|
____________________
From the Director
Originally,
I planned to make a piece about a struggling jazz musician
or a romantic comedy about my own ironic experiences, but
soon I found out the film had to be shown to a larger audience.
So I compromised with market reality and decided to create
something more entertaining to keep the audience interested.
Hence the product - a spoof on Dale Carnegie's bestselling
self-help masterpiece
|
|
"How to Win Friends & Influence People." I
picked four chapters from the book and blew them out of proportion
to the absolute fullest.
The
film's Executive Producer, also a creative agent and a long
term collaborator/friend of mine, Ed Mattiuzzi came up with
the underlying themes/ideas with myself at Union Station,
Washington DC in March 1999. Ironically I ended up in DC indefinitely
two years later and I am kind of stuck here. I wrote the vague
screenplay in about 30 minutes becauseimprovising my lines
and enhancing my already brilliant script.
|
|
Some unexpected cameo appearances were especially
tasty.
The
acting turned out to have exceeded my expectations, with Steve
Johnson shining in the awkward lead role as Bill Kirkpatrick
(a real-life person who is a mystique). The bar scene was
exceptionally delightful because the three actors were in
top form (they were half-drunk in that fourth take). Most
of the scenes were shot in one complete take, with the exception
of the office scene, which I cut in three subtle parts (I
took the best parts I could)
|
|
and the "Smile" chapter, which was intended
to be a musical video.
The
film was shown in three public viewings. While it fared quite
well in all three occasions, the audience reaction was different.
I felt that in the first
Cornell showing, many spectators didn't get or appreciate
the dry humor. Also, many identified my influences,
|
|
accurately
naming Quentin Tarantino (long shots) and Woody Allen (music
and humor) while incorrectly pinpointing Kevin Smith (low-budget
and B&W??). If I were to make the film all over again, I wouldn't
change much of the structure or the music selection, only the
technical stuff like sound, picture quality.
The
director thanks all actors involved in the film, Ed Mattiuzzi,
and long-term partner (who hi-techly put the video on the
web) KLEE.
front
page | music | photo
| writings
hip links | e-mail
me
|
