Blog Entry #4 — Building the Core: From Vision to Production Team
Opening — From Silence to Structure
Every project begins with a vision, but no film is made alone.
For years, Last Seen was just two people — Alex and Dimitris — carrying the weight of a universe in their notebooks and conversations. We dreamed it, refined it, prepared for it. But in the autumn of 2025, something changes: the dream begins to leave our hands and enter others’.
This is the stage where vision becomes collaboration. This is where Last Seen needs its core team.
Searching for the Core Team
Film is a collective art, and building the right team is as important as writing the right words or crafting the right prosthetics. We are now looking for the people who will stand beside us in production:
Director — someone who can translate silence, ritual, and dread into cinematic language. This film is not about spectacle, but about restraint. We need a director who understands that.
Director of Photography (DoP) — a master of light, shadow, and contrast. The entire identity of Last Seen depends on its grayscale atmosphere, where fog and silence replace color and noise.
Lead Actress (Marina/Amanda) — the heart of the story. A woman whose professional control cracks under grief and ritual. She must embody strength and fragility, intellect and despair, without ever tipping into melodrama.
Singer for the Credits Song — because even endings matter. The film will close on a song that carries the last echo of dread and beauty.
Most of these connections come from Dimitris’ artistic circle. His years in SFX and art direction have built relationships across disciplines, from makeup and performance to musicians and visual artists. Through his network, we are reaching voices who understand our language and can translate it into their own craft.
Organizing the Project
While Dimitris expands the creative network, I (Alex) have taken on the task of structuring Last Seen into a functioning production pipeline. My background in construction management and quality assurance has always been about organization, documentation, and precision. Now, I am applying the same discipline to film.
This summer, I launched a Notion workspace that became the central brain of the project. In it we track:
Progress logs — every draft, asset, and decision documented.
Market and cost analysis — realistic projections, keeping ambition tied to resources.
Communications archive — including our dialogue with the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center: ΕΚΚΟΜΕΔ.
Crowdfunding campaign foundation — early plans, strategies, and material preparation.
Location scouting notes — lists of potential venues, their costs, and their atmosphere.
Draft contracts — for potential partners, filming spaces, rentals, and accommodations.
Insurance research — because every project needs a safety net, especially when filming in real locations.
Notion has become our production bible. For a project this ambitious, clarity is survival.
Preparing the Ground
Our goal is to enter October 2025 ready for meetings and decisions. To do that, we are laying the ground now.
Meetings: interviews with directors, DoPs, actresses, and singers who may join the project.
Scouting: trips to potential filming locations — bathrooms, conference rooms, coastal exteriors — testing how fog, light, and silence will work.
Contracts: drafting agreements not just for crew and cast, but also for buildings, rentals, and accommodations. Legal permissions for filming indoors are already on the table.
Insurance: ensuring coverage for both people and locations, so that production is not only artistic but professional.
These are the invisible steps that make films possible. Audiences see the fog, the rituals, the performances — but behind every shot lies paperwork, signatures, negotiations, and planning.
Voices Around Us
No creator works in a vacuum. Alongside professionals, we’ve leaned on the people around us — close friends, family, and advisors — for feedback. Some offered direct insights into the film industry. Others simply gave encouragement, or raised questions that forced us to think harder.
One friend asked, “Do you really want to make it grayscale? Won’t that limit you?” The question made us revisit our decision — only to confirm it even more firmly. Another asked, “Why a short film first?” and in answering, we sharpened our reasoning: because a short film is both manageable and symbolic. It is the gateway.
Even casual conversations became mirrors, helping us refine choices. Advice and doubts alike became part of the foundation.
Looking Ahead
By early October, we plan to begin formal meetings, building the circle of collaborators who will stand with us in the fog. With each role filled, the film gains weight, shape, and momentum.
This stage is less glamorous than writing scripts or sculpting wounds — but it is the most crucial. Without it, the film cannot exist. With it, Last Seen can finally move from concept into production.
Closing Thought
Autmenth may have begun as a dream in 2008, but 2025 is the year it becomes a circle. From directors to actresses, from contracts to crowdfunding, we are building not just a film, but a team. And soon, that team will step with us into the fog.