The first day of shooting went off without hardly any hitches, and by that I mean almost everything that we planned to do, we did. Almost is the key word.

A bit of panic set in when one of the locations we planned to shoot at called us last night and informed us that it would not be possible for us to shoot there. Thanks for the warning, right?

Our solution to the problem was shifting our schedule, which resulted in shooting the afternoon shoot in the morning, and the morning shoot in the afternoon. Crazy? You betcha.

Thus, our day began once again at Pickenpaugh Pottery, and it was quite an eventful day. For starters, we shot all of the exterior (outdoor) shots, which gave me the opportunity to drive a Mercedes convertible, as it was my character’s car. (I could get used to being in character)

We received a visit from the mayor of Madison, Mary Hawkins, when she came to greet the cast and crew of our film. A very nice gesture indeed. Also, we were granted assistance from the Madison Police Department in blocking the road so we could use it for our purposes. (A special thanks to Sgt. Steve Patrick and Officers Jamie Brooks and Jimmy Brooks.)

Today also marked the day that our leading actress, Libby Mille, arrived on the set from Pennsylvania, and she arrived in style. Check out the photo below:

After finishing our exterior shots at Pickenpaugh Pottery, we went to the Mississippi Arts Center to shoot the interior for the orphanage, and we were blessed to have eager and well-behaved orphan actors. (Were they actors pretending to be orphans, or orphans pretending to be actors? You decide.)

Fortunately, I was able to relax during the afternoon session, and took off my acting cap and put on the producer hat, which included organizing lunch with Kate, our associate producer.

It was during lunch that I was able to sit back and observe everyone having a good time. Cast and crew. Parents to the child actors. Random people who were mooching our food. This may have been my favorite part of the entire day, because it dawned on me that the reason everyone had gathered was from a script that I wrote.

People were meeting new friends, reacquainting with old ones. Making connections; making memories. This was a positive experience for everyone involved and for me personally, it was truly witnessing the fruits of my labor. It makes me want to make more movies.

Tomorrow is third, and last, day of shooting. Photos below are from today; more tomorrow. Peace.