Inspiration can happen anywhere, even in a rental car parking lot while you’re on vacation. That’s what happened to Tessa Blake and her husband, Ian Williams.
The Los Angeles writing team drove away from Honolulu Airport in February thinking how easy it would be to accidentally get in the wrong car — no one was there to ensure they took the right one at the ungated lot. By last week, they were at several Oahu locations making a film inspired by that moment — "Leave Keys in Car."
"When you’re writers, especially in Hollywood, and something unexpected happens in a mundane place, you make a mental note of it," Williams said. "For some reason, it was a metaphor for Hawaii for us. Something about the casualness was awesome to us."
The 15-minute short follows a couple who arrive in Hawaii after their marriage therapist orders them to take a vacation. When they pick up the wrong rental car, they step into a bungled kidnapping and discover traits about each other.
"It’s cat-and-mouse with the bad guys chasing them," said Blake, who is directing the film. "It’s an action comedy. It’s broad. We are silly. There is no attempt to be serious here."
Amy Heidt and Seth Sheldon, both mainland actors, star as the couple. But the rest of the cast has local ties, among them: Ned Van Zandt, Ken Musashi, Una Wilding and Zeke Hanohano. Also, the production crew is mostly made up of "Hawaii Five-0" crew, including veteran Steadicam operator Torry Tukuafu and cinematographer Jim Jost.
The idea behind the all-volunteer project is to give people a chance to do something they don’t already have on their resume.
"We don’t have money to pay for people," Blake said. "They are volunteering their time. We give them undying gratitude, feed them meals and give them credit."
Blake, 43, and Williams, 45, have been together since 2000 and writing as a team for a decade. They’ve written comedies and dramas for ABC, NBC/Universal, Fox and Warner Brothers.
"We write together in the car while taking our kid to school or while eating dinner or doing the laundry," Blake said.
And yes, the process can be … difficult. They once argued for 45 minutes over whether to end a piece of dialogue with a dash or an ellipsis.
A YEAR AGO, as Hawaii filmmakers Rann and Gina Watumull prepared for the much-anticipated release of their locally made feature film "You May Not Kiss the Bride," they decided instead to gamble on holding it one more year.
Their reasoning? One of their stars was "American Idol" runner-up Katharine McPhee, who had just been cast for a leading role in the NBC series "Smash."
"We knew they would throw a lot of talent and money at it and the chances of it being successful were pretty good," Gina Watumull said. "We really thought we can release it now or we can be smart about it and wait a little bit. We were really fortunate that it worked out well."
NBC gave "Smash" a months-long, $30 million promotional campaign before its debut in February. It had respectable ratings and was given a second season.
"Now Katharine is almost a household name," Rann Watumull said. "And people love her."
"You May Not Kiss the Bride" is the story of a pet photographer — played by Dave Annable of ABC’s "Brothers & Sisters" — who accidentally maims a cat belonging to the wife of a Croatian mobster. He ends up marrying the mobster’s daughter, who is played by McPhee.
The film was shot here in 2009.
The Watumulls and the rest of the folks at Hawaii Film Partners are now planning a red-carpet premiere Aug. 29 at Consolidated Theatres’ Ward Stadium followed by a statewide release two days later. Also, in late September, the film will be released in major cities nationwide. "It has been a long road," Rann Watumull said. "But sometimes you have to be strategic."
AND that’s a wrap …
Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.
