Sean Mannion

Tag: first feature

  • Meme Principal Photography Wrapped

    Meme Principal Photography Wrapped

    Meme-Updates

    In 2013 I decided it was time to make my first feature. I’d put together many shorts over the last few years and it was time to step up to something bigger. I came up with a concept that played on some of the themes I’d been toying with and started writing a script. That film was eventually called Meme. Near the end of that year I tried and failed to crowdfund for Meme. I took a break from the project and dug into a few more shorts. Mostly they were quickly put together projects shot with what was on hand on weekends whenever people were around. Then, I did Time Signature in 2014 and I again felt like I could pull off Meme, but I decided I should just try and make it as I’d made so many of my shorts, with the change in my pocket and favors from talented people. Our first day of shooting was November 23, 2014 in Brooklyn. We shot a whole subplot of the film that weekend that takes place entirely in a conference room. It was very satisfying to get such a big chunk of the project complete in the first 2 days. Due to holidays and how difficult it can be to schedule during the end of the year, we weren’t back at shooting Meme until January of 2015. We shot Meme on weekends whenever we could get the people and equipment together. On August 22, 2015 we wrapped on principal photography 9 months after our first day of shooting. We shot for a total of 17 days.

    We also had a three day shoot in the middle of all that for Beneath the Black Moon, a horror parody, which will premiere online this fall and which will also appear in a limited form in Meme. I’ll write an update on that soon.

    There’s still a little more to do but for the most part Meme is complete. It’s on to post-production, much of which has already been started (having everything spaced out so much allowed for me to put together an assembly as we got things done). Post-production will take up most of the next six months as there is a lot that needs to happen from editing it together, to some relatively minor effects work. Then there is sound editing, music, and color correction that all needs to happen. Our goal is to start submitting to festivals before the middle of 2016 and to make the film available to the public one way or another before the middle of 2017. You can follow the progress of the project on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Trust me, you’re going to want to follow us. We’ve got more than a few fun things planned for the next year that tie-in to the movie and build on what we’re doing. Come and be a part of it.

    Before I wrap this up I just want to thank a few (dozen) people without whom this project just would not have come together: Jessica Mannion, Carolyn Maher, Peter Westervelt, Sarah Schoofs, Kitty Ostapowicz, Nicole Solomon, Erin Clayton, Diana Molina, Cheryl Hampton, OneGlassVideo, Stephanie Testa, Shivantha Wijesinha, Lauren A. Kennedy, Rory Lipede, Chaz Cleveland, Alley Scott, Kima Baffour, Warren May, Matt Gershowitz, Ryan Kramer, Christina Raia, Liam Billingham, Jeanette Sears, Jessica Cele, June Dare, Alex Bone, Philip Andry, Tara Cioletti, Matt Addison, Lauren Shaw, Jeremy Mingaro, Heinz Liu, People Lounge, Corinne Fisher, Krystyna Hutchinson, Nurah Stanley, Valerie Opielski, Singularity & Co., The Creek and the Cave, Ian Bibby, Karen Fleisch, David Jackson, Josh Johnson, Katie Carman-Lehach, Julian Barbosa, Lisa Hammer, Levi Wilson, Ginny Leise, Zac Kish, Alia Janine, Annie Such, Sarah Albonesi, Lizzy Andretta, Jason Keith Davis, and everyone else who was part of the film or helped or even offered to help in the two years since I first started working on this film.

    Here are a couple of photos from our final day of principal photography:

     

  • Meme Update

    Meme Update

    Sarah with the Tape-Small

    Production on Meme has been continuing for the last few months. Our shooting around schedules and working on the film mostly on weekends process has made the production a little extended, but the end of principal photography is in sight. Our most recent shoot days were Memorial Day Weekend in May (or as Producer/AD Carolyn Maher called it “Meme-orial Day Weekend”). Three fun days at some great locations. We returned to People Lounge in Manhattan for some key bar scenes. We shot some beautiful exteriors in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Then, we got some great footage at The Creek and The Cave and some exterior scenes in Queens. At this point, there are only two scenes left to do. They are important scenes, as they are the ones in which Jennifer (Sarah Schoofs) actually meets people from the Meme tape, but other than those two scenes we pretty much have the story. What else is there?

    Well, first of all we’ve got to shoot our films-within-the-film elements. There is additional footage we need to get for the Meme tape and for another video shown in the film. There is also Beneath the Black Moon, a horror film that Jennifer’s boyfriend, Tommy (Shivantha Wijesinha), is looking for in Meme. We will be shooting Beneath the Black Moon the second weekend of July. It promises to be a really fun weekend. We’re planning to shoot a little bit more than what we need for Meme so that Beneath the Black Moon can also be released on its own as a short film. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

    So, Meme is close to wrapping on principal photography and then we have all the fun of post-production to get through. I’m excited to share more of the film as that progresses. Below are some photos from our recent shoot days. I’ll share more about the Beneath the Black Moon shoot once we finish it. Follow Meme on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep up. Or subscribe to my newsletter for updates in your email. 

    But first … I’ve got an announcement on July 6th. Come back for that. It’s going to be pretty cool.

  • Meme Shooting Update

    Meme Shooting Update

    VHS hangout-twitter

    Well, I was going to update about the progress on Meme on a much more regular basis, but keeping on top of the whole process and trying to stay on top of life beyond that has made that just not happen so much. Well, we’ve got almost 60 pages shot with only about 15 pages left to do. We’ve done all but a few of the major scenes. A friend of mine asked me the other day: “if you died tomorrow, could someone make a movie out of what you’ve shot?” I’d say, yes. We’ve got the major plot points covered and what’s left is mostly connective and thematic material that builds it all into a better story, but as of right now there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. Wouldn’t be much of a movie, but there would be something.

    We’ve shot out several locations and we’ve had good days and we’ve had long days. We’ve had frustrations but we’ve also gotten a lot of great shots and seen some excellent performances from all of our actors. We’ve wrapped our male lead, Shivantha Wijesinha, who delivered consistently throughout the shoot and was always striving to bring his best even when the rest of the world seemed hell bent on us not getting our scenes shot. We also wrapped actress/producer Kitty Ostapowicz, who is always one of my favorite people to work with on set. She’ll still be with us on our future shoot dates helping behind the scenes, but she’s been great in front of the camera in all of her scenes.

    What we have left to shoot are mostly bar scenes and exterior scenes. We’ve been waiting on the exterior scenes until it got warmer, as it’s been a little cold the past few months here in New York. We’ve shot some of our bar scenes already but we have some key ones still to shoot and are looking at some new locations (and, hopefully, affordable locations) for the bar scenes.

    While we’re hoping to find some cool new locations, none are likely to be as cool as our March 15th shoot day at Singularity & Co. a Brooklyn genre-oriented bookstore that had shelves full of weird, fun stuff. Here are pictures from all of our shoot days since the last update. We’ve worked hard and we’ve had a lot of fun.