Accounts Receivable was shot in Sacramento, California. Shooting seventeen pages in two twelve-hour days is not recommended for the weak of heart. But the cast and crew were experienced, prepared and eager.
We were able to lure Christopher Holley away from the Hollywood hills for a few days. Chris has a knack of portraying what I like to call intimate menace. The softer he talks, the more nervous everyone gets. Perfect for the role of Dante, whom an L.A. suit might refer to as a killer with a heart.
Dennis Glasco pops up all over the place around Sactown; stage, screen, you name it, you’ll find him there. And he brings his own armory with him, too. He nailed the character of goofy Perry, who likes to think of himself as a “pistolero” but who doesn’t have a clue of the consequences when you squeeze the trigger.
And then there’s Charlie Holliday – “Brett”. Charlie is a Sacramento institution, and having him on set for the first hectic day brought a calm confidence that infused into all of us. The whiskey was fake, the blood was too, but Charlie was the real deal.
Having worked with Cinematographer John Jimenez on a number of projects over the years, there was never any question who was going to shoot this beast. He could of charged a thousand dollars a day and we would have paid it (he didn’t). Just screen Bloodline if you want to know how good John is.
Aaron Kinney is the only sound recordist I’ll use, because he’s even more critical than I am, and that’s not easy. I’ve got quite a background in sound production myself, both live and in the studio, and I know that sometimes filmmakers don’t pay enough attention to what goes into the ears of their audience. I’ll tell you though, you can throw almost any kind of picture up on the screen and people will accept it. But if you can’t hear the dialogue with out having to listen for it… BAM! That old suspension of disbelief thing, that’s out the window, and the audience is texting and planning what club they’re gonna hit later. No way.
Accounts Receivable wouldn’t exist without the unique talent of writer Mike McKee. Mike’s first effort, it got quite a bit of positive feedback when we shopped it down in Sodom-By-The-Sea. Uniformly praised was his ear for snappy dialogue, difficult enough for veterans, almost unheard of for a rookie.
Producer Lisa McKee tirelessly chipped away at all the roadblocks that stood in our way, from permits and insurance to last minute union (ahem) issues. Her vocation as an attorney kept her fighting when others would have said, “the hell with it.”
So that leaves myself, Director/Editor Ken Nicholson. My last attempt at telling a little filmic story was in 1971, when I was sixteen. An escaped convict who acquires a superpower. Woah, original, huh? Since then I’ve been earning a living at TV stations and production companies, telling different kinds of stories. Lots of editing as well, so I wasn’t about to do battle with some AVID jockey who had his own ideas about how it should go… and having to pay him too. So I took the slash in my credit and stayed sane. Everyone gets what they deserve…
Enjoy, Ken
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