All’s well that ends well, the Bard once said. Nothing could be further from the truth as it concerns the shoot of our film Mr. Holloway’s Toy Company. It was a somewhat sane and calm process. No major drama flaring through the ranks. 
Not backbiting, no tempers colliding. It makes for a boring read from a journalistic point-of-view, but on the set, peace is always welcome.
On the final day, we shot in two locations respectively: St. Richard’s, a Catholic school/chapel, and Caribbean Cafe, a new restaurant in Downtown Jackson. The first scene were shots of Mr. Holloway and Glenfeld (my character) visiting the orphanage and Mr. Holloway meeting with his psuedo protege, Carmen. (This will all make sense once you see the film).
One element that I haven’t mentioned, and was to our benefit, was the fantastic weather that was provided for us. High of the low 70s. Can’t ask for much better than that. 
The odd thing is that severe storms stretched throughout the sky in Mississippi right before the dates of the shoot, and the day immediately following. Great timing. Perhaps the film gods are in our favor.
After the final take, the cast and crew of MHTC met at Julep, a local favorite in Jackson, and wined and dined for our wrap party. It was a treat to work with EVERYONE on the set; a very talented and amicable group, to say the least. I look forward to working with them again in the future. 
Below are photos. Enjoy, and more will come as the editing and scoring processes are undertaken. Cheers!
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.
Finally! After all the months of waiting, planning, and anticipating…the day for the first day of the shoot finally arrived. What a feeling…
Our day started out at seven in the morning when we had to place make-up on BJ; since he’s playing an old man, it took us nearly 2 hours to get him situated. 
But that time flew by because I was preoccupied taking care of other arrangements, including making friends with the owner of the location we were shooting at; Robert Pickenpaugh of Pickenpaugh Pottery.
Most of the crew showed up at around 8:00 am and wasted no time setting up the equipment. We had quite a few toys to play with: Hi-Def cams, GIB machine, dolley, lights, etc. We had a great crew to work with that made the best of every single second that was available to us. I have to say that I was impressed.
Today’s scenes focused on the conversations between Mr. Holloway and Glenfeld at the beginning of the script and at the end of the script. For those who are not versed in the many styles of acting, here’s one of the interesting differences between film and stage performace. In the theatre, it is customary to do run through the scenes and lines in sequential order, since that is how it will be presented on the stage.
In film, though, it’s common to only run one line and parts of a scene at a time. And back-to-back shots may be from completely different scenes. Such was the case today, as the beginning and ending of the film are in the same location: Mr. Holloway’s shop.
I got a couple of shots today that capture what transpired. I apologize that there are not more shots, but I got wrapped up in the action that the entire day had almost passed before I realized I needed more shots. Therefore, there will be more shots tomorrow.
Enjoy, and talk to you soon.
Rehearsal was the name of the game today as myself and BJ were under the direction of Jackson, Mississippi’s very own Amile Wilson, co-founder of Pippin and Maxx Entertainment and director of MHTC. Using Barber Auditorium at Belhaven College as our space, 
we were able to chip away at defining the characters in the script, and (unfortunately for me, the writer) the script itself.
This may have been the hardest moment for myself, seeing the criticisms that the words I had so meticulously crafted just months earlier, now being altered and shifted at the merest whim of everyone involved with the film. How freely they expressed their opinions….
However, I do realize that most of the changes were necessary, and much of what I said in the previous paragraph is meant to be taken tongue and cheek. But it still stings a bit to see what you considered to be sacred and reverent to be dismissed as one of many directions that the script could take. I suppose this is how every writer feels when there script is up for production.
This is probably how every parent feels watching their child grow up and making mistakes that cause them to hurt themselves. How sombering it must be for parents to see their children discover that they are only human and not perfect. But it must be equally satisfying to see their children learn from these setbacks and grow to become stronger than before.
While there are many differences between scripts and children, it is truly the greatest feeling to see something you’ve created become what it is destined to be. What is MHTC destined to become?
I honestly can’t say, and I won’t find out tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another rehearsal day.
Photos in this article are for your enjoyment, courtesy of our associate producer, Kate Brewster. Ciao. 
Those with observant eyes will notice that I shortened the title from Mr. Holloway’s Toy Company to MHTC. Just did that to save the few precious seconds that I’ll have this week, and wanted to clarify what the acronym meant in order to avoid confusion.
That being said, today was the day that my fellow actor, BJ Johnston, and I went to have our test make-up done by our very own make-up artist, Pam Bass.
Some of you may recognize BJ Johnston from my posts around a year ago on our now infamous WhaleBone Tour (aka, my trek to California). He will be playing the title role of Mr. Holloway, and I am very honored to be working this talented actor once again.
BJ currently has a one-man show about the life of John Wesley, titled The Man from Aldersgate, that he tours internationally and he has found favorable reception to his performances. (plug for your show, BJ; after all, it’s all about you).
Here are some pics from the session. More details to come, such as cast and crew list, rehearsals, etc.
