Production is Wrapped!

After two incredible nights of shooting, production on our short film “Hell is Round the Corner” is a wrap! Now we’re officially into post-production, and we should have a finished film to show within the next several weeks.

We shot two sequences (one per night), and one of my favorite things about production was the wildly different shooting styles from the first night to the second. The photo above (huge tip of the cap to Ryan Stadler for some amazing behind-the-scenes still photos) is from our exterior sequence in and near Loring Park in Minneapolis, which was a very organic, run-and-gun, MOS, almost entirely ambient lit shoot filmed by Chris Martin. The next night we were in the gorgeous River Room at Aster Cafe in Minneapolis (see the BTS photo below, again from Ryan) for a tightly controlled shoot filmed by Timothy Johnson, with carefully sculpted light and precise camera work, and crisp audio by Taylor Lewin. And we were so privileged as well to have the amazing contributions of Simone LeClaire on wardrobe and production design, and Amaralys Rivera on hair and makeup. Just an incredibly talented and passionate team of artists, all of whom I am so thrilled and so fortunate to be working with. I truly can’t thank you all enough for your commitment, stamina, and determination, and for your tremendous eyes and ears and open hearts.

And I haven’t even mentioned these two yet, in the photos. Morgan LeClaire and Matthew Englund, our two leads. Months ago–long before auditions–when we were just beginning to discuss this project, the biggest and most fearful unknown for me was about who we would find to cast in these roles, for this short film and for the follow-up feature-length film. Because all the production value in the world wouldn’t mean much if we couldn’t find exceptionally talented and passionate actors to bring these very emotionally nuanced and vulnerable roles to life. And I almost expected that we would have to simply do the best we could to fill these roles for this short film, and then follow up with another round of auditions and casting for the feature film, much longer and more difficult the second time around. But we’ve been absolutely blown away by these two, by their unbelievable talent and drive and chemistry together, and I almost can’t believe how fortunate we are to have connected with them and to already have their commitment for the feature film. Around 4am on Wednesday morning, as we were wrapping up our last few shots the second night at Aster, I was finally physically exhausted and I couldn’t believe Morgan’s and Matt’s ability to continue drawing so strongly on their physical and emotional reserves. So a tremendous thank you from the bottom of my heart to the two of you, as well as to the rest of the team, all of whom continued to press on to make sure we not only captured everything but nailed everything. And a huge thank you once again to Jeff, Michelle, Jennifer, Troy, Hannah and the other amazing people at Aster Cafe.

We really can’t wait to share the finished short, and then to start sharing our plans for the feature!