ACTION!


THE TRIO

The MAKING of AN OCCASIONAL FISH. 

      I was challenged by a request for a short script that required absolute minimal dialogue. Every screenplay I wrote, up to then, was dialogue heavy and was always 90 to 120 pages. I thought, “Is it possible to do what this director is asking for?” I started writing immediately. Two days later I held 7 pages in my hand AN OCCASIONAL FISH. A story about a fly fisherman who lost his trust and his best friend.

 Before sending it to the director calling for the story, I gave a copy to a friend, Neil Brady, to critique and edit. His business, NHB Productions, was making videos for corporations.

He called me the next day and said “Let’s do it.” AN OCCASIONAL FISH is the result.

            Neil had Canon GL2, 3CCD, Mini-DV Cameras and a professional lighting setup and a Premiere Pro editing system. We borrowed and assembled many other pieces of equipment. Many people agreed to work as crew members.

            After a while, we decided to add some scenes to give the story more depth. The number of pages doubled. After registering the screenplay, I sent copies of the screenplay to people who acted in local theatre productions. I asked if they knew anyone who might desire to play any of the characters in AN OCCASIONAL FISH. Almost everyone replied that they would love to work in the project. I found locations and we began to shoot some tests. We returned home and watched the test scenes. That day we decided we were going to make the best visual story that we possibly could. We also added more scenes, again doubling the pages of our story.

            We assembled our crews on sunny weekends in North East Pennsylvania. We were able to shoot about every third weekend. I scouted more locations and fished non-shoot weekends with my son Peter on a camera, trying to get good fishing shots. Our project came to halt when Neil’s wife was diagnosed with cancer. He stayed with her as she underwent treatment. Then I needed to get surgery, which also stalled the project. While I was recovering I wrote AN OCCASIONAL FISH into feature length, as well as writing a short comedy about hospitals. Both surgeries were successful and when recovery was imminent we began to work the project again.

            Some of the scenes, where the lead character walked from the living room into the kitchen, were shot over a year part. The time lapse contributed to continuity nightmares. The interruptions gave us opportunities to grow our skills as we edited, read, studied and learned how to better approach this art. The people we worked with were magnificent and made AN OCCASIONAL FISH possible. I never understood what collaboration was until I had to trust others to do their part, but now I get it and I am in awe of the process. Other commitments crowded out a 90 minute AN OCCASIONAL FISH to around 50 minutes, although we longed for the time and resources to put more muscle and heart on our screen characters.

            Neil and I are moving on, he to the video hungry corporate world and me to other screenplays, an occasional short, and hopes of producing more movies.

Enjoy!

Earl and Neil

Director \ Cinematographer Bio


“An Occasional Fish” is the first film I’ve directed. As owner and operator of a small video production company (NHB Productions) I was approached by friend and local screenwriter Earl Nulton with a screenplay for a short film. Having been in business for only two years and first picked up a camera one year before that I jumped at the prospect of seeing if I had what it takes to shoot and direct a film. With no formal training and only a few pieces of equipment (Canon GL2 mini DV, Dell desktop running Premiere Pro) I still knew in my heart I could do this. Movies have always played a central role in my life. They were my baby sitters, friends, mentors, counselors and refuge. I knew who they were and how they would treat me. So I watched, learned, laughed and cried my way into a love for the American film.

            The cast and crew were all amateurs with the same love for movies that I had. The operative word being amateurs. Most of the time I could see the movie in my head, the difficulty was getting everyone else to see it. Since we rarely had the same crews on all locations I had to continuously retrain on how to use equipment, why I cut here and not here, what emotions I needed for scenes, so on and so on. At times it was absolutely draining. With all the problems of light, sound, blocking and lines not remembered I was still making a movie and in heaven.

            My wife asked me “With all you went through are you happy with the film?”

Being a typical perfectionist I said “Not really.” but after considering the obstacles we overcame, the lack of knowledge and equipment, and the truth that we are amateurs presenting our first film, I reluctantly said “it’s ok.” I will be happy if those who know what it takes to make a film also say “it’s ok.”
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Writer \ Producer \ Lead  BIO

Earl Nulton
           I was born in the coal mine region of NE PA and raised in the Niagara Falls, NY area. I moved back to Wyoming Valley PA in 1960 and was taught how to fish for trout in the fast cold freestone streams of the region by my uncles.

I spent about a year being trained by the US Navy after high school, then spent the next three years sailing around the warm Mediterranean, Caribbean and Florida waters. When my tour of duty ended in 1970, I attended Penn State University majoring in journalism. I ultimately received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Marywood University in Scranton, PA. I worked as a promoter for a N.Y. Theatrical Company, later at various computer related jobs and started businesses over the next years.

I began writing a short action story that grew into a novel, while I worked on a 98 credit hour Masters degree (M. Div.). I wrote a short story that I adapted into a feature length screenplay. I wrote another feature, a romantic comedy. I wrote shorts and numerous outline\treatments of future projects. I’m also trying to put together a TV pilot (dramedy) about a very unusual fly fisherman.In 2005 I gave a copy of a new short screenplay to my friend, Neil Brady, to critique and edit, AN OCCASIONAL FISH. He is a skillful director and camera guy, the owner of NHB Productions. He called me the next day and said “Let’s do it.” We shot  AN OCCASIONAL FISH using 3CCD mini-DV cameras, a low budget and a lot of prayers.
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ACTRESS\Leading lady  Shivaun C. O’Donnell - BIO
  
Shivaun C. O'Donnell was born in New Jersey, lived in Ireland and California before settling in the Wilkes-Barre area in 1979. Actually she didn't plan to settle here. She planned to go to college and move to New York City and become a rich and famous actress. She's come close to her goal. She went to college, goes to New York occasionally, and was once nominated for a Best Actress Award by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Theatrical Alliance. She is now working towards the rich and famous part, and hopes her role in An Occasional Fish might be her ticket to the big time! Her theatrical pursuits have included: "The Shadow Box," for the Wilkes-Barre Artistic Theatre Ensemble, "Bell, Book and Candle," "Prisoner of Second Avenue" "Laughter on the 22nd Floor," and various others at Showcase Theatre. Shivaun's career has been varied, including working as a DJ for WILK and Q-102 in the early 80's, and then close to 15 years the software biz before ending up in her current role as General Manager of Odyssey Fitness in Wilkes-Barre. Shivaun is also a member of the sketch comedy and improv troupe "One Laugh at Least." A resident of Dallas, PA, Shivaun is married to Attorney Christopher O'Donnell, and has a son Evan, a student at Temple University.