Personal Notes

October 18, 2000
Began casting SUNRISE SUNSET today. I have a strong feeling that this is the film that will catapult me out of art-house. I am looking for a female lead encapsulating both beauty and strength, an A-list actress with a serious desire to work hard. Am confident that I will find her. Met with casting director to discuss this and she showed me headshots of a few women. They all look the same. Had to give casting director lecture regarding what I mean by Serious Actress. She nodded a lot.

November 3, 2000
Still casting. One of our potential lead actresses showed up with a bodyguard, a manager, a manicurist and someone who walked in front of her spraying perfume into the air. She said she was excited about working on a film set in Lisbon, because she's "really feeling the whole Latin thing right now." Didn't have the heart to tell her Lisbon is in Portugal.

January 8, 2001
Not sleeping very well right now. Am stressed about completion of Sunrise Sunset. Lead actress wants to fly her masseuse in from Boston twice a week and is dissatisfied with the quality of the bottled water on-set. Lots of tension between her and male lead, who asked me yesterday if he thought wearing an eye patch throughout the film would add to the "mysterious nature" of his character.

July 26, 2001
Lead actress quit today, citing the height of her trailer as reason for leaving (6 inches too short). I am disgusted with myself for getting into this mess in the first place. Whatever happened to the purity of creating art?! All my actors talk about is Mariah Carey's breakdown, whether or not they should get botox and what kind of SUV they should buy next. Nobody's done any research or cares about their characters in the slightest and I feel like I'm herding cats here.

August 3, 2001
A dear associate of mine, Hank Aleno, has tragically passed. A tribute site has been created in his honor