THE FILM THAT STARTED IT ALL Judas Kiss is still playing festivals. Writer-producer Carlos Pedraza and co-star Julia Morizawa appear March 21 when the film is the closing feature for the Reel It Out LGBT Film Festival in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

It’ll be a whole night of fun, starting with a Red Carpet Kick-Off, the screening, a Q & A session with Carlos and Julia, followed by an After-Party (complimentary Hors d’oeuvres and drink specials!).

LEARN MORE at the festival website, which includes an awesome review of the film written by young adult author Jay Bell, whose novel, “Something Like Summer,” will be the Judas Kiss creators’ second feature film project in 2013.

Here’s an excerpt of Jay’s review on the festival website:

That there’s so much happening in Judas Kiss makes it delightfully rewatchable. Aside from the ninety minutes stuffed with plot and the complex relationships of the major players, the secondary and sometimes silent characters also have their stories to tell if you pay attention. And while your mind is enraptured, your nether regions will be just as pleased, since the boys of Judas Kiss are very hot. Best of all, they aren’t the muscle bound clones that infest many gay films. They each have character and charm that makes them delicious to the eye. Charlie David (Zachary) is hunky, Richard Harmon (Danny) is haunting, Sean Paul Lockhart (Chris) is notoriously attractive, and then there’s Timo Descamps (Shane) who plays the bad boy to perfection. Not only do they look good, but each is a competent actor as well.

Links

• Reel It Out LGBT Film Festival website
• Reel It Out LGBT Film Festival Facebook page

Judas Kiss director J.T. Tepnapa was interviewed while in Ecuador recently for a screening of the film at the El Lugar Sin Límites film festival.

The interview features some of J.T.’s impressions of gay cinema, the visibility of the GLBT community through art and challenges he faces as a producer of independent films.

THE INTERVIEW, by Miguel Loor, and published in Spanish, can be read in other languages using Google Translate. Enter this link (http://radiococoa.com/editorial/entrevista-j-t-tepnapa/) into the “translate from Spanish” box.

Here’s an excerpt (in English):

Q. The idea of fate is the centerpiece of the film. Why did you choose it as the reason for the story? 
A. It is quite related to my own life. At that point, was about to turn 35 and felt I was not doing enough with my life. I had a job that I didn’t like and felt I was going in the wrong direction. And I said to myself: “What if I had the chance to talk to my younger self and have the chance to say, ‘do not do this, do this’ …”. That’s how the story unfolded: “if I had the chance to do it again, how would I?” And learning that you don’t have to go back to the past, just change now.

Related Links

• The full Radio Cocoa Interview: J.T. Tepnapa
• J.T.’s Ecuador travel journal

Judas Kiss director J.T. Tepnapa continues his travel journal from Quito, Ecuador, where he was invited to screen the film at the El Lugar Sin Límites film festival.

November 21st, 2012
Apparently, I understand Spanish if you curse.

I’m turning into a regular Ecuadorian. I have picked up a lot more Spanish. My cab driver was complaining about police corruption and I suppose with all the policía this, and policía that, along with a lot of cussing, I made out that he wasn’t too happy.

INTERVIEW UNO I had my first interview this morning. It was the first time I had a translator to help with an interview. I felt all professional and stuff. He asked some good questions about how I direct actors and what I think about gay movies around the world. Overall, I think it was a good interview. I’m curious what I sound like through a Spanish filter. I would talk for two minutes and the translator would translate in 20 seconds. Well, if anything, I’ll sound concise. I did bring up our next two movies, The Dark Place and Something Like Summer.

U.S. DOLLARS, NOT JUST FOR THE U.S. And I had a nice Sushi lunch! Yum! It was pretty tasty. And probably the most expensive meal here at $10. Although that is pretty cheap compared to California prices. Did you know that Ecuador only uses American money? They don’t have their own currency. I’m not sure what to think about that. I’m sure it keeps their economy more stable. Ecuadorians believe part of their identity is missing without their own currency.

I also did the obligatory souvenir shopping. Which means I got magnets! Easy to transport and not too expensive. Still trying to shop for Adam. I saw a very pretty Virgin Mary for 200. Yipes! I love you Adam, but that’s too rich for my blood.

ODE TO MAX Oh! And I got to hold one of the beautiful awards for the festival It’s a cat statue named Max. And you know how I feel about “Teh Kitteh.” Unfortunately, we won’t be taking one home. And I know at least two of the movies that won. I can’t tell you. But I’ll give you a hint on one of the movies. They will announce the awards this weekend after I’ve flown back home. Lucky bastards! I’m happy they are getting a golden Max. At least I got to hold her and pretend she was mine for a minuto.

INTERVIEW DOS My second interview was much more serious! Oh my! The interviewer had never seen an LGBT movie before downloading Judas Kiss (with Polish subtitles!). Yes, Polish. Umm, hi, Wolfe Video, can we get that removed? But yay. Go Poland! Judas Kiss sure gets around.

Anyway, yes. Interviewer, Straight. Surprised, and his introduction to gay movies was our very own Judas Kiss. He asked me more questions about the film business, budgets, why I make gay movies. I think it surprised him that there was even a culture of gays and lesbians that supported gay films around the world. Can’t wait to read that article.

Now it’s time for another siesta before dinner. Zzzzzzz.

I ventured to the restaurant by myself. I think I got charged extra for being a foreigner. And cab drivers here are generally insane. I just close my eyes a lot. It’s like organized chaos. But I made it to the restaurant early. It more of “art gallery meets upscale dining.” Strange little nooks and very colorful rooms. I enjoyed it a lot.

The people here are very friendly and many of them lead very interesting lives. They are doctors, lawyers, engineers and Ph.D. students. One of the festival organizers is even looking into buying the same artsy restaurant. I suppose it surprised me that many of the people working on this festival have very busy high-profile jobs. I’m rather impressed with their dedication to the festival outside their normal careers. We had a good laugh at my artist life style. I could do so much more.

So, only one more day left in the city. I better make it count.

xoxo,
JayTee

Related Articles

• Read all of J.T.’s Ecuador travel journal

Judas Kiss director J.T. Tepnapa continues his travel journal from Quito, Ecuador, where he was invited to screen the film at the El Lugar Sin Límites film festival.

November 20th, 2012
Guys with Guns Are So … Manly. 

So I’m having some shortness of breath. I was warned it’s all because of the elevation. It’s an interesting feeling. A fish out of water? I did attempt to go exploring before my host and festival director, Fredy, arrived. But after a tour of the local grocery store and armed guard with a stainless steel rifle popping out of the top of a armored vehicle, I decided it was best if I headed back inside to wait for Fredy. I was tempted to take a picture, but then I figured it was best to keep walking since the guard gave me the stink-eye.

Online now reading about social etiquette in Ecuador. Apparently, there is a lot of kissing.

BTDubbs – HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM BROWNE!!!

GOLDEN ARCHES So, I got a bit of a walking tour of Quito. It’s actually a very nice city, it’s not too different than any other international city. A lot of pretty people. I suppose it’s a very young city. Fredy and I also went to McDonalds! Yay! I have made it my goal that whenever I’m in another country, I should try the local culturally inspired food at McDonalds. In Roma it was some kind of panini. Here in Ecuador it was cheese empanadas. It was OK. I did like the cheese part.

¡SIESTA! It’s practically required to nap after lunch. So yah know, “When in Quito! Do as the Quitos do!” It was a nice nap overlooking the whole city. It felt quite comforting.

Have you seen Keep the Lights On? It’s a gay movie that toured festivals along with Judas Kiss last year. But I kept missing this movie. I finally got a chance to watch here in Quito. It’s a wonderfully frustrating movie. What I do love about it is the way lead actors respond to each other. There is wonderful chemistry there. Although, I kept wanting more. I felt like I missed some scenes in-between the heartache and consequences of poor judgment. Oh, there’s a character in this movie named “Igor”. Totes cute, Let’s get him to audition for “The Dark Place.” Are you reading this, Jody? Carlos?

[Editor's Note: I reviewed Keep the Lights On at Frameline this year, and I told J.T. about the actor who plays Igor in that movie. He just never listens to me. --/carlos]

SAY CHEESE! So my favorite dish of the day is this cheese and potato soup. I thought it would be cheese overload. It was perfecto. A cross between Mac N Cheese and intentionally lumpy mash potatoes. OMG, I loved it!

J.T. writes: "My first interview in Ecuador. I used a lot of hand gesticulations to express how gay people shouldn't be stereotyped."

Unfortunately, because of my missed flight, I won’t actually make it to one of the three screenings here of Judas Kiss. There were were screenings before and after. That bums me out because I heard opening night was a packed house.

They do have me scheduled for several interviews, though. And I hope that me coming will help them sell tickets even when I’m gone. OK, Buenos Noches for now.

I think I kissed like 15 people today. On the cheek though.

xoxo
— JayTee aka “Jota Te”

Related Links

• Carlos’ review of Keep the Lights On
• Day 1 of J.T.’s Ecuador travel journal

November 19th, 2012
Quito! Here I Come! By Way of Atlanta

So here begins my travel journal. Lucky for you, I’m only gone for five days. I’m heading to Quito, Ecuador for their film festival. Actually, I was supposed to head out the 14th of November, but I missed my flight. It helps if you read the fine print. You know, the part that says you are leaving the 14th instead of the 15th. It’s those little mistakes than can make your life a bit more … expensive.

Did I mention I’m not fond of flying? I get these knots in my tummy and chest gets a bit constricted and I get that lump in my throat. I know it’s silly, but I cannot help it. I try. Actually, typing this is supposed to be my little distraction.

SO. QUITO. I’m actually going by way of Atlanta. I suppose the first leg of the journey doesn’t have much to  report. I’m sitting next to an Australian that had a much worse travel schedule than mine. Adelaide to Sydney to Los Angeles to Atlanta to Nashville. Yipes! Now that’s a long travel time.

I also watched Beginners. It’s a very lovely movie. Subtle. There’s not a lot that happens, but experiencing the emotions of lost and found. I also enjoyed the direction. I felt that there was a lot of stuff added to the movie through “stuff.” The actors had lots of stuff to do.

I HAVE NO BUTT. Seriously, these seats are making my butt go numb. I’d love to be sitting in those cushy first class seats. So nice. Hugs the buttocks. Fly me first class and I’m less jittery with all the pampering.

Quito, Here I Come. Really.

So after a mad dash across the Atlanta airport, I made it just in time to my gate. I like this plane a little more because it has those flippy flippy wings. I’m looking forward to someday flying on one of those plastic airplanes. I think they fly better. At least that’s what they tell me.

BUTT. STILL NUMB. But I’m gonna enjoy my hot meal and pretend I’m in first class even though I’m being squished against the window. I don’t why this lady won’t sit in the perfectly good aisle seat and give us both the roomy middle.

I made it! I had a bit of white wine to get me through all the bumps in the air. It’s always so exciting when I’m greeted with a sign with my name on it. It makes me feel super special. And I was greeted by five very handsome Ecuadorians. When I asked what kind of music they listen to. The answer was Lady Gaga. Ah, Mother Monster is loved all around the would by the gays.

The hotel is super nice. Love the two story-ness of it. It actually gives me ideas for our movie adaptation of Something Like Summer. One character in the story lives in a cute little loft. Well, that’s all from my travel day.

xoxo,
Jaytee

Related Links

• J.T.’s bio on the Invited Guests list at film festival website (in Spanish)
• See all J.T.’s photos on Instagram!
• Judas Kiss director invited to Ecuador film festival

VE LA PELÍCULA Judas Kiss (El Beso de Judas), subtitulada en Español!

Usted puede comprar y descargar la película inmediatamente o puede ver el video en streaming (el menos costoso).

El trailer (01:30 minutos) gratis introduce el campus mágico de la Universidad de Keystone, y los personajes principales de la película:

• El cineasta fracasado, Zachary Wells (Charlie David)
• El joven estudiante de cine, Danny Reyes (Richard Harmon)
• Su mejor amiga, Abbey Park (Julia Morizawa)
• Los dos chicos compitiendo por Danny: compañero cineasta Chris Wachowsky (Sean Paul Lockhart) y el rico Shane Lyons (Timo Descamps)

Despues de ver el trailer, puede comprar o alquilar la película.

JUDAS KISS STAR Richard Harmon (above, center) stars in the holiday film, The Wishing Tree, premiering this Saturday, November 10, on the The Hallmark Channel in the United States.

Richard plays privileged bad boy Drew, one of several boarding school students left behind during Christmas vacation, and overseen by Professor Evan Farnsworth (Jason Gedrick, Dexter). Farnsworth is a widower who works tirelessly at the Maine school.

Besides Drew, Farnsworth has to watch out for talented scholarship student Juliet (Emmalyn Estrada) and nerdy outcast Albert (Amitai Marmorstein). Drew naturally gets into trouble and takes his anger out on the neighboring town’s ancient Wishing Tree, a bare tree decorated with handwritten notes containing the townspeople’s greatest holiday wishes. A much-loved tradition, it doubles as a fundraiser for needy families, and  Drew’s troublemaking threatens Farnsworth’s job.

Watch Richard Harmon behind the scenes of The Wishing Tree.

Related Links

• The Wishing Tree on the Hallmark Channel website
• Watch a clip from The Wishing Tree
• On location with the cast of The Wishing Tree

WOLFE VIDEO includes Judas Kiss as part of its fall mini-poster giveaway until November 14, part of a six-poster set featuring the top gay films of the past decade.

“We are honored to have our film displayed alongside these others that Wolfe recognizes as high quality work,” said Judas Kiss writer-producer Carlos Pedraza.

Wolfe’s limited-time offer is for purchases of $40 or more. Here’s how to take advantage of the offer on the WolfeVideo website.

Use Promo Code: POSTERBOY at checkout.

Wolfe describes the poster set as a “terrific collection of six gorgeous gay movie mini-posters — an excellent $12 value.”

The 11”x17” posters showcase the original key art from some of the top films released on the Wolfe label over the past decade. Each qualifying order will include six of the following titles: Private Romeo, Undertow, Judas Kiss, Hollywood je t’aime, Newcastle, Pageant, The New Twenty, Pedro, and Whirlwind.

The offer is only good through November 14. More details here.

Related Links

• Shop on the Wolfe Video website. Don’t forget to use the POSTERBOY promo code!
• Read the whole mini-poster giveaway offer.

TLA VIDEO

“If you find yourself flummoxed by our massive selection of gay movies, have no fear! Each week, we’re featuring one great gay flick that we guarantee if worth your time and attention. Trust us! We won’t steer you wrong. This week’s selection is Judas Kiss.

“This gay time-travel tale — peppered with a sexy young cast, high production values and an unconventional script — packs a creative and captivating punch!

“The DVD is in stock and available to ship right away. There is also an upcoming Blu-ray release that will be available on November 20th!”

Links

• TLA’s Pick of the Week
• Buy Judas Kiss on DVD or Blu-ray at TLA Video

Q MOVIE BLOG asked Judas Kiss star Charlie David to name one of his favorite GLBT movies. His answer?

Check out the full blog post here, but if you want the short, sweet version, Charlie couldn’t make up his mind so he named Germany’s Summer Storm and the gay musical based on Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream, Were the World Mine.

Read the blog to find out why he likes these movies so much.

The Q Movie Blog includes a nice plug for Charlie’s other work, including Mulligans, Dante’s Cove, and, of course Judas Kiss, which nearly a year after it’s DVD release is still on Wolfe Video’s Top 10 sales list:

Check out Charlie’s awesome gay drama Judas Kiss now on [Blu-ray,] DVD and digital from Wolfe. Enjoy the trailer … and then rent or own the film on digital, for just $3.99 to rent and $14.99 to own, via WolfeOnDemand.com — available worldwide! Or grab a copy of Mulligans (available on DVD and digital via fine retailers everywhere or get yours now from WolfeVideo.com). You can also find Charlie’s wonderful new documentary Positive Youth at WolfeOnDemand.com.

Related Links

• Charlie David’s Guest Blog Post on Q Movie Blog.
• Buy Charlie’s favorite movies:
• Summer Storm
• Were the World Mine
• Judas Kiss
• Mulligans

This is the kind of tweet we like to read!

For a lot of people, Judas Kiss touches that same place inside them that made me and J.T. want to make this movie.

Casey’s tweet reminded me the life-changing and aspirational aspects of the story are what have always been important to us. It’s so gratifying to us when the film affects someone enough to want to share that reaction publicly, like so many others have on Twitter.

Thanks, Casey!

— /carlos

Related Link

• Follow @OneCasey17 on Twitter!

LIMITLESS

“I had to say yes,” Tepnapa said.

The festival marks the first time Judas Kiss is officially screened subtitled in Spanish. It has screened or aired on television in German and French.

The festival runs from November 15 to 25. This year marks its 11th outing.

The festival describes Judas Kiss as “a sci-fi drama [that] has won major awards in the United States (first place Alternative Spirit at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, and Best Debut Feature at the Fort Worth’s Q Cinema film festival.

WATCH the Judas Kiss trailer, subtitled in Spanish. (Press the Captions key for subtitles)

Judas Kiss joins 83 other official selections (16 features, 19 documentary features, 15 documentaries and 34 short films) from Germany, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Spain, the United States, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Venezuela and, of course, Ecuador.

Also invited is director Ira Sachs (The Delta), whose new film, Keep the Lights On, is on the festival circuit this year. (Read Judas Kiss writer Carlos Pedraza’s review of Sachs’ film.)

El Lugar Sin Limites (The Place Without Limits) considers itself more than a film festival. It screens films throughout the year in various cities throughout Ecuador, and hosts a variety of other arts events supporting the country’s GLBT community.

Related Articles

• El Lugar Sin Limites Film Festival website (in Spanish)
• About director J.T. Tepnapa
• Writer Carlos Pedraza’s review of Keep the Lights On

Judas Kiss

In its exclusive story, TV Line reports that Harmon’s character will be involved in a love triangle with Highmore’s young Norman Bates:

“Described as a look into Norman’s formative years, including his storied relationship with his mother, Bates Motel will premiere sometime in 2013.”

Harmon’s other TV credits include The Secret Circle, Fringe, Smallville and the upcoming Canadian-made Syfy series, Continuum.

Related Articles

• Exclusive: The Killing’s Richard Harmon Joins Bates Motel as Norman’s High School Rival
• Bates Motel Taps Freddie Highmore to Play Norman, Also Casts the Problem Child’s Brother

INDONESIA’S Q! Film Festival, the biggest of its kind in Asia, celebrated its 11th year with a slate of LGBT films that included Judas Kiss. As a predominantly Muslim nation, Indonesia’s religious community has had problems with the gay film festival hosted in the nation’s capital, Jakarta.

“When I was in Indonesia earlier this year, I saw pirated copies of Judas Kiss everywhere,” commented writer-producer Carlos Pedraza, “so I know there’s an audience hungry for films like ours, despite the prevalent fundamentalism of the country.”

The festival, which runs September 28-October 6, features 125 LGBT films. Judas Kiss played October 3, and generated some positive buzz on Twitter.

The festival focuses on movies with LGBT and HIV/AIDS themes, QFF was founded in 2002 by a number of freelance journalists and movie buffs who were passionate in these issues.

According to the national newspaper, The Jakarta Globe, the festival faced protests from several religious fundamentalist groups the past few years, but the organizers remain undeterred, “albeit with less fanfare.”

THE FESTIVAL organizers noted, “We have learned and paid the high price to recognize our true friends, to defend our rights to live as human, to fight for what we believe the most: love, compassion and humanity.”

The Jakarta Globe article admirably concludes:

Indeed, in a time when tolerance increasingly becomes a scarce asset in this country, QFF serves as a reminder that human rights and freedom of expression have to be championed and fought for. Conveying that message through a universal medium, i.e. film, there is a fervent hope that, through this festival, more people can open their minds toward the diversity that surrounds us. Not to mention, the organizers has done their best to make all events free of charge — all the more reason to support the festival in the future.

Related Articles

• Jakarta Globe: Q! Film Fest Raises Awareness on LGBTIQ Issues
• Q! Film Festival 2012 Blog
• Tweet from @indraa156 with photo of ticket to Judas Kiss screening

‘JUDAS KISS’ BLU-RAY

NOW SHIPPING Choose a Blu-ray autographed by co-star Sean Paul Lockhart or buy the regular Blu-ray for the special low pre-order price.

Limited run of autographed Judas Kiss Blu-ray $29.95 USD Judas Kiss Blu-ray $19.95 USD

EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURESAmong the Blu-ray’s Bonus Features are:

• Extended Behind the Scenes Featurette
• Extended Behind the Scenes of the Music Video
• New commentary by Richard Harmon (Danny), Sean Paul Lockhart (Chris) and Julia Morizawa (Abbey)
• New commentary by Charlie David
• Original full-length “If I Fall” Musical Number
• Alternate Cut and Commentary on Scene 66 (the dorm room confrontation between Danny, Abbey and Chris)

That’s in addition to the bonus features that appeared on the DVD:

• Deleted Scenes
• Director/Writer Commentary
• ‘Like it Rough’ Music Video

AUTOGRAPHED COPY If you order directly from judaskissmovie.com, you can choose an exclusive, limited-edition autographed Blu-ray just in time for the holidays! You can also order a non-autographed Blu-ray from Wolfe Video, TLA and Amazon.

RECENT HONORS Judas Kiss recently debuted on the list of Top 100 Greatest Gay Movies at No. 62, in the annual poll conducted by the pop culture website, AfterElton.com, following its three Gaybie Awards this year for Best Drama, Best Lead Actor (Charlie David) and Best Supporting Actor (Sean Paul Lockhart).

Related Articles

• Blu-ray Release Nov. 20
• ‘Judas Kiss’ Wins Best Drama, Actor, Supporting Actor
• ‘Judas Kiss’ Debuts on AfterElton’s Top 100 Movies List

BLU-RAY NOV. 20 Judas Kiss comes to Blu-ray on November 20, sporting a set of new Bonus Features alongside the film’s pristine 1080p high-definition video.

“We’ve had persistent requests for a Blu-ray version of Judas Kiss, even before the film was produced,” said director J.T. Tepnapa. “As we near the first anniversary of the movie’s release on DVD and iTunes, this new version allows us to share many more Bonus Features we think Judas Kiss fans will appreciate.”

BONUS FEATURES Among the Blu-ray’s Bonus Features are:

• Extended Behind the Scenes Featurette
• Extended Behind the Scenes of the Music Video
• New commentary by Richard Harmon (Danny), Sean Paul Lockhart (Chris) and Julia Morizawa (Abbey)
• New commentary by Charlie David
• Original full-length “If I Fall” Musical Number
• Alternate Cut and Commentary on Scene 66 (the dorm room confrontation between Danny, Abbey and Chris)

That’s in addition to the bonus features that appeared on the DVD:

• Deleted Scenes
• Director/Writer Commentary
• ‘Like it Rough’ Music Video

AUTOGRAPHED COPY If you order directly from judaskissmovie.com, you can choose an exclusive, autographed Blu-ray just in time for the holidays! You can also order the non-autographed Blu-ray from Wolfe Video, TLA and Amazon.

RECENT HONORS Judas Kiss recently debuted on the list of Top 100 Greatest Gay Movies at No. 62, in the annual poll conducted by the pop culture website, AfterElton.com, following its three Gaybie Awards this year for Best Drama, Best Lead Actor (Charlie David) and Best Supporting Actor (Sean Paul Lockhart).

Related Articles

• Pre-order now, and choose the version autographed by co-star Sean Paul Lockhart
• ‘Judas Kiss’ Wins Best Drama, Actor, Supporting Actor
• ‘Judas Kiss’ Debuts on AfterElton’s Top 100 Movies List

Day 8: A Day/Night in the Woods

Actors Sean Paul Lockhart (second from left) and Richard Harmon (second from right) confer while shooting their characters’ romantic sunset rendezvous. Director J.T. Tepnapa (left) discusses the scene with cinematographer Dave Berry (third from left), and sound recordist Alex Ibrahim looks on.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2010 After a day of intense, dramatic interiors, Day 8 took us back outside for exteriors shot on the University of Washington campus.

In Judas Kiss, the Keystone campus is supposed be a place of magical realism. Like that Latin American literary form, our film blends fantastical elements with what you typically think of as the real world. Keystone serves as a temporal nexus, where normally parallel timelines can actually intersect, creating the possibility for this type of story to take place.

Director J.T. Tepnapa gets his traffic cones and barricades to shut down traffic to shoot Zach's (Charlie David) arrival to the magically real Keystone campus.

On Day 8, we watch Zachary Wells (Charlie David) cross into that magical world as he drives onto campus and is greeted by the cantankerous guide, Old Man Welds (Dale Bowers). That drive along tree-lined Pend Oreille Road leads to UW’s Gatehouse 3.

The car Zach drives, a Volvo sedan, actually belongs to cinematographer Dave Berry.

For director J.T. Tepnapa, closing down a road to shoot this scene made him feel big-time.

“We had traffic cones, barricades, and police officers blocking traffic while we shot the opening campus drive,” he recalled. “Today I feel like we’re shooting a big budget movie. I got my coffee and my Subway sandwich and I’m ready to go.”

THE SCENE takes place at the 08:48-minute mark in the movie, and features several portents about what is about to happen to Zach.

PORTENTS Magical events begin immediately upon Zach’s arrival at Keystone University. The golden key on the purple banner above his car exhibits the telltale “shimmer” used to indicate a temporal anomaly in the story. Also, take a look at the words roughly spelled out by the car’s license plate: “To Future.” Also, note the young woman pictured in the banner. It’s actor Genevieve Buechner, who plays villainous Shane’s henchwoman, Sam. All these elements, including the film festival banner and its logo, were added in post-production by visual effects artist Joël Bellucci.

NIGHT FOR DAY The next location was the “stand of trees,”which is supposed to be a secluded area for Chris (Sean Paul Lockhart) and Danny’s (Richard Harmon) secret tryst. We had to do another company move (pack up all our trucks and equipment, and set it all up again somewhere else).

Lighting crew members Niall Johnson, left, and Nate Peirson create daytime at night for Judas Kiss.

As you can see from the campus map above, “the woods” are hardly secluded. They’re a patch of trees sandwiched between tennis courts, a road and high-rise dormitories. But movie magic, provided by Dave Berry and the crew transformed the locale, and kept it looking like late afternoon even though we shot well into the night.

NIGHT FOR DAY You can see cinematographer Dave Berry among the trees late at night, with some of the lights in the background that made the scene look like it was shot in the late afternoon.

Joel, our visual effects wizard, also digitally painted more foliage onto the image to make the woods look “deeper.”

AFTER SHOOTING well into the night — and braving a little rain, which necessitated some emergency tarps — the second company move of the day took us to the Padelford parking lot for the scene in which Danny’s father, Daniel Reyes Sr. (Vince Valenzuela) prepares to leave Keystone following the debacle at the film festival.

Daniel Sr. (Vince Valenzuela) sings about his despair in the musical number, “If I Fall.”

The scene appears in the film’s fanciful musical number, “If I Fall,” by Brian Lam, over the closing credits.

The Volvo station wagon belongs to Judas Kiss writer and producer, Carlos Pedraza.

Related Article

• Read the entire 21 Days series.

Day 7: Things Get Complicated

Zach (Charlie David) is introduced to the familiar-seeming philanthropists, Mr. and Mrs. Lyons (Eric Helland, Stephanie Hillbert), by the all-knowing and wry Mrs. Blossom (Laura Kenny). Note the film school is named after its primary benefactors in a banner digitally inserted at the top of the frame by VFX artist Joël Bellucci in post-production.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2010 After several days of shooting outdoors, we finally ventured indoors to shoot interior scenes, but things quickly got complicated.

Our hosts at the University of Washington were very accommodating about meeting the needs of our cast and crew. Of the 21 days that we shot Judas Kiss, 14 took place on campus. To shoot the movie, we variously had to shut down huge fountains, make jackhammers stop working, reprogram computer-driven environmental systems in futuristic buildings, reroute traffic and, finally, make college kids be quiet on a Friday night in their dorm rooms.

That last one proved the most challenging.

ANXIETY This was the day of The Big Sex Scene. To make sure the actors were comfortable, much of the day took place on a closed set.

“Even I wasn’t allowed on set,” recalled producer Carlos Pedraza. “These scenes had to be just right, and we only had a limited amount of time to film.”

But first, we had to complete one scene back in Guggenheim Hall, where we’d shot outdoors the day before.

The scene between Zach (Charlie David), the all-knowing film school dean, Mrs. Blossom (Laura Kenny) and Shane’s philanthropist parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lyons (Eric Helland and Stephanie Hillbert) appears at the 13:18-minute mark in the film.

COMPANY MOVE So far, we’ve unpacked and packed all our equipment from two trucks at the beginning and end of each shoot day. Day 7 was the first day in which we had to complete a “company move” in the middle of the day. That means shutting down production at one location, re-packing the trucks, driving them to a new location and unpacking everything again, knowing we’ll have to pack everything up again at the end of the day. Each company move can take hours — hours we can’t spend shooting, reducing the number of script pages we complete in the day. Pages we’ll have to make up for on another day.

The company move on Day 7 was from Guggenheim Hall to a dormitory, Terry Hall, on the opposite end of UW’s campus. And up to the the third floor of the building, all of which took a lot of time.

Once there, most of director J.T. Tepnapa‘s time was spent on the love scene between Danny (Richard Harmon) and Shane (Timo Descamps).

“We called Day 7, ‘Brown Chicken, Brown Cow,’” J.T. remembered, referring to the euphemistic music used in pornography.

“Obviously, we weren’t shooting porn, but it was the big sex scene of the movie,” J.T. said. “I was more nervous about the sex scenes than the actors were. Carlos told me to calm the eff down. And I was more worried about closing the set than I was about the actual scene.”

Richard Harmon poses with his character's ever-present Bolex Super 8mm camera on set for the pivotal love scene he portrays with cast mate Timo Descamps.

Closing the set turned out to present several problems. The scene is set in Shane’s dorm room. As a rich kid, he can obviously afford a large, single room.

“Trouble is, those don’t exist in real life,” Carlos observed. “Not big enough to fit cameras and lighting equipment, plus cast and crew.”

Instead, we made a large lounge in Terry Hall look like a dorm room. That’s where the trouble with the real-life dorm residents started.

Our original schedule had us shooting the sex scenes in Terry Hall on Saturday, August 21 — the night after all the UW summer school students living in Terry were to have departed from school. Friday was supposed to be the day we shut down traffic at one of UW’s main entrances to shoot another scene.

Campus security had requested we close off the road entering campus on Saturday instead of the weekday. That meant switching the Terry Hall scenes to Friday, the students’ final night on campus. “A night I’m certain they were planning on having fun,” Carlos said, “which of course means making noise. Not something we could allow on a film set. Especially one that was supposed to be closed for shooting love scenes.”

Students were actually still in their dorm rooms, hoping to have parties, while we had to erect curtains to close off views of the set, which was really just a large, open lounge area.

“We actually restricted use of the dorm’s elevators, and we went around shushing people in their rooms,” Carlos said. “All of this ate up time, and I was sure we were going to run into overtime — something we couldn’t really afford on our budget.”

J.T. recalled, “By the end, we were rushing through the sex scenes. Thank goodness we rehearsed them late the night before. I would have liked to have taken it nice and slow.”

“Nobody was happy,” Carlos added. “J.T. and [cinematographer] Dave Berry felt rushed, I had to intervene pretty forcefully to keep us on schedule, the students complained we were being heavy-handed, and the university was concerned as the shoot went late, late into the night.”

In the end, though everything worked out. “We finished with minutes to spare on our work day,” Carlos said, “and J.T. got all the footage we needed. I had to mend some fences with the university, but all turned out fine.”

And, ironically, because the set was closed this may have been the least-photographed day behind the scenes.

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Day 6: The Lyons School of Film

Zach (Charlie David, left) is running late. Guggenheim Hall at the University of Washington houses the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department but in Judas Kiss it’s the Lyons School of Film at Keystone Summit University.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2010 The first five days of shooting Judas Kiss were a big success. Everything was on schedule. But Day 6 was time to step up our game.

We started the shoot slow. On Days 1 and 2, we only shot in one confined location, and a relatively small number of pages in the script. On Days 3 and 4, the page count was still low — an average of less than four pages a day. But we had to average more than 5 pages a day to complete the script in our allotted days.

Just for reference, a studio film shoots about one page a day, two max. That’s a luxury we couldn’t afford. On Day 6, we needed to shoot more than seven pages worth of the script.

Grips "fly in" an overhead screen used to diffuse light entering the passageway at UW's Electrical Engineering Building.

WE MOVED to a different part of the University of Washington campus, Guggenheim Hall. In real life, Guggenheim is home to UW’s aeronautics and astronautics departments, part of the College of Engineering. In reel life, the beautiful Gothic building is the Lyons School of Film on Judas Kiss‘ Keystone Summit University campus.

Trivia note: The “Lyons” film school is named after Shane Lyons’ (Timo Descamps) parents (Eric Helland and Stephanie Hillbert), described in the film as “Hollywood’s most generous financiers.” They appear in several scenes in Judas Kiss.

WE SHOT these scenes on Day 6:

• Zach (Charlie David) runs to the building, late, for his first meeting with the inscrutable dean of the film school, Mrs. Blossom (Laura Kenny in her first day on set).
• Rebecca Lynn (Samantha Rund‘s first day on set) confronts Zach outside the school following the disastrous first interview with Danny Reyes (Richard Harmon).
• Zach meets the cantankerous Old Man Welds (Dale Bowers‘ first day on set), who seems to know a lot about the growing mystery of Zach’s visit to Keystone.
• Old Man Welds reveals to Zach that he knows at least one of Zach’s dark secrets from when he attended Keystone.
• Just across the way from Guggenheim is UW’s Electrical Engineering building, which features the passageway where Danny and Chris (Sean Paul Lockhart) meet for a secret rendezvous.
• The passageway also figured in a nighttime kiss between Zach and Rebecca that never made it into the final cut of the film. Part of Rebecca’s storyline didn’t test well with preview audiences, so that subplot was deleted. Here’s a still from that scene.

The same passageway served as the rendezvous point between Chris and Danny earlier in the film.Both scenes were shot on Day 6.

MORE PHOTOS Here’s an assortment of photos from Day 6:
FIRST DAY on set: Dale Bowers joined the cast on set on Day 6, along with Samantha Rund. Zach’s nicotine addiction is in full swing — Charlie had to learn to smoke for the role, then quit cold turkey after the shoot was over.

Some people have criticized the film for “promoting” smoking. In fact, Zach’s sometimes obnoxious smoking habit was intended as a metaphor to express his fall from grace and eventual redemption.

Watch Judas Kiss again and note who is smoking, when, with whom, when he or she starts, whether he or she stops — each instance is part of a larger story arc.

ARTIFICIAL ACTORS This establishing shot of Old Man Welds and Zach sitting outside the Lyons Film School did not actually have actors Dale Bowers and Charlie David in it when it was originally shot. Tiny versions of the actors were digitally inserted by visual effects artist Joël Bellucci in post-production.

The “Lyons School” sign at the front of the building, as seen in the inset photo above, is also a digital replacement by Joël.

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Day 5: The Key to Your Future

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2010 ”Keystone Summit University is the key to your future” — that’s the first thing you hear when you’re greeted by Old Man Welds (Dale Bowers) at the security kiosk at the campus entrance.

Keystone’s campus is actually the University of Washington in Seattle, a perfect location for a place that exists at the crossroads of space and parallel timelines. With its rich, gothic buildings and modern edifices, the UW provided the perfect backdrop for a story in which a failed filmmaker goes back to confront the demons of his past.

Fourteen of our 21 days were spent shooting on the UW, and its dormitories served as our production office, home for out-of-town cast and crew, and sets for the film itself. We made a big splash on our first day there, taking over the beautiful Quad, with its criss-crossing paths, Gothic towers and arching trees.

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For director J.T. Tepnapa, today was the second official day of his new coffee addiction, which only added to his natural excitement.

“Too much coffee; I couldn’t sleep anymore,” he remembered.

Coffee on set was provided by Seattle’s Best Coffee (you see their cups throughout the film, by the way), so J.T. was going to town.

“My best friend from high school, Jennifer,  came to watch me work, so I think I was showing off that day. I yelled just a little louder at the actors.”

We shot four scenes that day and into the summer night, all exterior locations. The day started off cloudy, which was just what we needed. We had to cordon off a large portion of the Quad to make sure no stray pedestrians got into the shot. Production assistants were deployed to keep people moving away from the set.

Click to view full-size.

WALK OF SHAME “This scene is one my favorites, cinematically,” writer-producer Carlos Pedraza recalled. At the 57:48-minute mark in the film, a disheveled Danny Reyes (Richard Harmon) walks across campus early in the morning after having sex with the manipulative Shane Lyons (Timo Descamps).

“The long shot shows off the amazing Gothic architecture of that part of the UW campus and the beautiful trees whose arches branch over the Quad’s walking paths,” Carlos said.

In a nice touch by costume designer Anthony Tran, you can see Danny’s shirt is mis-buttoned, one side longer than the other. And, for continuity, you see in the following scene it remains mis-buttoned. Haven’t we all had mornings like that?’

And the two co-eds who cross the screen in the foreground. Clutching Seattle’s Best Coffee cups to go, naturally. We have no shame, really.

SHANE TAUNTS CHRIS Timo returned for his second day of shooting, joined by a retinue befitting the “Emperor of Keystone.” Beautiful Canadian actress Genevieve  Buechner (Caprica and The Killing) played Samantha, Shane’s righthand girl. In real life, she’s also Richard’s girlfriend. They met on the set of the Syfy show Caprica, and are still together two years later.

Richard’s best friend, film student Rhys Cooper, worked on Judas Kiss as a production assistant, visual effects assistant and actor. In this scene he appears as another of Shane’s hangers-on. He and Genevieve appear in several other scenes in the film.

The scene also features a close-to-sunburned Sean Paul Lockhart, who plays Chris Wachowsky. We had to break out umbrellas to screen the actors from the intense summer sun.

This scene had the camera moving a lot, and featured a lot of different angles, so it took a good chunk of the day to shoot. In the final film, it is cross-cut with the following scene. Cinematographer David Berry did a nice job covering the fact that the sun has moved far along on its path for a pair of scenes, supposedly happening simultaneously, that consume only a minute of screen time.

GETTING PSYCHED In the third scene shot that day, Danny and his best friend, the colorful Abbey Park (Julia Morizawa) also cross the Quad as Danny seeks her support to prepare for his second scholarship interview. It’s a short but touching scene that shows a lot about the depth of their friendship.

These two scenes begin at the 43:48-minute mark in the film.

Most of “Getting Psyched” was shot late in the afternoon, but is juxtaposed with the prior scene with Shane, which was shot around noon.

One thing we quickly learned was that the UW lies directly underneath the flight path for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. That meant several extra takes for many shots that were interrupted by the sound of a flyover by a jetplane. The additional takes imperiled our schedule, and also threatened to rattle our actors, who had some great takes disrupted by the planes.

The planes would bedevil us for the rest of the shoot.

ON THE QUAD In a complicated, cross-cut scene, Danny’s friend, Abbey (Julia Morizawa) and Shane’s henchwoman Sam (Genevieve Buechner) have their time in the sun. (Photos by Shawn Anderson)

ON A PEDESTAL After sundown, we moved off the Quad to a courtyard outside the Art School, where we’d found a sculpture resembling a sliced Greek column to set this scene between Abbey and Danny.

“It’s one of my favorites scenes because of Abbey’s and Danny’s relationship, and because Dave [Berry] lit it so beautifully,” Carlos said. “Some people think it was shot and lit in a studio, but it’s actually outdoors, among trees and under loud jetplanes.”

Because we were running behind schedule, the scene was shot as one long take, but David’s lighting, Richard and Julia’s acting and inventive camera work atop a dolly makes it feel like a rich visual scene. In post-production, Brad Laina‘s score and Whitney Dunn‘s editing added so much texture to this scene that it doesn’t look as rushed as it actually was on set.

NIGHT FOR DAY This photo was taken about 10 pm, but it’s lit by cinematographer David Berry to look like dusk. Director J.T. Tepnapa (foreground) watches the top halves of actors Julia Morizawa and Richard Harmon on the monitor. You can see their bottom halves in “real life” in the center of the still. (Photo by Carlos Pedraza)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Apparently, good Buffalo chicken wings are hard to find in Richard’s home of Canadia, so once we learned that Day 5 was his 19th birthday, we contrived for a cake-and-wings celebration to surprise him. He loves wings.

Five days in, cast and crew had really gelled, and we finished right on schedule.

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Day 4: Topher’s Music Studio

TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2010 Coffee is what a movie set runs on. Judas Kiss director J.T. Tepnapa was never much of a coffee drinker.

Writer-producer Carlos Pedraza commented, “J.T. was so hyped with excitement the first couple days of the shoot that cinematographer David Berry assumed all the energy was caffeinated in origin.”

“On Day 1, I was totally excited,” J.T. recalled. “Dave told me to calm the fuck down. I was bouncing off the walls. On Day 2, I was still excited. Dave thought I need to lay off the caffeine. I don’t drink coffee, though.”

J.T. labored under the misapprehension that he could “eat healthy” while shooting a movie. “I was still eating sandwiches and salads, and I think the crew was feeling sluggish, too.”

On Day 4, we were shooting the scene in Topher’s music studio (it starts at the 04:26-minute mark). “We were taking forever on the music studio scene because it required so many different angles and managing the lighting,” J.T. said. “It was time to start drinking coffee.”

“He was never the same after that,” Carlos observed.

THE SHOOTING SCRIPT had called for Topher’s party, which we shot the day before, to be filmed indoors at night, but we couldn’t accommodate moving to a night shooting schedule without a lot of added cost and time, so the entire event became set in the afternoon.

The challenge was to make the entire day look like it was the afternoon, even though we began early in the morning and continued well into the evening (summer days in Seattle are very long, thank goodness — one of the reasons we chose to shoot in August).

BLOODY MOVIES Production designer Rodrigo DeMedeiros used images of model Stephen Mitchell to create mock posters for two of character Topher Shadoe’s “bloody” films.

The music studio set also gave production designer Rodrigo DeMedeiros a chance to show off, as he integrated the look of the Chens’ home with the added touches that made it look like it belonged to an avant-garde movie director.

Among the props and set decoration Rodrigo designed, were two posters for Topher’s movies, Blood and Barcelona and Blood and Chance. His photoshoot with Seattle model Stephen Mitchell yielded two beautiful posters, and Stephen himself appears in the film as himself.

STEPHEN MITCHELL, left, plays himself as the star of Topher Shadoe’s (Troy Fischnaller, center) next film, Blood and Barcelona, while a distraught Zach Wells (Charlie David, right) looks on.

TIME TRAVEL Rodrigo decided that a film about time travel should include some visual cues to hint at the metaphysical conundrum faced by the main character, Zachary Wells (Charlie David). Take a look at all the set pieces that appear later in the film by clicking on the photo below to see full-size.

PRODUCTION DESIGNER Rodrigo DeMedeiros took a great deal of care to provide recurring visual cues that link together disparate scenes throughout Judas Kiss (click the photo to view full size).

Filmmaking is a lot like time travel, too. For example, we shot both the beginning and the end of Judas Kiss on Days 3 and 4. For continuity, we had to take into account little things, like the fact that Zach’s face at the beginning of the movie is stubble-covered; at the end he’s clean-shaven.

That meant we had to shoot scenes on Day 5 without him, because in the rest of the film, he appears unshaven. You’ll see how we managed that tomorrow.

A BIT OF A SLOG Because the music studio scene required shooting from so many angles (what we call coverage), it took a long time to film. So J.T. was anxious by the end of the day to shoot the movie’s final scene on the rooftop between Zach and Topher (Troy Fischnaller) — a sunset-type of shot, filmed by a slowly ascending camera.

“Big studio productions use something called a jib for this,” Carlos recalled. “The only one we could find to rent in the Seattle area wanted an outlandish $1,200 for the day. I’m too cheap a bastard for that, so we rented a scissor lift. And J.T. was ecstatic. Like a 12-year-old.”

“I was so excited that I got to ride the scissor lift for the closing shot of the movie,” J.T. said. “YAY!”

The scissor lift provided just the right cinematic look we wanted for the film’s ending as we rolled to credits.

“We finished the day with time to spare,” Carlos said, “so it was a happy ending for everyone.”

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Day Three: Topher’s Pool Party

BIG SET The third day of shooting was one of our biggest, with dozens of extras and a crew of 35. (Photos by Shawn Anderson)

MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2010 After a successful first two days of shooting on Friday and Saturday in a studio, and a day off on Sunday, we moved to our first outdoor location, a cliffside home for a pool party overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The opening scenes of Judas Kiss, a swanky poolside Hollywood party, are set at the home of filmmaker Topher Shadoe (Troy Fischnaller), best friend of Zachary Wells (Charlie David), the main character.

Day 3 was the first day on set for our star, Charlie David.

“It was also our first big day with extras,” recalled director J.T. Tepnapa. “I introduced myself to all the extras and sat with them while the crew set up all the props, costumes and lighting.”

EXTRAS If you look carefully at the background players at the party, you’ll see many of them throughout the film. Some of them are also crew members, like Joël Bellucci, our visual effects supervisor, and Tellier Killaby, our unit production manager.

In the film, the party is a celebration for the upcoming production of Topher’s next film, Blood and Barcelona, complete with a big chocolate cake. Topher is well known for making films with “blood” in the title, and you’ll see posters for a couple of them inside his house on Day 4.

“The Blood and Barcelona cake looked delicious!” J.T. remembered, “But like so many things in the movies, what looks good isn’t always good for you. The cake was filled with chemicals to keep it from melting in the August sun.”

See the Blood and Barcelona cake in this “Behind the Scenes” short.

“You get a good look at the cake in the film,” Carlos reminisced. “Our little visual joke was that even with dozens of people at the party, only a few slices were eaten because everyone in Hollywood is obsessed with their weight.”

BLOODY MOVIES As part of pre-production, J.T. and writer-producer Carlos Pedraza invented a dozen movie titles with “blood” in them, and handed them over to our talented production designer, Rodrigo DeMedeiros, who did a photoshoot with Seattle model Stephen Mitchell that resulted in two movie posters.

Rodrigo’s job was making a ranch home in North Seattle look like a stylish California home overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Puget Sound substitutes for the ocean.

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY David Berry (left) prepares to shoot Topher’s pool party on Day 3 of Judas Kiss. (Also pictured, from left: sound operator Alex Ibrahim, camera assistant Alan Certeza and first camera assistant Cynthia Lin)

The home was graciously provided by the Chens, parents of one of our producers, who turned over the whole place to our cast and crew. The garage became the makeup room. Bathrooms became dressing rooms. The garden was our green room.

As you’ll see tomorrow, on Day 4, their living room became Topher’s basement music studio.

UP ON THE ROOF Their rooftop bookends the beginning and ending of entire movie, as we discover Zach’s obsession with roofs. J.T. himself was obsessed with the scissor lift we rented to shoot the rooftop scenes.

As you can see in the behind-the-scenes video, we ran the risk of having the very heavy scissor life sink into the soft ground of the Chens’ lawn. Some wooden boards came to our rescue.

Additional Photos

SEAN LOCKHART visits the set to support his fellow cast members, even though he doesn’t appear in the scenes we shot on Day 3.

AT THE READY Makeup artist Anne Sellery always had her brushes at the ready for any required touchups on set. The hot day ensured she had plenty of work.

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Day Two

Director J.T. Tepnapa (second from left) instructs (from left) actors Richard Harmon, Julia Morizawa and Sean Paul Lockhart on Day 2 of Judas Kiss principal photography. Photos by Shawn Anderson.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2010 The second day of the Judas Kiss shoot took us back to Mad Pants Productions, a recording studio in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. The temperature was in the 80s F (high 20s C), which made it pretty warm inside the studio, thanks to all the people and the lights.

The scene we shot introduces the supporting cast of young people at Keystone Summit University: Danny’s (Richard Harmon) best friend, Abbey (Julia Morizawa), their interview subject Chris (Sean Paul Lockhart) and Big Man on Campus Shane (Timo Descamps).

It was the main cast’s first day together on set in a scene with both comedic and dramatic elements. Everyone had arrived only two days before — Richard from Vancouver, B.C., Julia and Sean from California, and Timo from Belgium via Los Angeles.

LONG AND HOT days on the set sometimes sent actors into slumberland as they waited for shots to be lit (Pictured: Richard Harmon, left, and Sean Paul Lockhart).

While only four actors appear on screen in this scene (which starts at the 21:03-minute mark in the film), roughly 35 crew members were on set, running the camera, setting up lighting, feeding cast and crew, clothing actors in wardrobe, applying and touching up makeup throughout the day.

OUT OF TOWN cast and crew were staying at a student dormitory at the nearby University of Washington. Day 2 was a Saturday, and we ran a six-day week, Monday through Saturday.

That meant our first day off, Sunday, came after only two days of work. Director J.T. Tepnapa and producer Carlos Pedraza wanted to start the shoot with short scenes covering a relatively small number of pages.

STAND-INS While the set is being lit, crew members fill in for the actors who will appear in the shot. (Pictured, from left: Visual effects supervisor Joël Bellucci, camera assistant Cynthia Lin and sound engineer Alex Ibrahim)

This afforded cast and crew a chance to establish an effective working rhythm. Most of our crew was Seattle-based and had worked together before on many commercial and feature productions. We’ll introduce many of the crew over the course of this three-week retrospective.

Their experience together helped us stay on schedule throughout principal photography; we ended every day but one on time or ahead of schedule. This is pretty rare in filmmaking, and our talented crew were largely responsible.

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TWO YEARS ago today, director J.T. Tepnapa yelled “Action” for the first time, and what had been for years just a dream began moving full-tilt toward becoming reality.

For the next three weeks, we’ll be re-living the process — day by day — that brought Judas Kiss to life, with behind-the-scenes photos and video clips to chart the creative process, and occasional logistical nightmare, that resulted in our first feature film.

Please share your own memories (if you were part of the cast or crew), or observations (if you’re a viewer) along the way.

Day One

SOME PEOPLE might be wary about starting the biggest project of their lives on a Friday the 13th, but we felt we’d been so fortunate in bringing this project from idea to reality so far, that we saw it as possibly the most fortunate day on which to begin shooting Judas Kiss.

The shooting schedule was in large measure driven by the availability of our star, Charlie David, who plays failed filmmaker Zach Wells. Among his many varied talents and jobs is shooting the travel series Bump for Logo TV, and we had to squeeze in his shooting schedule amid a busy year of worldwide travel.

We wanted to give Charlie a day or two to readjust to the Pacific time zone, so director J.T. and I decided to start with non-Zach scenes.

VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE Two scenes set in the studio at the fictional Keystone Summit University film school therefore made sense to be our first to shoot. Our location was Mad Pants Productions in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, the workplace of our composer, Brad Anthony Laina.

Day 1 focused on the vampire music video headlined by bad-boy character Shane Lyons (played by Belgian TV and pop star Timo Descamps) that appears at the 20:20-minute mark in the film.

“I was very excited,” J.T. said about his first day on set. “I demanded Timo to make love to the camera. And I found my love for music video directing. Most people thought I was crazy.”

Early Internet reports about Judas Kiss mistakenly interpreted this scene and leapt to the conclusion that the film was somehow about vampires, which made some bloggers unhappy, given the vampire overkill from the Twilight films and subsequent knock-offs.

In the original draft of the script, Shane Lyons was a business student who stumbles across Danny Reyes (played by Richard Harmon) and is instantly attracted to him. But when we cast Timo, we realized we had an opportunity to make the most of his musical talents. We re-wrote the scene to make Shane a music student, and to allude to his prior relationship between Chris Wachowsky (played by Sean Paul Lockhart).

On-set documentarian Matt Bucy produced a short behind-the-scenes video just about the vampire music video. It was first viewed at a fundraising event for the film held at The Lobby Bar in Seattle later in August 2010.

It also gave us a chance to introduce Chris in his own right as a filmmaker, and to play a little bit with the audience’s expectations through the seemingly non sequitur shift to the vampire scene.

LIKE IT ROUGH The song featured in the video, “Like it Rough,” was co-written and performed by Timo, who gave us permission to use the song in the film. It’s prominently featured on the Judas Kiss Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The song’s official music video was also shot in Seattle on the University of Washington campus alongside principal photography for Judas Kiss itself. More on that when we get to the day on which it was shot.

Everything went pretty smoothly on Day 1, as we finished the day about an hour and a half ahead of schedule.

Co-star Sean Paul Lockhart (left, as young filmmaker Chris Wachowsky) on set on Day 1 for the vampire music video scene, with director J.T. Tepnapa.

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And watch the promo clip below!