Big Weekend

The Waterfront Film Festival is well underway, (June 10th - 13th), boasting some great films such as the hugely anticipated Saved and Napoleon Dynamite which is being lauded as this year's indy-cult-favourite-in-the-making. Flickering Blue screened at 9:00 AM on Friday morning. The Waterfront programmers apparently felt that the early time slot might attract elderly viewers. Now, I don't know what the senior's community in Saugatuck, Michigan is like, but no golden-ager I know would rush out after breakfast to watch a film, even if its protagonist is one of their own.

The Waterfront website also posted the James Karen media release I quoted from in my previous post, which includes some interesting highlights from his career, great quotes about Flickering Blue, and even a few comments from our director, Harper Philbin.


The 'On a Sunday' (previously 'Sons and Fathers') shoot began this (Saturday) morning in Winnipeg. Bevan (director) tapped me for a last-minute scene rewrite on Thursday morning in preparation for what was forecasted to be a rainy weekend in southern Manitoba. The scene in question called for a hot summer day and an overheating school bus engine. I love it when Bevan does this to me. Seriously. It's great exercise...take a scene, turn it on its head, and make it work. I'll be heading out to Manitoba for the final days of the shoot on the last weekend in June.

News

Bevan and I have been batting around titles for our short film since I first adapted the script from my short story, 'Father and Son Camp.' So, henceforth, the film previously referred to as 'Sons and Fathers' shall be called 'On a Sunday.' The new title represents the character the film has taken on in preproduction whereas the previous title obscured it. But I suppose you won't know that until you see the film, which, incidentally, goes to camera in Winnipeg on June 12th.

Last week the Red River Quartet recorded Mike Koop's The Living Word, the theme song for 'On a Sunday.'

And in other news...(really just a blatant attempt to prop up a fragile writer's ego)...this just in, a James Karen quote from a Waterfront Film Festival press release regarding 'Flickering Blue':

"[James] Karen spent several weeks in Michigan last summer working on the film
directed by GVSU film professor Harper Philbin and his all-student crew.
'I had three of the best weeks of my life working on that film. The
script knocked me out,' Karen said. 'The film is quite meaningful in
what it has to say.'"