The road of moviemaking is no cake walk, but the Saltwater team is proud to announce that they have completed almost all of their shoot days, with only one day left! What a journey it has been for us, and we are ever so gracious for your support. This has been a project of epic proportions that over fifty students from City College of San Francisco have helped to bring into fruition. As we move forward into the post production phase, we wanted to fill you in on what we have been up to lately.

 

While in pre-production, the Saltwater team worked on teams such as Casting, Costume and Makeup, Art, Locations, Equipment, Unit Production Management, Documentary, PR & Marketing, Fundraising, and Grant Writing. We had a very successful Kickstarter campaign in which we raised beyond our goal of $20,000, put on fundraising parties, and completed the work necessary to go into production.

 

We had a few bumps in the road, including scheduling conflicts that caused us to have to push our shoot dates out, but we made it, beginning production on March 28th in San Francisco. Three weeks later, crew and cast made their way to the Salton Sea in Southern California. This was quite an experience for many of the students that had not been to the area before. While the area near the Salton Sea is very scenic, it is also in a state of ecological demise. Pollution that ran into the sea years ago is a big factor in the dying off of thousands of fish in the sea every year, a poignant issue of the film, as well.

 

Still, the student crew enjoyed the experience of being able to work closely with industry professionals such as our director of photography, sound, grip and electric, to make an outstanding movie. Not only that, but we received a lot of support from local residents for our project, many of whom lent us their time and talent as extras while in the movie. After a long day (and often much of the night) of shooting, many of the crew frequented the Ski-Inn, a local bar close to Saltwater’s headquarters. Here we were able to relax after a busy day and had the opportunity to meet and greet with even more of the locals.

 

We were able to build even more relationships along the way. During our almost two weeks down in the Salton Sea area, we were interviewed by two newspapers, the Desert Sun of Palm Springs and the Imperial Valley Press. Both articles were on the front page of the paper, and drew more intrigue from residents in the area. We also worked with the Imperial Valley Film Commission, who graciously sent out word of our project and forwarded press releases whenever we had news to share.

 

We could not have gotten as far as we have without the help of our community partners in the Bay Area, as well. Goodwill Industries in San Francisco allowed us to comb through their spacious warehouse of donations for set props and costumes. We also received support from the Screen Actor’s Guild in San Francisco, who was pleased with how professional the students were when they visited our film set. The San Francisco Film Commission, too, has been instrumental in helping us apply for their “Scene In San Francisco” rebate program. This program allows us to receive a rebate for costs such as permit fees and San Francisco owned rental properties.

 

The Saltwater Team has received a wealth of support along the way. We thank all of you for your participation in helping us get this far. With one day left in production, we are beginning to concentrate on post-production, which includes editing our footage, submitting to film festivals, revving up PR & Marketing activity and a brand new Transmedia campaign through a partnership with Bay Area tech companies.

 

Look out for the launch for our brand new website, as well. This new site will include a trailer for Saltwater, a photo gallery of Saltwater while in production, and an introduction to the latest additions to our Saltwater Team. Our sincerest thank you’s go out to you, once again, and we hope that you will continue with us on this path as we bring you the latest in progress in our amazing journey to make Saltwater.