By sheri ratick stroud
What a weekend! What a fabulous group of people to work with!! You could not have asked for a more talented, congenial and caring group of women (plus a few men) to create a 48-hour film festival project. Friday night it was….on your mark, set, GO and we raced to the writer’s room. Our genre pull was : Film de Femme (look it up) or musical. We went with FF and the writers were OFF RUNNING. By 11 pm we had a script and it was sent to the actors and production people. After a good night’s sleep (ya, right….like we could really close our eyes), the production crew met at Melissa’s house at 7 am to talk equipment and scenes. The actors arrived at 8 am to go over the script and discuss characters and movement. Here we met our first crisis. Our lead actress had a family emergency and could not attend. OMG….WHAT DO WE DO? ….Ok. Stay calm. Do we call in another actress?? That would put the filming schedule way behind while we wait for her to arrive. Ok that’s out. Do we change the script? No. We need the tension between the brother and sister. OK then. The only solution was right in front of us. Our director/producer sheri ratick stroud is an actress…..she’s got to do it. Problem one solved. Sheri stepped into the part and we were off running. Only 30 minutes behind schedule. Though not planned this way we ended up filming in sequence. And that’s part of the fun of these projects; you’ve got to learn to be flexible and be able to “punt” when necessary. Opening scene with car pulling up…..spent too much time on that. Made it up once we got into the house. (Thank you again Melissa. Love your house.) Most of our script was around the dining room table. So much fun working with everyone. Our male lead was acting for the very first time. Never been on stage or in a film. He did quite well. The production crew was outstanding in every way. We used IPhones and Gimbels. Our script supervisor was on top of everything. She kept us informed of line issues and props and continuity. Our line producer served as COVID Compliance Officer and props overseer and…..(I could go on). Our PAs were right at our sides ready to step up in a moments notice. One had to fill in as the UBER driver since that was to be sheri’s part. Our camera people (yes, we had 2!!) were major in setting up shots and moving the day along. And with sheri acting, our AD stepped up and helped with the scenes. And there were so many more to recognize. Please see the list below and thank each person when you see them, for representing WIFV in such a professional way to the 48 HOUR FILM FESTIVAL. Oh, and by the way – we finished filming on Saturday at 5 PM!! And the edits were done and film submitted by 5 PM on Sunday, way before the 7:30 pm deadline. CONGRATUATIONS TO ALL.
AND ONE MORE THING, WE ARE BEING SCREENED AT AFI SILVER THEATRE in Silver Spring on Friday, Aug. 20 at 7 pm. Please come and join us and vote for us to be the Audience Favorite!!
TENNALLY’S TAVERN
Crew
sheri ratick stroud – Director/Producer
Kathleen Strouse – Assistant Director
Maureen O’Grady – Writer/Food Stylist
Irelene Ricks – Writer
Brittany Morton – Writer/Camera Assistant
Michelle Bowen-Ziecheck – Script Supervisor
Shilette Addison-Reed – Line Producer/ Props Manager
Lacey Young – 1st Camera/Editor/Sound
Lucia Fox-Shapiro – 2nd Camera/Editor/ Sound
Keri Williams – CCO/Gear Manager
T’Zion Addison – Production Coordinator
John Mitchell – Production Assistant
Cast
Genise R. White – Felicia
David Motheral – John Tennally
sheri ratick stroud – Jane Tennally
Sofia Sandoval-Ferriss – Jenny
T’Zion Addison – Driver
Names in bold are WIFV Members!
