Diary of a Film-Maker's Wife
A note from Kim: Scroll down to the end if you want to read this in chronological order. (Recommended, but not strictly necessary…)
Labels: diary
Sniff's Big Day - 10 Year Anniversary!
November 6, 2019
I've been baking for the past 24 hours - five cakes (all gluten free and one vegan), 4 dozen dog bone cookies and next will be the icing and decorating!
The Sniff letters are up on the Grand Lake marquee (Barry and I drove by just to see). The notices are in the local papers and Barry has completed half an hour of shorts, out-takes and behind the scenes footage to screen ahead of the feature - the new Director's Director's cut! We've even got the little i-pods ready with the audio description for a couple of blind people we know are coming.
It has been so much fun looking at the making-of footage and only one sadness when one of the hard-drives got knocked to the floor. Whatever was on there is lost forever.
Looking forward to seeing everyone tonight and to having a piece of Sniff's birthday cake! (Hmm... which one shall I choose?)
Labels: diary
A Joy-Filled Day...
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Sniff is about to turn 10, so Barry and I arranged to have an anniversary screening at the Grand Lake Theatre for old times' sake. We've been getting notes from people who were in the film, giving us updates on their lives and letting us know of the passing of their dear doggies - as Jeff Lewis says in the film, "dogs don't live as long as we do", but we can certainly keep them in our hearts. It has been great to hear from everyone and we're so looking forward to Wednesday night!Today we bombed around on our bicycles to try to get the word out to as many dog-lovers as possible. We reprinted some business cards with details about the screening (shorts at 6, the Mighty Wurlitzer at 6:30 and Sniff at 7 pm this Wednesday November 6, 2019) and proceeded to hand them out to everyone we saw walking a dog. Barry and I handed out cards at the farmers' market near the theatre, hit the line-up at Vegan Mob on MacArthur (apparently a new not-exactly-chicken-and-ribs hang-out for plant-based foodies!), then we cruised over to the Mosswood dog park and talked to the folks watching baseball and soccer games, then rode back to Piedmont Ave to give a card to Lan, the owner of Piedmont Fabric - she's a fellow dog-lover and has great taste in fabric - one of my Gazinga buttons! The sun was shining with warm autumn light and people met us with smiles and enthusiasm when we'd start talking about the film. As we cycled home and smiled at each other at the stop signs, I remembered how we had that same feeling of fun and benevolence during the whole year and a half of filming - making Sniff has been one of the great highlights of our lives and it continues to bring us joy! Happy Birthday, Sniff!
Labels: diary
Harley the River Dog
May 13, 2010
We got news this morning that dear Harley passed away last night. For all the joys of making the film, and hearing updates about our "stars," it is sad to learn of their passing. We've had many endearing encounters with Harley over the years since we first met him and the wonderful Holter family - mostly up on the Klamath River, or in nearer-by Ross, California. Barry used to throw the ball for Harley almost as addictively as Harley would chase it, and when day was done, Harley would patiently let Barry tousle his floppy ears, as good pals do.
We got news this morning that dear Harley passed away last night. For all the joys of making the film, and hearing updates about our "stars," it is sad to learn of their passing. We've had many endearing encounters with Harley over the years since we first met him and the wonderful Holter family - mostly up on the Klamath River, or in nearer-by Ross, California. Barry used to throw the ball for Harley almost as addictively as Harley would chase it, and when day was done, Harley would patiently let Barry tousle his floppy ears, as good pals do.
Labels: diary
On the Road in the Southwest
March 18, 2010
We’ve successfully finished screenings in Phoenix and Tucson. Yesterday Barry and I went to see the cliff dwellings at Gila National Park and I even took a few minutes to sketch a view from the river. Spectacular! (The view, I mean.) Last night we drove to Santa Fe well in time for tonight’s screenings, but not without incident.
In his research for the New Mexico leg of our journey, Barry discovered that there is a train (the Rail Runner) that runs from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. Barry loves a train ride, and the price was right at $6, so we decided that I could drop him off at the train in Albuquerque and then meet him at the station in Santa Fe.
According to our GPS though, we weren’t quite going to make the connection in Albuquerque, so we phoned up and found out what other places the train would stop along the way. I set the auto cruise to 80mph and we were making good time – 15 minutes to spare if we went to Rio Rancho. We noticed though, that the sun was getting low in the sky, so we decided to try to get to an earlier station (Los Ranchos de Albuquerque), so that Barry would get in as much daylight train-riding as possible. According to Garmin (our GPS) we had about four minutes to spare. So we got off the highway at the Los Ranchos exit and… traffic was held up. The train would leave the station at 6:45. I called and the cheerful woman assured me it was running on time. (Darn!). Garmin began changing its mind, saying we’d get there at 6:43, then 6:44, then 6:45, then a break in the traffic and we were back to 6:44… Pedal to the metal, we charged around the last corner and could see the arm of the level crossing rise up. The train was at the platform! We wheeled into the parking lot. Barry slammed the car into park and flew out the door, with his blue bag of Sudoku and train snacks flying horizontally behind him. 5 yards to go and the train started to move. I looked on as Barry leapt into the air and hauled himself up on to the ladder between the engine and the passenger car, disappearing from sight. A moustachioed man on the platform raised his fist and pulled it down vehemently toward his upward-rising knee as he grinned and shouted “Yessssss!” in my direction. With something between a grimace and a smile, I acknowledged his enthusiasm and then noticed that the train had come to a halt only a few feet from where my husband had so valiantly flung himself.
“Curious,” I thought with a mixture of concern and relief as I noticed a few other late-comers board the train in the conventional manner. I waited, but the train remained stationary. Eventually I inched out of the parking lot and began the drive toward Santa Fe. Then my cell phone rang. It was Barry. “They’ve kicked me off the train. You’ll have to come back.”
I felt so sorry that he had missed his train-riding opportunity, but once we were re-united, I learned that the plot had thickened … as with most good adventures. Apparently once Barry had arrived on the train's ladder, he faced a chain at the top barring him from climbing onto a tiny platform above the coupling. Concerned that he'd have to hang on until the next station as the train gathered speed, he decided to straddle over the chain so he could stand on the little platform and then push the bar on the coach door to enter into the passenger seating area. Once he'd done this, the train had come to a screeching halt. Trying to look non-chalant, Barry found a seat and feigned fascination with his Sudoku puzzle as the train attendants scurried up and down the aisle looking for the culprit. Eventually one of the uniformed men asked Barry if he had just gotten on the train – to which Barry answered “why, yes!”
“Get off my train,” demanded the Conductor, to which Barry responded that he was terribly sorry. Gathering angry momentum, the Conductor said “It's too late for sorry. As a matter of fact, stay right there. I'm going to call the head office. What's your name? Where are you from? I may even call the police.”
By this time, Barry was more than willing to exit the train, and as the Conductor made calls on his cell phone, a woman piped up from behind him and asked quietly, “Are you from the film?” To which Barry, confident that any publicity is good publicity, responded affirmatively.
“I thought so,” the lady replied with admiration. “When I heard you were from California, I just knew you must be a stunt-man.”
I’m not sure what film she was referring to, but presumably it wasn’t Sniff. And I'm not exactly sure how Barry extricated himself from the train situation either. But we both felt sheepish rolling into Santa Fe, thinking that at any minute the police might cuff him … the geriatric train hopper caught at last! I would have thought a little train-riding bravado would be well-received in cowboy country. I guess the spirit of the Wild West doesn’t extend to commuter choo-choo’s.
We’ve successfully finished screenings in Phoenix and Tucson. Yesterday Barry and I went to see the cliff dwellings at Gila National Park and I even took a few minutes to sketch a view from the river. Spectacular! (The view, I mean.) Last night we drove to Santa Fe well in time for tonight’s screenings, but not without incident.
In his research for the New Mexico leg of our journey, Barry discovered that there is a train (the Rail Runner) that runs from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. Barry loves a train ride, and the price was right at $6, so we decided that I could drop him off at the train in Albuquerque and then meet him at the station in Santa Fe.
According to our GPS though, we weren’t quite going to make the connection in Albuquerque, so we phoned up and found out what other places the train would stop along the way. I set the auto cruise to 80mph and we were making good time – 15 minutes to spare if we went to Rio Rancho. We noticed though, that the sun was getting low in the sky, so we decided to try to get to an earlier station (Los Ranchos de Albuquerque), so that Barry would get in as much daylight train-riding as possible. According to Garmin (our GPS) we had about four minutes to spare. So we got off the highway at the Los Ranchos exit and… traffic was held up. The train would leave the station at 6:45. I called and the cheerful woman assured me it was running on time. (Darn!). Garmin began changing its mind, saying we’d get there at 6:43, then 6:44, then 6:45, then a break in the traffic and we were back to 6:44… Pedal to the metal, we charged around the last corner and could see the arm of the level crossing rise up. The train was at the platform! We wheeled into the parking lot. Barry slammed the car into park and flew out the door, with his blue bag of Sudoku and train snacks flying horizontally behind him. 5 yards to go and the train started to move. I looked on as Barry leapt into the air and hauled himself up on to the ladder between the engine and the passenger car, disappearing from sight. A moustachioed man on the platform raised his fist and pulled it down vehemently toward his upward-rising knee as he grinned and shouted “Yessssss!” in my direction. With something between a grimace and a smile, I acknowledged his enthusiasm and then noticed that the train had come to a halt only a few feet from where my husband had so valiantly flung himself.
“Curious,” I thought with a mixture of concern and relief as I noticed a few other late-comers board the train in the conventional manner. I waited, but the train remained stationary. Eventually I inched out of the parking lot and began the drive toward Santa Fe. Then my cell phone rang. It was Barry. “They’ve kicked me off the train. You’ll have to come back.”
I felt so sorry that he had missed his train-riding opportunity, but once we were re-united, I learned that the plot had thickened … as with most good adventures. Apparently once Barry had arrived on the train's ladder, he faced a chain at the top barring him from climbing onto a tiny platform above the coupling. Concerned that he'd have to hang on until the next station as the train gathered speed, he decided to straddle over the chain so he could stand on the little platform and then push the bar on the coach door to enter into the passenger seating area. Once he'd done this, the train had come to a screeching halt. Trying to look non-chalant, Barry found a seat and feigned fascination with his Sudoku puzzle as the train attendants scurried up and down the aisle looking for the culprit. Eventually one of the uniformed men asked Barry if he had just gotten on the train – to which Barry answered “why, yes!”
“Get off my train,” demanded the Conductor, to which Barry responded that he was terribly sorry. Gathering angry momentum, the Conductor said “It's too late for sorry. As a matter of fact, stay right there. I'm going to call the head office. What's your name? Where are you from? I may even call the police.”
By this time, Barry was more than willing to exit the train, and as the Conductor made calls on his cell phone, a woman piped up from behind him and asked quietly, “Are you from the film?” To which Barry, confident that any publicity is good publicity, responded affirmatively.
“I thought so,” the lady replied with admiration. “When I heard you were from California, I just knew you must be a stunt-man.”
I’m not sure what film she was referring to, but presumably it wasn’t Sniff. And I'm not exactly sure how Barry extricated himself from the train situation either. But we both felt sheepish rolling into Santa Fe, thinking that at any minute the police might cuff him … the geriatric train hopper caught at last! I would have thought a little train-riding bravado would be well-received in cowboy country. I guess the spirit of the Wild West doesn’t extend to commuter choo-choo’s.
Labels: diary
Launch Day
Update November 5, 2009
Flowers just arrived too! The excitement mounts....
In the midst of the madness of preparing our thank you's, organizing our volunteers and trying to find a cheap red carpet within driving distance - I just got this from my gardening clients Lisa and Gia Rinella:
"Look what we saw on our way to school"
Labels: diary
A Three Letter Word
Update: October 16, 2009
I was never allowed to say the word “bum” when I was a child, and still consider the word unworthy in comparison to “bottom”, or perhaps “rear-end”, the continental-sounding “derriere” or even “tush” (never tushie, though.) But Barry, with ever-different sensibilities, has indeed used the word “bum” in our film, in the context of what dogs do when they greet each other. So now, I have produced a film with the questionable word featured! What a bummer… (did I say that?)
We’ve had an audio description of the film made for blind people to hear a description of the action in addition to the dialogue, so that they can imagine the visuals on-screen. One night this week I stayed up all night to (among other things) listen to the audio description and check for errors. Today I wrote the following to Jill Jacobson at CaptionMax who has been so helpful in guiding us through the process of getting the closed-captioning and audio description onto the DVD master:
"Hi Jill!
Now that all the technical insecurities have been assuaged, I wanted to take a moment to tell you how much of a kick I got in the middle of the night on Wednesday listening to the audio description delicately avoid using the word "bum"! Please thank your copy-writer ... I just played it for Barry and we both had a laugh! Kim"
(What was their choice, you may ask? I believe it was ... "rear end". Provincials unite!)
I was never allowed to say the word “bum” when I was a child, and still consider the word unworthy in comparison to “bottom”, or perhaps “rear-end”, the continental-sounding “derriere” or even “tush” (never tushie, though.) But Barry, with ever-different sensibilities, has indeed used the word “bum” in our film, in the context of what dogs do when they greet each other. So now, I have produced a film with the questionable word featured! What a bummer… (did I say that?)
We’ve had an audio description of the film made for blind people to hear a description of the action in addition to the dialogue, so that they can imagine the visuals on-screen. One night this week I stayed up all night to (among other things) listen to the audio description and check for errors. Today I wrote the following to Jill Jacobson at CaptionMax who has been so helpful in guiding us through the process of getting the closed-captioning and audio description onto the DVD master:
"Hi Jill!
Now that all the technical insecurities have been assuaged, I wanted to take a moment to tell you how much of a kick I got in the middle of the night on Wednesday listening to the audio description delicately avoid using the word "bum"! Please thank your copy-writer ... I just played it for Barry and we both had a laugh! Kim"
(What was their choice, you may ask? I believe it was ... "rear end". Provincials unite!)
Labels: diary
Evidently Blondes Do Have Fun ...
Update: October 14, 2009
In another response to our e-mail announcement, I found out some news about Rogan – a statuesque Irish wolfhound who features prominently in Sniff:
From Ann Gould:
Oh ... Rogan had a litter this past year so he is a very proud papa. We kept 3 of the litter ... so that means I have 5 of the blondes running around my property. Thanks again ....
Rogan (standing) with his lounging mate and son.
In another response to our e-mail announcement, I found out some news about Rogan – a statuesque Irish wolfhound who features prominently in Sniff:
From Ann Gould:
Oh ... Rogan had a litter this past year so he is a very proud papa. We kept 3 of the litter ... so that means I have 5 of the blondes running around my property. Thanks again ....
Rogan (standing) with his lounging mate and son.Labels: diary
A Blast from the Past
Update: October 13, 2009
We sent out a big email last night and responses have been coming to us in an encouraging volume. Among these, I heard from (conservatively) septuagenarian Mili Rosenblatt who I haven’t seen in years. She wrote to tell me that she and her husband Bill are great friends of Laurie Lewis who will be playing at the Nov. 5th gala at the Grand Lake. So I wrote to Laurie to tell her Mili and Bill were coming to the show, and she asked me how I knew them. Taking a welcome break to think about something unrelated to the film, this is what I wrote to Laurie:
Hi Laurie:
I'm not sure that I've ever met Bill, but I met Mili through an artist neighbour when we first moved to California and became Mili’s "project" for a while, as she tried to get my glass work in to the New Leaf Gallery. It was quite the adventure, going there in our electric bus with Mili talking a mile a minute, and one of my glass sculptures (a giant pea pod) rolling around in the back.
I seem to remember that we ran out of electricity in the van and had to pull over at some stranger's house to plug in! Poor Mili - what I put her though!
It was somewhat mutual though: the New Leaf Gallery was completely uninterested in the work, and in Mili and me. But we had a nice lunch together, and I immortalized the experience by having one of my fairy characters sign a tiny glass flower with the moniker "Mili Pillywiggin". (I don't think I ever told her that!)
xo Kim
We sent out a big email last night and responses have been coming to us in an encouraging volume. Among these, I heard from (conservatively) septuagenarian Mili Rosenblatt who I haven’t seen in years. She wrote to tell me that she and her husband Bill are great friends of Laurie Lewis who will be playing at the Nov. 5th gala at the Grand Lake. So I wrote to Laurie to tell her Mili and Bill were coming to the show, and she asked me how I knew them. Taking a welcome break to think about something unrelated to the film, this is what I wrote to Laurie:
Hi Laurie:
I'm not sure that I've ever met Bill, but I met Mili through an artist neighbour when we first moved to California and became Mili’s "project" for a while, as she tried to get my glass work in to the New Leaf Gallery. It was quite the adventure, going there in our electric bus with Mili talking a mile a minute, and one of my glass sculptures (a giant pea pod) rolling around in the back.
I seem to remember that we ran out of electricity in the van and had to pull over at some stranger's house to plug in! Poor Mili - what I put her though!
It was somewhat mutual though: the New Leaf Gallery was completely uninterested in the work, and in Mili and me. But we had a nice lunch together, and I immortalized the experience by having one of my fairy characters sign a tiny glass flower with the moniker "Mili Pillywiggin". (I don't think I ever told her that!)
xo Kim
Labels: diary
A Red Letter Day!
Update October 12, 2009
We finished the sound mix with Dan Olmsted at Berkeley Sound Artists yesterday and Barry went golfing to celebrate! I stayed home looking at Oprah's site with Awele, a new friend who was full of ideas for marketing our film.
We were all set to send a finished master to CaptionMax for the addition of a descriptive audio track, when Barry serendipitously discovered a 2 second hole in the audio! So I raced off to the studio in Berkeley and Jim LeBrecht made us another audio file so we could meet still meet our captioning deadline. Phewff! As Barry says, those files are all just ones and zeroes ...
Credits to be added next... and there are loads of them!
We finished the sound mix with Dan Olmsted at Berkeley Sound Artists yesterday and Barry went golfing to celebrate! I stayed home looking at Oprah's site with Awele, a new friend who was full of ideas for marketing our film.
We were all set to send a finished master to CaptionMax for the addition of a descriptive audio track, when Barry serendipitously discovered a 2 second hole in the audio! So I raced off to the studio in Berkeley and Jim LeBrecht made us another audio file so we could meet still meet our captioning deadline. Phewff! As Barry says, those files are all just ones and zeroes ...
Credits to be added next... and there are loads of them!
Labels: diary
Update October 3, 2009
A Note of Encouragement
This came to us yesterday from Joanne Ritter, Director of Marketing at Guide Dogs for the Blind:
"Barry -- I finally had a chance to watch Sniff last night, and I was thoroughly charmed. Kudos to you, Kim and the gang. Very creative, funny, and poignant. I believe it will be successful. Nice job!"
Barry's been walking on air ... even while sitting at the computer.
This came to us yesterday from Joanne Ritter, Director of Marketing at Guide Dogs for the Blind:
"Barry -- I finally had a chance to watch Sniff last night, and I was thoroughly charmed. Kudos to you, Kim and the gang. Very creative, funny, and poignant. I believe it will be successful. Nice job!"
Barry's been walking on air ... even while sitting at the computer.
Labels: diary
Update October 1, 2009
Counting Down!
Barry and I came up with a song this morning called "not enough hours in the moment" following a just-waking-up discussion of a new script for the trailer and wondering how we’re going to organize the massive number of credits.
Jim LeBrecht, our sound mixer, asked us to get some audio of a skateboard for our story of Oggie. Our neighbour Elijah Lajmer was happy to oblige. Here he is, flying through the air while Barry chats to Joe in the background:
We’ve hired Caption Max at work on doing a descriptive audio track so that blind audiences can enjoy their home DVDs. They’re also working on closed captioning. We want everyone to be able to enjoy Sniff!
Late last night Motion Graphics Designer Jeremy Martin delivered a great animation to accompany Dr. Ian Dunbar’s description of who chooses the mate, the male or the female?
Joe Lachoff is making great strides organizing our website affiliate marketing program and preparing for DVD and ticket sales through our site.
We’re having a “Community Gala” screening at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on November 5 at 6:30 and 9:00 pm. We'll also have screenings at the Smith Rafael Film Center on November 7 and December 12 at 4:15 pm. Kitka might even perform at the gala!
Signature release copies of the DVD (with a few “extras”) will be available after each screening. Be there, or be square.
All Sniff systems are go!
P.S. This just in … Gus the Bird Herder, one of our star dogs, is featured in a new magazine Coastal Canine. He’s evidently multi-talented!
Barry and I came up with a song this morning called "not enough hours in the moment" following a just-waking-up discussion of a new script for the trailer and wondering how we’re going to organize the massive number of credits.
Jim LeBrecht, our sound mixer, asked us to get some audio of a skateboard for our story of Oggie. Our neighbour Elijah Lajmer was happy to oblige. Here he is, flying through the air while Barry chats to Joe in the background:
We’ve hired Caption Max at work on doing a descriptive audio track so that blind audiences can enjoy their home DVDs. They’re also working on closed captioning. We want everyone to be able to enjoy Sniff!
Late last night Motion Graphics Designer Jeremy Martin delivered a great animation to accompany Dr. Ian Dunbar’s description of who chooses the mate, the male or the female?
Joe Lachoff is making great strides organizing our website affiliate marketing program and preparing for DVD and ticket sales through our site.
We’re having a “Community Gala” screening at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on November 5 at 6:30 and 9:00 pm. We'll also have screenings at the Smith Rafael Film Center on November 7 and December 12 at 4:15 pm. Kitka might even perform at the gala!
Signature release copies of the DVD (with a few “extras”) will be available after each screening. Be there, or be square.
All Sniff systems are go!
P.S. This just in … Gus the Bird Herder, one of our star dogs, is featured in a new magazine Coastal Canine. He’s evidently multi-talented!
Labels: diary
Update September 4, 2009
Galloping
My friend Tara Gill (fellow gardener, fellow artist and stills photographer for Sniff) sent me a new word from Merriam Webster’s dictionary: “Tantivy” – a noun meaning “a rapid gallop” or “an impetuous rush”. Why, you might ask, did she think to send me this? Here goes…
In the last month, we have locked the picture and thanks to Berkeley Sound Artists Jim LeBrecht and his team, the sound elements are being smoothed-out. Composer
Jon Herbst is making wonderful transition music.
I’m clearing music rights for music by Laurie Lewis, Bobby McFerrin, Dick Dale, Sharon Shannon, Outback (with Martin Cradick now of Baka Beyond and Graham Wiggins now Dr. Didg), Kitka, Zydeco Flames, etc., etc. Our dog stories are delightful and the music rocks! But so much is involved in getting it all together, jeesh!
Barry is using the One-to One tutoring classes at Apple to create some wacky transitions between scenes using Final Cut Pro.
We met local musicians Andrew and Steve Edlen who are going to record a piece specially for our Search Dog story. They came to our place and over my home-made rhubarb crisp (starve a fever, feed a musician), we watched some of our out-takes, just for fun. The Edlens single-handedly rescued our surf dog montage set to Dick Dale’s “Night Rider” from the cutting room floor, with shouts of “Are you crazy? You can not cut this!”
So, having re-established our sanity, with a little help from our friends, the surfing dogs are back in, and we can tap our toes to “Night Rider” (if I can get the license finalized, of course).
My friend Tara Gill (fellow gardener, fellow artist and stills photographer for Sniff) sent me a new word from Merriam Webster’s dictionary: “Tantivy” – a noun meaning “a rapid gallop” or “an impetuous rush”. Why, you might ask, did she think to send me this? Here goes…
In the last month, we have locked the picture and thanks to Berkeley Sound Artists Jim LeBrecht and his team, the sound elements are being smoothed-out. Composer
Jon Herbst is making wonderful transition music.
I’m clearing music rights for music by Laurie Lewis, Bobby McFerrin, Dick Dale, Sharon Shannon, Outback (with Martin Cradick now of Baka Beyond and Graham Wiggins now Dr. Didg), Kitka, Zydeco Flames, etc., etc. Our dog stories are delightful and the music rocks! But so much is involved in getting it all together, jeesh!
Barry is using the One-to One tutoring classes at Apple to create some wacky transitions between scenes using Final Cut Pro.
We met local musicians Andrew and Steve Edlen who are going to record a piece specially for our Search Dog story. They came to our place and over my home-made rhubarb crisp (starve a fever, feed a musician), we watched some of our out-takes, just for fun. The Edlens single-handedly rescued our surf dog montage set to Dick Dale’s “Night Rider” from the cutting room floor, with shouts of “Are you crazy? You can not cut this!”
So, having re-established our sanity, with a little help from our friends, the surfing dogs are back in, and we can tap our toes to “Night Rider” (if I can get the license finalized, of course).
Labels: diary
Update August 1, 2009
Midnight Madness
Making a film becomes an obsession. I’ve seen it in others, and now (mea culpa) I’ve noticed that even our most sociable conversations quickly turn to the topic of “Sniff”. It is really all Barry and I are capable of discussing at any great length; our immersion is that great. And with dogs as our subject, every passing canine is inadvertently auditioning for us. When we’re driving to the grocery store, or taking a few minutes to walk around the block, there they are: dogs of all sorts, looking cute, or smart or “breedy” and inevitably we stop to talk to the owner and tell them about our film. (We used to ask for names and phone numbers in case we needed participants, so I suppose just talking about the film is an indication that we’re on the road to obsession-recovery.)
Still, I was a bit alarmed last night when I woke at 4 a.m., jet-lagged from a trip to Toronto, to discover our house guest Robert Gardner, thirsty in the middle of the night, sipping his self-serve ice-water out of a mixing bowl I’d left on the counter. A bowl! As a glassblower, I can assure you there is a plethora of perfectly functional drinking glasses in our kitchen. But here was Robert, ice cubes a-tinkling, swilling his water from a bowl! Perhaps we have a bit too much dog energy in our home?
Despite my concern, I took child-like pleasure in finding that all three of us were wide awake in the wee hours, and Barry and I crept back to our bedroom to whisper sweet film-things to each other until eventually we turned our backs on sleep and fired up the computers for another day.
When Robert re-emerged at 9:30 am, we ate breakfast (I was sure to serve coffee in cups and juice in glasses), and then sat down to watch the “locked” picture together. Robert is a talented script writer and we have valued his encouragement and insights as our script was taking shape. He had never seen the documentary sections, so we wanted to have his fresh eyes see the fully integrated film and make comments.
At the end of the viewing, mimicking newscasters of old, Robert laughed and quipped in his basso profundo voice: “In a world gone crazy, Barry and Kim have dared to make a film about dogs”, and we were off on a new creative tangent: writing a script for a much-needed trailer for “Sniff”. By mid-afternoon, we had Robert posing in front of a video camera, Fedora on tête, doing a Walter Cronkite voice-over for our suddenly blossoming trailer. Barry and I then each took a turn with the script (being sure to don the Fedora), and finally all three of us could be found crowded in front of the camera singing an improvised and shockingly tuneless madrigal version of “In a world gone crazy…”
Our particular world has certainly gone crazy. But it's fun!
Tomorrow we meet with one of our composers Jon Herbst to “spot” the film. I think we’ll keep the madrigal under wraps…
Making a film becomes an obsession. I’ve seen it in others, and now (mea culpa) I’ve noticed that even our most sociable conversations quickly turn to the topic of “Sniff”. It is really all Barry and I are capable of discussing at any great length; our immersion is that great. And with dogs as our subject, every passing canine is inadvertently auditioning for us. When we’re driving to the grocery store, or taking a few minutes to walk around the block, there they are: dogs of all sorts, looking cute, or smart or “breedy” and inevitably we stop to talk to the owner and tell them about our film. (We used to ask for names and phone numbers in case we needed participants, so I suppose just talking about the film is an indication that we’re on the road to obsession-recovery.)
Still, I was a bit alarmed last night when I woke at 4 a.m., jet-lagged from a trip to Toronto, to discover our house guest Robert Gardner, thirsty in the middle of the night, sipping his self-serve ice-water out of a mixing bowl I’d left on the counter. A bowl! As a glassblower, I can assure you there is a plethora of perfectly functional drinking glasses in our kitchen. But here was Robert, ice cubes a-tinkling, swilling his water from a bowl! Perhaps we have a bit too much dog energy in our home?
Despite my concern, I took child-like pleasure in finding that all three of us were wide awake in the wee hours, and Barry and I crept back to our bedroom to whisper sweet film-things to each other until eventually we turned our backs on sleep and fired up the computers for another day.
When Robert re-emerged at 9:30 am, we ate breakfast (I was sure to serve coffee in cups and juice in glasses), and then sat down to watch the “locked” picture together. Robert is a talented script writer and we have valued his encouragement and insights as our script was taking shape. He had never seen the documentary sections, so we wanted to have his fresh eyes see the fully integrated film and make comments.
At the end of the viewing, mimicking newscasters of old, Robert laughed and quipped in his basso profundo voice: “In a world gone crazy, Barry and Kim have dared to make a film about dogs”, and we were off on a new creative tangent: writing a script for a much-needed trailer for “Sniff”. By mid-afternoon, we had Robert posing in front of a video camera, Fedora on tête, doing a Walter Cronkite voice-over for our suddenly blossoming trailer. Barry and I then each took a turn with the script (being sure to don the Fedora), and finally all three of us could be found crowded in front of the camera singing an improvised and shockingly tuneless madrigal version of “In a world gone crazy…”
Our particular world has certainly gone crazy. But it's fun!
Tomorrow we meet with one of our composers Jon Herbst to “spot” the film. I think we’ll keep the madrigal under wraps…
Labels: diary
Update June 2009
London Calling
We’ve just gotten back from London where we filmed our actors Neil Morrissey and Richard Huw in their real and fictional home town. As a result of our test screenings, we wrote a couple of extra scenes – to better set the stage for their collaboration on the documentary.
We decided to give Richard a “Mom” – played wonderfully by British stage actress Eileen Page (Eleanor of Aquitaine in Mother of the Pride, The Secret Garden) Eileen came to us through Sonya WIlliams a friend of Barry’s Mom, Sara Gregory, herself a soubrette of London’s West End in the 40’s and 50’s. Eileen, a vibrant octogenarian, is an intelligent, wiley force with dancing blue eyes and a spritely step. As we walked to Neil’s local for lunch, she told me of her role as Eleanor of Aquitaine and cited Eleanor’s history and speeches as though she was channeling the historic queen herself!
Neil was a brick as he returned home on the first night of our arrival to discover that Barry and I had completely switched the furniture in two of his guestrooms to transform one of the rooms into a set for Richard’s “bed-sitter.” He just glanced at the chaos and suggested we pop out to the pub. So we did, and enjoyed a delicious pint of bitter (or two) – all jet-lag aside!
We put the kids to bed while we hit the pub.
Neil wields the camera while...
Barry and Kim act like dogs.
We’ve just gotten back from London where we filmed our actors Neil Morrissey and Richard Huw in their real and fictional home town. As a result of our test screenings, we wrote a couple of extra scenes – to better set the stage for their collaboration on the documentary.
We decided to give Richard a “Mom” – played wonderfully by British stage actress Eileen Page (Eleanor of Aquitaine in Mother of the Pride, The Secret Garden) Eileen came to us through Sonya WIlliams a friend of Barry’s Mom, Sara Gregory, herself a soubrette of London’s West End in the 40’s and 50’s. Eileen, a vibrant octogenarian, is an intelligent, wiley force with dancing blue eyes and a spritely step. As we walked to Neil’s local for lunch, she told me of her role as Eleanor of Aquitaine and cited Eleanor’s history and speeches as though she was channeling the historic queen herself!
Neil was a brick as he returned home on the first night of our arrival to discover that Barry and I had completely switched the furniture in two of his guestrooms to transform one of the rooms into a set for Richard’s “bed-sitter.” He just glanced at the chaos and suggested we pop out to the pub. So we did, and enjoyed a delicious pint of bitter (or two) – all jet-lag aside!
We put the kids to bed while we hit the pub.We’re grateful to our British friend and camera-man Ian Clark and his gracious colleague Martin Scanlon for scouting locations in London and arranging to augment our video camera with various pieces of equipment that were too bulky for us to bring over on the plane. Richard came up from Beckenham armed with a funky collapsible bike he’d borrowed from his neighbour. Cast and crew spent a whirlwind day on and off the London tube following Barry around like the Pied Piper of Hamelin; tripods, bicycle and camera equipment on each of our shoulders. (No permits either, but the London bobbies just nodded and turned a blind eye – as we held our collective breath.)
Our photographer friend, Brigitte Cavanaugh, joined us from Paris to shoot some publicity stills too. Next morning, when our serious filming was through and we’d gotten Neil’s house back in order, Barry and I donned the dog masks and Neil took up Barry’s video camera to shoot some “making of” while Barry and I posed for Brigitte. I’ve decided that it’s not so easy being an actor – dog’s head or no. It was hot in there, and after a while I ran out of ideas for ways to embody a dog having a conversation with his ‘mate over a paper and a cup of tea … Turns out Neil’s camera footage wasn’t so hot either. So much for switching it up.
Our photographer friend, Brigitte Cavanaugh, joined us from Paris to shoot some publicity stills too. Next morning, when our serious filming was through and we’d gotten Neil’s house back in order, Barry and I donned the dog masks and Neil took up Barry’s video camera to shoot some “making of” while Barry and I posed for Brigitte. I’ve decided that it’s not so easy being an actor – dog’s head or no. It was hot in there, and after a while I ran out of ideas for ways to embody a dog having a conversation with his ‘mate over a paper and a cup of tea … Turns out Neil’s camera footage wasn’t so hot either. So much for switching it up.
Neil wields the camera while...
Barry and Kim act like dogs.Labels: diary
Update April, 2009
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.
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.
Treats for our test audience.Labels: diary
Update January, 2009
Drama in the Can
We had an amazing time in December filming with our English actors, Neil Morrissey and Richard Huw. We had 12 action-packed days with them and we all worked flat out to get the dramatic portion of Sniff “in the can.”
The weekend at the “Infinite Paws Hotel” was perhaps the most gratifying. We had over 20 dogs on set throughout the course of the weekend, and with the addition of delightful performances by Amanda Plummer and Maurice Godin as the fictitious owners of the hotel, our extras, cast and crew of volunteers and near-volunteers were aglow with the spirit of fun and enthusiasm. It was wonderful to see Barry’s dream coming to fruition, and we are both so grateful to all who have helped support us in getting this far.
The American Humane Association sent a representative to see that no animals were being harmed in the process. I don’t suppose there has ever been a cast of doggies more well-loved than ours were. Trainer Francis Metcalf made sure the dogs were well acclimatized to Neil and Richard wearing Angela Thomas’ wonderfully realistic but somewhat daunting dog masks, and we had lots of laughs while filming dogs doing yoga, watching tv, reclining in the luxury of a fur-lined futon and relaxing in the spa!
The last shot of the weekend was a scene with several dogs being serenaded with live music. Bluegrass mandolin player and fellow film-maker Finn Taylor and his guitarist friend played us a choice of tunes for the scene, and the cast and crew had a moment of spontaneous toe-tapping and dancing when the musicians struck gold!
We had an amazing time in December filming with our English actors, Neil Morrissey and Richard Huw. We had 12 action-packed days with them and we all worked flat out to get the dramatic portion of Sniff “in the can.”
The weekend at the “Infinite Paws Hotel” was perhaps the most gratifying. We had over 20 dogs on set throughout the course of the weekend, and with the addition of delightful performances by Amanda Plummer and Maurice Godin as the fictitious owners of the hotel, our extras, cast and crew of volunteers and near-volunteers were aglow with the spirit of fun and enthusiasm. It was wonderful to see Barry’s dream coming to fruition, and we are both so grateful to all who have helped support us in getting this far.
The American Humane Association sent a representative to see that no animals were being harmed in the process. I don’t suppose there has ever been a cast of doggies more well-loved than ours were. Trainer Francis Metcalf made sure the dogs were well acclimatized to Neil and Richard wearing Angela Thomas’ wonderfully realistic but somewhat daunting dog masks, and we had lots of laughs while filming dogs doing yoga, watching tv, reclining in the luxury of a fur-lined futon and relaxing in the spa!
The last shot of the weekend was a scene with several dogs being serenaded with live music. Bluegrass mandolin player and fellow film-maker Finn Taylor and his guitarist friend played us a choice of tunes for the scene, and the cast and crew had a moment of spontaneous toe-tapping and dancing when the musicians struck gold!
Maurice Godin instructs Richard at the Infinite PawsLabels: diary
Update November, 2008
Prep and more Prep
Tickets are all purchased. We’ve hired Emily Pierceall to help manage the production details (a major treat!). We found a rental house in our neighbourhood for the actors to live in while they’re here, and the excitement mounts. Angela arrives in a week with the dog masks, so I’ve got to clear out my studio so she’ll have a place to work (and sleep).
Barry has been working day and night to get all the dog stories ready and in sequence so that Neil and Richard can be filmed watching them on screen. We used file cards with a documentary sequence itemized on each card, then brain-stormed with our Co-Producer and Search and Rescue story editor Eric Sullivan to decide on a running order. Now to fine-tune the script so each sequence is introduced properly….
Extras to organize, permits to obtain for filming in San Francisco and Oakland, shooting schedules to plan, locations to scout, and our annual Thanksgiving Turkey pageant to organize too. We’ll parade the feast to the actors’ place down the path because there’ll be too many friends and neighbours to fit around our little yellow table. Barry’s Mom arrives from England the day before, his sister comes in from Nepal the day of, Neil and Emma come up from Australia and Richard flies in from London. Must remember to order the turkey. Neil says he’ll cook it. I’m on the tofu version.
Tickets are all purchased. We’ve hired Emily Pierceall to help manage the production details (a major treat!). We found a rental house in our neighbourhood for the actors to live in while they’re here, and the excitement mounts. Angela arrives in a week with the dog masks, so I’ve got to clear out my studio so she’ll have a place to work (and sleep).
Barry has been working day and night to get all the dog stories ready and in sequence so that Neil and Richard can be filmed watching them on screen. We used file cards with a documentary sequence itemized on each card, then brain-stormed with our Co-Producer and Search and Rescue story editor Eric Sullivan to decide on a running order. Now to fine-tune the script so each sequence is introduced properly….
Extras to organize, permits to obtain for filming in San Francisco and Oakland, shooting schedules to plan, locations to scout, and our annual Thanksgiving Turkey pageant to organize too. We’ll parade the feast to the actors’ place down the path because there’ll be too many friends and neighbours to fit around our little yellow table. Barry’s Mom arrives from England the day before, his sister comes in from Nepal the day of, Neil and Emma come up from Australia and Richard flies in from London. Must remember to order the turkey. Neil says he’ll cook it. I’m on the tofu version.
Something tasty for Thanksgiving!
Labels: diary
Update July 2008
Gathering Stories
We have 30 hours of high def video footage for the "documentary" part of the film. And we have come up with a pretty funny back story of the two "lads" making the film.
We have been following (right from his initial socialization and training) a sweet yellow lab called Mikey at Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael. He has been placed with a man named George Kerscher in Montana, so we went there last month to film the conclusion of that story. It was great to see Mikey again, and to know that he’s gone to live in a beautiful spot in the company of two other labs – Lily, the family pet, and Nesbit, Mikey’s guide dog predecessor who logged over 1 million miles on Delta airlines with George.
We've also been filming a black lab called Gabby who started out at Guide Dogs and had a "career change". Gabby is now training at Sundowners Ranch in Gilroy, California to be a Search and Rescue dog. It was a rough road for a while because although Gabby loved finding the “hidden trainer,” she wouldn't signal her discovery with a bark, an essential job requirement. She’s over that hurdle now and we have been filming her in various stages of training. Certification is on the way and we are currently waiting to find out where she gets posted so we can follow her life in the real world.
On the lighter side we've got dogs that lean out of windows, dogs that surf and a sweet story of Harley fetching a ball in the Klamath.
Barry and Harley - fetch anyone?
We have 30 hours of high def video footage for the "documentary" part of the film. And we have come up with a pretty funny back story of the two "lads" making the film.
We have been following (right from his initial socialization and training) a sweet yellow lab called Mikey at Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael. He has been placed with a man named George Kerscher in Montana, so we went there last month to film the conclusion of that story. It was great to see Mikey again, and to know that he’s gone to live in a beautiful spot in the company of two other labs – Lily, the family pet, and Nesbit, Mikey’s guide dog predecessor who logged over 1 million miles on Delta airlines with George.
We've also been filming a black lab called Gabby who started out at Guide Dogs and had a "career change". Gabby is now training at Sundowners Ranch in Gilroy, California to be a Search and Rescue dog. It was a rough road for a while because although Gabby loved finding the “hidden trainer,” she wouldn't signal her discovery with a bark, an essential job requirement. She’s over that hurdle now and we have been filming her in various stages of training. Certification is on the way and we are currently waiting to find out where she gets posted so we can follow her life in the real world.
On the lighter side we've got dogs that lean out of windows, dogs that surf and a sweet story of Harley fetching a ball in the Klamath.
Barry and Harley - fetch anyone?Labels: diary
Update April, 2008
From an Email to my Friend Doug in Canada
Just trying to stay calm what with camera-work, logging footage and an upcoming bit of directing for Sniff while Barry is in Marin working on a Korean pig horror film to keep the tofu on the table.
I’m chronically behind on the ever-present book-keeping for our four business entities, and I’m waging a pathetic struggle to prepare for glass shows in June, cope with an onslaught of spring gardening (one new client too) and managing a snow-balling home improvement project. We’ve cleared out the kitchen to put in a beautiful cherry wood floor, so I decided to do a bit of tiling behind the stove while it was pulled out. The floor replacement uncovered some water seepage where the kitchen extension meets the concrete pad it was built on. In order to fix the seepage, we had to rip off the old shakes and re-seal the area from outside. The shingling man starts this week and we’ve got piles of new redwood shakes waiting in the backyard among the detritus.
I can't believe I'm actually learning how to do documentary camera work at this stage in life. In eighteen years of knowing him I've never even turned on one of Barry's cameras of my own volition. It has been really fun following dogs around but now Barry is working on a feature so I've had to pinch hit for him filming the Guide Dog we've been following for the past few months. He’s now been matched with his blind person and they’re preparing together for life in the real world. The pair "graduate" at a ceremony on Saturday, so I’m about to add yet another string to my bow. I'll be leading a troupe of 2 camera people and a sound person (all volunteers, also only recently trained on our particular HD cameras) to achieve what I hope will be at least a work-woman-like representation of the event. These one-time-only, gotta-get-it-right situations are way too stressful for the novitiate!
Tomorrow on his day off from Chaw, Barry and I will travel to Gilroy to continue filming a Search and Rescue dog being trained. (Barry does the close-ups and I shoot the wide.) I so prefer it when B's there with all his experience. I freak out internally when I'm not sure of the exposure, the framing, the focus, well everything - and that's most of the time.
It has been informative to walk in Barry's moccasins, but really I'd like to give them
back... and before Saturday! I'm really an oxfords person.
Turning 50? That's easy.
xo
me
Just trying to stay calm what with camera-work, logging footage and an upcoming bit of directing for Sniff while Barry is in Marin working on a Korean pig horror film to keep the tofu on the table.
I’m chronically behind on the ever-present book-keeping for our four business entities, and I’m waging a pathetic struggle to prepare for glass shows in June, cope with an onslaught of spring gardening (one new client too) and managing a snow-balling home improvement project. We’ve cleared out the kitchen to put in a beautiful cherry wood floor, so I decided to do a bit of tiling behind the stove while it was pulled out. The floor replacement uncovered some water seepage where the kitchen extension meets the concrete pad it was built on. In order to fix the seepage, we had to rip off the old shakes and re-seal the area from outside. The shingling man starts this week and we’ve got piles of new redwood shakes waiting in the backyard among the detritus.
I can't believe I'm actually learning how to do documentary camera work at this stage in life. In eighteen years of knowing him I've never even turned on one of Barry's cameras of my own volition. It has been really fun following dogs around but now Barry is working on a feature so I've had to pinch hit for him filming the Guide Dog we've been following for the past few months. He’s now been matched with his blind person and they’re preparing together for life in the real world. The pair "graduate" at a ceremony on Saturday, so I’m about to add yet another string to my bow. I'll be leading a troupe of 2 camera people and a sound person (all volunteers, also only recently trained on our particular HD cameras) to achieve what I hope will be at least a work-woman-like representation of the event. These one-time-only, gotta-get-it-right situations are way too stressful for the novitiate!
Tomorrow on his day off from Chaw, Barry and I will travel to Gilroy to continue filming a Search and Rescue dog being trained. (Barry does the close-ups and I shoot the wide.) I so prefer it when B's there with all his experience. I freak out internally when I'm not sure of the exposure, the framing, the focus, well everything - and that's most of the time.
It has been informative to walk in Barry's moccasins, but really I'd like to give them
back... and before Saturday! I'm really an oxfords person.
Turning 50? That's easy.
xo
me
Kim filming some making of while Barry looks on.Labels: diary
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