My Latest Filmmaking Challenge: Revolutionary Lives!

Last week I had the unbelievable pleasure of hosting two wonderful people from Australia, here in St. George.  Alicia and her sister Suzie came to the states for a long tour that included our little town for one reason: to visit Kev and I!

We shot Alicia's destination in Paris wedding last year and formed a connection with her right away.  (Her husband Shane was pretty great too!).  A public figure in Australia, dedicated to leadership training and moving the world forward, Alicia was someone I immediately was interested in.  I remember looking through her blogs before I met her and being totally wowed by her ideas and bright energy.

A Newspaper clip from one of her workshops.

And another!

Check out her blog HERE!

She is also beautiful, radiating light and love from her infectious dimpled smile.  (I had to say that because it made taking her Paris photos, pictured below, like, the easiest job ever).

Alicia and Suzy, on Alicia's wedding day.

So, flash forward to St. George and me at my computer, typing away Facebook message responses to the Fackrell brothers: Nathan and Matt.  These guys are super talented Hollywood directors, producers, editors, writers, you name it.  They are both from St. George and are friends with many of my favorite filmies here, including Shaun, Sheldon, and Adam.  Matt saw my short film "A Good Love" and randomly wrote to tell me he liked it.  I was so excited!  It was the beginning of a (incredible...still can't believe they want to talk to little old ME!) friendship with him and his brother.

Matt... is that his foot?

Nathan.  No caption necessary.

 One of these Facebook chats resulted in them challenging me to go for Vimeo's Focus Forward Films competition.  You have to make a three-minute film, which is open to anyone in the world, that highlights technology, art, ideas, etc. that are moving the world forward.  I was like, uhhhhhhhhh... huh?

Then, the next day a lightbulb went off and I remembered Alicia!  I started looking up plane tickets to Perth, Australia, frantically telling Kevin about my brilliant idea to fly out there and film her ideas, when he reminded me she was already heading to the states in about two months and was, by the way, stopping by little old St. George for a visit!

I skyped with Alicia a few days later and she was equally excited about the idea.  I asked her to send me every relevant piece of information including blogs, videos, documents, conversations, and the like to start coming up with a script.  Thank God I'm an English major, because summerizing all that info might have been impossible otherwise!

Together, we figured out the script (which wasn't totally finalized until the evening before the actual shoot), and I assembled the world's greatest crew:

Ned & Mary Cordery, Shaun Labrecque, Sheldon Demke, Alicia (the star!), Suzy Curtis... Not pictured is the sexiest man alive: The one and only Kevin Sexy Pants Hulett.  I had the pleasure of oogling his cute ass most of the day in Pine Valley.

I was originally going to shoot in Springdale, but went to scout locations and had a really negative experience.  A few days previously, I had gone to Pine Valley to scout and see if I might want to use that location instead and had the greatest time!  I did a time lapse, (below), that I'll most likely use in the film.  It will be much faster, and not have the weird stuff at the end. 

So, we shot one day in Pine Valley, and one in Las Vegas.  I'm SO HAPPY with the resulting footage... I just can't wait to put it all together!

I shot on my Canon 5D Mark II with two lenses, 24-70 and 50 mm.  The Fackrell bros encouraged me to keep the film visual (my original idea included animation, which was really throwing me off until they stepped in!).  I filmed like I take pictures... taking time to set up the shot, paying attention to details, and running with off-the-cuff ideas that pop oh-so-beautifully in my brain during a shoot.

Win or lose the competition, I don't really care.  (Well, I do care because who doesn't want to win money and go to Sundance?  But if I don't place, no worries here--I have lost nothing!).  I'm just so thankful for the experience--which is still ongoing--for this process of creation.  Taking ideas out of my brain--or anyone's brain--and moving energy to create something tangible is a process that will never get old.  I'm always floored by the power of this process, from friends and strangers coming out to help make it happen, to all those "in the moment" moments when creativity literally flows.

I just appreciate it all so much!

It's better than chocolate, better than glory, better than any drug I've ever tried, better than sex... well, hmm... maybe not better than that :)

I'll share when it's finished!

xoxo

Kate