Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A message from sylviatoyindustries: Keskarel Evolves

apologies for our recent spotty updating. while i have been trying not be a micro-managing producer and as well, distracted by my solo projects, Mike Lewis & Chris Robinson, in their planning and critique of Chris's script, have taken the project to new levels.

Mike and Chris will compose their own summaries for posting here, but, briefly, they have stripped the story of its core and are building one of the subplots - the noisy neighbors - as the heart of the story. There are new characters, new conflicts and the other night, i heard something about animation.

we also have a new intern, Nick, whose wonderful stories have a lot of potential for visual storytelling. i hope to put Nick behind a camera on one of my solo projects to get him started, so when Mike and Chris are ready to shoot, Nick will be more up to speed.

as always, thanks for reading.
- sylvia

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Keskarel: Update this week

Gmail keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>

Studio space
3 messages
keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com> Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 12:02 PM
To: Christopher Robinson, bymikelewis
hey.  as the last shoot Sapna & I did was a nightmare trying to do so many different scenes in my living room, light changes, special effects and all, i am going to try to find a space (read empty room with plain, neutral walls) that i can rent cheaply from time to time. i know from theatre and voice study that such rooms exist. it is likely that if rented for a block of time, a person could bring in necessary furniture, etc. just for the rental time, just like you can do for theatre.

--


Thanks.
The Keskarel the Movie production team


Christopher Robinson Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 1:18 AM
To: keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>
Okay, so far I have two ideas for a movie, the first is extending the piece I wrote about our therapist, the second is about an ape that is born with human hands. He becomes a doctor (The incredible Doctor Guthrie) His wife dies, after a controversial marriage, that inspires some politicians to say, "see look what happens when you let the gays get married." He also meets a man or woman that is dying of cancer to make money in order to pay for their kemo treatments they somehow hatch up the idea to sell him to the zoo. Since our incredible doctor is addicted to drugs and suicidal he ends up getting tricked into going cross country with this person. When they get to the zoo our kemo character cannot go through with it, consequently signing their own death warrant. I am working on a third that can connect with these two. I am thinking maybe it could be a series of shorts where all the characters are at the same bar confessing something about their lives.

Also, I got an intern to help with the movie - he really wants to help with a possible new project. I had him send me a couple of his stories and he is in an improvising troupe, I forget what they are called, but he is very motivated and reliable and I want to send them to you. I hope you are doing well Sylvia. I have the day off tomorrow and I would love to meet up and discuss all these things with you.

keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com> Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 7:18 AM
To: Christopher Robinson
hey. let's talk today. i have holiday today. let's first work on your resume, okay?  i am starting a new performance art project that i have to do starting about one in order to have the best shooting light. we can meet before or after.

also, mike seems to think if you develop the therapist story to be big enough to be pivotal, the rest of keskarel may be doable around it. not sure what he means ...

Sunday, January 1, 2012

A message from sylviatoyindustries: happy 2012


Happy New Year. I hope that you have good things to look forward to in 2012. We sure do - especially now that co-directors Michael Lewis and Chris Arthur-Henly Robinson have begun their collaboration to realize Keskarel. They are energetic and excited about working on the movie, and highly motivated - Chris wants to shoot a scene as soon as possible and Mike is dedicating a lot of creative thought to making a real person out of Keskarel, by developing the story of her relationship with her husband, Mikhail, giving her goals and put simply, a little backbone.

When Mike and I met, I jokingly asked him how many flashbacks Chris wanted. Without blinking, he said "two."  I was taught and have difficulty letting go of the philosophy that flashbacks are inherently something to be avoided. But Mike had the same dramatic writing teacher that I had, and handles flashbacks like a virtuoso. I do agree with the boys that Keskarel and Mikhail’s relationship needs to play more deeply and real, since what went wrong between them not only led to the inciting incident, but also is a major clue to their respective characters and motivations.

Ironed out: Mikhail is an ambitious young lawyer pursuing the "American Dream." Keskarel was not mature enough when she got married. They are not newlyweds. She is flaky, creative, spatial and way too artsy fartsy not to frequently collide head-on with her upwardly mobile husband's plans. Mike and Chris are still developing what leads up to the inciting incident - namely the beaning of Mikhail with the frozen chicken.

After Mike and Chris meet again later this week I will have a better idea of what and when our first shoot will be.