Indian Summer

An Indian summer, to me, is incomparable to any other seasonal phenomenon. Even sweeter than the first hint of spring, an Indian summer is a delicious gift offered by nature before the descent into the deep fall and ultimately, winter. Although technically it's only a true Indian summer if it occurs after the first frost (and I don't think we've had one yet), I would not call the lovely weather we're having by any other name.

For once, we're not rushing to greet the change of colors. During our first film project -- shot over a number of years and with a story and visual theme that takes place in autumn -- we prepared carefully to shoot while the fall colors were at their peak. Now, we were in the opposite situation: rushing to capture a late summer look before the majority of the trees turned. It was a real race; one that we completed successfully. It took ten days of shooting, but we did it. We no longer dread spotting another red or orange tree! Now we're on to the second round of exteriors that do take place during the peak of fall colors and will conclude by our final sequence of exteriors using the late fall look of empty branches.

One place I recently discovered while location scouting: the Clinton River park system in Shelby Township. Did you know Shelby Township has about 1,000 acres of park land, much of it containing wooded natural habitat along the Clinton River? Like my recent discovery of New Baltimore, I was amazed that I've lived in southeastern Michigan just about my whole life and never knew about the Shelby park system. When I called Director of Parks and Recreation Joe Youngblood, he offered to have a park ranger show me some location options for our shoot. A park ranger! Immediately, Ranger Smith of The Yogi Bear Show flashed in my mind. How interesting....was this going to be a real park ranger or just somebody who filled in the title as a formality? Well, after meeting with who has to be the most effervescent park ranger on earth, I can now attest he is the real thing. Ranger Kerry S guided us with enthusiasm, knowledge and wisdom. I felt like a kid on a field trip. I learned to distinguish poison ivy (three leaves) from a natural decoy (five leaves); I saw firsthand the handiwork (or should I say the toothwork) of beavers on trees; I learned how life-giving sap rises and falls in trees. That's a lot for a city dweller/suburbanite to learn in a couple of hours.

DREAMS at 1515 Broadway

Another opening night! This year we're producing a very interesting play from our past called Dreams. I have to say that although we've worked with some good actors in the past, this year's group is probably the most "even" we've worked with, meaning the level of skill across the board is consistent. Normally, in a group of actors with serious aspirations, there are a few very strong actors amid a group of solid actors and a few who have difficulty holding their own. Not so this year.

We had a success last night -- no disasters, thank God! Congratulations, Jeff, Aaron, Ahmad, Don, Leon, Rhys, Ian, Ann Marie, Jen, Shayla, Maiya, Marcel, Jim, Mary, Tony, Lauren, Josh, Cheryl, Scott, Joey and Rochelle! I'm so proud of you!

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I'd also like to thank my "gal Friday" -- on Friday -- Megan Otzen. I'm very excited about encouraging her talents in the world of film and theatre production design and art direction. We ventured out to the workshops of the Grosse Pointe Theater to pick up some last minute wardrobe items. Rick at the GPT was wonderfully kind and helpful. And funny too. His love and knowledge of costume design for theatre is inspiring.

Well, it'll be off to 1515 Broadway soon... Bye for now!

Monday News

Our new Intro Workshop got off to a strong start last week. Welcome to Christine, Philip, Tracy, Justin, Angela, Bethany, Brittany, Debbie, Danny, Jessica, Natalie and Don! We admit new students during the first two weeks of any Intro class, so I'll be welcoming a few more this week.... Stay cool today, everyone!

Don't forget to save a date to attend our show at 1515 Broadway in June. Performances are June 11, 12, 13, 18 and 19!

Spring Term

Well, here we are at the end of April already -- 1/3 of the way through 2010. We can literally count on the fingers of one hand the number of shooting days left on our current feature film project, Politics of Street Crime. Our Spring Term has gotten off to a great start with a new roster of ambitious, talented actors. We're looking forward not only to working with this new group in an upcoming play, Dreams, but to start on our new film project, Rabid. It's a good time to be involved at the studio.

Ah, it's been a while since I've been here....recently saw some truly nice pictures of a family day trip to Alger last October to visit the family cemetery. My two grown sons, Dylan and Bryce, with their dad and his Aunt Marie. She is a remarkable woman. Petite, perky, punctual and ever pleasant, she is. The cemetery in Alger is a near magical place. Quiet, a little lonely, and -- one might think -- abandoned, except for some recent dates on some headstones and the trimness and neatness of the grounds. Not the prettiest lawn, but neat nonetheless. There are some old, great trees, appropriately sad-seeming themselves. In the distance is the substitute murmur of the highway, which in the times of progress replaced a river. Here, my sons can visit the resting places of their forebears. The patriarch of the main branch of the family -- who came from County Monaghan in the north of Ireland to Canada first and then to Michigan -- Hamilton Dunn (and all the other Dunns, of course); the Geislers; the bit of Native American blood thrown in by a stray relative and the infamous Aunt Ivah, about whom I've heard some little whisperings about white witch-hood, whatever that is. Also resting in this place is a hero, Calvin Davey. His sister (and my dear, much missed, mother-in-law) Audrey, would show us movie-star pictures of her forever-mourned brother whose ace flyer missions in World War II sometimes weighed heavily on him, a son of a clergyman. Not a visit goes by without his nephew Brian's mention of the hushed awe inspired by the planes that flew over this little cemetery in tribute after his untimely death. My sons are comfortably familiar with this place that shelters ones who've loved them and others who loved those before. With some sweet-sad sighs, we all left and headed toward Standish, location of Wheeler's Restaurant. I'm told eating at Wheeler's was a family tradition. Beneath pictures of Marilyn Monroe and other Hollywood icons we enjoyed a hearty meal seated at a round table. We bid Aunt Marie a fond farewell and gave her best wishes for her yearly winter trip to Florida (smart woman!) That day last October is a gem in the jewel box of my memory.

First Post of 2010

Well, it has been a while, hasn't it? In January, I always like to review events and experiences of the previous year, and I will be getting to that, but first...my heart goes out to the people of Haiti. Haiti has had a very interesting history and has certainly gotten the short end of the stick in the past. During the early days of the United States, while there was still slavery in this country, Haiti was a stronghold of freedom for African-Americans and established a democratic government long before other nations in the New World.

Let's hope the quick action of incoming rescue teams will result in many saved lives. We should all say a prayer today for the people of Haiti.