Page Turns and Call Sheets

Each night the Production Secretary, Hope Marbut, sends out a "call sheet." The sheets lists every crew position title, crew member name, and the time he or she is expected to arrive. Today's sheet lists 77 crew members, and that doesn't include every position. Some crew are not expected, some are on call, but many are listed to arrive at 8 am today for the "page turn."

Just like it sounds, the crew will sit around a large table reading through the entire script. While they do read scene by scene, the dialogue isn't their focus. The crew is concerned with scene descriptions. Those few words setting the scene, and the director's vision, will help each department know exactly where, when, and how they're needed. Basically, they're making sure they are all on the same page.

Bad pun aside, this might be the place to link to a pair of film term glossaries: IMDB.com, and FilmSite.org

Props Photos 04.09.09

Stunt Coordinator Meeting Photos

Production Office Photos 04.08.09

Tyler Billingsley Behind the Scenes

The Endure crew is a mix of those with years of big budget experience, those working on their first feature film, those who move for projects, and Lakelanders who have worked with previously with Joe, Jim, and Rob. One of the "locals" is Tyler Billingsley. In 2003 he stopped by NFocus, Jim, Joe, and Rob's company. With an interest in video production, Tyler had decided he needed on-the-job training. He'd found the firm in the phone book and came looking for an internship.

Though the guys at Nfocus weren't sure they needed an intern, Tyler had an ace in the hole. His step-mother had known Joe in high school. With her encouragement, NFocus decided to give Tyler a chance. His random phonebook search paid off as he found a work environment he truly enjoyed, “They work together really well.”

Now a teacher at Full Sail University, Tyler is shooting the “behind the scenes” video for the production. “It's my first big budget project. This is good experience for me,” he said.

While Tyler is shooting video for the movie, his expertise is in editing. He enjoys crafting a piece from the raw footage, but laughs how his hardest work may go unnoticed. He could spend hours making one minute of video look perfect, but the finished result looks so effortless that the client thinks it must have been easy work. “They're just not going to know what you put into it,” he said.

Though he loves the work, Tyler acknowledges that many would find it tedious, “This is something you have to like to do.”

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Tyler uses Final Cut Pro HD to edit stills from his raw behind-the-scenes footage.

Wreck Location Scout

Photos From Locations Visits on 04.03.09

News Coverage

Almost from the start, the production has received coverage from the local newspaper, The Ledger. Today, the Ledger reporter and photographer will accompany some crew as they scout a location.

We'll post a link to the latest story as soon as it is published.

Below are links to the Ledger's previous articles:

March 09: Lakeland Filmmakers Snag Judd Nelson

Feb. 09: Local Filmmakers Bring 'Endure' Back to Polk County

Feb. 08: Lakeland Filmmakers 'Endure' to Get Funding for Film

Feb. 08: Video Interview

Jan. 08: Video Interview

Monday Production Meeting

The production offices have quickly become overcrowded. The building stays buzzing as people walk in, out, and through. There are quick introductions as crew members meet.

At 10:30, the first full Monday Production Meeting fills the conference room. The session gives crew from each discipline the opportunity to tell the rest what their week will bring. Questions are asked, requests are made, and needs are noted.

Afterwards, Producer Rob Tritton talks about the importance of such a meeting to start the week. How it helps the crew plan and know what to expect from their peers.

Even after the big meeting, there's a lot of commotion. Small offices hold meetings of two, three, or five, hallway discussions are quick and to the point, phone calls must be made in noisy open offices.

There's just not much time to relax. This week the crew needs to try out the cameras, send test film, break down shots, shoot photo boards, lock down locations, set up transportation, cast a stray character, and make numerous other decisions and duties.

Yet, Rob calls next week "Hell Week." Next week will be the last for pre-production. Shooting commences April 20th.

All Work and No Play

While many of the crew is already working 12 hour days in pre-production, they're aware of the need to grab some down time where possible. The schedule for Monday, April 6th ends with the start time for the NCAA final game.

Costume Design Meeting

Most merely call them clothes, but for Beverly Safier they're “costumes.” For over 30 years she's created the look for film and television actors. Yesterday, she met with Joe, Jim and Steve to start work on the look for each Endure actor.

As the writer/director for Endure, Joe O'Brien has long had an image in mind for each part. Before she met with Joe, Beverly read the script and wrote costume notes. Throughout the meeting Joe often remarked how Beverly's vision was close to his own.

(This blog wants to give you a peek behind the scenes, but not reveal too much of the film. So bear with us as we stay coy about character and actor names and descriptions. Still, it is interesting what goes into costume design.)

Before the meeting Beverly and her partner Armando met with a representative of the Lakeland police department. As law enforcement is seen in the film, Beverly wanted to see how current law enforcement dresses; even down to little details as to where detectives like to wear their badges.

Since many background and extra parts don't fill until the last minute, sometimes the costume must come before the actor. Able to borrow some extra uniforms from LPD, Beverly remarked, “We'll get people to fill those uniforms.”

The film is made in Central Florida, and Beverly first confirmed that it is also set there. “We are shooting this Florida for Florida?” She wanted to make sure all costumes match what is expected in the region.

Though the discussion moved through the film scene by scene, it wasn't just the matter of dressing a character for each scene. They would also consider the arc of each part. For example, Beverly felt one key character's clothes should start out light but go dark for a late scene.

Even the look of scenery dictated costume design; storyboards are consulted and Director of Photography Stephen Campbell would pull up location images and the crew would discuss what costumes would fit that room. Even wall and car seat colors could cause Beverly to change an actor's costume.

In a couple of cases, seeing the actor cast for a role gave her new ideas for that character's costume. Especially for those actors she remembers from previous films. She already knows what would work on that actor that would still fit the character. For one actor, Joe to remarked, “Her voice is as petite as she is.” Understanding how voice and body size also helped Beverly offer ideas for that actor's character. Another actor already cast for a role prompted a discussion about how the actor's body shape would affect costume decisions. It's the rare actor that can look “right” in every costume. The crew discussed how dressing against that actor's shape would fit the character. As Beverly said, “That's totally wrong. So it's perfect!”

The crew took much longer to work out a look for one pivotal character. Much care was made to how the character would have dressed even before the film opens. They considered how those clothes would look in various scenes, and as Joe said, “What does the audience expect?” Though he liked Beverly's ideas, Joe decided to ponder the character's look for a bit before committing.

It was interesting to note that Joe felt one character's normal clothes would be a costume to that character. In Joe's mind the character had reached a position in his career and now wears the clothes he feels others expect him to wear. “He dresses the part,” Joe said.

For some experienced actors, Beverly and Joe agree the actor would have some input on what might work. In those cases, the crew agree on a general look, but leave the final details until the actor comes to work.

It's even easier to dress the extras who must wear their own clothes. Beverly mentions they give them guidelines for what to wear to filming. “We ask them to bring three choices,” said Armando.

For one character, Joe thinks aloud that he sees the character as having an almost “hippy” look. Beverly said her notes say “Earth child.” It was obvious they had the same image in mind and it was just a matter of perfecting the details,

Ideas for other needs also came up during costume meeting. When Joe remarked that a particular actor could play piano as called for in the screenplay, that gave Stephen the idea that he could pan up from her fingers to her face. If she wasn't a pianist, they would have had to fake the playing or shoot someone else's fingers playing and cut to the actor's face.

The meeting concluded as each crew member took his or her notes and started work. After many meetings about money, Joe remarked that “It's nice to get to the creative interpretation of the script.”

Locations Scout 04.01.09

Production Office

Shoot Schedule Meeting Photos

Shoot Scheduling

Steve Maddox (1st AD), Jim Carleton (Exec. Producer), Joe O'Brien (Director), Stephen Campbell (Director of Photography), Phil Glasser (Producer), Dirk Higgdon (Unit Production Manager), Shawn McFall (Production Designer)

A good portion of the morning today was spent going over the shoot schedule. From this first pass at the schedule with various departments, the schedule will be fine tuned over the next few days. To view more photos, please visit our flickr account.

Jim Carleton, Joe O'Brien, Stephen Campbell

Auditions

In a small conference room, a series of young actresses sit in an uncomfortable hard-backed chair. With some back story and direction -- you're tied to a tree. Gagged. We need to see what you can bring to it – each actress must express the terror of that situation.

Director Joe O'Brien and Location and Extras Casting Director Tanya Sullivan are watching eyes. The film opens focused on the eyes of the character being cast today, and they want to make sure they choose an actress whose eyes can tell the story. “We have to care about her instantly,” O'Brian says.

They have seen many actresses for the role and the pair are looking for honesty and believability. If they can't see it in the audition room, believability won't magically appear on the set.

They're also looking for a commitment; an actress who connects with the material. Of one actress' audition, Sullivan said, “When she walked in she was so pretty. The first thing I noticed when she started to read was that she wasn't afraid not to look pretty. She never dropped her fear.”

A Lakeland resident, Sullivan is returning to the field after a sabbatical. For ten years she worked with a partner traveling around the country casting films. She auditioned Reese Witherspoon for her first film, The Man in the Moon.

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After each audition, O'Brian scribbled notes and set the actress' photo on the table. He won't make his decision today. There are more actresses to be seen, and he may bring in some back for a second audition.

Storyboards

Before the writer's vision is made into film, an artist creates a series of images of the expected shots -- effectively creating an illustrated version of the film. On Endure, Writer, Director, Co-Producer Joe O'Brien works with renown Florida artist Christopher Still to create the storyboards.

A mural and fine artist, Still created a series of large murals for the Florida House of Representatives. Still uses photographs, models, and his keen sense of perspective to produce images based on O'Brien's vision. "As long as he clearly knows what he wants, I can give it to him," said Stills.

Still is able to create realistic paintings while manipulating perspective. That talent comes into play as he creates the storyboards with O'Brien. Recognizing that a character's point-of-view might not give O'Brien what the scene needs, Still is able to create a perspective that satisfies the director, "Nobody in the theater knows what it really looks like." He points out that his changed perspective will appear more real to the audience than the character's true point-of-view.

Budget Meeting

Rob, Gary, and Phil going over the budget.

As the start of principal photography gets closer, tightening and locking the budget becomes all the more critical. Rob, Gary (Production Accountant), Phil and Dirk (not seen in the photo) spent most of today fine tuning the budget.

Local Location Scouting

Stephen Campbell (Director of Photography) and Joe check out an angle for an exterior shot.

Shawn McFall (Production Designer), Stephen and Joe check out a possible location for Daphne's apartment.

Today started our first full day of soft pre-production. Phil Glasser (Producer) is now in town and working closely with Rob on finalizing talent negotiations and other details. Dirk is working on closing key crew personnel. We spent a good portion of the day with Stephen Campbell (Director of Photography) and Shawn McFall (Production Designer) looking at locations. You can view more photos from today at our flickr account.

Shari Rhodes Spends Week Casting Local Talent

Jim, Dirk, Laura, Rob, Joe, Shari and Tanya.

Joe and Shari go over some head shots, during casting calls.

Casting Director Shari Rhodes has spend the week at the Endure Pictures production offices casting local Central Florida talent for the feature project. With a handful of talent coming from LA, a good portion of the films talent will come from the Central Florida area. Producer Jim Carleton says, "There is no shortage of excellent talent located right here in Central Florida. Early on, one our goals for the project was to utilize the local talent pool readily available to us."

With her many years of casting project such as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Urban Cowboy, Mississippi Burning, The Man in the Moon, Passenger 57, Mulholland Falls, and The Patriot, Shari brings a great deal of casting experience to the Endure project. Director Joe O'Brien says, "We are fortunate to have gotten this project into Shari's hands. She has believed in our project from the beginning and has been a sincere advocate for us. Shari has been awesome to work with."

Lakeland Filmmakers Snag Judd Nelson

By Gary White

THE LEDGER

The three Lakeland men behind the planned independent movie "Endure" are all in their 40s, meaning they were in target audience for the mid-1980s films "The Breakfast Club" and "St. Elmo's Fire."

They remember John Bender, the shaggy-haired high school hoodlum from "The Breakfast Club," and Alec Newbary, the philandering post-collegian from "St. Elmo's Fire." Judd Nelson, one of a group of young actors of the era labeled "the brat pack," played those roles.

Perhaps it was inevitable, then, that when the three Lakelanders began mulling possible lead actors for their first feature film, their thoughts turned to Nelson, among other candidates.

Last week, with the arrival of Nelson's signature on an e-mailed contract, "Endure" took a massive leap toward becoming reality. Rob Tritton of Endure Pictures said Nelson has committed to playing the lead in the small-budget thriller. The Ledger has been following the filmmakers' venture in an ongoing series since 2007.

Having secured their lead actor, the filmmakers - producer Tritton, writer-director-producer Joe O'Brien and editor-producer Jim Carleton - have set a start date of April 20 for shooting, with a budget of about $1 million. The schedule calls for two weeks of shooting in Lakeland followed by a week in rural Polk County.

Nelson has agreed to portray Emory Lloyd, a small-town detective who leads a race to save a young woman bound to a tree somewhere in a vast wooded area. The script opens with a car crash that kills the kidnapper and reveals a photo of the woman.

"We're fortunate to get him; we're jazzed," O'Brien said. "He's got a pretty big following, and what's great about him, too, is I think his personality fits the role. It just seems to lend itself to this kind of pensive character that is our lead here. I think he's going to really excel at the part, and I'm just looking forward to working with him."

Nelson is scheduled to arrive in Lakeland the weekend before filming begins. Tritton said he expects to hire established Hollywood actors for another three or four roles, with the remaining parts going to Florida actors.

Nelson, 49, may be best known for his "brat pack" roles, but as O'Brien noted, he studied under the revered acting instructor Stella Adler. He had a recurring role on the Brooke Shields TV comedy "Suddenly Susan" in the 1990s, and he remains a busy actor, even if his roles are less prominent than they once were.

The three Lakeland men have been trying to turn O'Brien's script into a movie for about two years. They raised money from investors, and Tritton said those funds, combined with an expected rebate from the state of Florida, should cover the budget.

Last year, Endure Pictures forged a deal with a production company and announced plans to shoot the movie in Tennessee with an expanded budget. The filmmakers eventually returned to the original plan of shooting in Polk County, though Tritton said Endure Pictures retains a partnership with the Tennessee company.

The filmmakers hope to have a finished version ready for submission to the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

O'Brien co-wrote and co-directed the award-winning 2003 short film "Blackwater Elegy," shot in Lakeland and starring former "Northern Exposure" actors Barry Corbin and John Cullum. Based on that experience, O'Brien said he expects Nelson to add depth to the written version of Emory Lloyd.

"What's great about working with actors of his caliber is ... you can write something on paper and create a script, and you kind of build an image of the picture in your head, but when they get hold of it, it just really turns it into something much better than you could have imagined," O'Brien said.

Endure Pictures Inks Deal with Judd Nelson

Endure Pictures has finalized negotiations with Judd Nelson for the lead role of Emory Lloyd in its feature project entitled Endure. Producers of
the project are excited to have landed Judd for the lead character. “He will bring a great wealth of experience and depth to the character – We are fortunate to have him.”, says director Joe O’Brien. Judd is best know for his work in The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, and New Jack City.

Endure is a crime thriller in which the main character Emory Lloyd must risk everything to identify and find a missing woman before it’s too late. Central Florida will serve as the backdrop for this fast-paced highly emotional film. With a principal photography start date of April 20, the project is being produced by NFocus Pictures in partnership with producer Philip Glasser and Hi-Def Entertainment out of Franklin, TN.

Judd Nelson was born and raised in Portland, Maine; the first of three children to (attorney) Leonard & (retired 5-term State Representative) Merle Nelson. After graduating from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, Judd attended Haverford/Bryn Mawr Colleges in Pennsylvania where he studied philosophy. He also began acting in college theatrical productions, and performing in "summer stock." Ultimately, Judd decided to leave college for NYC to study under the legendary acting teacher Stella Adler. After two years with Ms. Adler at her conservatory, Judd made his motion-picture debut in the film Fandango, and has been working in film, television, and theatre ever since.

Scouting Woods Scenes

Joe, Stephen, and Dirk discussing scenes in the woods

During their time in Lakeland, Phil and Dirk looked over various locations with Joe, Jim and Rob and Stephen Campbell (DP). For more photos, visit our flickr account.

Initial Lakeland Pre-Production

Phil, Dirk, Jim, Rob, Joe, and Laura going over budget.

Phil and Dirk came down from Nashville for some initial pre-production meetings for four days, during the week of February 2. We had the opportunity to meet with some potential key crew people and do some location scouting in the Lakeland area. For more photos, visit our flickr account.

Local Filmmakers Bring 'Endure' Back to Polk County

Article by Gary White, The Ledger

If it becomes reality, a movie conceived in and inspired by Polk County will be made here after all.

That is the latest plot twist in the drama of three local filmmakers' quest to turn a script into a feature film whose title, "Endure," has come to have a second meaning for the them.

The filmmaking team of Joe O'Brien, Rob Tritton and Jim Carleton has endured several changes of plans and some near-misses with actors in the two years since they began striving to make the small-budget thriller. At this point, the trio still has no firm shooting date and still needs to land a lead actor.

The Ledger has followed the filmmakers' quest in an ongoing series since 2007.

The NFocus team originally decided on a budget of $1.2 million. Last May, NFocus announced it had signed a deal with Hi-Def Entertainment, an established Tennessee production outfit, that would boost the film's budget to $3.1 million. But Tritton said NFocus has decided to bring the project back to Lakeland and trim the budget to $1 million. He said the Tennessee company will no longer contribute to the funding.

Tritton, producer and production manager for NFocus Pictures, said the filmmakers now hope for an April shoot, though that depends upon the signing of a lead actor.

"The script was written for this city," said O'Brien, who wrote the screenplay. "So when we go to start looking for locations, it is more in keeping with the spirit and tone of the picture."

"Endure" is a thriller with an opening hook: A man dies in a vehicle crash on a desolate rural road, and authorities find inside the wreckage a photo of a terrified young woman tied to a tree. The plot revolves around efforts by a small-town detective to determine the woman's identity and find her alive in the 560,000 acres of the Green Swamp.

Randy Larson, one of the project's early investors, said he remains committed to backing "Endure." Larson, a Plant City businessman, said the experience has taught him about the vicissitudes of the movie business.

"I'm still excited about it," Larson said. "There's the old saying, 'Success comes from the courage to go slow,' and I think that's playing out pretty well so far. I've always been confident it's going to happen. I guess I have been surprised it hasn't happened quicker than what it has. I thought we were going to blow and go with this deal right off the bat, but I'm sure the economy has had a big play in that."

Tritton said "Endure," if completed this year, could qualify for a partial rebate of its budget through an incentive fund overseen by the Florida Governor's Office for Film and Entertainment.

Though the state legislature slashed the incentive budget from $25 million last fiscal year to $5 million this year, state film commissioner Lucia Fishburne said the "Endure" project could be eligible for a rebate of 15 percent to 22 percent of its expenses. She said a project must include at least $625,000 of spending in Florida to qualify.

The most vexing challenge for the filmmakers has been signing an established actor for the lead role of Emory Lloyd, a detective in his late 40s or 50s. Tritton said NFocus, working first with an independent casting agent, has managed to get copies of O'Brien's script to well-known Hollywood actors, and though he said some have responded enthusiastically none has yet to commit.

With the new budget arrangement, Tritton said the lead actor would get roughly 10 percent of the budget, or $100,000.

"We're asking people to consider it for a wage much lower than what they're worth and typically work for," Tritton said. "We have to sell them based on the quality of the script. ... Someone's going to do this project for the love of the project not for money. We have to find them."

O'Brien, Tritton and Carleton have full-time jobs through their Lakeland production company, and they have been pursuing the "Endure" project for about two years now. O'Brien, 46, admits the process has tested his resolve.

"I'm convinced all things worth doing are similar - full of frustration," O'Brien said.

Tritton said he's grateful the film's investors have remained patient through the travails of the past year. The invested money is held in an escrow fund, and Tritton said no investors have yet backed out.

Larson said he doesn't yet feel tempted to demand his investment back. He said the funds in the "Endure" escrow account are stable, whereas many of his other investments have tanked lately.

"It's easy to have patience with those guys because they keep you so informed," Larson said. "When you're uninformed and everybody's silent, that's when you begin to worry. But that has not been the case here."

Tritton knows, though, that the investors' endurance isn't limitless.

"There's not an indefinite time frame for this," he said.