What does it take to complete an independent feature length film in an ever-changing and vastly competitive industry? For many, that road is a long one – completed mostly on the back of hard work, connections and persistence. Yet for local filmmakers DamianVoerg (director), Frank Keilly (director of photography) and Ron Keilly (producer), the work doesn’t seem difficult because that is their passion.
For several years, the three have worked together on many projects, including their short suspense thriller “Blink,” which they finished in November of 2006. “Blink” was screened locally to good reviews and entered into several of the well-known festivals.
While they collaborate on their film projects, combined they also have extensive experience in the industry. For their latest project, a feature length film called “Cope,” which Voerg wrote the screenplay for in 2007, the trio plans to extend beyond the goals set for their film short, eventually distributing their new film overseas.
Recently, the three sat down with the Current to share their insights about the industry and the process of making a feature length film.
DS: How would you describe the film?
DV: Edgy. Very Independent.
RK: It’s definitely not a typical story. We also have two elements that we think are important. The love story and the emotional search for the main character.
DV: But it is more about finding yourself and having a person find you. I think that the thing they tell you at art school is that everything has already been done. So you have to find a way to be different and not have a Hollywood ending. We are really more story driven, like “Juno” or “Little Miss Sunshine.” Strong characters – that is what you build your story on.
DS: How are your goals with “Cope” different from “Blink”?
RK: The goal is to actually sell it, to get it released. Obviously, we are looking for investors right now and we want to make a really good film. The goal is to make a profit and turn it into a full-time job. We want to make a great film and use it as a launching point for our production company.
DV: Our ultimate goal is to get it released. Our goal with “Blink” was to meet people and we did.
RK: [The making of “Blink”] really was to get us experience in the film industry, to see what the film festival circuit was like, to see what other filmmakers are doing in the industry.
DS: How important is it for you to direct the film? Would you sell the screenplay?
DV: We know what we are getting into in terms of what investors want and what film companies want. But we don’t want to sell the script. We want to be involved. We want to direct the film.
RK: That is the reason we are using private investors so we don’t lose creative control. Although it is a long process we are willing to do it ourselves and get a couple of good names attached.
DS: How important is talent?
DV: It is extremely important because a lot of actors have a niche following, like if they work in feature films or television. It is really important to find the right people for a film.
RK: We can get the people we need for our film, but we have to make sure we get the right talent for our foreign markets. For foreign markets it has to have a name attached. In the Northern American market, you can have a really great story and that will fly.
DS: When filming, how important is color to your story? FK: Damian and I have talked about that a lot. We are shooting on a HD [high definition] camera. The story has a strong color palette. We are going for a very distinct look. A lot of emotion.
DV: Each stage that the character goes through is represented in its own color palette.
FK: Like red to express anger. So obviously, we will use color to represent the emotion. I want the visuals to be very strong. The film itself will be shot to express that.
DS: What are the obstacles? RK: Financing. There really are no other obstacles. We’ve done previous films on low budgets. There are always obstacles in filmmaking. You could have a million dollar budget and you’d still have some problems.
DV: You need to have a budget to have a good cast and crew to get your vision across.
RK: Since we started our search, we’ve learned the ins and outs. There is the potential for this film or any film to make a profit. What people don’t understand is that release is not where the money is – the money is in distribution.
DS: What is something you learned that you wished you knew when you were filming “Blink”?
DV: I think we would have spent more time in pre-production.
RK: Ideally, we would have made a 20 minute film not a 40 minute film. We learned that after the fact. We might have gotten a much better reception if we did a 20 minute film. There isn’t that much of a market for 40 minute films. Producing a 40 minute film kind of put us in limbo – not quite a short, not quite a full-length.
DS: What do you want the audience to come away with?
DV: I want the audience to come away with what the main character is going through. There is a strong moral to the story and if they get that, then I’m completely happy. The film is called “Cope” – everyone copes. It is really the end result.
DS: What do you think is the hardest, yet most fulfilling part of filmmaking?
DV: The hardest part is collaboration, but it can be the most fulfilling part. With that said, for me personally, other than the completed project it is the writing aspect – creating the character, discovering the journey.
RK: Day one of filming, you see the movie come to life. It is so amazing to see a script that you’ve been working on come to life.
DS: Final thoughts?
FK: The thing is, no matter how bad the economy is people still watch movies. No matter what it takes we are going to get this movie done. We are going to get this movie in the can.
RK: We hope that whoever chooses to be involved [in our project], we hope they believe in this project as much as we do.
For more information, visit: www.copethemovie.com. Comments on this story can be sent to: current@hudsonreporter.com.