Finding a Crew

(It is recommended by the author to read the first two blogs, "In the Beginning" & "I Had a Dream", in order to follow along on the series timeline.)

The dates were set. I was finally on my way to making a documentary about the controversial photographer, Joel-Peter Witkin. I obtained permission from the artist himself, and locked down some dates in July of 2011 when my crew and I would descend upon Albuquerque, New Mexico for a series of interviews with Mr. Witkin. 

Two problems presented themselves right away. The first being: I didn’t have a “crew”. And the second: I had no ideas for a budget. It was time to start calling in some favors.

Writer-director, BC Furtney was the first person that came to mind. Having been a fan of his work since I met him ten years earlier, I always wanted to collaborate on a project with him. BC’s list of credentials includes two award-winningshort horror films, Disposer & Mister Eryams, as well as his most recent film, a bloody modern-noirfeature called New Terminal Hotel. I sent him my proposal and he agreed to sign on as both Executive Producer and Co-Writer. Furtney had some ideas about who we could use for our crew.

Nickolas Rossi is an accomplished Director of Photography with a long list of credits to his name. Along with being the DP on New Terminal Hotel, he has also been behind the camera for the documentaries Incest: A Family Tragedy & Reality Show.  Rossi has been a long-time fan of Witkin’s work and was very enthusiastic to sign on to our new project.

Ernesto Galan was next on the list. Galan is the owner of Scalped Productions in Boston, and is a highly-skilled professional in all aspects of filmmaking. He has produced and directed commercials, music videos and documentaries. Ernesto was also the editor on New Terminal Hotel. Furtney asked him to help us out in the audio and lighting department and he agreed.

The team was almost complete.  BC had tapped Rossi & Galan, and now I needed to ask an old friend to help me out with the music. I met Trevin Pinto when I was 16 years old. He and I became friends while working together at the library. The truth is, I was a little nervous about asking him to score my documentary. He was one of the first people I showed the Witkin book to after I found it in the library. He found the book’s content very difficult to look at. Trevin has been a life-long musician and has scored many of Furtney’s films, as well as having written and recorded music for a ton of other projects.  I proposed my idea to him and to my surprise; he agreed to compose the score for my film. His thoughts about Joel-Peter Witkin had come full-circle, and he was now interested in learning more.

That was it. I had a great crew, and things were looking up.  I couldn’t have been more excited to see it all coming together.  Now all I needed to do was put together a budget.

Stay tuned for the next installment… “Funding the Dream"

- Thomas Marino