We were watching the Olympic sprinters yesterday. One of the runners called a time out because the officials kept them in a down position too long. Then the same runner started too soon and they had to start again. Her dilemma resonated with me after the day I had with Greenspoke.

I’ve been shoving this short sci-fi project along through:

• scheduling messups (mine)
• getting laid off
• recruiting barely available staff because of my last-minutitis
• having equipment we needed just out of reach
• giving an onerous task of production management to an eleventh hour part-time production team
• not listening to my instincts and impressions

After some harsh words and soul-searching, I realized that I would not be doing the project or the people involved justice if I went ahead. My good friend Michael listened and let me work it through and figure out that the best solution was to put the project off until spring.

I love this script. I am proud of it and what it promises as a short form piece. So I am going to take a different approach:

• hire a professional production management team so I’m not worrying about whether the actors and crew are taken care of, especially when we shoot outdoors
• compress the shooting schedule and shoot on consecutive days so we can secure the best crew without restricting their ability to get other paid assignments
• define roles and responsibilities at the very start with every member of the team
• go into our first shooting day focused on getting the best shots and performances from my actors

The sprinter I mentioned did not finish fast enough to get a medal. But she finished, false starts and all. And maybe we can finish and get the gold with more careful planning and attention to detail.

It’s been a busy few weeks. I’ve neglected the blog since we got back from Toronto. My former employer has decided that we need to see other people, so I’m looking for Web or video editing jobs in Seattle or telecommuting – let me know if you have any leads.

Our next short, Greenspoke, what my producer Will Chase calls an eco-terror sci-fi thriller, is chugging along. We have a great cast in place, a 9-shooting day schedule (all on weekends), HD equipment lined up thanks to our line producer Lucien Flynn, a crew forming magically, and my good friends and collaborators Michael Lorefice and Paul Yoo sharing dp duties.

Starting a new project is always an anxious moment for me. Will it suck? Will we have good weather when we need it? Do I have the right insurance? Will we be able to get the right locations? Will has been helping ease some of this anxiety because he is handling alot of the things I used to do myself. But there is still the nagging worry that all these people are counting on me, the writer and director, to put something together that we will all be proud of. I also know that we’ve been down this path before and it is a fascinating (if nerve-wracking) trip.

Seeing actors bring your words to life is one of the most thrilling moments for a writer. Seeing something fresh and unexpected from the actors’ interpretations keeps you thinking of other ways to tell the story, and other stories that evolve from your original idea. Getting the right mood with an overall connectedness of the disparate pieces is a wonderful puzzle to solve as a director. Skilled artists and technicians get the lighting right, makeup artists create amazing illusions, video teams create and refine their piece with alternate angles and truly moving pictures as dollies whiz the camera about, production teams create schedules that flow and allow for the expected unexpected issues. Long way of saying it is an organic, collaborative labor of love.