9DCU0110HD_Directors_Cut_Studio_Transcript
 
 I want you to do something for me here.  I want you to cover your ears.  Yep, that's right.  Cover 'em.  Good.  Side effects include: lightheadedness, nosebleeds, dizziness, headaches, hallucination, inability to perceive colors, stubbed toes, additional hallucinations, schizophrenia, flatulence, chronic boo-boos, depression, dry skin, vertigo, attention deficit disorder and insanity.  Good, good, good.  Thank you.  Now, pop 'er on in your mouth, man.  Great.  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.  Today, the Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival.  Founded in 2005, it's the only film festival dedicated to Wisconsin high school students.  I have seen a number of these films, and I was completely blown away.  They're fantastic.  On the show today, we'll speak with some of these students.  But first, Dominic Inouye and James Carlson.  They are the organizers of the Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival.  Guys, excellent to have you both here. 

 I love the films.  One thing I wanted to ask you, Dominic, I'll start with you.  I was not expecting-- You sent me a number of films.  I thought they were going to be good.  Maybe they'd be endearing.  I might enjoy them.  They'd be nice.  These are good films.  These are like real films.  Did you have the same when you first started this? Were you like, whoa! They are not home movies.  They're not at all.  I think the first year, 2005, we opened up the first package.  We were wondering how many we were going to get.  We got almost 50 films that first year.  And it was kind of like opening up a Christmas present.  You open it up, open up the envelope, pulling it out, sticking it in the DVD.  That was not home video.  We were blown away by a lot of them.  The first half-hour film with special effects, with acting, with chase scenes.  Animation.  Animation. 

 I was not expecting that.  And the screenwriting, because I noticed that for almost all these films, the one kid does everything.  I'm like wow.  On their own, too.  I was very impressed.  What's interesting, what's the genesis of the film festival? Why did you start it? Actually, the film festival began, kind of germinated in Dominic's head.  At the high school where he teaches English, there's a film club.  And he kind of noticed that the kids really got into filmmaking.  And he and I connected and started talking about broadening the idea and really making something that we could roll out to the whole state, and ask people to submit.  And I don't think we even expected to get so many movies the first year.  But we were overwhelmed.  We just said we'd put out the word through the Internet, you know, students find out about it.  We started to just continue to be surprised by the results that we got.  So what are the parameters? It's Wisconsin high school students? It's gotten bigger than that, right? It started off with just high school, Milwaukee high schools.  We really wanted to focus on our city, and really honor and celebrate kids here that are doing things.  We always hear so much about kids in our city and our state who are failing.  Right.  And our schools are failing our kids.  And our kids are failing us.  So we really wanted to make it a Milwaukee thing.  But once we started seeing it, there was just a snowball effect of kids being interested. 

 Once we put it on the Internet, everybody starts to find out about it.  We started getting submissions last year from around the country.  Wow, that's excellent.  We're also accepting college students this year.  Oh, you're taking the older ones, as well.  Now tell me, what-- You're a high school teacher, right? Are these the kind of things that students are making in high school? Are there certain private high schools that have film editing? Or is this stuff they're doing at home? It's everything from doing it at home, experimenting with their home camera, to these, whether it's a high school or a film program within the city, that are allowing the students the time to produce these things.  We've seen everything from, you know, professionally produced, obviously the student had access to some kind of production facility, possibly some mentoring, to they did it at home with two VHS decks, editing by hand, just driven by their passion, but having very little access to equipment.  We've started asking the students who submit their movies where do they get their access to this stuff, and where do they find the resources to the stuff they need.  And it's all over the board, as far as how accessible the tools are for filmmakers.  And it's also, we've found, all over the board, how supportive the schools are of filmmaking as a learning exercise.  Now you started the film festival.  It's exploded on you.  Where do you want to see it go? Is it the next Cannes? Where do you want it to be? The Cannes for high school students.  We'll call it High School in the Cannes! That's not bad.  I think that, you know, our vision has always been to not just showcase.  It's been to showcase and bring the students together so that they are empowered in some way.  Then to even empower them more by getting into the schools, teach teachers how to use this as a tool.  A lot of them are scared.  If you're over 35, we're afraid of technology, a lot of us.  But the kids aren't.  To empower them to do it. 

 To empower teaches to help them do it.  To empower cities to help them do it.  And then to educate.  I really would like that.  I think both our visions is to see a video center akin to what they have in San Diego, or San Francisco, Texas, Chicago, New York, and really make Milwaukee a center for a lot of that.  That would make sense.  Milwaukee the center of high school filmmaking.  I just really appreciate having you both here.  We're going to have some of the past year's winners on in a few minutes.  The first one we're going to have on is the film, "Epiphany. " Can one of you set up this clip? We're going to see an animated clip from "Epiphany. " I think just watch for stacks of paper disappearing, as a young student hand draws every frame in animation.  Just imagine the effort required, and the passion required to see that.  Thank you for both of you here.  We are going to watch that clip.  We're going to talk to that student in just a minute.  Here's a clip from "Epiphany. " * ( piano music throughout ) That was a clip from Sam Shapson's film "Epiphany. " The film won the Grand Prize at the 2007 Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival.  Sam, thank you very much for coming in.  How old were you when you made this film? I was actually 16 when I made the film. 

 I made it in early 2007, my junior year.  And how long did it take you to make it? The actual concept began, and it went through many stages, so I could say it went all the way back to probably early fall.  But the actual production probably took about a month and a half.  So, is this part of school, or is this something you just did on your own in the evenings? It was something I just did on my own on the weekends.  I kind of spoke with a few people at school that I thought would be able to help me out.  The animation was not all me.  That little stick figure at the end of the clip was, but a lot of the animation was done by another animator, Jasmine Grant, who is just a fantastic animator.  Oh, excellent.  Tell me, you won the grand jury prize last year at the Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival.  That must have been a pretty amazing feeling.  What was it like at that moment? Was there a moment when they announced and there you are and you stand up? What was it like? Well, I actually got notified by email prior to the festival.  And Dominic framed it in a very funny way, though, like I think a film-minded person would.  It said thank you very much for entering, we really appreciate it.  I'm getting ready for it, going down the email.  Then finally it says we've actually selected you to win the grand prize.  I got up from the computer and I walked over to my mom.  And I said, "Mom, I got the grand prize. " What was it like to win? I mean, to be appreciated for the work you're doing, what does that mean? It was really interesting, because I've always done and kind of dabbled in film, I've dabbled in all kinds of things, with art and with writing.  And other kinds of skills, you have people to compare yourself to.  You can kind of see where you're at, and get a feeling for it.  But with this, I didn't have any of that. 

 I didn't know where I was.  I had no idea.  I was just swimming through this sea, and I didn't know how big it was.  I was just trying to get to the other side.  And it was really just shocking and amazing to get that result.  You, of course, are still in high school, right? No, you're not.  That's right.  Where are you now? I'm going to Columbia College in Chicago.  Oh, excellent.  Studying film, right? Yes.  Film directing, film what? What's the specific thing you're studying? Right now, I haven't declared a concentration.  Right now it's just general.  No pressure! I don't want to pressure you for a major.  You have another film in this year's film festival.  It's called "Old Bug. " Tell me a little bit about the film.  "Old Bug" is a narrative film about a boy and his grandpa, and a conversation that they're having.  We don't see them, actually, till toward the end of the film.  But we watch as the boy develops a relationship with a bug, a little caterpillar that he finds.  He talks with his grandpa about it, and talks about what he does with it.  He takes it on a bike ride. 

 He goes on various activities.  And the film, for a little while, it's just simply about that.  But then, toward the end, it becomes something more.  Let's see a clip from "Old Bug. " Hey, there.  Is that old bug still kicking? Yeah, Grandpa.  That's good.  Have you taken it out to play yet? Play with the bug? Sure.  If you play with those toys of yours, I think you can have more fun with a bug, wouldn't you? What do I do with it? First, have a look at it.  You two need to get to know each other if you're going to be playmates.  So tell me, how's the old bugger? He's fine, Grandpa.  What did you do with him? I took him on a walk around my room.  So what do you think you're going to do next? I don't know.  Maybe I'll take him on a bike ride.  That's an amazing clip.  That's from Sam Shapson's film "Old Bug" from the Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival.  You know, I was watching this film, and I had mentioned this earlier with the directors of the whole festival, I was really surprised when I saw your film.  And I hope you don't take this offensively.  But I was expecting something else when I saw a lot of these student films.  And this film is really well made, but also, there's some gravity to this film.  It's quite serious in the way the grandpa is talking. 

 It's really mature stuff.  Why is it so serious? I was surprised that that's something you would choose.  Well, I just felt like if I was going to actually pursue this, and if I really wanted to demonstrate my ability to myself and to people around me, probably most of all to myself, I wanted to see if I could get an intentional reaction out of people.  I thought, well, when I watch films, really what's going on.  The filmmakers are providing you with subject matter to which the audience is responding.  And the audience response determines how much they like the film, if it made them think, if it made them feel.  And I decided that I wanted to create some sort of exercise for myself to make the audience feel something.  And I decided to explore the feeling of loss.  I wanted to provide the audience with something and then take it away, and see how the audience would respond.  Was there a personal reason for that for you? Were you exploring it as well? You weren't having an existential crisis, or was it just something you thought was evocative? I thought it would be very interesting to see if I'd be able to do that.  It was a challenge to myself.  And I was really surprised with the results.  The film evolved in a slightly different way than I had originally intended.  Wow, that's good.  And in a great way, too.  It was very exciting.  There's a narrator.  The main narrator of the film is the grandfather.  He's interacting with this kid.  And as I listen to the grandfather talk, I have a young child, a four-year-old and an 18-month-old.  I was listening to the grandfather talk to a child the way I would talk to my child. 

 And I was like, how the heck did a high school student write the kind of mature stuff.  You know, if I want to talk to my son about death, or about not squashing a bug, this is a great example of what I could do.  I might even do it actually.  Where does that come from for you? Again, it's very surprising that that would come from you.  I'm not saying you would just make a T&A film, and that's what you would do.  But to see that level of maturity, were you reading a lot of literature on this issue, or did you just want to be serious, and sat down and wrote it? I guess I really don't have a good answer for you.  I think I just, it's just what seemed appropriate.  I have thought about death.  I have thought about interesting things.  I feel like I'm kind of ruining the film a little bit.  No, not at all.  To do these interviews, you have to kind of give a little bit away.  Yeah, I guess so.  But I did feel like I wanted to just talk about a serious topic.  And those were just the words that occurred to me.  Well, you did it very well.  I was very impressed with the maturity with which it was handled.  What's next for you? You're in college now.  And so what's next, is it Hollywood? Is that the goal, to be a big filmmaker, or to be just an independent filmmaker? What's the goal for you for all of this? Well, I'd say the goal for me is, I don't think I know enough about the industry to really be able to say I want to go Hollywood, or I want to go New York, or I want to go Indie.  I definitely want to make films.  I want to be involved in the creative process of films, and whatever it takes to make that happen. 

 So throughout my life, I can look back on it and I've accomplished films, just like I can look back on my high school career and I feel like I've accomplished films, I mean me personally.  If I can do that, then I'll have succeeded.  That's excellent.  When you make your next film, you're welcome to come back on our show.  It's an open invitation.  Thank you very much for joining us.  Like I said, good luck.  Up next, Mike Cheslik.  Mike's film, "Blink" won the Best Picture, Best Script, Best Narrative, Best Editing, and Audience Favorite at the 2006 Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival.  All that, when he was only a freshman in High School.  Here's a clip from Mike Cheslik's film "Blink. " * ( music throughout ) That was an excellent clip from Mike Cheslik's film, "Blink. " Mike, welcome to Director's Cut.  How are you? Thanks.  I love your film.  It's awesome.  I read enjoyed it.  I actually had a couple friends watch, because it's online, so I was able to send that off to friends to check it out.  It was great.  Good.  So welcome. 

 You were a freshman in high school when you made that film.  I don't want to dwell on that fact, but this is a pretty impressive film for a freshman.  Where did you get the wherewithal to sit down and say you're going to make it and then actually do it.  There's a lot of things that when I was a freshman that I said I was going to do, and I didn't do them.  How did you end up actually making a film? Well, we just talked about a lot bigger things than this.  So this was the step down from those.  This was plan C or D? Yeah, this was plan F.  We finally did this one.  There are a lot of long clips in there.  It must have taken forever to make this film.  How long did it take you? Yeah, because it's sped up.  So the whole thing would've been like 40 minutes if it had been in real time.  But we put the whole thing in fast motion, because when I was a freshman, fast motion was really funny, so I did that.  The original film was 40 minutes and you sped it up to fit in the time, that's an excellent idea.  Well, no, we went into it wanting to make it fast.  The whole point of the movie is basically like me messing around with the computer.  Cameras are fun.  Fast motion is fun.  Let's make a movie.  That was nice.  That's all there was to it. 

 You heard it here first, that's the way to make a film.  Cameras are fun.  Fast motion is fun.  Go do it.  It's a funny film.  It's a comedy.  And there are moments in that film where you're supposed to laugh, and you do.  I've seen this with my wife, with a couple friends.  And they laugh at these moments.  But it must have been interesting for you with your first film to be at a film festival where there's an audience.  And when they're supposed to laugh, when you want them to laugh as a director and writer, then they do.  What was it like the first time you're sitting in this big room? Was it like, oh my God, they're responding the way I want them to respond? It was weird, because I'm rarely in regular movies where we laugh when we're supposed to.  So in like, you know, when a group of people laughs at a joke, that's probably the most rewarding thing in the world.  Making a movie and having people laugh at it in a group.  Because laughing in a group is a powerful thing anyway.  But then when it's a movie you made, you know, it's a big deal.  Why are you compelled to make films? You could be doing a lot of other things.  But you're very focused on something very specific at a young age.  Why in high school, compelled to make a film? Because I can.  It's like it's really easy, you know.  Wow, that's why. 

 Oh, yeah, you've got your technology that's so simple now.  It's so easy to buy a camera.  The editing software is like free.  You know, you can.  It's easy.  And I agree, you can.  Oh, I'm not saying it's easy to make a good movie! I'm just saying it's easy to make a movie.  That's why you start.  It's like drug use, can I say that? Sure.  It's like drug use.  You get addicted.  You have somebody-- There's a fly on the set.  Exciting.  Somebody get that on camera.  Fantastic, I love it.  It's like, you know, you have that, some drug addict somewhere, I'm sure, who gets a taste of whatever.  And you know, just gets in deeper and deeper, until that's the only thing he can think about and do.  And you know, moving on to harder and harder things.  You know, challenging yourself more and more.  And then, you know, trying the patch and failing.  Yeah, so. 

 The next thing you know, you're doing a mini-series.  I'm a product of that.  Let's see another clip from your film.  If you can set this one up for us, this is the microwave scene.  Oh, yeah.  So, you know, when you're fast, it's not all fun and games, I guess.  The idea was you don't just get to beat people up.  There has to be negative aspects to it also.  So this is that.  Okay, this is that.  * ( music throughout ) That was a clip from Mike Cheslik's film, "Blink. " So, what's next? What are you working on now? Well, now that I'm in phase nine of my addiction, we're doing a feature length movie.  We've been working on it for like four months.  I met a bunch of great guys who are also really into film, which is the luckiest thing.  And so, we're about halfway through shooting this feature length monster, and nowhere near being done.  But we'll say, you know, spring of this next year, probably.  "Swedish" is the title.  Can you give us a nutshell? What's it about? Well, my little pitch, I guess, is that three young men decide that more than anything else they want to obtain the new Swedish cell phone.  But it's not a very, you know, there's not a lot of them.  So they're hard to find.  And the thing about this cell phone, it doesn't just record what you say, it transmits what you mean. 

 Oh, yeah, I don't want that phone.  Deep man, you know.  And in the process of looking for this communication device, they have sort of a breakdown in communication.  That's it.  But it's a lot weirder than that, I promise.  I promise it's much goofier.  I believe you.  And real quick, before we go, why are you making it? What's the real reason behind making "Swedish. " Why am I making it? You just want to make a full-length film, that's very ambitious.  You know, movies are awesome.  Bad movies are awesome.  Making movies is awesome.  There's just nothing about them that I don't love.  It's what I want to do.  So, you know, gosh darn it, I'm going to make a feature length movie.  You are welcome back.  Send us your film when it's done.  You're welcome to come back on, and we'll have you on for the whole show.  I'll see you in 2011, or whatever.  See you in 2011! Thank you very much for joining us.  Good luck with getting that film out. 

 That'll be great.  I want to thank everyone today.  I want to thank Mike Cheslik, Sam Shapson and everyone at the Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival for giving us a glimpse into the future of Wisconsin independent filmmaking.  I also want to thank you all very much for watching.  It's Director's Cut.  For more information on the Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival, please go to our Web site at: 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 for joining us.  Check the gate. ECHO is on.