Filming during a game at Tucson Electric Park on the night when the Tucson Sidewinders were playing for the championship presented quite a challenge. With the consltation of Landon Vincent of the Sidewinders Baseball Organization, we had predetermined our filming positions for the shots where Santiago Craig is seen with the ball in play. The moment we completed filming at Kino, we grabbed the camera and flew across to the stadium at the eighth inning like clockwork to get those shots before the end of the game. That night, the Sidewinders won the Pacific Coast AAA Title and we were there at an incredible moment. After the game, they left the lights on the field going so we could film in the empty dugout since the players had retired to the clubhouse for their celebration. Sidewinders General Manager Rick Parr came down and performed his role in the film with natural ease and a great sense of humor, playing opposite Santiago Craig.

Working with the Sidewinders was quite an experience, we all learned about the world of professional baseball and how a top organization is run. Everyone in the Sidewinders Organization is a community minded professional with great flexibility to respond to every daily challenges that come up. We had no idea how complex the process is behind playing baseball. A score of specialists overcome everything from the threat of ever-changing weather (that means tarping the field with a very heavy roll of tarp that takes a lot of people to align and pull taught) every time the weather radar looks threatening to setting up hundreds of promotions for the enjoyment of the park guests. No one has any idea how much effort goes into every day to please the crowd.

Sidewinders Baseball is a family oriented entertainment venue that offers so much more than just going to the movies for just $6 a ticket with food, drinks, beverages, activities for the children and even a daycare center for families. Instead of leaving your kids zombified in front of a TV or computer, take them out to the ballgame and find out what a different experience it is with a crowd of fans living the drama of a game followed by an awesome fireworks show that build childhood memories that costs way less than a movie theater ticket. If you have never been there, take my word for it, just go. Turn your TV off, get up, and go see the Sidewinder play ball tonight. There's free parking so there's no reason to procrastinate. You'll have a blast, me and my whole crew did!

 

We couldn't use the elevators at the hospital because they need them all in operation for emergencies that are not all that uncommon in a real, working hospital. We found the elevator at Tucson Electric Park to be identical to the hospital elevators so we filmed the elevator scenes there on a day when the Tucson Sidewinders were not playing.

We also had time to shoot a scene from Act Two when the Lionel Verney character goes back to an empty ball park after the plague has wiped out most of the population and he realizes that not only is baseball season over but the world is over permanently. We only have one more scene to shoot to complete Phase One of Principal Photography - the night driving scene between the baseball game and going to work at the hospital. I can't wait to say "Phase One Is Done" because we've got 30 minutes of high production value movie finished for a whole lot less than most people spend on ten minute short films. Thanks Gabi for a job well done!

The secret to the success making this movie is having a great Producer backed up by a fantastic Cast and Crew, with the generous cooperation of local and regional organizations, both not-for-profit as well as commercial enterprises. This movie is taking on a same shape consistent with feature films with a considerable budget but has only cost peanuts (by indie movie standards) so make no mistake about it, this is what happens when you coordinate the intelligence and talent of great people into a worthwhile direction that has very obvious chances for success.

Before we get to relax, we still have two more Phases to complete. This month's mantra is: Phase Two Will Get Done Too. Phase Two is all of the expensive, ambitious filming that is the most challenging of the entire movie so we'll be back filming just as soon as we lay the foundational elements in place.

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