Editing Continues

The staff is hard at work editing the episodes, the first two episodes are complete, we're sending them to the network next week. I have to issue a statement of when the premire date will be, but you've heard it here first-September 8th is the premire date of the revamped Pahala Shore. Today we're editing the other three episodes and will probably call in a few members of the cast to film if we have time this weekend. I am also going to write the draft letters for renewing or non renewal of cast contracts and I might go shopping. I love retail therapy.

Otherwise things in Apple Valley are a bit slow, I've been tired a lot-producing is hard work. The "?" Show has been shelved until next year, I want to focus on Pahala Shore and produce more episodes before starting a new project, also I will have a better handle on how many other magazines and venues for artist promotion are available by that time. If there is still room for new projects then I may pursue it...or another idea I have.

besos

Edit!

The cast has another holiday, we decided to postpone filming and spend time editing the episodes for the network. I can't believe that we premire the show in a few weeks. I need to make a desicion about the airing schedule, the network has offered us slots for twice a month, that would mean that the storylines would move faster and we can keep the audience's attention-but that also means the budget must increase since our seasons would then feature 20 episodes instead of 10, which means 10 more paychecks for each cast member...or...mmm, perhaps the season's can still host 10 episodes, but then there are two seasons a year instead of one. I will make a desicion soon, hopefully by next week before I fly out for the big production meeting.

My furniture has yet to arrive, so I'm sleeping on a bed that I do not love and eating off plates that I hate...ugh, I really need to look into hiring a PA to live here and cook and clean and do all my dirty work.

It's been hard getting hoods to adopt the cast that plays Lani, Meka and Randy-hopefully once the show starts then hoods will be interested. Well, I'm off to get my hair done!

besos

Changes

Well, I'm sitting in the office now, sketching out details for The "?" Show and re-reading STAR, the new celeb magazine. My assistant is at my condo overseeing the movers-yestersimday I got a letter from the city condoning my condo and the adjacent condo due to the lot being 'buggy'. Thankfully I found a new condo with a similar set-up, though it lacks a community pool. My designer is at the new place, painting and laying new tile, and arranging furniture. *sigh* life happens though.
Sketching out the details for The "?" Show. Basically it will be a platform for celebs to give interviews. All celebs from actors, singers, models and possibly sport stars. The hardest part is the travel restrictions, so most of the interviews will probably be teleconferenced. Still thinking about it and mulling over the details. There are rumors of a new reality show and another soap opera, so that should be interesting-I guess with the fall coming, every network is gathering up thier shows and trying to gain new audiences.

Pahala Shore is going well, we've gotten another actor the other day and he's going through make-up and wardrobe to appear in his scenes. The two new actors are actually going to be on the show for a while...well at least three seasons if the storyline stays the same. Also signed another actress to the show to appear in a short storyline and there is news that Kate Grey-Starr's other daughter-has been sighted overseas, so perhaps her storyline will be revived. We're trying to do more beach shots-I mean, why be on this beautiful island and not have shots of the beautiful scenery.

Got a mini-series stuck in my head...will mull over the details some more. Trying to focus on Pahala Shore, but I have a tendency to think big, sometimes I wish I could pitch ideas to other producers and they can create these opportunities and projects, but there's not many of us out there, about 3-6 companies and that doesn't translate into a lot of prospects for actors. I hope that I extended enough opportunities with Pahala Shores, I'm still getting a few calls for auditions, but they were recieved after the casting for the permenant cast was made and filming had begun, but I do try and offer them parts, thankfully we have plenty of storylines coming up.

besos

Goal!

I love it that things are now rolling rather quickly. The first five episodes are complete as well as episode number seven and the first episode has been edited and ready for upload. I was hoping that we could get five episodes completely filmed and possibly edited by the end of this month, and we surpassed the goal-now we have four episodes left to finish and we're waiting on some actors to arrive for those scenes. Wow, it seems that we may finish the filming season this month. Some of the actors have left the set since thier scenes are done for the season, so perhaps they are working on other projects now. I haven't decided if I am going to allow Shawn to continue filming the remaining episodes for the first season or have the staff be devoted to editing the five (six) episodes we have complete.

The writing staff has been fleshing out some more storylines, some of the characters have storylines until the 7th (hopefully we manage to stay on the air that long) season. The writing staff is going to put out an open call for suggestions from the audience and of course the cast about future storylines and we're trying to see if we can set up a chat with some cast members. Also we're changing the order of some of the storylines based off auditions and new casting.

I'm desperately awaiting the arrival of the new celebrity magazine I keep hearing about, but I believe that The "?" Show will be a worthwhile venture anyway. I'm going to sit down with my writing staff and look at the storylines and think about hosting for the show before sending out some feeler emails, especially since I'm so close to my goal. But I think I will wait until September to send out the emails-or at least until the episodes are edited. I still need to sketch out what I want from this show. I know that I want a celebrity interview, but what will make the show unique? Who will host it? I heard that there will be a new travel show coming soon from the SUN, so that should be interesting.

O, I have photos from the pool party, the cast took a break and enjoyed swimming and gourmet burgers and hot dogs. I think they had a nice time, but I'll leave that to them to tell all the juicy details (or not tell).

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/starrsim/album?.dir=/28f4re2

Two Episodes Complete

We have completed the filming for two episodes, now the scenes will be sent to editing and we'll upload them later this week. We're still charging ahead, Jasmine-who plays Nailah-needs a large block of time to film her other project, so we're filming most of her scenes now. After the editing for the first episode is complete, I will host a pool party at my condo for the cast. Don't worry, there will be plenty of photos.

One of the actors for the Erika storyline flew in today-we're going to put him through makeup and wardrobe and take some publicity photos before starting the shooting for those scenes. The shooting schedule looks sporadic, but we get things done and the cast usually doesn't know how the scenes will fit together. But even if they do find out juicy storylines ahead of time-they're under a strict confidentiality agreement.

Promotion is starting this week for the show-we're mailing out banners and links to all the area websites-thankfully we're up on some websites already like Channel Sim, and Simborough, but the marketing group is sending out more things. I should remind the cast's agents about publicizing their clients with local and international magazines. Doing the marketing has made me want to start my next project-at least the cast from Pahala Shore could get publicity that way. It's just a thing of deciding on a host-I have three sims in mind, but I also have some desire to have them appear on Pahala Shore-well, one already does-but it's a thing of how long will their storyline be on Pahala Shore, sigh...I'll ponder on it a bit more and probably will send out offers by the end of this month, perhaps I should consult with Chang Lee or Winston Crabtree since thier clients are on my list for possible hosts.

I have found a movie script that Pennelson Productions will produce. I've sent it to my writing staff to tweak over the details and prepare a cast list and then we'll start casting in about a month or so-unfortunately there will be a delay on the soundtrack which isn't going to arrive until this winter. I am looking for another script that we can start fairly soon-but I am passionate about the script we signed. I hate to do work that I'm not passionate about-the results are usually lacking with such things.

well, i'm going to watch the latest episode of "Adventures in Dating" by Decorgal

besos

Cast Returns

The cast is returning to the set this weekend for another bout of filming, which is hetic since thier suites must be prepared again-except for Ruth-she has her own condo and Tatiana who seems to have been staying in her suite everyday. I told her that she needs to invest in a condo.

I'm trying not to jump ahead of myself, but with the wide range of storylines I think we may have to aire twice a month instead of once a month, but we can't make that decision now, we have to wait until January to see the ratings and such.

Had to warn Ruth and David to be careful today since the reporters are starting to swarm around the set. Thankfully it seems as if they are cooling off as they're not together off set as much. I hope whatever personal issues they have it doesn't effect thier work. Apparently Timothy and Alexis are not the best of friends-but since thier characters don't mix there shouldn't be a large problem.

The two youngest cast members-Tatiana and Jasmine are...devilish to say the least. They have started to prank the other cast members and throw balloons and such. I've noticed that they've only been pranking the cute guys of the set.

Speaking of guys-we got our two males for Erika's storyline-one from Simmerville and the other from Simborough. We're looking around for another male, can't say why though. Also I need to contact Gloria Fardage (sp?) formally of Suburb Sim, we have a role for her-but we're not ready to film it yet.

Decided to wait on The "?" Show until I see the latest celebrity magazines, perhaps they are similar in concept to the show and that would be unoriginal to have the same concept twice.

Well, need to get on the writing staff to print out the latest scripts before the cast arrives

besos

Holiday Over

My holiday is over, but the cast is still on semi-vacation, they took the beach publicity photo the other day, but now there is more work for me. While lazing in Italy I realized that we were moving some storylines along too fast, so I went through the schedule and deleted and cut scenes and expanded others. So most of the cast will end up staying aboard a little longer than anticipated-which I'm sure they won't mind. One of Nailah's big storyline will end this season, Missy's storyline has been extended and the writers are brainstorming about Sierra's storylines and the possible interconnectiveness of Donna's storyline. Thankfully the first episode is set in stone. Well, I can't complain, though the writers change thier minds, the creative process is the same and it has been resulting in great work and ideas-so as long as they have the first three episodes set in stone today so we can continue filming, then things will be well. Thankfully we won't have to reshoot any scenes, but probably film some additional scenes.

I've been viewing the reruns of the original Pahala Shore and comparing the technical and artisitic merit to other soaps (Arrendale Heights and Suburb Sim), some of the scenes were poorly filmed, so that will naturally change. Thankfully the set is a lot better and planned out, there will be some minor changes to a few sets (Erika's office, Lani's diner, the classroom).

I'm going to commission the building of The "?" Show set. I'll start narrowing down my list of possible hosts this week and start contacting the possible hosts. I was able to take one sim off the list-not due to thier lack of ability, but I was able to use them more heavily in Pahala Shore than I anticipated-which is good. Now I have two, possibly three, sims on the list. However I need to find out if they are entertaining other long term projects.

I need to stop looking through my brother's old files. I found the tapes for SimBachelor and considered reviving the show-with a few minor changes of course. I wonder how complex that would be. Well, I'll put it on my list for next year. Perhaps we'll try a season of the reality series...hmmm...I wonder if I can produce a reality design competition?

besos

Holiday!

I'm traveling to Italy this weekend, I'm laying flowers on the graves of my papi and mami. Also stopping by the family home to spend some time with my nephew, Jarrel's son-Jaedon, and grandnieces/nephews. I wonder if they will ever move back to Apple Valley. Also stopping by the family vineyard in Spain to check on production.

I had dinner with the Cornswalt family last night. They are a rich family that lives downtown-well, not as rich as I. Jim Cornswalt owns the Muscon Desert Casino while Tabitha Cornswalt run Le'Puh Perfumes Imports. They have a teenage son and younger daughter as well as a live-in aupair, Beverly. She cooks and cleans and helps the children with thier homework, takes them to private school and gardens. Poor thing works far too hard if you ask me, she's always sick. But she does get to live in the "servant's quarters" (I hate that name) above the garage, which has a personal bedroom and ensuite bath. You would think that they would live in the suburbs, but they actually enjoy thier urban home.

The cast has the weekend off as well. Many of them are planning on returning home or getting thier condos finalized. Tatiana and Jasmine seem to have become good friends rather quickly. I heard them discussing the possibility of being roommates. Josie and Ruth are going to be living together, Alexis is commuting from Eden so she can be near her twins-I should let the cast tell you thier plans, silly me.

*yawn* a bit tired-think I'll nap before my flight

besos

Filming Starts

Filming started last night. We worked mostly with Chad, Daphne, Ruth, David and the actress that plays Lani. Note for the ladies, Chad has been under a strict diet and exercise routine to get a particularly nice shot of him in his speedos, even I couldn't help drooling-not to mention some of the other actresses sitting in the sidelines. We took a few more publicity photos of some of the trio for our ad campaign. We're taking the cast to the beach for a publicity photo-so we'll see how they cope in thier swimsuits.

The cast will have this weekend off before an intense shooting schedule next week, our goal is to completely film and edit three episodes. I need to make a desicion about the website-the old Pahala Shore site has been giving me a bit of trouble, hopefully it won't interfer with the episodes-then we have to make a decision about the older episodes with the original cast-for now, they're still up, but eventually they will be deleted.

I watched the Golden Stars, very nice show, unfortunately "Superstar" didn't win-but hopefully next year the production company will have some nominees-especially in the Best Storyline category and hopefully one for best movie-not to mention the cast nominations. The cast all sat around and watched the show together-it was interesting since many of them had attended the awards, but kept mum about the winners.

Jasmine's paperwork has finally cleared. She's the youngest cast member-a fresh adult, so it would be interesting to see how she copes. We got her through wardrobe and makeup and took her cast photo as well as little Hazel Starr Grey-she's adorable. Her grandmother is THE Starr Grey, so it's interesting to see how small the world is as she was best friends with my sister-in-law, Alisa, who's hubby-Jarrel-created Pahala Shore.

We're still looking for hoods to adopt Lani, Meka and Randy.

besos

Long Meetings-Ready for Action

Finally, we can begin filming! The storyboards are complete for the season-no more changes will be made-they are final! I think the fans are in for some real treats and the cast should be happy with thier roles-if not, o well-they still get paid nevertheless.

Now that the storyboards are complete for the season I can start looking at my next project-The X Show (insert celebrity name instead of X). If we release the show and the soap around the same time, ratings are sure to shot through the roof. I'm still mulling over my list of possible hosts and I have a self imposed deadline before I can start the process of my next project. At least five episodes of Pahala must be filmed and edited before I can start the next project.

We have a bit of a problem with Jasmine's flight, so we're working around the clock to make sure she arrives safetly. I would hate to have to recast her character. Especially since she's so well suited for the role. She's waiting now in immigration, so we're working to get her visas and work permits so she can enter Apple Valley-this is the strangest thing, this didn't happen with the other sims.

besos

New Project

I decided that instead of continuing to wish that artists had a platform to do interviews and promote thier projects that I would simply create such a project. Right now I'm focused on Pahala Shore, but if we get ahead of schedule I will look at creating this new project. It would be a talk-show, aired once a month. The host would have interviews with celebrities to discuss hot issues and occasionally there would be a musical guest to perform. I have a few sims in mind for the host, but I will hold my tongue and wait. If this show were combined with the Pahala Shore episodes, then that would be two shows a month to be aired from the production company-not to mention the occasional movies. Speaking of movies-we're looking for a new place to host the movies and of course I've been looking through scripts for the latest hottest sure to be blockbuster movie. I think the production company made a good choice in investing in "The Gift" trilogy and of course "Superstar" which has been nominated for several awards. I need to update my passport, as well as Tatiana's passport-so that we can be ready to fly at a moment's notice.

The writers and I had a meeting this afternoon where we worked out the storyline lines for the characters-a few of the larger storylines were left undone until we could see how many episodes we would need. Right now we're slated for one episode a month, this could increase depending on the productivity of the cast and crew and how the storyboards are slated to go. We then placed the storylines in our episode boards to lay out the timing of the stories and the episode content. A fairly complex process, but it saves so much time later on. From our work we decided to aire ten episodes this season instead of nine, now we're rearranging stories so that everything will flow, right now the current storylines go into the second season-this isn't that bad after all.

We need to hire two more male actors for Erika's storyline (yes, now she has a storyline and is no longer a supporting role) and filming is set to begin this week. We're going to start with the Lani-Russel-Meka storyline since all the cast for that storyline are present and not ill. Once Ruth and David are better we'll start on thier scenes. Jasmine flew in today-so she's going to makeup and wardrobe tonight.

Here's a photo of the cast goofing off-Tatiana is singing and Josie and Alexis are doing the back up, while Timothy sits in the background. It is amazing how the cast has begun to seperate into little cliques-at first everyone was doing everything together-dinners, lunches, etc, but now I can see that some cast members are closer to others-but of course that is mostly because they have worked on other projects together.