Gregory Hartmann discovered Summit on Twitter and, being a wonderful supporter of indie film, came all the way from Toronto to interview Christina about the film & the experience of making it. Read about it HERE!
Thanks for the support Greg!
Summit
Post-Production & Beyond
Sorry for not updating since our Crash the Superbowl submission, our schedules got insanely hectic after that. We just wrapped production on Summit 3 weeks ago! It was the longest, coldest, and most stressful shoot we’ve ever had here at CongestedCat. But it was also the most rewarding. We learned and accomplished a lot during our 15 day shoot in Massachusetts, and I’m proud to say that our production was, in the end, a huge success! I’m positive that the final product will be impressive and entertaining! If you’d like to find out more about our Summit experience, check out our blog, facebook, and twitter!
Also, some stuff we didn’t get to update you on before leaving for Summit: “Come Here Often?” screened at the Best of 2012- Katra Series Finale on a big screen at the Poet’s Den Theater. It was a great night and I look forward to hopefully more screenings for the film! “House Near the End of the Street,” our Cabin in the Woods Horror Spoof Contest submission, made the top 10 finals! No prize money but still a huge honor! And our Crash the Superbowl submission has had a hugely positive response from viewers. Hopefully next year we make the finals!
In other news, Kelsey and I have begun pre-production and casting for our comedic web series, “KELSEY.” We’re hoping to begin production in May. If you’d like to audition for a role or interview for a crew position, send us a message. Also, I’ve begun a new venture, not as content creator this time, but as someone who supplies an outlet for other creators to screen their work! I’m starting a monthly film series this summer in Woodside (of Queens County). I’ve brought on team members Kelsey, Lauren, and Ryan to help run the series and select films each month. We’re very excited about this new development and can’t wait to start networking with new filmmakers and screening their work! I’ll be posting updates in the following months about both the webseries and the film series.
In other other news, “Bohemian Rhapsody: A Short-Sex Musical” and “S.K.A.” were both accepted to the Faux Film Festival in Portland, Oregon! They’re screening on March 30th and 31st respectively. I’m completely out of funds post-Summit. But I’m going to try to come up with the money to take the trip to the festival and do a Q&A for each film. I’ll let you know next month whether or not that’ll be possible.
Be sure to check back over the next few weeks for updates about all our exciting new developments!
-Christina
We wrapped!
in Summit
So sorry for not updating sooner, I was recuperating from our exhausting but successful shoot. We wrapped production just before 6am on Saturday, February 2nd! We had a lot of mishaps to get over in the beginning and had some pretty intense conditions to overcome (it was below 0 and windy during at least two of our overnight shoots) but, in the end, we managed to hang in there and finish the film in record time! I’m so incredibly proud of what we all did together and so grateful to my cast & crew for sticking it out and making the production a success! We made magic happen and that’s absolutely incredible.
We’re now entering post-production and cannot wait to keep updating you along the way. We’ve got a long road ahead of us, but the footage looks great and the actors were fantastic; so the end product is going to be absolutely amazing! If you’d like to see some of the behind the scenes photos and stills I’ve shared so far, check out our Facebook page.
Thanks for all the support!
-Christina
We’re Rolling!
in Summit
Not much time to do updates during production. We’re shooting on pretty intense hours (I finally slept last night after 3 days). But just wanted to quickly share some behind the scenes photos with you! Check them out here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.533676889989590.124854.391960184161262&type=1 We did all our driving scenes the past 2 days in Canaan, NY and are doing some night scenes outside the house tonight in Lenox, MA! Cross your fingers for us that tonight goes off without a hitch!
Our footage looks so good and we can’t wait to shoot more!
-Christina
Meet Our Crew & Get Up to Date!
in Summit
Hey everyone,
Sorry for not doing an update in such a long time but we’ve been busy with pre-production work.
Like doing a blocking rehearsal for the car scenes!
Or having our final table read (or couch read, as was the case here)!
Some wonderful news is that we attached our amazing DP, John L Murphy, a couple months ago and he and I have been talking and working hard to accomplish the look we want for Summit. Check out his reel HERE!
He is incredibly talented and an awesome person. I’m excited to work with him and the rest of our fantastic crew!
Here’s the Summit team in full:
Christina Raia: Director, Writer, Producer
John L Murphy: Director of Photography/Cinematographer
Matt Gershowitz: Assistant Director, Associate Producer, Editor
Paris Powe: Production Manager
Christopher Carroll: Associate Producer, Art Director, Photographer
Charlotte Simpson: Gaffer
Peter Westervelt: 1st Assistant Camera
Erin Clayton: 2nd Assistant Camera
Adnan Malik: Key Grip
Colin Petty: Sound Mixer, Boom Operator
Kelsey Rauber: Script Supervisor
Andrew Bradley: Production Assistant, Driver, Craft Service
Jesse Rodriguez: BTS Videographer, PA
Our actors are an integral part of the team as well and have been a huge asset in pre-production:
Lauren Ashleigh: Jesse, Associate Producer
Rob Ceriello: Sean
Emma Barrett: Sarah
Ricardo Manigat: James
Ryan Kramer: Will, Associate Producer
And, of course, our essential off set helpers:
Marlene Mungalsingh: Associate Producer, Caterer (& best mom ever)
Natasha Singh: Caterer
Justin Petrillo: Associate Producer
Gabriela Bararata: Production Assistant
Also, some updates on pre-production:
-We’re aiming to shoot on the Canon C300 but our budget can’t completely afford it, especially in terms of the lenses we need. If anyone owns a Canon C300 or Zeiss prime lenses and is seriously interested in working with us on the rental price, I’m offering an Associate Producer credit to that generous individual. So send us a message if you’re that person!
-We’ve also taken multiple trips up to our shooting location in Lenox, MA and John and I have been working on the shotlist. We’re so excited about the artistic choices we’ve made!
-Paris, Matt, and I are working on finding one other location needed within Lenox, casting our final supporting role in the film, and finalizing some other key logistics.
Then comes the part where we’re just dishing out the money for everything we need. So don’t forget, if you’d like to receive any of our Kickstarter rewards, we’re still accepting pledges through our How To Support Page!
-Our production dates are January 19th - February 3rd! We’ll all be living and breathing Summit during that time; and Chris and Gabby will do their best to capture every moment behind the scenes so that we can share it all with you during and after production!
-Also, for you big backers, our wrap party is February 8th! Save the date! We’ll have details at the beginning of next year!
That’s all for now. But we’ll be keeping you updated as much as we can as we get closer to production. Thanks again for all the support! Enjoy the holidays!
-Christina