November 15, 2013 Jill

Here we go. Today is that last day of prep on Ruby Skye P.I.: The Maltese Puppy. Monday, we shoot.

Not every web series gets to season 3 and few shoot under the circumstances we hope to become accustomed to. Not to say we have a ginormous budget — things are always tight — but compared to most web series, we are sitting pretty.

Here are a few notes on what’s happening:

We rented the studio where they shoot the CBC television series “Cracked“. Yay, the production office is not my dining room table. In fact, I have an office all to myself that is bigger than my dining room. We have dressed some fantastic sets so for part of the shoot, we will have the comfort of shooting in the controlled environment of a studio. Luxury!

RSPITMP Production meeting smallWhat a team! Over three seasons, Director Kelly Harms and I have worked with and learned to love a number of people: editor Mike Reisacher, Sean Van Delft on location sound, Key Hair and Makeup Jessica Panetta, custume designerr Ginger Martini, casting director Marjorie Lecker, camera assist Alex Leung, Gaffer Ryan Hernandez and our music team at Studio Cat. I co-wrote with the very funny Julie Strassman as always. This season, we’ve added some fantastic new people to our team: among them Production Designer Bob Sher, Cinematographer Celiana Cardenas, first AD Aline Robichaud and production manager Bruce Hutchison. Supervising Producer Jordana Aarons is quietly keeping us on track and on budget.

The interactive elements we’re planning are the coolest ever. We have a really strong team working on them, led by Shawn Bailey who I have long wanted to work with.

The business-producing end of things is getting more complicated. And I never paid enough attention to that end of things anyway. The amazing Janice Dawe is patiently and calmly untangling my mess and guiding us toward a profitable future. She’s put a team (!) in place to handle the business. Lack of business acumen is a problem for a lot of web series creators — and by a lot, I mean me — so having Janice at my side is an incredible relief.

We have an accounting department, just saying.

RSPI TMP Cast board small

As we hurtle toward first day of Principal Photography, I feel relaxed, optimistic and pretty darn happy.

CONTACT