more aesthetically pleasing.
As with most projects, there will always be little mishaps. Original plan A location fell through. Not being able to find a stand in that looks like the main actress. Those are just a couple of examples of what had happened before we began initial photography. And when we did begin to shoot, time was not in our favor. Not to mention the fact that we were filming after hours. But I had a supportive cast and crew behind me so it made getting through that weekend not only extremely efficient and productive but mostly very fun.
I will forever be grateful to those who helped me and supported me all throughout the project as well as my pursuit of a film career. And just being overall patient with me too. I could read so many books about producing and still know so little about this foreign field. Yet with so much self doubt and uncertainty haunting my thoughts, I still felt like this was what I wanted to do. This was where I belonged.
Exciting stuff right!? So I had the privilege to work on this amazing short film a little over a year ago. This project is one of my more meaningful projects because of the message behind the film.
It’s been a little over a year since I first made this short film but I’m still proud of it nonetheless. Mostly because it is my baby. This is the first film that I ever produced and became the project that put me towards the path of what I love to do.
Michelle Morte 