Playing Through is finally up on YouTube!

The film tells the story of Brandon & Nathan. Two friends playing a round of golf terribly. While Brandon does his best to distract his friend, every thought Nathan has rests on a looming phone call. A call that will reveal whether or not he has been diagnosed with cancer.

The film stars John Steptoe, Michael Clarke & Alyssa LaPlume.  It was written and directed by Jason McKinnon and produced by Eric Gamache.

I had an absolute blast making Playing Through.  It was the first film I directed with a professional crew and it was also the first film I edited using Final Cut Pro.  Software I purchased along with a sweet new iMac in order to complete the film.  I’m extremely proud of the work our cast in crew poured into the short.  I also have to thank Clear Springs Golf course in North Bay, Ontario for allowing us to make this film on their course.  It was a gorgeous week I’ll never forget.  I’m extremely happy it didn’t rain!

Hope you enjoy the film!  Pass it along.

There is still one more giant announcement to come regarding this movie in 2012 so stay tuned.

This edition of THE POST is all about the people who helped us make Playing Through.

-Playing Through would NOT have happened without my producer and business partner Eric Gamache.  Check out his website here and stop by his IMDB page as well.

-Murray Fleming and Danny Sustar, our brilliant sound team.  These two talented artists turned a stereo recording into a stunning 5.1 mix I never dreamed was possible.  I’ll never be able to fully explain how much effort they put into each and every detail.  Murray is also a fantastic musician and has produced a ton of award winning songs for both television and film.  You can check out his website here.

-Reuel Meditz created incredible music for the film and delivered beyond what I envisioned for Playing Through’s score.  He is an accomplished pianist with multiple albums.  Check out all the details here.

NOTE: The music in the trailer is called ‘Reign’ and was produced by Kevin MacLoed.  He runs a phenomenal site that provides free music called Incompetech.

-Since Playing Through was my first ‘big’ short film, I really relied on Darrell Faria, my 1st A.D.  His ability to run a film set was remarkable to watch.  I learned a ton watching him.

-Rose Lagace, our production designer runs an in depth blog about all things Art Department called Art DepartMENTAL.  She also writes reviews in addition to providing exclusive interviews and extensive coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival.

-Our amazing make up artist Alex Rotundo has a great site showcasing her work.  She came on board The Climb as well and did some amazing work on our lead’s tattoo designs.  Check it out here.

-Dominika Dittwald was our Director of Photography on both Playing Through & The Climb.  You can view more of her work here.

-Of course we wouldn’t have a movie without the awesome folks over at Clear Springs Golf Course just outside of North Bay, Ontario.  It’s a gorgeous course.

Our entire crew was incredible!  I wish they all had sites because I’d feature them all.   I had a blast making Playing Through and I have our awesome cast & crew to thank for that..

Check out the entire film over at NSI Canada right now!

Here is a brand new still from 17 West’s upcoming short film, The Climb.

Expect more and more updates as the production moves along including exclusive stills, features and the film’s trailer.

The Climb centers on Cameron and Destiny and their struggles living on the streets.  Each of them must face their terrible pasts in order to move on.  While Destiny lost all hope long ago, Cameron holds to his belief that he will find a way to change things one day.

For more head over to 17west.ca.

XTRA: Catch up on the entire project by visiting The Athletic Nerd’s Archives

2010 was a productive year for 17 West Productions.

Playing Through was accepted into 3 festivals and also won 3 awards.  Most recently, it was accepted into the 2010 NSI Online Short Film Festival and will be playing online early in 2011.

The end of 2010 will probably signify the end of our promotional campaign for the film.  With it’s festival run over, we now turn our attention to distribution, television and hopefully launch the entire film online over at 17west.ca by the end of the next year.

If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, check it out below.

We also produced a low budget short film that is currently in post production called The Climb.

I wrote and directed the film and I’m currently handling most of the post-production so progress is slow but I’m getting there.

Click here for a complete update on the film.

Those who follow 17 West Productions have no doubt heard of another project called Strings.  The film was written a while back and even reached casting but was stalled due to the always challenging search for funding.

We are co-producing the film which is due to be filmed in Sudbury, Ontario in 2011 assuming Operation: Funding is successful.  Expect a full update in the next few weeks.

The rest of 2010 was spent developing new stories and short film concepts that we hope to produce.  The process of lining up projects is a long one but the results have been encouraging thus far.  Currently, we have 6 or 7 projects in development and several more with completed screenplays waiting to be greenlit.

All in all, I’m happy about our company’s progress in 2010.  Eric and I both work full time jobs in the industry and considering how difficult it is to run our company on a part time basis, we still managed to get a film into festivals while producing another.

What’s important to me is how much time we have spent developing projects for the future.

The goal for 2011 is to ramp up development and hopefully move forward on a new short film project late in the year.

Check out the newly redesigned www.17west.ca for more on 17W and keep checking back here for updates.

I’ve been editing The Climb off and on since we shot the film in May. (I love Final Cut.)

You might say that it should have been finished long ago.  Honestly, I’ve been having so much fun editing the film but trouble finding time to get the work done.

But I’m not making excuses…

I had a fairly large chunk of the film cut but decided to change the overall style and pacing of the film.  The results have been awesome.

I’m so happy I went back and really thought about the story I want to tell again.  Once I had it clear in my mind, the edits came easier than ever.

Behind the scenes, I spent a lot of time training on Soundtrack Pro and Color in preparation of the next step.

NOTE: If you’re looking to learn new software I highly recommend Lynda.com.  Click HERE for more or below for a free trial.

I also wrapped up some long overdue web and screenwriting projects in order to clear enough time to really focus on this project.

I watched the rough cut so far the other day and I can’t wait to finish.  I’m proud of the film thus far.  It’s completely different than Playing Through in every way.

READ: Playing Through vs The Climb

2011 will definitely see the release of the film.  I’m hoping to have it out sometime this summer.

I’m also planning a teaser trailer that should be released before the Spring.  The full trailer will debut around the time the film is released.

I think what I’m really looking forward to is the sound and color work I’m going to tackle.  The Climb was a good chance to try and handle all the post myself.  It’s an interesting challenge and I’ll be updating constantly once things get going next month!

For more read all about how we made this low budget short film.

Producing a low budget short film: Pre-Production

Producing a low budget short film: Making The Climb

Does this poster sell our short film?