So it’s been awhile. I know, over a year since my last update. I'm terrible. Work commitments, personal lives, and the goal to make the best script and story possible caused significant delays. In my last post I had been teasing an upcoming new project I was planning on writing/directing… well I finally have an update, and it’s pretty exciting.
I have teamed up with Indian filmmaker Uma Kumarapuram, to make a feature length narrative film. A little backstory on Uma... she hails from Thrissur, a small town district in Kerala, India where she is a filmmaker specializing in cinematography. She's a student of the renowned Filmmaker and DP Rajiv Menon, and has been working since 2010 in the south Indian film industry. She is currently working as an Associate Director of Photography in Malayalam Film Industry, and as an Assistant Director of Photography in Bollywood.
Though we have very different lives ourselves, we bonded over our shared interests in filmmaking, as well as in making a movie that embody strong female characters. We had no choice but to team up, and bring this new film to life!
Similar to our personal lives, our film tells the story of two women, Nila and Holly. Nila hails from Kerala India. Holly, is from Los Angeles, California. Each have vastly different cultures, jobs, food, friends, but each strives for some thing more -- an escape, a new job, a new love, a journey. Society pressures, preconceived ideas, and obstacles threaten the possibility of each woman achieving their dream.
We collaboratively wrote a script, but we will each be shooting half the film. Mine in Los Angeles and Uma’s in Kerala. We will be shooting on the exact same camera, similar lens, and the same editing equipment. This will allow each of our shot footage to cut back and forth with one another, without any jarring differences. Once the shooting wraps, all of the footage will seamlessly be edited together to have one united film.
Right now, with the script locked, casting almost finished, and pre-production nearing a close, we are gearing up to start our Kickstarter campaign where we are hoping to raise enough money to FINALLY make this film come to life!
I’m very excited to take on this feature length film, and to bridge a gap between two countries, as well as make this collaborative film in such an incredibly unique way!
Stay tuned for more (I promise).
- Nicole
