countdown to D-day...

Saturday afternoon our entire Peruvian cast and slightly sun-burnt crew gathered together for a "meet and greet," our first tri-lingual read-through, and a delicious lunch at Cuzco's beloved, Quinta Zarate. The whole event was transformative, having, for the first time, a room of actors, non-actors and street kids working together and breathing a collective breath of life into 96 pages of two-dimensional text. Despite the months of work that have gone into planning, scheduling, coordinating, casting, building, and costuming...it certainly felt like the start of something...something very good.

The next few days offer hardly a calm before the storm, and come Thursday morning, the whole game changes. The time has finally come to put our efforts into practice... amidst the demands of the moment, I stole a few seconds from our director, Josh Hyde, and I asked him about his hopes for the film at this time..."I've always had high hopes for this film," he responded. "My goal was always to get the film seen by as many people as possible, get the script read, and try to put something together, but, you know, now that we’re in the trenches I just want to make a good movie. And that good movie is going to be made shot by shot and sound bite by sound bite, and through these pieces that we collect hopefully we’ll be able to tell a really good story...one that honors the journey and the 7 or 8 years that it’s taken to make this film. That’s really all I can hope for at this point."

Be sure to check back soon, as things down here are just heating up! And just for fun...below is a video of Jorge Choquehuillca Huallpa, an acclaimed Cusquenian musician who will be appearing in our film as as a blind churango player! (Dan Fisher, our Director of Photographer, must have been so moved by his performance that he temporarily lost all sense of gravity)

megan and meloni...

Mark your calendars and program your TiVo's, but don't miss Chicle's very own Megan Tusing making her television debut in next week's episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit! The episode airs Tuesday, October 14th at 10pm, with more details below. Congratulations Megan, we couldn't be more proud; and you can bet that those of us down here in Cusco will be glued to YouTube come Wednesday morning!


LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT

“SWING”

10-14-2008 10:00PM

DETECTIVE ELLIOT STABLER'S (CHRIS MELONI) JOB AND PERSONAL LIFE BECOME INTERTWINED WHEN HE DISCOVERS HIS DAUGHTER, KATHLEEN STABLER (GUEST STAR ALLISON SIKO), IS THE SUSPECT.

A young woman is found trespassing in a family’s home, and Detective Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) is called in to catch the intruder. The trespasser’s wallet leads Stabler to a- surprising suspect, his daughter, Kathleen Stabler (guest star Allison Siko). Detective Stabler is shocked to find his daughter has fallen in love with the kind of crowd he spends his days condemning. With his family life at stake, Stabler must decide how far he will go to save Kathleen, even turning to his estranged mother, Bernadette Stabler (guest star Ellen Burstyn), for help. In order to save Kathleen, Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) knows that she must step in to help her friend and partner before things take a turn for the worst. Also starring: Richard Belzer (Detective John Much), Dann Florek (Captain Donald Cragen), Ice-T (Detective Odafin Tutuola), Michaela McManus (A.D.A Kim Greylek), Tamara Tunie (Dr. Melinda Warner), and B.D. Wong (Dr. George Huang).

http://www.nbcumv.com/listing_detail.nbc/nbc-20081014220000.htm

Megan will be playing Kathleen Stabler's college roommate! So, be sure to tune in next Tuesday to NBC at 10pm to check it out!

promo-peru...

Chicle Producer Maxim Holland,who we're thrilled to have back from the short, just received word from Promo-Peru (Peru's official commission on tourism and promotion) that our film has received their support and assistance! This agreement is in many ways like a golden key to the city...not a bad thing to have when making a movie. way to go Maxi!

Today, artistic director, Christian "Chaufa" Bustamante arrives from Lima with his assistant and muse Cucho...both of whom we'll be putting straight to work finalizing costumes and building and dressing our CYP sets. The largest of which is transforming a mudbrick house, currently being used as a chicken coop, into a humble home for our Peruvian family.

The countdown begins, with just over a week until the start of filming, so there's no turning back now! Check back soon for more updates and we welcome those following along to leave your questions, comments and words of encouragement below by using the comments feature! Hope to hear from you all soon...

ciao!

on the ground...

On Tuesday of this past week, Claire, Sarah and Beth safely touched down in the Cuzco Airport, immediately greeted by a smiling crew, two Korean hatchback taxis, and a pitcher of coca tea. Here, nestled 12,000 feet up in the Andes Mountains, we’ll make our home for the next few months.
Everyone seems to have made the transition extremely well, and has been eager to dive right into the job at hand. Claire, Maxi and PJ have begun working through the logistics of transporting cast and crew, coordinating schedules and securing locations…no small task. Josh, Dan, Beth and Sarah have been busy working with the Peruvian actors, rehearsing and developing the script, as well as seeking out local talent for some of the smaller adult parts.
Chete, the young actor playing the part of Pablo, and William, his comical sidekick Alfredo, have been an absolute inspiration to work with. Each bring a fresh perspective to the story, offering up new ideas each day and a naturalness many professional actors train to achieve. Check out our video below of the boys in action.



Over the weekend, Josh is finalizing the last round of rewrites to the script and early next week we’ll welcome our assistant art director, Sylvia to the compound! And don’t forget, it’s not too late to donate to the film. Every donation large and small is incredibly appreciated; and remember, you’re not only supporting independent art, but a project whose goal is to uplift the Peruvian culture and shed light on the story of Cusco’s countless street children. Simply visit our website at http://www.lofuproductions.com/chicleypostales/index.html

Chicle Y Postales featured in the Southern Illinoisan

Hey everybody, check out the write up in Carbondale's Southern Illinoisan. Writer Brent Stewart devoted an entire article to the Chicle Y Postales film and its director, SIUC grad, Josh Hyde. Big thanks goes out Mr. Stewart, The Southern, and LoFu publicist Adam York for making it possible.

http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2008/09/08/lifestyles/life/25749768.txt

what a difference a cast makes!

Another piece to the Chicle puzzle has fallen beautifully into place this week as rehearsals with our American cast are now underway. We began last Saturday with Nadia Alexander (Mary) and Megan Tusing (Elizabeth), another couple of Midwest transplants quickly working their way up the acting ranks here in the city. In a rented studio in midtown Manhattan (appropriately five stories up with an out of service elevator) we began discussing their characters, their relationships to each other, and the evolution they each go through as the story unfolds. It was incredible to see how each of them brought to the story an insight or point of view that neither Josh nor I had ever thought of. By the end of the day, the excitement of this creative exchange had already begun to breathe new life into our story…and we still had two more actors to go!
Sunday, we met as a full cast. As we sat around a long table, settling in and introducing ourselves, there was already an incredible feeling of accomplishment…in reality we were only baby steps along in the scope of the whole project, but somehow we had all made it to that room, and it felt amazing. The actors playing our American parents, both of whom built their careers in the New York market, have been friends for years and immediately translated their personal relationship into an honest and tangible spousal connection. Megan and Nadia (or “mini-Megan, due to their almost eerie resemblance) jumped right in, pushing each other’s buttons as only siblings can, while also uncovering several heartwarming moments when their love for each other shines through. It was a fantastic afternoon, made even more incredible as we watched Chicle’s two-dimensional words begin their metamorphosis into “real life.”
This week we’ll continue to meet with the actors and polish each scene into a more performance ready form, until finally we wave goodbye to our Director, Josh Hyde, as he departs for Peru this coming Monday. Thanks to Josh and all our tremendous actors for all their hard work! Things are moving right along….

the casting machine...

Thanks to the tremendous efforts of our casting directors Ellen and Maria of the Orpheus Casting Group, American casting here in NYC was a complete success! The last two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of actors, auditions, late night phone calls and a heavy reliance on gut instinct, but overall, an absolutely amazing experience!

During our first day of auditions we saw around 30 actors over a six-hour period…a number that may not sound like a lot, but trust me, makes for a very full and very exhausting day. Each actor prepared two sides (short scenes extracted from the script) and performed them along with a reader (someone who provides the other character’s lines in the scene). With some actors, Josh was able to observe all the information he needed from a single read, with others he would provide a slight adjustment or gentle direction and then ask them to perform the scene again. It was incredible to watch so many interpretations of the same words! At the end of the day, everyone’s headshot was spread out on the table and Josh and the ladies compared their notes and boiled down their top choices for each character.

When I asked Josh for his impressions of the casting process he responded, “I think it’s amazing, because, you know, you go out there and you have this script, and it’s as if you’re looking for a needle in a haystack. You think you know exactly what you’re looking for, and sometimes you’re lucky enough to find it; but other times an actor will bring in something you’d never even considered for that character and you realize that you’re even luckier because this person is better than any character you could have ever written.”

The following week, this same process was reenacted with a whole new group of actors, and then again in a final call back. In the call back, the top choices for each character were mixed and matched into prospective “families” and asked to read a dinner scene, so that the auditioners could get a feel for how the actors worked together, as well as whether it would be physically convincing that each actor was biologically related to the others. Essentially, all of the complex relationships that exist between the characters of our story would have to be believable amongst the actors. As you can imagine, a lot of factors came into play for this final decision, but we couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome!

Next on the agenda: While rehearsals for the American family begin this week in New York, Dan and PJ will begin casting sessions in Lima and Cuzco to find the remaining members of our Peruvian cast. Plus, check out this adorable pic below of Nadia Alexander (Mary), the newest addition to the Chicle Y Postales family. Welcome!