WE'RE HEADING INTO THE FINAL STRETCH

We have one month left of shooting – can you believe it?! We wrap on August 31st!

Thank you to everyone who has participated so far. It’s been such an incredible experience for us all. We are grateful and touched that you have let us into your homes and hearts. We are humbled by you all.

As we cram in our last topics, it’s not too late to share your thoughts on Fresno – any aspect at all! If you know of a subject that’s important to Fresno NOW or a person you think should be interviewed, please contact us at here or at query@EntandemProd.com

We’ve touched upon these topics, among others: political, social, arts, ethnic, youth, civic, environmental, technology, education, etc.

Come to our site to get a peek at one of the interviews and leave your comments!

Juices

Aaaaah!!! (Interpret as you will.)

Between the amazing interview with Eric Field for the documentary and the first reading of the draft script for next year’s production over the weekend, I am… overwhelmed - in a good way!

What is it about a creative endeavor that sparks such intense humanity, creativity, heartbreak, confusion, elation, energy, hatred, memories, empathy, detachment, forgiveness, call to action, apathy, and every other emotion – sometimes within seconds of one another…?

It feeds on itself and then feeds others, it moves ahead of one’s stride to catch up with those in front to ensnare them, and pulls on those behind. It strokes the skin never before touched for a sensation that makes one explode out of one’s soul to rain down on everything in search of more…

I am not the only one feeling this way, which makes it nearly like an orgy rather than masturbation… Sorry for the graphic, but there you are.

Thank you for the fun!

C

The If's of Writing

If the catalyst for the story never speaks one word, will you know him as deeply as I do –left only to the actor’s prowess on the screen?

Is it really something HE would say?

It’s such a strange reaction, how would it be perceived?

Are HER attempts at proving her flesh and blood state coming through?

If I switch the order, would the effect be the same or more dramatic?

Can I cut that scene out entirely without losing the gem?

If SHE says nothing, how would the other person react – forced to fill in the gap or respect it?

These are a sampling of questions I ask myself as I work my way through Draft 2 of the screenplay for next year’s production. The story was simple and came as if from nowhere, inspired by actual events (some and not others – you can decide that when you see it), plopped on the page in a fury of writing over only a few weeks.

It’s been a year since the story began! I can’t believe how far we’ve all come since then.

I now no longer see the original characters that made up the novel. I am not sad. After adapting it to screenplay, I see the wonderful local actors I want to have in the production – I hear their voices, I see their faces, I see them as the characters. They move the way I know the characters do, the little nuances that make a person who they are, habits and fears, grins and concerns, incorporating amazing surprises I will not have thought of as they flesh out their characters. I hope not to intimidate anyone with this statement – but it was a simple transition of the talent available to us.

I can’t wait for the read-through’s. I’m anxious to hear familiar voices speak words I expect them to say and can’t wait to hear feedback on that which doesn’t ring true. It’s like a sour note, a key gone flat on the piano, when something just isn’t right. Sometimes I notice it. Sometimes I don’t and someone else will.

I love the collaboration of pulling out fully formed characters from my imagination, ironing them flat to fit on the page with hopefully just enough embellishment to be pulled off the page once again, like a sticker, and puffed up with the actor’s breath into a real, living, moving, breathing, speaking person!

See you soon!

“Fresno” on TV!

Be one of the first to see a clip from Entandem Productions’ upcoming documentary, “Fresno!” Christine and Jaguar are scheduled to appear on Channel 26’s morning show, “Great Day,” this Tuesday, June 19, at way too early in the morning. We’ll be showing a clip from “Fresno”—the first time anyone in the world, anywhere, will get a chance to see a portion of the film.

Want to see a little bit of what we’ve been doing, get up early (or stay up late, depending on your habits) and catch us on Great Day! Tell all your friends!

Fresno Soul

We are constantly being asked what our film is about. What often arises is Fresno’s self-defeatist attitude of why a film about Fresno? Well, if you see it through our lens, it’s a pretty interesting place with amazing people. Moreover, it’s Any-Growing-City, USA.

We're entering the villages of Fresno -- those pockets like little villages that combine into an economy and complex social structure. We enter these neighborhoods through the hearts and minds of its people to discover how this place is perceived and how its future is being shaped. Not everyone is optimistic.

We’re so lucky to have this insight and we can’t wait to share it with all of you! I wish everyone could get a chance to sit with us as we interview someone. Foremost, because we hear incredible ideas, but also because we’re forced to listen. By listening, we give up our selfish ways for a little while and are rewarded by bits of enlightenment. I’ve decided that communication is an invitation and one must have the patience to listen or it is not effective.

We face many changes in Fresno since our population is expected to double in less than a decade. Are you prepared? Have you thought about this? How will this affect you, your family, your neighbors, your neighborhood, your neighbors across town?

I’ve lived in a city in which the infrastructure failed when its growth exceeded all expectation, all planning, all common sense, and greed prevailed there. (Sounds like a wicked fairy tale, doesn’t it?) Let’s utilize our resources – the most valuable of which are our people! Apathy needs to be banished by us all. Let’s just “do” something, no matter how small it seems. There are many doing something, anything, some do a great deal, many put forth good ideas, plenty more are organizing. (Can you picture the little elves with tiny tools building the future?) Let’s work together to implement those smart growth ideas.

Fresno is perched on something – let it be greatness!

IN THIS LIFE...

I wear about as many hats as any small business owner. We all do. In the corporate world it would be called “cross-training”. My crowded calendar and to-do list would be my “dashboard”.

But it’s independent film. It’s a documentary. No remuneration whatsoever except what feeds our souls. It’s about making our own rules and building our own road on which to travel. It’s a heck of a lot of work and, at the same time, the corporate world would call it “goofing off”. I work in the mornings, over my lunch hour, and usually late into the night or early morning hours.

I attend an awards evening.
I sit in a friend’s back yard and watch squirrels and listen for garbage trucks.
I watch people arrive at a rodeo.
I empathize with a couple closing the doors on their dreams.
I walk onto a newly developed college on a hot Sunday afternoon that used to be my friend’s backyard.
I learn to Salsa at a Hookah Lounge.
I listen to struggling poets.
I watch a friend perform in his band before flying to Liverpool.

All the while I listen to people’s long string of words on which hand fancy baubles and crystal beads, polished bones and misshapen clay blobs. Then, unexpectedly, a priceless jewel gets strung on. I smile to myself and at those working hard alongside me because my partner has coaxed something amazing out of our patient interview. What have they given us? Not saving blood or money to fund a change in the world; they’ve given us their thoughts and wishes and experiences and impressions, and what else can be as valuable as what makes a person who they are? And, we've captured it to share with you...

Christine

What is a city?

... at moments like this, the city goes soft; it awaits the imprint of an identity. For better or worse, it invites you to remake it, to consolidate it into a shape you can live in. You, too. Decide who you are, and the city will again assume a fixed form round you. Decide what it is, and your own identity will be revealed ... We mould [cities] in our images: they, in their turn, shape us by the resistance they offer when we try to impose our personal form on them....

The city as we imagine it, the soft city of illusion, myth, aspiration, nightmare, is as real, maybe more real, than than the hard city one can locate on maps in statistics, in monographs on urban sociology and demography and architecture.

--From Soft City by Jonathan Raban

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH “HOOKER”

Day Five of “Fresno – The Documentary” was at the May FLYP event. Through an unexpected SNAFU (as they usually come), Brad and Kristy had to move their event at the last minute to Ghaleb’s Grill and Hookah Lounge. Now, with Jaguar present, one might confuse the term and think “hooker”, but no, alas, it was “Hookah”. The smoking kind of “hookah” – picture a harem with its sultan at the center among colorfully, diaphanous clad, petite and beautiful young women on a floor of pillows with their testosterone chief, in gold adorned silks, smoking from a tall, fancy and aromatic hookah.

So, the lounge did not exactly look like that, but now you’ve pictured a hookah. (I really like the word, so I’m going to keep finding ways of putting it in!) It was a large “room” in the middle of a strip mall: absolutely Fresno! Candles and “Harry Potter Goblet of Fire”-like miniatures, with middle eastern artifacts were set about the room, which might have once been a Mexican restaurant. It was dark, very dark, which Jeremy (our DP) did not like. Even though the venue had changed last minute, the turnout was great. Everyone enjoyed the salsa lessons and people were up dancing as long as we were there. When we left, at around 8:30, newcomers were still arriving. (Hint: women tend to outnumber the men.)

Brad and Kristy have managed to create an atmosphere where all ages are welcome, though the younger set seems to be more prominent. Everyone talks to everyone. Everyone dances with everyone. Drinks flow freely as does conversation. It’s a good mixer which welcomes all from the shyest middle-aged office worker to the most outgoing redhead in Fresno (BTW, that wasn’t meant to be me). People admired the hookahs, jello shots and oxygen bar, but tended to stick to more mundane habits – drinking inside in a nightclub setting and smoking cigarettes outside in the parking lot.

On film we’ve caught Jaguar dancing with the other Christine, a couple smoking a hookah, lots of great interviews with Fresno’s diverse culture, the wall of hookah, candlelight, dancing and fun!

See you on Day Six, Friday at the Fresno Filmworks presentation of “La Última Mirada” at 5pm and 8 pm at the Tower Theater!

“FRESNO” PRODUCTION DIARY

Day One - “Fresno” Begins Production!

Entandem’s latest project is “Fresno,” a documentary film that questions whether a city with an ugly reputation can grow to become a major metropolis. Filming on “Fresno” began April 26 at the Fresno Arts Council’s Horizon Awards ceremony, held at the Fresno City Council Chamber. Entandem co-founder Jaguar Bennett tortured nervous award recipients with hard-hitting questions like “State your name for the camera.”

Day Two – On location in the back yard of Jaguar’s glamorous Tower District residence! In a bucolic atmosphere of birdsong and garbage trucks, San Francisco artist Mia Paschal shared with us her views of Fresno’s arts scene—and her opinions will surprise and shock you. (A snippet soon to be up on our web site!)

Day Three was hot! Our soles stuck to the sidewalk – felt just like summer in the Valley. The smell of horses and cattle wafted through the heated, dusty air. The Clovis Rodeo was in full swing as we rustled through parking lots to capture the wonderful characters. Clovis, as a neighbor to Fresno, is an integral part of the city, with an invisible border and even interrelated schools. Also, we visited Jaguar’s former home, now a new giant school complex.

Day Four was spent at Koffeeheads! (See the previous blog.) Jack and Kari Weldon are closing their fabulous and unique chain of local coffee shops after being obliterated by the public’s interest and eager consumption at the Starbuck’s drive-through. This was a fantastic interview with two wonderful, kind and creative people. We will miss you!

We’ll keep you updated on our adventures with pictures and video (up soon, we promise, on our new, soon to be unveiled redesigned web site – www.EntandemProd.com).

Cheerio for now,

Christine

RAISON D’ETRE – Christine’s personal view

Koffeeheads is a locally owned chain in Fresno. They are beautiful coffeeshops with dramatic colors everywhere – on the furniture and on the walls, fun and interesting original art, coffee knick-knacks, fun music and darn good coffee and egg-scrambles-in-a-cup. Who could ask for more?

Well, apparently some of us, as citizens of Fresno, chose to go across the street to the less tasty, out-of-town ownership, homogenized, don’t know which outlet you’re in because they all look and sound the same, Starbucks. As four of us sat having coffee and eggs during our meeting at the Koffeeheads in River Park, the kind owner, Jack Weldow, apologizes profusely for making us move to another table because ours has been sold. Everything must go!

I’m heartbroken. I’m heartbroken for many reasons. Firstly, because this was a “mom and pop” operation: locals who put their money and hearts into a local business for locals, to keep the money locally. Secondly, because it makes it seem as if Fresnans prefer to support a mass produced, soulless chain more than something authentic. Thirdly, it was my favorite hang out; it was where I conducted so many of my meetings that led to this wonderful company called “Entandem Productions”; it was where I introduced others to this fabulous place, and they told their friends… but not enough! Fourth, as a small business owner, former and present, I hate to see small businesses go under, because I believe they’re the future; large, faceless conglomerates will end up owning everything if the small business isn’t allowed to remain.

Now that I’m off my soap box…

This is just one of the many reasons why “Fresno”, the documentary, is being created. It captures life in Fresno as it happens, good or bad, happy or sad, beautiful or hideous. It will make you laugh and cry, anxious, angry, happy and question your reality. In so far as Koffeeheads, we were the lucky ones to have been able to sit inside among the colors and aromas of coffee and tea, or to have sat outside under palm trees or awnings in the morning sun, or at night with our friends and loved ones sharing wonderful conversations.

That is change. It happens whether we like it or not. But, in Fresno, there are incredible people doing amazing things, some of which you might not agree with, and for some, our hearts go out to them, and we’re capturing them on film to share with you.