02/17/11
A few weeks ago I mentioned a local production called East of Nowhere, a feature film which has been in production for almost a year now. I haven't seen any proper footage, I don't know the people involved personally and I've not read a script … but, from what I can tell, it feels like the real thing. I recently interviewed one of the film's major players, co-director Matt McCroy, about the production.
As McCroy broke down the members of his production company, Knew Frame Productions, I got the feeling that Nowhere was, in fact, a project to very much look forward to. Joining McCroy (who studied at the New York Film Academy and is currently a camera operator for the NBA Development League) are McCroy's co-director Nichole Root,Nowhere writer Kiowa Ackley and Evan Figg. I'd go over the credentials of these four people if I had the space; needless to say, they're all seasoned video production professionals.
After a period of working on a number of smaller projects, the foursome began to really come together as a unit. "We got to the point where we were quite confident in our abilities and we knew we just needed to have the right project, and a talented cast and crew, to be dedicated and make something happen, which is no easy feat in this area," explained McCroy.
It started, as it always should, with a script. "Before I had moved to Fort Wayne, Kiowa, Nichole and a few others had the intentions of turning this script into a film, but they decided to wait and focus on shorter projects. Kiowa had shown me an early draft of the script about four years ago and I immediately related to it. Not just the fact that one of the central characters finds himself returning to small town life after living in Los Angeles, which I had just done, but the dialogue and storylines of the film's troubled and apathetic leads was so authentic to people I knew and had been surrounded by."
McCroy next explained that he and some of his cohorts realized that they were all soon to graduate and, mostly likely, move out of town for a job in their field. With that in mind, they felt it was time to take Ackley's script more seriously.
"We knew that this was going to be our last chance to do an independent project that was wholly our own idea that we could have complete creative control over, so we started making it into a reality. Nichole, Kiowa and I immediately started looking at the script focusing on each scene, ensuring it was possible to even attempt on a no-string budget. Given the way the story escalates and the dramatic impact of a number of scenes are written, we knew that this film wouldn't be possible unless we found the right actors for each role. We didn't want to take the time finding the crew until we knew we had the right actors to pull this movie off."
From there the casting began. Ackley, Root and McCroy held a few private auditions before doing two days of open call castings in downtown Fort Wayne. From there, they did callbacks, had actors read together and did some improv. They were looking for people who could come off as authentic and also commit to the project. All this, mind you, for a project where you work very long hours and get paid in food and drink.
The more McCroy told me about the film (and believe me when I tell you that he told me a whole lot), the more I became convinced that the production was handled in a very professional manner. "The right way," as they say. I'll say no more about the content, other than to list the six leads and who play them: Deacon, played by Kyle Kiningham; Maron, played by Doug Bolton; Lydia, played by Mia Favela; Dave, played by Andrew Meredith; Missy, played by Kayla Crance; and Shauna, played by Makenna de Vaux. Head over to Knew Frame's YouTube page for an introduction to both the actors and cast
(youtube.com/user/knewframe).
As far as the style of the film goes, McCroy said that they used the camera as an unseen seventh lead character, following the story's players along during a hellish week in a small town. "It meant a lot of long takes and a lot of handheld camera work," McCroy explained. "We also decided that the flashback storyline would have a completely different look from the present day story, working to put the audience in the character's shoes for those segments." For inspiration, the production crew singled out different bits and pieces from a number of films as inspiration. For example: the down-to-earth shooting style of Mean Streets and Kids; the intensity of Irreversible and Requiem for a Dream; the editing and camera work of Cashback and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; and so on.
"To say that this is the project we're most proud of to date would be a sincere understatement," McCroy said. "It's leaps and bounds beyond anything we've ever done, and that's due, in large part, to a talented and dedicated cast and crew."
The crew at Knew Frame aim to have the rough cut of the film complete by early next month. From there they'll begin working on foley, ADR and sound editing with Brandon Smits and music with Troy Koch, with plans to finish the film in May and do a premiere in July. After that, it's all about film festivals and promising distribution outlets like the IFP Film Lab contest.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed.
Written by G. William Locke
