Tuesday, January 29, 2008

All Hands on Deck

We had our first full-crew production meeting on Sunday at Midway Pictures North (i.e., my house, which just so happens to be but a few miles from Zambarano). Dave and I have been on this since October, and a core crew has been working since November, but this is the first time that all of us (well, almost all of us, a couple of key players were unable to make it) have gathered to brainstorm and plan (and eat and drink). As a writer, I tend to shy from collaborative efforts, usually preferring the solitude of my study, where no one can witness how I can obsess for half an hour over placement of a comma or a semi-colon (this is true). I did collaborate with Projo colleague Peter Lord on a series after The Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people, but that was a rare exception.

This crew, however, is a delight to work with. The energy and ideas Sunday around my kitchen table were extraordinary. As they say in the corporate world, we have a shared vision of what this movie will be, and everyone is enthusiastic about his and her role. And these folks are good -- no, great. We had 11 people at the table for more than an hour and a half during which Dave led us through a comprehensive agenda, some items internal to the movie, some external.

Speaking of external, we are holding open auditions for narration and voiceovers on Sunday, March 2, at a central location TBD – a hotel in Providence or Warwick most likely. We think we will get a large turnout -- who doesn't want to be in the movies? If you are interested or know someone who is, mark the date down and stay tuned for more details, here and in the R.I. nedia. We will need female and male voices, of varying ages and tonality, some upbeat, some solemn, some romantic.
Cheers from frozen Pascoag!

-- Wayne

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Continued Great Luck


We continue to enjoy great luck in finding people (more correctly, people finding us) who have great stories to share. I believe the clichĂ© is “embarrassment of riches.”

Our latest are the daughter of a long-time doctor at Zambarano – a woman who grew up there in the 1940s and 1950s with her several siblings. Sheila has an extraordinary photographic archive which chronicles, with super detail, her family comig of age (hey, where have we heard that term before?). We will be interviewing her soon at Zam with one of her sisters, and we will be interviewing one of her brothers there soon, as well.

Another is Marie, pictured here on the right, who was diagnosed with TB ten days – ten days – before her wedding. The wedding had to be postponed, of course, when she was sent to Zam. She stayed more than two years, but her fiancĂ© waited the whole time. They recently celebrated 58 years of marriage. Marie’s photo collection is also superb. Without these, we would be creating a pale imitation of a documentary. That's me on the left, looking at photos; Marie on the right; Marie's daughter in the middle; and Josh Fishlock (off camera) doing the scanning thing. When he wasn't shooting this pic, Dave was in the living room, setting up for the shoot. And give him credit -- this time when nature called, he asked for the bathroom, not the rest room. (OK, that's another stupid inside joke, but it beats the boom-mike one...)

We will have our first full-scale crew meeting today to discuss the remaining production schedule, post-production, promotion and audiences, and the myriad other details that go into an undertaking like this. We are a hungry and thirsty crew, and beer and chili will be served. Dave still believes he can weasel my recipe out of me, but he ought to know better. I’ve kept this secret for too long to give it up now…
-- Wayne

Thursday, January 17, 2008

We Still Need Help, But...

We now have more information on George Barrows. His full name was George S. Barrows, he was of Cape Verdean descent, and he was discharged from Wallum Lake on May 20, 1907. He died on June 4 of that year in what we believe was his grandparents' house in the Oaklawn section of Cranston. His occupation before getting TB was listed as "washman" and he had two half-sisters. His mother died shortly after he was born, and his father remarried.

Any and all leads will be appreciated!

-- Wayne

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Looking for Patient One -- HELP!!!!

We are seeking help in finding information or -- this would be the jackpot -- relatives of the first patient at Wallum Lake. We have obtained a bit more information on him, but only a bit. His full name was George S. Barrows, age and hometown unknown. He was admitted on November 6, 1905, and discharged on May 20, 1907. He died on June 4, 1907. Don't know where. Don't know of what, though I assume it was TB. Don't know what he did, or whether he was married or had kids. He's a mystery man. Please help us unlock him! If you have any leads, please contact us via zambaranomovie@yahoo.com

-- Wayne

Monday, January 14, 2008

Dew Drop Morgan



Saranac Lake, New York.

The place was called the Dew Drop Inn. And from old, faded neon sign, they served spaghetti. Unfortunately, however, it was very closed and from the looks of things, it had been that way for a long time. But next door and over the bridge was a little restaurant that had wood-fired ovens, pizza, and cold beer. It was open.

And that's where we encountered the legendary Dew Drop Morgan. He is a war hero. A bobsledding legend. And a member of the bartending hall-of-fame. He talked to us while drinking scotch and water. He talked to us about his 11 children. He talked to us while the wind howled outside and the river slowly rose, big chunks of ice floating by. The same chilly river that Dew Drop would jump into every time the Yankees would lose. Or so they say.

We may have to go back to Saranac Lake. Not for any other reason but to talk to Dew Drop again.

--Dave

Saranac, Dew Drop, Elvis

Back from a highly successful weekend shoot at Saranac Lake, arguably the most important American location in the history of sanatoria (God, how I hate that word, but my dictionary has it as the only plural). The only area that might compete is the Denver/Aspen area, where we also intend to shoot.

The trip out was more than six hours, much of it in driving rain, but Bettencourt was heroic behind the wheel. One part of the trip was through true Deliverance territory, and if we didn’t need gas, we would not have stopped or set foot outside our SUV, since we were unarmed. But we had to get gas, and it was while paying for it that we discovered that folks in James Dickey-land heat and sell their hotdogs vertically – yes, as in a test tube holder. We were too afraid to ask why, lest one of the inhabitants declare: “Squeal, piggy.”

The Hotel Saranac, where we stayed, was, well, virtually indescribable. “Seen better days” will have to suffice, though we hear through the grapevine there are plans to restore it to its former splendor, and good luck with that. Although watching the idiotic but strangely mesmerizing When Pets Go Bad, which I had never seen, and listening to the wind howl as Dave snored (OK, he didn't, but he does talk in his sleep... OK, he doesn't do that, either) was pretty cool. And so was dinner at the Morgan's 11, Dave will blog on that. Elvis lives!

Everyone we met was most helpful, despite Miller’s instinctive (and almost always wrong) snap judgments. We got great material from the Saranac Lake Library archives, and our host at Historic Saranac Lake, Mary Hotaling, was charming, enormously helpful, and a great interview on Saturday. She also put us in touch with a woman whose parents met at pioneer Dr. Edward Trudeau’s sanatorium, fell in love, and married. Janet has great photos – and also another piece of The Holy Grail, which audiences will discover when they watch the movie (hey, you never know, somebody else might get ideas). Shot lots of exteriors, some super-8, and some of ourselves, still not sure why...

Driving back, we brainstormed our project beyond OTL and came up with an idea, which, being paranoid, we must keep under wraps. Dave, Jeff, Josh and I are sworn to secrecy, at least for now.

We are back in Rhode Island this week, a Wednesday evening shoot.

-- Wayne

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Off to the frozen northlands

We depart early Friday morning for our six-hour ride to Saranac Lake, in the Adirondack Mountains of New York state, for a weekend shoot of an old TB sanatorium -- one that played a pivotal role in the fight against TB. Dave has rented an SUV and Josh is going to film us on the trip for god-knows-what reason. We are staying at a very creepy-looking hotel -- reminds me, at least what I see on the Web -- of the Hotel Overlook, scene of Stephen King's great novel The Shining and Kubrick's great film starring my all-time-favorite actor, Jack Nicholson. Check back for a full report, perhaps a mid-weekend one if anything weird happens...

-- Wayne

Sunday, January 6, 2008

First Look: Rough Draft of the Poster


Our art design wonderboy is working on the one-sheet for the film...here's what we got so far:

Saturday, January 5, 2008

More great stories keep coming in

This thing will make or break based on the quality of the people stories (although the building tales are not too shabby) and, thank the Lord, we keep finding great ones. Or, more accurately, they keep finding us. Our latest is a woman who was diagnosed with TB ten days before her wedding, in 1947. The wedding had to be postponed, of course, when the bride-to-be was sent to Wallum Lake. You like happy endings? So do we -- and this story has one. The woman stayed 2 1/2 years, during which her fiance visited every week. And, yes, they married when she was discharged and they went on to raise a family, and we will interview them soon.

Our next shoot is Sunday, then back to the old farmhouse on Eagle Peak, my place, for a schedule/production meeting, some leftover Christmas chili, and cold beer.

-- Wayne

Thursday, January 3, 2008

January 3, 2008



It's really cold tonight. And after listening to stories from 89-year-old Doris Terranova last night about sleeping on the open porches at the State Sanatorium, on uncomfortable beds covered in snow, it makes me wonder how those patients got through one night, let alone an entire winter.

I took the photograph on my first visit to one of the abandoned buildings at Zam. An old gurney. Sunlight pouring in through the window. More to come.

--David Bettencourt