About Production When writer/producer/director Michael Mongillo and writer James Charbonneau sat down for their third collaboration there was only one question that needed to be answered. How do we make a good movie fast, cheap, and easy? After the usual jokes about each other's sisters, the two went to work.
Nothing happened.
The requirements were simple enough: as small a cast as possible, with as few locations as possible, with a great story and a "doable" script. In other words, there are no twelve car pileups or aliens landing on the White House lawn. Ideas were thrown about, but nothing stuck until Charbonneau had a dream.
He dreamt of Clair, the not so saintly female lead. "I wasn't outside the character of Clair looking in, and I wasn't truly her from the inside out either. I was more like a second party taking residence in Clair's body and privy to not just her thoughts but all of her feelings and motivations as well. In other words, I had a built-in backstory. I dream a lot, but this was something new."
Charbonneau had dreamt the future. He had dreamt The Wind. He got out of bed, wrote out the basis for Clair's character and the main story of the film to be, took two aspirin, and called Mongillo in the morning.
Working from Charbonneau's rough outline, he and Mongillo sat down to one of their marathon writing sessions. Staying at Charbonneau's small apartment in Hartford Connecticut, going out for only a few meals and working from early in the morning to just around dark, with a nightly break of a movie and a few beers, in ten days, the script was done.
Then the ball was in Mongillo's court. With actress and co-producer Carolyn Camburn, Mongillo went out and contacted business associates, friends and family to raise the money for the film. No stone was unturned. Where money could not be had, donations of time, talent, and/or equipment were accepted. In just under a year from the completion of the script, Mongillo and Camburn had lined up enough investors, crew, equipment and locations to start the pre-production of The Wind.
An ad was placed in Backstage and auditions were held in New York City. As luck would have it, the then undiscovered talents of Zeke Rippy, Scott Parrish, Philipp Karner, Davis Mikaels, Joanna Bonaro, and James Thalman joined the cast, and the circle was complete.
The production began shooting in July of 1998. Truly a family affair, some of the prime locations were at Mongillo's parent's house, with its surrounding woods, front yard and street included. Mongillo's aunt's house, which also served as the nightly bunkhouse for the male actors, was also used. And the local farm of Bob and Marilyn DeMaria, who were just some nice people willing to help out some struggling filmmakers, rapidly became true friends and invaluable supporters.
Mongillo's mom, Lucille Mongillo, a longtime food industry professional, served as Craft Service under the not-so-subtle name Sin-A-Ma Catering, supplying breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks throughout the shoot. Mongillo's dad, Mal Mongillo, a licensed electrician, helped with power and was one of the scuba divers acting as a spotter for the big "Mic Jumps Off the Cliff Into the Water" scene.
Early in the production, when certain shots had to be lost due to time restraints, when things like the lights, camera, and batteries just weren't working right, Michael Mongillo, came up with a funny verbal shorthand. The monosyllabic phrase that he coined and use throughout the shoot with his longtime friend, cinematographer David Wexler, became, by the end of the production, the one catchphrase everyone found could be applied to almost any situation both on and off the set. When the given problem arose, Michael would turn to David and say, "Make good now!" This set the tone for the entire shoot.
With much of the shooting taking place outdoors, bathroom runs had to be made. So periodically, one might see a diverse group of people laughing and piling into one or two cars and off they would go on their singular mission. Along with the long days and hard work, this added to the closeness of the cast and crew. Besides water, the other big commodity became bug spray. Every morning in the field where cast and crew gathered, everyone enjoyed their breakfast, while taking time to spray themselves from head to foot.
Record breaking high temperatures lasted throughout the three-week shoot. The worst heat was endured while shooting the "Clair Shows the Boys the Card in the Field" scene. The temperature in the open field was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but while the crew was withering away, somehow, the actors were able to maintain a cool look.
The cinematographer, David Wexler, also operated camera for The Wind. The cast performed almost all of their own stunts, and practically everyone on the crew from PAs to second unit directors, when they had nothing else to do, helped in the breakdown and transportation of equipment.
All first and second unit photography for The Wind was shot in just 18 days. The final shot of the film, the scene where Mic and John argue under a streetlight, took place at 3 o'clock in the morning on the street in front of the home of Mongillo's parents', without a permit. After the gate was checked and called clear for the last shot of principal photography (the "martini shot"), a shooting star streaked across the sky.
Everyone cheered, and the neighbors didn't even complain.