We are excited and honored to be back with our next film "Sugartown!" Last year, we won two awards (Audience Award & Special Jury Award - Honorable Mention) at the 2010 Hollyshorts Film Festival for our previous film "Henry John & the Little Bug." This time around, JT Mollner (writer/director, NoRemake Pictures) and I, Chris Ivan Cevic, (actor/producer, Burnt Pictures) set out and looked for ideas that would pose new challenges that we had yet to face and offer new lessons in filmmaking that we had yet to learn. Although JT did not have a script at the time, he had a story in mind that he wanted to explore. The subject matter itself posed one of the biggest hurdles. It dealt with our military, and in this case, Marines whose helicopters were shot down and were fighting to survive the Iraq War. Right off the bat, we knew we had to honor all the men and women in uniform across the globe by doing something as realistic and honest as possible. We went into this with absolute integrity in the forefront of our minds, and with that commitment, we set out to explore the effects that violence and war are having on our soldiers. What we realized is that there is widespread Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) within our military and that addressing this issue head on would be the hallmark of this film.
Breaking with tradition, we immediately brought in an outside writer to the process. We called talented writer/actor, John Allen Phillips, who was immediately attracted to the idea and to writing the script. John took what was an already compelling topic and wrote an amazing script that just blew us away from the first read. We immediately knew "Sugartown" was our next film project. With this high caliber script, we knew we could up the ante, so we dug in and looked for how we could push this script further, always focusing on what served the story first. The clear and obvious choice was to shoot the film all in one shot. As a producer who looks for new challenges, I immediately loved the idea, and as an actor in the film, I embraced the opportunity. Since it had been years that I did theater in New York City, I felt like this could take me back to elements of that acting process that I so dearly loved and missed...extensive rehearsals and being forced to stay "in the moment" no matter what happens.
There were the obvious logistical challenges of working on a micro budget and bringing all of the production elements together, but nothing could have prepared us for what Mother Nature had in store. After one full day of dress rehearsal with all departments on Cuddeback Lake outside Boron, CA, severe weather in the form of consistent 30 mph winds, with the occasional gusts over 70 mph, moved in. Not only did this make guaranteeing quality sound impossible, which is scary enough for a filmmaker, it also meant we had props and equipment literally flying away...never to be seen again! And yet with no financial ability to push the shoot back, the 24 member cast and crew did the only thing they could do..."finish it." Little did we know, it would prove almost impossible to pull off.
Looking back, It was an audacious concept for this style of execution...two settings, two separate story lines, one actor connecting them both, camera, sound, props, special effects, eight actors, all choreographed and hitting their mark precisely. As all filmmakers know, dealing with weather on top of normal production was just the icing on the cake...that is if you are looking for new challenges. At the end of the day, somehow the film gods were with us, and we walked away with a "couple" of good takes to choose from the dozens of attempts...all with excellent sound quality thanks to our amazing sound mixer.
So what did we end up with? A fifteen minute movie, with no cuts, no cheating or post production wizardry, some wicked good acting, and one amazing story that's honest, visceral, and dare I say, thought provoking. At least, that's what we hope. And that was just making the movie! What we did to crowd fund the movie on IndieGoGo, and take it from concept to film is another story entirely, and yet it is one that, as any indie filmmaker knows, is just as important (and hopefully for another blog). It helped to remind us every step of the way that somewhere out there were friends, family, colleagues, people from our network, even complete strangers, that wanted to be involved and support us in making a good movie...a great movie even. Such a responsibility truly added to the experience and made it all the more memorable and exciting.
In the end, I think we did what we set out to do. We learned a tremendous amount about filmmaking, but more importantly about ourselves. I can honestly say I'm very proud of "Sugartown." I'm proud to be associated with everyone that worked, acted, contributed, and/or supported this film in any way, and I feel honored to be premiering it here in our home town at the 2011 HollyShorts Film Festival, what we consider our "Home Festival." What a rare treat for an actor/filmmaker. And now for the ultimate lesson...the audience reaction. See you at the premiere!
IMDb: www.imdb.com/name/nm2160048/
Reel: www.chrisivancevic.com
Company: www.burntpictures.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chrisivancevic
