El Caffinato Gets a Camera Crew!

Well, it's been a week now since we lasted posted anything about El Caffinato, but that's certainly not because we don't have anything to announce. We'll in the full-on blitz leading up to the shoot, and each day brings noteworthy news.

One incredibly exiting piece of news is that Nic Beery of Carrboro's Beery Media has signed on to the project as cinematographer, bringing along Nathan Rosenquist as gaffer and GlideCam operator and David Parent as camera assistant. Beery Media has been producing films and videos for over 20 years, including an Emmy-nominated PSA, and their films have been shown at festivals from Cannes to New York to Fiji. Needless to say, we are thrilled to have such an amazing camera crew for El Caffinato, and now we really can't wait to see how it's going to look. Check out Nic's films, and also consider contributing to Nic's current Kickstarter campaign, "Sayonara to Hello." He is making a documentary with Steve Marshall, who has been living his dream as a magician in Japan since 1998, and is now returning to the states for a performance and lecture tour. We've talked with Nic about it, and it's a really awesome project - they're so close to their goal, so please think about whether you might be able to help them out!

In addition to this amazing crew, we've got a great cast signed on to the project as well. We're in rehearsals with them now, and we will post something about them all in more detail soon.

Throughout the post-production stage, which is rapidly approaching, we will be posting previews of the music, stills from the film, and some more promotional materials to get you psyched for when the film is released. Stay tuned!

Location? Check!

El Caffinato is now one major step closer to being ready for production - we're super pleased to announce that Jessee's Coffee and Bar in downtown Carrboro has agreed to let us film there!

For those of who you are local to Carrboro/Chapel Hill, Jessee's is an awesome place with delicious coffee (they roast it themselves), a great selection of drinks, a cool atmosphere, and awesome people. You should check it out! As far as the film goes, it's got a very hip interior with an interesting layout, great light, and a really cool palette. Really - it's a dream location, and we couldn't ask for anything better.

Just about all of El Caffinato will be shot in and around Jessee's, with only a short segment ("Milo's Lament," as we've been calling it) taking place elsewhere - more details on that second location later. Now that this is squared away, we're going to be furiously working on finalizing the storyboard and getting ready to meet and rehearse with the stellar cast and crew that we're assembling!

El Caffinato: A Mug Full of Coffee, An Earful of Noise

What is it: A ten-minute rock opera, vaguely inspired by Westerns but set in a hip, contemporary coffee shop.

Status: In pre-production

Emily and Rory work on music for El Caffinato

The premise: When a peaceful group of coffee-drinking hipsters are disturbed by the arrival of a raucous and offensive intruder, they must convince a mysterious and heart-broken loner to help them drive him out and restore peace to their coffeeshop.

The plan: We're hoping to shoot this one by late July or early August. The script and music are written, the arrangements mostly done. The producers (Rory Bradley, Emily Frachtling, Liz Levitt-Bradley, and Rebecca Ripperton) will be meeting in the next week to talk about lining up the cast and securing a location.