Shoot Day 3: Ups and downs and ending high

A year from now, a month from now, maybe even a week from now I won't remember the chaos of today, I will only remember the fun and the good footage. If I were a person prone to freaking out today probably would have been a bad day. It started with getting a flat tire on my way to pick up our out of town actress. Then as I was on the phone with the producer confirming that we were finally on our way I got the news that the building we were shooting in is under construction and the classroom we were assigned apparently doesn't exist any more. At one point we had too many lights plugged in and because it's a holiday it took quite a bit of time to find someone who could unlock the fuse box.

The thing is all of these problems are surmountable. Fortunately, I am well versed in how to put on a spare tire, so we only lost about 20 minutes getting to set. We simply moved the walk and talk to a hallway that wasn't under construction, and the classroom to one further down the hall that was open. And eventually we did find a maintenance guy to fix our fuse problem. Our lighting crew is unlikely to ever make that mistake again. And at the end of the day we still wrapped early. So really, none of it matters.

What matters is the moment I expect I will remember most about today: watching my actors perform and feeling really giddy about how well they were all clicking. Then one of them caught me with my "I'm so excited" smile and just laughed. It really was a good day.

Welcome to the team

In a bit of last minute excitement we had to recast Sarah today. Sometimes unexpected challenges lead to wonderful opportunities. Our new Sarah is Paige Friedman. I met Paige when I was a reader during auditions for another project back in February. She was fantastic and I thought, "Someday I'm going to work with her." Today is that day. Well, the day after tomorrow.

Paige Friedman is a recent Acting BFA graduate of Boston University's College of Fine Arts. Some theatre credits include Neoptolemus in Philoctetes, Catherine of Aragon in Women of Henry VIII, and Cassandra in new play Pygmalia. Film credits include Something About Her, Les Miserables College Parody, and Francis and Sally Mae are Missing. Thanks to Aaron, Kris, friends, family, and Boston University.

Second Casting Announcement

I am thrilled to announce that we have cast both "ghosts." Esther and Tim are the two people who helped Sarah start up her ghost tours business.

First Casting Announcement

We have been making some wonderful progress with casting lately. Here are our first three confirmed actors. Selima Smith-Dell will be playing our lead Sarah. Shubhra Prakash will be playing Priya, the TA that all the professors wish that all the other students could be. And Kevin Kate will be playing Professor Messere who is sure that Sarah can finish her PhD if she could just do it his way.

First Audition Announcement

We are in the middle of the casting process for the five principle players. It's a bit earlier than usual, but I would like to have the time to get the word around the Boston community of actors so that we can find people who really fit. Also there are costume considerations for a couple of the parts. The sooner we get them cast the sooner we can have the costume designer working with a real person, and more specifically a real person's sizes.

If you know of anyone who might be interested in the following parts please use the contact form to the right, or send an email to gtmithesis@gmail.com with Ghost Tours Auditions in the subject line.