darius khanji, rita moraes, paul norman . . . characters, one and all of 'em -

so i think you get it by now. i LOVE the people i work with.
they make me laugh. they keep me sane. and they are freakin' brill at what they do.
see, me happy:


whether we are hunkered down with storyboards at the start, trying to put the jigsaw together:


taking a quick step out around nine at night for a group meal:


huggin on each other:



eating more "meat", a generic term around here for anything from beef to chicken to pork to sometimes just brown stuff. see, michael manacop all smiley. he likes the "meat". sara? not so much:


kids, meet paul norman:


while we are not EXACTLY stunt doubles, his masterful command of a set as first a.d. kept us on schedule, kept the shots glorious, kept me sane, and taught me more than i can ever thank him for. he is "top drawer", to quote glory from auntie mame. don't mind if i do.

then there's rita. our multi-lingual acting coach/mentor/spirit guide who helped make the nuance, reality. she is a secret weapon that i don't mind sharing:


darius. darius khanji. man shot "seven" and "evita" and "stealing beauty" . . . and now brought light and camera poetry to us. we are not worthy. well, maybe we are, but still, we are LUCKY AS HELL.
(and he's insanely kind/cool. that's just too good.)

and little B.
betania, so petite, so LOUD. she gives meaning to the brazilian hand gesture, and is the maestro who found us our stellar cast. she grabs them by the back of the neck and shakes them hard. if they don't rattle, they're ready. she actually found one of our leads standing in line at a cafe. she had never done anything on film, and she was exquisite. no kidding. for real.


hell, i'm the lucky one. in the end, they make ME look good.