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Your new movie The
Final Obsession - in a few words, what is it about?
The Final Obsession
delves into the
life of a cheesy made-for-TV actress. The dramas that surround her daily
life begin mirroring those on the small screen.
What
were your sources of inspiration when writing The
Final Obsession?
The Final Obsession
was my first attempt as
a filmmaker. I have been working in production for over a decade, but had
yet to create my "baby". I have a warped sense of what is
entertaining. I thoroughly enjoy watching Lifetime
movies, in all their
cheesiness, clichés and poor acting. I wanted to write my own Lifetime
movie!! The original script for The Final Obsession
was a full length,
tongue-in-cheek Lifetime
movie.
I was amused, I wrote the script ... then I
hated it. Something wasn't right. I decided to keep a Lifetime-y theme,
but write a more serious (kind of) script. If I made my main actress an
ACTRESS, that would leave me the ability to then flash to said Lifetime-y
scenes, and then back to "reality". So, to answer the question,
my BIGGEST inspiration was Lifetime
movies. Seriously.
Now seriously, how much fun was
it to dream up and to film Rebecca's TV-movie sequences? And your personal
thoughts about movies of that ilk?
Honestly, these scenes were the most fun. I
remember writing "Seductive Teacher" on a plane. Sitting next to
me was a woman that would totally watch those kind of movies, so I began
writing it, with her as my intended demo. Within minutes, I had to excuse
myself from laughing way tooo hard. It was too real.
A few times, while filming the scenes, I had
to direct like "Okay. Do it the same, but worse." The cheesiness
and unbelievability were necessary to such scenes!!!
How would you
describe The Final
Obsession's brand of humour? I can't think of one
way to put it. There are moments with cheesy little one liners, some
characters themselves are just easy to laugh at, and then there are the
moments when the movie gets a little uncomfortable, yet I throw a little
joke in there. I do that stuff because it feels like real life to me.
There is always somebody crying, hurting, laughing, enjoying, smiling,
dying... There is just something special about making somebody laugh after
watching someone else die. Am I weird? A few words about
your directorial approach to your story at hand? Being my
directorial debut, I was what my actors called "an actor's
director". I told them what I wanted and they delivered. If there was
ever a moment that they had an idea, I was ALL ears. After
days/weeks/months, I was comfortable with the fact that they knew the
characters better than I ... they WERE the characters. Some of the best
lines in the movie came from an improv take. Do talk
about your key cast, and why exactly these people?
Before I
even had the finished, current script, I went to Facebook and asked my
friends. I have been in the local arts scene for a long time and got an
immediate reaction for Dan White and Wensday Greenbaum. They were in. They didn't even
know what the heck the project even was. They just trusted me as an
artist. It seriously worked out that perfectly. What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? Working
on a film with murder, torture, abuse, stalking, and adultery, I don't
think a group of people ever had a better time. Pizza, beer and laughs ...
that was the atmosphere. The
$64-question of course, when and where will The
Final Obsession be released onto the general public? The Final Obsession
is scheduled for a DVD release in October. Please stay up
to the minute with all info by checking out
www.facebook.com/TheFinalObsession
Any
future projects you'd like to share? Sure! My brother is an
amazing writer. We were talking recently about a project he wrote for a
comic book, a few years back. The comic never came to, but he kept the script
around ... and good thing! It's amazing! It's going to work perfectly! I
won't give much away now, but I can say it will be another psychological
thriller.
What got you into
filmmaking to begin with, and did you receive any formal training on the
subject? I grabbed my Associates Degree in Video Production
and jumped out into the field. Started with weddings, commercial
production, public access TV, and now I work for a local CBS affiliate. I
got really comfortable with myself as a visual artist and I was just
finally ready to do something. Something big. Something MINE. What can you tell us about your filmwork prior
to The Final Obsession? I
focused on music and comedy before The Final Obsession. I had a web series
that I was the entire production team AND host, called Something Else with
Hank Sinatra jr. Hank was a character I did for years, and still perform
as occasionally. Very different kind of work. Awkward, silly comedy.
Besides a school project, I had never produced anything serious of
my own. I do it daily for a lifestyles show...
How
would you describe yourself as a director? Even as a human
begin, I'm just a fun, easy going kind of guy. As a director, I'm
definitely fun! I'm a little less easy going, but not in a bad way! If
it's not exactly what the movie needs, we will do it again! But like I
said earlier, I am all about spur of the moment rewrites and adlibs. Filmmakers
who inspire you? I really like the film making styles of
Kubrick, Lynch, Louis CK, Troy Miller and many others. Your favourite movies? I
will watch Independence Day whenever it is on. Same goes for American
Psycho. I also love horror movies ... good ones, terrible ones ... and of
course, Lifetime
movies! ...
and of course, films you really deplore? Those terrible,
terrible parody movies (Scary Movie 1-25, etc). There hasn't been a good
spoof in a while. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
facebook.com/TheFinalObsession
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... and more info at
TheFinalObsession.weebly.com
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I know ... it's a Weebly site. This was a zero budget film that I already
spent all of my money on.
Anything else
you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
I'm
getting married in a few months, so I'd like to thank my beautiful fiancée
for allowing her fiancé to be a writer/director/DP/editor to do his thing
for the entire engagement. I promise I will husband better ... after the
next film is done. Thanks
for the interview!
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