I wish this could be more positive but the production of it's Brisbane Tonite Wow had plenty of hiccups. The shooting of the film took ten weekends.
I actually tried to keep my nose out of the production and concentrate on playing Rick Stinger. there's a part of me who wants to be a great comedy actor but there's a bigger part of me who has grave doubts.
Scot asked me if we could shoot some early scenes in my massage shop at Woolloongabba. Yes I have a legit massage shop in the Gabba and that is why I have no money. If I had the other kind of massage shop I'd be rolling in money.
So the trouble here is that the Gabba is a noisy place and my massage shop is not sound proofed.
A few months ago I asked Scot if he was going to BRIZ 31 to get a price on their studio to do the film. I know that there rates are not only reasonable but they can be sensational and they have all the equipment. I had this in mind when I wrote the script. His answer was "No" and he would build his own studio. he did this at Annerley just off Ipswich Road. All I can say is that you heard evry vehicle that went by.
The shooting days were Saturday and Sunday and the time frame was from 8am to 3pm. This was because the guy who owned the camera lived on the Gold Coast and had a weekend job on the Gold Coast and had to be back on the coast early both days. The problem was we were really getting into the acting side of things mid afternoon and this guy left at 3.00pm every day. Not 3.05pm, 3.00 pm.
How this affected the shoot was that if we finished at 5pm each day, that's an extra for hours a week, the film would have taken a maximum of five weekends to do. Scot arranged a deal/contract in which all the cast but especially crew worked for nothing and that they would all get heaps of money once the film was a huge success. I had to sign the same contract. But after ten weeks it was becoming tiresome with some of the crew dropping out, shit, ten weekends is a lot of weekends.
I has one big ego boost through the filming and I need ego boosting. The lines written by Scot had no comedy or humour except for a character he wrote for himself. However the actors who had read the original script would come over tome and ask if I could change their lines to make them funny. I did of course.
The way the script was written, the actors in the hotel scene were only needed for one nights filming. We all arrived at this hotel on a Sunday night when a certain section was not being used and filming began. However there were roadworks that night and jackhammers delayed and ruined very scene.
Actually Scot has told me that because of noise issues at the Gabba ,Annerley and the City hotel every scene will have to be over dubbed by everyone.
You know, whaddya do?
Not looking good.
