Credits
Director: Seth Rotkin
Writer: Daniel Gray
Cast: Bruce Clifford
Cast: Simon Martin
Director of Photography: Jacob Hellinga
Producer: Emily Yonker
Gaffer: Jonathan Shrader
Grip: Brandon Amaya
Assistant Camera: Perry Billett
Assistant Camera: Garrett Bean
Production Sound Mixer: Matt Gelzer
Production Assistant: Tyler Andrews
Editor: Seth Rotkin
Supervising Sound Editor: Domenic Orsi MPSE
Sound Designer: Domenic Orsi MPSE
Colorist: Ryan DeGrazzio
Colorist: Jacob Hellinga
How much did production cost?
$2500
About 1/3 for the location, 1/2 for crew, and the rest for various production costs.
I'm always fortunate to have talented crew friends help out for much less than their standard quote.
Why this script/concept? How does it reflect your vision as a commercial director?
I'm obsessed with golf, and when I read this script I connected with the underlying drive to practice your swing regardless of how much you're inconveniencing the people around you - in this case a road trip buddy. Increasingly, I get excited by scripts with a core emotion I connect to strongly. That's the heartbeat of the project, and I do my best work when I can relate. Additionally the desert setting was something different for my DP and me, and while it was a two hour drive away felt reasonably doable.
What was the casting process like?
I needed an actor with strong comedy chops who could also convincingly swing a golf club. Fortunately, Actors Access makes this pretty easy. I asked actors to submit two videos: their read of the sides, and their swing.
How did you search for/lock a location?
I found the location on Giggster and the location manager made the process easy.
How did you select your DP, crew?
I always work with DP Jacob Hellinga, and we brought along our friends who AC. We needed a fantastic gaffer to control the sunlight as it moved across the sky and were extremely happy with Jonathan and his grip Brandon who came on a referral. I produced an AFI project last year and met a bunch of their talented students who were crucial to this shoot. Getting plugged into that kind of network is invaluable for finding great crew, and you don't even have to attend the school to make it happen! Just find a way to help on some of their productions.
How did shooting go? Any challenges?
We had to cancel our first shoot day due to high winds. I was checking the weather forecast every hour for the week leading up, and two days before the shoot it became obvious that it was going to be a production nightmare if we went ahead. As a director I'm always finding creative ways to forge ahead despite obstacles, and it took a lot for me to accept that the only path forward was to quit. I'm extremely grateful that our location, cast, and crew were all supportive of the last minute change, and when we showed up the following weekend we had perfect weather.
Tell us about editing and finishing
I always start my edits with an assembly to make sure I got everything I needed for it to cut together. From there, I dive in or send it off to an editor. But this time I finished the assembly and... it basically seemed done! We put so much effort into planning our shots to pack a lot of life into 30 seconds that there was one way to put it together. I swapped out a few takes but otherwise we were ready for final sound and color.
