The July Edition

Hey Team!

I hope that you've all had a great holiday weekend! I'm a little behind, generally speaking, so sorry that it's taken me a few days to get this out to you.

So, here's the recap from last Wednesday:

Dates to remember:
July 31 @ 7 pm: rehearsal for shoot
August 1 all day: shoot for "Poop Chicken" and "Dad"
TBD: shoot for "Lewis & Clark" and "Mom's Spaghetti"
August 12 @ 7 pm: writers' meeting

Please mark your calendars now and let us know ASAP if you have any conflicts!!!

Sketches for next shoot:

"Poop Chicken" - Veronica
"Dad" - Zippy
"Lewis & Clark" - Jon
"Mom's Spaghetti" - Jon (I think???)

Writers, please post a draft of your sketch to the group forum by Wednesday, July 7. If someone else was responsible for "Mom's Spaghetti" and I missed it, my apologies and get to writing it.

Other sketches considered:

"Elevator Fart" - Jerry
"TMI Bowels Woman" - Veronica
"Roofies" - Julie
"Engagement Pics" - Lisa
"Poltergeist" - August
"Law & Order: Obvious Crimes Unit" - August

If you haven't already, please write these!

Other stuff we discussed:

The shoot on June 27: Overall, everyone seemed pretty happy with how things went. The take-aways were 1) we were happy with Verner as our director and will ask him to direct us again, 2) we were happy with the camera guys, and 3) we were happy with Alex doing sound. 4) We need to stay within our budget, which we set at this meeting (more on that to follow), 5) and part of that will be either getting a very expensive make-up artist or doing our own make-up next time.

Other things we can do to make things go more smoothly next time are 1) start earlier so that we're not rushed, 2) let Verner know ahead of time who the writers are for each sketch so that he can speak with them and collaborate before we shoot, and 3) use a shooting template/schedule (which Lisa provided, thanks Lisa!) to keep things organized and moving.

Editing: Jerry has been drafted (thanks Jerry!) to head up our editing effort, along with help/curiosity from Jon and Kat.

Jake: Jake has a new job that will necessitate his being out of town a good bit over the next two months. He will re-join us in September (and we'll keep him in the loop by copying him on all of this stuff, at least until he tells us to stop).

Posting to our forum: Please start a new thread for each sketch that we post. We can do sub-folders under the July folder that is already there for our July sketches.

Budget: We decided that the monthly dues for team members will be $25. That gives us $225 per month ($250 when Jake gets back to the group). We'll plan our work with this in mind. Kat will serve as the treasurer. So far, here's who's paid up:

Jon: June and July
August: June and July
Veronica: June and July
Lisa: June and July
Kat: June and July
Jerry: June and July

We didn't set a firm date for paying dues, but please pay them prior to the shoot date for that month, since that's when we'll need the money to be available. Kat takes cash, checks, and Venmo.

Sketch for stage: Matt proposed that we consider performing as a group for stage, too. Several members of the group seemed interested, although we are planning to keep focus on sketch for video as a main objective. We asked that everyone think about it, decide if they have time for it, and we'll revisit it ASAP. As for getting stage time, we discussed the possibility of renting a stage monthly, bi-monthly, etc. and producing the show ourselves. Also mentioned was that it might be nice to include other sketch groups in our production, both as a way to support other sketch folks and as a way to gain further exposure for our group.

THE TO-DO LIST:

1. If you are the head writer on one of the sketches for July, please have a draft posted to the forum no later than this Wednesday (July 7) for notes from the group.

2. Set date to shoot "Lewis & Clark" and "Mom's Spaghetti." Jon and August need to work out a date and let Kat know ASAP so that she can start gathering whatever resources we'll need.

3. Locate a bathroom we can use on August 1 to shoot "Poop Chicken." We need an office building-style restroom with at least two stalls. Preferably the bathroom will also be large enough so that the rest of the cast can be in the bathroom for a cutaway when one of the "Poopers" wins.

4. Edit "Binge" and "Party" and have them up and post-able by the end of July.

5. Decide if you want to be part of doing sketch for stage in addition to sketch for video with this group.

One postscript: Zippy had the thought, which was a good thought in my opinion, that we should think about branding ourselves/developing some sort of logo before we post our first sketches to the wide world of the internet. Any ideas? Does anyone know a graphic artist who might be able to help us for free or for very, very cheap?

Thanks guys! See you on the forum, at the theater, and on July 31 for rehearsal!

The second draft of my sketch is attached- hit me with your feedback!


I'm currently thinking of casting Kat's son as the young boy, since my gut tells me that the sketch works better with a young boy vs. a young girl.

Also love it!

How do you imagine the dad's demeanor during the bowling ball line? Is he stern the entire time or does he break during that part?

Also I wonder if right after DAD moves to his bowling ball & grabs it, The mom could just say to the dad, "George..." and tilt her head to their son, indicating that the boy needs some attention on this special day.

I love this! I really don't have any notes. Personally, I think that if the mom and son are just completely dumbstruck by the dad's insensitivity, it works well. Mikey is all about doing this, he'll really enjoy it.

I almost want to ad lib a line at the end like "don't worry son, he's not your real father anyways." Or, "don't worry, son, Uncle Robby will cut his brakes tomorrow." Or not. If you did add a mom button, it might be funny to run it after the credits.

I'll email this to the group, too, but regarding the logo... I was looking around on Google images, and there are a lot of really funny pics out there with kids covered in ice cream. So I wanted to offer this... will not be offended if we don't do it, just an offer... cover Allie in ice cream, wearing aviators, and have her hold a toy gun (as real looking as possible). Here's sort of what I'm thinking, just imagine the ice cream and the gun:


www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152071674164965&l=eebe35f188

She's a badass.