Your Thanksgiving Weekend GWBG 2012 Update
It’s been a long time since I wrote one of these “making of” posts, probably because most the things going on in the making of GWBG2012 are long processes like editing and effects work about which there’s not much to say. Also sloth. Another big part of why I haven’t is pure sloth on my part.
Editing is going well, albeit in a frustratingly slow, dull-dull-dull way. Our plan had been to get some kind of cut together by the Sundance deadline in August. SPOILER ALERT: We did not make that deadline. It wasn’t even close. Part of the reason is that I put off editing for a few months after the shoot, because between it, prepping for it, and writing the thing, it had been a long time since I’d done anything to try to earn a living. So first I had to work on a few potentially income-generating things. Funny story: None of them came to anything! Another factor though was that editing revealed a few places where the writing could have been clearer, and others where it turns out that shot I accidentally didn’t press “record” on is kinda important after all. So we’ll be doing a little reshooting, and the earliest time the actors were all available was early December.
I think it’s important to get all this time-stamped as the official story today, so when Sundance announces their line-up it won’t look like they didn’t let us in so we came up with some lame cover story. As you can see, my priorities are dialed in perfectly. It’s anyone’s guess whether a sequel ever had a shot of getting into Sundance, but their Park City at Midnight umbrella was big enough to include the first film, so you never know. Mainly Sundance meant so much to us I wanted to at least try. And the film will be ready in time to play at Sundance, if they could get over that little hitch about wanting to see it ahead of time. Hear that, Sundance? Oh lordy that was desperate.
One good thing about the reshoots will be that I can actually blog about some production days this time around. Again, my priorities? Right. On. But in fairness those days are a lot more interesting than the ones where I mostly grind my teeth while my wheezing computer churns for ninety seconds before showing me my most recent two-frame trim.
In other news, people have continued to send in remote cameos, though you’d never know it from this blog because I got kind of behind on posting stills from online. Why? Anyone? Yes, you in the back, that’s correct: More sloth. Nevertheless we really appreciate everyone taking the time; they’re truly one of the high points of the new film. What other movie features footage sent in by the audience? Well, okay, there have been a couple of those “on this day” films already. But what other, um, narrative movie? Answer me that. There’s still time to do one if you are interested, too. They’ll all be included in the final movie in ways I don’t want to give away just yet but are pretty cool.
We also had a little fundraiser to pay for the post production and reshoots, which was a big success. What was especially touching in retrospect was that people showed up even though it meant sitting through the first film again, which they’d all seen and probably more than once. Some of the big laugh lines therefore got applause instead, which was gratifying and strange all at once. I have no idea how widespread enthusiasm for (or even awareness of) “Girls Will Be Girls” is, but if the cast and I were very, very selective about where we spent our time we could convince ourselves it was the gay Star Wars or something. Which come to think may not be great news for the decade-later sequel, sorry! Anyway, a sincere thank you to all who attended, and an especially-sincere one to whoever bought the fake breasts Jack wore in the first film in the silent auction (which was only silent if you don’t count all the people exclaiming “gross!”)
More soon…
If anyone is bored enough to want to read an unrelated screenplay I wrote called “Love Spencer,” you can download it for free 
