I have had a considerable absence from the internet as I joyously directed my first sci-fi short. “7 Minutes, 45 Seconds” was written by Britain Valenti and will be the pilot for a webseries set approximately 50 years in the future in a militarized state. The government controls its people with a super soldier technology that turns humans into killer avatars. In “7 Minutes, 45 Seconds” the a mobile unit breaks into the home of a resistance fighter to interrogate him for information. They soon get what they need, but it is not what he expects.

It was not easy directing this movie. Britain and I spent most of our free time (and even most of our working time) hunting down the right location for the project. We locked location only one week before filming, which meant we had to tailor the shots and production design to that spot with only one week to do it. I was finishing up my old job as personal assistant and working on the design of this movie, so as you can imagine, I was busy. But the location really inspired me.

It was certainly not the location Britain and I had originally imagined. We were thinking of a government facility- cold, metal, cruel. Instead we found a lovely home in the Hollywood hills. The motivations had to change to fit the location but the script had minimal revisions. The home was large, barren, slightly cold with it’s white walls and I had to quickly (and cheaply) figure out a way to transform it into the future.

My costume designer helped a lot with this. The clothing was simple, uniform, with a bit of color to change things up from the entirely black outfits I had imagined. Allen, our art assistant, had dog tags with a logo which we used as the government symbol. And I found that the cheapest and coolest way to make that home lived in and futuristic was to paint plants blue and purple. So the set was decorated with these blue leafed plants with a pearly purple base and it worked really well.

I was lucky to find a torture chair that was originally a set piece from Star Trek: Next Generation. And though we won’t see the chair that often, I think it really brings the set together.

I worked with my DP Patrick to create the look of the movie, and worked with our stunt coordinator Chuck for the action sequences. This is the first time I have shot action and it was thrilling. We had 4 or 5 action rehearsals, so the actors where able to adapt to the new location quickly. We worked hard to sell the action shots (and no one was injured, expect the lead actor, who got a scratch on his face) and I think they will be convincing.

We had to work fast to bring all of the pieces together in that last week. My DP Patrick was only able to physically visit the location the day before the shoot because of working schedules. But he had studied a video of the location and was ready for the challenge.

We also had a logistics problem with parking. Only two cars could park on set so we had to shuttle people up. But when we got everyone to set, things started rolling.

It was a long day of shooting but we did in one day what should have taken three days to complete. I was blessed with a fantastic team, and my great AD Mikos really kept things moving.

That’s the life I want to live. Always.

I am meeting with my editor this week to start post-production. I will keep you updated on the movies progress.

(There are many people who worked their butts off to make this movie happen that I did not mention by name here. You made this project happen and I cannot thank you enough.)