9DCU0106HD_Directors_Cut_Studio_Transcript

 
 Hey, pickle head, whatcha ya doin'? Hi, Bunder.  I'm collecting data on surface pressure and wind divergence.  It looks like an anti-cyclone.  But he didn't exactly fit in.  At first, this didn't bother Zopp, as he worked toward advancements in aviatory physics, biochemistry, structural engineering, and a number of other disciplines.  Your father has quit his job and is starting his own business! Son, I've seen the future.  And the future is travel-sized fly swatters.  It fits in your pocket, see? Hi, and welcome to Director's Cut.  I'm your host, Charles Monroe-Kane.  Here at Director's Cut, we're dedicated to bringing you the best in independent films and filmmakers.  Our film this week is called, "Illegal Use of Joe Zopp. " The film follows the life of a young genius and inventor named Joe Zopp.  He's picked on, misunderstood, and even kidnapped.  But when his parents squander the proceeds from one of his inventions, Zopp skips town, vowing never to return.  Seven years later, while leading the life of a street performing referee in Toledo, Ohio, Zopp runs into an old classmate that tells him everyone back home thinks he's dead.  Thus, he returns to unravel the mystery of his own death.  The "Illegal Use of Joe Zopp" was shot almost entirely in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  If you haven't guessed it yet, it's a comedy.  And a good one at that.  We have two members of the film's entourage with us today, producer/actor Seth Hedrington, and producer/editor/writer, Nick Holle.  Nick also plays the lead of Joe Zopp in the film. 

 Excellent to have you both here.  "Illegal Use of Joe Zopp," where does the title come from? Well, actually it was a title Seth suggested at one point early on in the production.  I think it's kind of gotten a double meaning with the referee, street performing stuff.  And we all quickly dismissed the idea, and told him it was a bad one.  It wasn't my idea, actually.  But it won out, of course, as the title of the film.  Yeah, it eventually kind of resurfaced and we decided to keep it.  Tell me the process of making this film.  It's a collaborative effort, right? You run a film company that's run as a collective, right? Exactly.  There are seven of us that started the company.  This has been four years in the making now.  When we first started writing the "Illegal Use of Joe Zopp," we formed an LLC.  We kind of have different personalities and different strengths in all the members, so it actually works very well.  Nick is, you know, one of the most creative of the group, the writer, the editor.  I'm a little more business minded, so I handle a lot of that stuff.  We come together nicely for this.  Did you write it together as a group, too? Yeah, we actually. . .  Did you argue over beer? Well, we came up with kind of a one-line concept idea.  Basically, a guy returns to his home town, where everybody thinks he's dead. 

 And we kind of pooled all our ideas together, and it kind of snowballed from there.  We would throw in character ideas, a plot device, or something like the Dingo game that we're going to talk about.  And it just kind of snowballed.  And we had all these pages and pages of ideas and outlines, and stuff like that.  And then we kind of had to sit down and write it.  How much did the film cost? When you're all done, your film is done, was it a million dollars? The official budget is about $8,000.  Ah, that's excellent! How did you get the money? A couple different ways.  We all pitched in a little to start, to get us rolling.  That makes sense.  We kind of flooded family and friends with requests for pre-purchase of the movie that will eventually be done.  Actually, we had an outpouring of support there.  So that was pretty much the seed money right there.  How long did it take to make the film altogether? Well, the very first idea of making the movie was in 2004.  But we really got going with the production in late 2005.  And then we shot it in the summer of 2006.  So then we put it together after that, and are just releasing it now.  It is an excellent, excellent example of an independent film, because it is a very good film, because it really brings-- You can see the effort made into making it that way.  There's no Hollywood in it at all, but it's still good.  You know, sometimes, independent film, you're like, it's not good.  But this is also good.  It was very quirky. 

 It was a very interesting film.  You play the lead in the film.  You play Joe Zopp.  Tell me about Joe.  Well, Joe is kind of a, he goes through his whole childhood, and nothing really ever seems to work out.  He's really smart.  He's interested in science and inventing.  And it just, even when he has a little success, his parents kind of squander that, all the money he makes from that.  So he decides that he needs to get out, start over, do something completely different.  And he kind of jumps on a train and heads out of town.  He kind of leads a quiet, anonymous life.  An anonymous life as a street performing umpire from Toledo, Ohio.  Real quick, where in the world did-- That was a killer idea.  Where in the world? I've never seen that before in my life.  I think one of us had thrown out the idea of a street performer, like early on in the writing process.  That's fair, but umpire? And then we have this high school friend of ours, who used to go around to different bars and just like, call balls and strikes on people.  Really? And just like, they'd walk into the bar and he'd just punch them "out. " He's like, "Ah-ooout!" Wow.  So we kind of like borrowed it from him.  I want to show another clip from the film.  It's a great clip. 

 We'll set it up.  This is when he gets kidnapped again.  He's been kidnapped the first time as a child.  But he kind of gets kidnapped again.  Set up the clip for us, so we can watch that.  Well, he actually runs into a high school classmate who, you know, needs to prove that he's alive, for things that will be explained later.  But Joe Zopp does not want to cooperate with him.  So I think he takes it into his own hands.  So here's a clip from "Illegal Use of Joe Zopp," where Joe is kidnapped by Ike, and taken from Toledo back to Wisconsin.  I wouldn't do that if I were you.  Jumping out of a moving vehicle, you're liable to get a pretty nasty strawberry.  Whoa! Ah. . .  So what now? You take me to a heavily wooded area? Have your way with me in the foliage? Stop! You've got quite an imagination.  I would never hurt you! Except for knocking me unconscious.  I just grazed ya.  You're an idiot! Kidnapper! ( breathing heavily ) Ah! God! If you would've just taken the picture, none of this would've happened.  What do you need a picture of me for? I'm just trying to prove that you're alive.  That I'm alive? A few people back home-- Well, everyone.  Everyone? Everyone. 

 I guess you could say everyone back home is positive you're dead.  How's that again? Probably because of the funeral.  Probably because of the funeral! Seth, enter Ike.  Tell me about Ike.  Who's Ike? Ike is a combination of a lot of different ideas.  But Ike is really, he's the driver of a lot of the humor behind the story.  He's kind of that force that continues to have these horrible ideas.  He's that guy you knew in high school that just was obsessed with everything.  He couldn't let go.  We'll talk a little later, I think, about the Dingo game, is one of those things.  But he's the guy who takes things to such as extreme that it's just funny to watch him.  Tell us about the Dingo game.  First, tell me about what the Dingo game is, like just in a nutshell.  And then, where in the world, I want to know where that idea came from.  First, what is the Dingo game? The Dingo game, basically, is a game that whoever spots the most former high school classmates in a certain period of time wins.  And those classmates are assigned point values based on how hard they would be to spot.  And we did this, with me and some of my friends in high school.  And we actually did it for five years, and one of the other producers won the game.  You played the Dingo game.  You called it the Dingo game? We called it the Dingo game.  ( all laugh ) So somebody you know won. 

 What did they win? They won pride.  Pride.  That's a powerful thing.  Yes! In Chippewa Falls, it's probably a powerful thing, pride.  It's a very prestigious game, actually.  How much stuff-- We're going to see a clip from the Dingo game in a second.  So, how much of this is from the small town flavor of where you all are from? You know, I think this is really kind of the only actual thing that happened in real life.  But I think we were borrowing things that we had experienced all throughout.  I think certain characters were inspired by people we knew in our town, or even people we'd experienced through life sometime.  But you know, I think there's a handful of things that we took and tried to incorporate.  Sure.  I mean, it's interesting.  I think about small town America.  And I think about Ike.  And I think about Joe.  And I think about some of the other characters we're going to see later.  I grew up in a small town in Ohio.  Ike exists.  Those people exist.  It's almost like watching a documentary.  What do people in Chippewa Falls think of some of the characters? Are they like, "Oh, my God, that's me. 

 I knew it! I always knew Seth hated me!" Or, this chick broke up with you in high school, and you're like, "I'm putting her in there as that," now she's drunk with two kids.  Do you run into that? Or do people just love that this is made in Chippewa Falls and they're totally happy? I think in general, people are pretty happy.  They are definitely recognizing some of the small town things, and the similar things.  We haven't heard any real big backlash yet.  Of course, we've only been released for about a week.  For the most part, they're pretty proud about the little idiosyncrasies in the town.  They see that, and they think that's the way it is.  Speaking of idiosyncrasies, let's see the clip of Ike describing to Joe the Dingo game.  What the hell is all this? This is where it all happens.  The Dingo game.  A few months after graduation, Misty Pleasants, Thomas Ian Tuckers, you know, and Beto Klitzke and myself were harking back to the days of yore, the jocks, the sluts, the douche bags we sat next to in math.  We're never going to see 'em again, right? Well then Klitzke says, but if we do, it should be duly noted.  Like a where are they now map? What the hell is that? We made a game out of it.  We took our yearbook, and we applied point values to everybody in the class.  The points, the Dingos, are based on the likelihood that that person will be spotted.  See Al's a cop.  He drives through town every day.  You can see him whenever you want.  He's worth five points, one time only.  Now, Cindy Sulfur supposedly works for CNN in Paris.  She's engaged to some jerk-off Spaniard with gray hair. 

 She's worth 60 Dingos.  You, by virtue of being dead, are worth 1,000.  That's it? That's like a guaranteed win, Zopp.  What about him, Clete Gay? He disappeared, right? Vanished right after graduation.  Dead, we think.  Unconfirmed though, which is why he's only worth 400.  You're watching Director's Cut, the show that brings you the best in Wisconsin independent films and filmmakers, like the clip you just saw from Chippewa Falls film, "Illegal Use of Joe Zopp. " You made this in a small town in Wisconsin.  You filmed it there.  You guys are from there.  It must have had quite an effect on the town, going through with the cameras.  What was it like for the town to be filming a film there? It must have been huge.  The town was amazingly excited.  That was part of what allowed us to shoot on such a low budget.  As soon as we kind of started talking about this, and arriving, they opened the doors.  Everybody was so anxio to help out in any way they could.  They were pumped.  Actually, they originally thought it was a movie about Chippewa Falls.  So we kind of had to make sure that they didn't think that.  So when they saw it, they didn't think, well, this is just you making fun of us.  Were people afraid of that? Were they afraid that you guys were going to make fun of them? Some people were. 

 The mayor, in particular, was a little afraid of that.  I think we were afraid of that a little bit.  I mean, you know, this is more about our kind of experiences.  And like, you know, doing a story about this small town.  We're really not out to get anybody, or anything like that.  We just enjoyed it.  We had fun.  We loved our home town.  That's kind of why we're making the movie.  You just had a screening, right? Your first screening was recently, like a couple days ago, right? Yeah.  What was it like? The first screening in your small town.  It must have been amazing.  It was great.  We had, the local theater kind of put on a big party for us, and had all our actors, and crew, and families in.  And it was just extraordinary to be able to finally get it in front of people, and hear them laugh, and all that kind of stuff.  Then, we actually opened at the theater for a week, so people have been going every day, all week.  The response has been extraordinary.  People are coming out really overjoyed, and laughing, still after they're walking out of the theater, which is pretty satisfying.  I bet it is! Were you excited or happy with it, because you know everybody in the theater.  Did people laugh when they're supposed to laugh? Did they shake their heads when they were supposed to? Was everyone on cue to how you wrote it? It's very interesting, because we are very in tune to that.  We sat in on several of the showings to try to figure out when people were laughing. 

 At some of the showings, it just seemed like clockwork.  They were hitting everything perfectly.  And then at other showings, they'd miss something, and we'd kind of look at each other and what, why not that one.  Especially a couple things that we would argue about when we were editing.  You know, Nick wanted to keep this in, and I was like, that's not funny.  So if somebody laughs. . .  Hoping they'll laugh at that, 'cause I know I'm right! Because when I make the next film, I'm not letting them put that in! That's fair.  I get it.  You're like, damn it, they laughed at that part, and he's going to have all this control next time! Well, let's go back to the film, then.  Seth, set up the next clip for us.  It's the one at the funeral home.  Go ahead, tell us what's happening here.  This is a clip where the main character, Joe, is meeting one of the funeral directors for the first time.  And when Nick originally wrote this scene, it was just full of exposition.  There were a lot of things that needed to be explained.  He wanted to think of something to come up with that would make it a little more interesting.  So he had this idea, you know, what if the two characters are doing yoga during the scene.  In the funeral home? In the funeral home.  And at first, he was a little apprehensive. 

 We read what he wrote and it was amazing.  It was so funny.  So, we ran with it and it worked.  Let's see Joe Zopp and the funeral home director exposit while performing yoga.  There was a body.  Did the Zopps see it? I assume they identified it at the station.  Once it got to me, it wasn't in good shape.  It went right into cremation.  You burn the bodies here? The crematorium's around the back, yes.  Do you do yoga? Excuse me? Yoga.  I'm looking for a partner.  Sugar won't do it with me.  She read in a magazine that it causes cancer.  No, thanks.  No, no, no, please.  Please, I insist.  It's just a little partner, a little Pada-Hasta.  Up, there.  There, loose.  Now turn.  There! There, yes. 

 Yes! Breathe.  Forward! Ah, yes! Do you ever make a mistake? Like cremate the wrong body? Ever think about your own death, Mr.  Snidgen? Up.  Down.  You have to in my line of work.  Up.  Ah, and forward.  That was a clip from the comedy, "Illegal Use of Joe Zopp. " The funeral director, who also plays his twin brother, who's also the other funeral director across the street is one of an excellent cast of quirky characters.  Where did you find these actors on an $8,000 budget? When we started casting, we just kind of put out a notice, like, come audition for a movie.  In your town? In our town.  And a little bit in the Minneapolis area.  And we held auditions for several weeks in a row, and had people come in, and trickle in.  People were just excited about the movie, and didn't even know what we were doing, as far as story.  And you know, we just found all these fantastic theater actors.  We probably had a handful from Minneapolis, a couple from the Madison area.  And the rest were all western Wisconsin actors, theater, mostly, was part of their experience.  People want to be in a film, don't they? Oh, yeah.  They didn't ask how much they were going to get paid? They just want to be in a film.  They didn't want to see the script.  We're talking about independent. 

 That's one thing about independent films, is you've got to have actors.  Like me, I'd love to be in a film.  I've never acted in my life.  I might be terrible for all I know.  But if somebody asks me, I'll do it.  I wouldn't ask.  That's nice.  One of my favorite characters in the film, though, present company excluded, is Louie.  Tell me.  Ah, I love him.  I was telling someone a story about Louie the other day.  Tell me about Louie.  Well, Louie is the only, pretty much, you know, one of the only black guys in this small town that we created.  He is probably the only sane character in the entire movie.  You know, even Joe is probably a little not there.  So he's what's meant to keep the story together and kind of keep Joe on track.  He befriends Joe.  He's really the guy that we turn to when, you know, we need kind of some relief from everything else.  And set up the clip we're about to see.  This is a clip where he's talking about his son.  He is actually referring to this picture that sits behind him in the motel that he owns. 

 He's just describing, you know, how his son also has died.  Like Joe.  Like Joe.  Well, let's roll the clip.  Hey, Louie, who's the kid in the picture? That's my son.  Oh, whoa, whoa, what! You think a guy who looks like me could have a kid that. . .  fat? Well, no, that's not what I. . .  How old is he? There, he's two.  He'd be about 15 now.  Does he live here in Purewater? He's dead.  I'm sorry.  No, you didn't know.  Wanna know how? I don't want to pry.  Train accident, a few years back.  Here in Purewater? The old neighborhood, a circus train.  Jamal and some of his friends were playing by the tracks near our house.  His mother, not paying attention. 

 The engineer sees the kids, and slams on the brakes.  No! He stopped on time.  A couple of cars derailed.  No! No, everyone was fine.  But the circus freaks were out inspecting the damage.  The car with elephants had broken open.  Oh, no! No, it was cool.  It's cool.  The elephant trainer got them under control.  He was showing off the elephants to Jamal and his friends real safe like, just trying to calm them down after all the commotion.  Well, one of the elephants had an embolism.  Falls right on Jamal.  Bam! Flattened him like a pancake.  ( no audio ) A hell of a way to go, too.  Man, Jamal loved elephants.  Man, Jamal loved elephants! I'm going to use that line.  People won't know what I'm talking about.  That film, you were talking about him being the character who's sane.  But that clip is totally surreal.  There are actually moments of the film that are super real, which makes them surreal.  Is that what life's like in your mind, as you look back at Chippewa Falls? Or is this just how you describe it when you're having fun with somebody in the big city? I think that the stories that would resonate with us, that we would talk about from our youth, just kind of took on this very surreal legend. 

 And even the picture of Jamal is a picture of me, actually, as a baby.  And you know, it was always a hit with anybody who came into my parents' house and saw it hanging on the wall, to the point where these guys stole it out of my parents' house and made t-shirts out of it, and walked around with my little baby picture.  Do you have any left? Oh, yeah.  I want to give you my address.  I'll put "Jamal" on it.  You know, it seems to me for both of you, but especially for you, it seems like this was a real labor of love, for the whole group of your friends.  And even the whole town got involved.  Do people see this as part of the history now of Chippewa Falls? Is this an important aspect of what they do? How involved were people in that? I don't know.  It might be a little bit too early to tell if it's going to be part of the history.  But I think it's certainly been something where they've completely embraced us.  And you know, even this week, just enjoying being able to see the film that was made there.  You know, one of the stories I like to tell is, the funeral home is a place where we shot a lot of scenes.  We were there a lot.  We were there on multiple days, all day long.  And the funeral home owner was the most accommodating person in the city, to the extent that actually, one day, we smelled something in the basement and see him coming up with a plate full of freshly baked cookies that he baked in the basement of the funeral home, which isn't really as creepy as it sounds.  But you know, they were delicious cookies.  It's funny, you're talking about baking cookies.  We've been doing this show for a while, and there's a theme coming out in these independent films, especially the non-documentary ones, where people are showing up with baked goods, and really being a part of it.  I remember the "Onion. " After 9-11, the "Onion" put out a newspaper.  They had a lady with the red, white and blue cake. 

 And she just said she didn't know what else to do, so she baked a cake.  ( all laugh ) But it's honest.  I really like it.  This is a great film, a great example.  Daring to do a comedy first, I might add.  I think it worked.  What's next? What's next for your company, and what's next for you guys? Is this what you want to do for a living? Yeah, I think we want to make another film for sure.  That's always been the goal, to make one, and then let's do another one after that.  We love comedy.  We're going to try to figure out something hilarious to do, and sit down and write some stuff this fall, and see what happens.  Is the end goal for the group of you to go and do this for a living? Is that the goal? I think that's always the stretch goal.  And if that doesn't happen, or we're not able to catch on like that, then we'll continue to make films on our own as a side gig.  We will continue to have you on.  Please, make another film, and we will have you on.  I loved it.  It was hilarious.  Thanks.  Thank you very much.  Thank you, Seth and Nick, for joining us.  And thank you all for watching.  This has been Director's Cut. 

 For more information on "Illegal Use of Joe Zopp," or any of the feature films on our show, please go to: wpt. org/directorscut While you're there, send us an email.  We would love to hear from you.  I'm your host, Charles Monroe-Kane.  And for everyone here at Director's Cut, thank you very much.  Check the gate. ECHO is on.