Neptune Cowboy Crossroads

Daniel meets his Melissa (Part 2 of My Story)

2007-10-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Neptune Cowboy Blog #2...

Early 2004 Daniel, Mary Uht (My very best friend, the one who keeps me grounded) Michaela and I met in San Pedro. We chose Point Conception; nice park, ocean in the background and most importantly a play ground.

The idea was that Daniel would be auditioning Michaela in a very unorthodox yet effective way. He brought his photo camera and would spend the afternoon taking pictures of her and just hanging out. He wanted to see if she could feel comfortable in front of the camera and take direction, but he was also somehow going to judge whether she had acting talent. Michaela was incredibly nervous. (So was I, what if she didn’t like him?) Daniel and his calm demeanor confidently orchestrated this first meeting.

Michaela played on the playground equipment and Daniel started giving her direction and shooting pictures. She seemed to be opening up and relaxing but only later when I saw the pictures did I realize how they had connected. The pictures turned out beautiful and showed that she had the spark Daniel was looking for.

God, The Infinite Provider, gave us a beautiful day to play. We wandered down to the tide pools. This is where Mary and I stayed back and watched Daniel and Michaela explore the beach and the rocky shore. The tide was perfect, out just enough to check out all kinds of creatures.

As we watched in a distance, we saw Daniel pointing out what seemed to be some pretty interesting creatures. Soon Michaela reached out and touched Daniel’s shoulder. Mary and I looked at each other and knew immediately Michaela was beginning to trust Daniel.

They came back toting findings from their explorations. One was a fossil of a fish in a rock and the other was a small rock with deposits of black sparkles. (Of course Daniel knew exactly what kind of rock it was – so intelligent!).

Michaela and I still have the small one with black sparkles. During production when things got difficult I would rub that rock and gain peace from the Infinite, who of coarse is directly connected to Mother Nature. That rock was my piece of earth that brought me back to the purpose of this project.

I have to admit, at this time I had no idea what the Infinite’s purpose was, it was kind of a subdued notion.

When Michaela and I got home we talked more about the project. She really liked Daniel and we assured her that this was going to be fun and we would teach her little by little what to do.

My first concern was that Michaela wouldn't have fun and would be pressured. What do you suppose happened after that? Yep I became the stage mom… I started getting her to read her lines, I tried to get her ready for what might be an opportunity of a life time. I contributed to the pressure I didn’t want her to experience. Well that came to an abrupt halt!

She was so excited (I knew she was scared too) she began telling her friends about her new adventure... What a nightmare that turned out to be! Some of her friends were happy for her, but some were doubtful.

One instance in particular I can remember is when she told one of her best friends. This friend had an Uncle that was “in the business”, who knew everything about casting.

He explained to her about auditions, second calls and the competition. She assured him that none of that took place. She told him about her meeting Daniel. This Uncle could not, would not believe that a Director/Producer of a film would just pick one of his lead actors from a casual meeting without auditioning any other candidates.

Michaela was crushed. I was, well let’s just say the mother Lion in me was awakened. I didn’t want anyone thinking my daughter didn't know what she was talking about.

Michaela and I directed the Uncle to the Neptune Cowboy’s website and he soon became a believer. But that didn’t stop him from giving her industry advice.

Advice and comments came from everywhere! Mostly negative… "Michaela has never acted before", "you won’t have the time", "where are you going to shoot?", "how are you getting there?", "who’s paying you?", "what do you get out of this?"," when will it be completed?", "what’s the story line?", "you’re wasting your time"- on an on it went!

Michaela and I were challenged from the beginning! I knew I had to get this whole thing into perspective… FAST!

Okay, my daughter and I have been asked to be a part of Neptune Cowboy, an Independent Film project. Now what? Neither one of us has done anything like this before. Do I try to fit in? No… I knew we were involved for a reason and we needed to just be us.

This is when I really, really took notice to the similarities of the film’s story line and my past. I told Michaela and Daniel that this film was a way for all the mistakes of my past to be used for some good. My personal experiences will help direct some difficult scenes. My lessons were not in vain. This is huge. (We’ll visit this again… I promise.)

I removed all the “expectations” from the project and decided to take it literally one day at a time and then one shoot at a time.

Now a word to the Cast and Crew of Neptune Cowboy. As I continue to recall my experiences I may, at one time or another, say something you disagree with. If this is the case I welcome your comments and perspective!

This blog is simply a writing of my personal experiences from my perspective as I recall them. I do want to thank you in advance for your interest and participation.

Until next time…

How it all began for me. (Part 1 of My Story)

2007-09-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

December 2003 is the beginning of my Journey. I was working with a mid-sized Multi Million Dollar General Contractor. It was the kind of job you didn’t mind waking up to every morning, it was challenging and fun at the same time. I was their Marketing/Estimating Coordinator.

My then 7 year old daughter and I lived with my Brother who I worked with as well. Life was comfortable and predictable. Work, Church, Family…

There was no one special in my life at the time, so I decided, on a dare (more from myself than anyone else), to go online and find true love.

After all, isn’t true love the answer to true happiness?

I quickly scanned what seemed like several hundred candidates narrowing it down to 3 or 4. Only one replied… How very cool I thought that was.

The picture of “him” that interested me most was the one of him in Joshua Tree National Park. He was wearing this beautiful Native American Jacket with all the beads and tassels. He had to have the same love of the Native American Culture and Mother Nature as I did.

There was another picture in his profile with him and his grandmother. Again… how cool is this. Not only does he love the outdoors, is familiar with the Angeles Forest, he loves his family.

Our internet communications went a little like this…

Valerie: flirtingly I sent a smile

Daniel: Thank you for the interest. Although I’m flattered I’m undertaking an Independent Film project that will keep me tied up for at least 6 months.

Valerie: Thank you for the reply (polite weren’t we) I can understand how busy you’ll be. I have been involved in producing several TV and Radio spots and I know how much that entails.

Daniel: Really, have you gone to my website? You can learn more about the project I’m working on. www.neptunecowboy.com (He gave me his personal website too… interesting.)

Well now he’s really got my interest, thinking this can be something that will lead to at least a great friendship, I dove into both websites. (Okay the truth. I dove in hoping there might be something just a little more.)

First Daniel’s website… oh man, how deep is this guy? Great philosophy (more in a later blog entry), we have similar personality traits, he’s working on an Independent Film – THAT HE WROTE – and to top it all off he’s a TV journalist and a producer. (Wow, I hit it big here ladies.)

Now, the Neptune Cowboy site, I read the bio and thought to myself, pretty risky. He’s going places where a lot of people won’t want to go. He’s taking someone’s daughter from them. The mother of this daughter is being portrayed as a voluptuous drug addicted bad girl.

He’s even hitting delicate faith issues. (I, being a devout Christian was especially concerned. LOL)

Nonetheless it was an interesting enough project.

Valerie: Great project. Interesting Website.

Daniel: Thank you. Is that your daughter in the picture? Would you be interested in having her test for the lead part of Melissa?

Valerie: No, she’s never acted before, she’s still in school.

After several more emails Daniel overcame every one of my concerns.

Daniel and I agreed to meet at a local coffee shop. I was nervous. It felt more like a date than a meeting. (Little Miss Hopeful.)

I drove up in my little 1996 Toyota Camry and picked him out quickly. He was wearing a producer’s jacket, lots of pockets. I recognized his red hair and distinct eyes too.

We walked down the street to a Sports Pub. We found a table in the back where it would be fairly quiet and we wouldn’t disturbed during this very important production meeting. (Did I say I was nervous?)

We both ordered a beer and something to eat, soon began the small talk. You could tell by our body language that we weren’t quite comfortable yet. Well if you know me at all, you know that when I get nervous I talk. His one or two line questions turned into three or four sentence paragraph answers.

Finally after a bit of food and couple of beers later the conversation got more relaxed. We had so many things in common. He’s well traveled, yet down to earth.

Once we started talking about the project there was no stopping us. I actually got chills when he talked about Brandi Gannon’s role… It was like he was taking a page out my history.

I was even more chilled when he started talking about Melissa’s father, Levi… how did he know what my daughter’s father was like?

Three hours later we agreed that Daniel and Michaela should meet because she was indeed Melissa Gannon.

It was a very short drive home. I was so excited. I couldn’t believe it, my daughter being considered as a lead in an Independent Film, dinner with such an exciting person. What more could I possibly ask for? (No one’s going to believe this.)

I jumped online to check out the Neptune Cowboy website one more time. First, let’s check our email. Oh my God, an email from Daniel already! He was thanking me for an excellent meeting and good company. And then… He asked me to be a 2^nd Assistant Director.

ARE YOU KIDDING? Of course I’d be interested!

We talked a little about changing some rather racy pictures (to show the character types being sought) on the original website so that anyone associated with Michaela would see that she's involved in a legitimate project. He quickly agreed. (Can this be true, this guy is respecting my wishes to protect my daughter?)

Once I got my hands on the script I read it from cover to cover (I’ve only read two books cover to cover and they were Stephen King books, which was more than 10 years ago.) Immediately I called Daniel… All I could think of saying was WOW… We must have talked for at least 2 hours. We shared more of our histories and knew immediately that this project had a life of it’s own.

Soon our first Directors meeting took place. We met at a Denny’s near where I was working at the time. We reviewed tons of head shots that had come in response to our casting calls, matching them up with appropriate roles. Next we needed a place to audition the actors so I went to my boss. We had just moved into a great office space in Santa Fe Springs. She agreed to let us use the office as our casting office.

We set up casting calls and the auditions were incredible. Everyone just seemed to match up so quickly. I even auditioned for the Preacher’s Wife. I had never done anything like this before. It was so bad Alex, 1^st Asst Director, deleted it!

But our project seemed to take off so easily once the ball got rolling. Where are we going to shoot? Daniel has already scouted out many exterior locations, but we still needed many more interior sets. I went to my friends, family and even my church. They were all so very helpful! So hence I became the Locations Manager as well.

“Who’s going to do the make up and hair?” I kept thinking. Daniel had the answer. He thought it would be a good idea if I did it. Me? Well I did do a few make up sessions for Avon and for a Salon I worked for in Long Beach, Atlantic Studios. So now I’m doing hair and make-up. Okay, I can do this. It took a few months, but soon the actors and locations were in place.

Coming Next- Time for Production…