Banks Helfrich: Director, 7 LIVES OF CHANCE

1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of 7 LIVES OF CHANCE, from concept to financing.

Personally, 7 is a passionate love story from a filmmaker to his first girlfriend. (origin of concept)

Kickstarter, begging and more begging financed 7.  Oh, and some more begging. (origin of financing)

2Q: Cinequest is proud to host the World Premiere of 7 LIVES OF CHANCE. Explain to the audience how you feel about bringing this film before audiences for the first time, and what do you think their reaction will be to your film?

Cinequest and 7 Lives of Chance fit like what you put between two pieces of bread on a Saturday afternoon for lunch.

If the audience laughs, 7 is a comedy.  If they don’t it’s a drama or worse tragedy.

As a storyteller using pictures, 7 is about that feeling of sitting in a dark room with perfect strangers oblivious to judgment or ridicule and laughing, chortling and sobbing at what makes us, us.

3Q: What was your best and/or worst experience while making 7 LIVES OF CHANCE?

We filled a house with balloons.  (One of the best visual and tactile experiences.)

The director of photography had a phobia of balloons. (The worst experience for him.)

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?

Different.

Music.

Credits not to miss.

No names.  No big budget.  Just story.

And, lots of balloons.

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?

Streaming online distribution, self-distribution and Harvey W distribution would be nice too.

Watch the trailer! But not if you have a phobia of balloons!

Buy tickets to see it at Cinequest here!