Darklight blog

[janedavitt]

bhayling mentioned with regret that when Darklight was filming in Bulgaria, Jeff Rank, one of the people involved in all the movies out there, going off his blog, had some fun entries about Richard Burgi (Shiri Appleby, John De Lancie and David Hewlett get mentioned too) but that the blog was down now.

I donned my deerstalker hat and found it via Wayback, tussled mightily with some weird screens in Japanese that kept popping up and found the relevant pages though not all the photos will load:

July 2003
here

August 2003
here

September 2003
here

In case something happens and they disappear for good, I clipped the relevant entries about the actors and they're below the cut.




Wednesday, July 23, 2003


Darklight

The above is indeed the name of the film. It causes all of the Bulgarians to start laughing: "Dark what light?"

Lots of news. Actually, it's more like a lot of important information being shouted from different people in the hallway.

We got Richard Burgi as the male lead, Shaw. Kudos to a Burgi fan named Debbie from Georgia who found out this information and mailed me mere hours after I found out about this, making that the quickest turnaround from casting to mailing, beating out Richard Grieco's fans from last show.

For all you quatloo-loving Star Trek geeks, I hear we have John de Lancie cast. He will not be a demi-god in this film, although...

Also, it appears that Shiri Appleby will play the tormented brunette demonette.

I'll bet she'd think this is the least flattering picture I could find, but since she'll have...alterations...for this show, I thought it'd be appropriate. And besides, I hate pictures that look 'fake.'

Locations are pretty much nailed down. I signed my name to some documents about something I can't remember (I ordered some HMI's...and something else, a vehicle, I think).
Yes, all the pieces are falling into place, or at least falling nearby, and I'm calmly gathering them and shoving them into place.



Thursday, July 31, 2003


T Minus 1
This was actually a few days ago, but I haven't had the time to post it.
Had dinner with Shiri Appleby and Richard Burgi the other day, which is something I don't normally do, since actors can often be rather scary, sometimes.

But, a producer and director were there, so I decided to stop by. And I was asked to do so.
Both are very sweet. Shiri was still in some pajamas--well, sweats--since her luggage had been lost somewhere between Atlanta and Paris. Indeed, I was at the airport, waiting for her, and I was positive that she hadn't come out of the gate. But...if she had, and I hadn't seen her, well, worst case scenarios ran through my mind, most involving Shiri's kidneys.

No, it's not that bad.

Now Richard, on the other hand, was wound up and ready to rumble. So I offered him some Bulgarian beer, Zagorka, to help cloud his mind, and prepare him for dinner.

No, it's not that bad.

Actually, he loved the beer...and the wine, later.

Shiri had had enough, and stumbled back to the hotel, but Richard decided to follow us to the 1st AD's house--since he was throwing a birthday party. We arrived, and he met most of the crew, who were mainly the only people there. Crew. Everyone immediately liked Richard. Perhaps because he is likable.

It's funny, and I said so to Richard, as we talked (he drinking some concoction, I drinking Jamesons in a mug that said "Cup of a Soprano" written in Bulgarian), but I forget how much like a family the crew becomes, especially once you're doing so many shows, back to back, so quickly. Simply, 90%+ of the crew returns for the next show. This makes things much more efficient, if a little gossipy...possibly inbred...hey, there are men and women here. Hopefully, I didn't slur all that.

Anyway, the last I recall was hopping into a cab from a place called "Biad" some time in the morning, my ears ringing. One day till the shoot starts.

Saturday, August 2, 2003


Today...

I'm writing from the carpet of my living room, and this little post to tide over a few questions has turned into a lengthy summary...sigh...

Alright, I'll speak of today:

Well, we're pretty much 2 for 2 here, as far as shooting days go. Two really good days and two bad ones. Not that the shots are bad or the set-ups low or the film cut into little pieces by a rabid loader with scissors, we've just run into some poor luck on some of the days, and it's delayed the shooting of some scenes. Which means more work later.

I could talk about the good days, but good days are usually boring to write about. After all, how many people want to hear, "Well, no problems, good shots, happy director, happy Producers, happy actors, catering's fine..." Maybe the Bond Company. And SciFi. That's it. So I'll go on to today.

Today, with a crew call at noon on location near the Boyana residence, found ourselves in great sunny weather, only to be pummelled by rain by seven...and eight...and we lost our light. So, we had to push on to some other scenes, and make up our rained out scene later--probably back on stage, later in the shoot.

The set looked like a hurricane ran through it, and Bill the director, myself, Toshko the 1st AD, Phil the Producer, Lorenzo the DP, Asya the 2nd, and John the Line Producer, huddled in a small trailer and cursed our luck.
Asya had written on today's call sheet "Weather: Sunny 23 degrees." Thus, we blamed her for the rain. She took it badly, and pulled out a bag of sunflower seeds and went to work on them (a nervous habit for her).

Toshko went to rally the troops, and the DP and Producer, bored, found Asya's walkie-talkies and began playing with them:
"Tosko, Toshko..."
"Yes?"
"Go to Channel 1."
A moment.
"Toshko, Toshko..."
"What is it?"
"Go to Channel 2"
"Toshko, Toshko..."
"What?"
"We can't have anyone overhearing. So go to Channel 3"
"Fine..."
"Toshko, Toshko..."
"What."
"Where are you?"
"By makeup trailer."
"Toshko?"
"Yes?"
"Kiss my ass."
Ah, Producer-comedy.

That's why I usually bring shiny objects for the producers to play with. Legos work. As do stories about lesbians. Unfortunately, I had neither Legos or lesbians on me. So the 1st AD had to suffer.

Richard and Shiri were troopers through the day, and the delay. Really impressed with those two. Richard has taken to a liking to these Bulgarian wafers with a cocao peanut paste filling. They are addictive. Shiri has taken a liking to tormenting (good-naturedly) the 1st AD. I must make sure to hide the walkies from her.




Wednesday, August 6, 2003


Photo Op Darklight

Okay, here are a couple photos on set of the main cast members.
Here's Shiri...no, she is not "Eve," she's much, much cooler...

Burgi plays a bad-ass. Here is a good bad-ass look.
They are getting along swimmingly, and the director is getting great stuff. I'm excited about this movie. The most excited since Dragon Storm.

Observations
John De Lancie is really tall. And bigger than I thought. As Q, I always pictured him as a normal sized guy, but he towers over everyone, except me.

Friday, August 8, 2003


More Production II
So I went to a video store with Q.

Well, actually I went to a video store with John De Lancie. He was looking for the movie Immortal Beloved. I was at a loss, since I really didn't know how to translate that into Bulgarian. "Liubima something..." I figured. I found it anyway, only on VHS, and John was pleased.

Star Trek TNG was played here way back when, so John was recognized by one of the other buyers in the store, and the guy behind the counter stared long and hard at him. It's kinda funny, I guess, if you were a Bulgarian at a dinky video store (it is my favorite, but quite off the beaten path) to find Q enter and rent a Gary Oldman film. Kinda 'peculiar,' you might say.
John decided on a walk to the Hilton from there, so I took his driver and spiffy car back to set, pleased with myself.

Sofia is quite beautiful at night in the summer. It's brisk, but not too cold, and you get the sense of the city's age without seeing the city's wrinkles and sagging...cheeks. I can see why John thought it a good idea to walk and see the sights. I wanted to as well. Alas, we shoot till midnight tonight, so I've still got work to do.




Wednesday, August 13, 2003


Photo Op Darklight II
Okay, kids, here's more:
Richard blasting things.

Astute readers of this blog will instantly know he'll live, because he has a shotgun. If he had a flamethrower or sniper rifle or minigun, he'd be toast. Only shotguns defeat evil.

Shiri causing untold destruction amongst the wee puny humans. And she does so with this sporty Eddie Bauer backpack, for firstborn spawn on the go!




More Darklight Notes

Shiri freaked out Friday.

Because I mentioned I was getting UNO cards from the US shipped here.

Okay, I'll back up.

I'm doing my "wandering aimlessly" bit nearby the production and star wagons. I hear Richard yell my name, and tell me that I'm now the third person he and Shiri need to play Gin. So I sit down, and we play a few games, me quietly, observing the other two.

Shiri is very competitive, and likes to talk smack throughout the game of Gin. Richard is relaxed, but I catch him dealing from the bottom of the deck (for no apparent reason), and I catch him drawing extra cards non-chalantly, or grabbing a card underneath the discard pile whenever we are distracted.

Shiri won every game (and let us know it). Richard cracks open a bottle of wine, which we start to drink, although I see the director coming, and tell them to ciao the glasses (what have I become?)

So I mention that I'm requesting UNO, and Shiri immediately says that she lives for the game of UNO, and will utterly destroy anyone who opposes her. She also demands we play for money (in this case, Leva). Richard suggests Strip UNO.
...

Anyway, I come back later from the Line Producer's apartment, driving the Line Producer's car. His mom is in town, and she made enchiladas, all the ingredients brought from LA. Oh, was it the highlight of the night!

I make it to base camp, and find that all the wagons are empty, and nobody seems to know where the actors went or the 2nd 2nd AD who is charged with watching them and making sure they stay out of trouble.

I finally find them across the street, at a bar, with the 2nd 2nd and another PA. They were drinking more and more wine. They immediately demanded I drink with them. Thinking quickly, I oblige them by pouring ALL of the remaining wine in the bottle (half) into my glass and drinking it.

The things I do for the production...and the director...

Mercifully, the call came in for the actors shortly thereafter via walkie, so the PA's gathered up the actors (Shiri decided to take the wine glass with her back to location, as she hadn't drunk her weight yet or something) and poured them onto the set (okay, okay...it wasn't that bad).

Ah, actors...

Incidentally, they did a great job on the scene, nobody the wiser.

UPDATE: Apparently, it was leaked to the DP and Director, and I was made the Bad Guy of the story, like I was pushing wine on the helpless actors, who were fixing to flee, but I trapped them and shoved spirits down their throats...sigh...

Monday, September 29, 2003


Wedding Shots
So, the haitus is over (did I ever think to write that before, ever?). We shall start with the wedding, and work our way backwards.
Here are thumbnails of the wedding.

{snip}
The Americans arrive. Here is Kirk Woller, one of our actors, who I found out had a girlfriend once who was Sikh. Left is Hannah, Dave Flores' girlfriend. Dave is the director of Boa vs. Python. Dave is the imposing figure in the background with the shades.

David and Jaime Bergman.

Our lead, David Hewlett, who also played in Darklight. Here he is working his mojo. All the chicks dig Hewlett. He's Canadian. He also does wetworks.


I recall (vaguely) Pepe (right) at Biad (a loud, reckless, and seedy club) hanging out with Richard Burgi from the last show. Burgi mentioned him specifically later, and marvelled at his drinking ability.