Erik Paulsen and Drue Pennella’s Weehawken-based film production company was born of serendipity in the truest sense. Through a random series of events involving a salt shaker, a retro record player, Vespas, and dogs, the two ended up meeting, embracing their lifelong neglected love for filmmaking, and forming FourLegged Features.
Paulsen graduated from Adelphi University with a degree in communications. “It was expensive to do film back then,” he said, so he wrote film scores and eventually became a WABC television broadcast engineer.
Pennella graduated from NYU’s Tisch School and worked as a stage actor for many years, but he always dreamed of being behind the camera rather than in front of it. “I was always a massive film buff,” he said.
Neither acted on their passions until they met in 2009.
How it all began
Around that time, Paulsen bought a red Vespa. “Somehow when you have one, people just want to talk to you,” he said.
One holiday weekend, Paulsen was stuck in traffic. Up ahead, he spotted Pennella’s green Vespa with its black-and-white checked seat that he’d seen around town, and decided to chat to pass the time.
It wasn’t Pennella behind the wheel. It was his girlfriend Heather. She invited Paulsen to come to a scooter meeting, where the men finally met.
Shortly thereafter, the two collaborated on the 2009 Uncle Dracula 48-hour Film Festival held in New York City. They had to choose a genre (gangster) and a prop (a salt shaker) out of a hat and create a five minute horror film – entitled “The Job” – that included these things in only 48 hours.
“I think the greatest success was that we didn’t kill each other.” –Erik Paulsen
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“I think the greatest success was that we didn’t kill each other,” Paulsen joked.
It was this experience that convinced the two that they could work well under extreme circumstances.
FourLegged gets a running start
And so began FourLegged Features, named after their mutual love of dogs and their own legs (which thankfully equal four). Pennella said the title evokes a “sort of creature” and harks back to their love of and participation in horror films.
Paulsen and Pennella had the artistic vision, but their technological knowledge was a bit behind the times.
“Initially we realized that we needed to learn a lot more about the industry if we were going to be really great,” Paulsen said.
“Things have changed quite dramatically in the past couple of years with new technology,” Pennella added. “There’s been a democratization of filmmaking; but that being said, you still have to know how to make films.”
For instance, he said, one has to know how to move the camera, how to frame a shot, and how to plan a narrative.
In October, they filmed retro-rock star Emily Zuzik’s music video “Motels.” Zuzik, who was a friend in Paulsen and Pennella’s mutual social circles, just released the album “The Wild Joys of Living.” She also has penned a song on DJ giant Moby’s latest album called “The Low Hum,” and wrote the theme song for NBC’s “Love Bites.”
The two had discussed collaborating with Zuzik for a while, but it didn’t actually come through until Paulsen found a vintage record player at a yard sale. After he bought it, he and Pennella filmed it with a record bearing Zuzik’s name as an example of their vision for the music video, and she immediately set a date.
The video was released on Nov. 1.
Looking forward
The company has also delved into the corporate video world. Appropriately, their first client was the Fetch Club, a premiere dog spa at South Street Seaport. They’re also working with a company that produces software that can predict the solar energy potential for any spot on earth.
Their future is bright. FourLegged will be working with a candle-making company called Lafco that was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show as one of her favorite things.
“It’s an interesting time for us,” Pennella stated, “because we could conceivably grow too fast. We want to make sure we put out the best work we can do.”
Paulsen agreed. “I think if you were to say ‘What is FourLegged Features?’ ” he said, “the answer would be that we are a flexible video and film production solution for the commercial and entertainment industries that uses the finest techniques and tools in the video production world to date.”
For more information, or to watch Zuzik’s video, visit www.fourleggedfeatures.com.
Gennarose Pope may be reached at gpope@hudsonreporter.com