JESSIKA MIKUS: Director of Photography
This past weekend we had several of our biggest pieces of news yet, and tonight I will start by sharing the very exciting news of our adding Jessika Mikus as our Director of Photography and Assistant Director. She jumped right in and started working immediately today before we even had a formal agreement made! THIS is the kind of ALLY WE NEED!
By the end of our appointment today, we had taken a very brief look at my pre-shotlist breakdown of the screenplay so I could explain to her how I planned to achieve my mad goals, and let her tell me exactly how unrealistic I may be! Instead, we both just impressed each other-- I impressed her with the amount of thought and consideration I had already put into everything from anticipation of possible issues to basic organization-- SHE IMPRESSED ME with her immediate ability to latch onto my crazy way of communicating. This can sometimes be a chore, especially when I am really excited-- but instead of being confused or off-put by my madness, she was able to keep up and also to gently nudge and guide me back on-topic whenever necessary.
Jessika Mikus is a passionate artist of many talents! "The END of FUN" benefits greatly from the addition of her skills behind the camera!
Her note-taking while we talked impressed me through and through. Note-taking is one habit of my own that I truly love, and very deeply appreciate and respect in others; especially those with a desire to collaborate on such an intense project. Instead of focusing on money, which she never mentioned until I insisted on having the discussion, her attention was simply on how to turn help turn my vision into OUR VISION. That secret ingredient that has made every person working so hard out there right now the right fit for this shoot which will be aggressive and maddening but even more rewarding once we have our movie done.
Even after I forced the discussion to turn to money, her attitude was simply unbelievable. Again, her focus was what we felt to be best for the production, stating simply "My passion is for this amazing movie. What you pay me isn't important. Let's just all support each other and make something magic!" This attitude made reaching a number that satisfied us both much easier, and our negotiation was as pleasurable as every other encounter I have had with Jessika to this point. Her amazing talent and attitude had me hoping for several days that she would turn out to be the right collaborator, and TODAY just PROVED that!
Jessika brings a hard-working collaborative spirit to the team along with several years of experience and formal training in her craft. Her quick thinking and access to resources will keep this production moving at exactly the pace we need to deliver a great, professional looking movie. Prepare to be impressed!
Please take a second to say "Hello" to Jessika below in the comments section! I know she will be stopping in occasionally to see what our fans are up to, and would love to interact with all of you.
THANKS AGAIN... AND WELCOME TO THE TEAM, JESSIKA!
DAN KOVEN
Dan Koven is more than an addition to this team. He is a brother to me personally, and the fact that we can work together in a very close way for the first time in about a decade and a half thrills be nearly beyond words (HEY! I said "nearly"-- you KNOW you don't get that LUCKY HERE!). While Dan and I both excel in the sales world, which is where we met back in 1999 at Fancy Publications, we both have had and shared our greater aspirations throughout this long-standing friendship.
His passion for music has already had an indirect impact on the movie you will someday see, and a very real and direct impact on you if you have checked out the PLAYLIST that I used while writing, or to the soundtrack songs. MANY of those songs were fed to me directly by this dedicated fan of a wide variety of music. He knows my tastes very well, and constantly exposes me to new stuff, and when some of that music takes-- like Bloc Party, the Kaiser Chiefs...or SLAVES-- it REALLY takes with me. There are times when I will listen to NOTHING BUT BLOC PARTY, or other bands Dan has shared with me, for days or even weeks at a time. When I finally had every MUSE album, there was a period in 2012 that I listened EXCLUSIVELY to the band for over 3 months, sometimes the same CD staying in my car's player for 2 or 3 continuous weeks, with me NEVER getting CLOSE to TIRED of listening!
During an EXTREMELY TRYING period of my life several years ago, some of the music fed to me by this friend above friends, was the only thing that kept me going. And stuff like "Cool Cool Universe" by IMA ROBOT or "The Resistance" by MUSE didn't just keep me going, it kept me SMILING. Everyone on Earth needs a Dan Koven in their life, and I am thankful every day for having the real deal in my life and someone I consider TRUE FAMILY regardless of the blood that flows through our veins. We are connected in ways that blood relations may only hope to achieve.
Having said that, let me be HONEST with you and say that while we are VERY CLOSE friends, Dan is also QUITE OFTEN my HARSHEST CRITIC. He has never said anything about my artwork to be intentionally cruel, but the "no-bullshit" nature from which he extends his opinions are CONSISTENT and always well-meaning. When other friends may blow smoke up each other's ass about creative work simply to keep the cross-masturbatorial relationship jerking, Dan refuses. He will bluntly tell me not only what he liked or loved about any particular thing I have shown him, but also what he finds poorly developed, trite, or just stupid. As narcissistic as I am, I RARELY AGREE with him, but I ALWAYS take his ideas, thoughts, and critique INTO CONSIDERATION as the project is revised, or as I approach the next one.
HOWEVER, I was very excited to let Dan read "The END of FUN" before ANYONE ELSE, even knowing he may come back and shoot the knees out of this project I had just fallen in love with the second the last word was typed. Several worrisome days following my emailing the ROUGH DRAFT (what I call the "love-note" version of my stuff), He finally reached back out to me. In typical Dan-fashion, he said "Are you sitting down? You know before I say anything?" At this point, I launched into a very self-defensive tirade explaining that if he did happen to hate this particular project, that unlike ANY TIME BEFORE, I would have to beg him to postpone the delivery of the opinion. I was simply too fond of the story to so quickly deal with anything that could upset me to the point that I would refuse to even revise and edit. He finally just interrupted my verbal diarrhea, "Bobby! Man, shut up for a second and listen! Sheesh..." and I did.
"Bobby," he said to me in a reverent tone I was not prepared for. "Bobby, this is not just the best thing I think you have ever written. Dude-- it's one of the best stories I have EVER READ! You have to make this into a movie. Don't fuck around. You know this still needs a little work. Do what needs done and make this happen." I was blown away. My skin had goosebumps and my eyes were shrunk-wrapped in tears as he gushed about my story and my writing. "ANYthing I can do to help. Man, I will." He promised me.
A few weeks ago, I decided to take Dan up on that offer and reached out to him concerning the rights for the songs my characters may sing as karaoke in "The END of FUN" as well as a few that play as ringtones or in a car, etc. Because of his passion for music and the music industry-- and even some time he spent blogging and reviewing a few years ago, he has built up a strong network of contacts in the business side of the music world. It was very easy for him to reach out to a friend and explain our exact situation and needs. His friend not only responded positively, but with a personal example that served to support our own thoughts, hopes, goals, and plans. He did however suggest to Dan that I hire a MUSIC SUPERVISOR just so I had a strong person dedicated to this task that he frankly referred to as a real time-suck. Now that I, and the movie overall, have reached the point in pre-production that we are at currently, taking on a job that is a time-suck simply is not practical.
When not listening to, or exploring for, new music, Dan loves playing games, watching movies, hanging out with his wonderful girlfriend, Trish or their ever-growing zoo. (NOTE: Zoo not pictured)
I agreed with Dan's friend that we needed a MUSIC SUPERVISOR to move forward sanely. Not only did I agree, I ASKED DAN to be the guy for us. We talked about the entire situation very calmly and rationally, and as impersonally as we could, but in the end we were both more than intrigued, and were in fact EXCITED for him to do the job, and for him to JOIN this team OFFICIALLY, and start putting his passion and energy to work for us. Dan Koven is officially our MUSIC SUPERVISOR and EXECUTIVE PRODUCER.
Please take a second to welcome Dan onto our crazy team, down in the comments below! I know, he too, will be stopping by here and would love to chat with you guys!
WELCOME TO THE TEAM, DAN!
NEXT POST: CROWDFUNDING HAS STARTED!!!
#TEOFCrew
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