The Movie Man's Next Movie

On Sunday, Doug and I held auditions for his series Scared Stiff and my newest screenplay, The Return of Dracula. Out of the dozens of people who initially said they wanted to audition, five people showed up -- two men and three women. This sucked for me, because, not even counting the extras the script requires, I need to cast seven male speaking roles. In other words, even if I put the women in drag and cast every single person who auditioned, I still wouldn't have enough people. So I launched into "creative" (i.e. "desperate") casting mode, recruiting people from my D&D group, my improv class, and even the casting session itself -- Doug's casting director and his assistant have now been drafted into my production as actors. I somehow managed to fill every speaking role -- except the lead. And I still need extras!

Doug's casting director turned out to be this pretty cool guy named Joe Wiesner. His wife runs a dance studio here in Stamford (where we held the auditions), and Joe offered the use of the studio for my "office" set. This works out almost perfectly, because he has an office cubicle and a room that can double as a conference room -- exactly the two things I need. But there are two problems: First of all, the would-be conference room lacks a key ingredient: a conference table. Second of all, the Wiesners' lease is up at the end of this month, and they're booked up for almost every day; I have only two days, the 13th and the 20th -- not even full days, really the equivalent of one day's worth of shooting, since we won't have access until 4pm -- to shoot half my movie. That includes dressing the set, setting up the equipment, shooting the footage, and then undressing the set so the studio can go back to business the next day.

The other location is in the basement of the Historic Mansion Inn, which Patrick has cleared with his dad. Obviously, there isn't nearly as much time pressure on this part of the shoot, although for the sake of the lead actor -- whoever that will turn out to be -- it probably shouldn't be too much longer after the Stamford shoot. I'm thinking a Sunday would work out perfectly, since half the people required for this scene end up at the inn on Sundays anyway.

So, this is what I need: ideas, ideas, ideas -- and I need them fast! Who can I cast as Dracula? Who can I cast as extras? Where can I get a crate? Where can I get a conference table -- or something that can at least pass for a conference table -- that is easy to move? And finally, if anyone knows of an office space I can use, that would be a huge relief as an alternative to the tight, tight winow I have to shoot at the Jennifer Wiesner Dance Studio. (Frank and I discussed using the office space at the firehouse, but our concerns are liability and noise. Between those two issues, it just doesn't seem like a good idea.) If all of this sounds like I bit off more than I can chew this time -- you're damn right !! Any help would be greatly appreciated.