Greg Chaney, a Juneau filmmaker, is used to telling the stories of others through his documentaries. He\u2019s made \u201cJourney on the Wild Coast,\u201d which is about a couple traveling under their own power from Seattle to the Aleutian Islands, and the \u201cThe Empty Chair,\u201d which tells the tale of Juneau\u2019s Japanese-American citizens who were interned during World War II, along with the city\u2019s response. But his latest film, \u201c1 \u00bd Days,\u201d is no documentary at all \u00ad\u2014 it\u2019s a romantic comedy with a Southeast Alaskan twist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to do something interesting, and I wanted to see what the local community could do,\u201d Chaney said.<\/p>\n
Chaney wrote \u201c1 \u00bd Days\u201d during late spring\/early summer of 2016, and then gave it to others in the film community to read and share their thoughts.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor writers, it\u2019s write what you know. For independent filmmakers, I\u2019d say write what you own,\u201d Chaney said. He wrote the script around locations he knew he could use, like his cabin and boat, or easy to use places with a permit like Perseverance Trail.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the best script ever,\u201d he admitted, stating it does follow the basic formula of romantic comedies. \u201cI just wanted to make a compelling story that holds together that we could film in Juneau.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c1 \u00bd Days\u201d tells the story of Kokona, a Japanese tourist who is trying to escape an abusive relationship, and John, a Juneau man who is trying to find the courage to follow his dreams. After meeting on the downtown docks, the two grow close as they learn more about each other in an effort to dupe Kokona\u2019s boyfriend into believing they are secretly dating, and John introduces Kokona to the Alaska way of life.<\/p>\n
Chaney didn\u2019t hold auditions for the movie. He just asked people he knew to take part. Jeff Hedges, a Juneau man who is member of the Screen Actors Guild, was slated for the leading man. Kiyomi Fukazawa, whom Chaney met at a screening for \u201cThe Empty Chair\u201d and who is also a SAG member, was cast as the leading lady; she is the only non-Juneau resident to be part of the film. He even cast Bruce Laughlin, a local pilot with a bush plane, as himself.<\/p>\n
The first casting problem came when he couldn\u2019t find anyone to play the part of the villain, Kokona\u2019s boyfriend, Brian.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d give people the script and they\u2019d read it and go \u2018No, I don\u2019t want to be that guy.\u2019 I was like, oh, this is really hard \u2014 everyone wants to be the good guy,\u201d Chaney said. \u201cOddly enough, we created a character so unlikable that nobody wants to be that person. But Connor Lendrum, who worked at Kindred Post at that time \u2026 he was willing to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Getting the film up and running took a lot of doing. There were permits to get to film at certain locations, rentals of high-end digital cameras, and coordinating availability between cast and crew (which amounted between 15-20 people). Also, to pay the actors, rent the equipment and other expenses amounted to $7,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were going to do this, we wanted to do this \u2018right.\u2019 We weren\u2019t going to try and dodge any rules and that becomes very complicated very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of all the prep work before filming, when Hedges got into a serious motorcycle accident four days before filming, it nearly \u201ciced\u201d the film. Chaney had to find a replacement and fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cBryan Crowder, he took up this huge challenge at the last minute,\u201d Chaney said. Crowder, who has done plays with Perseverance Theatre, only had a short space of time to learn all of Hedges\u2019 former lines, which he did wonderfully, Chaney said. He even did all his own stunts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really needed [Fukazaka] and the lead actor to at least have a good working relationship. But it was better than that,\u201d Chaney said, mentioning how they would prefer to practice their lines together. \u201cThey got along great.\u201d<\/p>\n
The filming happened over four days in late July. By the time the shooting period was over, everyone was \u201ctoasted,\u201d he said, himself in particular.<\/p>\n
Chaney used three cameras simultaneously for the shots (occasionally even a drone for distance shots), so if he just wanted more angles to choose from, he\u2019d have them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to film it sort of like a play. The actors would know their lines for the whole of the script before we started. Then we would have at least three cameras filming. They would have three people walking backwards filming, and then you\u2019d have somebody guiding them and we\u2019d have a sound person \u2026 so we had four different microphones and three cameras following the action,\u201d Chaney explained.<\/p>\n
From writing the script to organizing and then filming took about three months. The next phase, post-production, has been longer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is lots of time spent in the editing room,\u201d Chanaey said, and with a full time job as the lands and resources manager of the City and Borough of Juneau, he can\u2019t spend all day editing. \u201cFilming is exhausting and intense and delightful, and editing is more like \u2026 very solitary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The joke is that many independent films die in post-production, Chaney said, explaining the editor has to keep going through old footage and fixing various problems.<\/p>\n
But most of the editing is done and he already has a viewing draft complete.<\/p>\n
The movie will premiere at the Gold Town Nickelodeon Theatre on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. for the cast and crew (the public is invited too). Chaney said the showing is free but donations are requested to help cover the cost of renting the theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way we made [\u201c1 \u00bd Days\u201d] possible was because people in Juneau volunteered their help and their equipment and props. It\u2019s a real testament to the community and the creative power \u2026 and the group of people we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
To see a trailer for the movie, go to: vimeo.com\/199279557. For an interview with Crowder by Chaney, go to: vimeo.com\/199282581.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact reporter Clara Miller at clara.miller@morris.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greg Chaney, a Juneau filmmaker, is used to telling the stories of others through his documentaries. He\u2019s made \u201cJourney on the Wild Coast,\u201d which is about a couple traveling under their own power from Seattle to the Aleutian Islands, and the \u201cThe Empty Chair,\u201d which tells the tale of Juneau\u2019s Japanese-American citizens who were interned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":429,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[74],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-21041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-arts-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/429"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21041\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21041"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=21041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}