Unexpected Delays

Producing a zero budget feature film of this nature has many obstacles, with scheduling being amongst the hardest things to do. When we started shooting in May, we were hoping to be wrapped by August. When no one is paid, you have to schedule around their availability. The scheduling, up until recently, was not done this way. The person responsible for scheduling created schedules that were unrelated to the availability of either cast or crew. This caused major problems and delays in production. Several times, schedules were made, only to find that cast, crew, and/or locations were unavailable. You can’t just pick arbitrary dates and times and expect volunteers to drop their obligations and comply. This is the way it was done the first few months, resulting in major delays in production. Once Krisha took over the responsibility of Producer, the scheduling problems ceased.

At the same time, these delays resulted in recasting, for the better. Particular parts, such as two pivotal villains, had to be recast due to these delays. Our original producer was also cast as our main villain, so when we replaced him with Krisha, we also had to recast the villain. This gave us the opportunity to cast a much better actor for this important role, improving the quality of the film.

The delays have been both blessing and curse; a curse, because it’s almost October and we’re still shooting with the weather's starting to change, and a blessing, because the replacements are more talented and enthused. Actors became interested and available that were not an option previously. We also had time to find better locations for scenes that had to be reshot due to having to replace the producer who also acted in them, as well as providing the time to work out the more complicated scenes that we had yet to shoot.

I initially brought on a producer to assist. The original producer promised a hundred things, none of which materialized, including a workable production schedule. Personality conflicts and creative differences with him (he was brought on to assist in production, NOT to take over and make unrealistic demands), necessitated his replacement. Working with Krisha has resulted in much more relaxed shoots and meetings, and overall production of the movie has gone on smoothly since. In fact, it’s been a joy since the original producer was let go.