Slow Day on Set

Today has been a slow day on the set. Ruth Roberts arrived sick, she has the flu, so does David Evans....mmmm...which is very interesting in light of what Shawn told me about thier previous activities on the set of The Gift...I sent them home for the day with plenty of medicine and taleked with Josie about her character and the possibility of extending her role. I've been having one-on-one meetings with each cast member to discuss thier characters and thier future with Pahala Shore-now that the writing staff is finalizing the first half of the season this week, I know the fate of some of the cast members.

I need to upload the cast photos, there are a few actors who are going to participate in the Adopt an Actor Program (similar to Arrendale Heights). The sims that play Meka, Lani and Randy will be participating in the program. The woman who plays Sierra has already decided to move to Apple Valley, so until I get thier bios I will simply have thier character name. If any hoods are interested in adopting these cast members-email me (starrsim@yahoo.com)

Besides the meetings, the sets are now complete and we're ready for filming. Jasmine, who plays Nailah, is flying in this week and we're going to put her in wardrobe and take her cast photo.

Meetings and the Porphyria Virus

Had meetings all day today with the writing staff-we're trying to find a way to expand the role of one of the actors, I hate to waste talent.

Finally got my immigration photo, ugh..I hate it-after the long flight from Italia I look so tired and harried.

Saw some of the cast today. After her test shots, Ruth was talking with Storm about decorating her condo, she and Josie are sharing a four bedroom condo on what we affectionately have termed "Actor's Way". The studio has brought two condos on the same street for those actors who are commuting more frequently to thier hoods. Each actor has thier own private suite with ensuite bathroom. So bewteen scenes they can relax in thier suite or explore the hood. Thankfully we're trying to arrange the shooting schedule so that the actors can work in blocks-(ie, most of Alexis scenes will be filmed in the beginning of the week, leaving the end of the week free for her to spend time in Eden, or having most of Alexis scenes for the season filmed now, so that she can return to Eden for some months) but sometimes that isn't possible. For example, Ruth's character has a lot of scenes so her schedule is pretty hetic, so is Chad's schedule.

We tapped a 'newbie' to the industry to play Erika and she has been nervous eversince landing in Apple Valley-she's scared that she'll mess up her 'big chance'. Thankfully Shawn said that Josie and Ruth had taken her out for a late lunch and calmed her down. Speaking of Josie, we had a near scare with her last night.

I was awakened at 3am with the call that Josie was rushed to the hospital. Apparently she had become infected with porphyria after attending a coffee house downtown. The doctor said that porphyria is a virus that disrupts the production of heme and that sims with extreme cases of this disease are very sensitive to sunlight, causing them to be nocturnal and avoid all light. Also that sims with porphyria can have red eyes and teeth and that porphyria sufferers "crave" the heme in blood and the consumption of blood might ease the symptoms of porphyria. Thankfully the virus is not contagious unless the infected sim bites another sim and since Josie was sent to the hospital in time, she was given a vaccine and cured of the virus by later this morning. They're trying to find the sim that infected her, goodness, this is the last thing I need-a porphyria stricken cast.

Big Day on the Set

We're started wardrobe and makeup for Chad, Ruth, David and Daphne today. Thankfully thier sets are complete and we also did some promotional photos. After making sure that the photographers are well aware of thier duties, I then checked on the status of the other sets-the Randy/Missy residence is almost done while the Sierra/Nailah residence needs some more work before we can start shooting there.

Talked to Chang Lee, the producer of Suburb Sim, today. Had a very interesting conversation about storylines for the two soaps. Things will be busy for a while-the first few weeks of filming are the hardest, getting the sets built, getting actors into wardrobe and shooting promotional shots-all of this must be done before the first reel of filming the series can begin.

Right now the cast is enjoying thier short days and exploring the hood and downtown and moving into thier own homes-some of the cast have opted to buy property near the set to cut down on the commute to thier base hoods. I'm prepping for my own housewarming party, so right now I'm stuck in temporary housing which is the pits. Living out of boxes and suitcases is not fun, but thankfully I'll be moving into my condo again soon! I can't wait-but the remodeling has been worth it, I wouldn't have the time later so now is the best time to remodel.

Now it's time for my beauty sleep-I promise to put up some photos soon, until then

besos

Creative Musings

Now that Pahala Shore is almost set to start filming, the cast is well on thier way-we're waiting for the woman who plays Nailah to arrive; the set is almost complete, Storm is doing Russel's condo now as we speak; the wardrobe is almost complete-I hired Elle Kent, editor of Fashion Runway, to dress the cast. I love how the personality of each cast member is coming out through thier clothing and hair (done by Adriana Tierra Pierce of Snips Salon). I have a meeting with DeMarco Kent this evening. I hired him to do the marketing for the show. I'm hiring a lot of sims, but there is so much local talent in Apple Valley and besides-most of the jobs are short stints-like the marketing, set design, etc.

I wish that there were some platform where actors could go for interviews. Like the Blaze Grey show, something where they could be interviewed and could promote thier films and projects. To avoid the traveling conflict, the interviewer could do the interviews via sattalite and the viewer could see the exchange. There is supposed to be a new magazine coming out soon-celebrity gossip or things like that, so hopefully that will help. I wonder if there will be ads in the magazine, if so I should send them one about Pahala Shore-as soon as the entire cast gets here and into wardrobe, we'll start shooting cast photos and advertisement/publicity photos. I have a few ideas for the shots, including a beach scene.


Ah well, time for my lunch meeting with my writing staff. We're making a few changes to the storylines and fleshing out the first season's worth of episodes.

besos

Finally Casting Wraps Up

Casting is drawing to a close, there were several actors that we desired but who didn't answer our calls-mostly from the Star City boards. I am fairly happy with the cast-there are those who've been in the industry for ages, some new faces and many in bewteen. We had to shell out some simoleans for some of them, but quality workers should be paid as such. Now that casting is almost done, it's up to Shawn to start directing the cast about thier duties and my excellant writing staff to crank out good storylines. I'm going to be looking for more opportunities-mostly movies, since producing a series is hard work-but thankfully during the summer hiatus I can produce some movies.

First thing I need to do is finish moving! I brought a condo downtown and the interior designer-Storm (isn't that an... interesting name) is putting the finishing touches on it. She's doing the design for the set as well. I plan on having a cast party there once the first episode is filmed-don't worry I'll post a few photos, not too many since I'm sure many of the cast members would want some degree of privacy while filming. Thankfully downtown isn't too far from Bottom Beach where the series is filmed. Simply a short plane ride to the island or long ferry, whichever you perfer.

The writers are churning out some good episodes, the cast should be rather busy in the upcoming months and beyond. I will reveal something juicy-a member of the cast will be departing this season-I won't say if the move is permenant or not, but life will throw some choices at this sim and the one they chose will take them away from Pahala. Ok, no more! Of course fans can look forward to the Russel-Lani-Meka triangle and some new faces to Pahala as well. Everything else you'll have to watch and see.

So the Drama Begins

The casting call this afternoon went well, we offered a part to the sweetest little girl. She's going to play Carli, Randy's daughter. After the casting call, my assistant called me into the office and enlightened me to an angry cast member, so I had to handle that issue. *sigh* Which is no small feat considering my passionate spanish and italian blood. Now I see why my brother had such anger problems, not that he ever brought any of that anger home, but he was a very passionate man. In fact, most of the Petrignani family is passionate.

It was a surprise actually, the sim had expressed an earlier concern about thier role which I thought we had addressed, however there were other issues, so hopefully this will end sometime soon as I hate to have distractions with my work. Such a shame actually, I had such high hopes for this sim joining the cast after seeing thier previous work and talking to thier agent, but now I'm wondering if perhaps I acted too soon (which is another side affect of being passionate by nature). But I can only wait and see if thier behavior makes an effect on thier work. Hopefully they won't become a problem, I hate problems. Thankfully I'm not as intolerant of problems as my brother and father were-it was fatal to be a problem to them.

We're getting ready to shot cast photos and collect bios to start editing the website, then once the cast arrives-we're going to start filming. Some actors have already arrived, so they're in wardrobe and reading over the first episode's script and prepping for thier scenes. The goal is to start filming August 8 and get the first episode aired in September. I've hired Shawn Marsh-the director of "The Gift" miniseries, to help out. I've actually been eyeing his son for a role on the soap, but we shall see.

Well, I must do the hard task of shopping for clothing for a few of the characters and pick up a few accessories. I'm in search of a red wig for one of the actors and some gifts to welcome the cast.

Actors Rights

Who knew that when I decided to "buy" the rights to Pahala Shore that I would have to deal with actors that are a whiny bunch and in my opinion-don't have the clot or fame to act as such. There are actors whiny about the commute time, thier storylines and even the appearence of thier character-don't they know that they are paid to play others-not themselves, so if thier character is ugly or has a shady background, that doesn't reflect on them-goodness. Thankfully, I've hired some very good actors-some humble ones who are thankful to have an offer. It's funny, but it seems like the more famous the actor, the less demanding they are-I suppose that they've been in the business long enough to know that work doesn't come often. Hihi, I'm already plotting ways to write out a few of the actors I hired-based on attitude alone. I do have a few tricks up my sleeve though, I've hired a few quality actors with plenty of work experience-unfortunately thier storylines are not so large, but with a little urging towards the writing staff, that will change.

I wonder if Jarrel had to deal with such things when he was producing. I miss him, I wish he were here to give me advice, but this is one way that the family name will live on, well...there are other ways as well.

Thankfully while I have been dealing with casting and finding sims to play the roles, the rest of the crew has been hard at work building sets, gathering wardrobes and assembling make-up, not to mention the writing staff. The writing staff is genius! I've hired Luis Herendez as the head writer-his mother and grandmother used to write for Pahala Shore and Suburb Sim, his main role is to generate ideas and keep the other staff in line. Also on staff is Patricia Harbin, she is going to be big one day. Currently she writes for the local magazine, Fashion Runway; she's signed on to be a journalist with the new celebrity magazine, STAR, and she's only a teen! I love walking into the writing office and seeing the storylines pasted on the walls, seeing the arcs and peaks and knowing what some of the characters will go through. It's been hard dealing with them, as just when I think they're done they revise something which means even more characters which means more auditions and more actors. But with each change the soap gets better and better, so I can't complain.

Ah well, casting calls again this afternoon, I should prepare.