I think I'll start with the exciting news... Tony DeMil, a veteran television, theater and film actor has joined the cast! Make sure to check out his head shot and bio in the "Cast and Crew" section of the website.
With Helen and Tony adding their collective talents to the production, I have no doubt it'll be a powerhouse.
So, what have we been up to for the past two weeks? Mostly, we've been nailing down details, casting and planning for a few upcoming milestones.
The "biggie" that's popping up right around the corner is fundraising.
We'll be going after $5,000... maybe more. But our goal is to do this film, and do it well, with any budget.
Another big thing for us is the fact that we are ready to go "public."
I'll be crafting our first press release and targeting publications in the region to get the word out about the film.
Building publicity and a following is critical to the success of the film.
My most sincere hope is that by getting the word out, we generate some discussion about the difficult subject matter of the film. Tideline is about the conversation we need to have with our wounded warriors, society and the people in their lives.
It's a personal mission for me. Some of us who volunteered to go into combat came home broken in ways that cannot be readily seen on the outside. There's no missing limbs, no exterior scars...but we are injured...inside.
Tideline is where the conversation starts.
At least...that's what I hope it does.

Take care,
-Rick W.

The role of "Nicole Young" has been cast! I will formally introduce the actor in a different blog entry in a day or two.
Suffice it to say she's talented and fits the role really well.
There were more than seven actors who auditioned for "Nicole." All of them had talent and enthusiasm. It wasn't easy narrowing it down and Micah and I are both grateful to those folks who took the time to submit for the role.
In the end it comes down who is "Nicole Young?" She's a mother, a counselor, a combat veteran and so much more...but she is - above all else - a normal, flawed soul seeking redemption.
Aren't we all?

-Rick

Micah and I went out and scouted another filming location today. We started, as we normally do, talking about the shots, looking at the angles and "pre-blocking." But this production always brings us to a point where we dig deeper into the moment. We search inside ourselves to see the world through the eyes of the characters.
In doing that, we let them "teach" us a little about their lessons. Tideline packs a lot into a short amount of time. There are some hard, tough concepts compressed into a 20-minute film. You won't have much room to breathe as a viewer...and that's intentional.
The idea is to give you as little time to digest the magnitude of each scene before throwing another huge concept into your face. Not in an effort to overwhelm but to help connect the viewer to the emotional hemorrhaging cut from the jagged, caustic themes inherent to war, loss, violation and redemption.
That last one is key: Redemption.
So, Micah and I walked the tideline. We could see the lines left by what had come before. We watched the subtle waves create new lines, too. At the end of the day, we know those lines are all washed away and tomorrow, another set of lines will be made.