Bringing Mean Streak To Life: Creating a Proof of Concept
Hey! Welcome back to another edition of our blog Why Aren’t You Famous Yet? We’re so excited to share this next blog with you. This one’s coming to you from Fred on how we brought our writing to life in a short film. We hope you enjoy!
I hope everyone can experience what it feels like to be in the exact place, at the right time, doing exactly what you are meant to do. That’s what being on my own Fred&Dan set, working alongside my best friend and our creative friends feels like. It feels like coming home, but I’m the puppy waiting at the door like I didn't just see my owner this morning before work. I actually warn people before we get on set that I will annoy them with how excited I am, even un-caffeinated at 5:30am…
Our set for the Proof Of Concept (POC)* for Mean Streak was no different, even though it was a much different set from our past. Janette and I have worked on sets as PA’s, Executive Producers, Directors, and Actors ranging from thousands of people, to sets as small as five. None are less fun than the other. All that matters is that everyone brings good, collaborative, safe energy. That sounds like a weird prerequisite, but a set is like any other office culture - just with the added layer of people (actors) sometimes crying, yelling, or kissing.
Mean Streak’s POC was just five amazing artists coming together to collaborate. At the time Janette and I wanted to challenge ourselves to create a body of work without all the “extra stuff.” Just one camera, us as the directors, and a small crew. We had an amazing camera crew with the boys over at We Can Swim Productions, Sven and Cameron as Directors of Photography, and Rebecca Pierce as our fellow Producer.
Janette and I have made it a pillar of Fred&Dan Productions that ego’s must be left at the door, and no one is above another when creating a body of work. This same principle applies on set. We may come with the ideas as the creators, but Cam and Sven were behind the camera, and Rebecca was seeing what we couldn’t and they all had ideas we never thought of.
It was three days jam packed with laughs, day to night shoots, and some off the wall ideas that became our favorite shots. We filmed at my parents house, on their roof, and dancing on the kitchen counter. I even threw Janette into the pool for a shot.
As this was our second narrative Janette and I shot together we learned a few lessons that I thought I’d share with anyone thinking of taking on an artistic or entrepreneurial endeavor:
Budget is everything: Remember that this is an investment in yourself and your dream, but don’t get lost. Don’t bankroll a dream because that’s the quickest way to go into debt. Get creative, scrappy, and don’t rush! Rushing costs money. Some of our favorite set pieces were things we made for next to nothing, like an entire wall of the bathroom plastered in 1970’s playboys we found checking out at a record store.
Have confidence: Plenty of people are going to try to push you around and act like they have the know how. If they did then it wouldn’t be your vision coming to life, you’d be working for them, keep that in mind. Janette and I talk about how much we grew from one set to the other just from this alone. While we love to collaborate, on our first set we felt pushed around because we were too nervous that we weren’t the most experienced people in the room. Looking back that’s just not true at all. It’s all about believing in your vision, and at the end of the day that’s all that matters. I even got yelled at on set (which I do not allow anyone to do on set anymore - to anyone) when I was the person writing their check. All of those times we didn’t speak up we lost out on precious time, and we didn’t get our exact vision across. By set two we were much more equipped.
It’s not right if something doesn’t go wrong: I say this with all the love in my heart, it’s going to all go to shit at one point or another. Whether you’re starting a business, running a set, or painting on a canvas, it’s all an artistic process. You’re coordinating, conducting, managing, and trying to do it all with a smile to keep morale high. Plan for the mistakes. Keep room in the budget, keep extra time on the call sheet, and come in with a flexible, creative mindset. The more you can roll with the punches, and see the flaw as a redirection or a new puzzle to figure out instead of a roadblock, the sooner you move past it. This is the biggest game changer, the best lesson I’ve learned. It allows me to laugh and think, “wow I’m so glad it was just a forgotten lens, not a broken one.” Or, “thank goodness my homie owes me one because I need an insurance quote right now at 11pm because I have to pick up equipment at 8am tomorrow.” (Both things that really happened)
All in all three days of shooting produced a three minute short. What was fun about it is that Janette and I got to do our favorite thing, make art together. We got to do it our way and continue to grow our skills. Most of all though, we got to shoot it in the Bay, where Janette and I are both from, with other Bay Area artists. It’s been about three years and because of covid we never got to release it, but we can’t wait to show it to the world.
*Proof of Concept: A short film that sums up your entire script, the essence of the plot, the tone, and the characters. This short film is used to shop around your script and show to potential buyers.
Janette and me on the roof of my parents house filming the last scene in the proof of concept.