So...at the meeting, Manny lays out the situation and the situation is thus: the film is in trouble. Penny isn't getting any better after trying a pharmacy's worth of allergy meds and allergy shots seem to be the last, unpleasant alternative. The hotel shoot (due to her problems and time constraints) has turned up very little usable footage (or at least footage on par with the quality of earlier shoots) and would prohibitively expensive to repeat. The budget looks close to blown already and we've only completed 15 to 20% of principal photography. I scoffed at that figure at first, since story-wise we've filmed about half of the script. But logistically, the scenes we have left to film will require much more time, manpower and organization than the scenes already in the can. And worst of all, Manny seems to be losing enthusiasm for the project. That's what worries me the most; all through filming, highs and lows, Manny has always been positive and seen this as the first of many great projects. Now he doesn't know if he even wants to do another one.
We talked about solutions. Firstly would be recasting Penny. Disastrous, as it would essentially invalidate most of what we've shot so far, but Penny's other committments (including a permanent move to LA in the fall) mean we either have to get this done soon or not at all in its current form. With a new female lead, we would have the leisure to film when able and the budget could regenerate to a degree. Not a tempting prospect, as Penny is irreplaceable, but Manny has a few other available actresses in mind if it should come to that. Another option would be to shorten the film, cutting several scenes and making it a featurette OR expanding the dancing scenes, both of which reduce the amount of filming time with me and Penny. Quitting altogether was floated, but no one really wanted to consider it. One idea from the bottom of the barrel was casting two or four more actors and splitting the movie up into thirds, following the same storyline but with different actors in the lead roles to show the universality of the conflicts that blah blah blah whatever...maybe a good idea if the production was designed around it but it smacks a bit too much of "Bowfinger"-like desperation to me.
It ultimately comes down to Manny being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the project and us being faced with some obstacles that may be killers due to the tight schedule we're on. So we're going to think about it. We cancelled the shoot for that night (it was a short car scene so no big deal there) and decided to take 30 minutes or so and rehearse the scenes we're scheduled to do this weekend. And they were awesome. I'm not the script's number one fan, I think the story as a whole is a bit precious and clunky...but when those words come out of our mouths, I want this thing to see the screen. I feel like Penny and I embody and have tackled our characters in a way that really elevates the material and makes the script complete as a story. And that's why I want it to go on. We'll see.
Oh and here's a quote/pic from a MALE actor. I realized I had some kind of gay icon thing going on previously (unconsciously, natch), so before I got to Cher in Moonstruck, I figured it was time to get the mans up ins.
