Busy Day... Sorta

While not much progress was made today, I did establish the the start of what hopefully will be full force progress with various locations: Bowling Alley, Lobby, Gas Station and a very specific Phone Booth. 

Bowling Alley (Tuttles): unfortunately the owners were not around, and tomorrow should/could be the day to make that true firm pitch of shooting eleven scenes in and around the bowling alley. To be fully prepared I did print out two scenes to present them, plus a list of all the scenes. Because all the locations I want to shoot at are fully functional places of business, we need to, in some respects, work around what they want us to do. There are times, however, especially with actor availability, where we may not be able to work with what they may propose. I'm prepared to negotiate. I will attempt to get ahold of the owner tomorrow. For the actual bowling scenes, we'll definitely be doing those Sunday mornings before Noon. It's $1.99 a game + $3 for shoes. Excellent deal.

Lobby: It's in a nondescript business building where Peter works. There is one short scene between he and Paul in a small cubby like lobby area. When writing the scene I didn't have an exact location in mind. A few weeks ago when I was in my bank, I stood staring at their small waiting area. An alcove, four leather chairs, wood floors, a television screen turned to CNN. I talked with the Vice President of my bank. We chatted briefly about several aspects to make this work; areas that he would look into. Questions about signing releases, talking with security, length of the shoot, crew members, lighting set-ups, etc. It's a bank for goodness sakes, security is at the top of the list, and I expected that. What I didn't expect was for the VP to also, in the coming days, locate three back-up locations in the event that we weren't allowed to shoot in the building. He said, "Even if it doesn't work out, I'd really like to help you." Nice man. I look forward to the follow-up phone call.

Gas Station: There isn't much new info here as of yet. A few weeks back I asked an employee who works at the Holiday Gas station near my apartment how likely it would be to shoot a early-morning scene in the building. He needed to talk with his District Manager. Tomorrow I will print out a scene and bring it to him, just incase the DM isn't sure. I've known the folks at this Holiday for years. I can't imagine there will be too many major issues with locking this place.

Phone Booth: For years and years I've wanted to write a scene for this amazing looking phone booth in the Golden Valley Shopping Center. 

No phone, but a phonebook. Awesome.

It's old, broken, and even the phone is gone (that's where my love of set-construction will come into play), but I love it. I had to write this into the film. Yes, there is a character that doesn't have a cell phone. But everyone has a cell phone. Nope. Not Bryan (my manager at Willow Creek). The only person I know that doesn't have a cell phone. So Paul, the main character in Nicotine, doesn't have a cell phone because of Bryan. Plus it makes things a bit inconvenient for his character in the film.

What's next?

I'm scheduling meetings with three new actors. People to play John, Courtney and Liz. Things are coming together quite nicely.