- Interview with 'Woody's World' producer Rex Sikes… http://bit.ly/b5WBaf #
MovieSet Dailies
Blogging Behind the Scenes to bring you the Latest ScoopsAs Seen on Twitter on 2010-07-22
Posted July 22nd, 2010 by: grip
Producer Rex Sikes ‘Woody’s World’ Interview
Posted July 21st, 2010 by: Jesse Carp
1/ How did you get involved with the project? Your first introduction to Woody the character (and his world) and Ron Kolman?
Well, oddly enough Ron Kolman and I chased around Hollywood at the same time with many mutual friends yet apparently had never met until many years later when our WI incentives were under attack by our lame duck governor. The governor sought to dismantle the incentives for his own reasons and I created with another local filmmaker a facebook group SAVE WI FILM INCENTIVES. As a member of my own group and the film community in Wisconsin I testified before the Joint finance Committee hearing on behalf of saving the incentives and hence, our local film industry.
I met Ron at one of these JFC hearings and within a short time we became good friends. Both of us independently were working on a number of projects. One of his projects we started working on is “Late Train” a feature film written by Ron which he had already been pursuing. We presented a live reading of the screenplay to a filled motion picture studio audience during the summer of 2009. It was around this time that Woody’s World came to life – or I should say had a resurgence. Ron had written a book “The Lazy Man’s Guide To Cooking” which featured the character Woody – this book and Woody had life as a syndicated newspaper column, but Ron had plans to someday produce a pilot or series. As some readers may know Ron produced the pilot for “Chicago Hope” the first five years of “ER” in Chicago and many other films and projects.
While discussing some projects at one of the local colleges a faculty member expressed interest in perhaps making that happen. At that time he saw the incredible benefit a professional production would mean to the students at the college – the would get hands on practical experience, enhance their resume, have a completed project under their belt along with many other student benefits he also saw the great benefit such an association would have to the college itself. The college could also claim to have worked to help make a professional TV pilot come to pass. So with that in mind Ron and I began to make that happen.
Ron had a written script – we discussed some changes, Ron did some more rewriting and the pilot script was born. He continued to polish the script while we entered into the business discussions of making the pilot happen with the school. He continued to polish while we held meetings, looked at studios, discussed which departments could be involved, had legal meetings about rights assignments and all the many different elements that needed to come into play to create this show. Ron functioned not only as writer, but as executive producer and was to be director as well. I functioned as the show producer, i would also 1st AD the shoot because I really enjoy that position and I would also have an acting role in the show per Ron’s request. So as of approximately August 2009 we started to make Ron’s dream of Woody’s World the TV show a reality.
2/ This was the 3rd proposed starting date for the production, how happy were you to finally walk on set and hear the word action?
When we were finally able to move forward with the shoot – and walked into our practical location that first morning it was exciting. Nearly a year’s worth of effort for me had come to fruition, and for Ron, well it had been many years that he had had this planned. So yes there was great anticipation. Plus, I am happy to say I had put together a stellar crew so we were all in good company. Ron had cast excellent talent and we all looked forward to the next number of days working together. Since the location was a working restaurant we had to work around the cooks and wait staff and they around us for 21/2 days – and quiet a restaurant full of paying customers when the shoot was underway. It had moments that were challenging but actually it was a wonderful, professional fun shoot.
3/ There was a mix of professional and student crew? What was it like working with both? Was it important to the production to have students assist with the shoot?
Our crew was a professional crew with students working along side the professionals. The goal had been to include as many students as possible in crew positions or as interns from the beginning that way the students got mentoring and hands on practical experience on a professional set. They all worked well together and we were glad to have the students who were able to part of this program as a part of it. Kudos to all involved.
4/ You work as AD, Producer and supporting actor (Fred) for the pilot can you tell me a little bit about the process from each perspective? What was it like getting to be in front of the camera and behind it? Hopes of directing a project in the future?
I have worked in front of and behind camera since a teenage. I have worked as a professional actor for many years and always have enjoyed it. When I was younger in Hollywood I worked behind camera more or less begrudgingly – today I love both. I especially love behind camera watching and assisting the entire project to come together. And that is whether I am producing, directing, 1st Ad or pulling cables. I find the whole process magical in ways I never could appreciate as a younger filmmaker or actor. So yes the perspectives on set are varied and the hats go on and off as needed on set. As a producer I am involved in everything from start to finish – from prepro to post and maybe even beyond. As 1st AD my job is to manage the set, move the shoot along and co-ordinate the crew that I put together as the producer. In both positions my responsibility if to the show and to the director to help make the director’s vision come to pass – to get it in the can and up on the screen. Now this is not always the case in television where the producer reigns supreme and the director may be the hired gun – so I looked at this pilot as “the director’s medium” as opposed to “the producer’s medium”. Plus, Ron is my friend and I am working for him in this so I want him happy at the end of the day and the end of the shoot. As the actor – the same is true. My job is to be part of this ensemble cast and do my job as best I can bringing this character to life so as to fulfill my obligation to the show and the show’s director and even to me the show’s producer. It was difficult to relinquish standing behind camera to get into wardrobe and makeup and bring Fred to life. A dirty job I guess but someone had to do it and the director wanted me to be Fred. So for that day or half day that we shot my part – I turned of 1st AD to the 2nd, and did my role as I was meant to at that time. The entire production from this standpoint was a lot of fun. I got to wear the different hats, sometime simultaneously and sometimes not. Since I enjoy acting it was great to do and since I enjoy producing and position of 1st AD – I had the best of all possible worlds. In terms of directing I am producing some features and on one of them right now I have directed some scenes and worked directing the actors in some other scenes. I very much enjoy directing and have a few projects I am working on with that in mind. One screenplay is going through re-writes for just that purpose. I also have numerous others I am attempting to produce in various stages – so yes I will continue producing, acting and directing. One of my goals is to work a lot more through Los Angeles – I love it there and miss it. I want to work back their more frequently so I can enjoy the ambience of SoCal and also work on projects based in LA that may shoot in other states or countries.
5/ You shot on location in Wisconsin (any specific reason for that location?) in a real working diner, how tough was it to get work done it those surroundings? Did it help in anyway to add that kind of realism to the project?
I am in Wisconsin – divorced raising kids – and staying in the state to be close with my children. They are incredible and I want to be with them as they grow up. I would never ever forsake that. So that means I miss L A. So if I am going to be here I want to make this an entertainment capitol that I can enjoy and be proud of and so I work toward that end with others. We have a lot of great things going in Wisconsin and I want us to grow, develop and sustain a viable motion picture, television and webisode industry. We have a lot of great talent here – so we can make that happen. BUT we need help – we do need outside productions to come in, we do need to build an infrastructure – and we were well on our way when the governor kicked the program out from under us. BUT we will make it happen again. With new politicians coming in we have the opportunity to draft new smarter sharper legislation to make it attractive to outside industry to come and shoot here, and not only for a day or two but for the duration of their shoot. We can build it and then the rest can come knocking on our door. We also need to help the local film maker who is often forgotten in the quest to get outside investment in the state. SO that is why we shoot in Wisconsin.
As for the practicality of an operating diner as the set – well while it was challenging at times waiting for the cooks who HAD TO get orders to paying customers, or retake because a cook went in and started chopping something – there are countless examples of what can be challenging – customers entering and exiting, loudly speaking – even a few who did not want to be quiet – BUT for the most part the paying customers loved it. They got to be the extras in deep background so no releases were necessary. The “real” extras signed releases as they would on any production. So while there were challenges as I said most all loved it, found it thrilling, they got to see a real TV show in production, even say hello to the cast, and some got to meet and get photographs taken with our star Gary Puckett of the Union Gap fame. Gary voiced the animated character Woody – who just happens to be a wooden spoon.
We put together the shoot at the time we did because we had a small window of opportunity with our star Gary Puckett between his tour dates. He and his wife Lorrie Haimes Puckett (who starred opposite Woody) were wonderful in the show, both on and off the set.
This is the first live action motion capture animated situation comedy apparently in history. While there are other shows that use puppets or maybe even 2d animation we used the technology same as “Avatar” to bring a character to life. However, instead of humans in an animated world we have an animated character in the human world. So that brought about another set of challenges – we had to shoot and precisely measure our set, the lights, camera angles and distance, props on set, that the character may interact with so the mocap animators can create the set the mocap actor needs to interact with. So counter height has to be accurate, where a prop was in the real set etc. We also had to shoot without the character Woody in shots, and with a proxy for Woody in shots so those interacting had the right eye line etc. We had two cameras shooting as well at times.
So there is the post process of the mocap – where the actor wears a motion capture suit and acts out the character of Woody in the motion capture environment, clean up, 2D animation, putting the ’spoon’ skin on the mocap actor, the blend and edit as well as the normal process of post for a show.
Actually, my biggest difficulty was quieting the restaurant – it was not tough – i just felt less than glorious telling everyone “okay be quiet so we can shoot in here” but I am good at it and helped everyone to laugh about it and so what could have been a problem wasn’t.
Yes, it was a live operational restaurant and I do think that ads to the realism even though the characters you see are actors – not the real chefs or waitresses or customers. But it had a real feel to it because we were doing it in a real place with it really going on all around us. Despite stops and starts that were a normal part of the process and one huge unexpected delay caused by someone who shouldn’t have been there – we finished 32 hours ahead of schedule. So that was impressive. We worked well, handled all distractions and challenges and finished ahead of schedule. The restaurant Bristol 45 Diner in Bristol, Wisconsin was our main set location. We were also exterior in numerous places, and inside a coach bus. Plus B team shot the travel footage of the coach bus, the road signage etc that all is part of our show. Woody also is at exterior location, and on the bus. So everything that applied to the restaurant shooting applied to wherever Woody is in the script.
6/ There was mention of an irate individual or interloper? Sounds like an odd and possible funny story, can you tell us what happened?
At this time I won’t go into detail about the interloper except to say that this person is the cause of the delay I mentioned earlier. Suffice to say it was major and uncalled for – but it was handled, not completely to my satisfaction at the time, but it was handled. It is still being handled now and will be addressed again in the future but in spite of this problem person – we still finished early which is a testament to the dedication of all those on the project. We did not let this person prevent us from completing our tasks in a positive way. To be clear the interloper was in no way connected with the restaurant and had traveled some distance to create a disturbance.
7/ When does the post (mo-cap – also an interesting choice? why mo-cap?) work begin and what will be your involvement in that process? Have you seen any test footage or rough cuts of what it will look like when finished?
We have not yet seen rough footage for a variety of reasons. The process is getting underway. We hope to meet our deadlines with this project. Ron will cut it with the editor and I will be involved as much or as little as need be at that time. I am always an excellent sounding board too. As one of the two producers on the project I/we will see it through completion together. We are still working on “Late Train” and have other things in the mix as well. It has been great working together with Ron on this, and with the cast, crew and students. Kudos to all of them. I am excited to see how it will look when everything in the animated world is completed and then what the final cut of the show will be – when all is locked and scored.
From start to finish this has been an exciting project – even with delays, and with problems before, during and potentially after, it has been fun and worthwhile. Problems really only exist as opportunities to rise to the occasion, get creative, solve them and continue to move forward. I think we have a good show and will be happy when we can announce it is completed. The of course – it goes to the syndicators and those who want to see it – to determine if we have a sale. And that is another phase of Woody’s World I’ll have to report on at another time. And with good fortune – you all will be able to see Woody’s World with us.
And finally, I have mentioned how great the cast, crew and students were but I also want to say that everyone at Bristol 45 Diner from the owners, the staff and the customers were wonderful too. It was a great location, it served us well, and is a great place to visit. The bus company and the driver was great too. We were lucky to have worked with and around many incredible people. Thanks to everyone for helping make this happen.
Thanks again to Rex for sharing his Woody’s World experience and yes, with good fortune, I hope we all get to see Woody’s World soon!
MovieSet needs a ‘Summer Hiatus’… you should see how pale we are!
Posted July 9th, 2010 by: Blaine Jeffery
With the sun shining so tauntingly outside the MovieSet crew has decided that now is the perfect time to take a ‘Summer Hiatus’. I’m sure once we’re thoroughly sunburned and waterlogged we’ll return inspired and ready to continue bringing you authentic behind-the-scenes experiences!
Will you miss us? We’ll definitely miss all of you and we want to thank you for your support! Remember there are over 1,200 films on MovieSet, that’s a lot of cool on-set action to check out… I’m sure it will keep you busy until we see you again in the fall!
MovieSet
As Seen on Twitter on 2010-07-09
Posted July 9th, 2010 by: grip
- Avatar re-release on August 27th. New 3-D scene of Na'vi break dancing to save Pandora: game changer. http://ow.ly/28ViZ #avatar #
The Expendables: Stallone’s On-Set Series
Posted July 8th, 2010 by: Movie Set
Leading up to the August 13th release of The Expendables, iTunes Trailers is releasing a five part on-set diary series (Expendables don’t keep diaries).
In the first segment, debuting today, director/writer Stallone is seen commanding the cast and crew during a shootout scene. As infamous AICN head geek Harry Knowles says, the man is a fan of practical effects, something that is incredibly rare in today’s CGI heavy environment. There’s plenty of squibs, smoke canisters and wires in the b-roll.
Stallone is also seen palling around with old Rocky IV enemy Dolph Lundgren. It’s a treat to see them back together again and from the clip, we’re under the impression that Dolph’s character is on Stallone’s team (although the smart money’s on a third act betrayal).
We’re looking forward to the upcoming segments, hopefully we’ll see more of Jason Statham and Mickey Rourke. Who knows, maybe there’ll be a special behind the scenes segment for the powerhouse Stallone-Schwarzenegger-Willis trifecta. Click the image below to check out the clip.
Video: Meet the characters of Breakin’ 2: Step Up 3-D
Posted July 8th, 2010 by: Movie Set
Having never seen Step Up or Step Up 2 the Streets, we have to admit we’re a little out of our depth with this new behind the scenes clip from Step Up 3-D. From the looks of things, it’s the standard Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo plot: an evil developer/real estate mogul wants to buy up and/or demolish our heroes’ dance shangri-la. The gang (AKA the House of Pirates) only need $100,000 to buy back the building and luckily, that’s the exact amount they have a chance to win at an epic dance competition. Unfortunately, they’ll be going up against the toughest Tron-loving dance squad in New York: the House of Samurai.
Actors Adam G. Sevani, Rick Malambri (taking over for Channing Tatum), Sharni Vinson, director Jon M. Chu and choreographer Jamal Sims all share their thoughts about what we can expect from this three dimensional extension of the series. Take a look at the clip below. Tron Dancing people, tron dancing.
Bonus music video (lest we forget that the Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack provided us with Get Low by Flo Rida and T-Pain):
As Seen on Twitter on 2010-07-08
Posted July 8th, 2010 by: grip
- Bergman, ABBA, Lundgren and now, Lisbeth Salander. Thank you Sweden. http://ow.ly/28hzR #stieglarrson #
- What's a dream extractor? Four new Inception clips now up: http://ow.ly/28gjs #
As Seen on Twitter on 2010-07-06
Posted July 6th, 2010 by: grip
- http://twitpic.com/21v3ub who's ready for #Conan #
- @Carpie2112 Planning on doing the same thing for Joel Schumacher's Twelve. #schumachercomeback #
- Inception reviews are pouring in. Tempted to check them out, but want to avoid spoilers. #nolanblackout #
- #Twilight #Eclipse who's your fav character? Check out Bella http://www.scrwall.com/c/lRZ and Edward http://www.scrwall.com/c/fmM Taylor? #
- Apparently there are no Bow Wow fans out there. #
Video: Spider-Man/Peter Paker 2.0 gets crowned!
Posted July 5th, 2010 by: Movie Set
After months of speculation, Sony confirmed that new-comer Andrew Garfield will be the new Spider-Man. Last Friday, director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) and producers Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad were on hand to show off their selection to the public. Check out stills and video from the press conference below where Andrew nervously practices his ‘Hellos’ moments before going on stage.
What do you think of the pick? Do you think Andrew will make you forget about Tobey? How long before we get tired of Marc Webb puns?
New Zefron Trailer: Charlie St. Cloud
Posted July 5th, 2010 by: Movie Set
In a bit of counter programming for the end of July, Zac Efron’s new film is another shot at establishing him as a serious leading actor. If you were lucky enough to see Me & Orson Welles in theaters, you’ll know that Efron has the chops to propel him beyond teen idol.
Once a wunderkid sailing expert, Charlie’s life goes into a tailspin once his younger brother is killed in a tragic car accident. Withdrawn from those around him, he starts to see visions of his younger brother. When a new romance enters his life, Charlie must choose between clinging onto the past or moving ahead and living his life.
We’ve got the brand new trailer below. Let’s hope there’s more than just cheap sentiment when the movie arrives in theaters July 30th:
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