![]() On the Friday after Don't Touch released, my wildly supportive Chicago friends gathered at The Book Cellar! My friend Sky, who works there, gave the kindest introduction, we screened the trailer for the first time, and I gave a reading and answered questions. My buddy Lucas (pictured below with duck face) happened to be visiting from LA, and some surprise VCFA friends made it in from the burbs! We stayed until closing at 10pm! I'm so grateful for all the positive energy and love of that night! You may be thinking, hey, Rachel, wasn't your hair red in Birmingham only three days ago?
Right you are. I'd had it red for a show, but my friends Jen & Kassi (who also happens to be a hair stylist) surprised me with a new do at the salon and, yes, more champagne.
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My family and friends made this a really special night. Two of my high school French teachers, an English teacher, and the school librarian came out, some of whom I hadn't seen in a decade or more!
One of my former teachers gave her students extra credit for attending, and several of my high school friends had kids in tow. Afterwards, my family and three of my besties from high school and their families went out for dinner and a champagne toast! So much love all around! Next up, the Chicago launch . . . It's here, and it's beautiful! Special thanks to director Matt Miller and the entire team at Capgun Collective and Whitehouse Post! To our brilliant composer, Christian Moder, and vocalist, Katie Todd. And to our amazing actors, Mia Hulen as Caddie, Brando Crawford as Peter, Clare O'Connor as April, Paige Collins, Ryan Goldsher, Daniel Kyri, Hannah Toriumi, & Aidan Traynor.
![]() We shot enough footage for a short film, and we found movie-worthy talent, so if the Don't Touch trailer looks and feels like a mini movie, I'm officially #sorrynotsorry. I love book trailers and knew I wanted to make one for Don't Touch, but I knew I'd need help from someone more filmically inclined. When I asked my bud Matt Miller if he'd like to help, I fully expected him to be too busy. After all, his Teachers webseries had been picked up for pilot and he'd just signed on with commercial production company, Cap Gun Collective. As it turns out, not only was Matt up for directing my book trailer, he brought a bunch of his highly skilled friends with him. We held a casting session to draw from Chicago's fantastic pool of talent and found the perfect Caddie and Peter, along with some other fine young actors to play students: Paige Collins, Ryan Goldsher, Daniel Kyri, Clare O'Connor, Hannah Toriumi, and Aidan Traynor. Here's Matt with our Caddie, Mia Hulen. Yes, he's that tall, and yes, she's that tiny. Peter was played by Brando Crawford, who was happily familiar with the term "adorkable" and who savvily borrowed these glasses for the audition and shoot. I mean . . . if these guys aren't adorkable, I don't know what is. The shoot went splediforously well. We were able to shoot on The Vittum Theater stage, a classic theater with a beautiful proscenium arch, where I've had the pleasure of acting a few times. Matt and our producer, PJ Fishwick, found some perfect Alabama-esque woods and railroad tracks. And another friend found us a house in Winnetka with a pool! Then, I got to hang out with Matt and our brilliant editor, Travis Hockswender, at the WhiteHouse to check out the rough cut. Composer, Christian Moder, wrote original music for the trailer. For lyrics, we settled on a Hamlet stanza and a few extra Don't Touch-ish lines, and a phenomenal vocalist, Katie Todd, total rock star, recorded them right in front of us. I whispered to Matt, "I feel like I'm on a reality TV show." You know, where they make the Bachelors or Bachelorettes scribble down some lyrics and go in a recording booth even though they all have terrible voices? This was like that in terms of fanciness and coolness, but the exact opposite in terms of suckiness. In fact, I'm in love with the track they created: "We Fall." And it may even make its way toward being a full song.
I can't wait to share the trailer with you, but with so many talented people doing us favors, we need to wait a teensy bit longer for the finished product. As Matt might say, "soon, my sweet doves, soon!" |
Rachel's Blog
News, events, fun stuff, serious stuff, and online doings. I kept a personal blog for years at The Storybook Girl, and I'll slowly be migrating some of those posts to this blog. Archives
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