18 days till shoot...

Hello friends,

Well, I met with Jacki Weaver who's gotta be one of the loveliest people I've ever met. Travelled out to Frankston (long way) to have a cider with her. She's currently performing in an acclaimed stage production of Steel Magnolias.  Well in truth, I had the cider, she had a nice glass of white. But she did try my cider and enjoy it, so I feel comfortable in saying "we" had cider. I love cider, I got attached to it in the UK, so I'm over the moon that bars are now serving Bulmers and Magners on tap in Oz! Over the moon. Not that I like a drink or anything.

But back to Jacki. As I mentioned yesterday, she's got a top little part to play (one of my fav characters) and she's ALL OVER IT. Costume, makeup, delivery --- she's sorted. What a pro. We chatted and chatted about where the character comes from in my psyche (actually a combination of an Aunt and a neighbour I used to have), how I came to write the story, and the process of getting it up and running. It took more than one cider. It made my heart pang (in a good way) discussing these things with Jacki, and Summer Coda has never felt more real.

We're shooting in 18 days! I'm going to have to start adding exclamation points to the title.

Ricky

PS. Magners are not currently sponsors of Summer Coda. However by mentioning them continuously over the next 17 days, I hope to remedy that. Below is our new production calendar that I'll be enforcing. Local cider product will also be supported by the gracious team at Summer Coda.