Director's Notes

All in all, the making of CUBEd went very smoothly. It's been a great experience and I'm very proud.

Pre-Production

Script

The writing of CUBEd started somewhere around February 2006, after the initial script we wrote was put asside due to complications with it being based on a real person's life. I chose instead to start from scratch with a new idea.

Rick Kaulbars and I worked together, drafting script versions based on an idea I had after hearing a story about people doing all kinds of things in their sleep when taking a certain sleeping pill. Combined with the common lament of people hating their lives in office cubicles, a story was born.

Fuding / Coordinating

In the hopes of making this film quickly, I chose to fund it myself, and wanted to shoot in late spring 2006. However, schedules and locations conspired against that and we didn't start filming until March 2007.

Actors

The lead actress who had been on board since the previous script, Brigitte Gall, had scheduling conflicts when everything else finally came together. I chose to re-cast the lead instead of risk everything else falling apart if I tried to postpone the shoot any longer. Julie LeGal stepped in at the last minute and did a brilliant job.

Casting sessions were held in Ottawa and Montreal for all the roles. The Ottawans won. Alix Sidiris I had in mind from the start, having taken acting workshops with her years before in my other incarnation as an actress. Paula and Jeff I had also taken workshops or worked with. Don Monet was a blessing. He is the actual owner of Cube Gallery and luckily for me, an actor on the side.

Production

I chose to shoot on 35mm, as to me it is still the top of the heap. I wanted to make a calling card that was feature film quality, only shorter. We decided to shoot super 35mm and master to HDCam, to spare the large expense of making a final print.

The team was top-notch. Most have extensive experience in feature films and everyone put all their passion and great effort into making it a reality. Their support of me and my vision was overwhelming. Michael Tien is an amazing cinematographer and was very helpful - even down to helping pick out wardrobe. Jon Olts, our great gaffer, and Karen Churma, our awesome art director, I also brought on board at the start. The team we all put together was fantastic, and I appreciate every person, their skills, enthusiasm and professionalism.

Simon Paine and Marc Paquette stepped in to take on location audio when schedules again conflicted, and, of course, did a great job. My best friend Kim and her husband Kerry, who aren't in this industry, really stepped up to the plate and helped me at all stages of the process.

Filming

Shooting took place over two long days, the first in the office location and the second at the parking lot, the interior space we converted to look like an art gallery, and the front entrance of CUBE art gallery.

Whew, I'm getting tired of typing... will continue this soon.