About

THE STORY

A Trifecta on the Subject of Love

Set primarily on the bank of a secluded mountain lake, the story begins when two office workers from the city are the first to arrive on a company fishing trip. But when only one other person shows up, suspicions and accusations lead to confrontation and turmoil.

Shot in six days and adapted from a stage play by the same title, this suspenseful drama reveals the opportunities lost and taken in the lives of three young men.

SCARING THE FISH is a fast-paced, tension-filled story that looks at three very different angles of love; captivating viewers from its gripping characters to its thought-provoking conclusion.

MAKING THE FISH

SCARING THE FISH was shot in 6 days, in 1 location, using 2 cameras and filming up to 25 pages of dialogue per day…

A few years ago director Todd Miller came together with actors Anthony Rapp, Max Casella and Chance Pinnell.

They had a script, a stage play, by writer Ben Bettendender and a strong desire to exploit it on the screen. The script was a raw, loaded dialogue exploration of 3 very real angles of love through the perspective of three very different modern straight men.

This would be a project of passion, major challenges and intense work to pull off.

All 4 main players (director & actors) were obligated to other projects and had a very small window to pull this off successfully. Director Todd Miller was obligated to other directing & producing jobs. Chance Pinnell was in a couple stageplays in New York City, producing for Turner Networks and attending NYU for Producing. Anthony Rapp was contractually obligated to the feature film “RENT” and was flying between LA & San Francisco and New York City for rehearsals and filming of “Scaring The Fish”. If “RENT” needed him during the 6 day window, he would have to leave set and the production of “Scaring The Fish” would be shutdown. Max Casella was contractually obligated to HBO’s “The Sopranos” and if they needed him during the 6 day window, he would have to leave set and the production of “Scaring The Fish” would be shutdown. Possibly most impressive was the fact that Max’s 9 month pregnant wife was expecting their 1st child the week following the production of “Scaring The Fish”. Max said long before production began, “Guys, I love ya. But, if my wife goes into labor, I’m on the 1st train to New York City and the hell with this project”. His amazing wife delivered their 1st child 2 days after “Scaring This Fish” wrapped. The film is dedicated to their child Mia who held out just long enough for daddy to make the movie! Everyone is eternally grateful to the Casella ladies!

A small crew of a 14 (Director, 3 actors, DP, AD, Camera ‘B’ Op, Camera Assistant, Sound Mixer, Boom Op, Pro. Coor., 2 PA’s, 1 Location Supporter) hiked to the location in the dead of Summer. It was brutally hot and, with filming up to 25 pages a day, there was no place to hide from the sun or the cameras. Everyone had to perform 100% to the best of their abilities. And they impressively did!

A number of things could have gone awry; health, safety, equipment failure... but what everyone shied from mentioning, in the same spirit of not saying “good luck” in the theater, was WEATHER! If there was rain or even too much of a change in cloud coverage, the production would come to a halt. Miraculously, it was sunny all 6 days. Midweek, just after the director yelled “Cut”, the sky began to be swallowed by shades of an arsenic gray. Everyone jumped to their feet, covered and packed the gear. Just as the last piece of equipment was tossed into the van, it poured and poured and lighting and thundered and poured. We sat in our 2 production vans in amazement. Praying to the film weather gods, the next morning resumed with the same sunny weather we had all week. It never rained the rest of the production.

We are all proud that we threw the most boring wrap party in film history! On the last day, we sat on the porch, beers in hand and pondered what had just happened. We were exhausted, proud and knew something special had occurred. It may be summed up best by the actions of actor Chance Pinnell. Director Todd Miller went to check on Chance and found him with all the lights on, asleep on top the covers of his bed, 1st beer full in hand before the party even started.

It was a rollercoaster of a ride!