Every week we update everyone on where the film is (we start production this Sunday!) and with Kickstarter’s new spotlight feature for successfully funded projects, it’s now even easier to follow along with our progress. Just head over to our Kickstarter page and click “Follow along”!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1343543070/burning-a-short-film
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1343543070/burning-a-short-film/posts/1167009
It includes information about our actors, locations, camera, music, and more. 🙂
It’s been a week since our campaign was successfully funded ($5,360!), and we already have things to share!
Last week we held our second round of auditions to find our lead roles — “Meredith” and “Jason” — and we’re holding callbacks this weekend. We’re really excited with the talent we saw at auditions, and we’re excited to see how our actors do when we pair them up.
We’ve also been working on securing our locations. This film includes several locations. Outside, there are exterior shots of Meredith walking along the street and a short scene that happens in a crosswalk. Inside, there is a scene in a movie theater, a scene in a convenience store, a scene in a bar, and several scenes in an apartment. Lots of places to find! But we’ve been scouting like crazy; last week Richard and I dropped in to 14 bars in one night in an attempt to find the perfect location. And we did. It’s called State Park, and it’s in Kendall Square. It’s exactly the kind of bar we imagined the scene taking place in. We got in touch with the owners and they were on board! We also found a house that we’ll be able to use for our all of our apartment scenes, thanks to the gracious owner who is going to let us take over his house for an entire day. And tonight Richard and I scouted the streets of downtown Boston to find our exterior shots and were happy with what we found. We’re really excited with the progress so far!
All in all, things are progressing well! Next week we’ll hopefully have some pictures for you, and more information about cameras, actors, and more locations. Till then!
WE DID IT! We did this amazing thing where we reached our Kickstarter goal days before the campaign ended.
But we’re not done yet!
We’re so excited to be working with Casey Preston again. He recently recorded sound for our last short, “Thermal Runaway” and did such an amazing job. We’re glad he’s back for “Burning.”
Casey Preston is a Boston based videographer and performer. After abandoning his career as an engineer, he now supports himself primarily through educational theater and as a freelance videographer and actor. Since completing the digital filmmaking program at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts, Casey works primarily on independent film and new media, such as the award winning web-series “Holding”, as well corporate and event videography. As a filmmaker, his experience ranges from director of photography, to location sound, to actor, to editor, but whatever his role, his goal is that the audience will connect with what they see and hear.
We’re halfway through casting! We survived 73″ of snow in Boston and have cast four of our supporting roles in the film. Check out their headshots, character descriptions, and bios below!
Eddie Troy – Eddie will be playing the role of a character who hits on Meredith while she’s at a bar.
Eddie Troy is an actor known for independent films such as City of Homes, Paladino, and No Finish Lines. In his first year of acting in films he has been cast in over ten independent films, four of which went to festivals. Before going into film, he did two years of theatre being cast in productions such as The Pillowman and Sweeney Todd. He was also a member of the improv group Random Acts. Eddie is known for his method style of acting, often living as the characters he plays before and during production.
Nathaniel Scott – Nathaniel will be playing the bartender.
Nathaniel is excited to be joining the cast of “Burning” after years acting for the stage. Favorite roles past include John Proctor (The Crucible), Macbeth (Macbeth), and The Creature (Frankenstein). He is a graduate of Eastern Nazarene College, Point Loma Nazarene University, and Bristol Community College’s Therapeutic Massage Program. He is a Licensed Massage Therapist in Boston, MA.
Lize Johnston– Lize will be playing a character who plays an unexpected role in both Jason and Meredith’s lives.
Lize is a 2015 MFA candidate at the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard. She has moved from South Africa, to Australia, to New York, and is a graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in NYC. Theater includes The Idiot (Moscow Art Theater), Heroin/e (A.R.T. Institute), Uncle Vanya (Moscow Art Theater School). New York theater includes Macbeth OP (Lady Macbeth, ATA), Twelfth Night OP (Viola, ATA), Helen (Helen, La MaMa), As You Like It (Rosalind, CAP21), Czestochowa Musical Chairs (Gene Frankel Theater), Habitat (The Kitchen), Boy Gets Girl (Stella Adler), Fifth of July (Stella Adler), Halloween Monologue (Theater for the New City), Consciousness (Theatre 80), Something Outrageous (45th Street Theater). Film: Hands That Hold Us, The Pressure, Love Seat, Forever, Adrenaline III, Tiny Shakespeare and Unfaithful.
Anita Ganesan – Anita will be playing the role of a character that Meredith eavesdrops on at one point in the night.
Anita Ganesan is an actress, lifestyle model, techie, competitive Toastmaster, Miss India Talented New England 2015 and an avid volunteer with Saheli Boston – an organization dedicated to empowering the lives of South Asian women. After graduating as an Electrical Engineer from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and immediately being hired as a firmware engineer, she was able to find a balance between her two passions. She has worked on several short films and numerous commercials with companies such as CVS, Localytics, and Summer Infants. She has studied under the tutelage of former Days of Our Lives star, Steven Blackwood and the art of improv with the Magnet Theater in NYC.
We’re so excited to be working with Alec Roy as our gaffer. We recently worked with him on the last film we shot, Thermal Runaway, and his work was phenomenal. We’re excited to have him back for Burning.
Alec Roy graduated from Fitchburg State University in 2012 with a bachelors in Communications Media concentration in Film. Since then he has worked at Talamas Digital Cinema Rentals as a video tech and moved onto freelance grip/electric and camera work. Most recently he has been gaffing corporate videos and short films and works as an electric on independent feature length films. As Rebecca Maddalo’s short film’s Gaffer, he strives to bring to the table anything he can to make BURNING one of the year’s top short films in the Boston area.
We took some more pictures to capture how we think Meredith is feeling while trying to deal with Jason’s betrayal. Thanks to our amazing model, Mary Cuoto!
Help us reach our goal on Kickstarter!
We launched! Our project went live this morning and we are so excited to share our Kickstarter with the world. Please consider donating or sharing about us on social media.
Thank you for supporting us thus far, and we can’t wait to bring you more updates soon!
We’re making headway in pre-production! We’ve secured several of the major roles for our crew. Get to know a couple of them a little better below.
Our director is Rebecca Maddalo. She also co-runs this blog, so you can learn more about her on the About page, but we thought we’d include her bio here too.
Rebecca is a Harvard filmmaking graduate and local filmmaker who likes exploring how to tell stories in as many different ways as possible. She has experience working within a range of storytelling genres, from documentary work to interview-based pieces to silent 16mm film to traditional narrative stories. She currently freelances as a writer, cinematographer, editor, and photographer in Boston while associate producing ASquaredFilm’s THE GUYS NEXT DOOR.
Meet our Cinematographer, Amanda McGrady. She earned a B.A. from Emerson College with a concentration in Cinematography. Upon graduating she worked as a technician and engineer at RULE BOSTON CAMERA and lensed the award winning short film PHIL’S BUTTS. After years of shooting shorts, docs, and sports coverage she entered the feature film world with the fantasy film THE GATHERING STORM and made a return to her roots with the horror comedy CHAINSAW MAIDENS.
This is Michael Chambers, our Composer. He graduated from Berklee College of Music where he studied composition and film scoring. Since relocating to Los Angeles he has provided music for advertisements, short films, and a web series. He has also been a producer and recording engineer for bands such as Avi Buffalo, Clay Borrell, and Finch. Michael currently works as an assistant to renowned composer David Kitay.
And just for fun, here is a photo of Richard Ho, co-creator and storyboard artist, hard at work on one of the scenes from the film. If success is 90% preparation and 10% perspiration, filmmaking is 90% hard work and 10% Diet Coke.
Burning 