A-Boating We Will Go!

Thanks to the generosity of my parents’  neighbor John and his brother Bob, we have secured a rowboat for the shoot! It’s an aluminum 12 footer from the 1950’s.

Our main shooting location!

More than half of “The Lake” and pretty much all of its major scenes take place in this rowboat. It was very important that we find a boat that not only looks right, but that will provide adequate space for filming. Of course most of the time the camera crew will be filming from another boat or a dock, but there will be times when a camera operator will need to be in the boat with one or two actors. This boat gives us the flexibility to shoot from all the angles we need to!

We’re now three weeks out from the shoot and the final details are coming together beautifully! Soon I’ll be able to share some photos of our other location, a gorgeous lake house!

Spotlight on: Gale Nemec!

Gale Nemec will be playing Mom in “The Lake”. It’s rare in the indie film world to write a role with an actor in mind and actually be able to get that actor for your film. With Gale, I was lucky enough to have that. As I started writing “The Lake”, she almost immediately became the mother in my mind. I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing this role, so I’m incredibly pleased that Gale was available and liked the script enough to sign on to the film!

Gale (right) with Tara on set for the 2008 Baltimore 48 Hour Film Project

An Award Winning producer and actress, Gale Nemec has been highly acclaimed for her performances on stage in both professional and community theatre, and in several one-woman shows. As an interviewer for television and radio, she is known as a woman who can get to the point and easily cover a great deal of material in a short time. Gale is also an artist in Residence for Wolf Trap, and works with teachers to teach them how they can incorporate the performing arts into their curriculums.

Gale Nemec has been an Executive Producer/Producer/Writer, and CEO of Nemec Productions, LLC, for more than three decades. She has produced for television, radio, in-house productions and theatre, including television and radio series, commercials and PSAs which have been seen or heard nationally and internationally on PBS, NPR, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, Fox affiliate stations, numerous cable systems, and Armed Forces Radio Network.

In 1999, she entered the realm of live, theatrical productions and created “The Bea & The Bug!”, an upbeat multimedia live show featuring American History. The show has been preformed at the Capital Fringe Festival, the Carter Barron theatre, Children’s Hospital and at the Chesapeake Arts Center. It is an exciting, up-on-your feet entertaining and educational show for all ages. Gale is currently working to produce the show in schools through fundraising and outreach. More information is available on www.TheBeaAndTheBug.org.

In addition to producing for theatre, television and radio, Nemec is a lyricist and producer of original music. She wrote and produced the opening theme song for the Walt Disney’s: Imagineering, Port Discovery children’s museum in Baltimore. She has also written several other songs including “You Can Make a Difference!” ™, which has been sung at numerous public functions by Mrs. Virginia E. Hayes Williams, Mayor Williams’ mother.

She is also a published writer and wrote “Living With Cats” (Williams Morrow). Under the banner of Children’s Stories with Mizz Nemec, she wrote “Little Stockey and the Miracle of Christmas”, “There’s A Bear on A Bench”, “The Great Elephant Rescue”, and “Throwing Rocks in the River” to name a few. Books can be purchased www.ChildrensStoriesWithMizzNemec.com.

Gale is an accomplished actress, a member of Screen Actors’ Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and brings her great range and experience to “The Lake” as Mom. I can’t wait to see her delve into this complex role and bring Mom to life!

More spotlights will be coming soon…

You can also “Like” The Lake on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lake/142515309154472?ref=ts

And contribute to The Lake on IndieGoGo:
http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Lake-1

Spotlight on: William R. Coughlan!

As we go through production, we’ll be shining the spotlight on all the members of the cast and crew! First up is William R. Coughlan, founder of Tohubohu Productions, who will be acting as Production Manager for “The Lake”. This is a key position and one of the most difficult to nail down, so I was thrilled to get someone with Bill’s experience! And speaking of experience…

Bill on set at one of his shoots

William R. Coughlan is an award-winning screenwriter and director, and is one of the founders (and primary financier) of Tohubohu Productions — which basically means that even on pictures he doesn’t direct, he can at least squeeze in an Executive Producer credit. He is also a director with The Advisory Board Company in Washington, D.C., where he began as a graphic designer before segueing into video and multimedia, and then eventually into the ranks of creative department management. He also enjoys acting, voiceover performance, design and illustration, editing, three-dimensional animation, and writing autobiographical comments in the third person. He is the illustrator of the therapeutic workbook Stories for Children with Problems & Wishes, has provided schematic graphics for several HBS case studies, designed the acclaimed Protégé clay poker chip line, served as the Critic at Large for the online literary magazine Inkblots, was a judge for the 2010 TIVA Peer Awards, voiced the iHealthBeat and California Healthline weekly podcasts, and is an accomplished ambigram artist. He currently resides at a secret compound in Burke, Virginia, with his wife Pam and their two daughters.

Bill’s company, Tohubohu Productions, will also be serving as co-producer with Tarakata Films. So, this is a bit of a double spotlight! Tohubohu Productions is an independent digital moviemaking company comprising aspiring writers, directors, actors, and producers. They have produced several short films, including “Number One with a Bullet” and “Liability”, which won several awards in the DC Television, Internet, and Video Association’s 2010 Peer Awards.

I am super excited to have Bill on board. He’s jumped right in and is a delight to work with and his knowledge and experience are going to be invaluable on set!

Stay tuned for more spotlights. We’ve got some incredible people working on this project!

You can also “Like” The Lake on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lake/142515309154472?ref=ts

And contribute to The Lake on IndieGoGo:
http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Lake-1

“The Lake”: Pre-Production Begins

After several months of writing and rewriting the script, “The Lake” is finally ready to go into pre-production! This is when things start to get crazy!

This is also when I realize what an insanely complicated little film I’ve written. Just setting half the film in a rowboat creates tons of extra issues. We are looking at putting the crew on a second boat for some parts and “cheating” by having the boat docked for others. We will also have some fight work and FX makeup involved. But aside from the creative complications, there are also some very big practical ones. Since we’re shooting in Lake Anna and all in one weekend, we will be staying on location. This means making sure we have a place for everyone to sleep and providing all three meals, rather than just the usual midday lunch. Oh, and that boat thing means we need a “boat wrangler”, someone who can be responsible for taking care of everything involving the rowboat and the “crew” boat. And there are all the other things that need to be taken care of on any film!

Luckily, We are starting to put together a really kickass cast and crew! And we’ll begin introducing them to you very shortly, so keep an eye on the blog!

You can also check out our FaceBook page and our IndieGoGo Campaign!

The Lake on FaceBook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lake/142515309154472?ref=ts

The Lake on IndieGoGo:
http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Lake-1