Last Day of Production

Today was the final day of our summer film production. We spent the day filming b-roll (images of people and places) around our nation’s capital, and then we ended our summer journey with a celebration dinner. And yes, even a shameless dance of joy. Today’s pictures speak louder than words, so I invite you to glimpse moments from our day– and our joy at the day’s end!

We began at the Lincoln Memorial, and then we drove our van to the White House, where we were met with secret service agents. They kindly showed us to our own parking spot that they had reserved for the “Motion Picture Crew”.

In the mean time, the crew was doing the real work. Here is our cinematographer Matt Blute filming the White House from a distance:

Our last stop of the day (and of the summer) was Capitol Hill, where the crew filmed the great center of American government.

Our friend Prabhjit Singh joined us, and we all watched as Don(our first camera) and Sharat (our director) helped Matt film the building.

After this, we needed to move one more time for a final angle on the Capitol. Matt turned to me and asked me to film the final shot of production. A little too giddy, I accepted. And I managed to pull it off, despite Matt’s incessant “Don’t mess up!”:

After the last shot– and an entire summer on the road together– there was a burst of relief. There were many hugs. And congratulations. And yes, there was even a dance of joy. We had somehow managed to pull it off.

At the end of the day, we joined our friends and crew for a celebration dinner. Sharat and I toasted our incredibly resilient and dedicated and riotous crew: Matt, Don, and Marcus. We toasted Jessica and Tracy, our hard-working Directors of Research and Communications (respectively). And we thanked our beautiful friends Manu and Archana, and all the people who have supported us on this long long journey together.

Production is over! Post-production now begins. We will return to California in a few days to begin life in the editing room, where Sharat and his fellow editor Scott Rosenblatt will spend the fall turning 130 hours of footage into a movie.

What’s next?

Putting this movie into the world.

You can help us make it happen.