Re: Lawsuits and Nudity (NSFW?)

DISCLAIMER - THERE ARE PICTURES OF NAKED ACTORS IN THIS POST.

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE SAID ACTORS

IN VARIOUS STATES OF UNDRESS.

You may not know this, but there's a battle being waged right now between an actress named Anne Green and the producers of a show called Femme Fatales that, somewhere along the line, was meant for Cinemax (aka worldwide as "Skin-emax")... 

The crux of the suit is this: Ms. Green alleges that she was coerced ("bullied" or forced) into simulated sex scenes and nudity during the production of the show. Incredibly, or perhaps not so incredibly depending on your stance, the companies named in the suit are counter suing for breach of contract. 

I recently blogged on this murky topic for the site Stage32, which is a sort of Facebook for film creatives, and what follows is a (slightly modified) version of that blog. It's murky because I've been on a set or two (not mine) in which I could see how an actor might be pressured into going a bit further than he or she otherwise might be comfortable. I also know all too well, what it's like to be a producer as the minutes tick away (along with the money) while a director creates new blocking on the fly to accommodate an actor who is... less than agreeable about all those little deal points he or she initially agreed to.

So, here's my take on the dueling "Nudity Rider" lawsuits: 

I have produced a number of projects featuring nudity - everything from shorts to features to music videos. It should first be said that the shooting of any scene in which any actor needs to be nude (or simulate sexual situations) is a very strategic process, and the filmmakers (and crew) must all take into account the uncomfortable nature of such scenes - it is, therefore, the job of the filmmakers to make the set as comfortable as possible for those performers during the shoot. 

Actors and actresses are, particularly in this day and age, used to the process - the cast members of Game of Thrones or True Blood, for example, are damn near experts by now - but the parameters by which any scene is put on film (or digital) is very specific, and no two sex scenes are exactly alike in the handling. 

Game of Thrones (HBO)

True Blood (HBO)

Nudity Riders are brought up, by honest filmmakers, at the beginning of any initial conversations with cast. Like, in the meeting phase. I actually point out sex scenes or nude scenes in a script when I first talk to reps. Conversely, reps tend to know which of the actors (male or female) at their agency are amenable to scenes like this, which makes the process mercifully easier in the negotiation phase. 

Nonetheless, one must always be aware that, in the internet age, whatever these young men or women do onscreen, will live forever on the web... and that's a hard pill to swallow... especially for young actresses who are asked (far more than their male counterparts) to lose their clothes in a scene. This is also why you see, more often than not these days, sex scenes in which nobody actually gets naked. Still, there are actors of every age, weight, race... whatever... who have no qualms about nudity (Kate Winslet, Michael Fassbender and Marisa Tomei come to mind) and there are those who will just never do it. 

Black Swan (Fox Searchlight/Cross Creek)

I've had negotiations so detailed that deal points come down to not only which body part/s will be shown but, literally, the amount of frames in any one shot that will be shown in the Final Cut of the film. Frames! [Note: One frame is 1/24 of a second.] Of course, I don't begrudge any actor (or their teams) for this kind of specificity. I completely understand why they'd want to know what's going in the picture and for how long.

Where things get tricky (and I assume this happens more in indie film), is when an actor shows up on the day, having signed the Nudity Rider weeks or even months earlier, knowing full-well the content of the screenplay, only to have second thoughts or... to protest in some fashion as to force the filmmaker to re-conceive the scene. This, too, has happened to me as well as a number of directors and producers I know.

9 1/2 Weeks (MGM)

So, wait... Why couldn't you just show the actor the contract they signed and compel him or her to do the scene as written? Well, this is littered with complication: How many shooting days are left? Does this actor or actress work the majority of the remaining days? Will there be animosity between the talent and the director? How much of a delay will fighting over this issue cause? Is this a situation where we'll have to call their reps?

     Last Tango in Paris (UA)

So, what do you do? The truth of the matter is this: On an indie film, you generally don't have time to waste trying to get agents or managers on the phone. You also can't afford to have your actors working against your director for the rest of the shoot, not to mention that, if scheduled later in the shoot, it'll be too late to "make a change" in cast and consequently, the scenes usually get rewritten or reimagined. 

Here's where you're thinking, "but it's a contract, right? Why would it be tricky?" Well. It's tricky because actors KNOW that you most likely have limited time and probably no money... They know that if you're further into your shoot schedule, you'll be locked in and so, (perhaps not so surprisingly) an unscrupulous actor will agree to everything in advance, knowing full-well that when it comes to the shoot day, he or she can find any number of reasons to explain why the nudity no longer works in the context of the scene for him or her... or any other myriad excuses... and so: OMIT.

Blue Is The Warmest Color (Wild Bunch)

In the past, I'd always tried to be a nice person and have asked my AD's to schedule nudity or simulated sex scenes for later in the schedule so that the actors have time to become comfortable - not only with one another, but also with the crew - but I've been burnt... so now, I ask my AD's to front-load those scenes if possible - even on Day One... this way, if the actor has agreed and the Rider has been signed (and provided the director isn't trying to add shots which weren't agreed upon per the contract), on the day, if the actor resists, you still have a shot at re-casting if the director feels compromised... the flip side is that, if the filmmaker determines they can live without the nudity, you move on accordingly.

Ultimately, there are ways to avoid this issue prior to your standing on the set and preparing the shot, and again, the goal is to make everyone feel comfortable "on the day." 

For me, personally, I wouldn't want to hire a woman to play a stripper in a film who wasn't willing to be nude. I also hate the 'L' shaped covers in a film. I mean, really, who does this?

(This, of course, is a joke... right?)

Obviously, I don't have the full details of this particular case, but in my mind, when you sign a contract, you've made a deal, and as a producer in the indie spectrum, I'll be very curious to see how this plays out.

My advice to actors..? If you don't want to be naked in a film, you PrObAbLy shouldn't take a role which requires nudity. And filmmakers? Be honest. Be upfront. Then stick to the terms of the Rider. Whatever is agreed upon in advance, is what will be: 4 frames of full frontal nudity? Fine. Side-boob (with visible nipple)? That's it. That's all you get. No inventing stuff on set.

If you want to have a look at the article about the case, you can find it here: The Hollywood Reporter

Oh, and those stories of Paul Verhoeven sneaking the shot of Sharon Stone's... nether region... into BASIC INSTINCT? Don't believe it for a second.

S

POST PRODUCTION and THE SAG FOUNDATION

I was recently offered the opportunity to speak at the SAG FOUNDATION on the topic of Post Production. I dragged my good friend (and editor of my last three films) Jeff Castelluccio along and, though he hadn't intended to be a panelist, he ended up on stage with producer Sebastian Dungan and myself. Sebastian has produced a number of films - from the festival hit TRANSAMERICA, to the scathing documentary INEQUALITY FOR ALL. The program was moderated by Kelly Thomas of Juntobox Films

You can check out the full Q&A here:

I want to thank Dennis Baker of the SAG Foundation for the opportunity to speak with the members of my union and I hope to do more in the future.

By way of information, The SAG Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1985 that "provides vital assistance and educational programming to the professionals of SAG-AFTRA while serving the public at large though its signature children's literacy programs." They are separate from SAG-AFTRA, and rely solely on support from grants, corporate sponsorship and individual donations in order to maintain its programs and create new ones.

I've had the privilege, for several years now, to read to children in "at-risk" schools in my area through the SAG Foundation's BOOK PALS program (you DON'T need to be a Screen Actors Guild member to volunteer!) and I've loved every minute of it.

All of this is to say that there are some very valuable and rewarding programs offered to both members and non-members alike and, if you can, I highly recommend making a contribution to the Foundation.

More updates soon.

Regarding Sarah Jones

This is a reposting of a blog I wrote for Stage32.com

If you've been following the news lately, you've likely heard about Sarah Jones, a 2nd AC who was struck and killed by a train while working on the new Allman Brothers biopic, MIDNIGHT RIDER.

Over the past few days, more and more information has been coming to light, and I wanted to weigh in as a producer...

I should mention that there is little concrete information out of Georgia at this point, but this is what is known: "The crew, including director Randall Miller, had been warned to expect two trains on the local bridge, one in each direction, and waited until after those two trains had passed to set up their shot, which involved placing a bed on the tracks. The railroad had also told the production that if any additional trains came, they’d hear a whistle about a minute before the train would reach the bridge.

Sarah Jones

A third train did arrive unexpectedly, blowing its whistle while the crew was on the bridge and the bed was on the track. Crew members ran toward their base camp, which was on land at one end of the bridge, using a plank walkway on the side of the trestle bridge. However in doing so they ran toward the bed. That proved disastrous.

Miller, who also directed the 2008 film “Bottle Shock,” and a still photographer rushed to get the bed off the tracks. Miller fell onto the tracks but the still photographer pulled him off, according to the witness, saving his life. The train was unable to stop and crossed the bridge while the crew was still on the walkway and the bed was still on the tracks.

The bed was hit by the train and shattered, sending debris flying. One large piece of debris hit Jones as she was running and knocked her onto the tracks. She was then struck by the train and killed. Debris also hit and injured several other people, including one who was seriously injured and airlifted to Savannah’s Memorial Health University Medical Center." – Source: Variety.

Sarah Jones

I have produced three feature films at this point in my career, but this is my 20th year in the industry, and what I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, is that there are several people who should be held criminally liable for the tragic death of Sarah Jones if, in fact, the information we currently have proves true.

One of the first jobs I ever had on a feature film, was as a set P.A. on Katherine Bigelow's film STRANGE DAYS. In the film, there is a sequence in which a woman flees a murder scene and runs across a series of train tracks as she's chased by a pair of dirty cops (played by Vincent D'Onofrio and William Fichtner).

My job for that night, was to be driven in a van more than three and a half miles down the track in City of Industry, where I would wait trackside with a military style repeater walkie. My ONLY job that night was to announce over the radio if I saw a train coming at me, at which point the First AD. Steve Danton would clear the track.

In truth, my job that night was redundant - a rep from Southern Pacific was already with the AD's on set and monitoring their own walkie channels in case any unscheduled trains may have made their way toward "the set." 

In my roughly 14 hours in my lock-up, there were (maybe) two trains. Both were scheduled, and in both cases the AD's were given advance warning by the rep for Southern Pacific and by me. Nobody was hurt.

This crew had ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to be on that track. Plain and simple. They should NEVER have been there. And now a bright, beautiful young woman is dead.

On a recent project, I had the distinct pleasure of watching our First A.D. make a judgement call which took to mind the SAFETY of the crew BEFORE any other obligation to the story or filmmaker, and that's EXACTLY as it should be.

When the below the line crew show up for work each day, it is their belief that the grown-ups on the set (Above the line crew), and the 1st A.D., other A.D.'s and location reps have done their diligence and have assured the safety of the unit. It should never be the concern of the rank and file crew to ask for the permit or to inquire as to their own safety. That safety is implicit, and simply by their showing up at call, there should be NO REASON to question the preparedness of the production.

Regardless, of anything, Sarah Jones died because the Producers, locations people and A.D.'s failed her. And that fact is sickening.

If you are a producer or an A.D., let the senseless death of this woman with such a bright future be your wake-up call. There is no such thing as "cinematic immunity." YOU are responsible for the safety of your crew.

Sarah Jones was let down by her producers, locations reps and A.D.'s, and for that... for trusting and not questioning (as most crew often do and SHOULD BE ABLE TO), she lost her life.

As a producer, I will always and ONLY work with A.D.'s who place the safety of the cast and crew at the top of their list - A.D.'s like Scott Kirkley, Seth Edelstein, Carey Dietrich and their teams. A.D.'s who will stand their ground and say "no," when it matters. To me, they'll only need to say it once.

RIP, Sarah. May your death prevent others dying in the future.

Finishing...

After producing a short film for director Soichiro Watanabe, and casting a young actor named Jerad Anderson in a small role, I was approached by Jerad about a project he and his wife were in the beginning stages of creating. He asked if I'd read the script of a young writer-director named Justin Lerner they had met at Sundance. Jerad and Kristina had recently created a production company and were looking for guidance on how to start the process of making a feature film. I was in the fortunate position of having one indie feature under my belt (and years of big-budget experience), and I was about to be the recipient of an amazing gift.

I had no idea to what extent my life was about to change... nor of the long journey I would be embarking on.

The script, of course, was GIRLFRIEND, and I was intrigued. I then watched Justin's short film and my mind was blown. You can watch it here and I'm sure you'll see why I became immediately interested.

At it's best, I thought, GIRLFRIEND would be an impressive and challenging film. At worst, it would be merely controversial. Either way, I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

I had a lot of questions and insisted that I would only be interested in coming aboard if I could be involved from a creative aspect. Jerad and Kristina listened to my notes and suggestions and agreed with most, if not all of them. The next step was to meet Justin.

We met in April of 2009. I liked him from the start and knew we'd work well together. My energy tends to be low-level calm, while Justin has a high-level, excited rate at which her operates (no doubt due to the gallons of caffeine he consumes each day). He had (and still has) an extreme passion for film and an innate knowledge of story, character, theme and tension. His cinematic style (as evidenced by his short), was incredibly well-honed, and I knew there would be a great collaboration between all of us.

Once I had spoken with Justin's attorney and been vetted by his agent at WME, I officially signed on and, for all intents and purposes, Pre-Production began.

The process was fairly simple at first. Jerad, Kristina and I submitted notes. Justin began polishing the script. I began to budget and create preliminary drafts of the schedule. We started the process with the Screen Actors Guild, engaged the talents of the excellent Brad Gilmore (our Casting Director), and started to look for talent.

By this point, we knew we had two actors - Jerad's friend and bandmate Jackson Rathbone, and Evan Sneider, who would be making his feature debut.

That's how it all began. Less than a month later, we had key crew members in Massachusetts scouting locations and four months after that, we were shooting thanks to Jerad and Kristina's ardent work locking down financing.

About a year after we began shooting, we made our debut at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews.

We went on to play the 2011 Festroia Int'l Film Festival, 2011 Moscow International Film Festival, The Galway Film Fleadh (in Ireland), 2011 Woods Hole Film Fest, White Sands Int'l, 2011 Mill Valley Film Fest, 2011 Flanders Int'l Film Fest (Ghent), 2011 Sao Paulo Film Festival, 2012 San Francisco Indie Fest and the 2012 Sonoma Int'l Film Fest.

Among the awards we picked up were the Audience Award at the 2011 IFP Gothsm Independent Film Awards, the Jury Prize for "Best Narrative Feature" at Woods Hole, the Audience Award for "Best of the Fest" at Woods Hole, the Grand Jury Prize at White Sands as well as Best Director, the "Fabulous Feature" Award at Hell's Half Mile and the Audience Award for "Best U.S. Feature Film" at Mill Valley.

Now, three years after this journey began for me, we are finally finished.

Last weekend, Justin and I attended the 15th Annual Sonoma International Film Festival.

This was, as far as we know, our last opportunity to see the film projected on a big screen. The audiences there were great, the Q and A's full of intelligent questions and the parties were overflowing with great wine and good food.

It was a fitting close to the process of carrying the film through it's creation and out into the world where it was meant to live... and now, on August 7th of this year, we'll be waiting to hear from all of the people who've supported us along the way - many of whom have yet to see the film, but who have remained steadfast and oh so kind - trumpeting our adventures to their friends and families and lifting our spirits when the walls placed before us seemed insurmountable.

And so, while there is a sadness in me that this particular journey is over, there is also a great satisfaction... and a sense of pride for what we (the filmmakers) have been able to accomplish... All along the way, we were operating on the edge, constantly facing peril; whether it was having our initial investors leave the project, or handling scheduling conflicts with talent, or avoiding impending weather that might have shut us down had it not come only hours later - and yet, we made it.

In closing, I'd just like to thank everyone who got us here (you know who you are)...

The list would be far too long to name all of you, but in particular, I simply must thank:

Jerad and Kristina Anderson for bringing me onto the film.
Justin Lerner for writing such a beautiful and moving screenplay and for having such a dynamic vision as a filmmaker.
Evan Sneider for his immense talent as an actor.
Scott Kirkley and Mike Whitecar for their particular skill and commitment.
Quyen Tran and her team (Alex Cason, Tom Clancy, Dagmar Weaver-Madsen, Alex DeMille, Matt Tomko et. al.) for their intense and wide-ranging talents and their incredible collective "eye."
Eric Bautista for giving his all and because his all is just so damned good.
To June for being the adorable, talented pixie that she is and making the characters come to life through that talent.
To my brother and friend Jeff Castelluccio for his art, focus, heart, rhythm and patience.
To my wife for her unending support of me in this crazy business and for her willingness to leap off the edge with me no matter what.

And last, but certainly not least, to all of my family members, friends and followers both here and on Facebook and Twitter... To all of those named above and everyone else who made the film possible, I thank you.

GIRLFRIEND will be released August 7th, 2012 by Strand Releasing and will be available via all major online retailers, such as Amazon and on VOD via sites like Netflix.

What's next?!

Adventures in Gotham aka "HOLY SH*T, WE WON!"

As most of you know by now, our film GIRLFRIEND, (after a successful run of collecting Audience Awards at various festivals in the US and abroad), became eligible for the Festival Genius Award at the 2011 Gotham Independent Film Awards...

In case you don't follow me on Twitter, here's how it works: After selecting 29 films, the IFP website opened the first round of voting. From those 29 films, the nominees were cut down to the top 5.

After making the first cut, we were officially invited, as nominees, to attend the show at New York's famed Cipriani Restaurant and the after-party at Andaz.

Our competition was pretty fierce... BEING ELMO, THE FIRST GRADER, BUCK and WILD HORSE, WILD RIDE were all extremely well-liked films.

To be quite honest, despite the groundswell of support from the Twitterverse, fans of 100 Monkeys, fans of Shannon Woodward (even a tweet of support by Katy Perry, herself, Shannon's good friend)... even after all of that, I still didn't think we'd win. Or perhaps that was just my way of tempering expectations.

Well. We won.

I'll back up just a bit now. Justin and I met up in Brooklyn an hour or two before the event.

We were almost headed out when Justin's wonderful girlfriend Sarah realized that his slacks didn't exactly match his sport-coat (I'm not ratting him out here, he admitted this to an interviewer from Style on the red carpet). Fortunately, he had the correct pair.

Sarah snapped this pic of us before we headed out:

Evan and Kristina would be arriving separately and so Justin and I headed for Wall Street. The event coordinators had told us to allow for significant delays due to the Occupy Movement nearby.

This was actually my first time in the financial district. The area was packed. People everywhere. We ended up there a bit early and decided to walk around for a while. Justin wanted to check out Zuccotti Park to see how packed it was. The idea made me a little nervous because, well, frankly, we were in costume as the 1% that night - no matter how far from it we actually are as indie filmmakers.

In the end, we didn't end up finding the park and we had to get back to Cipriani to meet our new Publicist Sarah (taking over for the fabulous Corie Chu who is out of the country).

We quickly met up with Sarah, Evan, Kristina and her father who Kristina kindly brought as her +1 since her hubby (producer/actor/composer) Jerad Anderson is touring Europe with the 100 Monkeys.

Sarah had all of our invitations and, before we knew it, it was time to head to the red carpet.

This, boys and girls, is truly an insane experience. Here's how it worked: Sarah walks first, ahead of Justin and Evan. She holds up two sheets of paper which read: "Justin Lerner, Nominee, Audience Award, Writer/Director, 'Girlfriend'" and "Evan Sneider, Nominee, Audience Award, Lead Actor, 'Girlfriend.'" As soon as she passes, the guys start their walk and the flash bulbs begin to go off. I had always joked with my wife that if I was afforded the opportunity to be one of the people who the papp's wanted a photo of, I'd probably have to wear sunglasses to avoid having a migraine... or worse, some sort of seizure. On this night, I realized, I needn't worry.

Kristina and I went next. Sarah did the info paper thing for us and, just as with Justin and Evan, we were blinded by a strobe of lights - "Over here! Shaun, Kristina! Look over here, please!" "Kristina! Right here! Look here in the middle!" "This way, guys, this way!"

It's pretty wild. These videos don't begin to do it justice... it's a bit of sensory overload, in reality... but have a look:

 

We were followed up the carpet by Evan Glodell, director of BELLFLOWER and a very attractive young woman who, I believe, is one of his cast members from the film. Behind them was Beau Bridges who, along with the lovely and talented Shailene Woodley and the great Robert Forster, was there to represent THE DESCENDANTS with filmmaker Alexander Payne.

Near the end of the red carpet, Justin was interviewed by the IFP... In the background, you can see me shooting (with my iPhone) the videos above.

Once we had made our way through the phalanx of reporters and photogs, Sarah guided is to the bar. From there, we wandered the room saying hello to people and talking with other filmmakers for about 40 minutes. The room had giant tv screens at either end as well as in the upper lounge area, and every so often, you'd hear the volume level rise to a fever pitch, look up at the screen and see Charlize Theron or Tilda Swinton... pretty cool.

Finally, they made the announcement that everyone should find their seats.

 

  HOUSE LEFT SIDE - CIPRIANI

I started the evening at a different table than the GIRLFRIEND crew and was seated with my friend at table 41 with the good people from RBC Bank, a co-sponsor of the event.

This is the view from my seat:

RIGHT IN THE CENTER OF IT ALL.

EVAN, PRE-SHOW.

DURING THE SHOW.

My friend, who I was seated with, is a well-known and extremely well-respected filmmaker, in addition to being a former Gotham Award nominee himself (not to mention Oscar© nominee!)  He was, most assuredly the reason I had such a great seat. In fact, he had served on one of the Jury's for the awards that very night. As actors Oliver Platt and Edie Falco began the festivities, he was feeling quite confident that the award would be ours. As I mentioned, I wasn't. Still, I was enjoying it all.

As it turns out, ours was the first award of the night! I actually hadn't looked at the program for the evening, so I had no idea that it would happen so fast!

When Zachary Quinto (who I'm a huge fan of) and Sarah Paulson (also a big fan of) took to the stage to introduce the nominated films and the short clip package, well... I got nervous. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to win. My friend put his hand on my shoulder. "You guys are going to win it. I can feel it," he said.

I should mention at this point that my friend had no access to results other than in his own category (Ensemble), so he really was just being hopeful and supportive...

We watched the clip reel with that amazing audience and fellow nominees. Finally, the moment arrived...

"...the Audience Award goes to... 'GIRLFRIEND'!"

I couldn't believe it! I looked at my friend who had let out a huge roar when they said "Girlfriend"... He smiled a huge smile and said, "Get up there, man! Get your coat and get up there!"

I could kind of hear Zachary Quinto calling out names... I know I heard Justin's, but that was it. Only later did I find out that he said all of the producers names as well.

I stood up, shaking my head in disbelief as I put on my coat. What you can't tell from the live feed is that there were more than 800 guests at the event slotted into gigantic round tables of 8 people each. I scanned the crowd toward Table 8, where Justin, Evan and Kristina were seated and watched as they made their way through the crowd with the same stunned expression I had on.

We reached the stage. Here's how it looked as it happened.

 

As we walked off, I shook Zachary's hand and Sarah Paulson's, thanking them. I was still in shock, but I did find a moment to be amused that I had just done what I had seen so many other winners do on various award shows - look around after the speech and be confused as to which way to walk off-stage!!!

I realized that I had left my phone at the table and was SO BUMMED because we got taken immediately upstairs to the press room for the post-win interviews which meant that I wouldn't be able to take the calls that I knew were practically blowing up my phone just then.

A funny thing happened on the way to the press room - our IFP chaperone was leading us upstairs when a very large Secret Service type tried to block our entry! Our chaperone assured the man that we had won and, after a moment of consideration, he finally allowed us to pass.

We took photos backstage with a couple of gorgeous Russian girls who were repping Standard Vodka - another of the evening's sponsors - while Evan signed some autographs and took some pictures. Justin got whisked away to do an interview with Filmmaker Magazine and then, while we waited, we helped ourselves to some more drinks and snacks - Being the first award, we were missing dinner!

Once we had completed our interviews, we headed back to our seats. A short time later, I joined the team at Table 8, where I was introduced to the very gracious producers of the other nominated films in our category.

The rest of the night was pretty great, I gotta tell ya. We talked with the other filmmakers, watched as Gary Oldman and Charlize Theron got their tribute awards... laughed at Patton Oswalt's hilarious conversation with her - she made him stay on stage with her while she gave her speech - and generally just enjoyed the night.

When the event came to a close, we milled about for a while talking to various celebs - Felicity Jones (winner for Breakthrough Performance for LIKE CRAZY and the one serious upset of the night), John Hawkes, Alexander Payne, Jim Jarmusch, David Cronenberg, Elizabeth Olsen...

Evan had his eye on two or three people he really wanted to speak with though, and he got them both:

Evan and Christopher Plummer.

Evan and Stanley Tucci (Sorry it's hard to see!)

I walked over as Evan was wrapping up (what I'm told was about) a 10 minute conversation with Mr. Tucci - the man was soooo nice and so kind.

Finally, we made our way over to Andaz for the after-party.

No pictures from that. What happens at Andaz stays at Andaz. : )

In all seriousness, it was amazing. We got to talk to a ton of celebs, including an actor who gave one of my favorite supporting performances this year (and who got nominated for a Spirit Award the next morning!). It was an amazing night!

Evan headed out as things began to wind down and Justin and I headed for SoHo to an after-after-party.

That night, when I arrived at my friends' home in Brooklyn (where I was staying), I found signs his kids had drawn tacked to the front door - "Congratulations!" "Winner!" - and the next morning, woke up to a flurry of articles about our win... a few of which even mentioned my name!

Here are a few of them:

(When you've been reading the Hollywood Reporter since about age 11, seeing your name in that thing is quite a win!)

Love what they say about Evan here.

So that's basically it. My adventure at the 2011 Gotham Independent Film Awards!

I'll close with this... (posted to my Facebook status after I got home from the parties that night):

"Tonight, we won a Gotham Award... but we were only able to stand up there on that stage because of YOU: Our cast, crew, family and friends. Your unwavering support of us and our film has been nothing short of extraordinary, and your votes made it happen... so thank you. You made our day/night/week/month/year. You rock." - Shaun O'Banion

Ok. So... I lied.

At the end of my last post, I mentioned an idea that I had while walking around the city - specifically, I mentioned that I would tell anyone who's reading this about that idea.

As it turns out, I have decided not to share that idea. Instead, I'll tell you another one that's equally enjoyable should you find yourself in New York in the hopes that you'll forgive me for not sharing the other idea... Here it is:

Buy one of those small Moleskin notebooks. Go to New York. Go to Manhattan. Ride the subway. Walk through Central Park. Walk the High Line in SoHo. Walk through Times Square.

Every time you hear an interesting snippet of conversation, write it down. Here are some examples (things I actually heard during a few of my New York adventures):

Brooklyn. 7am. Man in suit, walking while chatting on his cell phone: "You tell that guy, if he tries that with me again, I'll shove a Chalupa up his ass - sideways."

Manhattan. Subway. 4pm. Two young girls talking to one another: "I slept with him." "You did?? Oh! I'm so happy for you!!" "It wasn't my first time..."

Brooklyn. Subway. 8pm. A Puerto Rican man sits across from me. He is listening to music on those odd sort of wraparound Bluetooth headphones. To his left is a pretty redhead. He glances over at her continually in that way that let's me (and the redhead girl) know that he wants her to glance back. She doesn't. Occasionally, feeling his gaze, the redhead glances at me with that look that says, "Ugh." After a few stops, she finally gets up and exits the train. He waits a beat, then, over the persistent blast of music in his headphones, shouts this to me: "Did you see that?! She couldn't look at me! I was too attractive for her (pronounced 'ha')! On account of my Puerto Rican-ness."

I just smiled and nodded. Oh, and for the record? Not an attractive guy.

Anyway! Just some fun examples of the crazy shit you hear in New York.

So. Where was I before?

Yes. New York. I'm obsessed.

I spent a few days walking around the city where I encountered so many amazing things and people. I shared a lunch table with a Lawyer from DC and a Doctor from Jersey at

If you haven't been? You haven't lived.

Them later that same day, I had a meal with an elderly couple from Trinidad and Tobago... (the most beautiful, lyrical accents.)

I met an actress on the subway, and an art professor from Paris. I spoke with an art student from Seattle and her friend who she often paints as a subject. I admired the extraordinary architecture and marveled at amount of people on the street... I walked around for hours with my friend Lynn, talked with strangers, admired, well, everything... and just had a stunning time.

Even the view from my room was incredible!

Here are some more pictures from my adventures:

Can't wait to go again. And share the new adventure with you.

S

To Mill Valley... And beyond! (PT. 1)

Justin and Evan got invited to the Mill Valley Film Festival and Justin was kind enough to see to it that I also got to attend.

Despite having been to San Francisco and even living in Northern California for a lot of my childhood, I had never been to Mill Valley. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. It's a very romantic and magical place. You might compare it to Carmel (if you've ever been), only it's a little less, um, sleepy. In other words, you can still get dinner at 11pm if you want.

The Festival has a lot of support behind it (Lucasfilm, AMPAS [Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences], Whole Foods), and because of their generous sponsors, they are able to really take care of their filmmakers. We were nominated for, and later won, the Best US Feature Audience Award (shared with the stunning PARIAH).

While we were there, I got to see BUTTER which had a stellar cast and was a pretty funny (thinly veiled political parody) film. I also ran into Michelle Yeoh, who I've known for years, whose film THE LADY received very strong word of mouth and also won an award at the Fest.

GIRLFRIEND played its first (sold out) showing across a bridge and down the road a bit in San Rafael, Ca. at the Rafael Theatre. San Rafael doesn't have the quaint, village-like feel of Mill Valley proper... it somehow feels like a cleaner version of Haight Ashbury... at least the part that I saw, which was a four block stretch of 4th Street.

Our next showing was in Mill Valley, but neither Justin nor I could be there, so Evan did the Q & A himself. I hear it was a great success.

After a great two days in the Bay Area, we drove home to LA before Justin went off to the Festival in Ghent and I headed for North Carolina to make a little money on the Disney film I'm working on.

North Carolina, while beautiful (see below), is not a place I will necessarily be rushing back to. Truth to tell, I'm not much for nature - and there's lots of it there. Lots and lots of it. We were shooting additional photography on the Biltmore Estate. 80,000 acres of stunning foliage. The first day, it poured rain on us, but the second day was pleasant enough.

 During that first week in North Carolina, I found out I would going to New York for the weekend. Friday, I'd be helping out during ADR for the Disney film and maybe have some free time in the city before flying back out on Sunday.

I arrived into JFK and, while waiting for my bags, met a very nice woman from San Francisco (but who is Malaysian). She is an architect and was in New York to see a performance by her favorite dance troupe.

Since she needed to get into Manhattan and my cab was being paid for by Disney, I offered to share the cab to my hotel, after which, she could continue on (for far less money) to her destination.

We talked all the way into the city and when we arrived at my hotel, exchanged cards. It was just the beginning of what was going to be a great weekend... and the beginning of e new idea I will tell you about in the next blog.

This has been a short(er) blog than usual, but the next will be coming soon!

Thanks for reading!

S