From Pints to Production

In June of 2008, Michael Wolfe, Mark Montgomery and Dominik Tiefenthaler, who had known each other for over a decade, sat down in an Irish pub in Queens with a round of pints.  By the end of the third round, the three decided that they would make a movie together.  Mark would produce it, Dominik would star in it and Michael would write the script and direct himself in it.  

Mark, Dom and Michael at the wrap party. 

They knew the budget range they wanted to work within, they knew they would have to shoot a bulk of it in one location with a small group of actors and they knew they had their work cut out for them.  But that was about all they knew for certain.

That evening, Michael locked himself in his apartment with a 40 of Olde English (such is his process) and four days later, he had the first draft of what would become MAYBE TOMORROW.  The script was raw but had the potential to become a riveting and uplifting drama.  With Mark’s developmental expertise, the script was coaxed, primped and polished through twenty-five drafts in just under three years. 

It was in November of 2008 when Mark and Michael first started pitching the project to potential investors.  You may have forgotten but that was roughly one month after the financial universe imploded…not the best time to be raising capital for a micro-budget feature starring a bunch of nobodies helmed by a producer who’d never made a movie and a director who’d never directed anything of value.

The money came in slowly and painfully.  But the producers made a cognizant decision to stay the course instead of postponing their efforts for a time with a financial climate more conducive to independent filmmaking.  And their efforts paid off.  By the winter of 2010, they had raised enough money to greenlight the project.

Since day one, Michael, Mark and Gus Sacks, their cinematographer, knew they wanted to make a hundred thousand dollar movie that looked like a million bucks.  In order to do that, they would shoot on the RED camera, they would get a Fisher dolly (the Rolls Royce of dollies) and utilize a cavalcade of dolly, jib, steadicam and aerial shots.  But that would only get them so far.  They knew that locations as well as production design would be integral in upping the perceived production value.

So out they went, begging and scrounging for every favor they could muster.  Aimee DeNaro, codename “Lowball”, came on board as a Line Producer with an uncanny ability to locate top shelf locations at rock-bottom prices.  The house in which seventy percent of the movie transpired was secured first, the courthouse in which the finale occurs was secured last.  The others fell into place along the way. 

And piece by piece, the crew was assembled.  Some came from Chicago, others from North Carolina, others from Jersey, others from Craigslist.  Some were friends, others were strangers.  Associate Producers Steve Cambria and Robert Nicotra joined the production team. At this budget, Mark and Michael assumed they would have to make due with a crew of ten or twelve but before they knew it, they had an army of over twenty to help bring the film to life. 

But you can’t just make a movie.  You also have to sell it.  Or so we were told.  So without any marketable names in the cast, they hunted down Christopher Shyer, who was currently starring in V on ABC.  After a cup of coffee and a bit of groveling on Michael’s part, Chris got on board.  So now they had a name.  But hungry for more visibility and marketability, they set out to secure product placement deals from distinguished companies.  And again, one by one, they fell into place.  First Apple got on board, then Jaguar, then New York One.  The rest followed suit.

With only eighteen shooting days and a talk-heavy script that at times, read like a play, the casting would have to be perfect and the actors would have to be rehearsed…vigorously.  So as production drew closer, the cast began to take shape.  Paul Lange was chosen to play the third lead.  Carolina Ravassa came on board next, followed by Kate Hobbs and Caitlin Norton.  

The three weeks of full-time rehearsals proved necessary.  Shooting at a blistering clip (eleven pages in one day was the blisteringest), the actors seldom had time for more than two or three takes.  But as it turns out, that was all they needed.  One by one, the lead and supporting players delivered the performances of their lives…congealing into an ensemble of some of the best actors the world has never heard of.

The first two weeks of the shoot took place in Southampton, with ten days straight at a gorgeous house on Meadow Lane (which becomes Dune Road) that was sandwiched between the ocean and the bay.  Because a bulk of the film takes place over the course of one long, tumultuous night and we didn’t want to spend a week on a nocturnal shooting schedule, we spent an entire day blacking out over a thousand square feet of windows on the house.  This allowed us to shoot on a fairly normal schedule.

After a day of exteriors and another day at a rehab center in the Hamptons, the crew headed back to NYC, with a few exceptions.  On their “off day”, Michael, Gus and a few other crew members boarded a helicopter and ascended into thirty mile-per-hour winds to capture some breathtaking images of the ocean-front home. 

Once back in the city, the cast and crew got to experience the joy of the “company move” in midtown Manhattan.  Good times!  They averaged two locations a day; a bar, a parking lot, a hotel, a motel and three days at Essex County Courthouse in Newark.  And yes, having an entire courthouse to ourselves was pretty goddamn cool!  The location was exceptionally cinematic and we got a bunch of terrific shots, including the final press conference on the front steps. 

Michael Wolfe oversees a steadicam shot of the finale.

There were some hiccups along the way.  There always are.  But the production team took them in stride and got the film in the can on schedule and on budget.  And at the wrap party, the cast and crew raised their champagne glasses to toast the completion of a film everyone believed had the potential to become something very special. And before the hangovers even had a chance to dissipate, it was off to post production! Todd Sandler was brought on to cut the film and we have already begun to assemble a soundtrack of brilliant up and coming artists as well as established musicians like Damien Rice and Tom McRae. And here we are today...half way home to a rough cut. Wanna know where we go from here? So do I! So keep your eyes and ears open. You may not hear from us today. But...MAYBE TOMORROW