Adventures of Louanna Lee Lovin Fool

Not much of an update for the site lately. My apologies for that. I have a couple of reviews in the works (Boxing Day gets posted next) but I need to get more interviews and how-to’s up as well. Let’s just say the day job has kept me really busy, and between that and the freelance art and movie gigs, I’m holding down two full time jobs without a moment to breathe.

So the 3rd episode of Louanna Lee – “Lovin’ Fool” – is pretty much finished and ready to be sent off for replication. Lee Doll – CEO of Lee Doll Film Productions – has been prolific in the past year’s time. He has produced numerous music videos, three episodes of The Adventures of Louanna Lee, and is in pre-production for his new crime drama series THE FIXER (starring Brian St. August and Alfred Guy). I have to say that I am impressed with his output. There are those that talk big and there are those that get off their ass and DO things. Lee Doll is a doer.

This past Louanna Lee episode was HUGE as far as scope and production was concerned, and was without a doubt one of the most ambitious undertakings I have ever been involved with. Sometimes I wondered how it was all going to get done. I think we shot somewhere between 7 and 9 days at many – many different locations. I am happy to say that all in all it came together beautifully and is definitely the best acted episode to date.

The crew is growing with each episode. On this one we had Lee Doll (producer), Jeff Herberger (director of photography and editor), Robert Long II (co-director and production design), Mark Squirek (screenplay), Mitch Klein (special visual effects), Bob Clark (stunt driver) and Steve Rifkin (key grip and still photographer). All were great, pleasant professional people to work with. I’d like to give a special shout out to Mitch Klein, who did some INCREDIBLY rad effects for this episode and really helped make it look like a much larger production.

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The cast was wonderful. We have genre legend George Stover and scream queen Leanna Chamish as continuing co-stars and they have their character down pat. They are always professional and a tremendous joy to work with. Victoria Lynn is an up-and coming-young actress that gets some of the funniest lines in the series.

We had a total of 4 special guest stars on this one as well. Jennifer Rouse is a familiar face on the East Coast, and she has done tons of acting and modeling. It was fantastic to finally get to work with her, and she could not have been more fun on the set. I have worked with Ryan Thomas before, and he plays the heavy in this one. Ryan gives a solid performance as the bad guy on a mission. Brian St. August and Alfred Guy make special guest appearances as their characters from the upcoming “The Fixer” and both have a lot of chemistry and make a great duo.

The supporting cast was huge for a independent production such as this. Shayna Doll and Erik Kristopher Myers have recurring roles on the show and are always a blast to hang out with. Erik actually gets to be a hero in this one. We also had Les Bradley and Belle Constantine as two competing reporters, and Wayne Shipley put in an appearance as a new character – Detective O’Bannon. The 3 fashion designers that get kidnapped were portrayed by wildman Bob Clark, comedic actor Will Haza, and Zach Phoenix. The thugs that help Ryan’s character are played by Scott Nelson and Jeff Martin, and these guys exhibit great comedic timing.

The star of the show – Louanna Lee – shines brightly in this episode as she has become a really solid actress. She is completely believable as the smart teen detective and she gets to show more of her sleuthing skills this time out. Plus, she has a tremendous singing voice and Wayne Shipley directs her in a retro music video co-starring Will Haza.

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There were some hurdles on this one that I have not had to deal with before. One of those being the heat. On about three consecutive weekends we filmed during the hottest Summer on record in a long time. Plus being an independent production you are going to run into weird weather – raining one moment – dry the next. Script revisions had to be made at the last minute and whole scenes changed. Extensive work on props and set design came up, more so than the first two episodes. We worked at night with a green screen outside to get interior car driving shots. Plus with six fantastic looking actresses on the set – it was hard to concentrate at times. This episode really pushed the envelope in every aspect of production, and I am looking forward to the masses being able to buy it and check out how well an indie production can be done when those involved give 110%.