Greetings friends, family and associates of Saltwater,
Thank you for all your support in 2008. It was a very successful year that is now launching us into an even more exciting and action packed 2009!
2008 wrap up…
- We met our development fundraising goal and have started raising money for production!
- We grew our website and launched our fun and informative Blog/Vlog!
- The script is in final rewrite and is being very well received!
- We moved into our new offices on Pier 27!
- We have started offering roles to name actors!
- We produced a compelling Business Plan!
- We hosted two successful investor parties!
- We are in negotiations with some key potential investors!
- We are having a blast!
And into 2009…
- We start script breakdown in January!
- We are hosting general auditions once we have secured name talent!
- We are hiring remaining crew for production!
- We are giving our website, Blog/Vlog, Facebook, Business Plan and other print collateral a branding face lift!
- We are hosting three more Investor Parties!
- We start production March 2nd!!!!!!!
Hot off the press…
The Athena Foundation has given Saltwater a $5,000 matching grant, which means that every dollar you contribute is worth two.
Please note that we are able to receive tax-deductible donations until March 1st.
And finally…
Thanks to all of you who have contributed money, time, resources and good will to our film.
And a very special thanks to the San Francisco Film Commission and the San Francisco Film Society, The Athena Foundation, Karen and Nat Le Roux, Beth Hoffman and Andrea Gordon.
Hope to see you all in the New Year.
Lise Swenson, Writer, Co-Producer, Director, Saltwater and the whole Saltwater team.
Hello world, my name is Geraldine Convento. I am the “web mistress” of the Saltwater team. Most often I stick behind the scenes throughout the pre-production process, but you might find me in the background of photos or alongside Lise & the web team at social events.
This last Monday, the Saltwater team congregated at co-producer Andrea Gordon’s house for a team meeting and casted script reading. The cast consisted of SAG and Non-SAG actors. We sat in the living room and listened as they read through the 115 page script. I was very excited to see the script come to life!
Hearing the reading, I found the Saltwater story line to be unique. It expresses elements of fun, surprise, and sometimes sarcastic humor, and somehow still keeps a dramatic and authentic feel. In that sense, it truly captured the one of a kind, creative person that I know Lise Swenson to be.
The visual imagery and shot descriptions inspired me! I saw little flashes of the movie in my mind; it was like seeing the movie without it even being shot. Perhaps that’s the job and expectation of any writer–but I must say, great job! and thanks to all who were present for making it a special night. It was great food, excellent wine and very enjoyable auditory entertainment!
Saltwater’s office at the FilmHouse is up and running! The last month has been filled with endless emails and pick-ups of desks, chairs, carpets, room dividers, a coffee table, refrigerator, microwave, carpet and much more. Some items came nice and new and others in pieces and dirty. But with a little spit and vinegar–well, more like a lot of dish soap and elbow grease, the office is clean and it’s one ocean blue wall radiating the spirit of Saltwater. Thanks to the SF FilmHouse residency and all the donations from friends and strangers on Craigslist with generous hearts, the Saltwater office has become a place where all of the Saltwater interns can come and help get Saltwater ready for the quickly approaching March 1st production date!
The office will soon become the home of some investor parties as well as the hub of all office procedures. Such as tracking donors with File Maker Pro (we have to make sure we don’t forget to thank anyone), making of business plans (so our fearless leader Lise Swenson can pitch to investors), designing post cards and business cards… And then there’s blogs and vlogs, so you all know who we are, working with casting directors and SAG to decide on a cast, figuring out production insurance, and well much, much more. It is a very exciting process and we hope you keep checking back in with us to see our progress. Ready or not, Salton Sea, here we come!
Hi everyone! Let me introduce myself to you. Im Luisa Barajas, one of the staff interns and part of the graphics team working on Saltwater. I am from Tijuana, Mexico, and I’ve been in the United States for a year now, studying and working in filmmaking.
I got involved in this project around April of this year when things were almost at the very beginning. It’s been very impressive to watch closely how things are coming together, moving and changing for the past seven months… realizing that making a film takes a lot of time, and being part of it changes my perspective. Now, every time that I watch a movie I think about all the people making an effort to work together to tell stories, transmit feelings and communicate with others.
Just being in this process and where we are now makes me feel very happy and fortunate to work on this film and with this amazing team! Looking forward I can’t wait to start working in production, which every day is getting closer–I’m getting very excited about it!
This week we had our first meeting at the new FilmHouse offices at Pier 27 on the Embarcadero, thanks to the San Francisco Film Society and the San Francisco Film Commission that gave us the space as part of their FilmHouse Residencies program. We still need a lot of supplies in order to work and to decorate our place, so if you have something that you think we might need it would be very welcome to be part of our new offices! We’re going to have our first FilmHouse Residencies Open House this upcoming Monday to meet all of our filmmaker neighbors, which will be a great opportunity to get to know more about their projects and to introduce ourselves.
And last I want to thank Lise Swenson for letting me being part of this dream/ film/ project and for inviting me to the showing of “Mr.Gary and the Feedback Show” last week. It was presented in the same amazing-unreal-insane place that they filmed, which was created by Megan Wilson, an installation artist (www.meganwilson.com) just being in every room and inside the place was such an incredible experience! Two wonderful pieces of art together!
We appreciate your reading, comments and interest in Saltwater!
Thank you all.
Luisa
Hello everyone, my name’s Kevin Castro and I am a staff intern on Saltwater.
As many of you already know, our offices are now located at Pier 27, courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society and the San Francisco Film Commission. Being a part of the SFFS FilmHouse Residencies is really amazing. It’s a filmmaker’s dream to be surrounded by so many other wonderful filmmakers. I still haven’t gotten over it!
With so much excitement and energy flowing through our team, things are really picking up now. Production’s only a few months away, and there’s no slowing down. Everyone has a workload and I’m amazed by the determination and spirit that our team has brought to the table.
This past week has been especially busy. Before our third meeting at our new office, Tuesday night, Kiersten Lane (Staff Intern) and I began preparing for the office relocation. We poked through Lise’s tool box and kitchen drawers trying to find the right tool to break down a near 300 lb desk. But this of course was not the hard part. Thank goodness for stairs! Or maybe I should say thank goodness for Kiersten Lane. While I was sweating and gasping from running up and down the stairs, I looked over to her and there she was carrying a file cabinet with a smile on her face. I thought, “Wow, she makes it look too easy and she is twice as small as me!” Kudos to her for all her help.
That night at the end of our meeting, once everything was in place and looking like an office, I stood at the door way before the lights went out thinking, “Wow, this is it. It’s really happening for us. We’re going to make a movie and there’s no turning back now.”
Hi! I’m Coreen Salamanca, and I’m a staff intern on Saltwater. And now for my first blog…
5:30 pm. I am left no choice but to leave the office, forced by my boss’s will. That means I’ll make it on time, maybe even earlier to our weekly Saltwater staff meeting! Turns out I spoke too soon…I’m riding the 49 on my way to the Mission district when suddenly the bus halts. I’m among many irritated riders, waiting for what seems like the longest ten minutes of our lives. Finally we get going, but once we start picking up speed, the 49 bus in front of us starts spewing sparks out its tail end! Another halt. A few minutes later, a car comes zooming around the corner and barely misses a collision with our bus by three inches.
6:50 pm… I finally arrived at our usual meeting spot, Starbucks. I entered looking very flustered and panting like a hyena. In the middle of the conference table was the map of our new location at the FilmHouse, where we’ll be moving next week, and which will be our office for the next six months. We were awarded the FilmHouse Residency by the San Francisco Film Commission, and the San Francisco Film Society, and we are so excited and proud about it! In comparison to our previous meetings, this one had a dramatic feeling to it. We were discussing production schedules; being assigned our job responsibilities; committing to a certain number of hours over the next few months. We’re quickly approaching production!
You should have seen my eyes light up when Lise told me that I would be assisting the Casting Director. Since my elementary school days, I have been involved in acting and directing. I actually aspired to be an actor, until I realized that my true passion was in producing. I will be working alongside the Casting Director, assisting in auditions, helping in the wardrobe department, and assisting in styling the cast with the Costume Designer and fellow intern Luisa Barajas.
Good night and so long, Starbucks. You have been accommodating to our needs and we appreciate the conference room that you allowed us to use. I’ll miss the chai latte and the light rock, less talk music selection that served as background music. Next meeting, a new location, a new chapter as we move towards making Saltwater The Movie a reality.
