Assembly Cut

... and other news

About a week ago I saw the first four minutes of the movie. It wasn’t much and was also, of course, everything. Because I’d been on set, I recognized all the action, of course I did, and then there are my words coming out of the actors’ mouths, and oh, that is something to see it coalesce into an actual narrative.

No, you can’t see it, not yet. To be fair, I barely saw it, the clip I got to watch was shot with Amy’s phone; she recorded the playback off Rocco’s monitor. I’m not sending that out, it’s way too rough, plus a lot of other things have to happen before it’s worthy of sharing outside the production team. You’ll have to wait for your invite to the premiere.

But! The assembly cut is done; that’s incredible news. That cut is basically the first draft, or whatever you call the messiest version that checks the box for complete. That cut is off to another editor for more finish work, refinement, additional things I continue to know nothing about. Hell, I didn’t know what an assembly cut was until very recently.

In “It keeps getting better” news, Rocco recruited a composer and we’re getting an original score. Say hello to Tony Scott-Green. Here’s his Instagram and it’s great. I’m once again beside myself that my tiny story is in the hands of such pros. \

My imposter syndrome is having a helluva time staying at the table. Every time another star jumps on board the voice inside my head doesn’t say, “OMG, you suck, this is stupid, why would anyone want to work on this thing?” More frequently I hear, “What if it’s … actually good? Maybe it’s… good! Like, that could happen!”

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Amy is on this podcast. Jump to the 42-minute mark, you’ll hear her talk about the status of our project. She also mentions something we’ve been kicking around as a result of spending two days in the character ranch that was the Belfair Laundry.

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I should mention the writer’s strike, and now, the SAG-AFTRA strike. You should see Fran Drescher’s address, who knew The Nanny harbored the heart of a union firebrand.

I was especially moved by this:

Privately they all say we’re the center of the wheel. Everybody else tinkers around our artistry, but actions speak louder than words and there was nothing there.

I was overcome gratitude for the work the crew and cast did to make my story come to life. And every time I said thank you, the response was the same. “No, no, thank you. Without your work, none of us would be here.”

Why the corner offices can’t see what is so obvious to the cast and crew, well… Pay the people that make you rich, already.

There’s a solidarity and support section on the WGA page, here, and a SAG AFTRA hub here. Turn it up and help if you can.

I really hope the strike settles soon. There’s so much more I want to do.