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First of all, my apologies for the long delay! I have been very busy with the editing of Vegan Love. It is coming along very well. I am hoping to finish editing and tracklaying (sound editing) in two weeks. Once that is finished, my next goal will be to have a professional sound dub and grading session (colour correction) and hopefully a final output before Christmas!
I finished filming as planned on the 9th and 10th November. The shoot went remarkably well considering so many locations and such little time. On Sunday, we filmed 4 different locations in 4 different parts of London in 9 hours! On Monday, we began at the National Gallery of London at 7am, then moved to Neil’s Yard Café in Covent Garden, and finished at Eat and Two Veg Restaurant at midnight! On Tuesday, we even filmed a short scene on Tuesday at Foyles Bookstore on Charing Cross Rd. from 8am-10:30am.
I am very thankful to my crew who worked extremely hard and ensured that everything was done as efficient and professional as possible.
It was a very busy two days, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. It is an amazing feeling to actually be creating something that has been in my head for months.
I will be adding more details soon. In the meantime, here are a couple of pics from the Shoot on 10th November by Edgar Dubrovskiy:
Filming of the first half of Vegan Love has now been completed! The shooting over the weekend went very well. I have a lot of fantastic material for the editing room. I am looking forward to finishing the location filming on 8-9th November. Here are a couple of 
quick stills.
I have less than a month to go before shooting and things are moving pretty fast…
Actors:
I just finishing the 2nd draft of the script and am knee deep in the search for actors. The process is quite difficult because I am looking for great actors that are good at comedy and improv which is very difficult to find (well, for my budget anyway).
Locations:
The good thing about locations is that many scenes take place in vegan restaurants and I already know a few of the restaurants managers..Neil’s Yard, Pogo cafe, Inspiral Lounge, Vitaorganic, and Dragonfly, and Peking Palace are all in mind.
Production/equipment:
I have been wanting to shoot on the Red camera which is taking the film world by storm. My goal is to shoot on the Red camera with a set of Arri/Zeiss Ultra Prime Lenses.
The Red camera with my Director of Photography Charlie Meyer can only lead to a beautifully visual film.
Still to do…
van hire, catering, public liability insurance, shot list
My name is Ryan Vance. I direct and produce film projects based in London, UK. Originally from Utah in the US, I moved to Los Angeles where I graduated from USC in Fine Arts and Film. Currently, I am finishing a Masters degree at the London Film School. I am very pleased to announce that we are in pre-production on my graduation project, a short film entitled; “Vegan Love”, which is a romantic comedy about a vegan man’s quest to find a vegan girlfriend. I have scheduled to begin shooting the film on September 16th, 2008.
Being vegan myself, I am passionate about educating people on the many positive benefits of the vegan lifestyle. Most vegan-inspired filmmakers tend to make “documentary” films that serve to educate their viewers about the fine points of veganism. While I think this approach can be very helpful on an instructive level, it can sometimes limit the practical lessons of everyday living for viewers with a vegan interest. Most people see films that allow them to escape, to laugh, to cry, to be scared, and to be entertained — along with experiencing the clever twists and surprises arraigned for them by the filmmaker.
My approach in addressing vegan issues, such as: diet, animal cruelty, and the environmental crisis in this film portrays the actors in a comedic fiction environment that will entertain viewers outside the expectations of an educational documentary. This approach is catching on within the film community as the vegan lifestyle becomes more widely appreciated and understood. We are no longer an oddity that needs to be explained. Our preferred lifestyle just makes us healthier as we live in a world of interesting times – that MIGHT catch a filmmaker’s eye, like anyone else.
I strongly believe that film, as a medium, is a powerful tool for inspiring a vast number of people about positive changes through lifestyle choices. A major concern in writing and directing is to avoid being preachy or didactic with the message of veganism. The strength of the story/journey of the main characters is the most important element of the film. If the story happens to be related to veganism, and the viewer can genuinely relate to the characters, the ideas about change have been delivered.
Once the idea, script and schedules are in place the school gives every grad student a working film budget of about £3350, and allows the student to make any kind of film they wish as long at it meets the requirements of the school (standards of quality, etc.).
I want this film to be of the highest quality possible, but I am finding it very difficult to do the film within the current budgetary constraints. My plan is to begin a fundraiser with this blog to raise an additional £1900($3800.) within the next 30 days. I have carefully worked out a budget to deliver the film at the quality that it deserves. It is a lean budget; but it works. I am asking for personal donations from those blog readers that feel strongly about promoting the vegan lifestyle, or would just like to see me succeed. I am not talking about any particular amounts; just £1-10 would be great. Donations of £10-50 will get a DVD copy of the film. Donations of £50-250 will receive a screen credit. Donations of £250 and up will receive a co-producing credit. I will accept payments in any currency through Paypal.
