Day 29: Sentencing a Killer

Thanks to everyone who had donated for the tremendous amount of support you have given me and the crew! It honestly means so much to me. Today's film story is about the time we filmed in a actual courtroom for my 2nd feature, Mousetrap 2. It was an awesome experience and I will never forget it.

So I knew when my dad and I came up with the story that we would need to film in a courtroom. At first I never thought we would get permission to film in our town's actual courtroom so I started looking for alternative locations. My first thought was using a church or something like that, but that idea was quickly ruled out. I started to wonder how hard it would be to build a courtroom set. I then remembered our entire budget for the film was $1776 so that was a huge no. It all led back to using the real courtroom. I decided to go for it.

I went to the courthouse in town and asked who I needed to talk to to use the courtroom. They were confused, but gave me the judges phone number. I called her and set up an appointment to meet with her. My dad and I met with her a couple of days later and explained the project. She ended up telling us that it was good with her if a certain group of people on the board at the courthouse approved it. I wrote up a proposal and got it approved. We were good to film in the courtroom on a Sunday!

I got family and friends to play the attorneys and jury and we were set. We had a courtroom full of people all to ourselves. We filmed for a couple of hours and it went great. Hands down, one of the coolest places I have ever filmed in. Everything goes to another level of professionalism when you actually get to use a legit location like a courtroom.

I will never forget this amazing day and everyone who came to help. It was a goal of mine to use the courthouse in a film and I finally got to.

What I learned: If there is one thing I have learned from making movies, it is that nothing is impossible. I have accomplished some of my craziest ideas by going after them and not giving up.