Why I love birthdays, by Jacqueline Gault

Every year around mid-May I start to plan my own birthday party. Why do I plan my own party, you ask? Because on my birthday I only want to do what I want to do. In past years when I have left it up to someone else to plan, I always end the day feeling like it was someone else's interpretation of what I would like most to do on my birthday, not mine. Sound selfish? So what. It's my birthday. It's the one day of the year that I allow myself to be totally selfish. It's the one day of the year that I don't want anyone else telling me what to do. It is the one day of the year that I feel this enormous sense of entitlement and I don't feel bad about it. Not one little bit.

I grew up in a household where we always made a big deal about birthdays and they often stretched out to include events and activities that spanned the entire birthday week. As an adult, that has gotten even worst - there is often a celebration with my parents/siblings/nieces/nephews, and then another similar celebration with my in-laws, and then one more with my husband and our son, and then the big party - the one that I plan and invite anyone and everyone who wants to come play. One year I made all of my friends dress up in '80's attire and go to Lola's room for '80's night. It was one of my very favorite parties because everyone really got in to the spirit of things. David's "Prince" costume was the best - purple velvet jacket and all!

So this year I started planning my birthday at the usual time. Coincidentally, Toys Story 3 in 3D opens on Friday - so Jacob (my 7-year-old son) is going to take me to a matinee. I invited my mom, Kimmie (my niece) and David (my nephew) to come along as well. Then my fabulous husband and I are going to have a quiet, relaxing dinner somewhere cozy and romantic. AND THEN it will be time to bring on the karaoke! Sent out a Facebook invite to all of my friends with plenty of time for them to block the date out on their calendars (or come up with a good excuse as to why they can't make it) - to those that have been with me for many, many years and celebrated many, many birthdays and to the dear friends I've made in the past year. It will be one of those rare moments that my two worlds will come together.  With roughly 40 people expected to show up, looks like we will pretty much be taking over the bar! The only thing that would make my birthday even better is if the weather would warm up enough to take the boat out on the river on Saturday.

The other big event that is happening on my birthday is the end of our Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for Meet Jane Doe. We still have $19,975 to go to meet our goal. Or as I like to think of it, we only need to find 133 people with $150 to support our project. Is it doable with less than 3 days to go? I'm an eternal optimist, so I think anything is possible. The moment I think it is impossible is the moment I seal it's fate as being impossible. We shall see what we shall see. Until then, I plan on having one hell of a *gulp* 38th birthday!

The Fantastic World of Film Finance!

At this moment in time, as I write this, as these words are hitting the paper, we are roughly 6 weeks from day one of principal photography for Meet Jane Doe. And do you want to know the number one question I hear on a daily basis? The one point that people are dying to know the answer to? "Do you have all your financing in place?" I hear it from crew members wondering what kind of paycheck will be attached to all their hard work. I hear it from other filmmakers that are just plain curious. And I hear it from every single new person I meet and tell them I am making a movie.

What a loaded question. The short answer is not yet. The long answer is much more complicated. Well, not so much complicated as it is uncertain. Call me a fruity nut cake (everyone does anyway), but I honestly believe that I would not have been given this opportunity that is in front of me if it were not meant to be made. I wouldn't have written an amazing script. I wouldn't have attracted a cast and crew that is of the caliber I have on board. What a cruel beast fate would be if it were to dump all this good fortune in my lap and then just rip it away from me. No, the funding is there. And in the last three days I have been given every reason to believe that funding will be completed in the coming weeks. It seems everywhere I go these days there is a new lead on a new funding source - our bank has a client who is a filmmaker and he thinks he would be interested in backing our project, a business acquaintance has a co-worker who is a producer with money and is looking for a film project, our attorney has interested clients, a crew member talked us up on set and discovered that the man she was talking to is Mr. Moneybags and he wants more info, and those are just a few examples! No, fate would not dare dangle these juicy carrots in front of my face if it were not meant to be. While most people are lucky to get one lead, we have several.

So where does that put me now? Investor wooing. Speedie and I are providing our very lovely investor packet to qualified sources and being gently aggressive in our tactics to gain their confidence. And in the meantime we are plowing forward fully expecting that our financial partner is out there - right now - just waiting in the wings. Because if there is one thing the last 12 months have taught me, it is that anything is possible if you want it and are willing to work your ass off for it. Done and done.

My brand new blog!

So I have a blog for my film, Meet Jane Doe. I have a blog for my production company, JackSpeed Productions. But I realized that I don't have a blog for just me. A place where I can share my journey - for it's going to be a fabulous one if it continues the way it has thus far. I want to document it for myself as well as share my experience with others. I'll try and post regularly - whenever there is something I feel I must document or that I want to share.

With this being blog post #1, I feel it necessary to give some background. This could be a long one, so hold on tight. It's a good story though.

About Me, My Background:

In high school (Hudson's bay High School, Vancouver, WA) I was in every production the school put on. Musicals, comedies, dramas. The best part of being on stage was hearing the audience laugh. I loved to make people laugh then and I still do. I was the first and only Freshman to be offered a role in a high school production - a trend that followed me to college, as I was the first and only Freshman at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia to have a role in a student production. One of my acting professors at UArts, Mr. Johnny Hobbs, told me that I had a manic quality about me. I took that as a compliment, as my dream at that age was to be a cast member on SNL. Coincidentally (or not) I was voted "Most Likely To Land a Ensemble Role on Saturday Night Live."  I was living the dream - going to auditions in NY, performing regularly on stage in Philly, writing skits for local productions, happy, happy, happy. So why did I ditch it all back then? Because it hit me, as I was sitting in an audition in NY (#304 out of 500+ that were there) that actually making a living at acting was tough.  I didn't want to be a starving artist. I wanted to someday have a family and live the middle class lifestyle. And I didn't think I could do that if I relied on acting to pay the bills. So, I moved to Seattle, enrolled at the University of Washington, and began studying marketing. I told myself that I would continue to act as a hobby but not rely on it to be able to support myself. I got a degree in marketing and was offered a job working for an ad agency before I even graduated. But I didn't step foot on stage for over 15 years.

My husband Corey and I moved to Portland shortly after we got married in 1998. We knew we wanted to start a family soon, and wanted to be closer to our parents (i.e. free babysitting). My husband and I met in high school, dated on and off our first couple years of college, and moved in together when we were 20 years old. We both got good jobs in our fields (he is a PR guy), but I quickly started job hopping - blaming the place of employment for my unhappiness, rather than the job itself. I kept telling myself that every new job would be the one that would make me happy, and I worked for some amazing companies in that time period, making some great friends and contacts. But I wasn't happy. It was during a period of unemployment in 2009 that a friend of mine was talking about a friend of hers who was going to be an extra in a movie that was filming in town with Harrison Ford and Brandon Fraser. I thought to myself, "Ooh, that could be fun. Maybe I'll do that too. After all, I'm not working right now and it would be a fun way to earn a few bucks." I singed up with Extras Only and also with Rutagaba (Lana Veenker's extra casting arm). My first call was to be an extra on Leverage - episode #201, the first one the filmed here in Portland. If you look closely in the opening scene of that episode - there I am in a beige suit walking through the office. The hours were long and it was apparent that background actors are pretty much the lowest rung on set. BUT, I had a blast. All of a sudden I remembered why I spent so much of my youth pursuing acting. It's a rush. It's exciting. It's fun. So now what? I immediately sought out an agent and decided that I wanted to pursue acting. Again.

And So Begins My Future:
I decided that my return to acting would be via film.  Why? I didn't want to give up nights and weekends rehearsing and performing on stage. I have a family now. I figured I'd pick up a project here and there and it will only eat up a few days per month. It would be fun. I landed some fun roles in a few independent shorts and features - got to play some great characters. Got to warm up my rusty acting chops. But shorts and indies rarely pay. You certainly can't make a living at it. No, in order to make a living as an actor you need to do commercial work or land a coveted studio feature that occasionally comes to town. Where the frustration lies is in the fact that I am a character actor - those kinds of roles are few and far between. In one singe week I had three auditions and they were all for "Crying Mom" roles. That's not me. Instead of throwing my hands up in the air and giving up, I decided to take charge of my destiny and write something for myself. A short film that would really show my range as an actor. And so I started writing again. And my short film turned in to a web series. And then my web series turned in to a feature length film. And my script got torn apart. Criticized. Determined to create an award winning script, I re-wrote the script no fewer than 5 times. And it just kept getting better. And finally it got to a place where where my producer, Andrea Speedie, proclaimed "We have a movie."

So here I am. Roughly one year after I decided to follow a long-forgotten bliss, script in hand, cast and crew in tow, frantically fundraising so that I can be one of those Indie filmmakers that actually has a budget to PAY their cast and crew. Because they have been ridiculously supportive. To the point that I often ask myself what I did to deserve this good fortune. They are the best cheerleaders in the world, and if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be where I am now.

And where am I now? In fundraising mode. The media frenzy has begun. My interview with KEX radio airs this weekend and The Governor's Office of Film & Television posted info about the production on their blog, The Confluence. We have a few bucks in the bank already and are pushing hard to get group funding through Kickstarter, in addition to seeking film finance through individual investors. The ball is rolling. And it's rolling fast. We start principal photography in mid-July.

Hang on kids, you're in for one hell of a ride!