The Wine Movie

Behind the scenes footage from our first road trip

David — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:36:21 +0000

We’re going to do our best to document the process of making our latest film, a feature about wine and winemakers. This is the first installment, from a trip we took to the high desert wine region of eastern Washington.

Announcing “Vino Veritas”

David — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:38:44 +0000

When we were filming a sunset at Airlie Winery in the Willamette Valley, we arrived at the official name for our latest film project. The Wine Movie will now be called, “Vino Veritas: an American wine movie.”

“In Vino Veritas” is an ancient Roman phrase that means, “in wine there is truth.” This phrase certainly rings true with the winemakers and wine business folks we’ve talked to so far. For them, making wine is part philosophy, art, science, agriculture and passion. It’s not just a job, but a connection to deeper truths in their own nature.

I’m not sure where this whole project is going to lead. It’s kind of like connecting the dots. But we already know that we’re going to capture a variety of attitudes, philosophies and deep and complex obsessions with grapes and wine. We’re calling this part of our process “prospecting,” or seeking those stories and characters that we’re going to follow for the next couple of years. We don’t even know what all of those stories are going to be. But at least we have a title.

Back from Prosser and Walla Walla

David — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:51:51 +0000

We spent the last several days interviewing winemakers, wine bloggers and other wine industry fans and professionals in Prosser and Walla Walla, WA. Not only was it a thumbnail education on the wines and geography of that high desert region, but it was three days filled with fascinating wine stories and experiences. We visited with winemakers and growers from Daven Lore Winery, Maison Bleue and Reininger and captured interviews with participants and organizers at the Winebloggers Conference in Walla Walla.

We’ll have some updates from the trip soon. We missed some easy shots, but also grabbed plenty of footage that has potential to make it into the finished project.

Gordon Taylor of Devon Lore Winery shows cinematographer Kegan Sims the geography of the Yakima Valley

First shoot in the can

David — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 04:12:42 +0000

We officially kicked off production on our new wine documentary. Was a productive evening last night, and we had an outstanding 3-camera shoot (2 Canon 7Ds and one Canon T2i) during sunset. In fact, the evening was so productive that I think we even came up with the actual name of our film. I thought it would take at least a year to figure out what we’re going to call this thing. We may have a new domain to reserve soon.

Airlie Winery owner Mary Olson shared some great stories and wisdom. She’s fantastic on camera, as natural, thoughtful and likable, all the qualities that make her tasting room feel like home. She’s one of our favorites in the wine biz.

So we started shooting at our home winery, and Friday we’ll be heading to Prosser, WA to interview a fascinating pair of winemakers who are both doing something unique and original. On Saturday we’ll swing by the Wine Blogger Conference in the vino-loving town of Walla Walla, WA. All in all it will be a fun first week of shooting The Wine Movie.

We captured a time lapse sunset to wrap up an evening of filming at Airlie Winery

The Wine Ride

David — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:47:42 +0000

We biked 30 miles through the Willamette Valley on Sunday, tasting Oregon wines and searching for the perfect bottle to offer as an incentive for investors in The Wine Movie, which we officially start filming tonight with our first interview.

In September we plan to launch our campaign on Kickstarter, and investors at the $250 level will receive a bottle of the best of the 24 wines we tasted last Sunday.

It also helps to immerse yourself in the landscape. When you travel by bike, you start to see things differently. You get an immersive perspective, rather than just a look at a place out the window.

Behind the scenes on A Country Wedding

David — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:12:34 +0000

This is a clip from the behind the scenes documentary we included with the DVD version of A Country Wedding. In it, cinematographer Truen Pence talks about the low-fi stabilization rig we used, and the thoughts behind the two-camera process.

Boxed and ready for the after party

David — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:11:55 +0000

After the debut screening of A Country Wedding, we’re getting together with the cast and crew to say thanks and to pass out screeners and have a little country wedding cake, pizza and libations.

A Country Wedding has been boxed and is ready

Alice Tucker hits the stage

David — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:02:02 +0000

Alice Tucker (center) played the role of "Alice" in A Country Wedding.

A Country Wedding actress Alice Tucker will be appearing in the Albany Civic Theater production of Paul Osborn’s Morning’s at Seven* in March.

Anyone involved with the film knows what a talented actress and all-around great person Alice is, so we’re thrilled to see her on the stage in a major role.

Here are the details:

Morning’s at Seven

by Paul Osborn Directed by Leigh Matthews Bock
March 5, 6, 12, 13, 14(m), 18 19, 20, 2010 at 8 p.m.
Sunday matinees (m) 2:30 p.m
“Morning’s at Seven” is a comedy about the intertwined relationships of the four aging Gibbs sisters. The quiet lives these women share with their husbands start to unravel as they begin to question what to do with their remaining years. Tensions rise when Ida’s 40year-old son brings his fiancée of 12 years to the house for the first time.
This charming portrait of small town America in 1938 was revived on Broadway in 1980 and in 2002 to critical acclaim. What makes this beautifully colored, sharply etched family portrait so delightful is the understanding that laughter and tears go hand-in-hand as responses to everyday life.

Tickets – $11/$8 under 18 over 60, available for reservation or purchase at:
Sid Stevens Jewelers (541) 967-8140 140 SW 1st Avenue, Albany
Rice’s Pharmacy (541) 752-7760 910 NW Kings Blvd., Corvallis
The theater box office, at 111 SW First Ave. in downtown Albany, 45 minutes before curtain time

*The possessive apostrophe in “Morning’s” is actually correct…I checked.

Da Vinci Film Fest screening

David — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:26:12 +0000

We’ve got a date and time for the premiere of A Country Wedding. It will be Saturday, March 13, 2010 at the LaSells Stewart Center on the OSU campus. It’s a big auditorium, so there should be plenty of room.

Make sure you follow the DaVFF on Facebook so you can find out the latest details on the event. We’re lucky to be in a town that supports independent films.

Great location

David — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:23:31 +0000

It seems that we weren’t the only ones to latch on the Fiechter House in the Finley Wildlife Refuge as an amazing location to shoot a film. A Portland Filmmaker, Edward Davee, set his film there, too. The old farm house is perfect for his early 1900′s period piece, shot in 16mm in black and white. Looks like it should be a fantastic film when it’s finished.

And here’s a still of the Fiechter house from when we were scouting locations for a place to use as Jake’s house. Of course, we decked it quite differently than Davee’s film, with empty cans of Pabst strewn across the porch, broken lawn chairs, a cooler and pairs of old boots. Not to mention Rhett the dog.