Jessica Duong is SALLY in THE RED ROOSTER

THE RED ROOSTER

We started filming THE RED ROOSTER on June 8th, 2008.

One year later, as I’m getting set to screen this film, I can finally see exactly how close I came to realizing the initial vision.

I had the idea for THE RED ROOSTER while out on a run through the woods by my house. I wrote the script very quickly, and tried to keep the dialogue to a minimum.

I wanted to capture something of the atmosphere of Hong Sang-Soo’s South Korean narratives, something I’ve never felt in a North American film, and also, I wanted to follow the uniquely North American path that Bob Rafelson took while shooting Five Easy Pieces on and around Vancouver Island. The geography of that film has stuck with me from the very first time I saw it. When I found out where a lot of it was shot, I knew that I had my setting.

For whatever it’s worth (and time will tell), I did manage to make that film, a film I felt was missing from my collection.

So, for whatever it’s flaws (and, of course there are flaws), THE RED ROOSTER is a success in a least one regard. I know that it’s possible to make the film that I set out to make.

Perhaps one day I’ll set out to make something with at least a modicum of commercial potential…who knows.

I have no idea what people are going to think about THE RED ROOSTER, but, as the character Terrance says in the film, “I did my best.”

VIEWFINDERS

My next feature film script is ready to go.

I’m just thinking about cast and waiting to hear about the budget.

This is by far the best script I’ve ever written, but your newest stuff should always be an improvement, I suppose.

I read it again last night (and made a few tweaks of course).

It’s the first time I’ve written a screenplay that reads like a novel/story, and by that I mean only that the screenplay itself stands as a form of entertainment. With my other features, I’ve always felt that I’d flesh everything out in the filming. VIEWFINDERS is simply a blueprint for a film, like every other script, but I believe that it can be read as a piece of entertainment on it’s own, and I think that’s going to be really helpful when it comes time to shoot.

I can’t wait to start shooting VIEWFINDERS. It’s the film I’ve been preparing myself to make since I first saw Woody Allen’s MANHATTAN way back when.That’s the film that started it all for me, led me to Bergman and the world of cinema.