Dex Gets Up and Runnin'

We had not intended to film Dex Dixon so quickly. In fact we were working on another project slated to begin production in the Summer of 2010. However circumstances came up that made the prospect of filming Dex sooner much more appealing.

Those circumstances have since gone away....but Dex plugs onward. We are planning to shoot in November with a budget of Zero! Yeah!!!!

I love starting a project with no money....as we continue money will be spent, but in the interim we go forward as if we will have none. I find this helps me to be much more creative as a filmmaker and we solve problems not bury them in cash to make them go away.

Being Steve Coker; writer, producer, director and sometimes actor, I had sort of written the character of Dex to play myself (Shit. Like Orson Welles I guess)...but that left a problem. I had an auteur attitude toward the project since it was so unique and was really based in my own sensibilities as a comedy writer...so how could I star in it and direct it as well. I couldn't! So I had to make a tough decision act or direct.

If I acted it, I was trusting someone else with my vision....scary. And if I directed it, there was a chance Dex wouldn't work as well as I knew the character could as I would be distracted with the technical aspects of the work and unable to really hone in on the character with an actor who had there own ideas and needs as a performer. I really was too selfish to let either of these things happen (Shit. Like Orson Welles I guess).

I eventually opted to direct it...but of course those who knew me were like, "Dude, who's gonna be Dex? It's totally you, man"

I decided to act it. But my wife was like, "Dude, are you seriously gonna be able to trust someone else with your vision?" AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

But then Carl Jameson and I had a meeting. He read Dex and liked it enough to sign on to the project as a CO-Director recognising that I had a vision for the piece, and being willing to work with me on maintaining that while focusing his attention on Cinematography and direction from behind the camera. He also came with a ton of experience in webisodic film making....an area Dex would fit into nicely in it's episodic format. Carl was the creator of the web series "The Bicyclist" and the feature film "The Bicyclists" based on that popular series.

I am so relieved that Carl has come on board...now I am sure that Dex will turn out as good as I see it in my own head....if not better!

We are slowly but surely assembling our cast as well...more on that to come!