Monday, August 18, 2008

enter, the casting directors...

We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Ellyn Long Marshall and Maria Nelson of the Orpheus Casting Group to our Chicle Y Postales family! Their significant experience and expertise have been applied to a slough of cinematic and theatrical projects worldwide, and are responsible for casting such respected films as: Real Women Have Curves, Maria Full of Grace, El Cantante, and the breakthrough independent Day Night Day Night.

Casting sessions for our American actors are already underway, and hopefully by next week we’ll have some strong leads on our first four cast members!

Also of note…Director of photography, “Captain” Dan Fischer, and Producer PJ Fishwick will be landing in Lima early next week to begin pre-production with our on-site producer Maxim Holland. Check back soon for our first photos and news from the ground!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

The Long Road to Cusco...

In less than a week our first crew members will be setting foot in the ancient Incan city of Cusco, Peru, 12,000 feet up in the Andes Mountains! For many of us it will be a completely foreign experience…a new journey in a new country, awash with all the excitement and apprehension that accompany such experiences. For others, it’s the final leg down a well-worn path, leading home…

The evolution of this story began almost seven years ago, when Josh Hyde and Dan Fischer made their first trip to Cusco for the filming of Despacho; a documentary in which they explored the effects of western medicine on traditional shamanistic healing practices. During this process, they were given a first hand perspective of the effects poverty, culture, and even their own American presence played on the lives of the Andean community. Gradually their focus began to gravitate, leading them away from the American nurses and resting on what they saw as Cusco's real story: the street kids. With only enough money to complete the project at hand, Josh and Dan returned to the U.S. , but Chicle Y Postales was already hovering on the horizon.

Over a span of ten months after their return, Josh worked diligently to transfer his experiences and observations into a script that portrayed the plight of the indigenous community with both honesty and dignity. The result was a story that mirrored two families, separated by wealth, culture and language but united by a common string of humanity. Each of us who came to the project was immediately struck by the script’s heart and sincerity. Before long we had rallied a team spanning four continents, all anxiously anticipating the moment we would begin.

For the next several years, the script became a true test of patience, as Josh and Dan tirelessly pursued all means possible to push the creation of the film. The screenplay went through various script labs from the Independent Feature Project Script Market in NYC to the Sundance labs out West. Each helped to garner interest in the story, but nothing concrete. Finally, in 2005, determined to tell this story one way or another, we returned to Cusco to film a 14-minute version of the feature length script entitled, Chicle.

Utilizing a cast of non-acting indigenous Peruvians set against experienced American performers, Chicle developed an organic, humanistic quality that beautifully emphasized the polarizations between two cultures. The new goal was to generate enough publicity with the completed short to negotiate funding for the feature. In a matter of months Chicle was a constant presence on the international film festival circuit, playing at such respected venues as Berlin International, Tribeca and Chicago International. In 2007 it was inducted into the Korean National Film Archive, along with a handful of other short films, to be used as examples of cultural awareness within the Korean education system.

Another three years would pass, marked again by progress and setbacks, close calls and subsequent projects. It wasn’t until the spring of 2008, upon the completion of LoFu’s latest documentary, Last Man Standing, that Josh made the ultimate decision… it was either now or never. The overwhelming response was "Now!"

Four months later and here we are...plane tickets are bought, auditions are being held, and this little flim that could is officially underway! Our deepest thanks to all who’ve supported and encouraged this project for the last seven years, and to those who’s current efforts are making it’s completion possible! Please continue to stay abreast of our progress throughout production by checking back frequently for updated blogs, photos, and shout outs from the gang.

Hasta luego!