Movie Blog - Sept 24th 2008

Movie Blog 1 - And We're Off...

Wednesday, 24th September

Well it’s September and after five years in LA we’re finally on our way to shooting our first movie. I’m happy to announce that we’re making the movie under my production company RaisingDesi, which I run with Atif Mirza. I figure we don’t have an official movie site yet so I can use this journal entry to blog about everything from now till the initial release. In all honesty. sometimes I get scared. In addition to writing/acting I’ll be doing most of the producing. It’s a lot of work, but aside from collaborating with Atif, I can do what I want and think this is the best way to do it. My ultimate goal is to write/produce all my movies. I have some experience, but I’m learning that movie making is a lot more work than what I expected. I’ve never run from anything in my life, and I certainly won’t run from this. ANYWAYS…. I wrote the first draft this past summer and then Atif and I re-wrote it and made it a lot funnier. I don’t want to say the title, but here’s a hint: I think the script is quite “rocking.” As of now, we have locked a cast. We spent the past few months auditioning actors. Some great, some forgettable. I can’t believe how many talented people there are in this town. There are also a lot people that are wasting their time, and I don’t’ think “being famous” is a good enough reason to become an actor. I know what it’s like to go into an audition and then walk out not knowing what the heck just happened, so I guess everyone deserves credit. We did a read through at my apartment last month and both Atif and I were happy. I always find it strange to hear lines I wrote read by actors. Everyone said it was funny but my own insecurities tell me that it needs to be better so we re-wrote it one more time. It’s getting especially difficult because we are also trying to keep Desi OC going. I’ve already turned down three stand-up gigs in October, but I have to be very careful to not burn out and save myself for when it counts. I think Desi OC is picking up slowly, and I’m happy with the results and where we’re going. Though sometimes I get tempted to write an episode where “Ajay” has a dream and makes out with every hot Indian girl in LA. Every day I get new fan mail or facebook friend requests (especially from Canada). It helps knowing that all this work is appreciated and makes people happy. It’s also great that we have 8 episodes under our belt because it’s given us a lot of practice with the camera, coordinating schedules and shooting with actors “guerilla style.” Fans of the Desi OC will be in for a big surprise in the movie. That’s all to report. We’re doing our first rehearsal this weekend and then on to location scouting. best, Tarun