THE MAKING OF "CROSSING THE BAR"

Conception and The Importance of Foreplay - Blog 1 of 10

It's universally accepted that film production occurs in five basic stages: (1) Development - The script is written and drafted into a workable blueprint for a film; (2) Preproduction - Preparations are made for the shoot, in which a cast and crew are hired, locations are selected and sets are built; (3) Production - The raw elements of the finished film are recorded; (4) Post-Production - The film is edited, production sound is edited, music tracks are composed, performed and recorded, sound effects are designed and recorded, and any computer-graphic "visual" effects are digitally added, all sound elements are mixed then married to the picture and the film is fully completed; and (5) Sales and Distribution - The film is screened for potential distributors, is picked up by a distributor and reaches its cinema and/or home media audience.

I'm adding a sixth-stage called Conception, and I'm adding it to the top of the list where it rightly belongs. For me the conception stage sparked somewhere in the right side of my brain as nothing more than a fanciful thought way back in 2006. It was the beginning of a chain of events that I will begin to describe in today's first edition of the new blog.

It was in June of 2007 when the now defunct San Francisco Film Arts Foundation announced its fiscal sponsorship of "Pilots of the Golden Gate," my historical documentary film about the history of ship pilots on the Bay of San Francisco. (The coveted fiscally sponsored status means that that individual filmmakers enter into an agreement to gain access to funding sources who only want to give money to organizations with tax-exempt status.) In 2008 the San Francisco Film Society assumed stewardship of my sponsored film project and brought to the program a new energy and an increased reach within the funding community and the film industry. Or so I anticipated. I naively forgot that an old institution like the San Francisco Bar Pilots does not like to be profiled, abhors change and that they have very deep pockets.

When originally conceived the film was to be an inspirational story about the unheralded heroism of ship pilots on the Bay over the better part of 200 years. But who would guess that when I took the project to the SF Bar Pilots they would stone-wall me by denying me any funding or cooperation. Because of my friendships inside the organization I remained optimistic concerning access to retired ship pilots and the organizations extensive archives. However, when the November 2007 oil spill occurred on the Bay the SF Bar Pilots organization reacted by threatening me with two lawsuits and summarily denying me any and all access to their premises, pilot boats, personnel and archives. At the time I wondered, "What on earth are they hiding and want kept secret, and how can I overcome their resistance?" Time will tell. Or rather, I will tell you over time.

Check back next week. More skulduggery will surely be afoot.

Copyright 2010 G. Leo Maselli