GIRLTRASH Blog

GIRLTRASH: ALL NIGHT LONG by Angela Robinson
WRITING THE SCRIPT BLOG #7
… was kind of a blur. It happened really fast. And was really fun. But now that I’m writing about it I realize it is the story of how a webisode became an ensemble comedy and then a rock musical. In the span of about six weeks.

Okay… so… the script for GIRLTRASH: ALL NIGHT LONG started as part of the web series. In it’s original inception, the web series of Girltrash was going to be a series of 2-3 minute webisodes telling an open-ended story of a group of women involved in an unfolding crime story. Once the narrative was established, we were going to add buttons where viewers could see spin-off videos that gave context to the current action. So I wrote a bunch of mini-scripts one of which was – “CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT HOW COLBY AND MISTY FIRST MET.” It was 30 pages and took place before the events of the webseries. The story involved the comic misadventures of Colby, a co-ed graduating from USC, who wanted her sister, Daisy, a low-level criminal and wannabe rock star, to take her to a gay-bar because she wanted to talk to a girl, Misty, who was WAY too cool for school for her.

Alex and I decided to re-purpose the 30 pages into an ensemble coming of age comedy that took place on one insane night like GO or SUPERBAD. It was tonally very different from the web-series, but doing a movie of the crime-story version of the web-series was going to be too expensive. Plus, I was interested in exploring what the characters in the web-series did on their time off from crime.

Next, I had to flesh out the stories of the other characters (Daisy, Tyler, Monique, etc.) and figure out where the night would take them. Then a funny thing happened. Lisa Rieffel who played Daisy in the web-series is actually in a rock band named Killola. And Alex and I had always thought it would be fun to do a Josie and the Pussycats type of thing and write Killola into the script. So, we came up with the idea that Daisy and Tyler were in a band and that they were trying to make it to a Battle of the Bands but would keep getting diverted by Colby/Misty/Monique, etc. So we asked Killola if we could use some of their songs so the rock band in the movie (Allota of Flame) could have something to play on-screen. I kept listening to all of Killola’s songs on a loop and then ONE DAY I was writing a scene where Daisy was pining away for her ex-girlfriend and I was listening to Killola’s song, “Traffic” and I had a vision of Daisy walking through this party and singing this song that reflected her emotional state, but nobody would notice her, like from “Hair” or a kind of “Hopelessly Devoted to You” type thing. I pitched the idea to Alex and she loved it. We were off to the races! Girltrash: All Night Long, our ensemble coming-of-age comedy, had just morphed into a rock-musical.

I’d send scenes to Killola and they would send me back the scene two days later as a song, with lyrics and a scratch track. It was frickin’ awesome. It was a really fantastic and very creative way to work. I pounded out the script in 6 weeks and by December they were shooting it. Alex and David the editor are madly cutting now – can’t wait to see how it all turns out! — Angela

POWER UP films (ITTY BITTY TITTY COMMITTEE, D.E.B.S.) celebrates 10 years with big bonuses for members, new revamped website, the announcement of the 10 Amazing Gays in Showbiz award to be presented on November 7th in Hollywood, CA, and the near completion of its second feature film GIRLTRASH: All Night Long.
…SEE WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU!!! http://www.powerupfilms.org/

I don’t know why I raised my hand when Stacy Codikow, Executive Producer and Founder of POWER UP, asked if anyone had a spare bedroom. After all, she had just looked me square in the eyes, told me I had a reputation for being a hard worker and that I more or less better not f*ck it up. No pressure.

But in that preproduction meeting for “GIRLTRASH: All Night Long,” I somehow found my hand in the air agreeing to house two fellow mentees, Fontessa and Erin. They were homeless because they had come in from out of town for POWER UP’s mentorship/educational program. In that room of 40+ women who were experiencing their first day in the program, Stacy somehow instilled a sort of immediate team work ethic. We were all about to embark on a big project with lots of women we already admired.

I certainly wanted to make the most out of the experience. Perhaps I expected that others in the room had a spare bedroom; but regardless, I offered my roommate’s vacant room to not one, but two fellow mentees without asking either of my roommates’ permission. Oops.

You see, we have three bedrooms in our house. One room is occupied by my dear fellow UC Irvine Alumni, Trevor. We’ve lived together for over three years at this point, so we are used to each others’ ebb and flow. The other roomie, Tara, had to head back home to Alabama for a few months while recuperating from an accident. She’s been paying rent on an empty room and I thought some unexpected subletters might be an awesome option to give her a bit of a financial break.

After smoothing over the fact that I hadn’t asked before agreeing to house two mentees, I informed Trevor and Tara that it would only be two girls and only for two weeks. Boy, did I misinform them.

The falsity wasn’t on purpose though! I mean… how was anyone to know that it would rain through a vast majority of our shooting schedule, pushing our wrap day by two weeks? I also had no way of knowing that Morgan would get drunk and need to crash on our couch. Nor could I anticipate that Sky and Marybeth would fall in love and need a place to crash as well. Or that the two original subletters, Fontessa and Erin had girlfriends who lived out of town that would want to come and visit.

I’m sure you’re picking up on the fact that during the course of filming, my home turned into the unofficial Hotel Girltrash. For those couple of weeks, there were at least two extra bodies in my house at any given time. Shoes, showers, and carpooling, Oh My! It was like being back in college, only the dorm was full of lesbians and we all had the same classes. On paper, this may seem like the premise for a porno, but in reality, it was crazy!

While it’s easy to complain about the constant come and go of the mentees, and Trevor and I are certainly content to leave Tara’s room vacant for the rest of her recuperation… the experience of playing Hotel owner was also fun. After all, I’ve personally traveled and crashed on couches all over the world. It’s the traveling Jew in me- I like to play host. http://www.facebook.com/pages/POWER-UP-films/99261618727#!/video/video.php?v=404542549904

I loved group grocery shopping. I loved getting home at 7am after a 15 hour shooting day and greeting the sunlight with all the girls and a big glass of wine. I loved getting to have a group study therapy session after working our asses off. We supported each other, learned from each other, and I’m sure will connect again on future projects. After all, we’ve all seen each other in our pajamas, laughed at each others’ jokes, and wished each other the best on our careers. That is perhaps what makes the POWER UP mentorship program so valuable: the connections.

I heavily encourage you to sign up for the program, or any of the other countless opportunities POWER UP has to help you in career as a filmmaker.

My only advice is to be careful what you volunteer for.

Janelle K. Eagle finished the POWER UP mentorship fully intact. Trevor and Tara are still recovering  She has now returned to her regular life as a documentary filmmaker and travel blogger. You can read more about her adventures at www.journeywithjanelle.com

GIRLTRASH: All Night Long Blog # 4
El Niño or how an 18-day-shoot became 28 and counting… One ambulance drive to the hospital; one doctor visit to the set; one terrifying 5-ton truck tire blow-out on the freeway, with one generator jackknife; one honey-wagon bathroom overflowed; one gas shut-off at a location; one (almost) electricity shut-off at another location; shutting down production for the holidays; shutting down production for two (2!) sick actors; and shutting down production for rain, rain, rain, rain, rain & hail, rain and rain.

One might think we are making a disaster movie, but, wait … aren’t we making a musical? Principal Photography started December 1st, 2009. There is something increadibly excitng about the first day.

You have a crew who is looking forward to the work; a wonderful cast (Lisa Rieffel, Michelle Lombardo, Gabrielle Christian, Mandy Musgrave and Rose Rollins) that have all been excited to make this film for a while; a director with a grin from ear to ear; and a Mentee program filled with people who flew in from all over the world just dying to get their hands dirty. The best part about the first day is everyone is super excited, super awake and intent on discovering their next BFF! Sure, we are shooting from 4:00 pm to 4:00 am six days a week, but the food is amazing, the frigid weather is a rustic & quaint backdrop for our new “survival” adventure and we have all the time (and money) in the world! VIDEO: Behind-The-Scenes, The First Day on GIRLTRASH:All Night Long

”It never rains in California, but, girl, don’t they warn you, it pours, man, it pours…”
By end of Week One, we were scheduled to move from our cozy Interior Sorority House location to the Exterior Sorority House location. But, as the first of many storms that would come to be foretold by all the meteorologists — with the steadiness of Chicken Little -– so became location change number 1.

Typically, when you schedule a film you have what is called a “Cover Set.” A Cover Set is generally an interior set or location that you can substitute for one of your exterior locations in case of the occasional rain day. Occasional rain day. Occasional rain day! I just wanted to say that again -– occasional! Not a monsoon! Not in LA!

Well, yes, I might describe the weather from December through February as a GIRLTRASH: The Monsoon. The weather almost turned GIRLTRASH: All Night Long into GIRLTRASH: All Year Long! Our schedule called for us to shoot more than half of our days in Exterior Locations. Instead, we kept being forced to shoot all we could inside and dance around IN the rain with our exterior days.

So stopping and starting was the rhythm to be … it certainly was challenging, but like anything worth doing, it IS worth doing right!

We won our perpetual battle with Mother Nature! We officially wrapped on February 15, 2010 — a dry and dark night, in a downtown Los Angeles parking lot. The following Friday, February 19 was our wrap party and true to form, our Swim, Jacuzzi, Mariachi Fiesta was pelted with torrential rains, but also true to form for the GIRLTRASH: All Night Long cast and crew, we weathered the storm and partied like we just didn’t care.

Next week: The Mentees! or How many people traveled from all over the world to come hang, learn, participate in GIRLTRASH: All Night Long.

In March 2009, Lisa Thrasher and I decided to greenlight “GIRLTRASH: All Night Long — the movie.” Like we had done before with “ITTY BITTY TITTY COMMITTEE,” we started with an idea.  Angela Robinson called Lisa and me to a meeting at her office with her and her wife, Alex Kondracke, who was 5 months pregnant at the time. They pitched us the movie.

“We have all the same actors ready to go and we want to make it a musical that takes place in all one night,” Robinson spouted off.  “Ok, where is the script?” I asked. Robinson, who is one of the most prolific writers assured me that, when she wrote it, I would love it. Oh, and one more surprise, she wanted Alex to direct.  Robinson, by then, had become a major player in television and was a co-executive producer on HUNG – created by POWER UP filmmaker Colette Burson – and was therefore unavailable to direct the feature.  For many producers this would have been a deal breaker, but for me, the self-proclaimed “queen of the virgin” that was no big deal. In my professional career, prior to launching POWER UP, I was considered an expert in (or maybe crazy for) working with first time directors.  In my own defense, this was not done by choice but rather circumstance.

OK, so here we go: With our money in the bank and a script to be written from an idea based on characters created in a successful web series by Angela, we agreed to move forward.  Our original plan for production was to be late summer 2009. This would give Alex a chance to birth her baby and get back on her feet. It would also give Angela a chance to write the script. Of course it also meant we would have to do contracts, negotiations and a lot of pushing and explaining back and forth.  Over the next several months, we would hook up and discuss, negotiate and concede. More time would pass, again discuss, negotiate, and concede. Early November, Angela called with good news and bad. Good news: we had a script that she felt ready to share. Bad news: we would have to start production right away due to actors’ schedule conflicts in early January.

Ok so now, our obstacles are: agreement between parties, not signed; we had less than our needed 6 week pre-production; a first time director; and of course our biggest obstacle a tiny budget for an extremely ambitious production schedule.  OR, what the fuck, we are out of time!  A few days spend on the phone and in meetings with attorneys, and the four main players, Stacy, Lisa, Angela and Alex and the 8 months of negotiations finally comes to an end.  Contracts signed.

Pre-production in half the time we’d planned. With casting already in place, we did breathe a sigh of relief in the hopes that we’d be able to do the impossible: prep in 3 weeks.  Johnny and Lisa – of rock band Killola – had been writing music for the film since the summer and their awesome songs were pre-recorded and ready to go. Our script was ready, charming, funny and fun as expected. The director had been working on her shot lists and developing her vision. Our work was cut out for us. Crew, locations, design, style, rehearsal, equipment, insurance, permits, vehicles, hair cuts, catering and of course more negotiations, points, concessions, arguments with all parties concerned.

Principal Photography started December 1, 2009.

Next week:
El Niño – aka how an 18-day shoot became 28.