The KICK ME Saga - Part Nine

 Days 13 - 14: The End (for me)

Not really much to say; there wasn't a big blowout, no threats were made, nothing at all like that. And nothing that stuck out any more than any other day...

Back to the dojo to get wide & close-up angles of Jim Schweers and Santiago & Luthor escaping Blitz.

Day 14 started with a gas station sequence that did not make the final film:

Then back to the dojo - AGAIN - to finish it out. I STILL say Jim Schweers is the funniest bit in the movie, to me.

Some 'Fake Shemping'

And that's it. 

I can't recall what it was - it may have been a sarcastic reply to a remark Gary made that just escalated. I just wanted OUT... Leanne Reeves said something along the lines of 'Do you want to be fired?" and I responded along the lines of, "YES. PLEASE FIRE ME, PLEASE!!" And so, like Brer Rabbit, I Was Free. I said to not use my name in the credits and don't use me as The Dad. And that was it. Took the notes to transcribe and send it to the editor, slept, then packed the car up. The last thing was getting the check, which was a bit uglish: I had to tell someone that if it didn't show up in the mail, I'd drive around KCK until I found the location and demand it in person. It got sent - Overnight Mail.

It was nice, sleeping like a baby at night again. I would get texts from people just as the night's shooting started as I went to bed; then in the morning on waking up, I'd get told how the shooting went. And indeed, the crash & burn did happen.

Then - nothing. Did hear from people that reshoots were happening a year and a half later and that was a big "WHA????" That money had come in from Rooftop Films in NYC to finish it, and that after seeing footage, to feature Eric Logan's Ro-Tel more. Then nothing more again, until Gary's announcement to Kickstarter donors (I had forgotten I'd donated) in November 2022 that the film was finished and premiering in San Francisco in December 2022.

As to the end of the first shoot and the reshoots, I pass the baton to others who held on to the end and beyond... I'm certain they have better stories than I have.

That was my experience - I leave the last word to My Good Friend Andrew Wegst w/Kevin Mullin for an illustration:

How It Started

How It Ended

The KICK ME Saga - Part Eight

 Day 12:

"Down With The Indie Thing" has two distinct meanings... this phrase became a mantra.

At this point, my mood was that of the crewman watching the iceberg get larger & larger as Titanic approaches its destiny... any possible window of finishing on schedule had slammed shut long ago and nothing I could to help improve it, and most of what we're shooting seems to be an incomprehensible mess, to me. 

Been There, Done That. And by this point in my life, I'm vocal about it.

This is when I was told to 'train' one of the p.a.'s as to the particulars of my job. After I had told the producer earlier about looking for a replacement, I was told to take the next break to 'think about it' and it was insinuated that one of the co-producers had left; my 'attitude' and loud bitching being a main factor. Which smelled like the bullshit it was at the time; there were lots of other things that would make a sane person bolt and not look back, lest one end up similar to Lot's Wife. So this is getting near 'The End', at least for me - unbeknownst at the time.

The KICK ME Saga - Part Seven

 Day 10:

Day 11:

Return to the location of Blitz's Mom's house to reshoot Day 2's scene of Santiago & Luthor scoping out the house, and continuing on.

If there's one pic that could encapsulate the experience so far, this would be it: