Red 71 Cast and Crew highlights.

I will add to this as I get more names or as my memory improves. I'll try to add pictures, but no promises.

Please note that I am guessing at the crew credits.

Nathan Ginn: Shane

Michelle Belegrin: Lorain

Ted Parks: Charley/Peter

Brian Mulligan: Nick
Brian was also the Executive Producer.

Thelma: Melissa Aguire: Thelam

Hillary Gayle: McLean
Hillary was also the set photographer.

Justin Kreinbrink: Del

Josh Marcantel: Freddy

Howard Allen: Jack

Carol Anne Gayle: Barfly
Carol Anne was also Art Director.

Greg Sweet: Sheriff

Angus Scrimm: Coroner

Jon Proudstar: Gill

Ed Keeylocko: Murphy

Jonathon Northover: Geno

Eddie ??: Kasper

Jamarlin Fowler: Whitey

Nick "Bear" ???: Pig Man

Dominique Borrego: Extra

LeeAnne Savage: Extra

Debra Rollinson: Extra

Courtney Davis: Extra

Wendy Whitacre: Extra

Julie DeConcini: Extra

Heather Whited: Extra

Heather Miel: Extra

Rob Lushbaugh: Extra

Jon Grasse: Extra

Bruce Caffrey: Extra

Bruce Bayly: Extra

Juan Aguirre: Extra

Tony Yeatropoulos: Extra

Al Graham: Extra

“Reb” Moorehead: Extra

Larry Lain: Extra

Lance Segal: Extra

Stan Babola: Extra

Jerry Woods: Extra

Richard Roddy (Patrick’s father): Extra

Jam Hill: Mama San

Patrick Roddy: Director

Ken Henderson: Written by

Vicky Westover: Producer

Scott Waldrop: Co-producer

Mike Joyner

Jeremy Womac: Assistant to the Art Director

Wyatt ???: Production Assistant

Tobie ???: Production Assistant

Sheldon ???: Production Assistant

Joey ???: Production Assistant

Chuck Turner (uncredited)

Woke up at 10 on Saturday. Not enough sleep, but we needed to get on the road.

Went over to Scott's apartment and woke him up. He sounded terrible. With great glee, I told him that if he was going to hoot with the owls, he had to be ready to soar with the eagles the next day.

He said something rude in reply.

I took Scott to the bank and ran Chuck to the airport while Scott packed. We got the vehicle packed, checked out of the apartments and made it to Patrick's around 1230.

Patrick was ready to take the caddy back so we said our goodbyes. He actually hugged me. Pretty cool.

We got some gas and hit the road.

The trip was freaking long and almost all of it was spent in Texas. We drove straight through and by we I mean me. Scott kept me entertained and awake, but he finally dozed a bit after 2AM. He was very cranky when he woke up.

We stopped at a Waffle House in Baytown at around 6AM and had a terrible breakfast. How do you screw up a Waffle House breakfast?

As bad as it was, it gave me enought oomph to make it on in.

Dropped Scott off around 815 and got home around 830. By the time I got unloaded, showered and into bed it was nearly 10.

I remember the 10 seconds or so before I dropped into a coma thinking - I wrote something that got turned into a movie. Red 71.

I might of smiled at that moment. Or I may have just started snoring.

Last day of shooting. All we have left are some exteriors related to the caddy. No dialog and only Nathan and Bear in the shots.

Scott, Chuck and I went to breakfast at the Grill and then went on a souvenir hunt. We found some great stuff at the Tucson Visistors Center and a couple of shops near it. We got back to the apartment around one.

Scott and Chuck went with Patrick and the actors into the desert and I took the opportunity to stay home. I took not one, but two naps and watched some television. I caught up on my journal entries and snacked.

After 8 I started packing for the trip. Pretty depressing.

It was a rough day.

The shoot wrapped around 1030pm and we got to the wrap party around 11. The party was at this great bar on Fourth Avenue called The Shanty. They had Guiness on draft and a very large collection of single malt scotch.

We had a good turnout. Cast, crew, friends and family probably totalled between 30 and 40 folks. I chatted with several folks, drank some Guiness and had one very delicious Glenfiddich on the rocks.

Scott and Chuck both drank a LOT more than I did.

We closed the bar down and at two and eight of us made our way back to the Grill for greasy food. Got home at 4AM. Scott was the life of the party. He cut up and made fun of everybody. He ordered a hamburger and ate none of it. Silly Scott.

I'm going to miss Tucson, the shoot, the cast and crew - all of it. Hopefully, I can get some sleep before we start the long road home.

I woke up today with a slamming headache. My sinuses finally figured out how to deal with the dry, dusty air and clogged up overnight.

We had an early call today and went to the Scottish Rites temple to shoot the morgue scenes. The building is very old and has these narrow staircases and old fashioned bomb shelter signs. We used their large kitchen and its wonderful stainless steel tables to lay out the corpses of Charley, Del and Nick.

Their were a few new folks on set today. The first was Jon Proudstar. He played the role of deputy Gill. When he wasn't on camera he was funny as hell. Native American, long blue-black hair in a tail - he looked great in policeman's blues.

I also met Angus Scrimm. He flew in last night and attended a screening of Phantasm at the Loft Cinema. He stayed around after and answered questions and signed autographs until nearly 11PM.

81 years old. He looked great. He moved with this incredible grace. I'd written a scene where he makes a sardine and peanut butter sandwich, but I didn't include him eating it. In every take he took a bite - and not a little one. He said the audience would expect it. Amazing.

The sheriff was played by Greg Sweet. He looked and sounded a lot like Dale Dye. Did a great job. He'd come by the set before, but I hadn't met him. We chatted for a bit and he said Josh looked like weird Al Yankovic.

We wrapped the morgue pretty early and had a break before shooting the scenes at the Sheriff's office. Scott and Chuck headed out early and I took a nap.

I got to the set during the dinner break and met with Howard Allen for a while. Howard read Borderland and gave me some great feedback. I took notes and will try to get to a new draft later this summer.

Angus shot his scenes and Vicky hustled him off to catch his flight. We also finished all of Josh Marcantel's scenes and he caught the red eye back to NYC. I'm really going to miss him and I know Scott is too. It was great having him around and his performances were awesome. He also told some very funny, and disgusting momma jokes. It was a challenge to keep up.

One of the highlights of the evening was when Patrick called us all together and presented the cast and crew with a snack basket my wife had sent. I was really proud of her. The snacks were great and disappeared pretty quickly. I showed Nathan the Life Saver gummies and he was still chewing when it was time to shoot him again.

After the shoot, we went to the In-N-Out and picked up a couple of sacks of burgers. Scott, Chuck, Hillary and Carol Ann all sprawled in my aparment and grunted like pigs as we ate those wonderful burgers. It was a good time.

The last day of shooting for Red 71 is tomorrow followed by the wrap party. Sad to think this is almost over.

Played poker with Scott and Chuck last night. I lost.

Even though I was up late, I still got up pretty early this morning and got my laundry ready to go. I brought more than enough underwear, but I’m going to be out of black tshirts tomorrow.
We had lunch with Nathan Ginn at a sushi restaurant and then Scott and I split up to get all the gear to the set and our laundry to the wash and fold service.

The shoot today was at a recreational clubhouse in Vicki’s neighborhood. We shot all the interior scenes for the McLean woman’s house and Thelma’s apartment.

Bear was on set as the Pig Man. The mask and gloves he had to wear were ridiculously hot, but he held up and seemed to have a good time.

Because he was on set, we did most of the violence tonight. Not as a violent as I wrote it, but nice and bloody nevertheless. Chocolate syrup and cottage cheese.

Our final shot of the evening was of Shane walking along the pool at Thelma’s apartment.
I found out yesterday that Patrick found his way to this journal as well as to Scott’s. We were hoping he wouldn’t find out about them until after the shoot. Too distracting. But he seems to be okay with them.

Talked to Christy several times today. She was really missing me and I really wanted her to be here. For the first time since I got to Tucson, I’m ready to go home. I still love being here and I still love making the movie, but it’s getting close to the end. I’m starting to let go of it emotionally. The Foundry has been bubbling around in my head and I’m starting to really want to get back to it.

I brought my laptop to the set. No internet and a little too distracting to work on anything, but it felt good just having it here.

After yesterday, today seemed much more sedate.

The phone rang at 10 when Patrick called. Scott had his phone off and Joey was coming by to pick up the generator we were storing on Scott's back porch.

Chuck was ill today and stayed home. Scott, Josh and I had lunch at a local diner and made it to the set around 3 - only an hour after crew call.

We shot the final scenes of Shane's motel and spent the day there. Since most of the scenes were visual and light on dialog, I got to spend some time just hanging out. Brian brought his english bulldog, Spike, to the set and he kept us company.

I had some great conversation with the rest of the crew and snacked out on the empanadas we had for dinner.

Scott and Josh are hanging out with us and making noise about playing poker.

Time to teach the young whippersnappers a lesson.

I'm late posting this entry. I've been trying to sort out everything that happened and how I feel about it all day. I think I'm ready.

We shot all of the scenes for Jack Kenny's roadhouse today and we did it in a place called Keeylocko Cowtown. An entire town built in the desert by an aging black cowboy named Ed Keeylocko.

To get to this location we drove 30 miles out of Tucson and turned onto a dirt road and drove yet another 20 minutes. We ended up sandwiched between a Native American reservation and some mountains. Beyond the mountains - Mexico.

The town consists of a dozen or so buildings all built by hand during the last thirty years by Ed Keeylocko himself. Each is unique and looks like something out of the old west.

Amongst the buildings are a variety of animal pens that house horses, cows, pigs and a wide variety of birds. They even had a performing stage and a rodeo arena. Electric power was provided by a generator and I noticed that my cell phone had NO BARS showing.

The few trees in the town house animal skulls, skins, and parts. One tree is festooned with dozens of shoes and boots. Another has an entire cow head hanging to rot and dry in the sun.

Old vehicles, farm equipment, bathtubs and anything else you can imagine fills every crack and crevice between the buildings.

I thought the outside was eclectic until I stepped into the saloon. The well appointed bar was rough hewn and fronted by stools made of two by fours and covered with scraps of carpet. The floor was a mixture of pea gravel and sand. More bones, including a human skull, hung from the rafters. Hundreds of knick knacks and pictures filled the walls and ceiling.

Some of the locals - I don't know if their are actual 'citizens' of Keeylocko - drank beer and watched us all day. One very interesting looking man - part Mexican, part Indian - in a black hat and leather vest entertained us with his electric guitar and a karaoke machine. When he opened his mouth Johnny Cash poured out.

A few of the crew danced with a couple of the locals and the room instantly filled with dust. Thinking more dancing would be coming, they kindly sprinkled the floor with water to knock the dust back down.

Ed Keeylocko himself was dressed in vintage cowboy attire and looked like he wore it everyday. This old man was well spoken and a genuinely nice man. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy having us there. He plays the role of Murphy the bartender in the film and handled it like a pro.

We shot all of our scenes - including some stunt work from Justin - and had an amazing time.

At the end of the day, we packed up all our gear and made the long trek back to the highway and on back to Tucson.

It was, in a word, surreal. There are a lot of moments during the last week that make this trip worthwhile, but the trip to Keeylocko tops them all.

Got to sleep in today. Crew call wasn't until 7pm.

Scott met Patrick at 630am and helped him to return the Buick to its owners somewhere in the boondocks an hour or so from here. He got back in around 10am.

The four of us (myself, Scott, Chuck and Josh) headed out to Saguaro National Park after lunch. It was amazing. We drove the four mile loop that Patrick shot on the other day.

After our drive we went back to La Indita for some Mexican food. Patrick recommended the watermelon juice so we all had a glass. Very refreshing.

I dropped Scott off at Patrick's around 430 so the two of them could should some coverage back out in the desert.

Chuck and I did a little shopping for supplies and I found a new book - Screenplay Story Analysis by Asher Garfinkel. No clue if it's any good.

Tonight's work was split between two locations. We shot exteriors at the building we selected for the Sheriff's office and then we headed out to a dismal location behind the airport to shoot the scene with Shane (Nathan) and Freddy (Josh).

Everything went really well and we even got a little stunt driving action in. As usual, Josh was amazing.

We wrapped around 1130pm and got home at almost 1am.

We just completed the seventh day of shooting. We're over halfway.

Scott and I talked about the work so far on the way home. He is very impressed with ALL of the coverage we've gotten.

The dailies I've seen make me very happy. Dark, beautiful, perfect.

The music that Patrick has picked for the film is great. The Friends of Dean Martinez.

The performances have been wonderful. I really love the work of the local actors. In addition to the leads there is - Ted Parks, Brian McLaughlin, Melissa , Justin Kreinbrink - as well as the work of Josh Marcantel. Amazing.

Tomorrow Carol Anne will be strutting her stuff along with Howard Allen. Can't wait.

I have very high hopes for the film. I asked Patrick what it took to qualify for Cannes. He just laughed.

Got up early this morning and Scott and I went to the airport to pick up Chuck. Took a couple of great pictures of both Scott and Chuck standing in front of some tall Sagauro cacti.

Chuck commented about how bloody hot it was. I've been here almost a week and feel like a native. It was only in the low 90s. Almost cool.

We stopped for breakfast at the Grill and had way too much food. Chuck and I opted for The Haystack. A platter of french fries topped with a burger patty and two eggs, all covered with gravy. Scott had what looked like an entire loaf of bread fried up as french toast.

Yum.

We got to Patrick's around 130 to pick up the cars needed for the shoot and caravanned to the set - a lost in time 1950's style motel made up of little bungalows.

Three of the units were rented for the shoot. One for shooting, one for Michelle and one for the crew. None had air conditioning. Instead they had a swamp cooler and considering that the temperature was north of 100, they did a pretty good job.

The shooting room was really small and only had room for four or five people. I was selected as one of those four or five. We shot all of the motel room shots that involved Michelle and at the end of the evening she was wrapped for the movie.

It was great to have her in the picture. Watching her work was like watching a classic actress perform in a 1940s film. It was great.

We wrapped around 11 and struck the set by 1130. We caravanned back to Patrick's with the old cars.

Patrick needs to return the Buick to its owner tomorrow morning and wants Scott to meet him at his house at 630am. Scott took Patrick's Mercedes so I wouldn't have to wake up just to haul him over there. I'm really grateful.

Chuck has been up for almost 24 hours, changed climates and suffered some mild dehydration. I'm guessing he wants to get some sleep...

Got up at ten.

Scott called Jennifer and asked about Mexican food. She said that her favorite place was in a part of town where two white boys in a car with Louisiana tags shouldn't go.

So we went to the second place she recommended - La Indita. What a great restaurant. I had Chile Relleno, chicken enchilada, and a chicken taco. I was so full. We have to go back there.

Got to the set around 2 and hung around while the crew did setups. I helped Patrick finish up the pickups for the office scene and watched him wrap up.

We had our dinner break and then we struck the set. We're out of the Fox now. I loved that location. Roomy, cool and beautiful. I don't think we're going to be that comfortable again.

The cast and crew went out last night to a club called Cushies. I spent three hours talking to Howard Allen about writing, movies, scripts, scotch and David Lynch. I had Guiness and a Mojito.

Nice.

Day four of shooting.

I went to bed around 3 last night and the landlord was banging on my door this morning at a little after 9 to let in pest control. Sucks.

I stayed up and Josh, Scott and I went to eat barbecue. It was okay - not southern great, but not terrible.

Got to the set around 2 and we spent the entire day shooting in the club 'office'. The set looked amazing.

Also saw some amazing performances today. Most notably by the actors playing Freddy, Peter and Geno. Awesome.

Josh Marcantel plays Freddy. I'd like him to play the lead in the foundry. Patrick wants to shoot Josh and Gary Shannon together in a buddy movie.

Light day for me today.

I slept in until 10... again.

Josh and I dropped Scott off at Patrick's house and he and I had lunch at Jason's Deli. Pastrami melt. Mmmm.

Back at Patrick's I got to watch some of the dailey's from the shoot and everything looked great.

The crew, minus me, headed out to the Saguaro National Forest to shoot the driving scenes with Shane and Lorain. I took a nap.

I went back to Patrick's and drove the Buick convertible to the set location for the McLean house.

Pretty awesome driving this old car. It rumbled and groaned. No taillights, no seatbelts, no horn, no dashlights. Good times.

We shot all the exterior work at the set and wrapped pretty early.

Scott and I met Mike, the AD, at the Grill for some late night burgers and tots. Still good. Then Scott and I watched an hour of our behind the scenes footage. It looked pretty good.

Like I said - a pretty light day.

Slept in until 10. Almost 8 hours.

Scott and I went to a diner down Broadway and had a good greasy breakfast. We stopped at the Safeway and picked up groceries. It was hot outside. It got up to 106.

We got to the theater around 1230 or 1 and got out around 11.

It was a great day. As usual Scott was incredibly busy. Today, I started feeling like 'the writer'.
At one point the producer (Vicki) and I were sitting in two very plush chairs on the set watching the action.

Patrick's father was on set and spent some time with him. During our conversation he told me he had never actually seen a film script. I gave him one and he surprised me by asking me to sign it. A couple of hours later, one of the extras asked for a script and did the same thing.

I gave two autographs today. King of the world, ma. King of the world.

Michelle Belegrin was on set today and she is strikingly beautiful. Her scenes were great. Her physical presence is awesome and she was completely prepared. I'm glad she's here.

I spent some time with Scott's camera doing behind the scenes interviews. I shot Jeremy, Mike, Carol Ann and her assistant Laurie and Melissa, the actress playing Thelma. I'll keep at it until I work my way through the cast.

Josh Marcantel came in just before we wrapped. He flew in from NYC and will be staying with Scott.

The three of us met with Hillary and Carol Ann at this great diner downtown called simply "Grill". I had a reuben along with an order of their famous tator tots.

The food was awesome, the atmosphere eclectic and the people interesting. We'll be back.

Woke up at 8. Scott got a call at 830 from Patrick and we had to meet him on the set before 9.

The shoot today was at the Fox theater in downtown Tucson. Only a few blocks from the apartment. The theater is amazing. It was built in the 1940's and has been fully restored to its art deco glory.

Carol Ann and Jeremy transformed one of the lounges into the club. It looked amazing.

Scott and I were able to sneak off for breakfast around 1030 and I had an amazing smoked salmon bagel at a shop next door.

The crew and cast started showing up around three and it was exciting to meet them. We ended up with around a dozen extras last night plus the main actors.

Camera rolled around five and things moved very... very... slowly. Everyone was warming up to the work.

We shot around half a page before the dinner break at 7. But we ended up with seven pages in the can by midnight.

Scott and I got back to the apartments around 1230 and I ended up in bed around 2.

Whew. What a long day.

Scott and I drove into Tucson this morning from Las Cruces and got here around 10:30-11:00 local time (Pacific).

We met with Corey Dane and checked into our apartments. They are great. We're going to be very comfortable while we are here.

Shortly after noon, we headed over to Patrick's house and pretty much went right to work. Carol Ann and Hillary were both there and Hillary grabbed some lunch for me - a really great roast beef sandwich with spicy peppers.

Scott and Patrick talked about lights and cameras for an hour. After that I was able to drag Patrick away and he and I walked through the script line by line for a couple of hours.

Jennifer made us a great dinner and a pitcher of margaritas. All good.

After dinner, Scott and I set up the dolly for a camera test and Patrick seemed to think it went pretty well.

We left around 7 and stopped to buy groceries.

I've been putzing around putting things away since then.

Tomorrow is the first day of shooting. I have a lot to do before 3:00 pm. I'm going to need to print out some script addendums in the morning and get that to Patrick.

I didn't get to take any photos today, but I will tomorrow.

The Trip.

Scott and I left Westlake at 7:15. The car was loaded to capacity.

We made 958 miles before we stopped in Las Cruces, New Mexico. We drove through Texas all freaking day. From rice fields and marsh to mesquite scrub to sun blasted rock and cactus.

Quite a climate change.

Scott shot almost 90 minutes of video during the trip. He also plugged his IPod into the car stereo and we enjoyed an amazing array of music.

A good day.

We tried to get a steak here in Las Cruces, but we wisely decided not to drag our road worn, tshirt clad, carcasses into a restaurant with white table cloths.

Instead we opted for Bennigans. Guiness and Ribs.

Tomorrow Tucson.

I was up until after 2 AM last night printing scripts. Patrick indicated that he needed 26 and I elected to print 30 plus one for Christy. I got 24 done before I went to bed.

I finished up the printing this morning and got them packed into a box. It took seven reams of paper and I had to change toner cartridges somewhere near the end.

Scott is working a 12 hour shift today and he asked me to pick up a light kit from the MSU mass comm department. No problem - except I've never seen a light kit.

The secretary and I figured it out. I hope.

Spent all afternoon getting stuff together. I'm staging it on a folding table in the dining room. I figure if it doesn't fit on the table, it ain't gonna fit in the car.

All I have left to pack are my clothes.

Scott will be over tonight around 11 with all of his gear. We're going to get everything packed so we can get right on the road in the morning.

He told me that Patrick is having us over for dinner on Sunday. That'll be cool.

Christy really wants to come. If she could take the time off that would be great.

I'm looking forward to the time when I make a full time living doing this and we can afford more flexibility in our lives.

I feel this strange combination of excitement, relief and fear. All I can think about is that something I wrote is going to become a film.

The trip is finally here.