I’m sure the last place my crew wanted to see this morning was a bar. Poor Sean was obviously hurting more than a little and everyone was a tired… jet lag + first night in the city + tequila = no early morning call. It turned out to be a blessing that we were shooting only the bar scene during the morning. We set up our corner of the bar, ordered in and cruised through the scene at our own pace. Our Hell’s Angel turned out to be a no show, so our DP stepped in to play the role. MS Fashions next door provided us with a glorious leather vest for him to wear and Cooper found the perfect headgear…five shots of whiskey later and he looked and sounded the part.

We took a nice break in high spirits. Most folks went back to the apartment to nap and relax before our next couple of scenes…on the subway. We couldn’t stress too much about continuity and sound, we just went for it. Sean fit all of his gear into his bookbag so he could stay close to the scene and in the event camera picked him up, he would just look like a bystander…Knights of the Guild keep your eyes peeled in the subway scenes for a Sean Sighting. The first scene with our homeless guy went fantastic. James David Jackson’s beard did all the work for him…absolutely hysterical!

However, midway through shooting, Erik’s bag went missing. Someone had lifted it while we were shooting the scene. Understandably, he was upset…as were most people…not only because his stuff was gone, but a lot of us put our own belongings in his bag (small things, you know, like the shooting script and the tripod). Erik was a champ and said we should keep filming and went on to knock the opening scene out of the park. We returned to the apartment exhausted, thankfully with all our shots. Erik has a prior commitment and will be leaving us in the morning. I feel awful that he got a bad taste of New York, but if we get a Season 2, I will make it up to him!!!

We awoke to a view from our balcony overlooking the UN Building and the East River. The city was alive, the sun was out and I decided to play tour guide using our shot list. We started in Midtown East and got a few traffic shots, shuttling across to Midtown West and Time Square. Then we walked south on 6th Ave stopping at exteriors along the way for B-Roll. Next stop, the Village – my old stomping grounds.

Taking a break, we patronized Lucky Jacks Bar which we intend to use tomorrow for our Bar on the show. Once it was dark, we went back out on the town for round two: night exteriors. An old friend, Anna Koonin, whose known best for her role on All My Children joined us to make out with me in a cab and take us back to her place. Having successfully gathered all of our B-Roll and a handful of exchanges in our first day, I set the crew loose on the town. Let’s hope they make the call time in the morning!

Now this feels more like independent filmmaking – a manic roller coaster barely clinging to the tracks. We woke up bright and early to cram in one of our “stints” at the office filming all our scenes with Cassandra Smith, a quirky blond who speaks in texting abbreviations. After racing through 6 pages of dialogue, our core cast and crew carpooled to LAX for our flight to New York City!

I have never treated all my friends to a vacation before – ignoring my credit score, I feel like a millionaire fueling up the private jet for a weekend “jaunt.” I’m also excited to introduce my west coast friends to “my city” back east. Neither Jim, Erik nor Sean have been to New York before so it will be a fun trip…despite all the work!

I dropped everyone at the terminal (with all the gear and my credit card) and went to find parking. Of course, I got lost driving in circles as we rapidly approached our boarding time. Somehow everyone managed to get all the luggage checked and on the plane while Cooper and Erik waited at the gate for me. When I got to the check in desk, our plane was literally closing the cabin doors.

I have to give a shout out to “Piper” with Virgin America at LAX. She got us through security in just over a minute and sprinted with us – in high heels – to our gate, allowing the airline to re-open the doors and let us board the plane! If anyone who works with her is reading this…she deserves a raise!

However, upon take off we realized that the hard drive containing all our footage had been left at the check in desk! Melt down does not quite capture my emotions during that cross country flight. I literally prayed while Cooper used Virgin’s wireless to email everyone she could the number for lost and found. We even asked the flight crew what to do and they had the captain radio down to ground control to relay the message to the check in desk. About half way into the flight, a slip of paper was delivered from the captain. “VIRGIN CHECK IN DESK: NOTHING FOUND.”

So we’re on a plane to New York…My life savings is spent…All the footage we have shot the past 8 days and the P2 cards I’ve rented are gone…I’d like to take this moment to compliment Virgin America’s liquor selection. Then, by some stroke of divine intervention, Cooper checked her email and her brother in North Carolina had written: “I found it! I’m on hold with lost and found and they’ve got it. What do I do now?” By yet another stroke of dumb luck, Amy, one of our crew was flying out the next morning to join us. Lost & Found agreed to put her name on the hard drive and hand them over in the morning.

We landed emotionally and physically drained, collected our luggage and took a cab into the city. Knowing we all still had a show, we could get some rest and start fresh in the morning. Regardless of the journey, it was all worth it as we crossed over the Triborough bridge and Sean says, “Brendan, I see why you couldn’t fake New York. It just can’t be captured in LA.” Let’s make a TV show, folks.

This is how filming should be. We had one of our usual 4 hours stints, but only needed to shoot one 3 page scene using the reception desk. This gave us plenty of time for set ups, performance and goofing around – dare I say enjoying our jobs. Robyn Clark joined us today from Chicago’s improv and musical theater scene. She and Erik had fun bantering back and forth…they had actually worked together on a short film earlier this year as two geeks on a blind date, so it was a hilarious reunion.
Don’t get too comfortable…we’re back to insanely ambitious “day” shoots tomorrow!

Today we were joined by Take 180’s Brian Ames for his second and last day of filming. After our crappy (pun intended) bathroom shoot, I was thankful he agreed to come back, but I assured him we were shooting to P2 cards and swore there would be no more technical difficulties…and he got to pound beer in his final scene (and what guy doesn’t want that on his reel?) We also enjoyed the talents of Emma Messenger and Aaron Sherry (from American Jedi)!

Again, we nobly battled the fourth-dimensional elements, cramming as many pages and angles into our 4 hour window. Maybe we’re just used to it by now, but I think we’re on a roll…

Today was a treat for everyone…except maybe our co-workers at the office trying to get work done. Over a Celtics game last week, I got Sandeep Parikh from The Guild to agree to a role on the show. Having worked with Sandeep on his show, The Legend of Neil, I know he has a gift of crass comedy and I wanted to turn him loose as the potty mouthed Supervisor who “takes sexual harassment to the next level.”

Because of his commitment to editing his own show, Legend of Neil, and gearing up for the next season of The Guild, he could only give us 1 day to film ALL his scenes…so today was “Deep Day” (because if we didn’t get all the scenes, we were in deep…anyway). If nothing else in this show is funny, these scenes will still make it one of the best comedies of the year! And good thing, because after today, our location is contemplating kicking us out! Two co-workers left for the day because of profanity and one begged us to take a break while a client came in for a meeting! Sounds like sweet, sweet victory.

Sandeep is a natural class clown. It doesn’t matter if the camera is rolling, you’re never prepared for the vile filth that comes out of his mouth…and for it to be soooo funny. Poor Jim fought so hard to not shake the camera and Erik literally could not get through some lines. The gag reel on this will be a must see!

Wow…just…wow. Back in the office today. We had 3 hours to shoot 5 pages! It doesn’t sound like a lot, but those pages were spread out over a lot of different scenes and set ups! (Thank you Jim!) Tonight was all about Erik and Christiann – chemistry is so indescribable, but when it’s there it literally transforms a scene. Their characters are sickeningly adorable and they were troupers for sprinting through their romance. Their last scene together (my personal favorite) was a page and a half shot in 20 minutes. I am not exaggerating! They were focused, prepared and just went for it. Maybe it’s that we didn’t have time to overthink it or drop the energy, but the scenes really came alive and despite the limitations on time, we amply captured the scenes. I am looking forward to editing this footage. Christiann is wrapped for Season 1…but we’ll definitely be seeing a lot more of her if the show gets a second season!

The lovely folks at Sweet Revenge Entertainment let us use their bathroom…all night. I’m not sure what it says that so many of my scenes take place in the bathroom, but we loaded in and vowed to hold our blatters.

We’ve been having a lot of trouble with the camera…or should I say the hard drive that connects to the camera. A quick google search would suggest that a LOT of people have encountered this problem, but it’s frequency doesn’t make me feel any better. It’s late, folks are exhausted, I don’t know what footage we have or don’t have…and some engineer at Panasonic decided the external hard drive to capture filming should be attached using a flimsy 4 pin firewire.

I learned a lot as a director tonight. At the end of the day, all that matters is what is happening in that little rectangle box. I tried to focus on my actors and just shoot what we could. Christiann, Erik, Anna and Brian really delivered tonight! They patiently went take for take knowing that sometimes the camera wasn’t recording. I love my crew as well. It’s hard to be a filmmaker when the camera doesn’t work, but everyone kept in good spirits under the hot lights – making jokes, brainstorming solutions and taking turns helping each other with equipment. I’ve got an amazing team…and that’s how you succeed…that and not shooting to hard drive using 4 pin firewire.

We desperately searched for a Star Trek snowglobe featuring T’pol, but seeing as it is a creation from the my imagination (and my dreams), alas, we are empty handed. So producer extraordinaire, Cooper Harris researched how to make a homemade snowglobe and is hand building the prop!!!
Gentlemen, behold possibly the most beautiful moment in human history…a hot girl not only knowing Star Trek Next Gen characters, but meticulously recreating one from scratch!!!

Today was affectionately called “Marty Day.” Marty Lodge, who is ridiculously overqualified to work for me, let us borrow his free time between Oleanna rehearsals with Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles to play Larry Stein, Alex’s head boss. I’ve admired Marty’s work on shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Numbers and The Wire for years, yet he somehow managed to pull out a whole new bag of tricks for us. Somewhere between Smithers and Shatner, he created an eccentric, approachable CEO. It has shocked me how many extraordinary performers have read my writing and offered to work for a day around their schedule…I’m honored and cannot wait for you guys to see his performance!

Meanwhile, Erik began uncovering the desperation of Alex’s character. It’s a tough role. You’re a lead so you’ve got to keep it from going too over the top, but it’s also a high energy comedy so you have to keep it turned on. Erik is an incredible “eyes” actor conveying so much with a look…it’s a joy to turn him loose and let him start incorporating the rest of his body in his work. There was a lovely tension in all his scenes with Marty which is perfect for the underlying fear of being caught and fired. Now we can find places in the future to let Alex be more relaxed and confident of his surroundings…this is why I wanted to do episodic work – it’s so character based. We don’t just follow a story. We get to see this character in a dearth of situations and test all his boundaries…all of them!

Something I should note – When I say, “Day 1″ it is mildly misleading. Most productions have 12+ hour days to film, but because of our unique arrangement with our office location (meaning people need to actually get work done and can’t have a film crew around all the time) we will be filming closer to 4 hour stints.  While that keeps the actors and crew happy…producers are in panic mode. Let’s just say, there’ll be a lot more “hurry up” and a lot less “wait” on our set.

Today was everyone’s trial run. Our first day in the location. Erik’s first day as Alex. Our crew’s first chance to work together. Jenny’s first time looking at all the ties Erik and I collectively own. My first time directing behind a camera. It was a fast 4 hours, but we got 90% of our shots. We expected to get off to a slow start so we chose all the little pick ups and moments of Alex working and living around the office for tonight…and I’m glad we did. It was thrilling to realize that it was all actually happening and I was disappointed when our time was up – but a hard out is the best 2nd AD in the world! Everyone has a few days until we film again, so plenty of time to organize and prepare for battle.

Our producer, Cooper Harris, is generously handling casting because, well, it seems she knows everyone in this town. After weeding through hundreds upon hundreds of online submissions from our breakdown (thank you everyone!) we saw 60 fantastic performers for a wealth of roles. Erik Smith joined as our reader given most scenes we are immediately filming are opposite his character. Cooper struck gold with CAZT studios where Conner hooked us up with a room and camera for the day. Because of our backgrounds in acting, Cooper and I love performers and really appreciate the necessary evil of the casting process – so we tried to keep it fun and on time for everyone.

We found some incredible talent for the show. Thank you so much to everyone who submitted and came in for us! We will be holding more casting after we film these first three episodes…stay tuned!

Alex’s bed is possibly the most notable set piece in the series. We’ve all fantasized about sleeping on the job…but how many of us have built an elaborate trundle to slumber in style? Using google sketch up, I outlined a small cot that would fit comfortably under our rented cubicle desk.

To keep things sufficiently complicated, the owner of the office building told me I could not leave the bed underneath the desk during non-shoot days, so the bed needed to collapse!

If anyone out there, like me, sleeps on an air mattress or the floor…behold the sexy alternative:
*Two 2″x6″x10′ boards
*Two 1″x1″x36″ dowels
*Two L-bracket rails or something similar
*Six 1″x2″x8′ furring strips
*Four hinges with removable pin
*One Pack of wood screws
*Foam of your choice. This is where it can get pricey. I brought Erik Smith shopping with me to play Goldilocks at FoamMart.

A little more than $50 and an hour of your time and you can sleep like a Squatter!

We have found an office space! Considering half of our scenes require a corporate location, this is the best possible find. Big thank you and shout out to Jerome @ BLANKSPACES! We will be renting a single cubicle in a real, working office for one month and shooting piecemeal around ringing phones, foot traffic and people with real jobs. Hilarious! I have been finding “stuff” to fill the cubicle to make it look like Alex’s functional office…not to mention measuring the footroom for his future sleeping arrangements (more on that later).

I am trying to ignore how guerilla and bizarre these conditions are going to be…but the way I see it is: free background actors and room tone, right? Ha ha! It’s time like these where I am beyond grateful to have professionals coming to the table. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to reality of independent filmmaking! Role up your sleeves and dive in…I’m secretly loving this!