House of Friendships

In the middle of chaos there grew a seed. Contained in that seed would be the makings of lifelong connections and life changing events. All it took was action and perseverance to plant that seed and watch it blossom. In just the span of 60 days, the seed grew and turned into a great strong force. The roots were nourished by the tears we cried, the laughter we shared, and the hard work we all put in. Sacrifice, trials, and good times built the mighty force. We all learned about each other and we all learned about ourselves. What it takes to complete the tasks at hand. How much we can take. Who can handle what and most importantly we all learned when to let go of negativity and self for the greater good of all. Was this a movie set? Yes, but it was also so much more for many of us. For some it changed lives. For some it made us realize what was important in life. For some it was just a family to go to to help forget what is going on outside the world of House of Forbidden Secrets. For a short time, we were all we had. We slept, breathed, and lived House of Forbidden Secrets. It is my hope that everyone’s lives were enriched by this experience. It is my hope that at the end of the day, when all is done and we all move on to our once again separate lives we will all keep in touch. This has not just been a movie set. I have sat back and observed, this has become a proving grounds for many. A very positive one. We all built the force up and now all that is left is to climb it to reach for the stars. I would say I will miss each of the cast and crew members, but I will not. I will instead opt in to keep in contact with everyone. You are all my personal friends now. Thank you for making this time magical even in the face of some adversity. You all did such a wonderful job! As we wind down to the last couple of shoots, I will remember the laughs and good times.

Amanda

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A double edged Axe and a smile…

Well, principal photography has wrapped on the film – we have a few pick up scenes and effects shots to do… mostly 2nd unity type of stuff. The last official night of shooting was this past weekend – we actually shot 3 days, sneaking in a WED night shoot with comedians AJ Finney and Dustin Kaufman. We also had a few extras in attendance and we added a really cool shot where a few of the girls try and escape the brothel slaughter, only to be caught before they could get off of the porch of Shadowview Manor. Turned out pretty amazing and the sets at The Beast, one of the largest Haunted Houses in the USA turned out simply stunning. It truly looks like we are outside.

The hard part is over, but instead of feeling a huge relief, I feel pretty down about it. The creative process on this one, the cast and crew, the late nights with this new group of friends who pulled together and became a family…. it’s all pretty much over. When we get together to shoot, the large cast sitting around together, the large crew working like busy creatures of the night – all pretty much gone. Now there are a few of us and maybe one or two actors showing up. Kind of hard. I really miss everyone. But the film looks amazing, and that helps a bunch. Everyone did a great job – and now I have started the editing process. This will be a pain in my ass, but it is worth it. We have the latest version of Premiere that JUST came out a couple of weeks ago, so I am at a small disadvantage, it’s a slight learning curve, but I’ll master it soon enough. I actually miss the older versions like 6.0 and 6.5 and wish that Premiere would offer a “classic” interface for those of us that like the older versions.

Anyway – I’ll write more soon, I have some very good things to write about the “big weekend” with the amazing brothel scenes and some pics to post as well. Stay tuned –

Todd

28 hours in 2 days and still rolling!

OK, this was the big one. And I was nervous. Have to admit it. Our last major big principal day of filming. We have a couple of days for pick up shots and things we missed, but this was the big one. This was the weekend we had to get through about 15 pages of script. We had Dyanne Thorne and Howard Maurer from the popular Ilsa series of films…. we had Lew Temple who is a true icon and an amazing character actor – most people know Lew as Axel on Walking Dead. We had about 40 or 50 extras, and we had our regular cast of incredible actors. Plus, we had a ton of effects to do. A n entire “Slaughter in a brothel” scene. I was seriously afraid it could not be done. But the thing sis: We friggin did it! We beat the odds, tore ourselves up and got it done! The crew pulled together like never before – the cast worked twice as hard and everyone was in high spirits. As always, I stressed a positive set, and for the most part, it worked. Negative people just got booted…hehe. I will write more about it later – I am still so tired that I am not sure who I am at the moment…. but I will elaborate soon, I promise.

Time for sleep –
Todd