Day One

I had no idea that beet juice would stain blond hair.

Other than that, Day One of production on TAN LINES was relatively surprise-free, thanks mostly to the fantastic cast and crew that worked as hard as I've seen any group I can recall — many of them first-timers on a set. Helped enormously by a colorful location (Louisville's own Vietnam Kitchen) and a sunny day, we made our day of nearly two dozen shots (multiple takes), seven pages in all. Or, as Gill says, six percent of the film. My feet appreciated that statistic, as I was on them all day.

Today's scenes all took place in a restaurant in which our heroes face-off with their opponents at a "Throwdown," an eating contest between tennis pros. For some reason it makes me think of the movie MEATBALLS, but without the tube socks and disco soundtrack.

The cast spent a good part of the day stuffing their faces with food: moo shu tofu, chicken on a stick, boiled eggs, fried rice and beets, which, as I mentioned, stains hair, among other things. It's too late to go into it now, I need to sleep, but I'll say this: watching an actor get splattered with beet juice is a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we move to the main location. Can't wait for Day Two.