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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Fundraising for AMPeter's "Hacker Ethic" now live on IndieGoGo.com
Here's an update from my post last week about the films Inspirationand Hacker Ethic, both currently fundraising on the awesome online social marketplace known as IndieGoGo.com, whose innovative mantra is Do It With Others (DIWO).
First off, Inspiration met it's $5,000 goal. Now, Hacker Ethic has begun it's first round of fundraising. Its goal is currently $2,500.
The first round of funds for Hacker Ethic will go toward camera, lighting & sound equipment rental. Hacker Ethic has 45 days to reach its goal from the day of the first contribution, so it depends on supporters like you to help make that happen. (FYI, AMPeters, director of Hacker Ethic, is also a contributing notetaker here at The Film Panel Notetaker, and I am also one of the producers of Hacker Ethic.)
The more one contributes, the more perks one receives. And once Hacker Ethic has met it's first goal, the team can move onto its next round of fundraising.
For more information on Hacker Ethic and to make a contribution, please go to the following link. Once there, be sure to click on the "Contribute Now" icon:
On Thursday, I attended for the very first time the New York International Latino Film Festival, which presented over 100 films throughout the week. Earlier in the day after picking up my press badge from the Roger Smith Hotel, I hopped over to the Directors Guild Theater to see the film Mancora from Peru (the filmmakers were not present for that, so unfortunately, I have no Q&A notes, other than to say that I thought it was a fairly good film, which sort of reminded me of Y Tu Mama Tambien, which is the much better of the two.) Then I went over to Showbiz Software for a panel discussion on film financing, coordinated by Edwin Pagan, who made a brief introduction. The panelists touched on a number of topics ranging from ways to go about finding funding for your first films to finding a universal appeal for a broader audience, and a brief case study on how the indie film Quinceañera was funded by a community. Here are highlights from the discussion:
Matías: How do you get your first money to make your film?
Bertelsen: The first money is the hardest. I’m sure that’s not a newsflash. Typically it comes from well-established relationships including friends and family. Ultimately, the first money comes when you can demonstrate the reliability of your project. The trick is to get around the whole catch 22 when they say, what have you done before? If there was kind of a magic formula to that, I would have bottled it by now and sold it and paying for the rest of my career.
Kohli: I think before you get into the game, you need very little money to actually build alliances…people who get on board early, which can be organizations or grants…that align with your project.
Rubin: IndieGoGo is an online marketplace to connect filmmakers to fans. We’re giving the tools to filmmakers for fundraising. The filmmakers have already raised tens of thousands of dollars on IndieGoGo. Some of them have already had established films in their prior careers and their building their audiences online to turn that into money for their next films. Many of the filmmakers for the first time are raising between $500 to $10,000.
Bertelsen: Your first money can be a very strategic proposition. It doesn’t require everything up front. It’s about building partnerships, whether it be with established filmmakers, production companies, websites, etc. A lot of times, the early work of getting the first money is just a matter of forming relationships who can give you credibility as a filmmaker and give your story the legitimacy you know that it has.
Matías: Many filmmakers here are everything…we produce, direct, hand out the coffee, edit. How do you feel about that?
Levis: Start with a package that ultimately you want to get to an investor. These partnerships are intended to tell a sophisticated investor what you’re looking for and that the return for them is there. My belief is that you strengthen yourself by delegating to individuals that will strengthen your project. You may be an amazing director, but you find a producer who is better at producing. Just because you’re a great producer, doesn’t mean you’re a great distributor. Finding your alliances and building a team…the bigger the team is that you trust, the further you’ll go.
Matías: When should filmmakers think of getting an attorney as part of the team?
Ramírez: Let me first say that I tend to think of funding as falling into two broad categories:
Obtain secure funding from grants and foundations (ie. The Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation). That tends to be for the most part for social-themed documentaries. It takes a long time however. They usually want to see a body of work and someone with experience. It’s also an investment that’s going to pay off on their part.
Private equity…trying to get money from sophisticated investors. That tends to be a significantly more complicated process because you’re dealing with securities. You have to go through processes like registering with the SEC or blue sky agencies or coming up with documents that will have enough information for sophisticated investors to make an informed decision regarding their investment, because it is a really risky business.
Levis: The earlier you bring in council (and accounting), the better. Building that team is such an imperative aspect. At times, it may seem a little overwhelming, but there’s a lot of individuals out there that realize that risk. A great filmmaker or producer does not make a good lawyer or account, so asking as many questions as you can and getting free advice, so that way when you are approaching grants or private equity, you’ve got your numbers down. You have all those answers that are so important to them.
Rubin: One of the things that’s important to ask yourself is what are your goals for your movie? It can be just an artistic expression. It can be because you want to change your career and do this for a living…whether it’s a success or not. Be realistic. Christopher Nolan (director of The Dark Knight) is obviously now a rich man. His first movie cost $11,000.
Matías: When thinking about how to raise money, how do you divvy up the budget so you can understand who you’re going to approach?
Bertelsen: I think it starts much like Slava was saying by asking what your goals are. Ask yourself, who is the audience for this film? When you start to examine your project, you make decisions on who would be appropriate person to bring this to. For example, you’re not going to bring a low-budget indie horror film to a structurally themed documentary production company. It goes without saying, but you’d be surprised at how many first-time filmmakers don’t read the guidelines and don’t pay attention to what’s being asked of them when it comes to how to prerequisite their projects. You want to be very targeted. You’ve got to do your homework and know what it is they’re looking for. Tailor your projects to those interests the best that you can.
Kohli: I think it’s very important to do that homework he mentioned. Who are the players in the market and what they do? Exactly the way you have goals for your films, they have goals for their money. You need to be ready to understand who is most interested in your project. Be realistic. Who was the last you? Who did exactly what you’re trying to do? Learn from their mistakes.
Sergeant: Be creative and you have to be willing to really go that extra mile. I was going to do a narrative film depending on what it would cost. When you’re doing a narrative film, anybody who’s an investor or wherever you raise money, they want to know, ‘how can I get this back?’ A movie is one of the quickest ways to lose millions of dollars really fast.
Ramírez: All that information on how prepared you are should be a in a business plan. There’s a series of books out there, one that I’ve talked about on panels before is by Louise Levinson, Business Plans for Filmmakers. You’re going to have to do the research on what the market is and projections. What type of films like yours have made money? You also have to be honest for instance, these films like mine, have not made money, but most have. I was watching Quinceañera…I was so shocked in the interviews…I think they had an idea for a movie. They went to somebody. They had the money before they even had scripts. I had to rewind that. I don’t think that really happens
Levis: With the packaging and everything’s in place, there are so many key elements where things can go awry. It must be frustrating even after you’ve made a few films to locate the money. The global market is such a changing one. Last tear investors on Wall Street were really aggressive, but with the economy changing so much since last year, the opportunities are not there. Europe is looking to us now, because their money is so much stronger. Right now the pound is two-to-one. That means if you can start to talk to individuals there now that for instance say they’d like to shoot in New York City…what would cost 500,000 pounds here, I can easily get $1 million American. Things kind of equal the same. The day rate here, the day rate there. That’s true with a lot of European money. They’re really looking to the U.S. because everyone wants that U.S. affiliation. The opportunity to present yourself with a co-production company out of Spain or France or London…what you’re doing ultimately is giving them the opportunity to send their money and it goes further. Your business plan should also think about what happens outside the U.S.
Rubin: The Hollywood system has a term called pre-selling of foreign territories.
Matías: Historically, it has been difficult for us as Latinos and Latinas to be able to break into making these films and finding this money. Have things changed? Is it easier? Do we have topics that people want? Are our own communities willing to support what might not be mainstream, even by indie definitions?
Bertelsen: It is an increasingly global marketplace. I think that only adds value to our stories as Latinos, as people of color, and women in a world where we have to make up the majority. I think the goal is to find a way to reach that audience.
Ramírez: I often hear that a film has to have a universal appeal. How as a filmmaker of color and you want to make a film that portrays the experience of your community in a way that’s appealing? How can we make films that can get picked up by distributors?
Kohli: From a South Asian angle, filmmakers like Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta tell South Asian stories, but these are not stories for the South Asian market. These are stories that people all over the world want to hear. I think a good film from any angle, the simplest way for you to have a barometer is if people can somehow relate to it. A story we can feel, we can be a part of. That in the simplest form is a success. If you can take what is in your film to an audience that is not you…you don’t want people like you sitting in the audience watching this film, but you want people who are not like you to be able to see like you. Vanajathat went to over 100 festivals and won about 30 awards was released by Emerging Pictures, it did numbers that were less than 10% in South Asian markets. Be able to convince someone who’s not you about the story. I think people want not to educated the audience with every film. Try not to beat them on the head with it. You can get the story across in a way that delivers the message, but if you’re going for an audience that’s not your core audience, you need to make it slightly easy for them.
Bertelsen: The onus on us as filmmakers of color is to prove those economics. In addition to all the things to get in the room, be prepared to make the argument with the market research.
Matías: To get back to the issue of Quinceañera, the film did not have a script when they got the money. They had an idea. They had lived in the neighborhood. They had been involved with the whole ceremony of the quinceañeras. They were connected to a whole group of people who had money. It was the group of people who gave them the money, and they said, now I have to go out and make a script. They made the script in a very short amount of time. The reason that film works is they worked with the community. They found the Madrina, the woman in the community who really knew how to teach everyone how to participate in a quinceañera ceremony. That’s really what gave the film its authenticity of a right of passage for a young woman.
Help Film Projects Reach Their Fundraising Goals On IndieGoGo
This past weekend, I helped out filmmaker and frequent contributing notetaker AMPeters (NO Cross, NO Crown) begin work on Hacker Ethic, a provocative feature documentary that explores the politics and culture of the latest generation of hackers. One resource we'll be utilizing to raise funds for the film is the online social marketplace IndieGoGo (which The Film Panel Notetaker previously reported on here , here and here). IndieGoGo prides itself on its Do-It-With-Others (DIWO) methodology, which in short gives filmmakers the tools to reach out, provide incentives and engage their personal audiences. This is what Peters and I hope to do for Hacker Ethic, and this is what another production company, ISFilms, has already started to do.
The film Inspiration is the cornerstone project of IS Films, a student-run nonprofit organization that provides opportunities for college and high school students to get direct experience working on visual media arts projects. IS Films is dedicated to helping develop quality media and a diverse pool of highly skilled creative talent.
Inspiration is closing in on $4,000 in donations and they only have three days left in their IndieGoGo fundraising challenge! They need $1,200 more. To help them reach the magic number of $5,000, visit their IndieGoGo project page . Also of note, Inspiration last week received a Panavision 35mm GOLD Film Equipment Grant. The package includes 10 prime-lenses, 6 super-speed lenses, 20 Filters and Flex Fills... and a $325,000 custom-made Panaflex Film Camera...a grand total of $500,000 of professional equipment to help make a beautiful film. Way to go!
IndiePix has hired Ryan Harrington to head up Indiepix Studios, the world's first virtual studio for independent filmmakers that provides a major new production and distribution outlet. Harrington will be responsible for overseeing all of the filmmaker relations as well as managing the productions which IndiePix has invested in - by taking on executive producer responsibilities. In addition, he will coordinate the DVD and digital acquisitions and help to develop individual and tailored distribution strategies for movies submitted. He will also oversee film sales and acquisitions to broadcasters both domestically and internationally.
Harrington brings significant industry experience to the role, with extensive production credentials including Emmy winning programmes "Stars on Ice", "Horatio Hornblower" and "Shackleton". Ryan has also overseen production for A&E IndieFilms, the feature documentary arm of A&E Network. Whilst there, he championed the Oscar-nominated films "Murderball" and "Jesus Camp"; the Sundance hits "My Kid Could Paint That" and "American Teen" (in theaters July 2008); Barbara Kopple's "Bearing Witness" and the Tribeca 2007 film "Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother."
Filmmaker Magazine's 2008 25 New Faces of Independent Film
Congratulations to all of the lucky filmmakers who were bestowed with Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film for 2008. The Film Panel Notetaker has been very fortunate to have met many of these talented filmmakers in the past year. Below is the list of all 25 of the filmmakers highlighted in the magazine. I've embedded links into the ones that The Film Panel Notetaker has covered either in the form of panel or Q&A notes or One-on-One Q&As. For those that have no links, hope to meet you around the circuit.
SnagFilms Acquires indieWIRE and Partners with Indiepix
Congrats to indieWIRE, which just got snagged up by SnagFilms, a new social networking website that offers free instant streaming and viral sharing of hundreds of documentary films. indieWIRE will provide archival and news content for SnagFilms and the company’s virtual movie theater widgets, including breaking news from the indie sector, comprehensive film reviews and analysis, and the top relevant blogs. iW Editor-in-Chief Eugene Hernandez offers a detailed look into this new venture. Read it here.
And that's not all. Indiepix just announced that it is partnering with SnagFilms. IndiePix's 40 non-fiction films are available through SnagFilms' website and via its widgets free-of-charge, as the service is fully advertiser-supported.
Before the film began, I had a brief conversation with Anderson mentioning to him that I saw him speak at the IFP Market back in 2004 where he and Bale presented a case study of The Machinist. Here are my notes from that (See p. 7 in the PDF). Anderson told me that several years before that, his very first feature film, The Darien Gap, was in the IFP Market, which was actually known then at the time as the Independent Feature Film Market (IFFM), but is now called Independent Film Week. Not only that, but The Darien Gap also opened the very first GenArt Film Festival in 1996.
As the program began, GenArt's Aaron Levine introduced the two films of the evening. The first was a short by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean called Sikume (On the Ice). Levine said he was excited about the program because it's been so hot in the city lately and both of these films take place in the snow. "Be prepared to be very cooled off," Levine said. Levine said of Sikume that GenArt loved the film, but couldn't find a slot for it in its annual GenArt Film Festival (held this past April which only shows seven features and seven shorts), but they selected the film for Wednesday's program because it plays together brilliantly with Transsiberian.
While there was no Q&A after the screening, the two filmmakers got up to say a few words beforehand. MacLean said Sikume was shot in his hometown in Alaska. "It was very cold up there all the time," he said. Anderson further reflected on his first time at the GenArt Film Festival when The Darien Gap opened it up. That film was made for just $60,000 and played at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, which was followed by a party in a big abandoned church on the Upper East Side. "I remember that very well, because it was such a small movie in a very big space," he said. On Transsiberian, Anderson said it's "been a long journey in the making" that started about 20 years ago when he took a backpacking trip through Asia. He started in India and ended up in China where he stopped in Beijing to purchase a ticket for $130 to go on board the Trans-Siberian Railway, which goes all the way across Siberia more than 5,000 miles to Moscow. "It's like the longest, most epic train journey on the planet," he said. For Anderson, it was a moment that inspired him 20 years later to make the film. He went back a couple of years ago when prepping for the film, and took the train again, hadn't changed at all. "It's the same exotic shady people on the train. The same vodka flowing ceaselessly," he said. Anderson said what he's trying to do in the film, beyond telling a good story, is capturing the raw experience of what it was like taking the train.
So is Transsiberian worth the ride? It gets off to a somewhat slow start, introducing the central characters, a married American couple played by Harrelson (Roy, a train enthusiast) and Mortimer (Jessie, a photographer), who after spending time helping kids in China, decide to journey across Russia on the train to rekindle their romance. On their trip, they befriend fellow passengers Carlos (played by Noriega) and Abby (played by Mara), who seem to have some secrets. Not until the film's second act does Transsiberian really take off. I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but let's just say that some Hitchcockian twists and turns shake things up for Abby, and most of the rest of the film is pure nail-biting suspense. Things get even further complicated when Russian narcotics detective Grinko (played by Kingsley) enters the picture as he investigates drug trafficking taking place on the train. The film does an excellent job of playing tricks on the audience as to who is good and who is evil, but then eventually turns to a rather over-the-top finale. While Transsiberian is often a bumpy ride, it's definitely worth the trip.
Sujewa's now back in Kensington, MD, after his road trip with girlfriend Amanda to meet and interview indie film bloggers for his documentary The Indie Film Bloggers: A Portrait of a Community. Sujewa and Amanda made stops in North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia. Among those interviewed were Noralil Ryan Fores of ShortEnd Magazine (who has a really great podcast interview with Sujewa & Amanda), Chuck Tryon of The Chutry Experiment and Atlanta Film Fest's Gabe Wardell & Paula Martinez. Also previously interviewed on Sujewa's last trip to NYC were Tambay Obenson and Brandon Harris. Sujewa returns to NYC July 25-27 where yours trully's brain will be picked for the documentary. I am very excited to be a part of this project, and can't wait to see how it's all put together.
TFPN: How did the idea of Beautiful Things come about?
Obenson: I’ve always been interested in exploring relationship dynamics. We seem to spend a significant part of our lives in some stage of coupling – we’re either looking for a partner, or we are with a partner and are working to make the relationship long-lasting. The need for companionship is after all very human. I wanted to deconstruct that notion on film.
TFPN: Is the story at all autobiographical?
Obenson: Not really, even though I play the lead male role. It’s not based specifically on any previous relationships; but as the filmmaker, I certainly drew from my own personal experiences as I created material for the project.
TFPN: Were you actually dating Hallie Brown (who plays Schola) while you were shooting the film, or was she merely someone you just cast in the part? Your chemistry seemed very realistic.
Obenson: Hallie was an actress I cast for the part. We were not dating, and never have. While there was a script for the film, about a third into production, I threw out much of it, and decided that I’d rather use improvisational methods to give the film as realistic a look and feel as possible. I felt it was crucial to do so, given the subject matter and my intent.
TFPN: I noticed your hair grew out from the "interview" segments compared to the "flashback" scenes or main action of the film. Was there a time gap between shooting those segments? How long did it take to complete the entire film?
Obenson: Yes there was a time gap of about 2 years between the flashback scenes and the interview segments (which happened in the present). During that time, I let my hair grow a little, although the film had no influence. So, the results, the effects it had on the film, were unintentional - happy accidents, I suppose. I completed the film – production and post – in about 2 years; however, not continuously; there was a lot of down time. Actual shooting happened over 9 total days between 2003 and 2005. Post production (editing, sound design, etc) lasted maybe 4 months.
TFPN: Can you talk a little bit about each of the short films that are also on the DVD? Were those made when you were living in San Francisco?
Obenson: Yes, both I made while taking a film workshop in San Francisco in 2000/2001. Both were first and second attempts at filmmaking for me. "She Is," the longer piece, was a rather spontaneous production. I had no idea what I was doing; I just wanted to get as many "interesting" shots as I could of the young lady I was dating at the time, at various locations, and then eventually edit it all together into something coherent. The second "Eye See" was planned. With Hitchcock as an influence then, I storyboarded the entire film, from the first frame to the last, in detail, prior to production. I haven't worked in that fashion since then because it was quite labor-intensive, but I'll admit that it made for a much more fluid shooting effort, even though I slipped a few times. I haven't made a short film since, instead choosing to focus on feature narratives.
TFPN: How long have you been doing The Obenson Report? Why did you create it? Has it been helpful to you as a filmmaker?
Obenson: The Obenson Report started as a Podcast before becoming a blog - a podcast I created in the summer of 2007, and which I hosted through February of this year. My focus was on black cinema and still is mostly, even with the transition from audio to the written word. I created the podcast as an extension of the work I was already doing - beating the drums for change within the realm of black cinema. But the weekly schedule proved to be quite consuming, and earlier this year, as I went through my usual New Year self-analysis, I realized that I missed the filmmaking process, and wanted to return to it. So, I gave up the podcast in mid-February to focus on writing. The blog picked up where the podcast left off, although my focus has broadened a bit. I found blogging to be less involved - not as much prep time, and much more organic to me. I figured that I already spent a lot of time gathering news and opinion pieces on and offline, for my own use, so simply moving those interesting bits and pieces of information onto a blog made sense to me. The transition hasn't been difficult, though it still takes time to put together. Has it been helpful to me as a filmmaker? Yes, certainly. I've been able connect with people like yourself, and many, many others - bloggers and readers alike - and it's boosted public awareness of me and my efforts, generating interest in people like yourself, as implied by this profile questionnaire.
TFPN: What is your next film project?
Obenson: I've been writing a screenplay off and on for the last 4 months - it's something I'm hoping to produce later this year, or early next year, provided I can raise the necessary funds. I can't give much info about it just yet, as I'm still discovering it myself. But I'll definitely announce its arrival when I'm much more certain of it.
TFPN: Are you looking forward to seeing yourself in Sujewa Ekanayake’s documentary about film bloggers?
Obenson: I most certainly am! I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing others share their individual stories, and how Sujewa puts it all together. I think it's a timely piece of filmmaking, given the "cold war" that's been brewing between the old and new school. It's certainly topical, and I think it could generate a lot of interest and dialogue.
One-on-One Q&A with Dawn Scibilia and Alan Cooke, "Home"
The Film Panel Notetaker’s One-on-One Q&A with…
Dawn Scibilia – Director, Producer, DP, Editor & Alan Cooke – Producer, Writer, Narrator
Over the weekend, I got a pleasant surprise when Alan Cooke sent me an instant chat message from Ireland on Facebook. He asked me if I had seen the documentary he produced, wrote, and narrated called Home. It was a film that I was familiar with, but had not yet had the opportunity to see, so I asked him if he could send me a screener. He put me in touch with the film’s director Dawn Scibilia. We spoke on the phone, and met the next rainy day outside of BAM where Dawn gave me the DVD. (I had just come from Sujewa’s documentary shoot where he interviewed Tambay Obenson nearby in Brooklyn.) I immediately took the DVD home with me to watch. It is a beautifully shot and well-told story of Alan’s experience coming from Ireland to live in New York City, as well as other stories told by people who call New York home, whether they came here as immigrants or were born and raised here. Some familiar faces include Liam Neeson, Susan Sarandon, Woody Allen, Mike Meyers, Frank and Malachy McCourt, and more. The film resonated with me very well. I don’t come from too far away, Western New York State, but I can certainly relate as New York has become my home. I wanted to find out more about the making of Home, so I did a One-on-One (or Two) Q&A with Dawn and Alan. They are currently seeking distribution opportunities here in the U.S.
In the mean time, here are a few ways in which you can see Home before then—Home will air on Thirteen/WNET New York this Thursday, July 3 at 10pm, and to purchase a DVD of Home, visit http://homethemovie.com/.
TFPN: Who came to who first to propose making the film? Dawn, did you already have the topic in mind, or did Alan pitch it to you? How did it all come about?
Scibilia: In 2000, I was toying with the idea of a documentary about how New York had changed in recent years. I had even shot some footage, mainly streetscapes, buildings and parts of the city I wanted to remember as they were. After 9/11, I abandoned the idea for obvious reasons. In 2004, I met actor Alan Cooke who was interested in doing a one man show about his experiences in New York as a recent Irish Immigrant. We got to talking and decided to merge our ideas and our talents.
Cooke: Dawn was documenting the city visually before I met her and I was writing fragments about my own life as a newly arrived immigrant. I was renting an apt for my landlord and Dawn was going to take it, we got chatting and had an interest in the changes and effects of New York and on my own transformation being away from home. We went out the next day with a MiniDV camera and began a journey of capturing the city in its essence of energy, in the visual and poetical sense. As we moved deeper into the piece we discovered a language that existed on the city streets and found ourselves with a work that was growing organically with no preconceived plan, just following our hearts and passions and the calling of the streets of New York.
TFPN: How did you select all the people to be interviewed in the film? How did you gain access to the celebrities?
Scibilia: We thought it would be interesting to get well known people who would open up to us and reflect on the city just as we were doing. And we believed we could pull it off. We each came up with a list of people who had an interesting relationship with the city and would want to share it with us because of their love of the city, people who were inspired by the city and understood its history. We wanted a mix of Irish immigrants like Liam Neeson and native New Yorkers like Susan Sarandon and Pete Hamill, or an interesting mix of both as in (Frank and Malachy) McCourt who were born in Brooklyn, went back to Ireland and then decided to return to New York. After unsuccessful attempts at getting past agents and managers, we found ways of meeting them and pitching them in person. Some face to face meetings were pure accidents. Only in New York!
Cooke: We came upon them in situations like bars and theatres and movie premieres. I met Liam Neeson in Central Park, by an eight million to one chance! We got them because we had passion and an original idea and they saw in our eyes a desire to capture something honest, poetic and real.
TFPN: Were you at all inspired by any other films on immigration? If so, what are some of the great films on the immigrant experience in America that you've seen?
Scibilia: We watched Wings of Desireand Barakafor its poetry and the great New York: A Documentary Film by Rick Burns which was a great way to quickly delve into the city’s history and some of its most devoted citizens.
Cooke: I personally took my influence from the street culture of New York and from other poetic films like Wings of Desire, Joyce’s Ulysses, Kerouac, dreamers and notions of myth and the human journey. I love films that involve a single characters transformation for I feel that is what happened to me. Our film Home is a reflection of all of these inspirations layered into the film.
TFPN: What message would you like your film to deliver?
Scibilia: It wasn't our intention to send a message or answer questions, but if I had to give you an answer I guess it would be, life itself is a journey. And if you should find yourself in New York, recognize and appreciate its importance to your journey and all who came before you.
Cooke: It has been seen by maybe one million people so far in festivals and on TV. We have had many wonderful reactions, I want the film to move people and show that all of our journeys have meaning and New York. Moments can change you forever. The film delivers a message of hope that New York still has a spiritual power and you can be fully realized on many different levels if you choose to call it HOME.
TFPN: (To Cooke) Was your narration in the film based on any previous writings you've done, or was it written solely for the film?
Cooke: The narration was based on my experiences and some writing I was working on. I just expanded it as I went along. As Dawn created pieces of film, I would write around them and vice verse. It was a very organic response in how the film was created. Being an actor helped because it meant I was able to create some truth in my voice and it was also part of how I shaped the words, looking for the realness in what I was trying to say. I learned a huge amount from the process and the audiences so far have reacted very strongly to my narration. They have said it’s like I’m bringing them on a journey…a personal journey on the streets.
TFPN: What has been the reaction from people who have seen the film, particularly from immigrants?
Scibilia: There’s a strong identification with the film. They've all made a point of telling me that they felt as though they had just seen themselves on the screen. So I'm happy to know I've done my job as a director. For me personally, the biggest compliment of all is when a New Yorker tells me that it completely captured the city for them, because that means we satisfied the most jaded audience members perhaps in the world! And since this is my home town, it meant a lot.
Cooke: Some have been moved to tears. I believe we have caught the essence of the immigrant’s journey in New York, the strife, the self-belief, the challenges and the moments of real transformation. People from London, New York, San Francisco, Australia…have all responded in saying how poetic and how beautiful the piece is…it’s very endearing.
TFPN: The film is being distributed in Ireland right now. How's that going? What has been the reaction from people there?
Cooke: We have our first theatrical release in Ireland. I’m very excited. We have shown it on TV here and in some small one-off screenings. People have been very moved by my story. I am brining so much back home to them.
TFPN: What are you both working on next?
Scibilia: I'm polishing a screenplay I've just completed and hope to direct – a film noir set in NYC. I'm hoping to take it to the IFP Market this September.
Cooke: I’m half way through a book about New York, an extension of the film and a more personal and expressionistic look at a series of moments I have had in the city. I hope maybe to make a film about my journey in Ireland sometime soon, and I am trying to audition again for the stage. That is my first love as a professional stage actor, but life can throw some funny roads at you!
