This is a proud moment for us.

This week Jamie Cobb (editor, co-producer) finished her first draft edit of Down and Dangerous. We finally have the movie in a form where it can be watched beginning to end.  I say "finally" but Jamie has brought us to this point remarkably quick. From January to April, she has been incredibly disciplined working on the cut five days a week for 7 to 10 hours a day. She's been moving at a breakneck pace, while leaving no stone unturned creatively. The running time of this cut landed at 103 minutes.

Last night we screened the film for its producer Kevin K. Shah and its lead actor John T. Woods. This was Kevin's first time seeing... anything, as he opted to wait until he could experience it as a whole.  Here are some of his comments from an email he sent later that night:

"Not to over do it, but after thinking about it a lot more, I'm just increasingly speechless.  

I'm blown away by the action Jamie, which is a huge hurdle, because it allows us to revel in the quieter/intense scenes that much more.  (knowing/trusting the action keeps coming).  I love the pacing of the story.  it keeps moving, and you've taken some great moments and let them play out as well.

Since you've now reached the end, going back will reveal even more in the first half as to what can play out or be condensed.  If the film shortens, I would imagine it would come out of the first half, but there was never a place where I was wanting a scene as a whole to move a little faster.  That to me, is miraculous for a first cut.

Each of the characters were strong, and I was never searching a scene for who to pay attention to.  Sound mixing the dialogue is going to make this movie pop.  Storytelling felt natural, and linear and the emotions for the most part felt consistent.  I think those previously mentioned beats before the last lines near the end of certain scenes may be something to look at, as you also do it elsewhere to great effect. 

If you want more specifics/final thoughts later, I'd be happy to.  But Jamie and Zak, it's working really, really well as a movie, as something original, and as something extremely polished looking with great acting."

- KEVIN

I am extremely proud of the work everyone has done, from the cast to the crew. And cannot wait to share it with you. I've begun working on a trailer and a new poster. But the road ahead really begins with a second pass on the edit, addressing notes we've made along the way. Then, we'll put it in front of a selection of our backers as well as some of our peers for additional feedback before locking the picture edit.  From there, we move into scoring, sound effects editing, sound mixing, some visual effects work and final color grading. Our aim is to have a finished feature film in September, a year from the close of this Kickstarter campaign. 

In the meantime, all perks that can be distributed have been sent out (if you didn't receive something, please let me know). Most recently, our distributor, Vanguard Cinema, provided 72 DVD copies of my first movie HEART OF NOW that we shipped to all the backers who selected that perk. Shot at the end of 2007, it's a very different style of movie than DOWN AND DANGEROUS and proved to be an incredible education for me in terms of working with actors and making a feature length motion picture. It thrills me to no end that HEART OF NOW will be screening in Cannes on May 19 at noon at the festival's Marché du Film market in an effort to generate some international sales. 

Looking ahead, you can follow me on Twitter or the official movie hashtag #DADmovie for little developments and anecdotes throughout the rest of post-production. While any major updates will continue to be sent through Kickstarter.

And as always, thank you for this wonderful opportunity to make a motion picture. I set out to do something my dad would be proud of. Seeing it now from beginning to end, I know that he would have loved it.

- ZAK

We've reached the end of our shooting schedule. After more than 30 days of shooting, Down and Dangerous is in the can. I'm very proud to note that this film was made by a core team of six people: Kevin K. Shah, Sam Krueger, Jamie Cobb, Randolph Scott, Erik Reese and myself. Each wore many hats and its on their shoulders that this production succeeded. In addition to their jobs on set, many contributed production gear, props, picture cars and much more. Kevin was almost solely responsible for securing all our locations, often heavily discounted, sometimes free.

Our last days of shooting were near the US/Mexico border with John T. Woods, Paulie Rojas and Ross Marquand. We had an exciting, fun-filled time there and it was nice to celebrate the conclusion of production together. I'm grateful to the amazing cast we've assembled. They are the heart and soul of the movie and should all be proud of their performances. As someone who is rarely satisfied with what he's doing and always pushing to do better, I find myself in the unique position of liking what I see as I go through the footage we shot.

The experience of making this picture is most memorable for all the new friendships we made. The Sabi family still carries its familiar faces, but now plenty of new ones. Many thanks to each of our backers for making this possible. And many more to the cast and crew who came together to make something bigger than any one of us. And in particular, I'd like to thank John T. Woods, who I'd sat down with nearly a year ago over coffee to discuss an idea for a fun little crime thriller. We did it!

photo left to right: Kevin K. Shah, Sam Krueger, Jamie Cobb (Forsman), Zak Forsman, John T. Woods, Paulie Rojas, Randolph Scott, Erik Reese

Most people would feel very fortunate to have a right-hand man helping them pull off the role of director and cinematographer. I've been very lucky to have both a right and a left on this production doing all the (literal) heavy lifting from take to take and wanted to introduce them to you, our backers.

Erik Reese joined The Sabi Company in 2007 when he came aboard Heart of Now as a production assistant. We often reflect on his interview for the job where he showed us a short film he did that revealed the true artist living inside him. It wasn't long before Sabi was executive producing a feature of his own (Train to Stockholm), as well as two more short films (A Short Film About Letting Go and another being edited right now, but I don't want to spill the beans if he hasn't announced the title yet).

Since making Heart of Now, Erik has grown into a permanent and essential member of the Sabi family. And on Down and Dangerous, you will see Erik's name listed as co-producer because we wanted to honor all the work he is doing on set and off. Erik has been setting up light stands, building lights, swapping out lenses, calling restaurants near location to get discounts, picking up food and supplies, hauling all our gear around in his truck, laying dolly track, building props (including a life-size corpse), operating the second boom mic, and he's always the guy checking in with EVERYONE to see if they need water or a snack or a jacket or a place to sit and rest between takes. He has even taken money we have paid him in the past and donated it back via the Kickstarter campaign for this new movie. I happily snuck him into the movie with a little cameo opposite John T. Woods and David Fine, and he's great!  

It's rare to meet another director so selfless as to devote himself to a movie he isn't the creative center of. It's clear to me that Erik can do anything. One day, I look forward to being able to pay him what he's worth. I truly admire him as a filmmaker, friend and collaborator.

Sam Krueger interviewed for Sabi's first feature-length film White Knuckles where he and his brother Kester wowed us as a fast, forward thinking and efficient grip and gaffing team. Later on Heart of Now, Sam became an associate producer on Heart of Now, helping with many aspects of pre-production including location scouts and prepping all our gear for the road ahead. And during production worked primarily as a camera operator, but also fulfilled the roles of an entire camera department. Not long after, he and his brother moved back to Boston, MA. Los Angeles lost the two hardest working and most tireless duo I've ever seen on a film set the day they drove out of town.

On July 14th he contacted me through Facebook asking to be a part of Down and Dangerous. This was before the campaign to raise the budget had even started. I was thrilled and in early November we flew him out to join the team. On set, Sam has really been the physical backbone of the production. He is quite literally carrying the weight of this production by moving stands, adjusting the height of the tripod, setting up the jib for complex camera moves, building the dolly, mounting the camera to cars safely and securely, gelling lights, charging batteries all night, always watching what I'm doing and asking for, thinking two steps ahead of me while offering solutions and solving problems faster than anyone. I'm very grateful to have him. In fact, he's the reason we are staying on schedule. He is a machine and always reliable.

In talking with him, I've learned about his aspirations to work as a cinematographer. And I think he'll make a name for himself as one of the best in no time. It won't come as a surprise if he serves that function on a future production from The Sabi Company. I'm learning from him every day as he shares many insights on how things work and why they work. I once caught him giving a few members of the cast a demonstration on the proper way to set up a C-Stand (a stand that holds lights or lighting accessories). He's a great guy and a good friend.

Anyway, I wanted to give everyone a little insight into who is making this movie. There are usually only seven people on the crew, sometimes eight. Which if you know anything about film production, is insane. I'll follow up with another update soon to tell you about the rest of the team/family here. For now, keep your eye on Erik and Sam. They are probably doing much more than I see on set. This won't be the last you hear of them, I'm sure of it. 

If you're a backer, you've seen some frames from the movie already. Here is what it looks like on the other side of the camera.