Aaron Golden: Writer, FALLING OVERNIGHT

1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of FALLING OVERNIGHT, from concept
to financing.

Way back in January of ‘10, Conrad Jackson approached my good friend and producing partner Parker Croft with an idea for a feature film. The two had previously worked together on a pilot Conrad created called Adult Life, and the feature concept was an ultra low-budget time-contained love story about a young man with a brain tumor (who would be played by Parker). Conrad wanted to explore what could possibly be the last day in life of this bright young man faced with an impossibly difficult reality. With the help of certain recent technological advancements (thank you Canon 5D), the film would look and sound absolutely incredible. Parker was excited, but there was a catch: the film needed to be shot in May, an incredibly short timeline to get any sort of quality screenplay written in
time for production. On top of that, Conrad and Parker would also have to be focusing on directing, acting, raising funds, planning, producing, and everything in between…

Parker and I were already in pre-production on a short film I had written when he approached me to join the writing team. I was a little hesitant at first, as it would mean a huge commitment and I wanted to make sure the story was something new and meaningful. Also, Conrad and I didn’t know each other, or whether we’d all be able to work together. But after the three of us met, and began to develop the concept and characters, we were vibing and began writing the piece at a hectic pace.

With the help of our producers Jed Rhein and Elizabeth Jackson, we created an investment packet and got the ball rolling. The financing came from numerous generous sources, and we have many good friends and family to thank. On a movie with this tight of a budget, every penny mattered, and the film wouldn’t exist without loved ones who believed in the team.

2Q: Cinequest is proud to host the World Premiere of FALLING OVERNIGHT. Explain to the audience how you feel about bringing this film before audiences for the first time, and what experience do you expect from your first film festival as a feature filmmaker?

This is beyond exciting. We’ve worked on Falling Overnight for so long, and poured so much of ourselves in it…we can’t wait for its premiere. It does feel sort of bizarre that we’re only premiering it now…we’ve watched it so many times that it feels like an old classic to us. It will be fun to watch it in a theatre along with the fresh eyes of an audience. It is sort of scary, as well, though…the film hasn’t been shown to a big audience, just small groups and select individuals…we hope and believe people will respond to it, but as a first time filmmaker, you can’t help but have this nightmare of everybody hating it, throwing their programs at the screen in disgust, and taking to the streets with torches and pitchforks, demanding eighty-eight minutes of their lives back…

I don’t expect that to happen. It’s my hope that Cinequest will be a chance to meet other hungry, passionate filmmakers and film lovers, and I am thrilled to be able to share Falling Overnight with the San Jose community.

3Q: What was your best and/or worst experience while making FALLING OVERNIGHT?

The best feeling for me, as a writer, is watching scenes and lines you’ve written come alive in front of you…you can’t help but feel like you are this ultimate human puppeteer or even god-like figure. For in a movie, the creators are the gods for that world. It is a very powerful, emotional, and seductive experience.

The worst experiences were the times where you felt it had all collapsed…a certain scene hadn’t gone as you expected it to, a song had fallen through for a key moment, or a deadline was simply impossible to meet. Everything down the drain, movie ruined. But we were always able to rebound from these moments, and while we walk away from the process a little battered and bruised, we’re still standing, older, wiser, and hungrier than ever.

4Q: Festival audiences often have to make hard decisions about what to see, and the catalog descriptions sometimes run together. In your own words, why should people see your film?

We are snarling, barking attack dogs of truth. The first and foremost goal of this film, whether we achieved it or not, was to cut deep into the honest experience of life, death, love, and connection. Every decision we made was poured over with a fine-toothed truth comb. I believe the film is beautiful, engaging, funny, achingly happy, crushingly sad, flawed, and perfect, all at once.

5Q: The current market for independent films is fractured, to put it lightly, and existing distribution models grow more ineffective with each passing moment. What are your hopes or plans for distribution?

This is our first film, and because of the new and ever evolving channels of distribution, there are a lot of unknowns that we are dealing with. But we believe that there will always be a market for intelligent, beautiful, artistically valid films. We certainly hope to get a theatrical release, and as many eyes on Falling Overnight as possible.

FALLING OVERNIGHT is one of my favorite films ever.  Now available on Netflix, DVD and Instant Video.

Follow Aaron Golden on Twitter.