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TIMELINE
It helps to keep everything in perspective. Below you'll find the film's history, at a glance, from inception to present day.
We try to keep this list current. (You can judge for yourself.)
September 3, 2001
KTEH's video i airs our film, along with an interview with the director, to TVs across the Bay Area.
August 30, 2001
Two festival acceptances in one day! Again! Northampton and FilmArts!
August 21, 2001
Turns out we were accepted into the Atlantic Film Festival back in July, but never received the e-mail. Well, now we know.
August 17, 2001
Our iFilm debut. If you don't mind watching films in a business-card-sized window...
August 9, 2001
KTEH sets the date for their airing of Ashes To Ashes as September 3, so mark your calendars...
August 8, 2001
Two festival acceptances in one day! Unfortunately, Ashland Independent and Seattle Underground both take place at practically the same time, too.
June 25, 2001
We receive an invitation for the film to appear on KTEH's video i! (The new season begins this Fall.)
June 4, 2001
Monaco helps us fix some long-standing sync problems with our soundtrack— the master tape of Ashes To Ashes is now complete.
May 30, 2001
The 35mm print of the film is transferred to a Digital Betacam master tape, courtesy of Varitel Modern Videofilm.
April 19, 2001
Accepted into Baltimore's Festival of Darkness!
April 19, 2001
San Francisco premiere! A good time is had by all.
April 6, 2001
Screening at the Taos Film Festival, in New Mexico.
MARCH 23, 2001
Fotokem completes the final print of Ashes To Ashes.
MARCH 4, 2001
Interviewed by KTEH's video i for possible broadcast to the Bay Area. (The new season doesn't start until summer, though.)
MARCH 3, 2001
Second showing at Cinequest, to a packed house. Audience seems enthusiastic.
FEBRUARY 23, 2001
Ashes To Ashes premieres at San Jose Cinequest, albeit in video form.
FEBRUARY 15, 2001
Accepted to Taos Talking Pictures!
FEBRUARY 14, 2001
A DAT of the soundtrack is FedExed to NT Audio, who will be generating the film's optical track.
FEBRUARY 13, 2001
FotoKem receives the negative cut, prepares to create a print of the film.
JANUARY 25, 2001
San Jose Cinequest Film Festival posts its schedule. Ashes To Ashes is playing here.
DECEMBER 9, 2000
Ashes To Ashes is accepted to the San Jose Cinequest Film Festival!
DECEMBER 4, 2000
Rejected from Sundance. Bummer.
NOVEMBER 15, 2000
Titlehouse begins work on the optical titles for the film.
NOVEMBER 2, 2000
Magic Film Works begins work on the negative cut.
SEPTEMBER 10, 2000
Final mix is done. We start making video copies to send to festivals.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2000
Foley work. (footsteps, car doors, etc.)
AUGUST 29, 2000
Day 2 of ADR. We've re-recorded over two-thirds of the film's dialogue.
AUGUST 28, 2000
Day 1 of ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement). Marshell, Jean, Doug and Katie come by to dub over their own lines. Doug even flies in from L.A.
AUGUST 4, 2000
Mike and Joe revisit the edit, and, paving the way for sound mixing, complete the final cut of the film.
JUNE 22, 2000
Composer Mark De Gli Antoni of Soul Coughing (we're fans!) begins the complicated process of creating the musical score for Ashes To Ashes.
APRIL 25, 2000
After working on it in bits and pieces, Mike and Joe finish the rough cut of the film.
APRIL 2, 2000
Editor Joe Bini of Outpost begins cutting the footage on the Avid.
JANUARY 8, 2000
Screening party at FAF, showing all three hours of raw footage. For most of the cast and crew who attend, this is the first time they've seen what they all worked on six months ago.
NOVEMBER 12, 1999
The audio is synced, courtesy of Monaco Labs.
OCTOBER 6, 1999
We finally manage to get the film transferred to video.
JUNE 26, 1999
Director of Photography Matthew Uhry loans the production the funds to get the film out of the lab.
JUNE 10, 1999
Ashes To Ashes is granted fiscal sponsorship by the Film Arts Foundation of San Francisco.
JUNE 3, 1999
Last day of principal photography.
MAY 22, 1999
Principal photography begins.
MAY 20, 1999
Location Manager Lyle secures the final location, a racetrack betting lounge that will double as the bank lobby.
MAY 1, 1999
AshesToAshes.net is featured in Casting Connection magazine.
APRIL 30, 1999
Shimmy Brandes singlehandedly manages, in bits and pieces, to acquire the 12,000 feet of 35mm film stock we need.
APRIL 16, 1999
In a move with far-reaching repercussions, D.P. Matthew Uhry convinces the production team to shoot Ashes To Ashes on 35mm instead of 16. This single change affects everything from the look of the film (even the sound) to our prospects at film festivals.
APRIL 15, 1999
Lyle secures the Kohl Mansion in Burlingame for the Farkass estate. A popular site for weddings and concerts, the place is BIG.
MARCH 29, 1999
The production welcomes Matthew Uhry, an experienced cinematographer with ambitious plans for the future of the Ashes project.
MARCH 22, 1999
Lyle Coffield, a filmmaker who knows a thing or two about funerals, takes over the mantel of Location Manager.
FEBRUARY 16, 1999
Bill Jones, Secretary of State of the State of California, endorses the Articles of Incorporation of A2A, Inc. As a result, this film is now a non-profit organization.
At the same time, miles away, the new Ashes To Ashes website makes its debut.
FEBRUARY 4, 1999
Verna Lim makes her first appearance as 2nd AC; Chris Heit, make-up artist on the 1997 movie Invasion, joins the Art Department.
JANUARY 28, 1999
Andy Stadler, already slated as 1st AC, takes on the Production Coordinator role that no one else has dared to fill.
JANUARY 21, 1999
Christine Ma gets upgraded to 2nd Assistant Director. Congrats!
DECEMBER 19, 1998
Auditions: Round 2! Principal casting is complete. Doug Sept and Katie Hemmeter are chosen to play the Carters; Jean Mazzei is selected as Elaine. Jacqueline Ivens is picked for cop #2.
DECEMBER 5, 1998
We hold Auditions: Round 1! This gets us Jeffrie Peterson, Tom Murphy, Marshell Harwell and Jim Manning, our coroner, lawyer, groundskeeper and cop, respectively.
DECEMBER 3, 1998
Dave Hersh, Robin Meyerowitz, and Astrid Crabbe join the fray.
NOVEMBER 19, 1998
Sarah Jeanne Hallman takes over the casting process; Doug Schwarz quietly steps in as Production Manager; Jaden Alexander, Gina Micek and Christine Ma begin their roles as Costume Designer, Set Dresser and Production Assistant, respectively. Quite a night.
NOVEMBER 1, 1998
The casting call is made, with help from Film Arts Foundation, Casting Connection and Bay Area Casting News.
OCTOBER 14, 1998
Mark Schwab comes on board as Assistant Director.
SEPTEMBER 19, 1998
Our site is listed on Yahoo!
AUGUST 13, 1998
The supernaturally nice staff at MacGurus volunteers to discount prices on all Macintosh hardware purchased during the making of this film.
AUGUST 3, 1998
A letter arrives. Inside is a grant for sixteen thousand dollars from the Canada Council for the Arts.
APRIL 30, 1998
Thoroughly impressed with Shane's script, San Francisco post-production house Oupost lends its expertise to the project.
NOVEMBER 15, 1997
The full version of this website is uploaded, domain name and all.
MARCH 22, 1997
Producer Shimmy Brandes has dinner with Mike and Shane in Toronto. He agrees that Ashes would be a terrific film to work on, and signs on as producer. He begins researching grants.
FEBRUARY 21, 1997
A one-page version of this website gets uploaded, with just Shane's script on it.
FEBRUARY 16, 1997
Ashes To Ashes having been passed over by Showtime, Shane sends a copy to his filmmaker friend Mike Stamm. Knowing greatness when he sees it, Mike implores Shane to grant him the film rights.
DECEMBER 15, 1996
On assignment for Ridley and Tony Scott's series on Showtime, writer Shane Simmons finishes a spec script entitled Ashes To Ashes. It's the story of a pair of yuppie necrophiles, loosely inspired by simpatico on-screen mystery-solvers and alcoholics, Nick and Nora Charles of the Thin Man series. It's done, from idea to completed script, over a three-day weekend.
