Today has been a big day – the final prep meeting before we officially move into pre production, lock down and head out. Some big choices have needed to be made.

Producer Ivan Clemments and I, sat around a table and worked through the script, budget and schedule. Passions ran high – after all, I as the Director should be the accelerator, and Ivan the Producer, should be the brakes – it’s a recipe for conflict!

First up, we are definitely shooting the first week of September. Second, and this is the biggie, we are shooting entirely on location in Scotland – we are looking now at just North of Glasgow. We came to this decision after much soul searching, but fundamentally because the locations, both interior and exterior, will be so much better than down in or around London. It was a tough choice and has budget implications, but we need to ‘aim high’ if we are going to ‘close high’.

Essentially, this leaves us needing a further £5k in cash. So the slog to find that now begins in earnest too. We will see how this game plays out.

In the next couple of days we hope to nail down ALL of the equipment for free. Much is already arranged for free already, but there are a few areas such as lights and grips not covered, not to mention on the ground catering, transport, walkies etc. In then next few days I will be posting a ‘shopping list’ of stuff we need, so please, ask around if anyone can help.

Tomorrow I start work on storyboards with artist Gabriel Schucan, so I will look forward to reporting on progress.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
mail@livingspirit.com