Over the weekend, I had a conversation
with a gentleman, who suggested changes to Never Can Say Good-bye
without having read the script, business plan, or seeing anything
beyond an early pitch video.
According to him, I needed to change
our ethnically and age diverse cast to one that was primarily African
American and young. The locations needed to be moved from Northern
Michigan to the Detroit area. Instead of the logging industry, the
story should be focus on the automotive industry or another based in
the Detroit area to take advantage of the current political
controversy. The name should be changed from Never Can Say Good-bye
to "Ghosts of Detroit--to have the metaphor of the ghost city
for your ghost story" This is a film he could sell. The
problem is that it is a totally different film than the one we want
to produce.
His suggestions would have turned a
paranormal thriller that combined romance and suspense into to a pop
culture niche market film with political over tones that
demographically limits its appeal and marketability, while adding in
unnecessary controversy and shorting its relevancy.
Whether it be age, gender or ethnicity,
a diverse cast means a diverse audience. Audiences like characters
they can relate to as friends, family or the person they see in the
mirror. Focusing heavy on one aspect of humanity excludes the rest.
Our characters range in age from 70 to
3. Amanda Ramsdell, who will be played by Dyan Canoon, carries the
guilt and secrets of the past. Michael, a man between the ages of
45-54, believes he has found his lost love only to learn he made the
same horrible mistake. Elizabeth, who will most likely be cast by
Lauren Holly, is a woman who has runaway from life only to find
herself back at the beginning and no longer able to run. Shane,
Michael’s wife, is a woman in her mid to late twenties, who was
given a second chance at love and redemption. In the past, Sara Jane
and Randolph are more than soul mates, they are a mated pair whose
love goes soul deep. But their time together is cut short when her
father's vengeful actions causes Sara Jane's death. To save their
newborn son, Randolph marries Audrey, but his heart still and always
belongs to Sara Jane. Unable to manipulate Randolph into loving her,
Audrey murders the child she see as standing in her way. His death
causes a cascade of violence and revenge that spills over from into
the next life. The
question is, "Can they overcome their tragic past or will they
be doomed to repeat it?"
Never Can Say Good-bye is set in the
1950's when the Michigan lumber industry was waning, but still vital
and in present day when all that remains of the glory days are the
mansions, the memories, and the ghosts. The story and the characters
only fit in a rural or semi rural area. It would not be
realistically in an urban area. Although there are some very large
houses in the Detroit area, they do not have the look or feel of the
mansions created by the lumber industry.
Michigan might be primary known for the
automotive industry, but it was the lumber that turned common men
into millionaires. As the timberline receded under the ax and saw
so did civilization move north. Never Can Say Good-bye will be
filmed in the northwest corner of the lower peninsula, primarily in
Traverse City, Manistee, Bear Lake, and Torch Lake. Although most of
the lumber baron homes have been converted into apartments, B &
B's and businesses, they remain mostly intact. They are the perfect
settings for a ghost story as well as a metaphor for an industry
and lifestyle that was, but will never be exist again.
He did have two good suggestions that I
had used, but had not focused enough on-- job creation and product
placement. I had pitch both, but did not followed up. Since our
conversation, I have been focusing more on the quality and quantity
of the jobs we will be creating. We are a union picture, but we will
be Taft-Hartleying those who need to be. We will be filling most of
the 77 crew jobs from Michigan. I can't guarantee a specific number
or percentage, because we are still going to hire the best person for
the job.
Several of the primary characters have
been cast. We would very much like Lauren Holly for the role of
Elizabeth. We have talked with her people and did have an LOI. But
we need to be funded to keep her. Kimberly Estrada, Dyan Cannon,
Bill Hayes, and Sean Harmon have all been cast in roles. We had
spoke with Adrian Paul's people for the role of Michael. Although we
are still interested in him, his people aren't interested enough to
return emails or phone calls, so we have opened up the role to other
actors. If we can find an Michigan actor with an established
record, so much the better.
The primary and featured roles we have
yet to cast are:
Sara Jane: actress 18-20 who must look
like she could be related to Dyan Cannon. She must also have good
chemistry with Sean Harmon, who will be playing Randolph.
Shane: actress age 25-30 who must look
like she could be related to Dyan Cannon. She must also have a good
singing voice.
Jefferson: actor 25-30, any ethic
background, but he must have a good singing voice.
Elaine: actress over 40 of any ethnic
background
Judy: actress 49-53 who must look like
she could be related to Dyan Cannon. We are considering Michigan
actress Linda Pacic for this role or for the role of Elaine.
We will also be hiring most of the day
players and all of the extras from Michigan.
The number of jobs we will be creating
are:
9 person supervisory staff
77 member crew
5 character primary cast
8 character supporting cast
12 day players
200 paid extras
Our product placement will be two fold.
We will be embedding family friendly products and services into the
film, which will also be promoted in our marketing strategy.
However, we have a separate campaign called No Where Else Like it,
which will require a separate crew. We will be taking our cast
around the state to show the uniqueness of Michigan. The sponsors
will act as guides, hosts and in some cases fellow adventures as we
explore the locations that are best known to natives. We will be
going to the normal tourist locations, but we will not be producing a
travel logs. Instead we will be having adventures, chatting with
those we meet, and having a good time. Two of our locations are said
to be haunted. We will be teaming up with a ghost hunting group and
finding out if this is true. The videos we produced will be release
on online through video sites and on social networking groups, as
well as on the DVD's and with the downloads.
What he suggested is at the root of the
decline in the entertainment industry. There is too much compromise
in character and plot to make an easy sell. Instead of believing in
the project and becoming a trend setter, they have been playing
follow the leader. Those who follow are always behind the
curve--always singing to someone else's song--always playing by
someone else's rules. The gentleman on the phone said that there
was nothing special about Never Can Say Good-bye. It was just a
ghost story. But he is wrong. Never Can Say Good-bye is a ghost
story, but it is far from being old hat. It is a fresh story with
new twists. We are a trend setter that combines the old with the new
not only with storytelling, but production and marketing techniques.
We have intertwined Michigan's history with its present as we
entwine the lives of three people in love, loss, and revenge.
" Instant Karma is going to get you."
John Lennon
Have
you ever met someone and suddenly felt love or hate? Yet for the life
of you couldn't remember them. Would you want to remember? Would you
want to know if it could save your life?
Never Can Say Good-bye is a paranormal thriller feature film with the logline love and hate survives death
http://tirgana.wix.com/never-can-say-good-bye/home
Please like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Nevercansaygoodbyeparanormalfilm/info Courage isn't the lack of fear, but the ability to set it aside and focus on what is truly important
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