FEATURE: Canyon Road

Eric Boellner

Eric Boellner

Well-known member
CANYON ROAD, a thriller in the style of 127 Hours and Buried, is the third feature film from producer Calix Lewis Reneau (Greyscale, A Night at the Silent Movie Theater).

"In this taut psychological thriller, a young couple returning from a party one night are buried in their car under a landslide... Air running out. Roof collapsing. Water rising. Rescue uncertain. - Can they survive?"

Starring Ivan Lovegren and Roxanne Jaeckel.

Written by Calix Lewis Reneau and Jennifer Still; story by Ivan Lovegren.

Directed by Calix Lewis Reneau and Jennifer Still.

A Calix Presents and True Vision Entertainment production.

CANYON ROAD is on the fast track for production - development began less than a month ago, and the film is already greenlit and slated for lensing on March 31st! We expect to have this out to distributors before the end of summer.

Award-winning cinematographer Dan Ayers will be directing photography.

Experienced music composer Alex Beard will be scoring the film.

Poster coming soon!

Check out our Facebook Fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/canyonroadmovie

Also check out our Kickstarter campaign. Lots of great perks! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/canyonroadmovie/canyon-road-a-feature-length-thriller-film



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I'll be handling the social networking aspect of this film, including running the FB fanpage, project threads on several sites, and eventually spreading out across other media platforms. Updates will be most frequent (and fun) on the FB fanpage, so give it a "like" if you feel so inclined! (Don't worry, we won't be obnoxious!)

I'm also going to be flying out to LA to help out on the film for two weeks. My friend Calix has graciously offered me a place to stay during the production, and hopefully I'll be able to visit some friends and do some sight-seeing while I'm out there (first-time in LA <sheepish grin>).

Anyways, thanks for reading. Keep up with this thread (and on FB), where I'll be sharing updates on the film, a sort of semi-blog of my own experience, posters, pics and BTS videos as production moves forward.

Michael Traven
TravenFilm@gmail.com
 
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BTS pics from the camera tests at the soundstage. 03/07/2011.

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BTS pics from the script read-thru/rehearsal at TVE. 03/09/2011.

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Actress Roxanne Jaeckel and actor Ivan Lovegren read their parts.


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Co-writer/Co-director Jennifer Still reads along.


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Co-writer/Co-director Calix Lewis Reneau gives notes.
 
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UPDATE: My friend, director/producer Calix Lewis Reneau, talked to two distributors Wednesday, and both were very excited to see the end result! This is pretty exciting news, particularly with production just 4 weeks away.

Also, Calix stopped by Blair Adhesives to get some fake mud samples. We're probably going to be needing a lot of that. <grin>

Camera tests on Sunday with the 5D Mk II. I believe we had the opportunity to use REDs, but chose the 5D "for purely technical reasons." Will be interesting to see how the footage handles on the big screen!
 
Hey guys,



Did a small ad campaign on Facebook, mostly just to test it out. Figured I'd share my experience in that regard for any filmmakers thinking about doing something similar.

Here's a screengrab of how it turned out (click to see full-size):

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As you can see, spent $5.50 over 36 hours. It got 42k+ impressions, and 9 clicks. I'm not sure, because the ONE THING is doesn't tell you is the results of the clicks. I know the first 7 didn't "like" the page, but then there were 2 more likes after the 8th and 9th clicks. I don't know if they're friends of friends or if they were the ones who clicked the ad.

Either way, at this point it doesn't seem feasible to sustain an expensive ad campaign without having all of the promotional stuff (official one-sheet, trailer, etc.) to back it up. I suppose I'll focus my attention on a "grass-roots" campaign. Just keeping people up-to-date with what's going on, and hoping that anyone who's interested will "like" our page.

Really pushing for a strong FB presence on this one. Right now we've got 28 likes, which really isn't a lot (about half of them are my friends, and the other half are friends of Calix's, with those last two possibly having been brought in by the ad campaign). But ultimately, I'm just going to keep working at it. Hopefully once we hit production and have some BTS vids and such (I'm pushing hard for a commitment to do one 5-min interview with a different cast/crew member each day), then the work will pay off and people will see what a cool project this really is.

It almost feels like if I had something to sell, even like a Kickstarter project or something, the ad campaign would have been more effective. It doesn't bother me though, because I really didn't expect astronomical numbers from the campaign (though I was hoping for a bit more of our fans clicking that beloved "Share" button <grin>).

In the end, I was only bidding $0.13 for every 1,000 impressions, so that was good. But the impression-to-click ratio was kinda bad. I was paying $0.61 for every click, with only two being possible results.

Not worth it at this point, but we'll try it again later when we've got something to reel 'em in with. :)

Hope that was helpful to someone. Thanks for reading!

Michael Traven
TravenFilm@gmail.com
 
Hey guys,

Updated the BTS pics for the production. :)

Camera tests and "fake mud" tests went well yesterday (Sunday). The tests were done at the studio soundstage in LA. We even had a car to work with (the tests are for the in-car shots, which much of the movie will revolve around), though I'm not sure if it's the one that we'll use in the actual film.

The core production team was present. Dan Ayers, our DP, worked with a Canon 5D Mk II generously lent to the production for the camera test by our friend Nathaniel Bluedorn.

Recently-signed VFX Supervisor, Bryan Ray, also dropped by to discuss the extensive practical and CGI effects that will be integrated into the shots for the finished film. It's going to be tricky, given the problems the 5D is known to have with post-production FX, but I'm confident our team can pull it off through a combination of heavy planning and preparedness for any "WTF moments."

Bryan also allowed himself to be pressed into service as a stand-in for the lighting tests, as you can see in one of the BTS pics above (he's the guy in the car, obviously).

A bit from co-director Calix Lewis Reneau about the mud tests and the look we're going for with the film:

"Tests were also done with the “studio paste mud” provided by Blair Adhesive. The studio paste mud makes an excellent base; with the addition of coarse sand, peat moss and redwood bark, great strides were made towards developing a reliable, consistent look for the large amount of “mud” effects this film will require.

"Co-directors Jenn and Calix are quite happy with the progress made today; this film will have a texture and lighting palette quite different from the prevalent "shaky cam" and "grainy cinéma vérité" that have marked so many recent low-budget projects. Drawing on the classics - Rembrandt in particular - the team is developing a strong, professional look that is sure to heighten the claustrophic terror we have in mind!"

Pics from the camera + mud tests can be found in the third (3rd) post in this topic. More tests (and hopefully pics) coming soon!

Michael Traven
TravenFilm@gmail.com
 
Hey guys,

The directors and the actors had a read-thru of the script today at TVE (pics in the 3rd post).

from director/producer Calix Lewis Reneau:

"Jenn Still kicked ass delivering an amazing first draft; she, Calix, Roxanne and Ivan had the first read-thru today at TVE. Second draft expected to be done by Sunday night. Also, had a photo session for the first official teaser poster - expect that very soon!

Finally, plans were made to launch a Kickstarter campaign to let all of our friends, fans and family participate in this exciting little film - look for your chance to make a small donation by the first of the week."

Producer/Actor Ivan Lovegren will be handling the Kickstarter. I'm not sure if I'll be involved in that or not. I was really hoping to have more fans on Facebook before we started a fund-raising campaign, but with production just 3 weeks away, I understand why we're starting now.

As you can probably see, things aren't going quite as well as I'd hoped. But I'm learning a s..t-load from even just the stuff I've done so far. And the film will get made either way - everyone's committed to the project completely. If nothing else, we'll run on faith and vision.

I can't wait to get out on the set and bust ass. It's been a year and a half since I've been on a professional film set. This will also be my first time working on a feature film. AND my first time in LA. Just two weeks till I fly out there. Hopefully Delta will stop making changes to my itinerary. I get a little terrified every time I see that ominous email from them. <grin>

Michael Traven
TravenFilm@gmail.com
 
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On a more personal level, I'm flying out to LA this Saturday! Heading out to the store to get more clothes and stuff (all my T-shirts seem to be disappearing last minute). Also going to grab a book or two for the flight. Probably just one, though, 'cause the library is probably still pissed that I haven't returned The Road yet... On second thought, I might just buy a book.
 
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