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In another example of Portland networky “small townness,” Dave and I recently had the pleasure of catching a shoot for Mike Vogel’s latest film, Did You Kiss Anyone?

Up until that day, we had never met Mike. We had enjoyed his fucking brilliant Snowpocalypse video from the storms last year. And the charming episodes of Did You Cast Anyone? And as usual, we exchanged tweets about what we ate for lunch. Because that’s all anyone does on the Twitter.

Dave and I knew that Mike was working on his next film, and we wanted to help in some way. Preferably, in way that didn’t require ability or talent or knowledge. After a few emails, we realized we could maybe get him hooked up with a location he needed for a shoot. Ka-pow! That’s how it happens in Portland.

Here’s cinematographer Brian Mohr pacing off a shot in the banquet room of The Hotel Vintage Plaza.

As it turns out, Mike spent the whole day with a croissant in his hand. He directed with one hand. Take that, Scorsese.

Here’s Drew Hicks and Amanda Englund between takes. This was a shot where Amanda’s character is tossed off the bed to the floor. There were scratchy couch cushions to catch her fall for the multiple takes on this shot. She was a trooper.

Dave and I sat like quiet little bunnies and tried not to get in the way.

We were sad to have to leave early. I would have been happy to hang out longer, since they had over 12 hours of shooting to do, with many of the actors in the film arriving later in the day. It was a pleasure to finally meet Mike and get to see the makings of a local film.

You can learn more About Did You Kiss Anyone and Mike’s other projects at Front Ave, including The Waiting List, which is making the festival circuit now. Go, Mike, Go!

Also, I want to mention that Something Blue, another small indie film by my good friend Sean, was in the 2009 Denver Film Festival. Sean lives in Los Angeles, but traveled to his home state of Iowa to shoot this movie. “Iowa” as a “location” played nearly as big a role as the people in his film.

So my feeling is, you can make movies in your hometown. Smaller towns get it done. Go out and make something.