With but a week left before principal shooting, there were a ton of last minute details to contend with – finalizing storyboards, shot list and shooting schedule, script revisions, travel coordination and the list goes on. So naturally, our producer Agustin and I did what any over-worked, stressed out indie filmmakers would do under the circumstances… go to Comic-Con! Woo-hoo!
In all seriousness, that’s exactly what we did and it turned out to be a lifesaver. It wasn’t an impulsive decision. Our short film Confederate Zombie Massacre! was finishing up its fest tour their and we weren’t about to miss that.
So, I spent afternoons in the hotel room on the king-sized bed, littered with storyboards, shotlists and a cell phone that wouldn’t stop.
At night, we partied hard. It was great to run into a bunch of friends I’d met on the film fest circuit over the previous couple years – the perfect inspiration to forge ahead into production of our first feature.
We even met Chris Gore, though when we mentioned we were shooting our first feature the following week and told him our budget, the man didn’t bat an eye before declaring, –“That’s not possible.”
Whoa, Dude, really? He was the last person I’d have expected to hear that from. But it sure lit a fire under our asses. (though I suppose he was right in the end – we did exceed our principal shoot budget by a few hundred dollars.)
We ended our glorious trip to Comic-Con by catching Clerks II at the San Diego Cineplex. I don’t know if I was just high on life or if it was really as good as I remembered. I’d been horrified to hear they were making a sequel, thinking Kevin Smith must have really run out of ideas, but I found it fun and inspiring. It was made with real heart. And I liked the message – be true to yourself. It was the perfect kickoff to the madness that was soon to follow…