The Hudson Valley team of the New York 48 hour film project cranks about a movie in a weekend

I spent Saturday, June 17 being a script supervisor - and working with a lot of great people - for the 4-7 minute film called "The Deal Breaker." This movie was put together by the Hudson Valley team participating in the New York edition of the 48 hour film project festival.

What is that? The 48 hour film project is a movie-making event in which teams are assigned genres, characters, specific lines of dialogue, or whatever specifications the festival operators choose to throw out there: nobody knows what specifications they will handed until Friday night. Once they learn what parameters they have been assigned, the teams each have 48 hours to write a script, shoot the film, edit it, and turn in the final project by a Sunday night deadline. the festival operators stress this is not a competition. Rather, it is a chance for regional film professionals to meet, work together, and perhaps nurture new career relationships under the challenging conditions of a tightly scheduled shoot. The events go on all over the country. You can learn more about the New York City edition of 48 hour film project at http://www.48hourfilm.com/new-york-ny

But back to the film I was involved in: since nobody knew what film we would be shooting until Friday night or even Saturday morning, and nobody know what kind of cast the film would call for, a group of actors arranged to be on stand by to jump in should the final script call for their help. I was on standby to act. Ultimately, the final script called for three women and one man, and I went on to help as a crew member. I don't mind. Being on set is an experience for me no matter what I do. I cannot tell you too much of the plot because the film has not yet screened at the festival.

I kept track of scenes and takes, and learned more about script supervising, something it is hard to get on-the-job training in. I want to learn more about script supervising since it seems like a viable survival skill for an actor in the movie business.

I got to meet a great cadre of DPs and PAs. And I must give a big shout-out to Dara and George. They are the owners of the home where we did most of the shooting. Not only were they gracious, wonderful hosts, they even set out a terrific food table to keep us all fed and sharp throughout the shoot. Thank you so much to the both of you!

There are no shots of me. That's fine. I was looking pretty drawn anyway. It was a 13 hour filming day. By the end I was tired, but happy to have been a part of it all. Below: something we shot out in the driveway. Enjoy.