THE SPIRIT THAT GUIDES US (Movie)
THE SPIRIT THAT GUIDES US~
Pre-Production Campaign
When I was a young boy in Jamaica I never believed that there were any poor white people. To me every white person that I came into contact with was rich. Not only were they rich, they were always happy colourful in clothing as well as in their in language.
The idea that they may have spend 20+ years of their lives just being able to afford a two week vacation was an absent thought from my perception. What was real was each and every tourist spending, buying all the nicer things that we could not afford. They even threw money on the streets for the children to fight over; If you were lucky enough to be at the Warf when those cruise ships arrived, you would also have witnessed many a tourist, while standing on the upper decks of those ships, throwing money in the water for the children to dive and retrieve as their bounty. That was a time when political correctness would have been a thought whose death would be at the hands of starvation.
It was then when I think the very first thought of resentment began to imprint itself upon my mind. For many children just like me, we all knew our mothers and or fathers were very much alive. We knew they had all chosen to leave us behind for the chance to go to foreign, or back then, everyone went to “America”. It did not matter if your mother was in England, Canada (as in my case) or America, to us children they were all gone to America. They all chose to leave us in poverty to join the other thousands of rich white people or so we thought.
It did not take me very long after my youthful arrival in Canada to realize that in fact, there were indeed poor white people. Convincing those family members left behind was a complete other story because just as I had before them, they too continued with the myth that all you needed to do was land in “America” and the streets would be paved with gold.
Sadly it would then take me the better part of my teenage life to fully appreciate the absolute pain my mother must have felt having to make a supreme sacrifice to not only leave her only child behind but worst to have to deny ever having had a child. Many are not aware that in those days in order to win the lottery of an opportunity to arrive in Canada, you would have had to be a single female with no children. So many mother lied. Many mothers who having chosen this path, would never again see their child. With the exception of the presents at Christmas and the very treasured letters arriving from time to time, soon they too having grown fewer to painfully one day, they also died; no other contact would be made for many.
In The Spirit That Guides Us~ I celebrate being one of the lucky few that made it, one of the lucky few that was fortunate to have rekindled a wonderful relationship with my biological mother. Having inherited a life with three fathers and two mothers, I count myself amongst one of the lucky ones.
Now a father of two sons, it is The Spirit of my very precious father that now guides me to guide them.
With your support of this most wonderful story, The Spirit That Guides Us, you will be supporting the opportunity for so many other young children to live their lives in an appreciation and benefits of not just tourism but instead an enriched knowledge of cultural exchange. Not throwing coins on the ground to be picked up by the disenfranchised but instead placing your contributions into the hands of educators and social development programs. Not having to save 20+ years for a shot of a once in a lifetime vacation but instead you will be a member of a family eagerly awaiting your home coming each and every time. Your support of this Preproduction campaign will do more than just give it will offer life changing programs and opportunities.
Thank you`
We welcome "The Griffin Group" Production Company
CEO: Mr. Dan Griffin
IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0341152/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
See more details of Dan Griffin below (end of page)
PARADISE REGAINED
Native son who never forgets draws you into the mystique of the Emerald Isle
DM & ASSOCIATES
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Los Angeles - November 6, 2015 - Port Antonio Jamaica has not had such an unexpected ambassador as the author Anthony Huie in his newest short story The Spirit That Guides Us.
If your desire for a seaport holiday has been less than heightened pick up a copy of The Spirit That Guides Us, and you will find new reasons to become curious.
The wonderful intertwining of spiritualism and natural life is the setting in this beautiful seaport, lost resort of Port Antonio. Long been the storied whispers of many a traveler in addition to the historical relationship with the late Error Flynn, Port Antonio may have found its greatest ambassador in the author Anthon Huie.
While the story clearly did not set out to promote Port Antonio, it most certainly has reinvigorated the memories of its Diasporas in addition to thousands that have earlier blessed their feet on its golden beaches. “The Spirit That Guides Us” introduces the reader to the values and wisdom that formed the cornerstones when dealing with various life issues, in a time, then absent, of modern technology. Furthering those lessons now when superimposed on life inside our now modern technological world, this is a wonderful read.
The author has shown us a life that for many around the world, still remains very much their daily conditions. We see where it takes a village to raise a child. We are welcomed into the heart of a people where respect still formed the foundation of the individual character. We witness the swift justice of doing otherwise.
Though often used, we truly do not get the meaning of tough love until after having read “The Spirit That Guides Us.” The book’s ending may require the reading several times just to understand the finality of life’s decision to a people who had little time for idle threat. The reading of “The Spirit That Guides Us” magically brings the reader into the small city of Port Antonio at the time of the story having taken place. Now having read the story I just want to go to satiate my curiosity.
Whether you are originally a Portlander, an earlier visitor or a first timer by way of having read The Spirit That Guides Us, you can not help but feel the pull of the book’s invitation to visit Port Antonio.
HERE ARE OUR AREAS OF PRE_PRODUCTION COST
There are many stages of pre-production!
Management –This is the core, the person and or persons reponsible for know all aspects of the project
Administration –The critical documentation of the project
Writing – The 'Plan’ Pulling from the story, the conflicts, the passion, bring to the forefront the essence of the story in a way that makes it absolutely entertaining for the audience
Talent – The people who have been established as the most important
Location – The very critical and difficult work that needs to be done that is oftens times overlooked and understated when viewing the list of credits.
Production – An analogy would be the master chef in the kitchen after all the proper ingredients have been sub-assembled and ready to be blended into what will become the "pièce de résistance"
Management
Management is the focal point of any production. It is the first to form, and the last to disband once production is complete. It includes key positions such as the Producer (and all its variants), Writer, Director, Unit Production Manager, First Assistant Director, etc.
Here are the steps involved in Management:
Office Setup
The first thing you do is setup an office space from which the management team can operate. At the bare minimum this includes a room with four walls, a computer, and optionally a printer. A full-fledged production office will have space for meetings, charts, posters, files, and many other functions.
An office keeps you focused, and more importantly, it ensures your team is all in one place.
Scheduling
Scheduling is traditionally decided by the First Assistant Director in tandem with the Director. Realistically, only the director knows how long he or she will take to pull off a movie, and according to this, the schedule is drawn.
Of course, most of this power is an illusion, as there are many factors that affect the schedule. A schedule outlines the basics:
Where do we meet?
What do we do?
Who has to show up?
When do they have to show up?
There is a schedule for pre-production, production and post-production. This is a critical task, as many other factors depend on its accuracy.
Budgeting
Based on all the other factors, a full detailed production budget is drawn up. The concept of dividing pre-production tasks as outlined in this article demonstrates how complicated setting up a budget really is.
Big budget studios can afford to overrun their budgets, independent filmmakers cannot. Underestimating the budget is one of the greatest causes of production failure, and it is usually the result of the inability of the filmmaker to acknowledge reality.
The responsibility of preparing the budget lies with the Production Manager.
Production Management
Production Management is the running of day to day operations of a movie. The person on whom this responsibility is thrust is the Production Manager.
While the creative departments focus on the art, the production team runs the machine.
Meetings
Meetings are the most time-consuming parts of pre-production. People from every department have to meet, at some place or another. It doesn’t always have to be at the production office.
Catering
Catering begins as soon as a production is green-lit. Everyone has to eat, and this responsibility is handled by the production team, headed by the Production Manager.
Everyone has to be fed well (doesn’t mean greasy comfort food). A well fed crew is an efficient and motivated crew. If you can’t afford to treat your crew well, get ready to face hell.
Administration
Legal and Accounting
Every production must have a solid legal foundation. The day-to-day accounting tasks are carried out by the production team, but at the end of the day all debits and credits will flow through certified accountants, who will minutely inspect every detail.
These are checks and balances that are in place to ensure everyone’s doing their job, and no money is being wasted or robbed.
Permits
Permits will have to be obtained from locations, individuals, agencies, governmental organizations, private organizations, and so on.
These permits are not scraps of paper, they are legitimate documents valid in the eyes of the law. They are usually prepared by the legal team, and enforced by the production team.
Contracts
Contracts are also prepared by the legal team, and they have to be duly signed.
Writing
Screenplay/Script
The ‘finished’ draft of a screenplay is the basis of any production. This draft will be scrutinized in minute detail by many individuals, from every angle imaginable.
Before this happens, scene numbers are etched in stone, and then never changed. If more scenes are added, they are given new numbers or letters (like 3a, for a new scene between 3 and 4, and so on).
Breakdowns
A script is ‘broken down’ into the following documents:
Location breakdown
Cast breakdown
Crew breakdown
Scene breakdown
Effects breakdown (if any)
There are no limits to the types of breakdowns you can do, but the above are the most common and important.
A breakdown is just a list of items of that particular type, organized, sorted, studied and tabulated for easy understanding and review.
Research
At every stage of the production, the research ‘team’ finds and distills information to ‘scannable’ form for the director or writer, especially where detail is necessary. It’s like someone else doing your homework for you.
Previz or Storyboarding
Storyboarding is the art of drawing or rendering frames as visualized by the director. Usually this is done by a storyboard artist.
When it is done on computer, you call it Previz, or pre-visualization. This can take the form of still frames, presentations, motion, 3D animations, and anything else that catches the director’s fancy.
Shooting Script
Once the director is locked in on how he or she wants to tackle a production, it is time for them to sit with the first assistant to prepare the shooting script.
The shooting script is the screenplay with ‘shot’ information.
Talent
Auditions and Casting
Auditions and Casting are managed by the Casting Director and Director. Sometimes, these are filmed for later scrutiny. On most productions, the director is present during auditions.
Casting is critical. There are very few directors who think casting isn’t the most important part of any production.
Rehearsals
Once the cast and crew are in place, it is time to rehearse. This period might be one reading (a day), a week or a month. Depending on availability of talent, and what the director feels is required, this period may vary.
Rehearsals are an excellent time for everyone to study the structure of the production from a safe distance. Changes can still be made without loss of time and money.
But essentially:
We need to breakdown the script, go through locations, get key staff on board (Production Manager, Casting Director, DP,
Art Director), begin to get permits, etc, make "pay or play" offers to main talent to secure them, take a lot of meetings, begin to set up the LLC, etc, secure a budget, equipment, begin storyboarding, setting up the production office, spend some time on actual location in Jamaica, begin to arrange for flights, catering, etc.
Thus the need for our Pre_Production Campaign
Thank you~
Dan Griffin
DAN GRIFFIN had always been an entertainer, from singing, puppet shows, and storytelling, to writing, dancing, and gymnastics from a young age. He was the youngest singer of the Golden Chordsmen, and performed in his town’s off-Broadway theatre. He went to the National Finals in gymnastics, and attended the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Griffin’s direction was changed after being struck by a car and placed into a coma for over a month. He spent some time at Western Connecticut State University while readjusting to life. After some time with Justice and Law, he began focusing on what he enjoyed, Writing and Theatre Arts. He was excited to be an extra in Central Park West and wandered the city for three nights (due to lack of money and a desire to keep filming). The director, seeing his motivation, offered him the chance to read for a reoccurring waiter role, and there was no turning back.
After some success as an actor, with lines in Gattaca, and a work in Jingle All The Way, Griffin began to write for Quest Comics and formed the Irish rock band, The Ruffians, with brother Sean. The Ruffians began working with some large international bands and produced 5 CD’s. They performed for the Good Friday Agreement, as well as the tribute for the death of famed Clash frontman, Joe Strummer.
Though the Ruffians was in his blood, Griffin missed the filming. He began to write several screenplays, and had a show and a feature optioned. While on-set of his film, the director chased off several of the crew members. Griffin offered to call in more, and people started realizing the long list of connections he had made during his time around NYC and L.A. They suggested that he begin producing.
He began seeking financing for films and TV, and found the finishing funds for Cabin Fever 2, The Last Tomorrow, and shows The Grudge Match. He found distribution for the original Dream House, Split Ends, and others. His rolodex was growing and he was getting A-List films to fund. He wasn’t closing a lot of deals, but was getting to know a lot of Hollywood. While this was happening, he continued to take jobs as an assistant director, a production manager, and later started a stereoscopic 3D company, creating a system for the EX3 cameras. Wanting to bring Hollywood closer to home, Griffin became a part of the governance board, which helped to form the tax incentives for the state of CT.
At this point, people began telling Griffin he was the King of Content because of all the films and shows that he was getting from name producers, writers, and directors. He landed the job of EVP of Acquisitions and Development for the Ubiquity Network, which was about to launch, but complications kept it from beginning literally a week before its launch. Griffin’s close friend, and fellow West Pointer, Matthew Beck, was getting ready to launch something that Griffin and Beck spoke about years before… TVtibi, the first global new media platform. Griffin was ready!
Griffin became the Chief Production Officer for TVtibi, bringing in content and helping to produce new shows and films through his production company, The Griffin Group. Griffin is excited about both TVtibi, and The Griffin Group, and is working alongside such people as Matthew Beck, Marlon Gillett, Andrew Goldman, Daniel R. Chavez, Carlos Azucena, Professor Tony Dyson, CorShonda Springer, Charnele Brown, Walter Bland, Michael Emery, Joe Sanchez, Reno Reez, Steven Rumbelow, Mike Herzog, Allison Messina, and many others.
TVtibi is now in its beta launch on Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10. It will be available on IOS, Android, Xbox, and all TV applications by latter half of 2016 (will expect tp be available to approximately 3 billion devices). This extraordinary distribution device, coupled with the connections and contacts that Griffin has, will make him a force in the industry very soon. *Estimated by the end of production of "The Spirit That Guides Us" devices under licences will be breaking into new standards set by TVtibi.
While getting ready to close financing for Young Washington, and In Memory of Man as well as several shows which are about to hit TVtibi, Griffin has become extremely interested in Insainto: the Trip, and Faucets, two films which will open the world’s eyes to how we’re destroying ourselves through the medical industry, and how we’re destroying the water around us. Griffin is involved with fantastic features, such as Betrayed, The Summoning, The Unhappening, Lady Day, and Dark Star Hollow, as well as shows like The Girls of St. Joan, The Arena, In the Shadow of the Badge, Dimensions, Circle of 8, Greenwood Avenue, and The Salesman.
He will continue to thank God for what is given, and do his part to bring entertainment that all can enjoy.
