The Anniversary: Sneak Peek
Our “sneak peek” of The Anniversary is live! Huge thanks to everyone who made this possible. Stay tuned for news about reshoots and possible expansion into a feature.
Stay tuned!
Part 1 of The Anniversary will be online tomorrow! In the meantime check out this blog post we found by Haley Fults about our staged reading last summer. Thanks Haley!
Working away
Here’s a glimpse at the post-production sound work for The Anniversary. (Click for a larger image.) We had a few hiccups at the shoot and are planning on reshoots soon, but no worries. We expect to have a “sneak peek” at part of the film shortly. Stay tuned!
Salon Contra Staged Reading Video Up
The video for our staged reading of The Anniversary at Salon Contra on June 21 has been posted. Check out the video and read the review by Philippa P.B. Hughes.
Staged Reading @ Salon Contra June 21
We will be performing a staged reading of The Anniversary as part of The Pink Line Project’s Salon Contra series Monday June 21. Spots are limited. Click here to RSVP for a little sordid fun.
Casting The Anniversary: The Director Speaks
I figured casting The Anniversary would be relatively easy. After finishing a 112-minute feature with twenty-seven characters, a fourteen-page script with only three characters and no extras didn’t seem very daunting. But the period from January to April turned out to be the most exhausting casting process I’ve ever been through.
We began with a little less than four hundred submissions for the project. Later, when Tricia came on board, she sent out invitations to a hundred or so actors she knew in the area she thought might be a good fit. Again, we were only casting three characters, and no extras. We wanted to be exhaustive.
I was immediately struck by some of the different interpretations the actors offered in their readings. The script is deliberately lacking in adjectives and adverbs, and very little history between the characters is provided in the dialogue. At the beginning I always just let the actors play and see what they come up with. I usually found they needed a lot of pushing to dig deep and come up with more interesting, more extreme motivations for the characters’ deviant behavior. But occasionally the feedback they gave made me see the script in a different light. Those are my mostest favoritest moments as a director.
After a long, grueling audition period, we narrowed the pool down to fifteen actors for callbacks. I love callbacks because as a writer-director it’s the closest I ever get to seeing my story the way an audience would when watching it for the first time. We had great actors, and now that they’d had the time to absorb some of my direction from the first-round, they were on their way to creating coherent and unpredictable characters. It was very difficult to turn some of these actors away, but the producers and I agreed that three in particular stood out as the most dynamic cast for this film, and I’m thrilled to see where each of them will take these roles as we prepare for shooting.
Jason Lott, Thomas: By the time Jason came in, we weren’t even particularly interested in seeing any more actors read for Thomas. We had seen plenty of great actors read for that role and were pretty sure our callbacks were set. It would’ve taken a jaw-dropping read to change our minds, and that’s exactly what Jason delivered. As we went through the callback process his performance only became more and more interesting. His comic timing is perfect, but he doesn’t rely on stock-in-trade gimmicks. His performance seems brand new from one read to the next, and one never doubts the sincerity of the role he’s playing. In spite of all the great talent competing for that role, we simply couldn’t say no to Jason.
Kevin Hasser, Michael: Kevin is boring. I mean that in the nicest way. All he did was walk in, impress us, and leave. Time for callbacks: he walked in, impressed us, and left. Second callback: walked in, impressed us, left. During his first audition I wrote a note to Tricia: “Love as Michael!” She wrote back: “Mee tooo!” Our interest in him never waned from that point on. Really, the guy’s just boring. Let’s move on.
M.C. Wolfe, Vanessa: M.C. caught us by surprise. She was invited to the audition by Tricia, who wasn’t sure about her for the role but maybe had a hunch. M.C. came in at the end of a long and frustrating session and I don’t think any of us were very receptive at the time. She was reticent during the audition but it was obvious that she was very perceptive about the character and worked very well with the direction. Midway through her third read through the scene, I saw something in her that made me scribble the shortest note I’ve ever written about an actor: “Wow.” After the audition I passed it to Justin and Tricia. They both agreed. After two more callback sessions, she won me over completely. Tricia later explained why she had had a hunch about M.C.: “I feel like she probably is Vanessa in real life.” I hope M.C. takes that as a compliment.
Meet the Cast: M.C. Wolfe
We finish introducing the cast for The Anniversary with M.C. Wolfe, who will be playing the role of Vanessa.
M.C. Wolfe is a DC area native with a background in visual and performing arts. After graduating an art-intensive high school program, M.C. moved to California to pursue an education in photography. A persistent desire to explore other forms of expression led her to experiment with a diverse range of activities, from the study of dance and vocal performance to animal wrangling and student films. She eventually found her way into the independent theater community, where she had the pleasure of portraying quirky and eccentric young ladies. M.C. returned to the East Coast in 2007, shifting her focus to music. She has been playing bass guitar and singing with local bands, and currently is the vocalist for a dance-rock group. She can also be found teaching yoga.
“I became aware of this project after receiving an invitation to audition. I was attracted to the story but what really drew me in were the notes in the audition guidelines, particularly the line, ‘And ladies: do not grab an actor by his neck under any circumstances.’ For some reason, that really appealed to my sense of humor and gave me a new perspective on the dialogue.”
Meet the Cast: Kevin Hasser
With everything back up and running, let’s get back to introducing the wonderful cast of The Anniversary. Today we introduce Kevin Hasser, who will be playing the role of Michael.
Kevin Hasser enjoys the artistic life and in particular its existence in Washington DC. After graduating from James Madison University, studying theater and English, he returned to DC to pursue a career in theater. Since then he has spent a year as a touring actor with the Olney National Players, and has had the privilege to work with the companies at the Shakespeare Theatre, Studio Theatre, 1st Stage, and more. With backstage roots beginning in college, he also enjoys carpentry, lighting, design, and direction. After theater and film, environmental work occupies a great deal of his time, and he enjoys conservation, cooking, and bicycle repair. In the summer, though, there’s nothing better than biking through town and reading a book in the shade.
“It’s rare when a script of such high caliber floats around this city, and rarer still that a team exists to ground it. Through attending the audition process, I could see the passion this project instilled behind those familiar with it, as well as those who are newcomers to the material. With such intelligent words and an active team behind it, who wouldn’t want to help bring this project to light?”
Website back up
We had a major technical glitch with our hosting service and our website was down for several days. We’ve switched to a new host that should be more reliable and we’re back up and running. You may still find some dead links from the moving process so bear with us while we work out the kinks. Thanks.
Meet the Cast: Jason Lott
The cast for The Anniversary is set. We begin our introductions today with Jason Lott, who will be playing the role of Thomas.
Jason Lott has been working as an actor in the Washington DC area for the past ten years. In addition to roles in various independent films and television programs, Jason has appeared in numerous industrial and training films. He has also appeared with many regional theaters, including The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences, Folger Theatre, Studio Theatre, Everyman Theatre, and Imagination Stage. He has also appeared in two original productions at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre Fringe in Scotland and has been nominated along with his fellow cast members for a Helen Hayes Award for Best Ensemble for Longacre Lea Productions’ Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. He is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild.
“I’m definitely excited to be a part of The Anniversary. I think it’s a fantastic exploration of the illusions and delusions that can exist in a relationship. How well can you truly know another person? How do you know what they’re thinking? Is trust everything it’s cracked up to be? It’s going to be a lot of fun to step into this world and see where it all leads.”