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Your new movie Binge
- in a few words, what is it about?
Binge
is a psychological thriller about an alcoholic's mental struggle
with sobriety. In his newfound sobriety, he uncovers some deeply buried
secrets that could tempt him into drinking again. With Binge
being about an alcoholic fighting for sobriety, is any of this at all
based on your own experience (if you don't mind the rather personal
question)? And to what extent can you identify with Max, actually? I
think that anyone that has went to college can identify some with Max!
(haha) I wish that I could say that this was all made up, but I think that
a lot of what happens in the film is based, in some way or another, on
things that I have seen in reality. Not necessarily what I have personally
experienced, but others around me as well. Other
sources of inspiration when writing Binge? There
are a lot of filmmakers and films that have inspired all of my works in
some way. I think all of David Fincher's works and Stanley Kubrick's The
Shining are several that probably had the most direct influence on this
piece. With
Binge crossing several
genres rather effortlessly, was that intended from the get-go, or did it
just happen during writing? It actually wasn't. This was
actually first written as a 20-minute strict psychological thriller, but I
kinda just fell in love with the plot and the main character that I
couldn't stop developing his dramatic struggle.
What can you tell us about
your directorial approach to your story at hand? One of the
biggest things that I try to do is stay out of the actor's way. For the
first take, I'll just let them do their thing, since they've developed
their characters and know the ins and outs. From there, if there's
anything that I really feel needs adjusted, I'll have a quick discussion
about what is or isn't working and we'll go from there. Also, since I
shoot and edit my films as well, I don't have to waste a lot of time
getting a lot of coverage of full scenes. I know the camera angles I want
(unless something sporadically pops out at me), and I know where the edit
points are. Do talk
about your key cast, and why exactly these people? Pretty
much all of the cast was filled by friends. The characters that played Max
and Steve, Andrew Glessner and Derek Mentzer, are two of my best friends.
We all grew up together, appreciate movies, and got into this endeavor
together. My girlfriend of almost five years, Susan Chang, was interested
in acting in the film as well, so we cast her as the Girl in White. The
role of Miranda was the only role we actually auditioned outsiders for,
and when Bex Etter auditioned, she absolutely blew me away. I saw her walk
in the door, and I knew that was Miranda. What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
We're
a bunch of jokesters (haha). Since we're shooting such heavy, dark
material, the cast and crew really loves to joke around in-between takes
or else we'd all be absolutely miserable. I know that there are probably
professional actors that would hate this style of set, but I think it's
crucial that we all have fun while we work or else I don't see the point
in doing it. The
$64 question of course, where can Binge
be seen? You can rent or own Binge
by visiting
https://www.reelhouse.org/thinkingartentertainment/binge
or by visiting our website
(www.thinking-art-entertainment.com).
Anything you can tell us about critical and
audience reception of your movie? We've had a lot of good
word of mouth and were accepted into a variety of indie film festivals, as
well as nominated for several awards. Andrew Glessner actually won the
Best Actor award at the World Music and Independent Film Festival held in
D.C. It was a great accomplishment, and I'm super proud of him and his
work on this film. Honestly, I haven't heard too many bad things about the
film, which is nice because I've seen the movie a million times now and I
know where the mistakes are/what I need to improve on for other projects.
I just want the audience to be able to enjoy the story and walk away
hopefully thinking critically about what they've just seen.
Any
future projects you'd like to share?
We actually just released a 5-minute short
entitled A Dinner
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7Rf1Xx5YgE)
And I'm finishing up post-work on a
20-minute short that we'll be releasing this summer entitled Dilemma. Also, we're in pre-production on a short crime
drama titled Marbletown, as well as developing more ideas for
regular content. I couldn't be more excited about the projects in our
pipeline, and hope our audience continues to enjoy and find value in our
work.
What got you into
filmmaking in
the first place, and did you receive any formal education on the subject? I
don't know if there's any one person that got me into filmmaking other
than myself - as conceited as that sounds. I grew up watching movies and
daydreaming, and it kind of just grew into an aspiration ever since my
father would take me to the movies when I was a little kid. I graduated
with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies from Penn State. While my degree
made me study all kinds of media, my primary concentration was Film
Studies under that major. I took a lot of film theory classes, studied and
watched a lot of films, and wrote a lot of papers. It wasn't until I got
out of school and was working on my first no-budget indie that I thought
to myself "I could actually do this."
What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Binge? I
wrote and directed a feature length film entitled Blind
Circumstance. It's about two best friends who find themselves in the
dumps financially and conspire to rob an underground poker game to solve
their problems; but obviously, that doesn't quite work out for them
(haha). This was basically my in-depth film school as it's where I learned
that I was way over my head, and I really needed to organize, spend more
time studying, and gain more experience. How would you describe yourself as a director? Friendly
(haha). I'm really not a controlling director when it comes to the script.
I let everyone know my expectations up front, and I like to treat everyone
with respect. I want everyone to enjoy themselves on set and have fun
doing what we all love, otherwise it makes the days that much longer. Filmmakers who inspire you? Martin
Scorsese, David Fincher, Steven Spielberg, Dennis Villenueve, David Lynch
are among my favorite directors, and Roger Deakins is the most
inspirational cinematographer working today (give the man his Oscar!). Your favourite
movies?
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Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
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The links below
will take you
just there!!!
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The Departed, Raging Bull, Taxi
Driver, Saving
Private Ryan, Se7en, Prisoners, No Country for Old Men. ... and of course, films you really deplore? Transformers,
for sure! Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
www.Thinking-Art-Entertainment.com
facebook.com/ThinkingArtEntertainment
Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Like
us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel
(https://www.youtube.com/user/wtmpp28).
We have a lot of exciting content coming out later this year, and I hope
you all enjoy it! Thanks
for the interview!
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amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Wesley Mellott at adultvideouniverse.com
