The Killing Moon

Starting January 2006, filmmaker Sridhar Reddy accounts the process, thoughts, and musings during the creation of his second feature film, THE KILLING MOON.

Monday, January 15, 2007

too long, but much progress made

Howdy folks (should anyone decide to read this, actually).

It's been a very long time (again) since I last posted on this blog, but (again) for good reason. 2006 was a very, very busy year.

First and foremost, I went and got myself married to my college sweetheart. Happiness reigns, and the wedding was far more difficult to put together than doing a feature film. Seriously.

As for the film itself, we were able to get a distributor for the US rights to the film! After so much time, we finally got a taker, a company that appreciates what we're trying to accomplish with this kind of film.

With the distributor set, its become much easier to get potential parties to talk to you, because it means that your film actually has a fighting chance, that it will actually be seen by people. Very reassuring.

I've just returned from India where we've started preliminary casting for the film. I've sat and spoken with John Abraham, who is one of the top up-and-coming talents in the Indian film industry. John made a splash internationally with his work in Deepa Mehta's acclaimed film WATER. Since then he's been receiving offers from around the world.

I like John. He's a model-turned-actor, and in his past performances it shows. But what's great about him is is his vision, his courage, and his want to be better. Very humble guy, very down to Earth. I like him, and I think we can do wonders with this script. Right now all things point positive to him joining the production, and if he does so, we will probably have more access to budgetary resources, given his name has some equity in the Indian and diaspora box offices. Fingers and toes are crossed.

We're also looking at actresses and supporting parts. I've hired Uma DaCuhna, who is unofficially India's first casting director. She's an intelligent, compassionate lady who has a strong desire to make good films in India, and I think we connected on an artistic and idealistic level. She wholeheartedly supports young filmmakers, and is a golden resource to anyone with a good idea and passion for film. I think she'll do a wonderful job for the film, and we're already looking at a few names for the part of Anjali. Some names in particular I've taken notice to- Amrita Rao, Dipannita Sharma, Deepika Padukone, and Neetu Chandra.

Stateside, we were always concerned that the quality of fight and stunt coordinators in India is not up to international standard. We made the decision to look to Hong Kong and the US for fight masters, and that discussion always starts with one man- Master Yuen Woo Ping, he of 'Crouching Tiger' and 'Matrix' fame. We managed to make contact with Master Ping's agent at CAA, and they are interested in reading the script, which I sent over a few days ago. Master Ping is expensive, but his involvement alone will pay for itself, and given that our budget is smaller by Hollywood standards as is, we should not have a problem compensating Master Ping. That is provided he wants to do the project. I've run out of fingers and toes to cross, so I'll cross my eyes or something. That hurts.

I'm keeping very busy, though. I signed a publishing deal to do a 56-page, one shot graphic novel about THE KILLING MOON. I am writing and doing the pencils for the book, which is taking up most of my time right now. I've finished about 28 pages, and it's turning out excellent, if I can say so myself. I'll post more about the book once it nears completion, but I'll leave you with this teaser- the book is set in the future, and the film in the past. It encompasses the entire world and mythology of THE KILLING MOON, and I think readers will really enjoy it. I've described it as a mix between Dave Sim's CEREBUS THE AARDVARK and Frank Miller's THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, with a hint of Alan Moore's THE WATCHMEN. Lofty ambitions? You bet. But I figure if I want to make the best work, I should aim high.

So as you can see, the hustle continues. I'd be lying if my marriage has made me expedite things and has given me a new sense of urgency- I'm part of a partnership that I have to help provide for, and if that's not a fire under anyone's ass then I don't know what is (children, of course, but luckily neither my wife or I are planning to pass our genetics along anytime soon).

Sleepless days and celebrations lay ahead, and I'm ready to go in head first. As Gabrielle Union so eloquently stated in one of my guilty pleasure films of all time:

Bring it on.

I'll be better with this blog. Promise!

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