You don't see these around too often. Basically, I took a one act play by Anton Chekhov and turned it into a modern Native American story. We were going to shoot it in August but our XL1s camerman took a hike. He told us, "My photgraphy biz isn't doing so well so I have to sell my camcorder. If I let you guys use my XL1s than it would depreciate the resell value."

Yeah - he's a real nice guy. We invested $$ in sound equipment for the shoot and the actors have begun rehearsing. So, we are pushing the production dates back to September and looking for another XL1 camerman in the area willing to do an ultra-low budget dv cinema project.

The Native actors and filmmakers in L.A. all know each other and we have an awesome cast, but our money is short and we are buying time before this venture folds. Can you help or do you have any bright ideas that may assist us?

writer/director,
Damon RunningHorse-Buckley
(from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota)

I'm not shy.
562-927-3695

If all else fails you might be able to rent the camera? There are
enough rental facilities around the LA area that have an XL1S.

Good luck with your project. I will forward your request to
someone I know in that area.

I have never worked on a project like your describing, but would be willing to help out if the time commitment isn't too huge.

Shoot me an email: josh@zoohoot.com

We got a third-party to offer help. Their top multi-media instructor will be giving crew members extensive XL1s training. It would still be nice to get a experienced person to join. We are also going through a battery of preliminary negotiations with casino owning tribes. The writer/director was just selected as a semi-finalist in IFP's fall mentoring program. Last Thursday (07/08), we shot a short documentary (5-10min.) using a Sony DSR-PD100A. Our subject was a 18-year old Native American surfer girl. She has a few 1st place trophies and a great personality. The camcorder issue will be resolved by renting it. The original mentioned Native short dv film remains on an ultra-low budget until something new pans out. I have pushed back the production (3 days) to late September or early October. We need time to rehearse the actors, polish the script, and continue Indian casino meetings.

Damon