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Day 138 – Georgia Mae L.

Posted in Something for others, tagged , , , , , , on May 5, 2010| 3 Comments »

Last Friday night we wrapped up our planning session for the DC 48 Hour Film Project pretty late and I got back to my home in DC around midnight.  While I searched my house for clothes and props that I would need the next day, one of our team members, Matt, spent all night writing the screenplay.

Once I got all my stuff ready, I dissolved into my bed and fell asleep, only to wake up at 5:30am to be ready to start filming in Springfield, VA at 7:00am. 

We spent all day filming.  My character was Marco Gabbowitz, a washed out ballroom dance champion who now works as a dog walker.  Marco, and his former partner Kiki Patron, decide to make a run for the championship one last time.  Well, if you want to see the film before we win Oscars and become famous, check it out this Thursday night at 7pm at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, MD.  Tickets are $10 for about a dozen short films starting at 7pm.

Georgia Mae (Photo: Reed)

So Saturday I was filming all day.  One of the people that was going to be in the movie with us was 13-year-old Georgia Mae.  As it turns out, she is quite the movie star having already been in a major motion picture, Familiar Strangers.  In addition to being a movie star in her own right, she is also the youngest person to receive my $10!  

Georgia Mae is in middle school where she loves to play the standup double bass and piano.  She recently taught herself how to play the electric bass.  I learned that when she first started playing the standup bass that often times teachers and others would have to help her carry it because it was so much bigger than her.  Now she even plays in the jazz band at school.  She used to play the violin and cello.  “I didn’t really like the sound I made with either of them,” she told me.  Sounds awfully similar to my saxophone days.

Georgia Mae is a very sweet girl.  When I asked her what she would like to do with the $10, she replied, “I am going to buy ice cream for my two little brothers.”  That is in fact just what she did.  She even treated her parents too!  Her mother later wrote me and said that Georgia Mae bought the ice cream and they ate it “on some homemade strawberry rhubarb crisp.”  Sounds good!

Photo: Reed

If you come see the film, I know that you will enjoy one of the scenes that Georgia Mae and I are in together.  In the scene I am out walking Sarah’s dog Laredo and come across Georgia Mae.  I say hello to her but she is so embarrassed to be seen with me that she shoots me a look and then crosses the street to avoid being seen with me.  The expression on her face was priceless!

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Day 137 – Sarah H.

Posted in Something for themself, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 4, 2010| 3 Comments »

A few weeks ago I got an email from my friend Betsy saying that some friends of hers were entering in the DC 48 Hour Film Project.  She recommended that I go and be a part of a team called SwimFast, LiveSlow.  The 48 Hour Film Project describes itself as “a wild and sleepless weekend in which you and a team make a movie—write, shoot, edit and score it—in just 48 hours.”

On Friday evening each team receives a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre that all must be included in a 4-7 minute film.  Then you work feverishly throughout the weekend to make the film and turn it in 48 hours later on Sunday evening.  The elements that we had to incorporate into our film were:

Genre:  Buddy Film
Character:  Marco or Muffin Gabbowitz, a person who works with animals
Prop:  a horn 
Line of Dialogue:  “Do you think you can do that again?” 

So last Friday evening I drove over to Springfield, VA to meet with the team.  I only knew Betsy and another friend Jeff from a play we did together last year.  It was there that I met Sarah.

Sarah is 32 and lives in Northern Virginia with her husband Van and their 14-month-old boy Will.

When Sarah is not watching little Will or participating in zany weekend film challenges, she is teaching 4th grade students at a nearby elementary school.  She says she likes 4th graders because, “they are old enough to understand occasional sarcasm but young enough to not be too cool.”  Her school is very different to the one that she attended when she was a young girl growing up in Lynchburg, VA.

I went to an all-white public school, the school where I teach is very diverse.  English is a second language to many of the students.  You can clearly see students who are living in poverty – some have to wear the same clothes almost every day to school. – Sarah H.

Sarah and her dog Laredo, both starred in our film (Photo: Reed)

When I explained the Lend a Hand program to Sarah, she said that she would love to find someone who is talented in needlework and sewing to volunteer about once a week for 3-4 hours until the end of the school year.  The school is located in the Falls Church, VA area.  If you, or someone you know, are interested in this opportunity, leave a comment here and I will contact you.

I learned a little trivia about Sarah too!  She has submitted a video application to be a contestant on the Survivor not once, but twice!  I asked her to share some of the video here, but I haven’t received anything yet…keep your fingers crossed.  And if anyone out there reading this knows how to get Sarah on the show – maybe there is still a chance for her!

Sarah’s $10 will go toward the cost of getting a baby-sitter for this coming weekend.

As for the film, we got it done and submitted it on time.  They are showing our film on Thursday night at 7pm at the AFI Silver Theater, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910.  I am going to go see it.  I have not seen any of it yet, so I have no idea how I did or how the film turned out after being chopped up, edited, and put back together.  I am a little scared to watch myself bomb on the big screen.

Tickets are $10 for about a dozen short films starting at 7pm.

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