November 2022 - From the newsletter archive:
I’m Emily, the writer/director/producer of NEXT TIME… Although I have been a journalist, copywriter, screenwriter, short story author, and all-around writer for most of my life, I have never written my own newsletter! NEXT TIME… is my first feature film, and it’s taught me a lot about doing things for the first time. This was the first time I learned how to pick bike locks; the first time I signed up to be an Instagram Ambassador so that I could get free stuff for costumes; the first time I was an accidental costume designer; the first time I researched trademark law; and the first time I figured out how a time portal should look… among many other firsts!
I guess this is all just to say - I’ve learned a lot of new stuff in the past six months. Why not newsletter writing?
So from here until an as-yet ambiguous point in the future, you’ll be joining me for stories about strange and notable happenings in Berlin, indie filmmaking, the crafting (and soon, screenings!) of NEXT TIME… and perhaps some interviews with the cast and crew. If you find all of that interesting, maybe you’ll even share it with the rest of your friends who want to know how a time-travel, criminal-coming-of-age mystery gets made on a micro-budget.
Maybe the first thing you’re wondering about is this HOT orange bike. So, that will be my first story. This film began as an homage to a friend’s stolen bike story. T, the friend in question, was at a demonstration with his friend S and as they approached the bike rack where T’s Peugeot was stolen a year earlier, he looked longingly at said bike rack, conjuring the memory of his vintage white Peugeot. And suddenly: there it was! on the same bike rack, T’s Peugeot was being removed with a key, by a cyclist. He confronted that cyclist and discovered that the man bought the bike at a used bike shop, around the same time T’s was stolen. T confirmed a few scratches - and yes, the bike was his. But what to do now? The bike theft machinery had already swallowed his bike, refashioned it, and churned it back out to this new owner. This story is not a singular occurrence: bikes, a major form of everyday transport in Berlin (and all over Europe), are stolen on the daily, only to pop up again on Ebay Classifieds, Facebook Marketplace, or even in secondhand bike shops — of which there are many. Statista reported that more than 25,000 bikes were stolen in Berlin in 2021. That’s a lot of glum cyclists, kicking stones as they’re forced down the sidewalk on foot. Deutsche Welle, The Local and Berlin Spectator are among the news outlets that follow this pervasive petty crime and the surprisingly sophisticated criminal underworld turning those wheels. (Pun intended!)
Having your bike stolen - especially if it’s a nice bike - is a fact of life if you live in Berlin.
When I began writing NEXT TIME… I wanted to show a facet of Berlin’s street life, and I knew that a stolen bike, and the kind of thieves that target them, would be part of that. But to show how important bikes are to their owners, and how violating it feels for your bike to be stolen, I needed a bike that would instantly be an object of envy, the personification of freedom, and the image of perfection. It had to be iconic. That’s why I knew that bike would be a classic orange Peugeot. So I started searching for this bike. I spent the summer looking for someone crazy enough to rent me such an expensive bike!
That crazy - and exceptionally kind - person was Monsieur Velo, a French cycling enthusiast who runs a shop of the same name. He rents classic cruising bikes to tourists and sells top-of-the-line new and used Peugeot cycles. He had my hot orange dream bike in stock, and even in the right frame size. He agreed to let us use the bike, as well as the shop, for the film. He was excited to transfer his love of cycles to my audience. And with this bike secured, our film gained a dramatic visual focal point.
With that, I will leave you dreaming of orange. Thanks for reading!
Until Next Time…
Emily
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