We’ve gone through the rough cut a few times now, and it’s getting more polished. We’re still working out pacing in a few places - we aren’t into the fine cut yet. But each export of the full film has seen serious progress.
In playwriting, there are a lot of development opportunities. You’re specifically supposed to submit a work-in-progress, which can be tough because you know that the play is only going to get better from the time you submit it. A lot of people have angst about when a script is ready to be submitted to a development opportunity.
I have a personal rule for when a script is ready to share: If someone can read the script and tell what it’s trying to do, then it’s ready to share. Even if it’s not actually doing that yet, you share a work in progress as an early vision of what the play will eventually be. Then people can tell whether they want to invest in its development over time.
We’re at this point now with Addict Named Hal. We have a ways to go with the picture edits, not to mention score, sound mix, and color correction. But I do believe that you can watch the film as it stands right now and see what we’re trying to do.
And since we’re at this stage… that also means that we’re sharing the cut. We’ve submitted it to one festival (you’d recognize the name), and we’re sending it out to try to raise finishing funds and start thinking about distribution.
It’s nerve-wracking sending it out before it’s done, when there’s still so much of the vision left to accomplish. But it also feels good; and this is a waypoint where we need outside eyes. My eyes have seen this film too many times in the last few weeks especially, and I’m starting to lose track of what is having an emotional impact. Fresh eyes from trusted sources will help us as we move into this final phase of the picture edit.
Plus… today we are sharing stills from the film! I’ll be adding them to the website as a whole, but here they are in one go.
