Recipe For Making An Independent Movie

This will be another unusual post for our blog, but I certainly hope you are blessed by reading it as much as I am in writing it. Sarah and I have great friends and an amazing family!

Today we reached another interim benchmark/milestone in the miracle that I call SWAY. We’ve had a campaign running for the past 80 days to raise $6,000 on a website called Kickstarter. We have financial needs that are much greater in order to complete the entire project, but for whatever reason, God led Sarah to request $6,000. And guess what! This morning we reached that financial goal. What an incredibly exciting day! God truly has blessed Sarah and I (and the boys) through about 50+ of our family member’s and friend’s amazing generosity and encouragement.

So, I’m at work and I briefly share with a co-worker that we met the Kickstarter goal early this morning! He is absolutely amazed, that we raised the money needed. But he communicated that he is even more surprised that we are actually making a movie. He said, “If I decided that I wanted to make a movie, I would have no idea where to start.” And I didn’t say it, but I thought, “Me, either!”

I’ve decided that I need to write the Recipe for Making an Independent Movie. And so in this blog, I want to share with you, our recipe.

Ingredients:

2 Women (the crazier and sillier, the better)
5 Crew members (amazingly creative, dedicated, and talented)
1 Actress (who can also write screenplays, cast, choreograph, edit, sing, direct, and dance)
1 Actor/Singer (who can be patient and put up with the silly actress and her crazy mom)
1 Music Director (who can take the vision and make it a reality)
3 Guys (preferably a dad and two brothers – who can put up with listening to Michael Buble 24/7)
2 Contestants (for the Sweet Tea drinking competitions)
1 Director of Photography/Assoc. Director/Cameraman (who isn’t worried to be filming a musical)
2 Assistant Directors (one for NC and one for TN who are great friends and quite competent)
1 Photographer (who serves as a great friend to keep the actress sane)
22 Dancers (previous experience prohibited)
2 Taxi Drivers (at all hours of the night)
1 Professional Jazz Singer (Debbie Cunningham)
2 College Professors (actual Department Chairs at Catawba College)
8 Band Members (must at least appear to be able to play an instrument)
1 Rapper (who improvises the scene differently, each take)
1 Clapboard girl (must be under 8 years of age and willing to smash your fingers)
1 Sister (enthusiastic enough about the project to fly to Nashville to be in the movie)
40+ Actors and extras (at least one must be employed in FL)
105 Financial Investors and businesses in partnership with us (Family and Friends who encourage us)
2 College Campuses (Beautiful . . . Catawba College and Trevecca Nazarene University)
1 Eternally Faithful, Patient, and very Creative, Heavenly Father

And all the folks listed above are VOLUNTEERS!

Just mix this all together and by the end of 2010, God willing, there will be a really fun, jazzy musical called SWAY fully baked.