After reviewing the nifty and intriguing short film BLACK, Cary Conley couldn’t wait to talk with the filmmaking trio of Producer Jason Hagen and brothers/co-directors Nathan and Seth Anderson.  While fairly new to the indie scene, after interviewing them it is clear that these three filmmakers are all deadly serious about making mature, thought-provoking and intelligent films exploring themes of life and death through a variety of genres.  Our interview ranged from developing storylines and scouting locations to getting a “how to” lesson in film financing.  These filmmakers are fascinating as well as genuinely nice guys.

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CC:  Why don’t we start by having each of you give our readers a little bit of background information? 

JH:  I’m originally from Chaska, Minnesota, a suburb west of Minneapolis.  We lived there up until 1985, when my family decided to forego the harsh winters, and moved my brother and I to Arizona.  Growing up in Arizona, and being a good six years older than my brother, I relied heavily on comics, movies, and music for entertainment and escape.  Luckily, I met some friends that shared similar interests.  I wrote short stories all through school, and always gravitated toward visual artists, trying to start a comic book or magazine.  Those projects never really solidified, but some interesting relationships, friendships, and ideas came about that motivated me to keep going.  I met my best friend in junior high school, and by high school we were both pretty heavily into movies, with me into writing and production, and him more into animation.  He convinced me to go to a two-year art school with him.  I graduated from the Art Institute of Phoenix in 1997, and after a hard-core year working as a government media intern, I decided to head back to Minnesota to go to a reputable art college there, The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), for filmmaking.  I wanted to learn actual filmmaking, the cameras/lighting, and really focus for four years on the art of filmmaking and try to connect in a more free-form environment that the college offered.  The film program was intense because it was entirely up to you to get your projects completed, really teaching you first-hand how to produce.  I met Nathan at MCAD during the production of a professor’s feature film.  We hit it off instantly, and I credit him for opening my eyes to the dark side of art.  I believe his visual work, both video/film and drawings, really grab the soul.  After college, we both moved to Los Angeles, with Seth later joining us, and eventually formed Lullskull Ltd., during the production of our first post-college short The Merciful Death of Jonas Blake.

NA:  Seth and I have collaborated on many things since we were small boys, being brothers. Our interests and ideas seem to gel very naturally out of a short hand. We differ on certain things but that give and pull has always seemed to produce something we are both happy with. A brief word on my background would be an early fascination with photography and drawing that led me to full blown love of oil painting and I sharpened my skills at composition there. I then wanted to tell stories almost immediately and film is the best media I’ve found for storytelling.

SA:  Nathan and I were born in the Minneapolis area, and grew up in a small town called Iron Mountain in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We were creative children from an early age, and we collaborated on everything from comics to music before settling on filmmaking. Over time my taste dovetailed organically with his, and I think that has led to a uniquely intuitive relationship that has survived into adulthood. After we went our separate ways to earn film degrees, we reconnected and decided a move to Los Angeles was the next logical step. With our good friend Jason Hagen, we formed Lullskull Ltd., in 2006 and have been making films under this brand ever since.

CC:  Why did you choose to get into the film industry?

JH:  I chose the film industry because the collaborative spirit has always been with me.  Film is the one place where you can take an idea, put it to paper, and then nurture and expand the idea by attacking it with visuals and interpretations and make something fantastic.  Ever since graduating college and working with Nathan and Seth, our collaboration has pushed me to keep going, tell stories, and learn about the world.  I want to see what we’re capable of discovering and sharing with audiences.

NA: I personally love film production and getting a large group of people together to obtain the images needed to make a film is extremely exciting to me, like an army. It is many people’s burden for the need of one particular expression. There is nothing like that. I find film to be a collaborative media, unlike painting, writing and many of the other more solitary disciplines.

SA: I seriously pursued music in my teens and even went to college for it, but in my first year I felt cut off from visual expression in a very profound way.  After realizing I was missing something vital, I decided film would fill the vacuum and went to film school in Milwaukee. After having such a great experience there, I never really considered another course. I'm a filmmaker chiefly because it allows me to integrate my love of photography, literature and sound.

CC:  What filmmakers and/or movies influenced you the most?

JH: I don’t want to sound pretentious here, but Kubrick is really the first filmmaker that made me stop and think.  I am sincerely fascinated by his process and his meticulous nature.  All of his films have a style that is so guided by a master, I have yet to see anyone come about or even develop in that direction.  From early on I have to say Bladerunner was a huge influence on my visual style. It takes an already complex science-fiction story and places it in a world that comes across as very believable on film.  A lot of my stories and ideas for films involve a very humanistic approach- whether it is looking for identity, dealing with a loss, or looking for symbols/guides through life; all things I’ve experienced.  I can watch these directors’ films and see a reflection of life in their stories.

NA:  This is a list that is ever changing because inspiration is everywhere if you keep your eyes open.  Certain films have made a mark on me such as Alien by Ridley Scott, The Man from Snowy River by George Miller,and Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders. I’m really excited by Werner Herzog’s films, David Lynch’s early career was really exciting, and lately Michael Haneke’s work.

SA:  My favorite films are Blade Runner, The Conversation, Suspiria, Wild Strawberries and Tarkovsky’s The Mirror.  My favorite Filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky, Ridley Scott, Francis Coppola, Roman Polanski, Peter Weir and of course Kubrick.

CC:  “Black” is about a psychiatrist who is trying to confront his fear of dying and his psychic wife who inadvertently brings a negative force into their lives. The wife is trying to solve the mystery of how a woman went missing, but both are so consumed with their personal problems, it is taking a toll on their marriage. You describe it as a “psychic thriller.” Who came up with the story for this film?

JH: I think the initial inspiration came about from Nathan reading a story or an article about a man who built a life-support system into a coffin so he could stay conscious all the way until the last second he was to “pass on”.  I think this man had lost his wife and went a bit delusional.  Nathan told me the idea one day and by then Seth was already in writing-mode working out a plot with Nathan (that’s how we work).  A man in a coffin with a life-support system was really all I needed to get on board.  Just like with our first film, the western Jonas Blake, Nathan presented me artwork of a cowboy shot up with a million arrows, and I was hooked.  You can see though that the story of Black took some of the original ideas from the article, but the Andersons took a very human, less hghi-tech approach and developed an entirely new story.  I know they can expand on this more, but let me just add that some of the original drafts took a more action-movie approach that would’ve actually come across exciting visually, with more characters, but I asked them to think about the story and plot, the essence.  Did it really need those things, and were they pivotal?  Those elements were later stripped away, and the film I believe has a more consistent tone.

NA: I initially came up with a story about a man who was so afraid of death that he created a life support system inside the coffin he was to be buried in. That idea of the unknowable void is still very much at the forefront of what became Black.  The final piece still keeps the story of people coming to terms with the mysterious nature of death and finding what they need in life.

SA: Following the western short we produced in 2006, Nate and I knew we wanted to do a chamber horror story; something that was a cross between the atmosphere of Poe, the pace of Hitchcock and had the philosophic edge of a good Twilight Zone episode. What became Black came out of a story Nathan read about a man escaping from his coffin after he was thought to be dead. The final product strayed from this kernel, but it’s still basically about people coming to terms with the mystery of death and trying to find ways of escaping it, or at least make sense of it. From there Nathan and I developed several treatments that we hammered out with Jason over the spring of 2007 and a script materialized by the early summer of that year.

CC:  This film seemed to have relatively high production values for a short film made by relative newcomers. What kind of budget did you have?

NA: Fairly low budget yes, but we focused our strengths mostly on the script and quality of the acting first and foremost. Visually I wanted to capture the Oregon coast as I saw it, no camera tricks or gags visually. I think the visual simplicity is what makes it feel bigger than it is. We shot what was available to us, and there was so much there.

SA: Jason could give you a more accurate number, but it was entirely self-financed and much of the production value was the product of the location and a ton of thrifty creative solutions. Coastal Oregon is a world-class natural wonder, and it wasn't difficult to situate our story in a visually compelling setting that would make up for budgetary limitations.

JH: Our first short film, Jonas Blake, was made with $3,000 out of our own pocket, and I came on as Nathan’s camera assistant/gaffer and later became the film’s producer, literally after the script was locked and the guys were ready to head out to shoot.  We took all of our own money and spent it without setting up a budget, going into that film very carefree, and surprisingly not putting us in debt.  With Black we decided not to relive those mistakes, and we set up a target budget of $8,000 after the script was ready, because we knew how much the company Lullskull Ltd. could put in, and estimated/gambled the remaining amount from investors.  We knew we weren’t going to shoot film this time around because we had just finished shooting a music video on the Panasonic DVX-100, producing amazing film-look results.  We had an in-kind camera donation for shooting the video for a friend, and another friend, (our Grip/Electrician Jered Hritz) brought a full lighting package to the film.  And from there it was budgeting out the rest of the dollars to hit production design, costumes, expendables, travel, actors, location fees, and post-production expenses.  Once we figured out that we could make the movie with what we budgeted, I went after the investors with a business plan.  I drew up the plan, laid out the whole project, our production intent, our distribution plan, and incentives to the investors, in-turn for their dollars.  The Andersons and I did some in-person pitching, and with setting up a pledging website, we were able to raise the remaining dollars.

CC:  A good part of the film was shot on the Oregon coast. The film has beautiful scenery, yet all three of you come from Michigan and Minnesota.  How did you go about scouting for film locations?

JH: After the script was locked, we needed a coastal setting, a location in fog and rain that would look very stylistic in black and white.  The Andersons were totally going for a European, Hammer Films look.  I thought about how to get that kind of location in California, and a place we could own for a week or so.  With Jonas we shot over several months on weekends down in Fallbrook, California (recommended by my aunt and uncle who lived there at the time, and now live in central Oregon), and that town was inland and tucked off the grid.  This time we needed a coast, and production was going to be out in the open.  Luckily, the same aunt and uncle (by now, huge supporters of our work) owned a rental beach house in Bandon, Oregon, a couple hours northwest of the California/Oregon border.  I went to Bandon a couple of times with them during family visits, and really fell in love with the town.  And every time I visited, the weather was always rainy.  Bandon was just far enough outside the busy cities that we might be able to shoot there for a limited amount of money.  So in June 2007, the Andersons and I scouted Bandon and surrounding Coos Bay for various locations, and we all agreed that that was where we were going to shoot.  Come September, after working out the beach house rental for a week, we were rolling cameras.

NA: I had been to Salem, Oregon, and had camped three nights in the Redwoods a few years prior to filming there. I felt a good mystery could be made on that coast somehow.

SA: It was a mixture of the exotic atmosphere and the generous contributions of Jason's family. For a time we conceived of Black as being a more urban story, with heavy use of L.A.'s freeways and all of the existential issues tied up with that kind of landscape. But when Jason's family provided the option of the central house featured in the film, we decided to drive up to Oregon to see how that might inform the then-developing story. That initial trip was a watershed moment for all of us, and every location we found within the area found its way into the final film. As for Michigan, well we have our hearts set on doing our next film there.

CC:  Seth and Nathan, how do you go about being co-directors on a film? What are the advantages and disadvantages of co-directing?

NA: Our working relationship is fluid for the most part. We did have extensive pre-production on Black where we shared our ideas and got everything out before we were there in Oregon shooting it. We didn’t have a large crew so we were all doing everything. That said, I feel very comfortable directing from the camera.  I like seeing the scene in the viewfinder.  I think Seth is the other way, seeing the performances live helps him know if it is working or not.  Honestly, during the entire production Seth and I are in a discussion/debate that only ends when we finish shooting.

SA:  Our relationship is fairly fluid because we've worked out most of the major content kinks during the screenwriting phase. The advantage here is that we trust the other's judgment implicitly, and this has come from years and years of developing a mutual taste. The disadvantage with this film was that due to crew limitations, Nathan had to pull double duty with the cinematography and I think it didn't allow him to work with the actors as much as I was able to. In the future this will be something we watch out for as we get a larger team together.

CC:  Jason, as a producer for low-budget films, do you find yourself doing more than traditional producing entails?

JH:  Yes, I did, but I think each film presents its own challenges.  With Jonas, I really thought about how to get the film made, at any cost because we had invested our own money, literally blood and sweat (to the point of severe dehydration) and safety just was not a factor.  With this film, I had to stop and focus on crewing key areas, given our resources and money, and think about safety.  I think safety was my major concern every day of production.  I remember giving notes on script drafts.  I kept reading about characters on the edge of cliffs and a major character falling off a cliff, and that was one of the scenes that really jazzed me about the script, pulling that off.  But when you get to the day where you have to cover it on location, a motherly instinct definitely takes over.  So, before packing our lead actors in a rented mini-van for Oregon, I padded the budget for vehicle insurance, and did a lot of research on hospitals, and also made sure that all actors and crew had medical insurance.  After arranging safety, it was determined again that the three of us would handle major crew positions, with me doing camera assisting and lighting.  So after staying up late each night prepping schedules, arranging the next day’s shots and locations, getting people to set, and arranging spending, I had to move right into assisting Nathan with setting the angles and lighting.  A Godsend came in the form of Jered Hritz, a great friend from Oregon (and MCAD) who owned a lighting package.  He was a tremendous help moving lights, rigging, and keeping us moving.  Another person we owe a huge thank you to is Kathy Trinh, our Production Assistant.  As we were going through the pitching process, going for production company assistance/funding, I approached Samsung Mobile as a possible sponsor/distributor after watching another short film prove successful partnering with Samsung for product placement and distribution.  Upon contacting Samsung, I was directed to what I thought was the film distribution division, but later turned out to be their sponsored teen filmmaking program called Fresh Films.  After pitching our film to Fresh Films, I came up empty with product placement or funds, but I was able to work out having them recommend to us a Fresh Films PA that would help us out in turn for experience, and cross promoting Black and Fresh Films on each other’s websites.  That was my first crack at sponsorship.  To this day, we still recognize Fresh Films as a major help with producing the film.

CC:  I thought the editing in this film was excellent. Seth, you were the editor for this piece. How did you learn the technique of editing? Did you have any particular scenes that caused you problems while editing Black?

SA: Editing was something I became very keen about during my film school days and any technique I've developed came from logging many hours in front of a computer. For me, the editing process is very similar to the writing process:  you are usually sitting alone with yourself at some ungodly hour and you are forced to wrestle with your creativity in a very direct and sometimes scary way. I draw vast influence from the kind of lateral thinking you find in poetry or experimental movies, and I'm always asking myself what might happen if I associated disparate images and sounds. Anyway, the hardest scene to crack was probably Emile's introduction in the office. We conceived it as something more elaborate and unnecessary, and at the end of the day we came up with a voicemail solution that allowed our actor to play things out visually. If I had one final thing to say about technique, it is that I'm always trying to find a way push the boundaries of cinematic sound, because I think it's an element that is woefully underutilized.

CC:  I thought the screenplay writing was superb in this film. I think the opening scene basically foreshadows everything else that happens in the movie, and I think you brought your ideas full-circle when the character Dana asks her husband to trust her just once. How much planning did you do when trying to connect certain scenes in the film or in making thematic connections throughout the film?

JH: I know Seth can give much more detailed take on this, but I would like to add my take on some of the connections.  Yes, the film does come full circle when Dana asks Emile to trust her, but there are also parallels between the Michael character and Emile, maybe not on paper, but comes about visually.  Through motivations and gestures, Michael is what Emile would become if Emile doesn’t put faith in his wife and her abilities.  Michael is roughly the dark side of Emile, and is living with un-shrouded regret that he didn’t trust his wife Julie or treat her well while she was alive, and is seeking forgiveness on violent terms.  I also like how Emile’s ailment allows Julie to enter his life and resurrect his relationship with Dana, while driving Michael crazy, like a wicked puppeteer.  In many ways it’s a mystery ghost story, and in other ways, we show that there can be assistance from beyond the grave.

SA: The story was the hard-won product of a lot of discussion. The central tension here is that Emile sees death as an impenetrable void, while his wife claims to speak with inhabitants of that void on a daily basis. When we came upon the idea that Emile's wife was clairvoyant, it was one of those “eureka” moments that turned the film into an exploration of what her ability implies. Emile loves his wife, yet he's never taken her seriously until faced with the fact that he may be dying. We then had to create a situation where Dana's ability brought about an imminent problem that would force Emile to stop screwing around and either accept or reject Dana for who she is. With Michael, we have a man that is willing to do anything to get forgiveness from his dead wife for his past misdeeds, and her spirit refuses to give him this satisfaction. The final story had to illustrate that if you don't take advantage of the present moment and be good to those you love, then death will have the final say and cut you off.

CC:  I also noticed the “black” motif throughout the film in dress, set design, certain locations, and I even saw several scenes where characters either emerge or exit from darkness. Were all of these things intentional?

JH:  This is an area best answered by Nathan.  However, having known Nathan for many years now, and collaborating with him on several projects, Black represents his dark style the most out of our projects.  The “black” motif represents the themes of death or the unknown, major themes that all the characters in the film deal with, Emile especially.  We tried as much as we could to always keep the audience on edge with atmosphere, lighting or sound, not knowing what is coming next, to keep the tension and suspense on the rise.  I love noir lighting style, and this gave me my first chance to work with it since college.  I remember we also originally went into this project with the intention of dropping in “shadow men” or spirits made of pure darkness.  We wanted them to flash in and out, after Emile learned of his ailment, but this distracted from the pace and style we agreed upon.  This concept eventually formed into the black creature that taunts Emile and really gave us license to take the audience to dark places and realms, while staying true to the plot.

SA: Nathan can speak to this more, because I credit him with much of the visual design. I know we were playing with the concept that the void was always something that might threaten to swallow or embrace a character. Costume design throughout the film was definitely planned out, but I wouldn't be comfortable putting too fine a point on those details.
NA: I can say that recurring motifs of shadows or darkness enveloping and uncovering was a very intentional idea for Black. Setting this film on the literal edge of where land meets water also creates this atmosphere of contrasts.  We explored those ideas with sound and visuals endlessly.

CC:  Why did you choose to film in black-and-white as opposed to color? Was it a budgetary decision or a thematic/artistic decision?

JH: The original idea for the black and white photography spawned out of the need to evoke the old Twilight Zone episodes, of which we’re all hard-core fans.  We had also just completed two films in color, and really wanted to throw the audience into an aged black and white world.

NA: Once we set the story on the Oregon Coast I felt that we should shoot it in black and white and reduce it down to the stark quality the script called for. I’m personally really mesmerized by water in black and white; seeing it reduced of any color makes me dream a little bit.

SA: It was definitely a thematic decision. The story seemed to demand a visual style that was so stark it was almost nightmarish. It also harkens to the title, and how that absolute deprivation of light and color is something we naturally fear. By the time we began thinking of Black as a lost Twilight Zone episode, we all agreed that those shows were inconceivable in color.

CC:  What kinds of challenges were you faced with when filming this piece?

JH: As stated before, the three of us had a wonderful scouting trip three months prior to principle photography.  We really felt like we found a location that could give us production value to push this film to a higher level.  We went back to L.A., revised the script to include a lighthouse (Coquille Lighthouse) as the main location where Julie shows herself, possibly the location where her character was killed.  When we returned three months later, our actress Jenny McGriff, who plays Julie, informed us on her first shoot day (at 5 AM) that the Coquille Lighthouse was covered in scaffolding and under renovation!  Not what you want to hear at 5 AM!  Seth, Nathan, and I felt naive for thinking that nothing could possibly happen to this location in a three-month span!  So, we put our heads together, and thought about the cliffs we had scouted earlier.  We were going to work in the cliffs under the lighthouse, through editing.  We immediately scrapped the lighthouse all together and just placed Julie at the cliffs overlooking the beach in Bandon.  The cliffs themselves, we realized, sold more visually than having the lighthouse, and added to the ominous tone of the film.  Nothing screams danger than a lone woman in white standing on the edge of 400 or 500-foot tall cliffs.  Another challenge related to the cliffs was getting our lead actor, Robert McAtee, out on the edge of the cliffs after his wife Dana, actress Seriina Covarrubias, rescues him.  Robert is deathly afraid of heights and did the scene in one take.  And finally, on the last night of filming, and we were not graced with any rain or foggy weather the whole shoot, like we had planned; we were blessed with a torrential down-pour while filming outside the beach house.  Although it doesn’t read too well on film, the rain was blowing in hard, and all of us were standing on lights with umbrellas to keep the lighting in play.  As a producer, this was the one thing I really panicked about.

NA: It was an intense schedule with a small crew. We relied on each other to keep our eyes on the prize and remain safe.  That was the major challenge we overcame.

SA: I think the primary challenges we faced were due to a lack of manpower. We had a very small crew, and a punishing schedule with which to create a very ambitious project. In the end I think we overcame these obstacles because we didn't lose sight of why we were there, and holding to that vision will get you through anything if you want it enough. All three of us wanted Black to succeed in the worst way, and even though there were times where I was more tired than I've ever been, I knew it was because we were doing something special. Additionally, I think financial challenges are always a major concern, but they can be surmounted if you are willing to ask for help and in turn are willing to give as good as you get.

CC:  What aspect of the film are you particularly pleased with?

JH: I am very pleased overall with the maturity of the film and the production value that we achieved on such a limited budget.  Aside from all the in-kind donations to the film, every purchase made was laboriously thought out.  Because we were working with investors’ money, we had to know way ahead of time where the money was being spent, and I would send out spending reports to everyone.  We worked our resources to the max and I really think we delivered a tight, entertaining, thought-provoking genre film.  I was also very happy with casting -  to find two actors in L.A. willing to take a chance with us, to travel with us almost 30 hours to/from a remote location in Oregon, work tirelessly 20 hours a day, is an amazing and rare treat!  Seth and I cast pretty extensively through demo reels and phone interviews with our Oregon talent, and were grateful getting both Jenny McGriff and Kevin Dahlgren.

NA: I really think shooting in Oregon really made the atmosphere deeper and more believable for me. The running scenes both in downtown Bandon and through the beaches are really some of my favorite images we’ve created so far.

SA: For me, Black broke many creative boundaries I had unconsciously placed on myself. I'm happy the film is thoughtful, and I'm satisfied in saying that it represents the best I could do at that point in my creative life. When we finished the film, I honestly felt like we'd all run a marathon, but I knew if we'd had more time we could have gone longer. Black has given us the confidence we needed to go forward with a feature length film.

CC:  Your first film was a western and this film is billed as a “psychic thriller”. What process do you go through in determining what material to use for your next project?

JH: The good thing about our dynamic is that we all three are writers in some respect.  So there is no shortage of ideas.  I know the Andersons have a slate of at least three to four more films, all of which I am very excited to produce, as they’re all interesting and very different.  We’re looking at the slate and determining what we think we can tackle as a three-man operation, and which of the stories demand to be told priority over the rest.  I have some ideas I’m working out, really looking to do a monster movie treatment soon.  Our next project, our first feature coming off the 40 min Black, is very reflective of the current war climate and national feeling toward government.  We’re working on a post-pandemic script that is very stripped down, rustic, yet will hopefully be told with an immediate pace. Seth and I have started talking about his idea-- which he’s had for five years-- and I’ve injected some of my ideas into his story.  We’re all into making our films as humanistic as possible, even if they are genre movies. We really want you to feel for the characters and live their experiences.

NA: We have a future slate of projects that we are very excited to produce. Each one is different in its way but is linked inherently by how we as filmmakers see the situations. I feel Merciful Death and Black come from the same curious minds. I strongly believe each new project will adhere to our desire to capture trials and rejoices of the human experience.

SA: The three of us have a broad selection of interests that we'd like to address with our films, most of which concern some aspect of what it means to be alive. Admittedly our work usually fits a genre and I hope within those sometimes confining parameters we never lose sight that our main interest is the human heart. For instance, the next project will be set in the future, but I'd hesitate to call it Science Fiction because it’s more of a response to what people are going through now and the SF trappings are kind of incidental.

CC:  Your two leads are particularly strong. How did you find them? Did you already know them, were they recommended, or did you go through casting sessions?

JH: Seth and I did the initial casting on the film, and I think Nathan was working some wicked hours at the time, so he would review tapes and reels at home.  It was collaborative in the end.  We were going through several candidates for Emile, and trying some for Michael as well.  We had some guys we liked for Emile but the edge or vulnerability wasn’t there, until Robert McAtee came in.  Seth and I knew right away from his headshot he was Emile.  His audition was spot on.  We cast him right away between two films he had just signed on.  With the character of Dana, it was very difficult casting for the part the Andersons had written.  We met with dozens of actresses, collected reels also from Oregon talent, and just weren’t feeling the right person.  The character in the script was very complex and honestly I think we were looking for too many personalities in one person.  When Seriina came in to audition, we were very hesitant on going with her because she had a darker look, not like what the Andersons wrote.  But when she gave us her audition it became immediately apparent that this was Dana.  Seriina had a very mature look, an almost European quality and confidence that raised Dana from a free-spirit, new-aged psychic, to a young woman that was born into the trade and takes it very seriously, yet a nice compliment to Emile’s over analytical character.

NA: Robert McAtee (Emile) and Seriina Covarrubias  (Dee Dee) were cast in Los Angeles. They came in on a call and we liked them separately and then read then together and it seemed right. We believed them in the roles. We always had it in our mind to cast locally for the rest of the cast and we had no problem finding incredible talent in Oregon.

SA: There were fairly extensive casting sessions conducted in LA and remotely in Oregon. In the end, our two leads traveled 15 hours with us from L.A. to Oregon, with local actors Kevin Dahlgren and Jenny McGriff joining us later. All of the actors were found via web casting resources and from there we had our favorites rehearse scenes. Robert McAtee was a gift to us as Emile and I do believe his performance is the anchor of the film. Seriina Covarrubias came to the process a little later and easily won the Dana role after she wowed us with a screen test. She not only has an energy that complements Robert's stoicism, but she also has a silent ferocity that I would like to see her develop further.

CC:  I thought you had many interesting camera angles in this film. Did you utilize storyboards or brainstorm ideas on set?

JH: Nathan, being the resident visualist, drew storyboards and concept art for a majority of the film.  When we originally agreed on scouting Bandon for the location, I asked my aunt to email us some photos she took of the property before listing it with the rental management company.  Nathan took the photos and placed some drawings of characters in the photos in Photoshop.  That’s what really kicked off the excitement of shooting in Bandon.  Of course we took extensive photos during the scouting, again modified by Nathan.  Storyboards and concept art also carried us through during the pitching.  We had character sketches to show potential investors, settings, and some action scenes to compliment the script.

NA: We had a great pre-production location scout in Bandon.  I usually do storyboards for every shot but what I did when we visited the location is take photos of everything, every hallway, every shoreline that I thought I might use and that gave me so many ideas before we got there. Bringing all that information back, I detailed an attack plan in a huge binder. The thing had handwritten notes scribbled all over it and I even designed the sets by drawing on the photographs. When we get the actors in the space, things always happen, actor ideas, my ideas, etc. I like to keep it loose but have a base of a lot of preparation so I can always know I have that to fall back on…

CC:  And finally, what advice do each of you have for new filmmakers?

JH: My advice for new filmmakers is if you want to go to school or not, you have to write and keep making movies, and work on movies any chance you can get.  You have to keep your writing and production skills up to par because this industry is changing every day.  If you have an area you really want to focus on, try to surround yourself with people or professionals that work in that area, offer to assist, take notes, and show interest.  Above all, do not listen to those that tell you you’re nuts, we’re all nuts anyway and it’s a crazy thankless industry, and the reward is making relationships and seeing your work on a screen.  If you want it bad enough, you will get it.   

NA: Make films.  I think a filmmaker can only call themselves that if they are making films. You learn so much from the work, making mistakes, learning how to hide mistakes and working with other people. So much of filmmaking is being able to express your ideas to someone else and that can be a challenge taking in other people’s attitude and personalities. Any advice beyond that is an addition to that statement.  I’d also say brush up on the business side of filmmaking. You need to learn how to protect your work and if you are going to continue you need to be able to sell your ideas to others.

SA: Find people that inspire you to smash any and all limitations you may be placing on yourself. Working in this medium means you have to communicate with people and do your best to understand their needs while at the same time standing firm on why you've gathered them together. Finally, know that there are many people in the world that will tell you to stop, and when this inevitably happens you need to ask yourself if you agree. If the answer is no, then you owe it to yourself and the world at large to keep going and kick some butt.