I hung up the phone, feeling like I got punched in the stomach. The color was draining from my face. I wasn’t quite sure what to do in that moment...
It had been a long week. We were in the middle of a very short prep. We had just hired our very small crew. And we were working tirelessly to finish casting, scripting the story, dressing our sets, and prepping for a shoot that was only a week away. But spirits were up. The director and I had just done a walk through of all the sound stages where we were going to film Harper’s Globe and we were getting excited about the creative journey we were about to begin.
And then...
I got the phone call. The phone call I had been dreading. The call that I knew I might be receiving, but kept secret from the rest of the crew. The phone call that informed me that my director was not going to be able to direct our show.
Yusef Pirhasan had just finished directing LG15: The Resistance and was going to direct Harper’s Globe . He had been working with me for the past few weeks as we started to ramp up pre-production. Yusef’s a really amazing guy and a definite talent. I was excited about making Harper’s Globe with him. But a couple of days ago, I was informed that there may be some issues with his work visa. Yusef had left his home in London to direct the Resistance out in Los Angeles. And everyone at EQAL was working hard to extend his visa and keep him in the states... directing “Harper’s Globe.” But then, I got the final word—the big “N-O. Not going to happen.”
It was 7 or 8pm on a cold October night on the back lot at Calvert Studios. I was on my cell phone, pacing around, listening to the attorney tell me that there was no way this was going to happen. Yusef would have to return to England within the next week (which really sucked for him—as he had become creatively invested in the project over the last few weeks) and I would have to find a new director (which really was difficult for me—seeing as we were only a week out from shooting). Yusef and I spoke for a while that night, as frustrated as we both were... we both eventually came to the same conclusion—this was all for a reason. We didn’t know what it was or why this was happening... But instinctually we knew good would come out of it. (As an update—Yusef is doing great. In fact, he’s getting married this July in Paris. Congrats to him!)
That night I called Miles and he and I spoke for a while. “Who’s that guy you just met with?” I asked him. “The director of the web series you keep talking about?” Miles had been raving about this new series on YouTube, 2009: A True Story . Miles immediately reached out to Tony Valenzuela, knowing that Tony would be an amazing addition to Harper’s, if we could get him.
I went home and watched Tony’s entire series. Was very impressed. The next day Tony came into the production offices. We met for the first time. We talked about the series for a few hours and immediately connected creatively. Within less than an hour, I knew why Miles had been so excited about this director and I wanted him to come aboard and helm the project. After days of sharing creative ideas and talking in more detail about the project, Tony agreed to join the project.
We pushed production for two weeks and spent every minute of the day, working tirelessly to get everything in order --I’m not sure if Tony knew how much work was going to be on his plate when he agreed to take on the project—but, well, neither did I ;). The two of us spent our days casting and prepping with the crew and our nights working on the script with Jennifer Yale (our Head Writer) and Miles. Tony put every ounce of himself into project—giving everything he had to help create the show we have today.
It was an amazing experience working with him. As frustrating and tenuous as it was to find a great director and get him to come aboard on a moment’s notice, I don’t think we could have found a better artist to fill the role. Tony is an amazing talent, and we were all very lucky to have him on board, helming this ship.