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Your new movie The
Wrong Profile - in a few words, what is it about?
The
Wrong Profile
is a good film because it explores the psyche of both
a serial killer and the men who hunt them. Here we have two FBI agents,
John Parker and Vincent Gant on a stakeout outside of serial killer
Zachary Scott's house. Vincent has to take a piss break and leaves John
alone in the car for several minutes. But when John hears a voice he
doesn't recognize over his 2 way radio, he soon finds out what it's like
to be the hunted when Zachary uses Vincent as a way to lure him out of the
car. How
did the project fall together in the first place? Kenny
Kurtkan and I had met on the set of another film. We hit it off and got in
touch. Kenny is young but he is smart and very driven. I like that. I find
very few people who are as passionate and driven as I am. I had showed him
my first film Ax and he loved it. The style, the pacing, the look. He
wanted me to direct his film The
Wrong Profile and hoped that I would use
the same team (most of which I did). He sent me the script and then it
just moved forward from there.
With The
Wrong Profile having been written and produced by Kenny Kurtkan,
what was your collaboration with him like before, during and after the
shoot, and how hands-on or hands-off was he as writer/producer?
Well I should mention that literally when Kenny sent me the script he
went to Europe for 2 months with his wife and family. Our entire
pre-production consisted with midnight Skype calls and email chains. This
was his first experience producing so I sort of laid the ground work and
did what I could from here. It's not very conventional but it worked. And
then when he returned we had a few face-to-face meetings and then did
casting and location scouting.
I only mention all of this because I get asked all the time as a
filmmaker the best to make movies... and I always like to give examples
because every project I have done has been so different... for instance, my
writing partner Victor Miller (Friday the
13th) lives up near San
Francisco and we always manage to write because we use Skype, the phone,
and email... it worked much the same way with Kenny and I, especially
since I live in Los Angeles and he is an hour away in Orange Country.
Determination and perseverance always shine through!
How
would you describe your directorial approach to your story at hand?
Well I have been told I am a good director. I would like to believe
it's because I have been on the set of over 150 projects mostly as a
script supervisor. I suppose that that is true. I have learned from the
best both at what TO do and what NOT TO do. I always plan my shoots. I
don't think enough people do that. I sit with my creative team and come up
with a "look" of the film. I give my team my ideas and then have
the confidence in them to deliver. I hire people I know and have worked
with, if possible. But if they know what I am trying to achieve then they
have the creative license to work. I am a HUGE collaborator. I don't have
all the answers. I may have the final decision but I know that I have a
team around me that will help me deliver the best possible project. Anyone
who doesn't believe that, in my opinion, is an amateur filmmaker. I have
been on way too many sets to understand that. I truly believe that the
moment you forget it's a collaboration is the moment your movie has
failed.
I also love and value the opinion from the actors. Where I have the big
picture in mind as the director (or writer or both) they have the
challenge of bringing one person to live and making that person relevant.
They have to understand the motivation of a character's actions and
reactions. That may sound easy but it's extremely challenging, especially
if you are filming in extreme heat or extreme cold. There have been
several times where an actor makes suggestions that I know will make the
scene better because they can see - as the character - that sometimes it
makes a transition more normal or fluid.
With
The Wrong Profile
being reduced to a small handful of locations (primarily the inside of a
car), what kind of a challenge was it to keep things interesting? I
get told a lot when I am called to script supervise that the film will be
easy because it's in one location or that the characters never change
clothes. Truthfully that is so much more difficult than people realize. It
would take too long to explain here why that is. Just understand that if a
character has to wear the same outfit for 80 scenes rather than 4 scenes
there are more chances of making a continuity error... same with locations.
I knew we would face that here... but only because we had two lengthy
dialogue scenes within the same location. So the first scene was very
still and fluid as we introduced our characters. Once Vincent leaves and
John is by himself we are handheld and more frenetic and we split it up
with cutaways to Vincent being held hostage and Zachary (who we decided to
never really show out right). We also made the decision in post to have a
few more cutaways of crime scenes to enhance the drama and suspense. What
can you tell us about your cast, and why exactly these people?
As with all of my films I love my cast. I have been very lucky to work
with amazing crew people... in fact, I will always try and work with the
same people. That also holds true with my cast. I have used Todd James
Jackson (who played Zachary) in all of my films... even for one line! He
was the first actor I ever directed and he has always had faith in me.
Plus he is so damn amazing. When we were looking for our serial killer I
didn't consider him at first. I used him in Ax and thought that by using
him I would filming the same movie. We did audition several people, which
one I liked a lot! An actor I had who auditioned for Ax
and who I
had worked with on set prior. But when we asked Todd to just do a quick
V.O. recording and he sent it over, it literally gave me chills listening
to it.
I knew I wanted Paul Stroili for Vincent. In fact, both Kenny and I knew it.
Paul is larger than life. He is very tall and has such a presence about
it. I knew he would be a character we would want to root for and who we,
as the audience, would believe John Parker would feel compassion for, so
really casting him just made perfect sense.
As for Kyler Porche, who played John... I knew the moment he came in to the
audition that he was John Parker. I had an instinct about him. I still do.
You will see more of him in the future, I have no doubt. He is extremely
good looking and has an amazing body. He works hard at it. But more than
that... he is very kind and very professional. He knew all of his lines for
both scenes on the day we started filming. He was flexible and willing to
push himself as an actor to make each scene better. In fact, all of the
actors pushed themselves... because I like to challenge them.
Sidebar: a few years ago when my play was produced the lead actor came
to me and said "this character is very challenging for me. We
watch him grow up and die tragically every night." To which I replied
"that seems fair, it wasn't easy for me to write him I don't expect
it to be easy for you to act him."
I love my actors. I love actors who understand their body and its
movement. There are times we can remove a line or two because the actor
can do more with a look or a gesture. That is why film is such a different
medium than theater... and both I love dearly and present their own
challenges.
Do
talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere! The
shoot was amazing. Truly. We filmed in one long evening. 14 hours, which
is a true testament to my cast and crew... plus we shoot in Orange County
near the beach in November so it go really foggy that night. It was
also tough because I was in the middle of 2 back-to-back features so I had
not had any days off. The crew though kept laughing and having so
much fun. I mean, there is such a camaraderie to film making. Anything
you can tell us about critical and audience reception of your movie yet?
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People
love the film. I am happy about that. It's the first film I directed,
which I didn't write. I expect there to be critical reviews. That is the
nature of the beast when it comes to creating any sort of artwork. Not
everyone sees the world the same way. I am ok with that... usually. The
story has a lot of religious undertone. I use religion a lot in my
stories. So does Kenny. I think people in general are governed by their
faith and religion even on a small scale. Fear and faith are motivating
factors and I exploit that to help create drama! Any
future projects you'd like to share?
I have a few things on
the horizon. I am directing a feature called Rock Paper Dead written by
Kerry Fleming and Victor Miller (Friday the
13th). I also wrote an
all-Latino drama called You Can Call Me Eve which I am looking to direct.
Also, I was hired to write a script entitled Malo Facto for Roldan
Entertainment. Your/your movie's
website, Facebook, whatever else?
Everything about me or my projects
can be found on my website www.bearclawfilms.com
We are also on Instagram, Twitter,
Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, and PInterest.
Thanks
for the interview!
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find Michael Coulombe at adultvideouniverse.com
