It’s been a week since we wrapped principal photography. It’s taken that long for the dust to settle. Almost everyone on the team has already posted about this incredible thing we did – shooting a full-length feature in just five days on location in the California desert. To say it was intense is a laughable understatement. I am so deeply grateful for every person on the team. We flew by the skin of our teeth and it all would have fallen apart if any one of them had missed a step. But they didn’t. Goddam superheroes, without exaggeration. I will properly acknowledge each of them, but first:
Lee and I started writing the script in 2022. Since then I had open heart surgery and Lee and Suz got married. Life doesn’t make room for your dreams. You have to make that happen yourself. And if you’re very lucky, you’ll be surrounded with people that support you.
Marjorie will tell you she had precious little to do with this project, but she’s wrong. It would never have happened without her. When I needed time to write or scout locations or for rehearsals or flying off for three weeks to shoot it, she made sure the freight train of our daily life stayed on the tracks. And every once in a while she’d say something to let me know she believed in me. She definitely doesn’t know how much that means to me.
Chris and Rita, by far our biggest clients for the last 19 years, didn’t hesitate when we asked for the time off to shoot. They might want this for us almost as much as we do.
Suz, Lee’s manager and life partner, agreed to produce this minor avalanche. She could hardly avoid it since it practically took over her house, but we all pretended she had a choice. I guarantee this thing would have flown like a drunken Canada goose if not for her.
And Lee. Co-writer. Director. Shared brain. Best friend. Hetero life-partner, if you ask our wives. I don’t think he’s ever said “I wonder”. It’s always “Let’s find out.” I may have a dangerously creative mind, but I don’t have THAT. Everything that has happened so far, and everything that happens next, that’s on you, brother. I am overjoyed that I get to run with you. It’s a hell of a thing.
We are now in post-production on our movie. How crazy is that?
- @a_dry_heat_movie
- Writer/Director: Lee Baran @chaoscomplex | Writer: Adrian Taverner @thetaverner | Producer: Suz Sturm @suzsturm
- Cast in no particular order: Morgan Meadows @morganmeadows Ramya Hipp @ramyanoodle Sam Smith @actorsamsmith Sean Kelly @seandkelly James Lindsay @jazglindsay Annie Rosenberg @itsannierosenberg Matt Stannah @mstannah Jay Cobian @jayalexandercobian
- Camera: @fwhitlatch @thomasconcordia @andrewmatusik @film_dog28
- Sound: @jimmyp11 and Joe Galath
- HMU: @dalejohnsonmakeupandhair @tiff_tiffmakeup
- Catering: @savourconcepts_
- Guest Set Photog: @dennis_rosenberg_photography