We wrapped our tenth day of shooting at about 11:30 on Sunday night, right on schedule. So far, the production has gone very smoothly and we’ve only had to push two scenes to later in the shoot. That’s not to say we haven’t our little crises (an actor dropped out due to illness two days before shooting, one of our cars wasn’t delivered on time, etc.), but overall it has been a pleasure. The dailies are terrific and both the studio and network are very, very pleased…so I’m a happy man.
Mondays and Tuesdays are our weekends, so after we wrapped on Sunday, half of the crew — including most of the cast, the director, the a.d., the second unit team, the line producer, and myself — went to a bar in Prenzlauer Berg and had an in impromptu little party. I stayed until 4:30 a.m. but just about everyone else stayed until 6:30 in the morning. I haven’t stayed up that late in a bar since college (but then, as now, I was drinking only water or Diet Coke). I don’t know if this show is going to rejuvenate me or kill me…but I had a great time. This has got to be the nicest group of people I’ve ever worked with. Not a single jerk in the bunch.
I spent the day… or what was left of it… on Monday doing domestic chores like laundry, grocery shopping, and getting my hair cut before meeting the cast in my room in the evening to show them the dailies and share the good feedback from the studio and network. Afterwards, I went on my own for dinner to a tiny little Italian restaurant and then took a long walk, finally winding up back home around 1 a.m.
Today played tourist, visiting the Berlin Wall museum at Bernauer Strasse, then heading out to Lake Wannsee for a drive and a long walk. Tonight I got together again with the cast for dinner and nice walk through Mitte.
Tomorrow we start shooting again. This is going to be a big week for me. On Thursday, my family finally arrives…and not a moment too soon. Two months is way too long for me to be away from them. It hurts too much. I can’t wait to have my daughter on the set with me on Friday!
(The photo on the upper left is me with two of our stars, Andrew Walker and Alexia Barlier, with Soccx, who perform one of their songs, "Scream Out Loud," in a sequence in FAST TRACK: NO LIMITS. On the upper right is one version of our new, improved logo. You can click on the images for larger views).
Lee,
Hey, um, you don’t have a phone number for the woman in orange, do ya? Va-va-varrroom! Okay, I’ll just have to pathetically photoshop myself into the picture and be satisfied with that, I guess…
When FAST TRACK: NO LIMITS becomes a hit, I can imagine the spin-offs, like FAST TRACK: NO TABOOS (about transvestite drag-racers), or FAST TRACK: NO PETROL (solar car racing), or FAST TRACK: NO MERCY (demolition driving in the style of Mad Max.)
Enviously,
Richard
It strikes me as weird that your pilot is taking months to finalize, when the excellent Rescue Me takes only two days to film each episode.
It strikes me as weird that someone wouldn’t understand that it’s more difficult to make a prototype than it is to make the 40th copy with three years of experience under your belt.
I’m glad you said something, Maestro. I would not have put it so politely or eloquently.
What is the plot for Fast Track, though? That is what I’ve been wondering. I mean, other than fast girls and beautiful cars, or is it the other way around?
No, seriously, what seperates this from the other speed, sex, and rock & roll car movies? Don’t doubt that it is, just curious as to how specifically.
Myrna,
RESCUE ME is not shot in two days. I believe each 45 minute episode is shot in eight days, but I could be wrong. But it certainly isn’t two!
By comparison, FAST TRACK is a two-hour pilot and is being shot in 17 days, which is a very short schedule for an action-adventure show.
Lee