The other day I (Leo) was having a conversation with Ice (Neal) regarding her latest projects and future ones. We were discussing about production values, budgets and the pros and cons of a micro-budget movie. I remember I asked Ice the following question, “Why don’t you write something simple, like many other writers do, with 2 characters only, in a specific location only, maybe an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere?” Ice looked at me and almost did not reply. But her cheeky smile was speaking for her.

I continued, “It would be so easy to produce, it would be low-budget, and you could have less time issues, and the fear of being kicked out of the location because you went overtime”

Ice again smiled. She took my question as a joke. I should have known better, here at the Soob Productions, there is no such thing as “a movie with 2 characters and a house only.”

Looking back at the Soob’s past projects I remember shooting in Paris, on a plane, trains of every kind, Eurostar, tube, railway, french subways, shooting in big government buildings, hotels, tube stations, hospitals, wastelands, warehouses, parks, cemeteries, catacombs, tombs, and in the latest adventure, Mr. Jones, in police stations, Central Intelligence Offices,  car parks, laboratories and more, too many to remember.

One of Ice’s many gifts has always been to write entertaining stories without limits, without the fear of flying too high. She’s a creative artist with a vivid imagination who believes God can help her do anything He wants her to. She makes her vision come true through filmmaking.

That’s why her smile, as a reaction to my question, was more or less like saying, “You know me, I can’t just do what you ask me, I need to feel the story and let it pour over me, without restrictions.”

I remember once, while she was telling me about a short movie she wanted to do, she described this scene of a car crash, a frontal of two expensive cars, in Paris. Her eyes were shining at the thought, as saying “I sooo want to do this, let’s do it”.

It might be natural for Hollywood to do this kind of stunt, but for an enthusiastic independent company like the Soob, that is too much. We will have to limit (or not limit) ourselves to shooting scenes in hospitals, planes, trains, cemeteries, police stations, hotels, etc.