New short filming in June!
After helping out my friends with their web series, Menace, I’ve been itching to get back on set and shake off the feeling that comes from writing and writing and writing so much but not making anything. So I met with the DP yesterday and we set a shooting date for June on a simple short comedy. I can’t say too much about it because it’s only going to be around two minutes and the description would spoil the joke. But, it’s going to be fun and we’re going to make a mess of a sidewalk in Chicago.
The Deadline is complete!
After many hours of editing and exporting and fixing and sound mixing and color grading and translating and other things, the film is ready to go.
We started submitting it to festivals this week and hopefully it will be coming to a theater near you soon. If not, it will be available for free online at some point (although that point might not be until late 2017 because festivals tend to have strict rules about where it can be shown).
If you want to see it when it’s available online or near you, you should sign up for the newsletter.
Post-production update for The Deadline
Post-production is humming along nicely. Right now I’m working with the composer to create the soundtrack. I’m also talking to a music label about licensing a couple songs that I want to use in the middle of the film.
After that, we’re going to mix the sound and color grade the picture (we shot it flat, although the teasers have a LUT on them to bring out the color a little bit better).
Right now, we’re hoping to have it done by the end of October so we can start submitting to festivals.
Panel on getting constructive feedback for filmmakers
Hey, I’m speaking on a panel this weekend at CIMMcon in Chicago (the industry conference portion of CIMMfest). The panel is called “Constructive Feedback for Filmmakers (and Other Artists Too!): How to Ask For it and What to Do With It.” I’m a huge fan of getting feedback on scripts through table reads and staged readings, as well as getting feedback on rough cuts, so this should be fun.
Here’s the panel description:
Every Artist has to learn how to get feedback that actually helps their project, not just their ego. This interactive workshop teaches participants how to ask for and give constructive creative input at two critical stages of filmmaking: the script and the rough cut. Award-winning filmmaker and theater producer Keaton Wooden will discuss project feedback with filmmakers Erica Avery and Robert Carter, who participated in IFP Chicago’s intensive Screenwriter’s Workshop. Carter recently completed filming the script from the workshop and the group will put their new-found skills to the test during a live rough cut feedback session. While this panel focuses on film projects, artists of every discipline can apply this approach to their own work.
Words Fail Me in the HollyWeb Fest
Just found out today that Words Fail Me was accepted into the HollyWeb Festival, which runs from April 1 to 3. We are going to be screening episode 2 and episode 3.
An interview I did with IFP/Chicago
IFP/Chicago interviewed me about my participation in their recent Screenwriter’s Workshop (and staged reading). It was a really great experience and I’m turning the script (THE DEADLINE) into a film soon. They asked me about the script, my writing process/inspiration, the workshop experience, and plans for the film.
The IFP/Chicago Screenwriters Workshop
I submitted the script for the short that I’m working on to the IFP/Chicago Screenwriters Workshop, which takes place next Tuesday. The script was accepted and I get to attend an all-day workshop to develop the script:
The Screenwriter’s Workshop will take the winning writers through an intensive development process to enhance their original scripts, help writers define their voice in collaboration with actors and audiences, while preparing them for the next stage in their careers. The winning writers – local artists working in various mediums and development stages – will spend a day workshopping their scripts with the “Meet the Parents” creator Mary Ruth Clark and local actors including the 2015 graduated class of School at Steppenwolf.
I’m really grateful for this for a lot of reasons but especially because I’m planning to shoot this script in March 2016 and I haven’t done a reading of it yet. Which I almost always do, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. So it’ll be great to get it up on its feet with some professional actors and get notes/feedback from some professional eyes.
Bobby Richards, who just got a development/pilot deal with NBC, will be the lead actor in my script.
And I’m looking forward to meeting the other writers: Erica Avery, Wendy Jo Carlton (writer/director of the very successful Easy Abby), Michael Higgins, and Shahari Moore.
At 7:30, there will be a staged reading open at the Greenhouse Theater in Chicago (FB event), which is free and open to the public. Check it out if you’re in Chicago.
Words Fail Me is an official selection at the NYC Web Fest
More good news on the festival front!
We were accepted to the NYC Web Fest, which takes place November 13 & 14, 2015 in New York.
They haven’t released the schedule or the location details yet but you can get updates and check out the other great series on their website.
The final episode of Words Fail Me
I released the sixth and final episode of my web series, Words Fail Me, today:
A review of Words Fail Me + an interview with me
Elena Colás wrote a review of Words Fail Me for Chicago Literati and gave it 3 out of 4 stars:
Robert Bruce Carter takes us back to the storytelling basics with his web series Words Fail Me. With a jolly soundtrack and quick editing, each pair of characters find themselves in wacky situations under a simple premise: I know something you don’t know. From there, things get delightfully weird. Fans of improv will love it, and the casual addition of absurd plot points gives both the actors and the audience more to chew on than just a simple sketch.
Elena also interviewed me about how I come up with ideas, my writing process, balancing day jobs and artistic endeavors, and much more. Read the whole thing here.