Jane has a production background which lends itself to unflappableness and, to my surprise, was instantly happy to help ease some of the pressure, keen to involve herself more in the day to day and have us offload a portion of the thinking and tasks. For her this did not spell hassle, but the ability to learn more about online and our general organization, and she jumped at it. It occurred to me the power of the collective – in our version, a loosely affiliated network such as this, that functions both separately and in smaller increments with individual voices/leadership and as a larger group with a mutual goal; where online resources keep satellite units up to date with progress, while aiding a team spirit and solidifying know-how that can be tapped into instantly at need.

I described to Jane that what we needed was a combination of a location manager, directors assistant and PA– leading up to the event and encompassing the night.  A go-to person with a narrow focus – compared to creative generalism – that has the answers to the details and has pre-thought the minutiae that has up and til now been discussed but only thrown around in various emails: Chairs? Tables? Props? Back up props? Backdrop? Public or private event? Bar minimum? Call sheet? Internet? Camera? Sound? Equipment for potential DJ and musicians that might join us? Do they need help carrying things? Confirming who, where, timing and running order. Simple(ish) things, but lots of them. Needing lists compiled and phone calls made to preempt last minute disasters. Lots to think about.

What we’re doing in terms of models for creative process, working methods, crew type and performance is breaking some new ground and we are working it out as we go along. It’s stressful and trial and error, but in the process I‘m learning some extremely valuable new insights into alternate ways to create and run productions, be they live events, film or theatre. It’s a great reminder that all risks lead to discovery.

As co-founders we work very differently.  Night and day: literally.  Often I’ll work till 6am on my projects – Silence!  Concentration!  Bliss! – while for her it’s all about early bird catches the worm.   On the venue and timing front for our new show this was no exception.  Coming from a theatre background, for her it was important to work backwards, venue and date first give you a solid goal that you work toward.  Sensible.

For me, however, coming from film – and having lost a key and very specific location in the morning, then rallied all non-working cast and crew to get on their cells, call friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends, and found a replacement by the afternoon – on the day of a shoot, this process was more fluid for me.

My approach is promotion, brand and visible content first – website, making people understand what we’re trying to achieve via an online presence  (a link is the best way to cut your workload of email and phone explanation over and over to participators, contributors, venues, press, etc) while working and documenting, knowing that the right time and place would present itself, or at least the odds of finding it would be improved once you had all of the above.

However, while a great approach in some respects, obviously this tightrope tactic is risky, with the cons being that it makes team confidence and overall time-management a little harder to manage.

As such when Brooke at Glasslands offered us the 5th Oct slot we jumped, given that Natalya starts a new acting school shortly after and I am returning to London to speak at Power to the Pixel, so anything after would be problematic.  The pressure is now on to make it happen in a short period of time.  And, unlike a film shoot, even in case of emergency, it can’t be pushed.  I was going to put a countdown timer on the blog, a la Studio 60 but it felt too mean.

The reason I held out for Glasslands is its standing.  Getting the venue was a big coup for me as I’ve been following what they’ve been doing for a while.  The space came to my attention back in the spring, when new to the area – NYC, but Williamsburg & Greenpoint, Brooklyn in particular – and starting to become assimilated to the scene I heard about the space from a friend, Conor, one part of gay rap duo Butch & Bellie.  He mentioned a space run by musician Rolyn Hu and artist Brooke Baxter -who ran underground events before opening Glasslands in 06- and my interest was peaked.

It’s been termed a “experiential community art space”  The word experiential meaning “to create for the purpose of the experience, not the final product, utilizing art as a form of communication.”

Though drawing names such as Thurston Moore, their curatorial sense expands further than music to include lectures, interactive art exhibits, film screenings, poetry readings, events like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs video shoot there last year (see below) parties, installations, murals (list of contributor artists) and afterschool music/art mentoring program for neighborhood kids – where musicians, painters, sculptors and writers support and nuture kids’ interest in creative expression.   They also donate a portion of the door to local Brooklyn organizations that strengthen the community.  Calendar of upcoming events.

For me, I just loved that people could write on the walls.  Felt like home.

While in London I lived in Shoreditch / Hoxton / Old Street and it was an extremely hard place to leave in terms of its creative atmosphere.

Any given day meant bumping into a fashion designer, graffiti artist, graphic designer, musician, DJ, party planner, photographer or model.  Those who made it stayed in the area, and drank and lived with, and next to, those on their way up.

For my group loyalty was not to a venue per se but to the East London based DIY ‘vintage hedonist’ crews or promoters like the Dolly Rockers, David Piper, Sean McClusky, Miss Pixi, White Mischief, or Viktor Wynd that curate/d music/art parties, often with everyone in wild dress, with themed spaces or heavily dressed sets, that moved from one place to another, be it bowling lane, club, parlor, music venue, basement, hotel, pub, church, members bar, stables, gallery, car park, ballroom, working man’s club or listed building, with the word of mouth crowd jumping about weekly.

The ideas of community & location are an ongoing interest, something I tackled in my last short film Bullet For Your Gun which was designed around specific venues & places like Jaguar Shoes and Hoxton square bar & grill – and I’ve been toying with the idea of doing some kind of geo-location release with it.

But now my home is NYC, and I was excited to go see Glasslands again – but this time with a director’s hat on – and dragged an understandably whiny Andy – who had expected a late-night chilled out drink at my house, post late work on my part, rehearsals on his – down there at 3am on Friday night.  It’s five minutes away from my house, I said. The next street, even.  I reassured.  Really close.  Half an hour into our walk he insisted on checking google maps on his Nokia N95.

This is this is your apartment, this is the venue.  This, he said, pointing to our mid-point on the map, is where we are.  Oops.  May have had a little to drink the previous times I’d been there.  He looked back, then forward, then paused for quite sometime before continuing to walk on, shaking his head.

We could hear the crowd from two blocks away.  While the venue entrance is a simple warehouse door, the Friday night exuberance could not be missed.  Twenty or so people scattered the pavement outside, smoking, shouting, pissing and making out.  Ah, Brooklyn.  Hipsterville.  We pushed our way in and the scene looked something like this, except everyone was in sunglasses:

A worried looking Andy looked back at me.  Don’t worry I reassured him, we’re on on a Sunday.  While I stared, fascinated by a zombie-like man in bad drag, make-up smeared down a sweat-drenched face, Andy nudged past a couple in matching sweat band, sports socks and satin short outfits.  He walked round the stage abruptly, made mental calculations of some kind and nodded.  Good, he said.

We got a cab back.

I met with Josh a week ago to help him with his lines. He gave me a lot of advice about bartending and we spent a hefty chunk of time reminiscing about our acting teacher and classmates and getting excited about seeing them again on the 19th. I’m really glad he’s decided to take this on. He’s already giving a lot of himself to it – creating several versions of a song where the script calls for one, for example. It’s nice to see him investing so much in this thing that just came out of my head. We talked about character choices, which was a bit of a challenge. I tried to tell him where I was coming from as a writer without dictating what decisions he should make as an actor. It was a productive meeting, I think. I wanted him to blog about it, too. He liked the idea of having a platform to make fun of me, especially as I walked away with my helmet prematurely on and my bicycle sticking out of my bag like a not-so-well-concealed weapon.

A couple days later Josh and I met with Julie for our second Dumpster Dive rehearsal. The first was mostly just a read-through, so it was exciting to see them both getting more comfortable with the material. They were very natural and their existing dynamic suits their characters’ relationship quite well. This time around, we rented an actual rehearsal space ($$$) instead of meeting in a coffee shop, but it was totally worth it because we were able to put the scene on its feet. It was a thrill to start to get an idea of what it will be like visually, but also a reminder of how much work there is left to do. For example, what am I going to use as a dumpster for our set and how are we going to block the scene around it? Luckily, Josh and Julie are eager to offer their ideas, so I feel pretty confident we’ll be able to solve all the problems we’re discovering. I ‘m also realizing how much work there is left to do in terms of finding physical things for the two of them to do during the dialogue, which is essentially just a conversation. This is the joy of theater I guess, creative challenges. We’ll see what we come up with.

Saturday night, after a minor freak-out session with Alex over the phone about whether this performance is actually going to come together (until a day ago, two of the scene groups were missing actors for major parts due to a dropout), I went to go check out another potential venue. I believe Alex already blogged about our first scouting mission at Slip on the LES – lovely space, but too small for our purposes. Luckily, this venue – Glasslands – turned out to be perfect. They have a small stage, lighting, sound, a bar, a casual atmosphere and they’re giving us a performance night for free. We have Oct. 5th reserved with them, which is soon, but I think we’ll be able to pull it together. Having a definite date is really helpful. It was hard to know how much to prioritize rehearsing when the date was unclear. I took some pictures of the space – a lot actually, since it was kind of fun. I got one of the very helpful bartender, Jay, who will hopefully be working during the show. (It’ll be up soon). He’s a performer himself, so ask him about that when you come if you get the chance.

I met with Amy for our second rehearsal last night. We’re both getting more comfortable with the lines and our characters’ relationship, but I know that I personally still have a lot more work to do. I guess I thought some of it might carry over from the last time I worked on this scene, but I’ve realized it’s definitely worth re-evaluating my choices and perhaps making fresh ones. I felt really lucky to have almost accidentally gotten Amy talking about her approach to acting. I have tremendous respect for her as an actress and she had really insightful things to say about the script, the characters and how to bring them to life. For example, she made the point that the pacing needs to be snappy to bring out the humor of the scene and keep the audience engaged; that we need to keep them guessing about what’s going to happen next. I guess I hadn’t really taken the time to imagine what would happen after the end of the scene, but it could either continue to be comical or become quite dark. Amy made me realize how much more there is to think about and work with than I thought. Now I just need to do the thinking. I feel really lucky to have such a talented and well-trained partner. I think I’m learning more than I bargained for, which is awesome.

Later today, I’m meeting with Josh, Julie, and a new addition, my friend, Samantha, who’s going to play the second female role, the new girlfriend. I’m excited to finally get everyone together. Hopefully we can figure out solutions to some of those set and blocking issues that came up before, but more on that later. I’m going to try to do this blogging stuff in smaller increments from now on.

We greatly enjoyed performing at Galapagos (now renamed Public Assembly) back in April and, while it was the perfect size to accommodate our cast/crew of about 20 and house an audience of about 80, there was no way to guarantee the booking on the main stage, which meant competing with various bands throughout the evening as the doors opened and closed. Also, our aim is to create a different experience each time, so a new space was important.
This time round, we emailed around and both Brian Chirls and Lance Weiler recommended I talk to Fritz Donnelly, a filmmaker finalist in From Here to Awesome, and also very plugged into the alternative exhibition scene. He in turn recommended we check out a space called Slip, and after a call to the lovely proprietress Christina herself, Natalya and I went down to check it out, as well as some of Fritz’s films which were showing that night.

Slip turned out to be a secret tiny jewel nestled incongruously between a Crops for Girls hair salon and a clothing wholesalers; a beacon of smart avant garde creativity quietly and unassumingly tucked away amidst a Lower East Side sea of matching….yawn….lumberjack shirt dumb-not -so-ironic drunken chaos.

After mistakenly walking past the unmarked venue a few times, I pushed back a heavy curtain to find a small room filled with fifteen or so people sitting on haphazard chairs, drinking rum and coke out of plastic cups, laughing and talking and mesmerized by the makeshift screen in front of them.

I noticed faces I recognized but couldn’t immediately place, until I realized that they were a bunch of filmmakers/actors – including Susan Buice, Taryn O Wiehahn and Roger Ingraham – that I’d watched on Justin TV as they streamed live from their set a month or so ago, and now involved in the participatory film As The Dust Settles – the Neo-Bohemian filmmakers, as I’d heard someone once call them.

A pink tights clad Fritz warmly welcomed me, and like a perfect dinner party host personally introduced everyone one by one, while Christina offered refills and chatted with me and Natalya about the space. Unfortunately we knew instantly it was too small for us, but I couldn’t help be fascinated by the energy they created there, and she was keen to help with suggestions of friend’s spaces that were larger.

We watched a series of Fritz’s incredible short films/essays, created under the nomenclature To The Hills, one of which was shot in the space itself, and another shot using his Nokia N95 – to great effect – then broke to talk some more. DVDs were raffled off to support the evening, and stuffed animal toys that were crafted at one of their previous sessions were brought out, with the largest creation tried on by Natalya, who then proceeded to test out Friday night street reactions, to some bemusement by the bridge and tunnel crowd standing in line for the club next door.

We moved on to watch some of Richard Sandler’s fascinating feature (and all edited in camera he told us!) The Gods of Times Square as more people filtered in and out casually. The atmosphere was lively, supportive and so genuinely friendly – a real treat. The night finished with chatting and late night pizza a few blocks away – Fritz resplendent in his pink tights – and I arrived back home to an email from Christina introducing me to a friend of hers who runs the Catherine Slip Studio space (unfortunately too expensive for us – this time round). The next day, I received another from Fritz, thoughtfully listing the people I met (see below).

Overall, while the venue did not work for us for this particular show with Me & Them, it was so great to meet a community of imaginative, like-minded people creating consistently and supporting, sharing and connecting others.  Thanks guys it was a blast – and I will be back very soon.
I’d meant to interview Christina on camera about the how, why and what of the space, but ran out of time.  Instead I hope to include these in a audio post at a later date – check back soon.

Rehearsal went well.  We’re still getting our footing, but Amy and I have a natural rapport and we’re comfortable taking risks around each other.  We’re going to have a lot of fun playing around with this. It was also encouraging to hear back from one of our top-choice venues today.  Hopefully, Alex and I will meet with the management in the next few days and nail down a performance date. Fingers crossed. That ball is picking up speed.  - NATALYA KRIMGOLD