Back To The Grind

Hey Everyone!

I am so sorry for the lack of updates, but there basically hasn't been anything to update. Reunion's post-production basically ground to a halt last September when I became a full-time stay-at-home dad of twins. But, my wonderful wife Jennifer, who is a preschool teacher, is now home for the summer and it's time to get back to the grind.

Sound is almost finished and I am getting back to the color grading I set aside in September. Reunion will be finished this summer. Expect more updates throughout the summer, on our progress, and on how you will be able to see the finished film.

Thank you so much for your support and patience!

Reunion is coming.

Be seeing you...

A Long Overdue Update

A little update, brief though it will be (I'm writing this on my iPhone while one twin sleeps and the other entertains herself).

Reunion IS coming! The edit is locked, sound design is awaiting my approval, and a composer is on hold.

The stall we've been experiencing is purely my doing (with a lot of "help" from two little people). I'm a stay at home dad with eight-month-old twins taking up all of my time, time that would otherwise go to finishing up color correction and grading.

However! My wife is a preschool teacher and has Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks coming up which I will be taking advantage of to finish up the color work on the last fifteen or twenty minutes of the movie (it may even be less).

I want to thank all if you who have supported thus project for your patience - twins are hard!

Be seeing you...

Reunion's Big Bad!

This post originally appeared at Reunion's current Kickstarter page as an update.

In yesterday's update you learned that it was a bit of a challenge to cast our male lead, our "Good Guy" part. One of the problems we were having was that we just weren't getting many actors auditioning for that role. Everyone, we learned, wants to play The Bad Buy, the man in the mask.

But there can be only one.

And we ended up with the very best -- Jesse Lee Keeter.

Jesse Lee Keeter between scenes. Photo © 2011 Jeremy David Bell

Jesse was on our radar from the start, first arriving to read at our December 2010 auditions. He came in for multiple callbacks -- not because we weren't sure about him, but because the part that he ultimately grabbed and made his own was so crucial to the success of the movie. We wanted to make sure we had seen all of our options, but in the end, there was only one option -- and all of us in the final casting session knew it. It was to be Keeter for Caswell.

Jesse Lee Keeter in Reunion.

His performance is amazing. While Reunion is, at its heart, a slasher film, it's a slasher film with a twist -- these characters are not being picked off by a random whacko. They are being picked off by a whacko they have a history with. That allowed Jesse to play scenes where he and the other characters (especially Brian Sutherland's character, Jason Lasby) delved into their shared past. It was an opportunity for Jesse give his character a depth not typically seen in a horror movie killer and that's exactly what he did with the part of Caswell.

On set Jesse had his own room upstairs where he could prepare between scenes away from the other actors, actors he would soon be brutalizing with an intensity that still scares my wife. Once the camera rolled he was riveting to watch. Recommended viewing, if your heart can take it!

Getting into character. Photo © 2011 Adam Smith (www.theadamsmith.com)

You'll soon be seeing Jesse as the lead in Glitch, an upcoming web series produced by Reunion's Brian Sutherland. Jesse also produces, and acts in, a web series with his friends Ahren Buhmann and Gabe Congdon. They work under the &@ (And At) moniker and can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/And-At/152705784762354?sk=info. 

We are just $410 away from reaching our Kickstarter goal. We've got four days left to hit that goal or we get nothing. Visit via the link below, check out our rewards along the right side of the page, and consider donating. Then pass our link along! Thanks!

Be seeing you...

The Brian Sutherland

This post originally appeared at Reunion's current Kickstarter page as an update.

Ah, it was a long search for our leading man. After holding our first round of auditions in December of 2010 we had limited leads on our lead. A second round of auditions still left us wanting.

And then, a fortuitous turn of events -- Reunion's producer, Matt Ralston, met one Brian Sutherland. Matt was producing a Washington State Lottery spot starring Brian (watch it at the bottom of this post). The spot required Brian to stand under a rain machine on a cold Washington day and Matt had been impressed with Brian's ability to take it like a man. He suggested we bring BSuth™ in for an audition. Brian strutted in like a peacock to read opposite Alison Monda, who had already been cast as our leading lady. He knocked it out of the park. We knew the minute he left the room he was our guy (but don't tell him that).

Brian Sutherland pretends to think. © 2011 Adam Smith (www.theadamsmith.com

Brian, known mostly for his comedic chops, gave a great performance as Jason Lasby. It was a challenging part to play -- his character spends a large chunk of time locked away in a dark room with no one else to interact with. That made for a couple of very long shooting days. And then, just to mix it up, we brought in Jesse Lee Keeter for an afternoon to wail on Brian's back with a (fake, but also, strangely, very real) baseball bat. Brian took his beating like a champ and we will forever be indebted to him for it.

Brian in his normal chilly weather attire. © 2011 Jeremy David Bell

You can see Brian in all kinds of upcoming projects, including the next episode of NBC's Grimm (I believe it's currently scheduled for March 2nd). In addition to producing the web series Glitch, starring Reunion's Jesse Lee Keeter and Tessa Marie Archer, Brian is working on the upcoming feature film Hands of Thunder (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hands-of-Thunder/113434262074614), about the world's greatest Swedish handclapping band of all time. Be sure to check out the trailer for Hands of Thunder.

Thanks for all of your hard work on Reunion, Brian. You the man. For reals.

Help us unleash Brian on the world -- donate to our Kickstarter campaign and earn rewards. Just over five days left, only $580 to go -- or we get nothing.

Another Alison Monda Monday!

This post originally appeared at Reunion's current Kickstarter page as an update.

Meet our leading lady, Alison Monda...

In October of 2010 I posted a "We will be casting soon..." notice, kind of of an attempt to make actors (and anyone else -- we also scored the amazing guys at Bandersnatch Studios from that post) aware of our project.

However, we really didn't plan to begin meeting people for auditions until December. But that didn't stop Alison Monda from emailing and asking for an early audition (her busy schedule -- she does A LOT of plays -- made December a problematic audition time for her). She was persistent. So I sent her script sides and had her videotape the scenes and email them back to me. She had jumped through the first hoop. After seeing those scenes (some of them in nothing but bra and panties -- the scene was post-husband and wife lovemaking) and getting to know Alison through our email exchanges (she was a big horror -- and High Tension specifically -- fan) we decided to bring her in for an early audition. This was all done with the stipulation that, no matter how much we might like her, we were still going to proceed with our previously scheduled audition process.

Which we did. And we ended up seeing a lot of talented actresses, but Alison's talent and persistence won out and she was cast as Rachelle Lasby, our female lead.

© 2011 Adam Smith (www.theadamsmith.com)

On set Alison was a swirl of activity. She's tall, impossible to miss, and has a bit of a potty mouth. Which is to say she was great fun to have on set and she gave a great performance. Her part is very physical and she threw herself into all of it with wild abandon. The scratches on her back, the bruises on her knees, and the goosebumps from running around barefoot in nothing but a cocktail dress in late October all proved it. And not one word of complaint through all of it. She was, and is, amazing.

Alison Monda between takes. © 2011 Adam Smith

And for all you other actors out there, let Alison be a lessen to you: your talent will get you roles, but only if you demand to be seen. Persistence does pay off!


Thank you, Alison, for all of your hard work and great quotes of the day. Let's do it all again!


With one week to go in our search for sound design funds we're 77% of the way to our $3,500 goal. Click the link below, take a look at our rewards, and consider donating as little as $1, $5, or more.

Reunion Post-production Kickstarter Update

With a little over one week to go in our current Kickstarter campaign we're 73% funded. At this point we have 52 backers who have pledged a total of $2,570 toward our $3,500 goal. We need to reach that goal by Monday, March 19th, at 10:41AM (PST) or we get nothing.

We can do this!

With just $930 to go before we reach our goal we just need forty more donors to kick in $25 each and we'll have surged past the $3,500 mark. At that $25 level you'll receive a digital copy of the finished movie, an original call sheet from the shoot, and an autographed script page.

We've also lowered the level you need to donate at to receive a personalized video death threat from our killer to $125. That's pretty sweet -- you donate $125 to a little Seattle-based horror film and receive a video death threat for your troubles!

If you've already donated, or would like to help out but are unable to donate, please help us get the word out by spreading our link like a virus on Facebook, Twitter, your blog: http://kck.st/ztGjDW

Keep your eyes peeled at this blog for "reruns" of actor posts that originally appeared as Kickstarter updates.

Be seeing you...

Help us get to $1,000 by the end of today!

We're one week into our 30 day campaign and, with 22 days still to go, we've seen unbelievably generous donations from 24 backers to the tune of $810 (toward our $3,500) goal.

Please help us out by reposting our link (http://kck.st/ztGjDW) on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Reddit, Tumblr, the Face on Mars, bathroom stalls, wherever. If you do repost, and have already donated yourself, please mention that you backed this project as you encourage others to do the same.

Let's see if we can get to $1,000 by the end of the day!

Photo of Jeremy David Bell and Jesse Lee Keeter ©2011 Adam Smith (www.theadamsmith.com)

Teaser trailer!

It's been a long wait, I know, but it's finally here -- your first real look at Reunion!





As we continue through the post-production process (Matt's editing like crazy) it's become clear that we will need to raise an additional $3,500 to hire a sound designer. We are aiming to finish the film in time to submit it to the outstanding genre film festival, Fantastic Fest, in Austin, Texas. Once the film is edited a sound designer will create and insert all of the sound effects into the movie. It's a lot of work!


We're offering some great rewards -- signed script pages, original call sheets, a video threat directed at YOU by our killer, Caswell! And, at the high end ($500), you can get one of the original masks worn in the movie.


Check out our new Kickstarter and pass it around!


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1964083206/reunion-post-production

Be seeing you...

Hiatus Over!

So it's been a while. Many months, if I'm not mistaken. Let's get you all back up to speed.


Reunion officially wrapped on October 25th (my birthday!). After completing ninety percent of the shoot in August we had to take a little time off while we regrouped and tracked down our final location (not as easy as we'd hoped). But we finally did it and finished up with a couple of cold days and nights in Bellingham, WA. Alison Monda, who plays Rachelle in the film, was particularly  inspiring, running around barefoot in a revealing dress in bone-chilling cold.


So what's been going on since then?


Well, I, for one, needed some time to decompress. And then the holidays arrived. And I've been prepping our house for the imminent arrival of twins (a boy and a girl!). And time flew by.


But we're back! Matt (our esteemed producer Matt Ralston, one half of Cryptid Productions and the whole of Sasquatch Pictures) has assembled a teaser trailer. 

Audio just got cleaned up on that yesterday and hopefully sometime today he'll be handing it off to me to do some light color grading on it. After that -- it will go live. You'll be able to find it here, Facebook, www.reunionthemovie.com (also launching very soon), and on Mars (we have ways).
I've also launched my own website, www.jeremydavidbell.com. 

There you will be able to see other stuff I've worked on, including my latest venture, Baby Music Videos. I stumbled on that idea when my nephew Jacob was born -- I shot some footage, edited it to music, and uploaded it to Vimeo. It became a big hit with friends and family that were unable to meet Jacob when he was still brand spanking new. So now I'm offering that service to others and am really excited about it. It's a fun outlet and allows me to meet other babies while I await the arrival of my own.


I'll also have a blog at www.jeremydavidbell.com where I'll be posting on a variety of film and video related topics, including Reunion updates. However, all Reunion stuff will also still appear here and, ultimately, and www.reunionthemovie.com. I do plan on releasing a series of posts tentatively called "How To Make Your Movie" where I'll try to impart what I've learned making Reunion to those of you who hope to make your own movie. Those posts will appear here and on my personal site, with the first one arriving sometime next week. 


Thanks for your patience!


Be seeing you...

Almost a wrap...

And that's a wrap...for now...


After a year of pre-production we finally went into production full force on August 5th. And on August 31st we wrapped up that portion of the shoot. We now have about ninety percent of the movie in the can, with the final three (possibly four) shoot days to be scheduled for (hopefully) early October. All of our interiors have been shot (minus a basement scene we'll pick-up in a half day soon), leaving us with just exteriors (probably two nights) and a brief driving scene.

Creepy sound guy Gabe Culkin takes on some light duty. 

It was a great month and it confirmed the work we went into planning the shoot really paid off. Because of some unforeseen scheduling issues we ended up working with five (yes, five!) directors of photography. This is not an ideal way to shoot a film but, because we had scheduled our shoot so well, we were able to integrate in all of those different personalities and work-styles and keep on schedule. And every one of those five guys was great to work with and the three that really came in last minute really worked their asses off to match the look we'd established in the early going with Christian Hansen, a look that was first implemented by Jacob Rosen (Jacob has shot most of the movie and his stuff is amazing). Those two gentleman got us off to a great start and allowed us to establish an efficient set workflow. Because of that Griff Johnston was able to step in for a night and get the job done. Rylan Morris Scherer came in for a few days and gave us some gorgeous moonlight footage. And Phillip Harvey stepped in at the very last minute to shoot the last couple of days at our principal location and he knocked it out of the park. Again, this is not the ideal way to shoot a movie, but we rolled with it and made it work. It's a credit to those five guys that the footage we have looks so great (and consistent!). 

Interns, grips, gaffers, and ACs: Evan Elwell, Todd Michael Johnson, and Myles Basterrechea.

The amazing efficiency we maintained would have been impossible without our amazing interns from Seattle Central Community College. Evan Elwell, Todd Michael Johnson, Myles Basterrechea, and Gabe Culkin worked their butts off non-stop to make sure lights were positioned, candles were lit, scenes got slated, and duvetyne (the stuff we hang outside of windows to make it look like it's night outside when it's actually noon and 80 degrees)got hung. You guys are awesome.

We also had one intern from the Art Institute of Seattle, Sam Shideler.

Sam Shideler in a rare moment where he actually got to sit down.

Sam does everything and without him it's likely we would have drowned in duvetyne. Besides working with us (hanging duvetyne, doing construction, repairing beds, stepping in as assistant director) he's also in school and he writes and directs his own web series, The Dirty Do-Gooders. He also plays ukelele and sings like an angel. Frak!

Our assistant directors, Jared Hagen and Nate Souza, made sure everyone kept on schedule and even found time to hang clothes pins (C-47s) from the most unlikely of places. Jared traveled up from Arizona to work with us for a few weeks and Nate came up from Portland. They made the shoot efficient AND fun. Jared also started creating Reunion sequels (there are 24 of them now planned) in his A.D. notebook (Nate also helped with the sequels). Nate also wrote a little backstory for the mop featured in the movie. And taught us all new things to do with scalpels. Love you guys.

Nate Souza enjoying a snack.

Jared Hagen tells me what he thinks of the last take.

And what can I say about our cast? They were amazing. Fun, talented, hard-working, and up for anything. They were bruised, scraped, and more. And they never complained. You'll be seeing tons of pictures of them so I'm not including pictures of all of them here (or this blog will be way too long!). But, huge thanks to Brian Sutherland, Alison Monda, Jesse Keeter, Bjorn Whitney, Megan Lacki, David Nail, Tessa Marie Archer, and Jordin Buttenob.

D.P. Jacob Rosen frames a shot, Brian Sutherland tries to remember his lines, and Alison Monda swallows a bug.

One of the biggest challenges for a no-budget movie is feeding cast and crew. A huge thank you to my wonderful wife, Jennifer Coons Bell, for buying and preparing meals for our rowdy bunch. Jennifer arrived an hour before everyone else to make sure coffee was brewed and food was set out when everyone else arrived. And while we were off shooting she was busy preparing lunch and afternoon snacks. She's amazing. I love you!

Breakfast is served...wait, are those Pop Tarts?! Yay!

And finally, a special thank you to our producer, Matt Ralston. A movie requires a producer. They put all of the pieces into place to make sure the movie happens. Matt went above and beyond the call of duty, putting his blood, sweat, and yes, I'm sure a few tears, into making Reunion a success. We first discussed making this movie a couple of years ago and there's no one else I would have wanted to take this long journey with. Matt, you are amazing.

Matt Ralston hanging out.

It's been an amazing ride so far. I cannot overstate how grateful I am to have had the chance to work with all of these amazing people. It's absolutely the best cast and crew I could have asked for. Thank you everyone!

And now, a couple of uncorrected, straight from the camera (compressed h.264) stills from our last day at our principal location.

Jesse Keeter in Reunion. (shot by Phillip Harvey)

Brian Sutherland in Reunion. (shot by Phillip Harvey)

Be seeing you...

Horror Film In Progress

Well, after more than a year of pre-production, we are finally in production. Our first official shoot day was June 27th, but that did not require the presence of any of our actors. Our first day with cast on location was last Friday, August 5th. It's been an amazing first week of shooting.

From left to right: Alison Monda, Tessa Archer, Megan Lacki, and substitute Director of Photography Jacob Rosen. (photo by Adam Smith)

Our first three shoot days (August 5th, 6th, and 8th) were our busiest of the shoot as far as how many cast members we had on set. Brian Sutherland, Alison Monda, Bjorn Whitney, Megan Lacki, David Nail, and Tessa Archer were all with us for most of those three days and it made for a boisterous set. One thing we quickly learned is that we have a great cast and crew. Everyone gets along and, on a small crew like ours, it helps keep everything running smoothly.

Intern/grip/AC Todd Johnson, Tessa Archer, DP Jacob Rosen, me, and sound recordist Gabriel Culkin. (Photo by Adam Smith)

Those first few days of shooting marked all of Tessa Archer's days with us. Sniff. She was great on set and terrific in her scenes. Wrapping with her on Monday, knowing she wouldn't be back with us, was sad, but we all hope we work with her on many projects in the future.

Tessa Archer (Photo by Adam Smith)

Monday also marked the first day on set for Jesse Keeter, who plays our bad guy. Jesse is giving an amazing performance and he's just getting started. He's the nicest guy you would ever want to meet off camera, but on camera he's something else entirely. The transformation is fascinating to watch.

Jesse Keeter (Photo by Jeremy Bell)

After three relatively blood free days (our substitute Director of Photography almost got conked on the head by a falling light), we finally got Bandersnatch Studios on set to do some blood work on Tuesday. And it's been all blood all the time since.

Tools of the trade. Bandersnatch's brushes. (Photo by Jeremy Bell)

Jesse in the early stages of a Bandersnatch attack. (Photo by Jeremy Bell)

It's been an exhausting and exhilarating week. After spending most of the pre-production time trying to put this together with my producer Matt Ralston, who has done an insane amount of work to make sure Reunion can be successful, it was great to finally bring on some more collaborators. 

Matt Ralston, me. (Photo by Adam Smith)

All of that pre-production time has paid off in spades. With our minuscule budget and tight actor schedules, it's imperative that we keep to the calendar Matt put together before we started. We've done just that and have even put two kills behind us (don't worry -- there's more!).

On monitor: Jeremy Bell and Alison Monda. In background: Assistant Director Jared Hagen, sound guy Gabriel Culkin, DP for the day Jacob Rosen. (Photo by Matt Ralston)

Special shout out to our interns from Seattle Central Community College -- Todd Michael Johnson, Myles Basterrechea, Evan Elwell, and Gabriel Culkin. They are interns in name only. They've gripped, they've gaffed, they've recorded sound, and they've been assistant camera (they run the iPad slate!). 

Watching playback. Foreground: Jared Hagen and Matt Ralston. Background: Director of Photography Christian Hansen, David Nail, Jesse Keeter, Todd Michael Johnson, Evan Elwell, Jeremy Bell, Myles Basterrechea, and 2nd AD Nate Souza. (photo by Adam Smith)

Another shout out to an intern who is not really an intern, this time to the amazing Sam Shideler from the Art Institute of Seattle. Sam has already saved our asses a number of times with his problem solving skills. Sam has his own web series, The Dirty Do Gooders. You should all watch it here: http://www.dirtydogooders.com/

And finally a huge thank you to Brian Sutherland, Alison Monda, Bjorn Whitney, Megan Lacki, David Nail, Tessa Archer, Jordin Buttenob, and Jesse Lee Keeter for being such an amazing cast. It's been said that directing is ninety percent casting and I'd be hard pressed to argue that. Lesson to all of you who plan on making your own movie, web series, whatever -- take the time to get the cast you want. You'll thank yourself later. And if you luck out the way we have and have a cast that is also a joy to be around, so much the better.

Matt Ralston, Bjorn Whitney, Brian Sutherland, Tessa Archer, and Megan Lacki. (Photo by Adam Smith)

So far, so good. Can't wait to see how all of this turns out so we can share the gore with all of you. 

Special thank you to Adam Smith for being our set photographer for a couple of days (and more to come). Check out Adam's work here: http://www.theadamsmith.com/.

And now, a few stills from the movie. These are straight from the camera, compressed h.264, no color correction applied. They are, for now, just a tease...

Brian Sutherland and Bjorn Whitney in Reunion. 

Jesse Keeter in Reunion.

Tessa Archer, Alison Monda, Megan Lacki, and David Nail in Reunion.

Tessa Archer and Brian Sutherland in Reunion.

Brian Sutherland and Alison Monda in Reunion.

That's all for now.

Be seeing you...

Our new Sarah

While it was devastating to all of us to have to part ways with Trin Miller, we were fortunate to have a ready replacement who will be able to step in at this late date and allow us to not miss a beat.


Our costume designer, Megan Lacki, also originally auditioned for Sarah. And she had an awesome audition and will now step into Sarah's shoes.

Megan Lacki as Sarah

Megan is already familiar with the script and ready to get to work tomorrow morning. After making the dresses the other two women will wear (and the one Trin would have worn), Megan will take a deep breath from all that hard work (she's been working very hard!) and dive into some sweet character work.

While we're still mourning the loss of Trin, we could not be happier that we were fortunate enough to have someone as talented as Megan on hand so we can forge ahead and keep to our very tight schedule.

Welcome to the cast of Reunion, Megan!

Be seeing you...