1 Year Later

It was a year ago today that we started principal photography for “Generational Sins” back on July 23rd, 2016. To be quite honest, that first early morning was something of a shit show. Around 3:30 AM, some crew members and our grip truck showed up minutes before the first shot, we missed our first setup because the sun came up, and practically everyone was running on zero sleep. Tensions seemed already high and we were all trying desperately to figure out people we’ve never worked with before in those first hours on set.
Personally, I was full of fear and self-doubt. We had an incredible crew of experienced Hollywood veterans, more money on the line than ever before, and somehow this movie had been put together in about 6 months from scratch to set. Like most things in life, I jumped without looking and I can honestly say it was one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
At this point in my life it had been 7 years since I was last standing on set of one of my films. This may have been my 3rd feature film, but it was at least 100 times the scope and scale of anything I had ever worked on before. There was a lot riding on this shoot and I think the cast and crew would agree that first morning everyone felt pretty unsure of what we all got ourselves into.
But after the sun came up something shifted on set a year ago that muggy summer day, and this newly formed group of mostly strangers came together and eventually became a family on set. We all realized that this was day 1 of a 23 day shoot, and we would have to find a way to make this work and come together to make a film.
I took a deep breath as I watched the rising sun ruin the “night” shot, and in my mind said to my fear and nerves… “fuck that noise — let’s shake this off, move on, and do the next one better!” It was no one’s fault, and as the director the responsibility was on me, but it was all the more my responsibility to keep morale high and to make something great that we could all be proud of.
After that first shot, we had a full and rich day full of creating movie magic and fleshed out some pivotal scenes in the film today. There were other hiccups, unexpected fires to put out, and unforeseen obstacles, as any set has, but just like that first morning one year ago today, we came together as a team to create something bigger than ourselves. The team has grown, the bar has been raised, and just a short 74 days from now our film will be out in theaters across the States.
Today I am very thankful that we all took a leap of faith together without looking and created a beautiful movie that I cannot wait to share with all of you.


