By Rodney Chester
October 31, 2008 11:00pm
WHEN filmmakers think of a good idea for a story, the usual path is to sit down and write the script. However, creative partners John L. Simpson and Michael Joy took a different approach.WHEN filmmakers think of a good idea for a story, the usual path is to sit down and write the script. However, creative partners John L. Simpson and Michael Joy took a different approach.
"We decided that we really wanted to make a film about a men's group, but it was very important to us that we were incredibly authentic," Simpson, a Sydney-based producer, says."Michael said to me 'I really don't want to sit down and write the script. I think it would be more authentic if we worked in an improvisational way'.
Simpson and Joy didn't audition actors for the role, but targeted men they had worked with previously.Grant Dodwell, Paul Gleeson, Steve Le Marquand, Don Reid, Steve Rodgers, Paul Tassone and William Zappa play seven men who get together each week to share their thoughts in a self-help group."We brought the actors on board who were simultaneously terrified and exhilarated by the idea," Simpson says of Men's Group.
Simpson has already found success in following the different path. He took on the 2007 film The Jammed after it failed to find a theatrical release and managed to snare it a limited but popular theatrical season.
In seeking authenticity, Simpson and Joy followed in the footsteps of celebrated British filmmaker Mike Leigh, who works with actors in extensive rehearsals to develop the characters.
"The difference is (Leigh) then goes and writes a script," Simpson says.
"This is slightly different because (the Men's Group actors) never got to see the script."Joy would begin each day's shooting "whispering in the actor's ear" for up to 45 minutes, reminding each of them of their characters' motives.
The director had an idea what direction the scene might take, but he was the only one. "The poor sound guys and the cameramen never knew who was going to talk next," Simpson says.
"Every scene that you see in the film was a surprise to the actors."
"The actors, every day when they came into work, had no idea what was going to happen to them. They had no lines to remember or to forget. All they had to do was respond to the other characters, so that each character was set up with an agenda but not actual dialogue."
"When the phone rings, and they pick it up, they have no idea who is calling and they've got to deal with it. If someone flies off the handle, they've got to deal with it. If a character's wife throws them out of the house, they've got to deal with it."
"You've got actors being spontaneous who are totally in the moment because they don't have any other choice. They can't be wooden because they have to use their own words."
Having decided to take such a radical approach, Simpson says that meant other traditional methods also were ruled out, such as funding their film.
"We were untried and untested, so we didn't waste our time," he says. "We launched into production without any capital at all. Not one cent."Instead, he came up with a plan using an equity system of points. The way he explains it, the system sounds like something of a cross between the guidelines you might use to set up a commune and the rules for a board game.
"It would have been a $1 million film so we created one million points, and we traded those points with everyone we wanted to be in the film," he says.
Everyone who provided something for the film, from the actors to the company which leased them office space, was paid in equity points.
"When people ask me the budget, there's two answers. It's $1 million and $0," Simpson says.
Even the premiere of the film, held at the Sydney Theatre Company, was held in an unusual way. Needing to cover the staff costs of a few thousand dollars for the night, Simpson announced the screening would be "pay as you feel". At the end of the night, they sent around the buckets and the screening more than paid for itself.
"If you've got the theory you need $1 million or $2 million to make a film, then in the normal world you've got to spend a couple of years raising that money before you can start work," he says.
Simpson admits the system of relying on the goodwill and optimism of everyone involved would not work for many projects, but it worked for this one. Or at least it has worked so far.The film has been made, but it's still uncertain whether the 1 million points will amount to anything that a bank would accept as currency.
"If it takes off, then they'll get more than they would have got on a wage," Simpson says of those who have equity in the film.
"And if it doesn't, then they had a go."And their efforts have already shown signs of being appreciated.
Men's Group has been nominated for four IF Awards, including best feature film and best script.Simpson also has been awarded the AFI Fellowship for $25,000 to develop a plan for touring films in regional areas without cinemas.
The film will have an exclusive Brisbane season at the Blue Room Cinebar from November 6.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24573151-5003420,00.html
October 31, 2008 11:00pm
WHEN filmmakers think of a good idea for a story, the usual path is to sit down and write the script. However, creative partners John L. Simpson and Michael Joy took a different approach.WHEN filmmakers think of a good idea for a story, the usual path is to sit down and write the script. However, creative partners John L. Simpson and Michael Joy took a different approach.
"We decided that we really wanted to make a film about a men's group, but it was very important to us that we were incredibly authentic," Simpson, a Sydney-based producer, says."Michael said to me 'I really don't want to sit down and write the script. I think it would be more authentic if we worked in an improvisational way'.
Simpson and Joy didn't audition actors for the role, but targeted men they had worked with previously.Grant Dodwell, Paul Gleeson, Steve Le Marquand, Don Reid, Steve Rodgers, Paul Tassone and William Zappa play seven men who get together each week to share their thoughts in a self-help group."We brought the actors on board who were simultaneously terrified and exhilarated by the idea," Simpson says of Men's Group.
Simpson has already found success in following the different path. He took on the 2007 film The Jammed after it failed to find a theatrical release and managed to snare it a limited but popular theatrical season.
In seeking authenticity, Simpson and Joy followed in the footsteps of celebrated British filmmaker Mike Leigh, who works with actors in extensive rehearsals to develop the characters.
"The difference is (Leigh) then goes and writes a script," Simpson says.
"This is slightly different because (the Men's Group actors) never got to see the script."Joy would begin each day's shooting "whispering in the actor's ear" for up to 45 minutes, reminding each of them of their characters' motives.
The director had an idea what direction the scene might take, but he was the only one. "The poor sound guys and the cameramen never knew who was going to talk next," Simpson says.
"Every scene that you see in the film was a surprise to the actors."
"The actors, every day when they came into work, had no idea what was going to happen to them. They had no lines to remember or to forget. All they had to do was respond to the other characters, so that each character was set up with an agenda but not actual dialogue."
"When the phone rings, and they pick it up, they have no idea who is calling and they've got to deal with it. If someone flies off the handle, they've got to deal with it. If a character's wife throws them out of the house, they've got to deal with it."
"You've got actors being spontaneous who are totally in the moment because they don't have any other choice. They can't be wooden because they have to use their own words."
Having decided to take such a radical approach, Simpson says that meant other traditional methods also were ruled out, such as funding their film.
"We were untried and untested, so we didn't waste our time," he says. "We launched into production without any capital at all. Not one cent."Instead, he came up with a plan using an equity system of points. The way he explains it, the system sounds like something of a cross between the guidelines you might use to set up a commune and the rules for a board game.
"It would have been a $1 million film so we created one million points, and we traded those points with everyone we wanted to be in the film," he says.
Everyone who provided something for the film, from the actors to the company which leased them office space, was paid in equity points.
"When people ask me the budget, there's two answers. It's $1 million and $0," Simpson says.
Even the premiere of the film, held at the Sydney Theatre Company, was held in an unusual way. Needing to cover the staff costs of a few thousand dollars for the night, Simpson announced the screening would be "pay as you feel". At the end of the night, they sent around the buckets and the screening more than paid for itself.
"If you've got the theory you need $1 million or $2 million to make a film, then in the normal world you've got to spend a couple of years raising that money before you can start work," he says.
Simpson admits the system of relying on the goodwill and optimism of everyone involved would not work for many projects, but it worked for this one. Or at least it has worked so far.The film has been made, but it's still uncertain whether the 1 million points will amount to anything that a bank would accept as currency.
"If it takes off, then they'll get more than they would have got on a wage," Simpson says of those who have equity in the film.
"And if it doesn't, then they had a go."And their efforts have already shown signs of being appreciated.
Men's Group has been nominated for four IF Awards, including best feature film and best script.Simpson also has been awarded the AFI Fellowship for $25,000 to develop a plan for touring films in regional areas without cinemas.
The film will have an exclusive Brisbane season at the Blue Room Cinebar from November 6.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24573151-5003420,00.html
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