We filmed my new short (tentatively titled “AK”) last weekend.
It was a wonderful shoot, and I look forward to telling you all about it.
First, I want to say thank you to Sola Coffee Café for providing coffee for craft services.
If you’re not familiar with the term, “craft services” or “crafty” is a big important part of any production. It’s a buffet-style set up of snacks and beverages available to cast and crew throughout the shoot.
When you’re working a 10-12 hour day crafty becomes a place to refresh, hang out, rest, regroup, and meet people. It’s a part of what helps build camaraderie, too. For many folks, what’s available at craft services can be a sign of respect. (But that’s fodder for another blog post.)
Sola Coffee Café | Artwork by Nora Phillips
Coffee is a really important part of craft services.
Really good coffee is especially appreciated. Tasty coffee keeps everyone fueled, attentive, and alert. When you’re working on little sleep, often on your feet moving around all day, and working with expensive equipment it’s important to be alert. So coffee is usually flowing consistently all day.
With a shoot like ours, coffee was especially important.
We had a long day in a chilly parking garage. It was dark and cold all day, to the point where it felt like time wasn’t passing. Since it was cold, the hot coffee kept us warm and awake.
It also kept us alert. We were shooting an action sequence, and we needed to be fully focused on what we were doing. Not feeling sluggish or tired or cold. Coffee helped a lot with that.
It kept us all safe. Safety on my set is paramount. I confess that I’m a bit overprotective of the people who work on my films. I want to create an environment where everyone feels safe, respected, appreciated, and able to do their best work.
We were doing pretty complicated shots and actions last weekend. I asked a lot of our cast and crew. Everyone was so professional about it all, and we walked away with really great stuff.
Creating the an atmosphere or environment on set that’s conducive to creating the best work is really important to me. I’ve learned from my mistakes, classes, and experience gained over the years.
Let me be totally honest, I’ve still got plenty to learn. It’s good to be with people who are gracious with you while you’re learning. There’s a lot that goes into writing, producing, and directing your own films; it’s something I’m obviously still tweaking. And, hopefully, I’ll spend the rest of my life learning with people who want to continue doing the same.
Although coffee doesn’t seem directly related to all that goes into filmmaking – especially safety on set – it is an incredibly important part of it.
So, thank you, Sola Coffee Café for providing coffee for our shoot.
Special thanks to Kristen Rivera for making the coffee pick ups, too!
If you’re not familiar with Sola, you must visit immediately.
I used to walk to Sola and work on my films in the wee hours of the morning. They have such a wonderful space and atmosphere. They have the best coffee, food, and especially those amazing hot donuts.
Oh, man, those hot donuts.
Cup of hot tea for breakfast. Yum.
A photo posted by Camden Watts (@camdenwatts) on
Friends, please be sure to visit Sola soon.
Stop in and say hi.
Tell them I sent you. Tell them thank you for supporting local artists like me. Get some food, coffee, and beans to take home. It does so many great things when we support businesses within our community whenever we can!
Thank you, Sola!
WHAT’S NEXT FOR OUR FILM?
We’re in post-production, a process that can take some time.
We will be sure to share details about it all here on the blog, but I’m especially blunt about stuff via email. You should sign up for monthly email updates so you can get the nitty gritty on what it’s like to be a filmmaker, and where to find inspiration to chase your own dreams. (Use the form on the right hand sidebar or click here.)
Once our new film is finished, we’ll submit to film festivals. Whether we get in or not, we’ll be self-distributing the film so we can share it with each of you.
We’ve already had a lot of people asking to see it!
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Although production has wrapped, we could still use your help.
I shared a few ways to get involved recently (here), including signing up for emails and following along on social. But what we need most is cash.
You can contribute any amount through PayPal here (change $35 to the amount you feel is right for you). Every dollar goes towards the film, and you’re name will go in the end credits as a thank you.
Thank you for the support and following along with us!
More details coming soon.