Rough Cut

The good news is that we now have a completed rough cut of the entire film! It is about 95 minutes in length and quite enjoyable if we do say so ourselves. Barry is continuing to make refinements, and I’m researching temporary music to complement the content, but at least now we know we have a structure that works, and that our beloved dog stars are soon going to be endearing themselves to a wider audience! Barry is anxious to have a screening for a select number of colleague directors, writers and editors to get their input and suggestions.

Local Oakland musician Ken Kearney has been very helpful in providing his musical input and suggestions, many of which we’ve popped into place in the film. And this past weekend we showed the rough cut to Berkeley singer/song-writer Laurie Lewis because we wanted to get her approval to use one of her songs. She came to our place (I was so excited – she’s won Grammy awards!) on her bicycle (wow!) and sat down with us to watch… Barry stopped the film to get her reaction to the spot where we’d used her song and she immediately asked him to keep it running, and watched with enthusiasm right to the end! She told us she’d “be thrilled to be part of the project” – a phrase which Barry repeats to me periodically like a mantra of affirmation.

And so it goes, here in our little Oakland aerie. A film well on the way, and a garden that’s bursting with roses, despite my inattention to pruning this winter.