We moved the production to rural Pennsylvania today, taking 14 people and four vehicles to my family cottage on Sylvan Lake. The trip was fun, but once we arrived in Pennsylvania we had to start solving the many problems that arise when you take cast and crew on location. We are scattered among three sleeping quarters, one of which has no phone service. The logistics of how to get people back and forth, and how to feed them, are difficult to work out. Fortunately, my parents and our family friend Patty are devoting most of their time to helping us.
I greatly fear that our expenses have ballooned past the point where I can finish this film with my own money. Somewhere along the way we stopped thinking of ourselves as a low-budget production, and we've been throwing money at problems in a carefree fashion. The budget that we once drew up is now worthless, and we won't know where we stand financially until the dust settles. I now understand why so many people advised us to work out a solid budget early in preproduction; without one, we don't know where to draw a line.
Tomorrow we start traveling in a caravan, shooting at multiple locations in a single day. I'm worried that we haven't anticipated all the problems that come with the traveling. But then, I'm always worried about something.
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