We're back at it again!
Today's filming didn't go exactly as planned.
We drove out to Palmdale, attached the camera to the hood of the car, and it was far from perfect. I'd have changed it if we had a chance, but some rancher creeped us out by lurking near the road, so we just bailed.
I told Meina we could try again in another location next Tuesday.
"Tuesday's with Pirooz," I said in a text.
"lol," her text said.
I figure we can film these every Tuesday for the next month, until we get something halfway decent. Then, we'll try filming some more camera addresses and maybe some dialogues with a group of people in the TV studio at Compton College.
The filming of folks saying Joe Brainard-like "I remember's" was Dafna Yachin's idea. I really like that and hope we get to do it ASAP.
Dafna is the film director behind DIGITAL DHARMA and THE GREAT FLIP-OFF. She's going to help with our fundraiser on Seed & Spark in December and be an additional producer. I met her when HARDCORE ZEN was playing a film festival in Amsterdam. Since then, I hoped we might work together, because she's an honest, straightforward, idea machine.
"I think you need to re-work your grant proposal," she said in our Skype meeting last week.
I was supposed to get a revision to her yesterday, but I'm already behind. Who knows? Maybe, I'm supposed to be, because I just got news that a granting organization wants to give us some tips as well and potentially help us financially at some point.
I hope so. I really do. It's not really about the money exclusively. The more people you have supporting a project, the better it becomes. I feel like everyone becomes a part of it, and it expands into something that really can become something a larger group of people can get behind, because the variety of people and the care and support change everything. Maybe, the community is really what it's more about than the film itself.
I also know it's about making a good film, too.
I asked Caveh Zahedi how he knew a film was ready and he said to try everything.
"When it only makes the film worse, and it doesn't get any better, that's when you know the film is ready."
I thought that was good advice, and I'm quite literal, so I'm going to try everything.
Things I've been daydreaming about, really.
They'll probably be a disaster, but I'm willing to try.
Tomorrow, I'll film myself driving around Los Angeles listening to voice messages from my parents. Somehow, I figured this might be a good way to start the film. I might be horribly wrong, but I'll try anyway.
If you want to be a part of the SOMETIMES I DREAM IN FARSI community and bring this documentary out to the world, consider making a tax-free donation through the IDA webpage or Patreon. Every bit helps at this point.