Over the summer, an opportunity seemed to just land in my lap. A model I’ve worked with several times over the last ten years tagged me on a post on Facebook by actor and screenwriter Conrad Shaw; he was looking for a Producer for a film that he wrote over two years ago. Conrad and I met a few days later to discuss the project, and as they say “the rest is history.”

In Late September, with Director Matt Landin and Director of Photography Joseph Bearese, we shot a promotional music video for the film over two days. Music Video? Yep. Let me give you the background. The film is called “Rolling With Virgil”, a new type of film that we’re calling a Music Film. Take a silent film add music that narrates the story, and you’ve got a music video. String several music videos together to tell a love story (with some twists, turns and death involved) and you’ve got a film that hits all the primal needs of theatre goers.

Shooting a scene from “Rolling With Virgil,” a music film, on the beach in Lindenhurst, New York. Photo by Leon Barber.

Shooting for this promotional video took place over two long days with a crew of 25, 4 lead actors and about 20 extras. We split our days between Venetian Shores in Lindenhurst, New York and a soccer field on Randall’s Island, NYC.

As of right now, we have a rough cut of the scene done and are probably a week or two away from completing the edit. You may ask why we spent a whole bunch of time and money to film only one scene. It’s a proof of concept. Since Virgil is a bit different from the traditional film, we felt the best way to explain it to investors was to show them. Although, even before this promotional shoot, we had secured commitments for half of the budget for the film.

On Set on Randall’s Island. Left to Right: Kevin Fitzgerald (AD), Joseph Bearese (DP), Kevin Michael Reed (Producer). Photo by Teresa Kruzewski.

Producer: Kevin Michael Reed
Screenwriter: Conrad Shaw
Director: Matt Landin
Director of Photography: Joseph Bearese