Preview screening: Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler

Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler is a pivotal role for Jake Gyllenhaal and not just for his physique. Jake plays Louis Bloom,a nocturnal, entrepreneurial scavenger on the hunt for a job wherever he can find one and at any cost. He tries his hand at metal refinery by stealing manhole covers and clipping cyclone fences from private property, when that doesn’t pay off, he stumbles upon a line of work that is just his speed, news video stringing.

One fateful night Louis’ curiosity leads him to a fiery car crash on the highway where he witnesses two cops saving a woman’s life while a film crew flocks to the scene to bleed it for every newsworthy moment it has. This sparks his interest, inner animal instinct, and drive to become a freelance news video stringer. This job description entails viciously hunting down gore ‘newsworthy’ crime scenes, home invasions, carjacking, and accidents; the bloodier the better, filming it and quickly selling it to the highest paying, lowest mortality rate, news station for the morning news. For all of Angelinos to gorge on while they prepare for another day in the urban jungle.This job is perfect for Louis considering he lacks empathy for human kind.

Once Louis achieved an objective, he then pawned his way to his first camera and police scanner, the next step was to assemble a team as hungry as he is,which lead him to Nina, played by Rene Russo, the News Director of KWLA. Nina is a former news reporter, past her prime, who moves around from news station to news station as a News Director who possesses the same hunger that Louis does for finding the lead that bleeds.

The next step to any business to survive is to hire a desperate intern, in Louis’ case he expands his ‘company’ by bringing a young homeless man, Rick, Riz Ahmed,on board his nightly excursions. Together they scour Los Angeles racing toward any whiff of blood and fear in the air and filming all of the money shots disregarding boundaries and morality. They become vultures picking at the wounded, dead, and dying to survive.

Throughout Nightcrawler Louis seizes every opportunity presented, breaks down everyone around him to gain control and power. Two questions that Louis asks himself before getting into the business, which derived from an online business course that Louis took, ‘what do you want to do?’ and ‘why do you want to do it?’ and later the question became; ‘what are you willing to do to get it?’

Bloom entered the news industry with no experience, only drive. He reveals that everyone has a price, morally, ethically, and of course; monitaly. To win the lottery you must first earn the money to buy the ticket.

Filmmaker Spotlight: Anna Akana

By Chelsea Fung

Twitter: @CineChel

At the tender age of 19 Anna Akana was entering bars before she was of age, to perform stand-up, and dropped out of college to become a pupil of film school taught by the silver screen lit up by her shadowy influences: Tim Burton, Stephen King, and Joe Hill.

 

Today, Anna runs her brilliant, spunky, raw YouTube Channel that stands up against social stigmas, challenges the men who proclaim they have a case of ‘yellow fever,’ and writes, directs and stars in out-of-this-world short videos such as Pregnapocalypse, Here She Is, and her newest cosmic short, Miss Earth and she may possibly be a super hero, by night.

 

Where did you get your start in the industry?

I started doing stand up when I was 19. Because I was underage at the time, at certain clubs I would be forced to wait outside until it was my time to go on stage. Then I would do my set, walk off, and be kicked out again.

Stand up is such a unique experience that I absolutely loved, but I realized I wanted to pursue acting. My focus since then has primarily been in film. I’ve done a ton of web projects and short films, and I finally feel confident and capable enough to tackle a feature in 2015.

Where do you get inspiration to fuel your shorts and projects?

Honestly, it all comes from boredom induced by strict deadlines. I’m always working on something, whether that be sketch or a vlog or a short film. When you hold yourself to deadlines, you create a ton of content (with a focus on improvement). The more you create, the more ambitious you become with your projects. Short films were a direct result of over 200 web series sketches and vlogs. After you create enough 2 minute videos, you start to wonder what else there is. Deadlines and discipline and quantity with a focus on quality have always been what keeps me going.

And of course, it’s all very fun. Hard work, but still fun.

A few quirks or interesting characteristics about yourself:

I’m a very quiet person. I like to sit back and watch everyone talk and interact. I don’t say much unless there’s something I can add to the conversation. I can “turn on” the confidence and charm and be talkative if I have to, but if the social situation doesn’t call for it, I’m very reserved and observant.

I believe that an abundant amount of cats are the perfect form of birth control. Haha.

If you were officially a superhero, what would your superhero name be and what would be your superpower?

Gah, I’ve been pondering this question for like 20 years. Still don’t have an answer. If I could only have one power, it would be teleportation. No more traffic for me!

Did you go to school to study acting and directing?

I dropped out of community college two years in. The most education I have with acting is attending various classes in Los Angeles in Meisner, scene study, cold reading, etc. As far as directing goes, my experience is solely my self-produced projects. However, I do treat the short films of this year as a film school. It definitely is a learning process.

Tell me about assembling your team and cast for your shorts:

My shorts have had virtually the same cast and crew for the entire year. We got into a work flow and an environment that we all knew and loved, so I kept bringing the same people back. Megan Rosati, a good friend and an insanely talented actress, has been in almost every single project I’ve ever done. From So Fetch Sketch to Miss Earth, I’ve brought Megan back not only because she’s a joy to have on set, but because she’s passionate about her job and isn’t afraid to speak up when she has an idea or suggestion.

I hope to work with a more diverse crew and cast in the future. For the feature, I definitely want to do traditional casting. I have certain people in mind for various supporting roles, but I would love to have the leads be star names.
What is fueling your future feature? Any details you would like to share about it yet?

As of right now I’m taking meetings with investors. If I can’t raise my desired budget, my last resort would be crowd and self-funding. I don’t feel comfortable releasing any details, just yet, but it’s a romantic comedy written by two very funny women I know.

What inspired you to pursue film?

The process itself is so rewarding and fun. I started out as an actor, but that mostly means hurry up and wait. Once I started developing my own content, I fell in love with being on set and bringing it all together.

 

Your shorts, such as, Afflicted Inc., Here She Is, and Hallucination, have a swarthy tone throughout. What/who has influenced this style of filmmaking?

I attribute the black tones in my films to Stephen King, Tim Burton, Joe Hill and Richard Matheson. However, most of my writing is influenced by mental health. I’m incredibly passionate about shedding light on the stigmas associated with mental illnesses. When our bodies are sick and people extend their sympathy, bring us soup, offer up solutions. When our minds are sick people tend to shy away from you, be afraid, or call you outright crazy. I’m fascinated by the way society and individuals view mental illness, and most of my shorts comment on that.

Do you have a specific character you like to play the most?

I love acting in other people’s projects honestly, haha. I’m a huge fan of comedy, although I have a killer scream of anguish/anger in my tool belt.

 

If you have to stay in one character for a whole day; who would it be and why?

Probably my school girl character. That Japanese accent never gets old.

Tell me about your feline entourage:

Lily, Jimmy, Abby and Congress are my furry children. At times they can be difficult to deal with (especially during feeding time), but I love them! They’ve taught me a crazy sense of responsibility and bring a meaningfulness to my life that I imagine only children really can.

When will they be making their social media debuts?

Ha! I have trouble keeping up my own social media, much less having Instagrams devoted to them!

In the spirit of Halloween, I’m curious, what’s your biggest fear in life?

That I won’t sufficiently live. I am a workaholic, and sometimes I sacrifice experiences in order to be productive. I hope I don’t end up imbalanced and regretting these decisions when I’m older.

What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment?

Miss Earth, which released on October 16th, is a science fiction comedy that I wrote, directed, and starred in. It was in collaboration with New Form Digital, who pitched in some money, and the rest I funded with my life savings. It’s the longest piece of content I’ve done so far, and definitely the most ambitious.

Who is your favorite director and why?

It changes, but right now my favorite director is James Gunn. Guardians of the Galaxy is the epitome of what I want to do with my life. There’s not enough science fiction comedy with heart in it, and he nailed that one on the head. My favorite directors are always writers as well, because directing is just that last draft.

Any advice to your fellow filmmakers?

Create, create, create. The only way to get better at anything is to do it all the time.

Any advice specifically to female filmmakers?

Keep going. Sometimes you’ll doubt yourself, certain people will make you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, others will discourage you or objectify you or tell you you don’t deserve to be where you are in life, but just as many other people will encourage and be inspired by your work. Keep your audience in mind, but always do it for yourself.

Filmmaker Spotlight: Christiano Dias

Christiano Dias

By Chelsea Fung

Twitter: @chelcmei

In a single shot, a nine-year-old girl activates her boiling imagination to fend off a cloaked monster created by her parent’s underlying feud, which can only be conquered by the resolution of family love in Monster in a House by Christiano Dias.

Brazilian born, Texas raised writer and director, Christiano Dias brings his endless imagination and creativity to every film he creates, especially when it is in a single shot. In Dias’ recent short, Monster, he brings back some familiar faces from his eminently creative short King Eternal, which also revels in the elusive imagination of an adolescent to escape a difficult reality. Dias’ talks with us about building his dream cast, keys to crowd funding, writing through the blocks and what is in store next.

 

Where did you get your start in the industry?

Texas. I was a 19 years old when I started an internship with The Studios at Las Colinas in Irving, TX. Everyday I would drive about an hour round trip to the studios to help with famed Film Coach, Dr. Don Jackson’s acting workshops. I would film the classes, edit them, and over time – occasionally – lead some of the workshops with the younger actors. I later befriended the Studio Chief, Justin K. Muller who managed the company that ran the studios at the time – Muller Entertainment. That was when I got to work on some commercials there as a PA and also Studio Grip on shows like Prison Break and America’s Got Talent. I ended up interning there for four years and just two months after I started, Justin Muller was already helping produce one of my short films. In those years, Justin ended up producing a handful of other short films of mine and an indie feature that I also DP’ed. In 2012, I moved to Los Angeles to get my Masters in Filmmaking at New York Film Academy’s Los Angeles campus. I’m currently writing a feature, have two films in the festival circuit, and am in post on a third episode of comedic web series.

Tell me about your short, King Eternal, that brought you to HollyShorts.

My short film, King Eternal is about a young boy that uses his hyper-active imagination to cope with his parents’ divorce. It’s told in a magical realism style, blending reality with childhood imagination. It’s a film that is very dear to my heart, as I dealt with some of the same themes growing up. It also stars Golden Globe winner Joseph Bottoms and actress Lisa Roumain (Jersey Girl, Avatar) and I’m grateful to say that I’ve made a lifetime friendship with both of them. So much, that my most recent short film also stars both of them and another very wonderfully talented young actress, Kitana Turnbull. It’s called Monster in a House and is 14 minute single moving shot and, I’m obviously biased but, I think it’s a doozy! I’m just fortunate to have worked with such immensely talented people from Composer – Daniel James Chan and Director of Photography – Michael Helenek. To me, it’s all about building a family that you work well with, believe in, and are “sharp as a knife” focused on telling a story.

 

 

Who has been an inspiration to you in the industry?

Well, every filmmaker has their favorite filmmaker. Or at least I would hope. But no one beats Kubrick in my mind; he’s totally untouchable. Of course, I admire many others, but every filmmaker is influenced by him in one way or another, that Kubrick is sort of the all-encompassing person for me. I also think the way Austinites, Robert Rodriguez and Richard Linklater got started are powerfully inspirational. It tends to give us newcomers a fighting chance!

 

 

You write and direct and edit, how do you fuel all of these contributions that go into your films? How does the story change from page to screen? Which is your favorite to do?

I would say that I take them one at a time, so my head doesn’t explode. Writing is inherently insulated, safe (generally), and something that can be changed, even on set. I mostly encourage the actors to bring their ideas and I’ve been privileged to work with some masterful ones, so they’re my safety net as much as I’m theirs. Directing is an organized chaos. No other way to put it for me, we change things on the spot and adapt and take some losses and some wins and in the end it’s getting as close to the script as we can. The story will always be there as long as we don’t veer into oblivion, so it’s just keeping in mind the things that keep your story grounded and not forgetting it; we can have fun and be chaotic and try things as long as we have at least one foot on the ground to bring us home, if that makes sense. And, editing is just scary. It’s sort of like completing the circle and you’re writing all over again – in that cave that no one enters until you have something. And not really knowing what you have until you can sit down and look more closely, and knowing you can totally screw it all up too. This sounds awful, but editing is not all that bad, it is equally as fun as it is scary. Maybe that’s all of filmmaking…

 

 

If you could tell your younger self something, what would you say?

Hearing and listening are two very different things. Don’t forget to listen.

 

 

Tell me about your recent short, Monster in a House:

I’m very proud to say that I just finished my latest short film. It’s a story about a husband and wife’s broken relationship that manifests itself as a monster that only their daughter can see, and only they can defeat. It’s the most challenging film I’ve ever made. We shot it all to feel like a single shot and I think we wildly succeeded at that, it was just a technical whirlwind of a film that really reflected the theme. Which is about not running away from your problems or “monsters” and facing them head on, so cutting felt like running away. I’m also happy to say we completely crowd funded it on Indiegogo, so it’s good to know we have some fans right out of the gate. I’m dying to show it! Right now, I’m currently writing my first feature and having a blast doing so.

 

 

What fuels your writing? How do you get past any blocks or troughs while writing?

I try to write something every day. Even if it’s just a sentence or anything. I open the Notes app on my iPhone daily and write something that comes to mind: a character’s name, a situation that happens at lunch that’s funny, a daydream, whatever it is. It’s amazing because it’s all saved there. I have notes from 2009 that I sometimes dig up and see if it’s usable or if it just plain sucked, unfortunately it’s sometimes the latter. Then there’s the blocks. I like to write from the heart, picking stories and things that happened to me or that I’m afraid of or love to do, or always wanted to do. I feel like you really have to love it if you’re going to write it and spend so much time with it. So “write what you know” has sort of been my mantra. I like to think I get over the writing blocks by hitting them over the head with an 800 pound bowling ball; you sometimes have to just battle yourself! I heard the Coens like to write themselves into a corner, then write themselves out. I think I’d like to try that someday.

 

 

How did you go about casting your shorts?

I’ve always cast all my films myself with a trusted fellow filmmaker and another to run the camera. That’s really been the whole process. Then you take the footage and sit down with a few more filmmakers and get their opinions, but at the end of the day, it’s really how that audition made you feel. I remember when Joseph Bottoms came into the audition for King Eternal and it was towards the end of the day and I hadn’t done much research, but knew he looked the part and by the time he showed up, we ended up talking for about 20 minutes before he even did any sides. Thinking about it now, I feel like I cast him before he even sat down and before you go screaming bloody murder about it, it is a huge thing to really get along with your actors and have a relationship. I cherish my relationships with every single actor I’ve worked with greatly. A good vibe’s a good vibe. I suppose that’s been my biggest lesson about casting and making films, “go with your gut.”

 

 

What advice do you have to fellow crowd funders?

My humble opinion for crowd funding is to tell your story as simply as you can, explain why it needs to be made or what makes it important – and it helps if you have others attached already that can speak on your behalf too, and then give some decent perks; do it all in a well made three to four-minute video and you’re halfway there. With films, the perks that really matter are the big dollar Producer credits. I was lucky enough to successfully crowd fund two of my shorts in two years and our backers are scattered literally all over the world. What helped us was that Joseph Bottoms happened to have some very enthusiastic and generous fans from Russia that massively funded each of our films together and I’ll forever grateful to them. Lisa Roumain and Joseph both really helped me promote the story in the campaign video and we’re just over the moon with how supportive people were. Make phone calls, write letters, email until your fingers bleed, and do anything you can to get the word out!

 

 

What advice do you have to your fellow filmmakers?

I’m not sure what I’d say, I mean, I’m still learning myself. I don’t think we ever really stop. But maybe I’d say the same thing I would to the younger self question, “Don’t forget to listen.” And by that I mean that filmmaking is collaborative and not just one person’s film; listen to your actors and collaborators, but only take the ones that will help you tell a better story. Because at the end of the day, the story is king. But if they’re filmmakers, then they don’t need my advice, they’re already making films – that’s the best thing there is.

Monster in a House

Read more about Monster in a House in the reviews below:

EPIC podquest film review

Red Carpet Crash Film Review

Forest City Short Film Review: Monster in a House

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Twitter: twitter.com/monsterinahouse

Website: www.monsterinahouse.com

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/99810872