Bully for Her - Making an Invitational Short

Julia Camara (website) has shot her entry for the alumnae invitational, Bully for Her. I hope the rest of you are thinking about making something for this year. Remember, there's no entry fee and you're guaranteed a slot. What better workshop for your craft?

The Making of a Short Film
I’m the process of editing my invitational short for the 2009 Broad Humor film festival. This was my third experience directing a short and I couldn’t be happier with what we’ve accomplished so far. Our two-day shoot went very smooth. We had no personality clashes, no brokenequipment, no damaged property or bruised egos. We were a well-oiled filmmaking machine.

The only set back I had was losing my location a week before the shoot. I actually didn't lose the location, my contact just stopped returning my calls and emails. But as my husband and filmmaking partner, Tim, said, it turned out to be for the best. The location we ended up using was beyond perfect.

I also had my first experience directing children. It surprised me to see what great instincts they have. Toward the end they were telling each other to match their actions from take to take and where their "marks" were. They also fully got how sometimes you cheat they way you look at the camera and where your eye-line should be.

They are natural born actors and I really hope they get signed to an agency very soon. As much fun as it was, the scene called for the kids to get pretty loud and crazy, so at the end of the day we were all exhausted. As, I'm sure, was their mom, who doesn't really allow them to get that rowdy very often. These are the best behaved kids I've ever seen, and I'm not just saying that. Stay tuned for their screen debut this summer in my short film entitled “Never Odd or Even.” (Notice how the title is a palindrome.)

Directing adults was much easier. I ended up with a pretty talented bunch, I must say. I asked two of my friends who are actresses and one of them found my third actor.

Everything has fallen into place for this project. Before I had a shoot date and a location, I was goofing around on Craigslist and found an ad from a DP looking to partner up with a writer. Later, I posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a location, and got several answers. The owner of the office I ended up using, a production company in Hollywood, told me she also runs a Mexican restaurant and was on Craigslist looking for a Margarita machine for her restaurant when she saw my ad. Our lunch on the day of the shoot came from the exact same Mexican restaurant...

Now, I’m talking to a musician, recommended by one of my actresses, and almost ready to lock in the picture. I have a feeling my female bully will be a crowd pleaser this summer.

This process has really reminded me of how much of a collaborative medium film is. To get something in the can, you have to get out there and meet people. You’ll be surprised how many people are willing to help you just for the fun of making a movie with you. Bottom line is, no bad economy can stop you from being creative. Creativity is one of the few things that are still free, and for everything else there’s Mastercard.