the greek-american

Last weekend was full on with filming both Saturday and Sunday - plus of several days of preparation beforehand in getting everything together and organising locations and times.

After a long search we found our leading lady. Lida is perfect for the role: she combines a vulnerability and gentleness which is needed in the movie and yet behind it all we can see the strength of character which is there when it is needed. On this first day of shooting among us she gave an outstanding performance which looks simply marvellous on film!

We filmed up in Kifissia in a large private apartment and hired in equipment for the day: monitors, tripods, lights and sound plus seemingly miles of cables and tape to hold everything down.

On Sunday we shot a dream sequence from the movie. It is a fantasy with George (played by Phillip Marnellos) and a girl (played by Glykeria Stamatelou).

Despite raining the night before, it turned out to be a sunny day and we were on the rooftop terrace of Imagine Cafe in Maroussi - thanks to them for that!

Bad news. The leading lady who was to play Maria has had to pull out due to other commitments. It was very disappointing (although understandable given her circumstances) and so now we are on the hunt for a new leading lady.

On Wednesday this week we made the first shoot of the film and after months of preparation it was both a relief and an experience to get the first scene on video.

We shot it at Molly Malone's Irish bar in Glyfada in the afternoon after they kindly let us use their premises. The scene was a simple one with no sound as such, just two people meeting. In the final edit there will be music playing over this or a narration.

Here, my character arrives to find his new girlfriend (Tanya, played by Emmanuela Bardasu) waiting for him.