Another score

David Bach is now on board as our post-production sound mixer/editor. Check him out on imdb.com and be amazed by his credits. This is just fantastic news.

Location Location Location

and they're all in the old St Vincent's hospital in Santa Fe. We had a great day Thursday - me and David Schweitzer (DP) and Anthony Riazzi (CGI genius) and Trevor Howe (now on board as production coordinator) - and found not only our Mission Control set but also rooms we can use as the inside of the Gorskis' house. And wonderful Patti Quintana, who owns the hospital, is letting us use it for free. Photos to come.

we've found our houses

in a street in Albuquerque that you could swear is Ohio. Or the east, anyway. The next challenge is getting the day when all the crew and the two house owners can do it. We're aiming for a date within the next two weeks. Stay tuned.

Raffle & Silent Auction

Over $2000 of gift certificates in Taos to be won in the raffle! And silent auction items include a $500 Golden Pass to KTAO Solar Center, being a sidekick on Breakfast with Nancy, painting by Paul Pascarella and "Lunar Heart" pendant by Slim Barrett, and much more. Check it all out at www.raffle.goodluckmrgorski.com. Drawing and auction closing is August 27, party at Red Cat Antiques on Dona Luz St, 5-8 pm. Please come if you're in Taos.

New Crew Member

Our newest crew member: Anna Cosentine, scenic painter (and also founder of Taos Shortz Filmfest). Her credits include the TV series Crash, Love Ranch, The Book of Eli, Angel Maker, Sunshine Cleaning, The Burrowers, The Sarah Connors Chronicles, and 3:10 to Yuma.
More to be announced soon - I'm just waiting on their bios.

London fundraising party June 14

Check out the cake made by my fantastic friend Jill Robertson:


Cafe Koha, St. Martin's Court WC2, 7.30pm. Please come!

NEW YORK, June 17

NEW YORK READING AND AUCTION

You don't have to be present to bid! Phone or email will work... give me a minimum and maximum and you'll get the item for the lowest uncontested amount. Just get in touch before 6pm EST on June 17.

The list of silent auction items is at allegrahuston.com/gorskiauctionnyc.html. There are pictures! Please share with everyone you can think of! Many of these can't be bought any other way....

5 nights in a picture-book Connemara cottage. On the west coast of Ireland, on the Eyrephort peninsula outside the market town of Clifden (nearest airports: Galway / Shannon), a 2-bedroom traditional cottage, all yours for a long weekend. Explore the beaches and the bog, listen to music sessions in the pubs, soak up the spectacular scenery of this legendary part of Ireland.
Value: priceless: this lovely cottage is not commercially available

Getaway weekend in New Mexico. Two nights in a Pueblo Suite at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs & Spa (approximately 1 hr from Santa Fe), with private pool. Plus 2 seats on the world-class whitewater of the Taos Box (full day trip) with Los Rios River Runners, New Mexico's oldest and largest rafting company.

Value: $850

First US edition of Midnight's Children, inscribed by Salman Rushdie to the winning bidder. One of the great novels of the 20th century, Rushdie's most celebrated work.
Value: $450 without personal inscription

Fine-bound cased edition of The History of Venice, inscribed by the author John Julius Norwich. The classic work by the world-renowned historian.
Value: $100 without signature

Peter O'Toole's autobiography, Loitering with Intent, signed by the author. A classic memoir by the celebrated actor. Contributed by him personally to help launch Good Luck, Mr. Gorski.
Value: $100

Robert Graham sculpture. A bronze head by the renowned sculptor of the great doors of the Los Angeles cathedral, the Olympic Gateway, the Roosevelt, Duke Ellington, and Joe Louis memorials, and other great modern monuments.
Value: increasing, after the artist's untimely death in December 2008.

Original artwork by Paul Pascarella. Pascarella's work is in the collections of Hunter S. Thompson, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, and museums including the Hammond Museum, New York, and the Victoria & Albert, London. Paul will inscribe his work to the winning bidder, if desired.
Value: $500

Howard Schatz photo of Aimee Mullins.Athlete, model, actress, Aimee has redefined the ideas of beauty and physical completeness. Howard Schatz was just named Photographer of the Year by the Prix de la Photographie, Paris. The print will be signed by Howard and by Aimee, who will inscribe it to the winning bidder.
Value: $1500 without Aimee's signature

Trey Speegle fine art wooden jigsaw, signed by the artist to the winning bidder. Trey, famous for his graphics combining text with paint-by-numbers, recently painted the backdrop to Stella Macartney's Paris couture show. This jigsaw was created for Anthropologie in a limited edition of 500 (sold out) - and can be found in the White House.
Value: $150 without signature

Signed photo of a Munchkin.One of the last living Munchkins, Jerry Maren represented the Lollipop Guild and signed this still of The Wizard of Oz as "Jerry Maren Lollipop Munchkin".
Value: increasing, as he is one of very few Munchkins still alive.

A walk-on part in the film, Good Luck, Mr. Gorski. Score the strike in the bowling alley! Be the one who sends the Gorskis to their personal moon.
Value: priceless

NEW YORK READING AND AUCTION

Please share the invitation with anyone you like!

FUNDRAISING PARTY IN NEW YORK

WE'RE READING THE SCRIPT IN NEW YORK CITY! Joan Juliet Buck, Griffin Dunne, Aimee Mullins, John Buffalo Mailer, Trey Speegle and more.... June 17th, 6-8pm, The Greenhouse on Varick St. Cocktails and silent auction too. It'll be a blast. To get the evite or RSVP, email us at goodluckmrgorski@gmail.com.

we've found our location!

It looks like we're going to be shooting in the old St Vincent's hospital in Santa Fe... lots of space to build sets, and interior observation windows that we can turn into Mission Control. This is great news! Thanks to Jonathan Slator, who fixed it up....

New Member of the Team

Alan Macrae is now on board as construction chief. Alan is an incredibly experienced set builder and we're very lucky to have him. We're investigating the possibility of building the kitchen as a set, and using a real house for the other rooms. Mission Control, of course, will have to be partly built by us!

Location scout

I cruised some older Albuquerque neighborhoods with Jonathan Slator, our Location Manager/UPM yesterday. We found a number of single houses that could be the Gorskis' house, and two perfect ones side by side, with big leafy trees that don't look southwestern at all. (Neil Armstrong is from Ohio.) So an excellent start - here's hoping we can use them!

FILM TECHNICIANS TRAINING PROGRAM

On Wednesday Arron and I are off to Santa Fe to discuss partnering with the Santa Fe Community College film program.... their students work as interns on our film, and we get the use of all kinds of equipment and locations.... thanks to the film production initiatives in the state of New Mexico!

Mrs Gorski casting

Watched a tape of a terrific actress today, she might be the one.... She made me laugh and tear up, just with the first scene. Marie, our casting director, has someone else in mind for us to see also, so things are coming together beautifully.

auction results

The "Lift Off For Your Inner Moon" auction today was a huge success! Taos really turned out for us. We were on four radio shows and had an article in the Taos News to support it. Watch the total (at left) go up over the next few days as the money comes in. I haven't got it properly counted up yet, but we're somewhere north of $3,000 closer to our goal.

An Executive Producer is Always Prepared

Kate is in Canada, filming The Man on the Train with Donald Sutherland. She's wearing a negligee. When they watch the dailies that night, Kate sees that the director of photography has lit her so that her face is in shadow and it's all about the cleavage. "I hope you don't mind," he says to her. "It'll cost you a twenty," says Kate and presses a Gorski card into his hand.
It's always useful to have one of these cards about your person. You never know when someone will have to make amends.

Auditions

I just watched the auditions that Arron and Marie Kohl did on Wednesday in Albuquerque. Very exciting! Two definite possibilities for Mr Gorski. It's a real rush to hear my words coming alive as an actor speaks them.

First auditions for Gorski a big success

Great casting session today with some very talented New Mexico actors. Marie Kohl worked really hard setting it all up, and it went off without a hitch. We'll have to do a few more sessions to see everyone we need to see, but I'm feeling pretty positive.  It was a thrill to hear the words of the script begin to come alive and take shape. 

CASTING

first casting call on Wednesday morning!

LIFT OFF FOR YOUR INNER MOON - the auction

Howie Roemer, top graphic designer, is doing our flyer! Watch the noticeboards around town, it'll be going up in the next few days. Amazing enrich-your-life experiences: flying peregrine falcons, cooking with award-winning chef Joseph Wrede, learning to hula-hoop, and many more.

Lift off for your inner moon - the auction

These are all things that money can't buy: Taos experiences that enrich our lives. Program KTAO for an hour with music of your choice. Learn to work with micaceous clay with Taos Pueblo's foremost potter. Get your vegetable garden started. Cook with famous chef Joseph Wrede. Go mushrooming with renowned artist Paul Pascarella. Shoot off 19th-century rifles with Chipper Thompson and some re-enacter friends. And more.

WHEN? April 20.
WHERE? Loka, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Full list of auction items will be published online on April 16. Bids will be accepted in person and by phone and email. More details soon! Email me with queries: allegra@allegrahuston.com.

New launch crew members today

Jack Nicholson and John Nichols. We're in good company.

Casting Director on board

Marie Kohl has just joined as our casting director. She's very experienced, as she works with the top casting director in New Mexico and Texas, Jo Edna Boldin. She's also from Taos! Casting call going out this week.

JFK: We Choose To Go To The Moon

"This is not done by people who wait and rest."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouRbkBAOGEw.

The Gorski Blog Starts Here

We choose to go to the moon! This blog will chronicle the progress of making Good Luck, Mr. Gorski. To read the script, get information on the team, and/or join the launch crew, go to goodluckmrgorski.com.

I wrote this script 12 years ago, and waited 12 years for a miracle to get it financed. No luck. So we're making our own miracle: asking everyone who likes our project to contribute $20. Think of it as the cost of a lunch. You'll get a free download of the film, and your name (in tiny type and warp speed, because there are so many) in the credits. The budget is approx. $37,000. As I write this, we're nearly at $12,000, with nearly 240 members of the launch crew, all listed at goodluckmrgorski.com, along with a conveniently located Paypal button.

Thanks for joining us!