Kyle Holtgren, as David

[Kyle Holtgren as David, in Minato Sushi Restaurant]

It has been awhile since I profiled any of my actors, and I really need to wrap this up before the big premiere at The Wind-Up Space on May 3rd! Finally, I am getting around to profiling Kyle Holtgren, who plays David. I think he was more excited about being profiled than any of the others, though everyone so far has seemed to enjoy their moment in the spotlight.

The character of David is based loosely on a friend of mine. The real David is one of those people who never stops smiling, but he smiles in such a way that you feel like he is going bring up a secret that you made the mistake of telling him, or, if you happen to be a cute guy, he might just grab your crotch.

I thought casting this part would be a lot of fun and people would be lining up for the chance to steal the show, even though it is a relatively small part. However, as I have mentioned in earlier posts, I was quite surprised to find the number of male actors who would much prefer playing a homicidal child-molester than a friendly, funny gay man. And since I had no part for a homicidal child-molester in this romantic comedy... I found myself with slim pickings among the actors willing to try out for the part of David.

Even after the second round of auditions and checking out over 100 actors at the Stonehenge auditions at the Creative Alliance, I was coming up empty. How could it be so hard to cast an outrageously funny, over-the-top gay man in Baltimore? In Mount Vernon, no less?

But there I was, my only options being a few guys who, god bless them, just seemed to me to be straight men playing a gay man as some straight men seem to see gay men - almost as a caricature.

Granted, in "Smalltimore," we don't delve very deeply into the character of David or his background. And in real life, my friend David is at once an open book and an enigma, and I know there are a million things I don't know about him. But he is still a person, not a cartoon character. He is still my friend, and even when he is trying to steal men away from me, it is really just his way of looking out for my best interests. There have been a few men in my past that it would have saved me a WHOLE lotta wasted time if I had introduced them to David right off the bat! But I digress...

So there I was, stuck, with production starting in less than 8 weeks. Kellie Stevens (who was dying to play the part of Angela, but had just taken a job that was moving her to Austin, Texas) suggested her friend Kyle, who I had met several times when we had all been at Dionysus for cocktails. Kyle, especially after a few libations, is hysterically funny in real life, and I could certainly picture him in the role. So, I rolled the dice and offered him the role without even auditioning him.

Kyle's first encounter with anything to do with "Smalltimore," was at the table read of the script with the entire cast, the bulk of whom had had to fight tooth and nail for their parts. They didn't know anything about the circumstances of Kyle's casting, but they did have the advantage of already having some amount of rapport with each other, as all of them had worked hard through the second round of auditions with each other, with the exceptions of Joyce Scott, and Tucker. I don't think anyone else noticed, but knowing Kyle a little bit at that point, I could tell he was very nervous, and I heard a little quiver in his voice more than once as we read the script aloud. He did a good job, though, and by the end of the read seemed more comfortable and extremely enthusiastic about the whole project.

Soon after it was time for rehearsals. I will be the first to say that for those with smaller roles, like Kyle, Tiffany, and Phil Amico, this sort of sucked. Because their scenes were scattered, and sometimes only with a line or three, they sometimes needed to be in rehearsals for a long day of nothingness, occasionally interrupted by 20 to 30 minutes of rehearsing a scene. This held especially true for Kyle. But he not only showed up, off-book and with a smile on his face, but even came on a day or two where I told him if he couldn't make it, he didn't have to, since he only had a few lines. He took it very seriously and really seemed to enjoy the interaction with the other actors whenever he had the chance.

Then, there was wardrobe... Kyle always looks good and I thought for sure I'd just be able to cherry-pick a few goodies from his own clothing. I went to his place one evening, and he had laid out a bunch of things for me to look at. I had never noticed it before but, for as outrageously funny as Kyle is, his taste in clothing is on the conservative side. Nothing too wild, nothing overtly sexy, things that look good on him, but largely in neutral colors, and some with logos so we couldn't use those. The part I thought that would be easiest to dress, and there was not one shirt in his wardrobe that I could use. Time for shopping!

The actors had all agreed to supply their own wardrobe, and if they didn't own the right stuff, we went shopping, and they paid for those clothes themselves. Welcome to the glamorous world of acting in low-budget indies! Those that I did go shopping with were very flexible and very patient, and Kyle was no exception. If memory serves, it was a Sunday, and we tried to hit the thrift stores I had scouted with Cheryl, Kelly, and Phil Calvert, but they were closed. So, we headed to Hampden, specifically, Mina's. Which is exactly where we should have started to begin with.

Now, though I was able to pay my ensemble cast a tiny bit each, it was really nothing more than what I call pain-in-the-ass money, and also it was on a sliding scale. So, since Kyle had a small part, it really wasn't much to speak of. I agreed to cover the cost of whatever wardrobe we picked out and deduct it from this future pay.

At Mina's, we found some very fun stuff which was exactly what I was looking for for David. A couple of graphic tees that if you look close during the movie, are pretty hysterical, or at least interesting. I loved the Joan of Arc tee so much that I went back later and bought one for myself. The outfit we threw together for the finale scene at first seemed absurd as I found one piece at a time, but once we put it all together, I have to say, I love, love, love this outfit. Kyle looks adorable in hats and should wear them much more often. And Kyle himself was ecstatic about the find of the day - a wide-collared polyester shirt with photos of birds screened all over it (seen in the scene in Minato, the above photo).

We found everything we needed right there at Mina's, and when they totaled up the 4 shirts, vest, and hat... at the end of the production I would then owe Kyle a whopping $30. I'll say again, he was a VERY good sport about the matter.

As he was, and is, about everything. He is one of the actors I remain in closest touch with, and he is constantly offering help with marketing, spreading the word to everyone he can, beating the drums about becoming a fan of the Facebook page, reading the blog, attending the premiere, etc. All very important, of course, but most importantly, I think he pulled off the character of David delightfully, and I SO hope that the real David can be at the screening to check out this very cute, very funny version of himself. In real life Kyle has a similarly devilish smile, the same harmless yet sinister twinkle in his eye, and he did a fantastic job of providing comic relief while portraying a believable character.

Kelly Coston, as Melanie

Kelly Coston so totally rocked out the character of Melanie that I had completely forgotten the sheer hell I had put her through before she got the role. She was quick to remind me at the reception following the screening of the rough cut, however.

I met Kelly last March, on the set of a short titled, "The Mystery Date," written and directed by Arlette Fletcher, who is the President of the Baltimore chapter of Women in Film & Video. Kelly was a Production Assistant and I was the Script Supervisor. She was very easy to work with, and a hard worker, but really I just had so much FUN with her and she kept me laughing all day. She is smart and sassy and has a very quick wit.

"The Mystery Date" was only a three day shoot, and on the third day I thought I had found my Mel in Kelly. Near the end of a very long day, there was a scene between a father and his young daughter where they are having a sad conversation and the father is crying. The actor couldn't seem to tear up, so I closed the set to give them more privacy, and the PAs and I went in the next room. From where we were, we could still hear them (and them us) so I was trying to keep everyone quiet. Kelly kept making me laugh, so I stared at the floor. We listened while the actor tried like hell to cry (I don't think he quite pulled it off, though). Finally I lifted my gaze to Kelly, and she looked very upset. I saw a single tear run down her cheek, and I thought, wow, this scene is really getting to her! She met my eyes, looked so sad, then pointed to her tear and broke into an ear-to-ear grin, like, "See, I can do that!" It was all I could do not to burst out laughing. I could have strangled her. But I was impressed.

I think the thing about Kelly is is that she is very hard on herself and gets herself worked up and nervous. At the first audition, she was good but a little rigid. There was another actress at the first round who really blew me away. So I called them both to the second round.

That was a long, tough day, and they both did very well. Now I had a real dilemma. I didn't know who to choose. On top of their skills, they were both gorgeous, but had very different looks. I was starting to skew towards the other actress, but down the stretch, something happened. I think the other actress lost her confidence, and the last few scenes there was a noticeable fade in her enthusiasm. Kelly still wasn't as loose as she was when I first met her but she was strong and consistent. It was still a hard decision, but now Kelly was in the lead.

After the callbacks, I still had a third actress to audition for the role of Gracie, so I called in a few of the other actors (including Kelly) to help her play out the scenes. That actress was not a good fit for Gracie, but what I saw of her, she would have done well as Melanie. So now I was leaning towards her. I really wanted Kelly for Mel from the beginning, but she just stiffens a little when she is competing for a role, and I didn't know her well enough to know if she was going to be able to loosen up.

I was honest with Kelly and it looked like I was going to give it to the other actress, who poor Kelly had helped me audition for the Gracie role! I felt terrible but I had to do what I thought was best for the film. Kelly wrote me and said it was cool, she had a little conversation with God about it and God wanted her to have this role, and it would all work out, I'd see.

It turns out that the other actress' day job was in turmoil and she couldn't have committed for the two-week shoot anyway. I emailed Kelly back that God was right, and the role was hers if she still wanted it. She just about leapt through my computer screen to accept.

And of course it turned out that she really WAS the exact right person for it. She and Cheryl got along in real life exactly as they do on the screen, instant BFFs. She cracks on Orlando and Johnny in real life just as Mel does to their characters, Tony and Bentley. So much attitude! Melanie hates the character Angela, who is played by the very sweet Tiffany Ariany. Kelly would be so mean to Tiff during the scenes, I almost felt kind of bad. (Later she admitted that at the beginning, she was still kind of mad at me, and "used" that to amp up her attitude in those scenes. It worked.) Now Kelly was relaxed and back to her sharp, funny, confident self that I had originally met. We had SO much fun shopping for wardrobe, that was an absolute blast, and she did not mind at all that everything I put her in showed massive amounts of cleavage. "I didn't use to have any of that," she'd say, and flash her thousand-watt smile. "They were a present from the kids!"

Kelly was always well-prepared and never had a bad day on the set. She is one that I really miss seeing. Half the time I would end up calling her Mel instead of Kelly (and still do), so we fused that into Melly. She truly is a complete package. The character of Mel ends up having a broader range than maybe any of the other characters, and Kelly was totally believable whether she was verbally castrating Tony, being blindsided with bad news, having to make life-altering decisions, being disappointed in a friend, or simply gazing lovingly at her man. Also, she is an editor's dream: I NEVER have to cut around her, she is consistent on every single take. Roll that all together with her fantastic attitude, teeth that most people would kill for, and what more could a Director ask for? Did I mention she is built like a brick house?

Cheryl Scungio, as Gracie

After the first round of auditions, I thought I had pretty much found my Gracie. And it wasn't Cheryl Scungio.

But I knew that since this was the lead role, I should not paint myself into a corner by only calling one Gracie to the callbacks. I went through the tapes of the first auditions so many times, and there were a few women that came in a fairly close second to the person I thought I was going to cast. Cheryl was good, but because so many people came to the auditions and time was tight, I auditioned people in pairs. For most of the women, that meant they each read for the parts of Gracie and her best friend, Melanie, they would just swap roles. Cheryl was paired up with another girl, and they were good but very giggly, which was not what I was going for. They were very "Friends" when I was aiming for somewhere in between "Seinfeld" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". So I figured I'd see what she was like without the giggly girl.

When I contacted Cheryl, I was very upfront with her about everything, and I told her point-blank that at this time, she was the runner-up, so she'd really have to pull out all the stops. She thanked me for my candor and promised to work on the notes I gave her.

Because Gracie is in almost every scene and I needed to test that person's chemistry with everyone else in the cast, I told the two Gracie's that I did not expect them to be off-book (have memorized) all 10 pages of dialogue, but I noted the scenes that I did want them to have down.

When the day came, Cheryl was the first to arrive. She brought changes of wardrobe particular to the scenes, and her own make-up kit. And she knew every single word of all 10 pages.

She also had the best chemistry with the rest of the cast, never checked her watch in front of me, and delivered her scenes with authority. She had thought a lot about the character and brought her own take on Gracie to the table, but took direction well if it wasn't what I was looking for. So that is how Cheryl came to be my Gracie. No one could have been more surprised than I was to have cast a thin, blonde Towson-ite who doesn't really swear in a role that is loosely based on my own experiences.

But Cheryl was such a dream to work with, and she is really funny herself. It was like having my own Lucille Ball on the set. She had this habit of whenever she would try to leave a room, she would try to push the door out when it opened inwards, so she kept running into doors unintentionally. But it was funny, so I kept it in. And sometimes she was adorably un-city-fied. I don't know how it came up, but once on the set she was telling me how for the longest time she thought those flashing blue Police cameras in the high-crime areas of the city were bug-zappers. I am not even kidding.

She was always a total trooper whether we were filming in the un-air-conditioned gallery in the middle of August or in the open convertible in the middle of November. I learned a lot from watching her, because she was always very aware of continuity. Unless I tell her to change something up, she does every take exactly the same, which helped me immeasurably during the editing process. She'd help me keep track of things like props and jewelry in that regard also.

She used up all of her vacation time for principle photography, even though for a back-breaking two weeks of work I could only pay her half of what she has made on some one-day industrial shoots. Most importantly, though, as my lead, as the person who was in 95% of the movie, she set the bar very high for all of the other actors, and I know that several of my guys who were very green took their cues from the way she carried herself on set. She never complained, was always off-book, always had her wardrobe, and behaved not just as a hired employee, but as a key member of the team, which is crucial to low-budget indies. This being my first movie, had I had the wrong person in that role, I might have ended up doubtful about doing any follow-up projects. I am very lucky to have found Cheryl, and if you ever have the opportunity to hire her, DO IT.

At Second Glance

Had a lovely evening last night. Started off with dinner at the Prime Rib with Friends Tom, Melanie, and neighbor Pete, and afterwards Cheryl Scungio (who plays the lead, Gracie) also came to my place and the five of us watched "Smalltimore," as none of them were able to make the screening of the rough cut. I hadn't seen Cheryl since we filmed the second half of a scene that had her and Orlando driving around town in my convertible with the top down, wearing flimsy clothing and pretending it was summertime, though it was actually a freezing November night. So really, I'm just glad she's still speaking to me.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it and it was fun to get together, but for me, the second time around of watching it all the way through wasn't easy, because now I am really seeing all the flaws and I wanted to constantly interrupt and tell my friends how I was going to make everything better for the next cut. But I controlled myself.

Awhile back, I promised to profile each of my actors here in my blog, and I think it is about time to do so. Cheryl and I were retelling some on-set anecdotes, and it made me think about a lot of the goofy little things that happened. I will start with Cheryl, since she plays the lead, and then I will, one by one, profile the rest of the ensemble, in no particular order, and on no particular timeline. I'll make them in individual posts so they are easy to find. Even while I watch the movie as a whole and I see all the things I can do to make it tighter, I still marvel each time at my cast. Who is the patron saint of casting agents? Whoever that may be, they must have been sitting on my shoulder when I chose each of these people for their roles.

I did really put everyone through the wringer during the audition process. During the first round of auditions, I saw over 80 people in two evenings. Eric loaned me a camera, and my friends Kellie Stevens and Jayson Fricke each filmed one evening of the trials for me, and Kellie and another friend, Jessica Hanel, took an evening each running the front of the house at Baltimore Theater Project, where the auditions were held.

After that, I spent 2 weeks watching the tapes several times over, by myself and also with Eric and Mikey B., so I could have a few opinions on the actors. For most parts I chose at least two people to come to the callbacks, the second round of auditions, even if I thought I knew who I wanted for a particular role. At the beginning of May I contacted those people and sent them "sides", scenes from the script that I felt were most important to their character so I could see how they delivered the key moments. Some of the actors had up to 10 pages of dialogue, and I gave them a month to learn it. The callbacks took place in mid-June, and took up a whole day, about 8 hours. Pretty extreme, but I needed to know who was serious about the project. Wanting the role is almost as important as how talented an actor is, when you are working on a low-to-no budget film.

In the end, with almost every role I had to make a tough choice, but I know that I made the right choice. Though some of the actors will tell you I tortured them mightily before getting around to it!