Hey look!  Our buddy Lena wrote this great dispatch about Opus Jazz for the terrific movie blog Hammer to Nail.

Finally an article focusing on Key P.A. Brad Payne (pictured above with Lena) and how he became the most desired man on set.

Click here to read the article….

xoSM

We spent our last week shooting the 5th movement in a Lowe’s movie palace from the late 1920’s in Jersey City.

It was spooky and beautiful.

Joe nailed this shot.

(photos by Joe Anderson)

Becky relaxes.

(photos by Yaniv Schulman)

The entire cast & crew, from 80 feet up.  A happy family.

Words cannot express what an incredible experience making this film has been.   No one did it for the money, we made it for art, FOR LIFE.  We’re all sorry it’s over, but the editing must begin.

The film will air on WNET/PBS in Spring 2010.

xoSM

September 7th-11th was the 3rd week of shooting our 35mm ballet film “NY Export: Opus Jazz”….

First we finished up “Statics” in Red Hook.  A 360 degreee Steadicam shot forced up onto the roof to watch.

(photo by Joe Anderson)

Then we moved to McCarren Park in Williamsburg.  Ariel hired these guys who paint parking lots to make the incredible vanishing lines on the ground.

(photo by Yaniv Schulman)

Tiler Peck posing for Supermarché’s upcoming Grip Calendar.

(photo by Henry Joost)

Henry in front of a little more sweet production design.

(photo by Yaniv Schulman)

xoSM

During our 2nd week of shooting we were visited on set by NYT reporter Gia Kourlas, who wrote an amazing article about our project.  Béatrice de Géa took photos.   Our grandmothers were very proud.

Click here to read the article….

xoSM

Shooting continues.  We shot the 3rd movement of the ballet (Improvisations) at P.S. 146 in Brooklyn and finished up Statics over the weekend in Red Hook.

(photos by Joe Anderson)

(photos by Kate Reeder)

xoSM

Week 1 making the 1st Jerome Robbins ballet movie since West Side Story.  We filmed in Coney Island, the Lower East Side, Bushwick, and portions of the 2nd movement “Statics” in an abandoned warehouse.

Our cast is made up entirely of dancers from New York City Ballet.  They work incredibly hard.   They also blog and make funny videos on set about baby wipes.

Camera operator Joe Anderson nails a helicopter shot.

Something bad also happened.  Early Tuesday morning Mel was driving me home from set and disaster struck.  I think my beloved Subaru of 10 years might be totaled (it’s worse than it looks).

- Henry

After 3 years, our 35mm ballet film “NY Export: Opus Jazz” has officially been acquired by Channel 13 (WNET) for its 2010 Great Performances/Dance in America series.

The film is an adaptation of a 1958 ballet by Jerome Robbins starring dancers from New York City Ballet and shot on location all over New York City.

In 2007 we shot 1 movement from the ballet on the Highline.  Over the next 6 weeks we will be shooting the remaining 4 movements and many adjoining scenes.

Big shout-out to our Executive Producers (and NYCB dancers) Ellen & Sean and especially to our lawyer John for putting this whole thing together.

We start shooting in ONE WEEK!  Stay tuned….

xoSM

p.s.  click here to see the official website.

p.p.s.  become our fan on Facebook by searching for “NY Export: Opus Jazz”

p.p.p.s. click here to read an article in The New York Sun about our film.

Our Harlem Shakes video “Strictly Game” was featured today under the music spotlight on YouTube!

xoSM

A 15-second version of our new Ciroc Ultra Premium Vodka commercial is airing on Taxi TV, so don’t turn that thing off next time you jump in a cab.  We’ve had reports of dozens of sightings around NYC, but the sniper award goes to producer Justin Lundstrom for snapping this picture on his blackberry.

xoSM

I snapped this photo after we interviewed Eli Wallach in the summer of 2005.  Eli and his wife Anne Jackson regaled us for hours with tales of the movie industry, Hamptons intrigue, and life wisdom.  The film we were making has been on a distant back burner for a long time, but recently there has been talk of resurrecting the project.   It deserves to be finished, if only to bring this lovely afternoon to light.

xoHenry