Beach-O was shot on a Bolex in the hot summer sun back in 1998. Lenny Mastrandrea, our colorist, did wonders making it seem like one long summer day. The still photography by Melissa Donaghue is an amazing testament to the fun we all had.
The original rough cut was edited on reels on a Steinbeck and we screened a work-in-progress at the Coolidge Theatre for our friends and collaborators in Boston back in 2000. Running low on finances, we decided to pause post-production. That short pause turned into 25 years. A lot changed in those 25 years - culture, attention span, technology, and our film sync. We wanted the look and rhythm of the film to be as authentic to our original vision from 1998 as possible. Editing digitally, instead of on a Steinbeck, was a nice reprieve but the digitized negative and audio reels just would not sync. Technological advancements sadly could not correct for film warping over time. We did make use of some post-production advancements to enhance the teeny-tiny 16mm frame for digital projection.
Beach-O features an original score by Erik Nickerson, original music performed by the Make-Up, Victory at Sea, and The Wicked Farleys, and additional music by Gregory Kenney. The filmmakers would like to thank all our friends who contributed to the film, especially, the musicians and Mahmood Shaikh, without whom, Beach-O would not have been possible.
