WORKING ON
"THE CYCLE CONTINUES"

THE CREATIVE BRIEF

When January of 2021 came around I had draft ready. We made multiple revisions and I was ready to get one of the most pivotal parts of this project figured out - budget. I sat down with Eric Camacho (Reel Operations, LLC) and we prepared a budget to produce this film. We had to look at what was the most important to being able to pull off this project but ensure we maintained the quality that we wanted to deliver. So we had to be creative in how we approached locations, props, the cast and crew.

Early Friday morning, I woke up to a text message of images of snow covering Moose's, G&E (grip & electric), van. He informed us that he wouldn't be able to make because of the snow. So we immediately had to improvise to solve a key problem which was replacing our gaffer and grip. We were able to get G&E from Greg Boyd in which he was already the camera operator for this project. 

Also, the Coach, best friend to the main character Deshawn, was originally cast to another person but the same snow storm didn't allow him to make it. So we reached out to Anthony he showed up to set in less than an hour, went to makeup, learned his lines, rehearsed with Phil (Deshawn) and was ready for his part within two hours max.

Utilizing our relationships, Cherise was able to help us to get access to I.C.Norcom's Auditorium and Gymnasium for us to film. It was provided to us at no cost which again helps with budget. We had to inform them of the time frames we were going to need the spaces even though we were in the middle of the pandemic. Reason being, students were coming into the school for testing on certain days and time but also the students were practicing for sports in the evening. So coordination and scheduling was key because it would be very difficult to coordinate another day if we didn't film everything we needed on the day we were requesting.

One of the things we consider when scouting locations are props that are already at our locations and ensuring that they can be used and made available the day of. We also ask about where we can load and unload and get a gauge of what environment we would be working in.

So day one we filmed the begining and end of the film. Day two we filmed the middle. The main character Deshawn studying and opening his financial aid bill, the job interview, and to his present day promotion. Main part of the story is his interaction between his financial advisor who presented an opportunity for him to consider.

We used the same space to film his job interview, his interaction with his assistant, which eventually was cut, and the financial advisor conversation. In the revision of the film we used the hallway and the atrium of the office building where we were filming.

Based off of feedback from HRCF, we went back and spent a half-day filming modifications to key scenes that would help us reach a part of our target audience that we thought was left out. As you can see below we made switches in key roles to help us speak to the Asian professionals and Hispanic professionals that work alongside HRCF in their philanthropic endeavors. This wasn't an oversight but based off of scheduling it was difficult to find the talent we needed for these roles when we first started to film because of covid-19.

All in all, everyone brought their "a game" to the table to pull off this production. We met challenges but we had to rely on our creativeness and problem solving skills to be able to turn over a product that the client would be able to use and gain the results desired. In which, we know that it did and are grateful for the opportunity to be able to work on something that can be impactful for the community.

Hampton Roads Community Foundation, Inc is a great organization to partner with if you want to pursue giving to initiatives that can be deeply fulfilling.