Screen Shots

Over at the  I Am What I Play Facebook page, we have been posting screen shots from the film on a regular basis.   If you’re on Facebook, be sure and like the page for updates on the movie.  We will continue to update this blog but the Facebook page has more up to the minute action:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Am-What-I-Play/297875140261718

Having said that, here are a few screen shots from the film:

 

Charles Laquidara in a 1970’s TV commercial for his morning radio show, The Big Mattress.

Meg Griffin in the WNEW studios in New York City, late 1970’s.

David Marsden being inducted into the Canadian Music and Radio Broadcast Hall of Fame in 2011.

Newspaper ad for Pat O’Day’s radio show in the late 60’s.

I Am What I Play Facebook page

Although the plan is to continue to update this blog, we live in a world of social media now, in case you didn’t hear.   We’ll be posting regular updates about the film on the newly launched I Am What I Play Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Am-What-I-Play/297875140261718?ref_type=bookmark

Be sure and go to the page and “like” it and then you will be part of the I Am What I Play family and see those regular updates in your news feed.  We’ve posted a few pics and other odds ‘n ends not seen on this blog so have a look and…like it!

Or if Twitter is more your style, we’re at:

https://twitter.com/voiceovercanada

But more to come here on this blog/site as well.

Testing, Testing

In February, we completed two test screenings of the film.  Intimate locations – the screening room of a post-production facility.  About 15 people in attendance each night.  I served wine.  I know it’s rock radio so an Australian Merlot doesn’t immediately come to mind but I’m just trying to add a touch of class to the proceedings. (Editor note:  I even took a picture of the wine and glasses but my picture upload is not cooperating!).

Needless to say, it was a thrill to sit and watch the finished product with a live audience.  Now I knew almost everyone at both screenings but it was still a nice mix of a few radio/voice over types, a few old friends, a couple of people who worked on the film and even a couple of strangers who have nothing to do with radio, TV or film.  The feedback was universally positive – people really seemed to love the film.   And I do have friends and colleagues who can dish out the constructive criticism when it’s warranted.

In this case, it was mostly constructive praise.  Criticism was mainly of the “tweaking” variety.  I gave them all a questionnaire to fill out at the end.  Some comments:

You meted out the story telling with each character in such a way as to make the point on that portion and move on to the next. I thought your timing was excellent.

” Well produced!!  Very interesting subject matter, a great range of music, and visually compelling. ”

“The best film about radio I’ve ever seen.”

I was looking for any obvious holes or segments that didn’t work or make sense.  There was very little of that so here we go:  I have begun the outreach to broadcasters and distributors.  Another journey has begun.  I am trying to avoid the pounding the pavement on the film festival circuit, though Friday was the deadline for submitting to the Toronto International Film Festival and I dropped it off in person.   Updates to follow!

 

Radio Survivor piece on I Am What I Play

Matthew Lasar has a nice piece on the Radio Survivor website about the film.   Have a look:

“I Am What I Play”: Documenting the Rock DJ

 

http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2014/01/30/i-am-what-i-play-documenting-the-rock-dj/

Lucas Said It All

We started shooting this film in the fall of 2011 and on the first day of 2014, I can happily report that except for about a day’s worth of edit tweaks, it’s ready for test screenings.  Those who have made a film before will chuckle at that “except for…” as the George Lucas quote is so applicable: “A film is never done, it’s just abandoned.” (This is actually a paraphrase of a Leonardo Da Vinci quote about art)

We’ll be doing some test screenings in mid-January and then I’m going to pound the pavement to get a movie deal.  Wish us luck.  I’ll keep you posted.

Here are a few pics from various shoot days:

Production Manager David Jermyn and his wife Becky Keigh in a re-creation scene of a 1950's couple on the verge of breaking up while Pat O'Day's radio show plays in the car.

 

Interview with Meg Griffin. New York City, July 2012.

View of the Charles River from the top of the Prudential Tower in Boston.

Inside The Marsden Theatre. David Marsden radio show, The Rock, 94.9.

Charles and the Charles River

I suppose the first entry on this “I Am What I Play” blog should have coincided with the first official day of shooting.  We confess that we have already shot some days with David Marsden in Toronto.  I’m not sure if we count the day back in March when Marsden was inducted into the Canadian Music and Broadcasting Hall of Fame (http://bit.ly/9TpzuY).  We were there with our camera but at the time, the budget for our film wasn’t even finalized – we just knew we had to capture this event anyway.  So, it didn’t really have that “official first day” vibe to it.  So was the official start of shooting the first interview day with Marsden last month?   Our DOP, David Cain (http://vimeo.com/channels/davidjcain) expressed surprise that I had scheduled 3 hours for the interview.  “I’ve never shot an interview that lasted longer than an hour.  Three hours is a long interview!”  The sound man concurred.  I explained that our subjects are rock radio DJ’s.  They know how to talk.

Among many claims to fame, Marsden is best known as the creator of modern rock station CFNY.  We spent 3 hours with him on a September afternoon and only just got to the point where he is about to join CFNY!  I rest my case.  We also have shot an evening at Marsden’s radio station, 94.9 The Rock, where he hosts The Marsden Theatre, every Saturday and Sunday evening (www.marsdenglobal.com).  We will schedule more with David in November and we shall blog in detail about the magic of Marsden.

But some might say that the real shooting begins when you leave the comforts of your hometown and hit the road – or, in this case, the airport, U.S. visas and carnet in hand.  We spent a week in Boston (aka Bah-ston) October 9-16 and explored the life of one of our four guys – the legendary Charles Laquidara (WBCN).   He was charming and a fine storyteller, weaving tales of a struggling actor in Hollywood making it big on Boston radio, complete with several false firings and a couple years of cocaine-induced inactivity.  Also met the unforgettable Oedipus, former WBCN Program Director, and the man who hosted the first punk rock radio show in America.

Attempts to land an interview with the enigmatic Peter Wolf of J Geils Band proved unsuccessful.  In the late 60’s, Wolf had been the overnight DJ on WBCN before leaving to pursue J Geils full-time.  In came Charles Laquidara who eventually moved to mornings, where he would remain until 1996 when he completed a smooth segue to sister station WZLX in order to make way for Howard Stern on WBCN.

With the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series, Woody Allen served as the inspiration in that shooting was always wrapped up in time to watch the games (Woody shuts down production early on New York Knicks game days).  Cold Sam Adams on tap of course!  This director was therefore less than enthusiastic when pressured to rise at 5:00 am one morning so that our esteemed cinematographer could be at the ready on the Cambridge side of the Charles River in order to secure his money shot time lapse of the sun coming up over the pristine buildings of downtown Boston.  In retrospect, I’m of course glad Mr Cain pushed for this.  Laquidara was after all a morning man.

I feel like we finally got a sense of Boston – the city that, according to Laquidara, requires three GPS’s to navigate.  We settled for one $100 purchase at Radio Shack on Day 2, making our Production Manager, David Jermyn, a happy man.  Breakfasts at Buddy’s; Beers at The End of the World.  A little city and radio history in between.  Back in Toronto now.  Seattle and Pat O’Day await in December.   But more updates to come between now and then!

Former WBCN morning man Charles Laquidara (“The Big Mattress”) and Director Roger King “on the set”.