Thanks to the entire cast + crew for dedicating your time and talents to this project.

Don’t forget to check out the OUT Festival Schedule.

So, show your pride, we will see you inside.  And please, enjoy the show!!!

CREDITS

Starring: Maggie K. Sotos

Brides: Jennifer Prettyman and Rachel Christine

Grooms: Landyn Banx and David Wasylik

Grandpa and Granddaughter: Michael R. Morningstar and Jocelyn Morningstar

Friends and Families: Alison Graversen, Paul Graversen, Libby Burkitt and Irina Kennedy

Directed and Produced by: Kristin Schaack and Justin Schaack

Concept by: Kristin Schaack + Justin Schaack

Lyrics by: Maggie K. Sotos

Music by: Joseph Ye

Director of Photography: Jesse Meehl

Edited by: Justin Schaack

Make-Up by: Miki Sautbine

Logo Animation by: Steven Gagner

Special Thanks: Chris Durant, Donovan Harmel, Cindy’s Floral Creations, Deborah Fiscus, Marissa R. Schon

However, despite the snow and unreasonably below average April temps, the sun was shining and so were our talent and crew for our production on Saturday.  We spent the day with a fabulous group of people in front of St. Anthony Main Theater filming for the OUT Twin Cities Film Festival promo.

We’ll be diving into the edit this week and will post the final video soon!

This week we were notified that Coming Out is an official selection in the 2013 OUT Twin Cities Film Festival.  The festival takes place May 29 – June 2.  Final schedule/screening times are still to be determined.  Admittance into this festival is very exciting for us.  We are so happy to share our film that entertains, while providing a message of love and a family’s support and acceptance.

As many of you know, Above-the-Line is not our full-time jobs, although we often put in 40+ hours a week on our AtL work, we do in fact have day jobs.  This week, two big changes came on that front.  First, Kristin received a promotion in her current role.  Much of her responsibilities will remain the same, with the addition of more strategy and oversight of the TV productions.  The recognition accompanied with this promotion is so exciting. Second, Justin made the difficult decision to leave his role as a writer/director at Best Buy and pursue his directing ambitions full-time in the freelance world.  It’s a leap of faith, but the network, commitment, talent and dedication are there, so anticipating great things!  This will also allow us to focus more on our AtL projects, as well as explore the opportunities to be hired as a directing team on a larger scale.

Saturday we wrapped day 1 of production on the third installment of the Youth Teaching Youth educational video series.  This video focuses on peer pressure.  Day 1 was filming the Teen Teachers.  Days 2 and 3 [yet to be scheduled] will be the two short films featured within the video.

And finally, we delivered our MotionPoem!  We have been concepting, planning, producing and editing this project for the last 6 months.  It was a wonderful and creative stretch for us.  Most of our films have been in the realm of comedy.  It was fun for us to explore another side of our storytelling.  Our MotionPoem, Girls Overheard While Assembling A Puzzle, will screen on April 24 at the Walker Art Center.

The short scene was a young kid learning lessons from a poster of his baseball hero. Joe, the young kid, did a great job. We first saw Joe performing at a community theater production of Beauty and the Beast. During that performance, we knew he’d do a fantastic job in this role. Mark Molitor [Spices Will Fly] played our baseball Hall-of-Famer.

Special thanks to Meghan Sitek, make-up artist extraordinaire, for providing some fantastic special fx make-up [before and after photos below].

So, for the last three weeks and a few more weeks to come, ATL’s time has been and will continue to be spent in post-production. Things are wrapping up nicely.

The video will be used in classrooms around the metro, teaching kids about the difficult issues that they are facing or may face in the near future.

Special thanks to Sara Wagner, Amanda Kuhn, our make-up artist Miki Sautbine, and the great cast Alexis Torrez, Amanda Anderson, Blade Yocum, Mary Burchill, and Matt Casey.

Check out the promo video we produced for them below and check out their Kickstarter Page to learn more about how you can help bring this show to life.

Promo Credits
Director/DP/Editor: Justin Schaack
Co-Director: Paul von Stoetzel
Producer: Kristin Schaack
Steadicam Operator: Jesse Meehl
Grip: Tom Sorenson
Make-up: Ariel Pinkerton
Still Photography: Richard Molby
Music: “I Call it Hell” from Nightmare Man by Nathan M. Schilz
Special Thanks: Amanda Schilz
Featuring: Derek Meyer, Madelyne Riley, Martin Ruben

Like all forms of art, funding is needed to bring it to life. The promo video will be featured on the kickstarter page to help raise money for this musical thriller.

More info to come on the promo and musical.

Although we may have finished production, we are just embarking on the editing process. We’ll be sure to post clips of the finished video when it’s complete. Until then, here are some photos from last Saturday’s shoot.