"Bee": The Short Film

I’m now in post-production and I’m so excited to have Daniel Raj Koobir edit BEE. The features and shorts he edited went to the Sundance Film Festival, to the Berlin International Film Festival, to IFC Films, etc… He has a great sense for film narrative.

Check out his beautiful reel:

http://www.danielrajkoobir.com/reel.html

We just wrapped three days of a fantastic shoot for the short film BEE. It went really well, and I enjoyed every moment of this creative process. Actually, I was so absorbed, I didn’t even take one single picture of the set. But the others have. I will share some photos soon. The cast and crew (16 people) were fantastic. We ended up the 3 days feeling “WOW, we’ve done something great.” Thanks again to all of you who worked on this project!!!

I’m thrilled Autumn Durald will be the DP on the shortfilm BEE. She has a real artistic eye.

I saw her work in “Guerilla Gardens” by Rafael Palacio-Illingworth at the LA Shorts Fest last year. Make sure you check her reel: 

http://www.autumndurald.com/showreel.html

And also check her photos on her site!

Louie Alegria will play the role of the sheriff Sam. I’m thrilled: he’s an excellent actor who had a great chemistry going on during the call back session with the other actors who will be in “BEE”. It was amazing to see this happening in front of my eyes. I expect it will be the same on screen. Check his bio on iMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1174932/

Breeda Wool will play the role of Christine, the young entomologist. I met her at Sundance ‘11 when she was supporting the excellent short film “AWOL” directed by Deb Shoval. Breeda had one of the lead roles in it. She’s very impressive on screen. To find out about her other films, please check her iMDB page: 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2815589/

Another reason to be happy: Frank Ashmore will play Ed the beekeeper. He really stood out in the auditions I did. He’s very talented, and I’m sure you’ve seen him on the large screen or the small screen. Check his bio on iMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0039149/

I’m excited to have Mario Piccirillo to play the role of Mario the farmer who owns the orchard in BEE. His bio is on iMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0681549/

He’s very talented. I can’t wait to start the production next weekend!

And over the next few days I will share more about the talented people who will be in this film.

I just had 2 days casting session in Los Angeles. I worked with the casting director Balyndah Bumpus from “Bump It Casting.” About 400 actors sent their headshot and resume for the parts of Sam, Ed and Mario. I ended up seeing about 60 actors on the first day and then made a call back session with a few actors and the lead actress. It was amazing to see the characters come to life through excellent acting. Some of the scenes were in Spanish. 

I’m really glad I worked with Balyndah: the process was really smooth and I was able to identify amazing professional actors. I really recommend using a casting director even for a short film. Getting excellent actors is key. 

I’m also very excited  JB Dunckel will score the short film “Bee”. He co-wrote music for films like “Virgin Suicide” or “Lost in Translation.” Did I mention he’s very talented? (Click on the photo for the IMDb page.)