One of the biggest challenges that comes with making a short film is how to tell a complete story in the time that you’re given. And if a filmmaker is using the short as a demo or proof of performance in trying to get a feature made out of that idea, they’re now faced with the dual dilemma of not only telling a complete story but also of making a solid companion piece for a movie that has yet to be made.
For writer/director John Irwin, who screened his short “Sold” at HollyShorts this past weekend, the limited budget that he had to work with on the film was not going to stop him from accomplishing both of these goals. “Sold” tells the story of a journalist (Fernanda Romero) who gets mixed up in the human trafficking trade while going undercover to do a story on the hiring practices of illegal aliens. As a short, the film, which has a taut 12 minute runtime, keeps the viewer engrossed. As a demo, it is easy to see where the feature could be fleshed out, all the while without sacrificing anything for the story.
In addition to starring Romero, the cast of “Sold” includes Maria-Elena Laas (“The Hot Chick”), Jesse Garcia (“Quinceañera,”), and veteran character actor David Alan Graf. Irwin enlisted David Snyder, who served as art director for “Blade Runner” and the forgotten sci-fi classic “Brainstorm,” as well as being a production designer on countless Hollywood films over the past thirty years, as visual consultant for the short. The film, shot by cinematographer Andrew Waruszewski, has a gritty yet sleek, hand-held visual appeal.
In addition to HollyShorts, Irwin is taking “Sold” to the New York International Latino Film Festival presented by HBO as well as the Bend Film Festival in Oregon.
Film Slate Magazine caught up with Irwin as he was getting ready for the Saturday screening of “Sold.” We picked his brain about the dual nature of making short films, getting the most you can out of a limited budget, and how he came up with the idea of making a film about human trafficking.
Film Slate Magazine: So how did the idea for the film come about?
John Irwin: I was looking for a story to do that hasn’t really been told that often and I stumbled on the topic of human trafficking, and this was a while ago and movies like “Trade” and “Taken” hadn’t come out and I couldn’t believe that there really wasn’t anything out there that told anything about it. It’s such a huge crime, profitable crime around the world, so I wrote a feature, and then when I was almost done writing the feature, I decided to write a short and sort of shoot the short as a demo for the feature.
FSM: Do you feel the short stands on its own? And then also as a companion piece, a proof of purchase for a feature down the road?
JI: That was the plan, that I could make a short that could kind of leave audiences wanting to see more, and sort of see it as a feature but also that it would stand on its own as a short by itself.
FSM: A lot of filmmakers who do that, they don’t know where to go with that. They sort of straddle the fence, they think, ‘do I do this strictly as a demo,’ but also it should stand alone as a short. Did you struggle with that?
JI: It was a big struggle, especially with this story, just because it was a challenge for me to try and tell this dramatic topic, and do it in a subtle way, but I only have 12 minutes to tell it. So yeah, it was a real challenge trying to fit it all in there, make the story make sense and leave audiences happy.
FSM: And the team that you put together for this, how did that come about? You’ve got some incredible names working on film
JI: Yeah, I was super lucky, my producer Marco Shepherd, he came on, he was totally…I’m a 6’1”, blond hair, blue eyed guy, and I didn’t have many Latino friends before this and Marco came in and he was sort of connected to that world, and he connected me with a bunch of awesome Latino actors and this guy Jesse Garcia, he came on as one of the cast--he plays one of the bad guys at the end--he ended up coming on and co-producing. He helped bring on a lot of the other people too.
FSM: The film looks great. The art direction looks good, the camera work looks impressive. How did you decide on the look of the film, and how did that come about?
JI: What was really important to me, I wanted to do a story on—and it’s kind of set around human trafficking--but I didn’t want it to feel preachy at all. I wanted to raise awareness for that but I kind of just wanted it to be a good thriller. I didn’t have a big budget—hardly any of us do. But that was one of the biggest things; I wanted the production value to be really high. If there was anything I wanted to spend the budget on it would be production design. So I just wanted to make sure that my team for that was strong.
FSM: How much of a struggle is that for an indie filmmaker—you’ve got a limited budget, so what do you decide to do it on? Locations, actors, art direction? How important is that making those decisions?
JI: As far as the actors go, it’s just me begging…they’re not really getting paid anything, so it’s getting awesome actors who usually get paid way more, and they don’t really get paid anything on this so, once I get them on board, it’s like {makes a relieved sighing sound}, and from there, as far as locations go I just scoured Craigslist and I ended up finding a couple great locations and working out a really good deal with them. And then, a lot of the story takes place in the trunk of a car, so I ended up finding half of a taxi cab…and you could literally take off the sides and the panels of the car and shoot whatever angle you want. That was a real big help.
FSM: Do you view all of it as one process, like when you write and then produce it, or do segment it out in your mind?
JI: That’s a good question. I guess I feel like it’s one long thing. I think the writing process is probably on its own, because that usually takes me the longest and it has the least pressure involved. You can set it aside, put it on the shelf, and come back to it. As soon as pre-production happens, it’s like okay, and then when you set dates, it’s like everything is like a burning fire, torture, and then you’re done, so yeah, it all kind of melds together once it gets going.
FSM: How many cameras did you use? Was it a one camera shoot, or did you have a couple for coverage?
JI: Actually, it’s funny. It was a one camera shoot, we shot on the Canon 5D, and it was like everyone on the crew had one of those cameras (laughs), so there was probably like three cameras on set, although we used just one. And there was one that somebody was using to take production stills, and there was another one that somebody was using for behind the scenes stuff.
FSM: Have you had any meetings with anybody, showing your film as a demo piece?
JI: Yeah, I’ve been in touch with quite a few people that showed interest and I’m just excited to go to festivals and get exposure for it. Another reason why I made a short was because I’m still a no-name director, so I wanted to show it as sort of a showpiece for my directing abilities.
