Update: LYNDA’s getting close to finished + a new company!
It’s been hot as hell in NC this summer. Hot everywhere across the country, too, I hear. But for certain: it’s been hot in NC. For a guy my size, sweating starts in March and ends in October. From shoot to shoot, wet t-shirt to wet t-shirt, I can measure the days by loads of laundry and sticky hampers. I love the heat, though. Everything comes alive in the heat.
1) We are nearing completion of LYNDA: We’ve been shooting a ton of scenes for the film LYNDA. And we are nearly finished. We have about 56 minutes edited, with plenty more shot already. And we are waiting on a final development that I’ll discuss in subsequent newsletters… Finishing a film is the hardest thing. To finish, you must let go of all the films it won’t be, which is emotional work. But it’s necessary work, and the end-product can be beautiful. Like any creative process that requires sustained effort over time, there are final decisions to be made about what is included, what is not, about how the visual, intellectual, and auditory elements will work together to say what is needed to say, to compel an audience to keep looking and hopefully in the end to discover something original. We are in the middle of that process now.
2) A new collaboration with an extremely talented filmmaker: There’s been a shift in my life that feels worth acknowledging (and actually has resulted in a new company altogether!): a new collaboration with a close friend and collaborator, TJ Volgare. TJ worked under Terrence Malick for several years in Hollywood as an editor before going out on his own. He’s directed a few shorts and edited/written numerous nationally acclaimed movies/series. Most recently, though, after moving back to the Triangle a decade ago to be closer to family (he’s from southern Virginia originally) TJ was struggling to maintain a career as a gigging film professional and had taken a few odd jobs at local restaurants, which is where I met him. We started working together on LYNDA and on some commercial gigs at Elemmir, and the rest is history.
It’s hard to explain what it’s like to find a collaborator who I work so well with. In Gaelic there’s a term “Anam Cara” which translates to “soul friend.” It refers to a friend that one has a deep spiritual connection with. I believe I’ve found that with TJ. We’ve been working on LYNDA together for a year now, with TJ taking the bulk of the work of editing the film. It’s a very exciting time for both of us as we near the finish line. LYNDA will be the first of hopefully many pictures we will create together.
3) A new company! So, TJ and I have started a new production company together, Exformative Entertainment: www.exformativeentertainment.com. Under this company, I’ll continue producing my films in close collaboration with TJ… already we are in early stages of developing a few new projects. Our goal is to produce feature length films and series all while staying put in our home in Durham, NC. We believe this area can have a more vibrant and successful independent film scene, and we want to help play our role in that.
4) How you can help- Monthly Contributions: All of work depends so much on community support, so if you’d like to support Exformative Entertainment, you can join our producer’s circle and offer monthly contributions. We will also be launching a fundraising campaign for LYNDA very soon to raise the $$ needed for final production days, audio mix, color corrections, original score, and online editing. So, keep an eye out for that!
Stay cool and stay in touch!
-David