Following closely on the heels of VFX completion, color grading for "The Penny" is complete! 

What exactly is color grading you ask?  The picture above is a great example.  Color grading is a process where the original image is taken and enhanced to produce an even better looking picture.  Sometimes that just entails correcting a shot so that it matches those around it.  Other times it means adding a tint to the shot to help enhance the mood and feel of a particular scene (as in the example above).  Hopefully we can get Micah (our colorist) on here soon to explain a bit more of the process and his experiences grading "The Penny".

This also means that we are one step closer to a completed film!  The final element left is the sound mix which is being wrapped up over the next week.  You should be hearing more about that soon as well...

The ongoing saga to complete a modern film generally entails the successful completion of some amount of visual effects work. The Penny is no exeption. While not a "VFX film" like Pendragon and others, it had a few of it's own unique visual effects enhancements which should go entirely unnoticed in the completed film. In the end there are over 140 effects shots, which we completed on a part time basis. The Penny has been on a long road, but as I understand it, we are literally a week from the finished film. Hold your breath guys!

After the past months of radio silence some of you may be wondering if there is any life left over here at Filmweavers…and I'm happy to report there is!

This time has been filled with many different things.  One of those being my (Nathan) work on the Ace Wonder set.  Those of you following their blog know that the filming wrapped on schedule and was a big success.  The six weeks spent out in TN brought me many new friends and memories!

During my time out there I also kept an eye on the continued work on "The Penny" back home.  These past months have brought that project quite close to completion and we are now officially on the homestretch.  All indications point to a final version of the film being in hand by the end of the month!

The visual effects are all wrapped up and placed in the timeline with the exception of only two shots.  The entire film now has a color grade and only has some final tweaking and polishing to be done yet.  Last week I headed down to the sound studio for an updated viewing session of the sound mix and things are getting quite close on that front as well.

As these last few pieces fall into place I'll keep you updated on the progress and obviously the final completion.  Thank you to everyone for your continued interest in "The Penny"!  Filmmaking is a long slow process often compared to watching paint dry, but each of those tiny painstaking brushstrokes are worth it when the final canvas is revealed...

It's been awhile since we last updated you all on "The Penny", so let me fill you in on all the latest... 

Just over a couple of weeks ago Jurgen completed the last bit of work on the original score for the film!  This is a huge accomplishment and marks the end of many hard months of work.  As the director I'm thrilled with what Jurgen's music has added to the film, and can't wait to share it with the rest of you.  Congratulations Jurgen!

With the scoring now complete, Nate is working to put the finishing touches on the sound mix.  From what I've heard so far the enhancements to the audio are really bringing the film even more to life.  Ethan is almost finished with the last few visual effects shots in the film and they're looking great.  Once those are finished Micah will be wrapping up his color grading and bring the project one step closer to completion!

Whispers have begun again of a new trailer and website for "The Penny" as well.  Check back for more news on those soon!

Here's the first official poster for "The Penny"!  It's quite similar to design #4 but with a few small adjustments.  Also, as you may have noticed the title has remained "The Penny".  After quite a bit of thought and time working on alternate title ideas, we've decided to stick with the original title.  While some of the other ideas weren't bad, we still feel that "The Penny" best represents the film.  It's just got a ring to it!

Post-production on the film continues to push towards completion as well.  Jurgen is working on the very final piece of the score which is exciting.  Nate and I finished up our last ADR recording a couple weekends ago with Dan Bell, Mario Andre and Amy Levenhagen.  With the score getting wrapped up Nate will now be able to work on a final sound mix for the project.  On the visual side of things, Ethan's effects work continues along with Micah's color grading as well.

Filmmaking is often a slow process and many people don't realize how long it can take to create a film from start to finish (although if you've been following this blog for awhile you're getting a bit of an idea!).  After all that work and time it's exciting to finally be coming down the homestretch.  We hope you're looking forward to seeing the finished product as much as we are!

This past Monday I braved the wintry Wisconsin roads down to Nate Sisson's sound studio for another ADR session.  It was great to see Molly Kunz (who plays Kate Carter) and her mom Debbie again.  As I've said before, things are much more laid back when recording ADR so it's fun to spend time with the actors in this less stressful environment. 

The recording session went great and we even captured some interviews with Molly to use in the behind the scenes portion of the DVD.  Who knows, maybe a few small BTS clips will even show up here before the DVD comes out...

Here's a brand new poster design for "The Penny"!  It's based off some of the input you gave us regarding the first three poster concepts.  Let us know what you think!

You can see the poster in higher resolution on Facebook by clicking here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4864378&l=513a0f2d1d&id=755147215

Here are three brand new poster concepts for "The Penny"!  We would love to hear your thoughts and input on the designs.

For higher resolutions of each one you can check them out on our Facebook group at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188624&id=755147215&l=b3f158d040

While your there we'd love to have you join the group as well if you haven't already.  It's a great way to stay up to date on Filmweavers and even get sneak peeks at things such as this!

ADR recording for "The Penny" is currently in full swing.  For those unfamiliar with it, ADR (short for automated dialogue replacement) is the process of re-recording lines of dialogue from the film which for some reason or another were unable to be used from the original audio recorded during production.  Sometimes the shot was too wide to properly mic the actors, other times traffic or wind noise may have been too loud, etc.

This past weekend Brian Morvant (who plays "Rick") and Kyle Walters (who plays "Curt") flew in from New York City to record their ADR down in Illinois at Nate Sisson's studio.  It was a jam packed couple of days as we worked long hours to get the necessary work done in the limited amount of time we had.  Happily, we were able to accomplish everything with even a little bit of Saturday evening to spare.

Kyle, Nathan, and Brian after wrapping up the weekend's ADR session.

While ADR can be a tedious and sometimes difficult process it has been quite enjoyable to get to spend time again with many of our talented actors.  The sound studio environment tends to be a bit less stressful than shooting on set, so there's always a little more time to chat, laugh, and enjoy each others company.

Tom Lodewyck (who plays "Jack Carter") records some lines.

In addition to the ADR work continues on the score, visual effects, and color grading for the film.  The trailer and website continue to be polished as well.  I'll keep you posted on all the latest developments as I'm able!

As 2009 draws to a close tonight we here at Filmweavers have many blessings to be thankful for from the past year.  We have had the opportunity to work with many great people both old friends and many new ones.  Thank you to all that have helped and supported our filmmaking ministry this year!

There are also many things to look forward to in 2010 not the least of which is the upcoming release of our feature film "The Penny".  It's been quite awhile since we last updated you on the movie's progress but much has been accomplished in that time.

Jurgen is now well over halfway done with composing the original score for "The Penny" and it's turning out great!  Nate is hard at work on the audio and will be recording some ADR soon to help wrap up the sound mix.  Micah is making some very good progress on the color grading as well.  Things are getting more and more exciting as the film continues to push towards completion and release!

Many rumors have also been going around regarding a new website and trailer for the movie along with a final title announcement...and I'm happy to report that they're true!  Finishing touches are even now being put on each of these things in preparation for their planned release in the near future.  These will be just the start of many new and exciting pieces of "The Penny" you can look forward to in the upcoming months.

Until then have a blessed and happy new year!!

There's a nice article on "The Penny" in the latest issue of Testify Magazine.  It's also a featured article on their website where you can read the whole thing.

It’s two in the morning and the thermometer is hovering around ten degrees.  A small group of people huddles outside an auto repair shop around a frost covered LCD monitor.  My eyes start to droop shut and I reach for an energy drink to try and force them back open but the liquid is now frozen solid.  Placing the can back down I turn to those around me.  “Let’s go one more time.  We’ve almost got this guys!”  The small group of people bursts to life and scurries back into their positions.  “Roll camera…”

Read the rest of the article here.

Music can add so much to the emotion and feel of a film and "The Penny" will be no exception.  Crafting a good score that captures and conveys that emotion is no easy task, but after previewing the first pieces of Jurgen's current work on"The Penny" it's obvious he's up to the task!

Even though they are still works in progress and will only get better, they are already sending chills up and down my spine as I listen to them.  The next couple months will be exciting ones as the score continues to take shape!

We are excited to announce that Jurgen Beck has been brought on to write and produce the original soundtrack for "The Penny"! 

Jurgen was selected out of a skilled pool of composers who auditioned for the project.  His work really stood out from the rest and we look forward to seeing what his talents will bring to the project.

In preparation for his upcoming work on the score Jurgen flew up to WI this past weekend for a spotting session with Nathan.  For those unfamiliar with the term, a "spotting session" is a time for the Director and Composer to sit down and go through the entire film while discussing where and how to implement music in the production.  It was a full weekend with lots of good work accomplished!  Over the coming months Jurgen will now be hard at work composing and producing each and every note of music that will soon grace the screen as a part of "The Penny".

In the meantime you can learn more about Jurgen and listen to some of his past work on his website at: www.jurgenbeck.com

Welcome to the team Jurgen!!

As of this past Friday night "The Penny" edit is officially VIDEO LOCKED!!  The final tweaks and changes have been made and we now move on to the next phase of post-production involving the sound editing and scoring of the film.  On the visual side of things Ethan will also be doing some effects work along with Micah working on the color correction and a final color grade for the movie.

There will be another exciting announcement regarding "The Penny" coming very soon, so you can keep your eyes peeled for that!

Progress on "The Penny" edit continues to go well as we just completed the seventh version of the cut this past week.  Some nice changes were made since the last edit thanks to input from a few trusted friends who watched version six for us.  It's always good to get outside feedback from viewers who are fresh to the project and haven't been staring at it in the editing booth for the past seven months like I have.

There will be just one more short list of very minor changes to be made to the film over the next few days and we anticipate reaching final video lock by the end of this week.  It's been a long haul working on the editing over these past months but it's definitely been time well spent as "The Penny" is looking better now than it ever has!

The next few months will be exciting ones filled with audio editing/mixing, score composition, a new trailer, work on a new website for the film, marketing, etc.  We hope you're as excited as we are to see the finished product!  For now here's one more glimpse at what I've been working with these days:

The almost two month absence of updates on "The Penny" might have some of you beginning to wonder if the film even truly exists...but rest assured "Penny" is still alive and well, having just completed the SIXTH edit this week!  You read that right, the sixth edit.  Version five whizzed by us last month with nary a whisper of an update (might have something to do with the fact that the editor was also involved in moving to a new apartment during that time...).

You may have notice that I said "sixth edit" and not "sixth rough edit".  That's because "The Penny" is now officially out of the rough cut stage and actually beginning to near final video lock!  This is exciting especially for me since once we hit video lock that means most of my work as an editor is done.  We can then hand the film off to our audio guy and composer who will work their magic to make "The Penny" even better than it already is.  I'll still be pretty involved in those processes as Director but it will be a nice change of pace from the long days spent in front of a computer screen these past few months.

That also means I'll be able to put some time into editing together a brand new trailer for the film that will provide a better glimpse into what "The Penny" is all about.  Since that's still a little ways off I thought I'd share a couple more still frames with you for now.  Enjoy!

Check back soon for more updates on the completion of video lock and other news!

With the completion of filming I've now moved full-time into editing and post-production on "The Penny".  While it can be a long and tedious task, it's still a task I enjoy very much!  Getting to see more than a years worth of blood, sweat, and tears come together as single, cohesive story right before your eyes is a pretty incredible feeling.

This past week the official fourth version of the rough edit was wrapped up.  Included in this edit for the first time were the final scenes we just finished up shooting last week.  All the production audio has now been synced up with the film as well (previous edits only included the camera sound) so we can here all the lines clear as a bell instead of having to turn our speakers way up.

On Thursday I was able to sit down and for the first time watch through "The Penny" from the very beginning to the very end with every scene in place.  I could finally get the full effect of the story arc and how everything had transfered from page to screen.  Lets just say the results have me more excited than ever to finish up the film for you all to see!

As of 1:00am CDT this morning "The Penny" is officially wrapped!!  The last shot completed was rather fittingly the final shot of the movie itself.  We've been through a lot over the past six and a half months, and it's amazing what God has helped us accomplish during that time. 

Filmmaking is a joint effort too, and without the help of our VERY dedicated cast and crew we would never have made it to this point.  THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!  And that's not even mentioning all the generous uses of locations we received and the support and prayers from all of you reading this blog as well.

But even though production is now finished, the work has only just begun.  Post-production will continue in full swing with editing and then sound work and a score to follow.  The film is currently in it's fourth rough cut, and with the addition of the final scenes that were just completed, we can now move into the more fine-tuning and polishing phase of the editing soon.

A website (and possibly a brand new title!) is also in the works for "The Penny" so you can look forward to those things being introduced over the next while.  Some more still frames, updates on progress, and maybe even some new footage will pop up from time to time so stay tuned!

For now, here's a few more still frames from our last pickup shoot:

Last week was what you might call "the beginning of the end" for the production phase of "The Penny".  Actually, a more literal terminology might be "the beginning at the end" as we pulled within one and a half scenes of 100% filming completion by shooting the opening two scenes of the film. 

This was some fun shooting as it involved some more action oriented scenes than much of the rest of the film.  We had a great location to use as well thanks to the generosity of a local business that allowed us to film on their property after our first location fell through.  In the end we realized why God caused that first location to fall through as this one worked out MUCH better.

The final two days of shooting will take place the end of this month.  In the meantime I'm busy editing in the new scenes captured during the most recent pickup shoot and continuing to refine the existing ones.  Another version of the edit should be complete soon as we continue to push forward in post-production even while still wrapping up production.

The coming months will be an exciting time for Filmweavers, and we hope you're looking forward to seeing the finished product as we are!

Well it's been a long almost week since we've heard any word from our secret contact close to the FW crew. Details are certainly sketchy, but we've there's seems to be a good chance that FW is saving all the "pickup shooting" for the very last day rather than string it out over the entire week of shooting. Something about it being more efficient to work without sleep or meals interfering and the weather... Several BTS photos have emerged on various sites on the internet and we were able to save them before the sites went down under mysterious circumstances.

Over the past few days we've been using a skeleton crew of four to shoot some exterior establishing and insert shots for "The Penny".  These were some of the shots we weren't able to capture last December before the snow came to Wisconsin.  While not as fun or glamorous as most of the other shooting, these are some crucial pieces of the film which will help tie some scenes together nicely.

Ethan and Nathan line up one of the insert shots using Nevin (a.k.a. Nathan & Micah's Dad) as a stand-in.

Now our attention turns to planning for the rest of the spring pick-up shooting to be done next month.  On the editing front, a third draft of the rough cut has been completed and the film is continuing to look better and better.  I can hardly wait to get the final scenes shot and inserted into the film!

It's finally here!  A short but sweet visual taste of what's to come in the new feature film from Filmweavers.  You can watch it right here using the clip above or click on the Vimeo link to stream it in HD.

To watch the teaser in all it's full 1080p HD glory, or if you'd like to download the clip you can do so by using one of the Quicktime links below.

Small (3.7MB)

Medium (6.6MB)

Large (9.5MB)

(The HD files below should open directly in the Quicktime application.  If they don't just click on the .qtl file that downloaded and it will open the file in Quicktime.)

HD 480p (17.5MB)

HD 720p (46.5MB)

HD 1080p (60.6MB)

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the project, here is a brief synopsis:

“The Penny” is a drama/thriller that follows a series of seemingly insignificant events in a number of people’s lives. Hidden amidst their “bigger” problems, these disconnected pieces of their lives go unnoticed until they begin to fit together in a totally unexpected way. Suddenly these strangers are thrust together by what some would call luck, chance, fate, coincidence, or even destiny. But is it something even bigger than that?

Production of "The Penny" has arrived at yet another mile marker on it's continuing journey with the completion of the second rough cut!  The edit and pacing of the film is continuing to be refined and polished and it's surprising to see how much better it's already looking compared to the first rough cut.

But we aren't pulling over for a pit stop or celebrating yet.  We continue to push ahead with the editing work and preparations for our upcoming pick-up shooting this spring.

A teaser trailer for "The Penny" has also been confirmed as being in the works, and should hopefully be coming your way soon!   In the meantime here are a couple more still frames from the film.

The editor has crawled out of his dark cave (a.k.a. "office") to make an exciting announcement.  After many long hours spent staring at a screen filled with take upon take and shot upon shot, the first rough assembly edit of "The Penny" is now complete!  This rough edit contains all 93% of the film that was shot during principal photography last November/December.  The other 7% will be added once it's shot later this spring.

It's very exciting and fulfilling to watch all the long hours of writing and production take shape now in the form of an actual assembled visual piece (albeit currently very rough).  Yet one step closer to the finish line!  Today will be spent watching through the edit and starting to map out the long process of continuously tweaking and polishing the film until everything is "just right".

As the editing continues I'll do my best to keep you up to date on the latest news and happenings regarding "The Penny".  Who knows, there might even be some more still frames, BTS pics, or even more coming here soon...

The Filmweavers crew has been back together again over the last few days working on some pick-up shoots for "The Penny".  Filming involved multiple scenes that were cancelled due to weather during principle photography.  It was fun to work with everyone again after being apart for a couple weeks.

We were able to accomplish everything we had scheduled for the two days of shooting, and survived a nasty Wisconsin ice storm in the process.  With these scenes complete, all that remains to be shot is a couple exterior scenes scheduled for shooting this spring.  In the meantime I'll be kept quite busy by one of my favorite parts of the whole process: Editing!

But before I dive headlong into the rough cut of "The Penny" I'll be taking a break, along with the rest of the Filmweavers crew, to head down to Texas for the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival this coming weekend.  I had the privilege of working on three of the films screening at the festival ("The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry", "Pendragon: Sword of His Father", and "The Other Son"), and look forward to seeing them all on the big screen.

If any of you are attending the SAICFF I'd highly recommend you check out these films and let us know what you think of them by using the blog comments feature below.  Maybe we'll even see some of you down there!

In the meantime, here are a couple of still frames from this past week's shoot:

Merry Christmas from Everyone here at Filmweavers!!!!  May you and all yours be blessed as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior!!

Each of the crew members from "The Penny" is enjoying this special day back home with each of their families, since principal photography is now WRAPPED on the film!  After a long and sometimes hard 5+ week shoot, the majority of "The Penny" is now "in the can" (or on the hard drives as it were).

The final week of shooting was full of twists and turns, including a 20+ hour night/day shoot (necessitated by a scene we had to reschedule due to weather), another cancelled day on Friday due to weather (which we took advantage of by braving the snowy roads for pizza and bowling as our "almost" wrap party!), and yet another shoot postponed due to an issue with a piece of equipment not being delivered on time (apparently God wanted those scenes shot later).  Despite these setbacks we were still able to complete all but a few of the scenes scheduled for the principal shoot.  There are still a couple days of pick-up shooting scheduled for January, and a couple more pick-up days in the Spring once the snow clears out.

All the hard work of the last month and a half seems so worth it as we review the raw footage from the shoot!  Thanks to our wonderful cast and crew we have some GREAT material to work with over the coming months as we enter the editing and post-production phase of "The Penny".  As another slight taste of what's to come we've included a few more still frames from the film.  Enjoy!

Week four of the penny shoot is accomplished! Fraught with many a peril and hardship but none the less these things are expected by anyone who has ever done this before.

Some days it seems as though every major piece of equipment has some sort of malfunction. The 35mm adapter has actually been rather cantankerous this week which is quite surprising since it was reported to be one of the more reliable ones out there. This has caused some long waits right in the middle of shooting as it had to be taken apart, prayed for and tinkered with until it started working again. This has been incredibly frustrating. I guess this is part of the trials you have to deal with when it is an extremely low budget production. I think I will do a full write up review on the adapter after the shoot is complete for everyone's benefit. On the switch side I am very happy with the visual quality it produces and the level of light loss isn't as bad as I had feared it would be compared to non 35mm adapter shooting. So that's kind of offsetting the difficulties.

We had a fairly miraculous shooting day Saturday. It was more scheduled to shoot than we had ever shot previously in a day and we had generally shot far into the night to get anywhere near that much done. Additionally we had to be out of the location by 10 in the evening! The Lord really accelerated our efforts! It was amazing! Throughout the day as we were going Nathan and I would look at each other... are we going to make this? There weren't any options if we didn't. Things were flowing pretty smoothly and we didn't skip a single shot. As the final take rolled, and the wonderful words "that's a wrap" echoed through the room. Nathan and I whipped out our cell phones. 9:02! We still had to pack all the gear and clean up the location which was Dan Bell's Graciously provided house. We worked sprightly, and all hoped into our vehicles after loading up. 10:00 on the nose! Praise the Lord for his help and goodness! It also was the first day yet where it felt like some major hold up problem item didn't surface. It was a big encouragement to the team.

Only one week to go and the penny is in the can!

AD (Dustin Ledden) and Director (Nathan Webster) Ready and watching for the next take.

AD and Director going over the shot list for the next scene.

Just a few more positioning tweaks...

The family dinner table all set for the scene.

The third week of filming on Penny has wrapped up. It was undoubtedly the hardest week of shoot yet! Several lighting specific lighting setups were beasts on account of technical problems, dollys and a seemingly endless flood of minor problems. We are however extremely glad to have nearly all of the outdoor shooting completed as it's been bitterly cold here in WI. There is still one scene in the cold I believe. One night coming back in it was zero! It still isn't particularly enjoyable to retrieve all the equipment in the artic temperatures but necessary at any rate. We also had a picture wrap on several major characters, which although we were all sad to see them leave it was a nice step toward finishing the movie.

Two weeks left. The home stretch is just peeking over the hill! Here are a couple more stills from shooting.

After a second week full of more late nights and cold tempatures, the cast and crew on "The Penny" can rest well today knowing that all but two of our exterior scenes are behind us.  And none too soon either, as we woke up this morning to another fresh snowfall blanketing the Wisconsin landscape with sparkling whiteness. 

Shooting continues to go very well overall, with more great performances by our cast members, who continue to amaze me with the ways they are breathing life into the characters I've known only on paper for the past year.  The crew is becoming and even closer-knit, fine-tuned machine as well as time moves along.  Footage is looking fantastic, and I can hardly wait to start editing it together.  I've already rough cut a few scenes and the results have only fueled my desire to get to editing, but alas, I must quell those desires and focus on the task at hand of continuing to capture the great images and performances that will soon enough become "The Penny".

Here are a couple BTS stills from the past week of shooting:

Director, DP, and AD discuss the next shot.

Yet another long, cold night...

The first full week of filming on "The Penny" was wrapped this past Saturday, and the crew and cast enjoyed a much deserved day off yesterday.  All in all, the week went very well, with some amazing performances by our cast and incredible determination and endurance from our crew.  We are still right on schedule, but thanks only to a shooting day on Friday night that ended up carrying right over into Saturday's shoot, for a total of 28 hours straight of shooting for the crew (when I said incredible determination and endurance, I meant it!)

The entire week was exterior shooting with another four days of the same this week.  We were trying to get all the outside scenes done before the snow flew here in Wisconsin, but I woke up this morning to a glittering white surprise of over an inch.  Looks like we might have to move to interiors for a couple days while the snow melts off.  Prayers for God to hold off anymore snow until next week would be greatly appreciated.

Here are a few stills from the first week of shooting:

Seven days down, nineteen to go...

The lack of updates regarding "The Penny" has nothing to do with a lack of things to talk about, but quite the opposite actually.  Pre-production has been continuing at a feverish pace as we prepare to start shooting in ONE WEEK from today!

All 25 roles have now been cast from our selection of over 250 actor submissions.  It was a difficult process making all the casting decisions as we had a number of good options to choose from.  Thank you to all those who auditioned!

The shooting locations for the film are all set as well with one exception.  We are still in the process of trying to secure a convenience store/gas station to film in.  Our preference would be to find a vacant store that we could use whenever we needed it, but we're also open to shooting in an operational store if schedules could be worked out.  There are a few possibilities we're still waiting to hear back on, but if any of you knows of a convenience store/gas station in the area that we might be able to use, we would love to hear from you!  Please keep this location search in your prayers as well, that God would provide a suitable place for us to use.

On Monday the crew begins to come in from their various homes across the country and the final push of pre-production will begin.  Our first day of shooting is scheduled for November 15 and production will continue through December 20.  Stay tuned for more information during the coming weeks as various crew members blog about their experiences on the shoot.

Lastly, to follow up on something I mentioned in a previous post, the "new toy" we received in the mail was a Brevis 35mm adapter for our camera. 

This device will allow us to attach professional 35mm lenses to the DVCPRO HD camera we're shooting on, producing a much more "filmic" image from the video camera.  Over the coming weeks we'll be giving our thoughts on working with the Brevis, and why we ended up choosing this model.

It's an exciting time for Filmweavers, and we look forward to seeing what God has in store for us as we start production on "The Penny"!

We are pleased to announce that Filmweavers LLC is now holding  auditions for the roles in their upcoming feature film "The Penny".  There are two methods available for those wishing to audition.  Our preference is that anyone who is able to come to the live auditions in Southeast Wisconsin do so.  They are being held in Beaver Dam, WI at the Moraine Park Technical College on October 16 and 18. LIVE AUDITIONS Location:  Moraine Park Technical College of...

Read More "Auditions Scheduled for "The Penny""

I thought it was about time for an overdue update on what's happening with Filmweaver's upcoming feature film project "The Penny".

The sixth draft of the script is now complete with a seventh on the way.  The story has matured a lot since it's first draft and we look forward to seeing where God takes it from here.

We are in the midst of putting together our crew for the shoot and a cast call will hopefully be going out sometime in the next few days so stay tuned for that.  All the other fun elements of pre-production will also be kicking into gear with location scouting, budgeting, storyboarding, etc..

Production  is slated to start in the middle of November Lord willing and wrap up just before Christmas.  Check back often as we update the blog with some of the ways you can get involved and be a part of the production!

As a side note, a crucial piece of equipment has also been ordered and is scheduled to arrive next week.  We'll post our thoughts and maybe even a review as soon as we've had a chance to play around with this new toy (any ideas on what it might be?).

A writer is given a large task.  In fact a very large task.  The task of creating an entire world.  A fictional realm where he must decide who does what, when and where they do it, and how and why the deed is done.  In this vast world anything within the writer's mind is possible, and yet the writer still must only let what is actually possible happen.

As I've been working on writing yet another draft of The Penny, many of these thoughts have been running through my head.  Writing a script always gives me a new appreciation for the mighty power and wisdom that God displays as he creates and orchestrates every single event that happens every single day to every single person on earth.  I struggle with the load of creating one small world where I only have to worry about a few characters for a couple hours on screen.  God effortlessly watches over all things for all eternity.  It's hard to fathom...

Enough rambling for now.  Let me update you on our progress this past month!  A few weeks ago we sent the latest draft of The Penny to some trusted friends for feedback.  The response was overwhelmingly positive, but as always with these trusted friends, they were kind enough to point out some things that could use improvement (honestly, a script is never really "finished" is it?).  I'm currently working on some revisions based on that feedback as well as some other fixes I wanted to do myself.

Production is scheduled to begin the middle of November and we are also busy putting some feelers out for potential crew members and shooting locations.  A cast call should also be forthcoming in the next few weeks.  We'll let you know as new things develop!

After much prayer and thought we are pleased and excited to announce a SECOND feature film in the works here at Filmweavers!  In addition to our pre-production work on Aeolus' Treasure we have also been working on a screenplay for a second feature: The Penny (working title).

This drama/thriller from the award winning co-writer and director of Clocks will delve into the realm of luck, coincidence, destiny, and fate...or is it really something else?  We don't want to give away too much of the project just yet, but stay tuned for more info as the project progresses.

Tentative schedules point to a fall shoot for The Penny.  Pre-production on Aeolus' Treasure continues as well, with the shoot schedule now set for an undisclosed future date.  The adventure film project has grown even bigger and better than any of us expected which has led to the necessity of more pre-production planning time as well.  As always you can continue to stay up to date on both of these exciting feature projects, as well as our other work, right here on the blog.