Building a Team
Starting any big mission can be intimidating. For too long I’ve considered myself a “one man band” filmmaker. Believing I can do it all myself. This is not because I didn’t want to work with anyone else but because who else is going to put as much of their time and energy in to MY project. Who is going to make time on the weekends, late nights and short notice filming opportunities. Well…lots of people.
My wife and I had an opportunity to attend a Veteran networking event while we were still very new to Oceanside. There we met three incredible people: Fred Galvin, Scott Huesing, and Amy Forsythe. All three are Marines and published authors and I recommend you look them up and read their works. I stayed in touch with all of them and tried to help any way I could to promote their books, one day while talking with Amy I told her about Julian and she then introduced me to her friend Michael, also a Marine veteran.
Michael is a filmmaker himself with a studio in Oceanside. He and I spoke and when I told him about my ambitions for JULIAN he volunteered himself and all his resources to make it become the best film it can be. He and I spent hours on Zoom going over ideas and structure for the film. It was thanks to him that I was able to create an initial plan for the film and when the first day of filming came he met me at Gracie Barra Oceanside. All this was before he even met Julian or anyone else involved. That was the first, but not last, time someone made a remarkable commitment to this story after just hearing about Julian and his story.
As the scope of the work grew I sought out additional crew. Facebook has an active community of actors, filmmakers, musicians and other creative professionals who are seeking work in film and tv. I posted in one of these groups that I was looking for a production assistant, a jack of all trades type. There I met Robert, a total stranger, and after a phone call he said the project sounded “dope” and he’d be happy to help, for free. Honestly this was a little concerning, I was skeptical, why would someone want to do all this for free? Even if they believed in the project for what it is will they really show up on early mornings and late nights all over San Diego County day after day? Well again the answer is yes. Robert was at almost every single shoot day even if it meant driving for hours to make it just in time. Robert is amazing. He is an absolute professional, incredibly talented and knowledgeable on all things filmmaking and now, one of my heroes.
I also found all of the actors and extras through Facebook who either worked for free or for less than they’re worth when they heard about Julian and the project. They will get their own whole blog post for their hard work and dedication to this film.
I also have to thank a number of people in my personal network who didn’t hesitate to get onboard as a gaffer, boom operator, actor or other job on set. Scotty, Austen, Tommy, my wife and baby and so many more, thank you.
This film isn’t mine, it belongs to the whole team, without any one of you it would not be what it is today. Your support and contribution means the world to me and to Julian and his family. I can’t overstate how incredible it is to me that people who didn’t even know me, total strangers, put enough trust in me and the vision to show up for Julian. I hope I didn’t let any of you down.
Finally, all these people showed me that I don’t have to do it alone. If the mission is worthwhile people will want to get on board and support. And when it’s for a Marine and American hero there is no shortage of support at the ready. You’ve reignited my faith in humanity and I hope to work with all of you again soon. I love you all.
Max
