Scriptwriting & Pre-production: DS Birch Carlson Returns
My talented cast and I at the live script reading of DS Birch Carlson episodes two and three. Photo credit: Kallie Rollenhagen
Keeping Up the Momentum
As an independent filmmaker and artist, I am always working on a project while thinking about the next project. Though I am in the midst of creating an extended documentary on Hillcrest Village, I am thinking about what is next in my pipeline of work.
With the success of the premiere of DS Birch Carlson, I knew I needed to keep the project going. I had already done the really hard work of casting, location scouting, creating a great production team, and editing together a great first episode. My collaborators would often ask what’s next for the project. I got to thinking about how life is short — some of my people might move away to a different community, spaces I used before could change (they already have), and I might not always have the energy to do this work.
Producing a really long script takes more work. Photo credit: Kallie Rollenhagen
Break it Up
With the decision to continue made, I took a look at the scripts I had written four years prior. The second and third episodes were written as a two-part cliffhanger storyline, so I decided that if I was going to take on continuing the series, I should complete production for two episodes simultaneously.
The main drawback for this approach is the 85+ pages of content. That means that the production to the two episodes would be the equivalent of shooting a feature, which has always been on my bucket list. The idea is exciting and overwhelming, and it definitely caused some spiraling and questioning of, “Where do I even start?”
And to that, my answer is a note I’ve written on my pre-production schedules to myself: BREAK IT UP.
Fund The Work (in Chunks)
In the spirit of breaking up the work, I needed to think about ways to fund the work. In the past, I have funded one project with one grant, or completed a project on my own. This level of complexity requires funding, but the length of the script would require the kinds of funds awarded by grants larger than ones I have pursued in the past. I would like to go after this funding, but since it is much more competitive to receive larger awards, I needed to get creative. That meant breaking up the funding into logical chunks, each with a specific deliverable.
Resources from My Regional Arts Council in Minnesota
The first grant I pursued was an Advancing Artist grant with the Southeast Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC). Minnesota is made up of regional arts councils representing parts of the state, and since I live in the Southeast region, that is the funding I am eligible for. An Advancing Artist grant can be written to fund up to $5,000 for a project. I have received one Advancing Artist award and one Emerging Artist award in the past from SEMAC.
So what part of the feature-length episodes of DS Birch Carlson could I fund with $5,000? My answer was to do the pre-production work involving the cast. I knew I needed to rewrite the script to align it with changes I made to the pilot episode, but I also wanted to workshop the script with the cast. With this work done, I could pursue production (the filming) and post-production (the editing) with future funding.
And it worked! I was awarded the budget from SEMAC to accomplish the first chunk of this major undertaking. The $5,000 budget was designed to cover some professional development for me (attending an episodic filmmaker conference in Duluth), compensate me for the hours to rewrite the script and cast people, provide money to make copies and print new pages during rewrites, and a offer a small compensation for the time and effort of my cast, as they had to attend two rehearsals and a performance, and potentially have a side conversation or two with me about their part.
Thanks to SEMAC
This activity was made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.
Reworking the Script
While it was helpful that I had already written out episodes 2 and 3 in the past, they needed some work. The first step was to add in a new character I had introduced during the rewriting and production of the pilot episode. A mysterious character was seen numerous times tailing Birch and Davis while they were working the Choo murder case. This character was improvised by my friend Nat Wilson, who I met with to discuss the story arc of how we could continue to slowly introduce his character in subsequent episodes.
A mysterious man tails Carlson and Davis in episode one. Photo credit: Heriberto Rosas
While I can’t share the details of the actual story Nat and I outlined (spoilers!), I can share that we explored the backstory of his character. Why was he following the detectives around? Did he have a past relationship? What does he want? This gave us the inspiration to write the character’s involvement in the later episodes and his eventual reveal to one of the detectives.
Show Don’t Tell
While Nat and I were discussing his character, he mentioned to me something he noticed while he was reading the scripts. In a few spots, characters were telling a story about something that just happened rather than the camera showing their experience live. That principle is known as “Show don’t tell.” It’s generally accepted as a filmmaking best practice to depict events rather than having characters describe them. But with all rules (and especially a mystery), we have to mix up what we show and tell to keep the audience guessing.
Courtney Mastin (center) reads the character Christiansen with her sidekick Sandy, portrayed by Brian Johnson (far right). Photo credit: Kallie Rollenhagen
But Nat was right, I definitely was relying on telling instead of showing for some scenes with one of my favorite characters, Christiansen. Christiansen is a former traffic cop who has been promoted to field investigation due to lack of personnel in the department to work these new murder cases. She offers some slapstick silly comedy in her scenes, but in episodes 2 and 3, she was doing some work on her own, and her character was losing its luster. She was calling the lead detectives constantly to update them on her progress because her work wasn’t very interesting.
The cure? We added a straight-man sidekick to work the field with her. Sandy the lab tech was just what the doctor ordered for us to turn Christiansen’s field work into some memorable (and laughable scenes).
Simplify the Locations
One thing I considered doing during the rewrite process was to simplify the locations specified in the script. There were some that were revisited from the previous episodes, and those would definitely be keepers (the police station, Birch’s apartment, the morgue). But, there are all kinds of challenging locations in these next episodes, including:
Fishing a body out of a river
A small mill operation interior
A fancy corporate headquarters
A car chase involving a slow moving tractor
A hospital
A fire at the mill
After some soul searching, I intentionally decided NOT to remove these challenging locations and scenarios. We have an extremely creative team that was able to pull off all of the locations for the first episode. I strongly believe that by giving ourselves some pretty tough challenges and overcoming them, we will have a great time flexing our creative problem solving skills.
A great table read rehearsal with the cast. Photo credit: Heriberto Rosas
The Rehearsal Process
After working out many of the kinks in the script, it was time to recruit the cast and begin our rehearsal process, which consisted of a few table reads.
The Glorious Cast
I am elated about the cast for this project, which is a mix of returning and new actors. Of course we have Birch Carlson and Shari Setchell reprising their roles of DS Birch Carlson and Davis, alongside other amazing returning supporting cast members including Courtney Mastin (as Christiansen), Elin Odegaard (as Chief Namloc), Sebastian Lawler (as Dell), Steve Lawler (as Erik Nielssen), Nat Wilson (as mysterious man), Stephanie Henry (as Jeannie), and Brendon Etter (as Foster).
Some delightful new characters include a new murder victim played by Angelica Linder, hospital staff played by Cecelia Condit and Jess Jasper, a pair of star-crossed wheat lovers played by Barb Piper and Kevin Dahle, an intrepid reporter played by Joy Riggs, the daughter of DS Birch Carlson who is plagued by nightmares and bullying played by Autumn Mastin, Christiansen’s sidekick Sandy played by Brian Johnson, and a gentle but firm Midwestern corporate CEO played by Martha Larson.
Character and Line Development
This awesome cast helped develop the script and their characters through their involvement in the rehearsal process. Angelica Linder helped me adapt her character to match her own Colombian heritage through adding phrases, changing her character’s name, and inserting some cultural references. Steve Lawler, who is a physician by day, helped me with some of the medical language relating to the autopsy. Joy Riggs added panache to her character by adding funny references to small-town journalism. Sebastian Lawler gave me amazing puns to work into his scenes, and they elicited just the right number of eye rolls from the cast during rehearsal.
I had one-on-ones and text message conversations with these wonderful castmates who were committed to understanding their characters and portraying them with empathy and grace. Even though I felt bad for the earth given the number of copies I had to make for this large ensemble cast of 18, it was definitely worth it!
What’s a Table Read?
We call this part of the process in film production a “table read.” It is usually a big kickoff during a production process. At this point, the script is complete and the cast has been set. Key crew like the director, AD, and cinematographers have been selected.
The table read involves the full cast sitting around a table and reading the script out loud. The cast reads their parts and a production assistant reads all of the elements of the script that one will eventually see in the completed film. This includes the scene headings (where are we and what time of day is it?), action lines (character A moves over to character B and gives them a hug), and transitions (fade to black). To a listener, it’s sort of like listening to a radio play without the sound effects.
Martha writes notes on her character’s line delivery during the table read. Photo credit: Heriberto Rosas
It’s important to note that in a film production, the table ready may be the only time the full cast gathers. Unlike a play where everyone needs to be at the theater for the performance, cast members in a production only need to come to set for their scene’s production for the day. This means that if actors don’t share a scene, they won’t run into each other again until the premiere!
For our table reading, I read all of the script elements that were not dialogue aloud, and there were so many of us that we didn’t have a table. A table is usually helpful for writing down notes in one’s script, but we persevered without one.
The whole cast at the live table read performance in January 2025. Photo credit: Kallie Rollenhagen
The Live Performance
As part of the SEMAC funding, it is required to host a public event sharing your work with the community. This was a great chance for our cast to show off their honed skills. Our event was held at the Northfield Depot on a chilly night in January. We hosted about 25 audience members in person and 15 online.
To begin the evening, we went around the room and introduced the many players that would be reading their parts. I shared about my vision for breaking up the work and what it was like to workshop the script with the cast. Then, we were ready to dive into our performance. You can watch the full performance on Vimeo below.
An Intermission
90 minutes of content deserves an intermission! This is the first time I have featured an intermission at one of my premiere events. We offered cups of cereal to guests to fit in with the theme of the two-part episode, which was titled “The Cereal Killer.” You’ll have to watch the reading to guess what that’s about.
“The Cereal Killer” themed snacks at the event. Photo credit: Kallie Rollenhagen
Highlights From the Reading
The cast were prepared and some even wore costumes or brought along props to get into their characters. Jess Jasper and Brendon Etter wore lab coats to show their professions (a physician and medical examiner). Joy Riggs wore journalism-themed buttons and brought a flash digital camera as a prop to use during her scenes. Sebastian Lawler brought along a small bag of Doritos to use during a pivotal snacktime scene. Angelica Linder wore coveralls to embrace her character’s career spent in a factory. Birch Carlson brought sunglasses to wear during a scene where her character is hungover. Stephanie Henry brought along a nail file so that her character could properly ignore the phone calls coming in to the police station.
The cast had to frequently pause for laughter from the audience, including one instance where an actor delivered his one line over Zoom. The expletive coming out of the internet ether made the script elements reader (yours truly) crack up and lose her place.
Engagement & Questions
At the conclusion of the reading, we received some wonderful comments and questions from the audience. Some highlights include:
Q: How will you make it look like a building is on fire?
A: We plan to get creative with lighting and fog for interior shots, and potentially building a model for exterior shots.Q: How will you find all of the locations?
A: I told a story about how we are intentionally challenging ourselves with the locations.Q: What’s next for the production?
A: Apply for more funding.What a great cast!
I appreciated the long game of the pun for “The Cereal Killer”
What’s Next
As one of the table read participants asked, what’s next for this project? My plan is to apply for more funding for two more chunks of work. The second major chunk is production: scheduling all of the filming dates with these wonderful actors. Once all of that material is “in the can,” we will pursue another chunk of funding for the post production, which could include some fun new challenges like special effects.
A huge thank you to everyone who has come on the journey so far and I’m excited for the next steps!
