Being a Filmmaker
Article By Brad Balfour
Photo by Antonio Mandralis

So you have this great film idea and you want to be the next Jim Sheridan or maybe you're an actor thinking you're as hot as Gabriel Byrne. What to do? Read the following and get going!

When director/writer Bob Pappas finally got an opportunity to make his film, he ended up shooting part of it in Ireland. "It was cheap to do, professional people were there and the locations were great." Not only that but his Irish heritage figured in as well. For a lot of indie filmmakers, this heritage serves as either grist for the mill or at least motivation for artistic success,. Certainly the Irish support the creative route as way out of life's misery. But the general rules of indie film making apply. In order to make a film one has to have pretty inventive skills at raising money, at bootstrapping a production and at garnering attention when everyone wants to be a lead or be a director/writer. So where to start? Everyone has their own strategy and story as to how their film gets financed. But once the film is in hand, then the fun begins. And that's where this section comes in. Every year, the Independent Feature Project holds the IFFM--a marketplace for independent filmmakers. Whether someone may be enjoying a modicum of success such as director John Sullivan has with his Follorv Me Outside (which won the CMJ Film Festival Best Feature award) or not starting on festival circuit is the beginning of a solid education. The New York Film Festival is a pinnacle for most independent filmmakers to achieve before any sell out to Hollywood. Festivals such as Sundance, Cannes even Berlin or Toronto serve to establish the critical groundswell necessary to garner a proffered position, stir the gossip and lend artistic credibility. For independent filmmakers in Ireland, the system is a little different-government agencies such as the Irish Film Board offers more support than is normally the case in the States. Terrence Mulligan, founder of New York's Irish Film Fleadh (which debuts its share of Irish indies each year) offers his own observations of that indie scene. "As far as new Irish indies, it's never looked better when such movies as About Adam, Most Fertile Man in Ireland, and When Brendan Met Trudy are being released. Gerry Stembridge is being citeed as the Irish Woody Alien. The Irish film industry is gradually learning from the American indies about how to tell a story that appeals to a wide audience. There are films like Connamara (Directed by Eoin Moore) that is a love triangle but has a certain Irishness to it and he pulls it off brilliantly.There's no definitive statement I can make about Irish indies because it is so subjective and the cause for many a debate in Ireland. But the Irish Film Board is starting to take more risks and learn from American indies as well as focus on building an indigenous film industry. Also established a few years ago is a Screen Commission. As long as they continue to develop filmmakers and focus on the story-telling the future looks bright for Irish film industry." Read the following to peer into the cinematic crystal ball and read of ways to get your own film to market.--Brad Balfour

IFFM 2000
Eric Gudris

After enduring years of eating pasta on a daily basis, maxing out every credit card that comes in the mail, and relying on the generosity of strangers, many aspiring filmmakers reach their dream and have a completed film ready to be seen. But then what? Many make that first step into the lucrative yet precarious film world by making the annual pilgrimage to the IFP Market. Formerly known as the Independent Feature Film Market, the IFP Market has entered its 22nd year of allowing new directors and writers an opportunity to show their work to the industry in hopes of advancing their careers. The Independent Feature Project, a non-profit organization headquartered in New York, oversees the market along with sponsoring year-round screenings and programs, connecting independent filmmakers to each other and to the industry. But it is the market that serves as the cornerstone for the IFP, not only in terms of revenue but also in public exposure.

The IFP Market began in 1979 at the New York Filnz Festival as a one night screening of new independent American films. As it became its own entity, interest in the market slowly increased from the film industry. But it wasn't until the late 80's and early 90's when independent films like "sex, lies, and videotape" began to generate sizable box office profits that the industry began to view the market as a source for new potential hits.

The Market is one of the few film industry trade events open to any filmmaker, provided they are members of the IFP and pay a submission fee for their project. Projects shown include features, documentaries, shorts, works-in-progress and scripts. Along with screenings, the week-long event holds seminars on topics such as script development, film financing and increasing opportunities for minorities in the industry.

The market can be compared to the Cannes Film Festival in that it serves not only as a film festival, but also as a trade event for film and television buyers looking for new acquisitions. The market has been the launching ground for such directors as Kevin Smith (Clerks), Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen), Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust) and Jennie Livingston (Paris is Burning).

Despite its ability in providing an arena for upcoming talent to be discovered, the Market has endured criticism over the years for its "open door" submission process. Until recently, the only requirement a film entering the market had to make was that it not be exploitative. Many attending the Market complained that the mass of projects (usually 300 to 400) shown was unmanageable, and except for a few standouts, were for the most part derivative, uninspired, and just plain bad. To counter this, the Market has in the last two years begun limiting entries by adopting a more stringent selection process. For this year's market, the number of entries was limited to less than 300. The market has also contained for the last five years the "No Borders" section, which is an invitation only section designed to facilitate contact between established filmmakers with European film financing companies.

For the 2000 market, a number of trends have continued from previous years. A third of the work being shown were from filmmakers outside of the New York/Los Angeles film centers. This bodes well for the IFP and its work in developing stronger ties with regional filmmakers. The advent of dig ital technology has offered filmmakers a less expensive route to producing and editing their films. Almost half of all the features and a majority of documentaries submitted this year were completed using some form of digital video process. The debate over DV continues as some champion the lower costs of DV, saying it will allow more people access in using cinema to tell their stories. Others say that DV will not necessarily produce better films, just more mediocre ones. (One should attend the yearly ResFest which focuses solely on short films, music videos, and animation along with three feature-length films using digital technology to make their own opinion.)

Success at the market can occur in many ways. For a rare few, their film will be bought immediately after being the focus of interest from various buyers. Usually, projects are acquired weeks or even months later, with the market having served its purpose in gaining exposure for its creator. Many projects will gain invites from film festivals while others will get agency representation. Producers with works-in-progress or scripts may return next year, their project completed with funding they acquired as a result of attending this year. No matter the outcome, those that make it to the IFP Market will have taken the first step towards achieving success on the silver screen. --Eric Gudris

Profiles
By Randee Mia Berman

If the Irish temperament seems to be feisty, persevering, tough, stalwart, and "against all odds," then the Irish filmmaker temperament seems to work "against all gods"--especially those of rationality and logic. Combing through the 22nd annual IFP Marketplace yields an extraordinary number of filmmakers, DP's and talent bred from such plucky stock. Between the three screening/panel locations including the Angelika Film Center and the Pioneer Theatre, several of the many Gaelic-inspired/descended artists with god-given gifts for this ungodly business of cinemagic spoke about their efforts. The common thread amongst these filmmakers and actors seemed to be A.dhesiveness; R.esilience; Tenacity, summed up as Art-istry, Irish style, mixed with passion and persistence.

John Draus (filmmaker--Lies The Radio Told Me) incorporated the strong genetic stock of his 98 year-old grandmother (from County Cork and Galway) to overcome the almighty odds of creative financing. Surpassing the common approach of maxing out credit cards, John used a most unusual financing technique. He took the car insurance settlement (a five-year wait) from a head-on collision with a Ford Bronco and plunked it into his filmmaking dream. Draus started shooting the film five years ago, synchronized with the birth of his first child; hence, the name of his production company--First Born Films. And, instead of putting the money aside for college tuition, he used Irish pluck and moxy and sank it into the film. True to his Irish cultural heritage, Draus wanted to create an indie with a smashing soundtrack, brimming with notions of romantic love. The film pulsates with the music we hear on the radio as we are growing up and how it affects our lives. Much of the dialogue between the 2 leads (including Jim Ireland as photographer Dave) involves the questions we ask ourselves about life's lessons and the intellectual dilemmas of life's paradoxes (love/lust, art/porn).

The soundtrack is filled with juicy pop songs from the Temptations to Huey Lewis and a bluesy jazz score. John's 14 years in the industry includes professional work in video, film and theatre productions; as a DP/gaffer for TV (Guiding Light, One Life to Live). He's looking forward to having his film play in one of the Irish film festivals...

Patrick Hassan (filmmaker-Waiting), a one-time altar boy who spent 8 years waiting tables, has written a quirky digital film "mockumentary" about a slacker "end-of-his-rope" waiter (Sean McNutt, portrayed by Will Keenan) whose career and sanity is being chipped away in a South Philly restaurant by mafioso managers and cheesy tips. In the rebel world of Sundance spin-offs such as Digidance; Lapdance; and Slamdunk; Waiting has played the alternative flick festivals suited to its offbeat-ness, including Slamdance and No Dance. Hassan's dry sense of humor, and quickwitted tongue are all direct outcomes of his Irish heritage. Patrick's father, a "sarcastic, hard-drinking bastard" hailed from County Mayo; his grandparents from Counties Finney and Mayo. "When I brought girls home, they'd be brought to the test quickly. They'd either hang with it or not," Hassan explains. The Irish way may be that things can get grim, but they can also get "ugly in a good way." The two-sided Irish persona here seems to be humble but always remains old school tough. "My approach is through drive, humor, and a strong work ethic. I love to play stereotypes against each other; break boundaries; go against the grain." Against the odds of production costs, Hassan did some calculations. "There was no way to get the $300,000 needed to do this film in 35mm," says Hassan, who'd already shot five short films on 16mm. "Before Waiting, I'd always been a film person. But I saw the light. Three minutes of 35mm, factoring in the stock, processing and transferring costs, would cost $500 to $1,000. One hour of didgital tape cost $15." Hassan describes Waiting--shot in Philadelphia using digital video technology--as a film filled with "surreal sarcasm". The kitchen corkscrew seduction scene counts for one example. Keenan, at one point in the movie, ran through Philadelphia in jockey shorts and a leather bondage mask; he won the Golden Orb Award by crossing Park City in another of his costumes - a kids' birthday party entertainer's bug suit.

Hassan chose Keenan, an actor of Irish descent--known for roles in Tromeo and Juliet, Terra Firmer, and Love God--primarily because of his physical stunts and humor, which can be traced back to a love of Buster Keaton. Portraying the "sticky" busboy, Keenan flashed back on a stunt he did in his northeast Philadelphia childhood. "Ijust found myself hanging on the edge of the deck of the house."

Patrick Donnelly (DP-A Million Miles) was a key grip for 12 years and B-cameraman on Girl Fight, the Sundance award-winner. A Bricktown, New Jersey boy, Donnelly was quite familiar with the Tom's River /Jersey Shore location that director Bryan Sipe chose to film A Million Miles, a 16mm color feature and Work In Progress at IFP. "When Donnelly submitted his reel, it already had Bruce Springsteen music on it," explains Sipe--music which seemed to parallel the "desolate boardwalk moodiness" of A Million Miles. The film is a humorous look at youth, small towns, good friends, and the search for a way out. Sipe and partner Ben Carney had already begun their campaign to procure the film rights to the Boss' music. Perhaps Donnelly's Irish fighting spirit rubbed off onto the filmmakers. Sipe and Carney got both Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt to agree to let them use some of their songs. Tom Curran (narratorlfilmmaker-Adrift) has written a haunting documentary feature to tell the story of an Irish-American family with "Kennedy envy." Against the odds of patriarchal pressures, and against the sea gods of commercial fishing boat disasters, Curran has been exploring the waters of family heritage and legacies. His mission? To help young boys and men "in crisis" deal with their fears and feelings of despair and confusion. Utilizing original interviews, archival video, photographs, newspapers, and home movies, Curran introduces his siblings (brothers Desmond and Gavin, the undaunted striped bass fishermen and his sister Maeve, a fiercely competitive bodybuilder); his mother Mary Jane, a stoic Catholic who has relied on her faith to cope with tragedy; and himself as the insightful narrator, filmmaker Tom III, who questions and probes, striving to fulfill his father's legacy. "My father, Tom Jr. the gregarious D.A. of Anchorage Alaska, had major political ambitions; he was basically in competition with the world." The film was shot on Monomoy Island off of Cape God, and Alaska, the two residences of the Curran family. After his father died in 1974, Tom and his family faced a lifetime dilemma--how to deal with his Irish heritage and the family's extreme expectations. The film, says Curran, is meant to help "redefine competition". One method of doing this is through a major national educational outreach campaign which Curran is developing for parents, schools and social service organizations. Curran is collaborating with project advisor Dr. William Pollack, best-selling author of Real Boys and director of the Center for Men at McLean's Hospital~arvard Medical Shout From the Streets is Fred de Vecca's short film inspired by James Joyce's Ulysses. A sort of Irish literary docucomedy, (Midsummer Night

Sex Comedy meets My Dinner with Andre), this quirky film weaves together a series of philosophical, Irish "pubbian" chats amongst cronies Leo Bloom, Steve (as in Stephen Daedelus) and Buck, (the "Holy Trinity"), interspersed with silent quotes from Ulysses. The gregarious trio discuss everything from earth goddesses to religion, with the common denominator of sex and naked women.

The conversations ("tri-alogues") alternate between the sensual ("moist eyes"), the witty ("absoFreudianlutely") and the intellectual ("the two most often repeated phrases in sexual intercourse are "oh God" and "Oh Man"), leading into a more serious description of the duality between God and man. The blackboard is used as a metaphor for lurking evil and dark memories, along with references to "chalky transgressions" and the eraser to wash away sins. Spunky Celtic music adds an uplifting, dancey spin on a literary "Nights of the Joyce Table" film, sprinkled with humorous musical wordplay. Sex, language and music infiltrate the clever de Vecca/Joyce script ("take pulse! Throbbing...Words? Music --no it's what's beneath." Joyce speaks of music as the form of art "for which Bloom possesses the greatest love--almost spiritual in its ivory purity." Irish connections abound, from Molly Bloom (actress Bridget Kirsten MacAirt), to second AD Brendan O'Donnell to the Celtic film score by Altan. And, in a final stroke of Joyce-ian wit, de Vecca adds, "No Morris dancers were harmed in the filming of Shout in the Streets. " The "It" girl of horror spoofs may just be newcomer Amy Laughlin, the stunning Frida in the werewolf thriller, The Curse, from director Jacqueline Gany. This wicked, campy low-budget feminist flick follows the shy ingenue's bizarre encounters with hormonal histrionics. Based on the premise that Frida is transformed into a femme-fatale werewolf at the height of her PMS symptoms, the film boasts the additional Irish American talents of producer and music supervisor Trent Tooley, actor Mike Dooly, Holter Graham, and Kevin McClatchy. Laughlin portrays an irresistible freak who, after being bit by a shopper at a rather vicious lingerie sale, turns ravenous, discovers sudden hair growth and grows larger breasts. Laughlin's carnal impulses, along with her breast size, expand and gradually overtake her introverted nature. Garry is adamant about the underlying, often hidden strength of women, whose power was bottled up and stifled in those old I Dream of Jeannie; Bewitched tv sitcoms. Breaking the stereotype of women as fragile, Garry focuses instead on the female contrasts of vulnerability and volatility amidst the predicament of menstrual mania and the 4P's--PMS, promiscuity, passion, and power. The Curse reverses the norm of male vampires sucking female submissive blood; instead Frida must devour male blood to be freed of her beastly state. In her blackly humorous style, Garry describes the acting obstacles Laughlin tossed off with staunch Scotch Irish aplomb: eating chocolate, meat and wearing wolf contacts.

Perhaps the Irish character is best revealed in Leopold Bloom, wandering around Dublin in James Joyce's Ulysses (Lee in Shoutfrom the Streets). It is the spirit of perseverance--of the ever-curious wanderer observing life's humanity, richness and emotions and rejoicing in it.