Indie Crush Project Forges Ahead

So....

We've kind of neglected "the business" during our creative process.  EEK!

NOT ANY MORE :-)

What we want out of "the business" is to get our message out there and create a community of fellow CRUSHERS.

You can check us out on Twitter & Facebook.

We will be posting daily indie film news, interviews, our indie film "picks of the week," and certainly our progress on meeting  Lisa Cholodenko on our social media outlets.

Look forward to Indie Film News Tues-Sun.

We will be featuring 1 lucky Indie Filmmaker Interview a week on Thursdays at 3.

Our Indie Film "Pick of the Week" will be announced every Tuesday at Noon.

Huzzah!

We are excited to share and grow with you.  We can't have an Indie Crush Project without Crushers!  Thanks for crushing with us.

xoxo

With Crushing Hearts,
Ash & Mel

What did you CRUSH ON when you watched HIGH ART?

TELL US: 

WHAT DID YOU  CRUSH ON WHEN YOU WATCHED HIGH ART? 

Go ahead and comment below OR email us at indiecrushproject@gmail.com :) 

Growing Pains?

Last night I dreamt that Ash & I screened Paper Picnic for the first time.  Feelings of anxiety, insecurity, and fear filled the scene.  Somehow, during the dream, an audience of excited young film-goers experienced polarizing opinions about the project.  What started as a fairly diverse audience ended up all female, as the men somehow didn't have interest in the story.  Though I was excited that the women responded favorably in the dream, I was left frustrated by our inability to connect to a broader audience.

Obviously, the fears I experienced in my dream are a magnification of my real life insecurities.  What brought upon these concerns, you ask?  Viewing the latest edit of Paper Picnic, of course!

Finally the film is coming together, and Ash & I are in the position of having to plan our next move.  As I watched the edit of our project, I was surprised at how it felt impossible to bring any semblance of objectivity to the process.  Not only was I watching myself on the screen, but I was watching myself acting our writing on the screen.  All I could see was the strangeness of my physical form and the strangeness of the text coming out of my mouth.  Funny enough, though, I could watch Ash without any judgement.  Imagine that.

How, then, am I supposed to assess our project when it feels way too close for comfort?  Is the writing good enough?  Is my acting good enough?  Does the story make sense?  Is our message clear?  Will people connect to such a short film?  Should we follow through with our initial dreams and desires and actually send it to Lisa?

The answer is, "of course!"  At some point, we all have to let go of our work even when we are afraid that it might not be our best.  We all strive for perfection, which is, of course, impossible to attain.  What's the point of creating if we don't share our work for all to see?

Now my job is to trust that our writing, our performances, and our collaboration will blossom from an exchange of ideas into a final project that will somehow resonate with the people who are supposed to see it.  If anything, this project will be an opportunity to contribute to a broader conversation about the always-evolving world of independent film.  And at the end of the day, I can be proud of that.

It's a Wrap!

On Halloween this year we were absolutely wearing costumes and running around playing characters. 

We shot LIFE'S A PAPER PICNIC  at the truly stunning El Matador Beach just off the PCH in Malibu. 

We (Ash & Melissa) are FINALLY writing a joint blog again together, as in, in the same room! Magic! 

Now that we are in the throws of passionate post production, we believe this is an appropriate time to reflect on our process in addition to why we really chose Lisa for our first "Film Crush" to begin with. 

Filming on the beach…

What a gift. 

Director bare foot kneeling in the sand. 

Intimate team of "collabs" that all wanted to be there. 

We felt totally pro--an amazing accomplishment considering our genesis was a tweet. 

Speaking of that tweet, we really want to tell you what is really so special about Lisa. 

Expect part biography, part impression, part reviews, but mostly respect. 

Lisa...

LISA CHOLODENKO grew up in the San Fernando Valley in a Jewish family.  Though initially Lisa had no ambitions of becoming a filmmaker, she changed her mind by her mid-twenties. After working as an assistant editor on Boyz 'N the Hood (1991) and Used People (1992), Cholodenko enrolled in Columbia University's graduate film program in 1992. Mentored by Milos Forman, Cholodenko made two highly regarded short films, Souvenir and Dinner Party. After earning her M.F.A., Cholodenko served as an assistant editor on Gus Van Sant's To Die For (1995) while working on the screenplay for her first feature, High Art. 

Lisa is a prime example of "write what you know," and HIGH ART was born from her firsthand observations of the 1990s New York art world.  High Art centers on a reclusive photographer-turned-junkie and the aspiring young art magazine editor who becomes infatuated with her, and it was a major cult success within the LGBT community. 

What we found profoundly attractive about HIGH ART was the combination of its intimacy, authenticity, voyeurism, and daring subjects. High Art earned raves for the performances and a Sundance Film Festival prize for Cholodenko's astute, complex screenplay. 

Cholodenko's second feature, Laurel Canyon (2002), took years of development, and precipitated her move back to the west coast. LAUREL CANYON was inspired by the Joni Mitchell album "Ladies of the Canyon," and not surprisingly, Joni reappeared again in THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, her third and highly regarded feature.  The Kids are Alright won a Golden Globe for Best Picture and was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture.  The Kids are Alright was again largely written from experience, as Lisa and her partner (musician/composer) Wendy Melvoin used an anonymous sperm donor to conceive a child.  However, whereas High Art and Laurel Canyon were written solely by Lisa, we love the fact that she collaborated with a partner of different strengths, Stuart Blumberg, to create a film that ultimately exposed Lisa's work to an even broader audience.

Prior to filming Laurel Canyon and The Kids are Alright, Lisa found success directing episodes of acclaimed TV series including NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street and HBO's Six Feet Under.  Her interested in the darker reaches of character psychology offered her these opportunities and added to her vivd stamp on filmmaking.  This character exploration was another huge factor of what drew us to her work.

Additionally, music and scoring play a huge role in Lisa's films by distinctly illuminating Lisa's characters' psychological journeys. Lisa's love for and use of music is another way we seek to pay homage to her work.  As we move forward with post-production, we intend Paper Picnic to have an original score.

Lisa's thoughts...

"...Those (stories) that have juicy kind of complicated emotional characters and really kind of dig into psychological states and shifting psychological states." 

"Maybe nobody's had a real angle of a story. I think that just putting lesbians out there and saying look it's a lesbian is not interesting. I think the majority of the issues in the film are really universal and I think that's why this film can break through." 

"I don't feel like my films are about gender they are about identity - but a different slant on identity." 

"I found it wildly exciting to see a film that was so personal that was expressed so singularly particularly Jane Campion's film SWEETIE. I don't know how Sweetie holds up over time but I know the way she ended that film was so outside the box. She took on an idea that I just couldn't believe someone would be allowed to express and it was really riveting to me and made me want to make films. " 

Our take on Lisa's themes...

We noticed some common themes and elements in Lisa's films that we aimed to incorporate in our screenplay/film:

1. Lisa's camera angles are careful to illuminate intimacy in relationships.

2. Filming takes place from the POV of the inner consciousness of the main subject.

3. Substances tend to influence her characters' journeys.  Whether Heroin in High Art, Marijuana and Alcohol in Laurel Canyon, or Wine in The Kids are Alright, drugs and alcohol play a role.  

4. The city/environment brings out each character's lifestyle and plays a character in her films.  

5. Sexuality.

6. Life is messy. 

Ultimately, we chose Lisa because her work exemplifies the exact caliber of work we want to be a part of: Bold, Intimate, Sexy, Intelligent, Immediate, Authentic, Classy, Original, Complex, Human.  We are honored to call Lisa our #1 Crush!

With Love & Gratitude,

Ash & Melissa

Jonathan Chase, Ruben O'Malley, Melissa Center, Ash Archambeau on location

References:

http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/192700/Lisa_Cholodenko

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Cholodenko

Great Minds Think Alike

A few months ago I met Ash Archambeau.  Very briefly.  She had come to see the LANU (Northwestern U) Alumni showcase that I happened to be in.  We connected after the show, as it happened to be a really good show, and we briefly discussed her connection to Northwestern.  We had both been "Cherubs," high school seniors who spend the summer at NU being theatre nerds.  Whereas I ended up attending the university, however, she went to school in PA.  I think she gave me her card.

As responsible, social media inclined 'actorpreneurs' are bound to do, we found each other on Twitter.  Then, the seed was planted:  I favorited a tweet.

Ash had written something about Laurel Canyon and how brilliant Lisa Cholodenko is.  I happened to check in with Twitter to see it.  Being a HUGE admirer of Lisa's work, I clicked 'star.'  Ash responded.  The conversation went something like this:

Ash: "Yay!  Lisa is Rad! Let's interview her!  (I'm only half kidding.)"
Me: OK!

And so an idea was forged.

After Tweeting back and forth, we finally realized it made much more sense to e-mail each other.  We began to exchange ideas about what we'd want to ask Lisa and how we could even connect to her.  Then, Ash came up with an idea: Why don't we create a scene or series of scenes that we write together inspired by Lisa's work?  We both had camera equipment, so it wouldn't cost us anything to shoot it.  We could choose an outdoor location, like a park or a beach, keep the setting simple, and craft a story that included the elements that come up again and again in Lisa's films.

BRILLIANT!

And so a project was forged.

We agreed to each come up with a story concept and share our ideas over a meeting in person (novel idea, huh?).

Which leads us to....

Last night we met face to face for the first time since our initial introduction in May.  We shared our story concepts, both of which had common elements and themes, and decided to start this blog.

We are excited to come together, collaborate and create.  We don't know how it will end up or if we'll even achieve our goal of connecting with Lisa, one of our favorite auters, but we are pleased to share our process and journey with you nonetheless.
_____________________________________

Follow me @melissacenter
Fan me www.Facebook.com/TheMelissaCenter
Watch me www.melissacenter.com

It All Began...

It all began with a tweet.

Well really, it began began with an in person run in at the 2012 Northwestern Alumni Showcase on June 4th 2012 . I went to support a fantastic comedian Dava Krause and ended up meeting/watching other truly authentic artists.

I really thought Melissa was something awesome so I went and said hello to her after the show.

Then I tweeted this that night:
YES @davakrause @melissacenter @mikekopera so awesome seeing your collaboration on opening night!! I'm a big fan.

Thus began our initial interaction.

On June 6th I tweeted :
Saw Laurel Canyon. Thanks Lisa Cholodenko for crafting true complexity in all types of relationships.

To my surprise and delight Melissa favorited my tweet. Oh how my cyber ego grinned.

On June 10th the tweet fest continued:
PS @melissacenter let's interview Lisa Cholodenko together! (I"m only half kidding....)

Well it has turned out that neither of us were kidding, because direct messages transgressed to full on emails, and finally into a few real time phone conversations.  Melissa and I decided to honor our love of Lisa Cholodenko by researching her work and creating our own film inspired by her genius.

Granted, our initial goal was to see if we could interview her, but here is where we are NOW.

TONIGHT, September 6th we met and decided to create a blog to document our process making something cool inspired by an artist (auteur is the fancy word for the type of artist such as Lisa Cholodenko we speak of) and MAYBE with this blog (and our future awesome short) we can get an opportunity to interview our first INDIE CRUSH.

Melissa and I are here to tell you we have a big juicy not-at-all discreet crush on Lisa Cholodenko.

AND after meeting tonight, I already feel a creative crush coming on for Melissa.

Stay tuned for the mad indie crush gossip.

Cheers to love!

Truly,
Ash