Parker Croft: Writer, Actor, FALLING OVERNIGHT

1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of FALLING OVERNIGHT, from concept
to financing.
Falling Overnight in its most embryonic form began in early 2010 when Conrad Jackson came to me with an idea for a character driven film spanning a single night. However before the film was developed further, Aaron Golden was brought onto the writing team and the three of us began creating Falling Overnight.

In creating the story of Falling Overnight, we started with the character of Elliot. We knew we wanted his life to be fading, but we wanted to avoid making the film only about sickness or death, so we decided to set him in a world that was ignorant of his condition. This is where Chloe came from. Once we discovered the character of Chloe, it was clear that the film was going to be a love story, and the rest as they say, is history.

When it came to financing the film, we raised the entirety of the budget through soliciting independent investors, getting them to believe in the project, and convincing them to take a risk.

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?

Imagine your son has been working on his middle school talent show routine all year, and this is the night of his performance. You’re sitting in the audience, the gym is packed with people, and he’s about to go onstage. Now of course you hope that people clap like crazy when he’s done, but no matter what happens you’re going to be proud of him. That’s what it feels like.

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

It would be hard to select the best or the worst experience in making Falling Overnight. Would the most difficult experience be the best or the worst? Some of the toughest nights making this film are the ones I cherish most dearly. Then there are the moments I remember fondly, but they were almost insignificant in the making of this film. Would those be my best experiences simply because they were nice for me? The process of making this film was far too multi-layered to categorize my experiences into ‘best and/or worst’ moments.

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?

It’s really good, I promise.

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?

My distribution hopes for Falling Overnight is, like most filmmakers, absurdly high. I hope to see Falling Overnight in theaters all over the world.

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

Follow Parker on Twitter or visit his website.