The Set Up (You Need This)

Script in hand, there was a lot that had to happen before we could actually start making a movie.

The biggest hurdle was location. We wrote this whole freaking script predicated on the fact that it'd be easiest to shoot in a single location, then we set it in a diner knowing full well that none of us knows anyone who owns a diner. It was kind of a dumb move, but I had a feeling it'd work out. Of course, I'd also previously felt that financing would work out for all of my past projects.

Fortunately, the South Bay (of Los Angeles, not San Francisco or wherever else you may think I'm referring to) is full of restaurants that are breakfast/lunch only. This means they open early, but close by 3PM. That would leave us plenty of time to shoot with the whole place to ourselves.

What was borderline miraculous was how easy this was to do. I only went to two places, and both were very open to the idea. Buffy's (in Old Torrance), was very interested. The downside there was that the layout of the restaurant was going to be very difficult to work with, and while it had a great diner look, it was going to get a little monotonous for an entire film to be set there.

Shot from our early scouting missions

The second place we went, on an offhand recommendation from a family friend, was Mike's Brickwalk Cafe in Palos Verdes. Mike Giglia, the owner, is probably one of the nicest guys on the planet. I'd never heard of his restaurant before, never been there, and had no connections, but he immediately wanted to help me out. He told me to leave him a script and pay him whatever I could, but not to let it be a barrier to making the film happen. We also offered to name the film after the place, which he accepted as a marketing contribution.

He basically gave us the run of the place. We'd show up to do our preproduction and planning as he was closing, and he'd head home asking only that we turn all the lights off and lock up when we were done. I would have never trusted some idiot kid like me, especially one claiming to be a film maker, but Mike, apparently, is just a better person than that.

Now there was nothing really standing in our way except for finding people to help us pull this off.

By the by, title is a reference to a Reel Big Fish song, and that's why you didn't understand it.