|
Your new movie The
Meeting Chronicles - in a few words, what is it about?
The
Meeting Chronicles (a comedy), is about a group of wannabe screenwriters
who meet once a week to discuss what they aren't doing. Their meetings
normally devolve into complete nonsense, and have nothing to do with
learning how to write a script.
The
Meeting Chronicles is pretty directly linked to the featurette The
Meeting from 2004, which is partly incorporated into the movie - so do
talk about the earlier movie for a bit, and who came up with the idea to
expand it all these years later? The feauturette is based on that
amazingly inventive screenplay
by Julianne Carlile. A few years after producing that film, we decided
to continue the saga by filming actual meetings with "serious"
guest speakers. It was logistically easier, and it still allowed us to
experiment with, and "workshop" each new episode. As one of the writers
on The Meeting
Chronicles, what were your sources of inspiration? I
would have to say The
Office, with a little of HBO's Curb
Your Enthusiasm. Do
talk about your co-writers, and what was your collaboration like? Collaborating
with Bob Kwartler was amazing, and fun. It was exactly how I envisioned
professional comedy writing sessions played out.
What
can you tell us about The
Meeting Chronicles' brand of humour?
As
you had recognized early on (which I really appreciated!), the humor is
in watching the characters being totally oblivious to their obvious
nonsense. What were
the challenges of bringing The
Meeting Chronicles to the screen from a producer's point of view? We
tried to make a lot of the humor fit the various personalities of the
actors. So, to that end, I had always hoped that the comedic moments
would always be authentic. You
also play the lead in The
Meeting Chronicles - so what can you tell us about your character,
what did you draw upon to bring him to life, and how much Howard Nash can
we find in George? George
is essentially a buffoon, and somebody who's a little too
"wrapped-up" in his own sense of self-importance. My
"prep" with George was always to let everyone in on his
bufoonery, except of course, for him. He has no clue - so I guess it was
the opposite of what I'm normally like (and hope) that I do when I'm
communicating with others, which is that I'm always clued-in, and
always aware. What can you tell us about the rest
of The Meeting
Chronicles's cast, and why exactly these people? Most
were people I've worked with before, and/or people whose work I was
already familiar with. If I'm writing or co-writing a project, I tend to
shy away from re-inventing the wheel. Do
talk about The
Meeting Chronicles director Russ Emanuel [Russ
Emanuel interview - click here], and what was working with him
like? Russ
is extremely disciplined, and extremely focused on the task at hand.
That said, he even found moments where he could angle certain shots to
make the comedy even funnier than it was. I was very happy to see that
in the final product!
The
Meeting Chronicles isn't the first movie you've done with Russ
Emanuel - so what can you tell us about your previous collaborations? The
Meeting Chronicles was very much a smaller,
and more focused endeavor. To
that end, I found it much easier to accomplish things (with Russ), both
technically and on
the creative side. Back
to The Meeting
Chronicles - a few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set
atmosphere? Most
of the time, there was much camaraderie and a lot of supportive
collaboration. That is why you can usually see the same people in
different episodes. The actors are talented, but they also have a
terrific work-ethic. So I couldn't wait to work with them again! Anything you can tell us about audience and
critical reception of The
Meeting Chronicles? We're
just getting started as far bringing The
Meeting Chronicles to
the public. But what limited reception we've had so far, I would say has
been extremely positive. Any future projects you'd
like to share? I'm
currently developing a faith-based project, which is partially funded.
I'm hoping to go forward by January 2021. What got you into the filmworld to begin
with, and did you receive any formal training on the subject? Not
really. I originally trained as an actor, so my formal training was in
theater, but over the years I began to segue to performing "behind
the camera" - but I've never had any formal training in film.
What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to The
Meeting Chronicles? I
starred in and produced Heaven's Messenger, a faith-based
film that also starred John Heard, Vincent Pastore and Robert Picardo.
It's still out there, and I'm very pleased that new audiences have been
discovering it. During your career, you've
worn many hats both in front of and behind the camera - so what do you
enjoy the most, actually, and honestly, what could you do without? I
would say that I enjoy both equally. What I could do without is the
follow-up (and necessary) marketing and promotion that comes with every
completed film. In a perfect world, I would turn that over to someone
who would then execute that phase competently (and successfully). Filmmakers,
actors, writers, whoever else who inspire you? All
filmmakers, actors and writers inspire me, especially when they continue
to work in this crazy but amazing profession. Your
favourite movies? I'll always love the classics: The
Godfather movies, The
Shining, Chariots of Fire - genres are not
important to me, it's the quality of the filmmaking. ... and of course, films you really
deplore? Any
film (usually indies) where it's obvious there was no clear plan. Your/your movie's website, social media,
whatever else?
Here
are some links
to my films' Amazon pages. Please note: The films are also running on
Tubi TV:
The
Meeting Chronicles:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08HMD55PG/
American Wisper:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0861H1VZM/
Heaven’s Messenger:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08FT2KXJZ/
Big Shots:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0873BVRJ4/
 |
Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned) |
The links below
will take you
just there!!!
|
|
 |
Anything else you're dying to mention and
I have merely forgotten to ask? I
would like to ask that everyone support our work by rating and reviewing
our films. It only takes a minute, yet it's the main difference between
success and failure. In today's world of movie sites and platforms, it's
not "how many" views a film gets (believe it or not), but how
many interactions it
receives from the people who've seen it- specifically, how many people
are "talking" about it. So please tell your fans, every Amazon
rating, and to a lesser extent IMDb votes (and likes on FB), is a precious gift
to a filmmaker. Thanks for the
interview! Thank
you!
|
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
