Jessica Robinson
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Final Scenes and Farewells

8/15/2014

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Back in NYC we had one final episode to capture, Episode 5: Greed. We cheated this episode in our apartment living room late one night, dressing the set with a Texan flag, cookies for playing chips and some "Don't Mess With Texas" playing cards that I picked up at the airport. In this ep, Eve is about to head out for some retail therapy when Lucy invites her and Angel to play a friendly game of poker. But are all the cards on the table?
The next day Lisa had to leave. Pat and I accompanied her to the airport for one final closing farewell scene with the trio. We managed to escape all security issue and stole several shots. So after 3.5 insanely intense days of shooting, 7 scripts plus B-Roll in Texas and NYC we were officially wrapped. It was surprisingly bitter sweet and I kind of felt a little sad the journey was over. But was quickly distracted by my editing schedule and thus I disappeared behind my computer screen for the next two weeks.

As we enter the count down into the final hours before the TexSINS premiere, our little team would like to enlighten you to a few facts about this little journey.

The 7 episodes of TexSINS were written in 7 days, filmed by a crew/cast of 3 in 3.5 days while on "vacation" in Texas. We filmed, not with a low budget, but NO budget. And NO budgets means a lot of favours and thank yous! So, I just want to send out a massive thank you to a few people (aka Guardian Angels) who helped bring this production to life!

Thank you Patsy & Al Whitehead! Thank you Angie Strawn & Shawn Massey! And Allen Whitehead & Nina Sayadian! Thank you so much for your incredibly generous hospitality (filming and vacationing) and location scouting expertise in Sulphur Springs!

Thank you Donna & Steve Smith at Big Smith's BBQ, Sulphur Springs, for letting us film & eat in your truly amazing restaurant! As well as borrow your son, Luke to be our featured waiter! Can't wait to come eat and visit again…I'm craving ribs right now!

Thank you Brandy Runyan for your support on set and online - and you may recognize your own little man's cheeky face in one episode!

Thank you to Dani Zarandieta for the editing consultations and therapy Skype/Email/WhatsApp sessions.

Thank you Pablo Diez Casajuana from Sound on Set LLC, for your amazing post production sound expertise and consultations. And for bending time to help me out!

Thank you Steve Franchek from Sounchek Studio, for the last minute color correction lessons!

Thank you to my family, Susan Robinson, Holly Robinson and Neil Robinson for putting up with my crap from almost 10,000 miles away. Your love and support means the world to me.

And finally, thank you (and maybe sorry) to my two amazing actors/co-producers, Lisa Ronaghan and Patrick Shane for agreeing to my insane plan, putting up with me (on & off set) and bringing this quirky series to life. What an intense journey. Certainly action packed with laughs and memories I will cherish for a life time!

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart to everyone! I couldn't have done this without you!

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Behind the Screams in Texas

8/4/2014

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Another early morning rise and battle with rain, wind and pending storm but we managed to film Episode 7: Envy in the picturesque country side in Texas. In this episode Eve gets a lesson about jealousy from Angel and Lucy. Maybe the grass on the other side, isn't quite as green as she thinks. Believe it or not, social media plays havoc in my self esteem and I am constantly retreating from it and then come crawling back. Anyway, this episode commentates on the impact social media can have on your self esteem.

Later that morning we moved to Sulphur Springs Country Club to film Episode 2: Sloth. In this episode broken hearted Eve indulges pool side in some slothful behavior. But idle hands are the devil's (and Angel's) playground. This shoot was extremely challenging. Not due to the content but due to a meddling local member who got us kicked out just before shooting our final 3 shots. Now let me set the scene. It's a stunning summers day. Blue sky and full sun. The pool is full of little kids. We are positioned discreetly next to the fence, not filming any children. Our cast are in conservative swim suits and Eve is dressed head to toe in black as she is mourning. Then all of a sudden, one of the mother's approaches us and in a thick Texan accent asks, "Are y'all shooting a porn"?

I was mortified and I assured her that it absolutely was NOT! But soon after we were politely asked to leave. Leaving us in the predicament of having to find another pool that we could cheat the final few shots. Also while chasing the sun desperate to beat the sunset. Thanks to Pat's sister, we were able to find a public pool and I condensed the final shots into one! As the last sliver of sunlight left the pool we wrapped! Phew!
But of course we were not quite done. We had one more episode to film, Episode 6: Wrath. Eve, Angel and Lucy attempt to enjoy some toasted marshmallows by a campfire, but instead of a sweet night, a rage is ignited within Eve! It's all about revenge fantasy! Pat did an amazing job building a massive fire for us which left us sweating on set. But didn't quite offer enough light so it's a super dark...storyline and footage wise!

And finally by about 2am we were wrapped in Texas and celebrated half heartedly with some s'mores. The next day we jumped on a plane back to NYC where we had one more episode to film.
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Houston, we (don't) have a problem

8/1/2014

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Another early start to drive the remainder of the journey to Houston to spend the day at The Space Centre. Again we dragged along the camera and flitted in and out of character and filmed a little bit of B-Roll with Eve, Angel and Lucy. The Space Centre was amazingly inspiring.

We ended our day there with some space food - mint choc chip freeze dried ice-cream. Not quite as refreshing as the frozen stuff but a sweet treat indeed.

We then hit the road in hopes of being able to visit the Prison Museum in Huntsville. But sadly we didn't make the opening hours. Which is a shame because Lucy really wanted to see "Sparky", the first electric chair. So onward back to Sulphur Springs, stopping on the way for some Tex Mex.
We got to bed around midnight, back Pat's parents place and were set for an early rise to film another two episodes in the morning and early afternoon before also trying to squeeze in a rodeo in the evening.

We started the day with episode 1:Pride which we filmed at an abandoned gas station. The wind was a little blustery and the heat strong but luckily some cloud coverage offered a natural ND filter over the sky for us. This episode is Eve's first encounter with her Guardian Angel, and Devil. Eve is trying to escape her heartbreak by running away to Texas. Unexpectedly, she meets Angel and Lucy who offer to guide her on her journey. But will she swallow her pride and accept their help?

By 11am we were done and headed to a local restaurant to film Episode 3: Gluttony. My favourite episode. In this episode Eve goes out to dinner to try and mend her heart with some soul food. Basically to eat her feelings! But it looks like Eve may have bitten off more than she can chew. 


A massive thank you Donna & Steve Smith at Big Smith's BBQ, Sulphur Springs, for being so generous and letting us film & eat in your sensational restaurant, visually and gastronomically! As well as borrow your son, Luke to be our featured waiter! It was challenging to shoot in a working restaurant (remember, no budget, so we made the best of what we could) but we saw the best of southern hospitality as they were incredibly kind to let us film in their cinematic space. And another highlight was getting to eat all of our prop food at the end of the day...remember the episode is about gluttony! Mmmmm, Ribs!
Because we were all glutton's for punishment we headed two hours outside Texas for a Rodeo that night. We saw lots of horses, handsome cow boys and pig tackling (first time I've ever wanted to be a pig). When we exited the Rodeo to grab some dinner at a drive in near by, the sky was a blaze with a spectacular light show of constant lightning in the distance. I couldn't hear any thunder but it was certainly spectacular to watch.

Another early morning bed time and then one final day of filming in Texas. Talk about burning the candle at both ends.
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    Jessica loves to collect stories and pictures where ever she goes...here are just a couple of them.

    "Why live just one life when you can make movies and experience the most interesting parts of a hundred lives". - Jessica Mary Robinson, Filmmaker

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