Popcorn and Vodka

1. Tell us a little about the origins of The Racket Boys, from concept to financing.

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

CUBAMERICAN was conceived after my father’s death. I felt like my Cuban roots and culture had left with him and it made me want to capture the experience of the Cuban-American exile, which had never been comprehensively captured in a film before.  The financing began with some family savings, and continued from there; it was that bold and that simple.

2Q: Cinequest is proud to host the World Premiere of CUBAMERICAN. 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?

I’m proud and humbled to bring CUBAMERICAN to audiences at Cinequest for the first of what we hope will be many showings in the United States and beyond, in order to deliver the film’s message that all human beings need to live in freedom and be able to express themselves without restriction. My expectation is that their reaction will be affirmative. That they will feel uplifted and empowered and their faith we can make the world a better place will be renewed.

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

My best experiences, because I cannot narrow it down to one, were meeting and sharing with the inspiring subjects in the film.
The worst experience was the difficulty raising funding for the film; it was a constant battle.

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?

Because CUBAMERICAN is a life-affirming story of triumph over tragedy, of the courage and conviction necessary to overcome the loss of your homeland, an experience that applies not just to Cubamericans, but to waves of previous American immigrants that have made this country great.

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?

We plan to distribute the film ourselves, unless we are presented with a better option. We will not be deterred from spreading the message of CUBAMERICAN.

View the trailer!

Buy tickets to see CUBAMERICAN at Cinequest!

Matthew and Brian Titshaw

THE SPACE JOCKEY PURSUIT grew out of the thesis short film we made while attending the Savannah College of Art & Design. After expanding the story, we asked a classmate to help us raise the finances. We also received some support from family, friends, and online fundraising campaigns.

From the beginning, we knew we wouldn’t have the budget that was typical of such an ambitious project, but we wanted to prove that we could be resourceful and creative with a small amount of money without compromising the integrity of the story. Since we were going to be working in such an unconventional way, it was important we have a certain type of spirit on set. This is why we wanted to collaborate with fellow students and friends who were also eager to make their first feature film. Our crew’s creative energy is what kept us going.

2Q: Cinequest is proud to host the World Premiere of THE SPACE JOCKEY PURSUIT. 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?

We are thrilled to be premiering our film at Cinequest. Since this is the first time an audience outside of our cast and crew will experience the film, we are excited to see how it will be received. But we feel that anyone looking for a fun film about an underdog pursuing a seemingly absurd dream will not be disappointed.

3Q: What was your best and/or worst experience while making THE SPACE JOCKEY PURSUIT?

Worst: Watching the first assembly cut of the film.

Best: Watching the final film with our family, friends, cast and crew on the big screen.

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?

Cinequest attendees have a tough choice. There are a lot of good movies in the festival this year. But we have a lot to offer. Sure, there are other road comedies out there. There are plenty of romantic, action-packed thrill-rides with futuristic cars. We’re not the first film to feature complex characters. Star-making performances are certainly nothing new and the same goes for lively soundtracks composed by virtuoso songwriters. And it seems there are a lot of movies about spacemen, and jockeys and the various pursuits that they often entail.

But it is not often that a film comes along that contains all of the above. It is even more rare when that film is made by a ragtag group of filmmakers with the imagination to create such a film for less money than it costs to feed the cast of Ocean’s Fourteen…Oh and horses! We have two of those. You know, for the kids.

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?

Our wish is to have it screen in a theatre environment, but we are not oppose to any distribution method, so long as people can see it.

We know the best case scenario: A theatrical release on fourth of July weekend alongside the latest Men in Black and Roger Ebert gives us his first ever 5-star review after he is miraculously healed back to his youthful, healthy state during the final credit roll.

And the worst case scenario: Touring the country, setting up special screenings, and selling DVD’s out of the back of a van. But we are prepared to do whatever it takes to find the audience.

View The Space Jockey Pursuit trailer!

Buy tickets to see it at Cinequest!

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

Like many stories, Somewhere Slow is inspired by actual events, specifically a relationship that I was trying to find a place for in my own personal history.  Like Anna, I too, met a stranger who’s ferocity for the unknown and adventure prompted me to step out of my own self-imposed box.  I wrote the first draft in a week and decided to do a staged reading of the script. This is where I found Jessalyn Gilsig.  She read Anna in the reading, and from the moment the reading finished I knew I would not be able to tell this story with anyone but her as Anna. This woman, this actress is far beyond the real deal. Diving into a character who’s blemished, awkward and full of fear requires such bravery, such lack of vanity, such commitment to story, and Jessalyn had me from the moment she opened her mouth.

She partnered with me, and we brought on Michael Anderson & Christopher Sepulveda to produce the movie with us, as I developed the script into the story we would eventually shoot.  Finding the right young actor to play Travis was crucial.  We held auditions, saw over 100 young men both in California and Europe (via Skype!).  There were so many talented young men, but when Graham Patrick Martin walked in the room and read for us, we knew we had found our Travis, and to be honest, Graham brought elements to Travis that I could not have even anticipated, and shaped our perception of who Travis could be.  When David Costabile came on board as Robert, Anna’s husband it was unbelievable. While the role of Robert bookends the story, we knew we needed an actor whose presence could be felt throughout Anna’s journey away from him.  David and I had many a conversation about who Robert is and how a role that could’ve easily been played as dopey and cold needed to be a filled with an undeniable love for Anna that she just couldn’t feel, or perhaps wasn’t right for her.  Besides, David had just finished working with two pretty important Stevens – Spielberg (Lincoln) and Soderbergh (Side Effects) – I may have been interested a bit in what I could learn from him!  The gift of having Wallace Langham, Lindsay Crouse and Robert Forster fill out the remaining supporting cast is something that I still have to pinch myself about.  These actors are legends.    Financing fell into place with the help of the great Bliss Katopothis, of Willow Creek, securing much of our private equity out of the Bay Area and with the dedication of a multitude of generous talents, we were able to move into production.

2Q: Cinequest is proud to host the World Premiere of SOMEWHERE SLOW. 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?

We could not be more pleased to hold our world premiere at Cinequest.  It’s a festival I’ve wanted to be a part of for nearly a decade, so it’s actually a dream come true.   The festival is about looking forward, about the future of  film and technology, so to be grouped in with that idea of the future just feels amazing.

Movies aren’t movies until they interact with an audience, thus making our premiere and subsequent screenings the completion of our storytelling.   I’m so eager to watch & listen to an audience experience our story.  We know what it means to us, but to open it up and share it with absolute strangers who aren’t just proud of us for making a movie is out-of-this-world and the very purpose we set out for in the first place.  During post-production, we had a few test screenings, and from the moment Jessalyn appears on screen she grabs the audience and they’re right with her until the credits roll.   My goal in telling this story was to create characters and experiences that are universal to whomever watches — universally funny, universally romantic & universally heartbreaking. Our actors, our designers, our crew, our producers, our investors  all put a piece of themselves into this film that is undeniably heartfelt and truthful — and I know an audience will connect with that.

3Q: What was your best and/or worst experience while making SOMEWHERE SLOW?

There are a few moments that really stand out from our time shooting the film.  The first has to be our rain day.  The part in the beginning of our story where it really takes a turn required a thunderstorm.  We were shooting in sunny SoCal at the end of the summer.  There wasn’t ever going to be even a cloud in the sky.   When making an independent film, as producers, we always knew we would have to concede some elements of the story in favor of others, but my producer Michael (Anderson) and my line producer, Dawn Wiercinski knew how important this rain sequence was to me and to Anna’s journey.  They did the impossible, and I still remember the phone call when Dawn called me and said, “We got you your rain!”  On our infamous rain shoot day, when the rain fell, tears popped into my eyes.  It was magical.  Movie-magical.  Another favorite challenge of mine was shooting the climax of the story between Anna and Travis on a sandbar in the middle of Mt. Hope Bay off the coast of Rhode Island.  The characters go out to this “island” for the afternoon, and as they are on the island, the tide changes and the island begins to disappear, leaving them running for their boat before it gets swept away.  My cinematographer, Justin Talley, and I wanted to capture both the intimacy and the vitality of the moment, so we chose to actually race against nature to shoot one of the most important scenes, while chasing the sunset and the island actually disappearing!  I’ll never forget the image of our 15 person crew circling in a straight line behind Justin, as we spun around Anna & Travis to capture the 360 degree shot.  We were all like the second hand of a ticking clock in a literal race against time.   It was incredible.  It was exhilarating and we got it!

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?

That’s a great question.  People should see Somewhere Slow because it’s an adventure in breaking free of our own perceptions of how we think we’re meant to live our lives.  It’s about risk, it’s about reward and it’s about the pursuit of a better life– a life that is more full,  more vital, more vivid.  I couldn’t be happier with the nuance and bravery of Jessalyn Gilsig, Graham Patrick Martin, David Costabile, Wallace Langham, Lauren Schneider, Lindsay Crouse, Robert Forster and everyone else in my cast & design team.   And it’s funny and sexy and romantic and provocative and will make you feel something.   Those are good reasons, right?

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?

We’re really excited to launch our festival experience at Cinequest and continue on to the Omaha Film Festival, Vail Film Festival and others.   For all of us, getting to share the film with an audience is our number 1 priority.  I want Somewhere Slow to be released theatrically so as many people will have the opportunity to experience the film on the big screen, with others around them.  Yes, the distribution model is expanding, and outlets like VOD, Netflix, etc are offering incredible opportunities for filmmakers to reach an audience that is craving strong and unique storytelling but call me old-fashioned, there is something so special about the collective viewing experience of watching a movie amongst strangers in a dark theatre, that will always, always, always be a necessary part of how we as filmmakers mirror our audiences’ own lives, hope, fears and dreams.

Buy tickets to see SOMEWHERE SLOW at Cinequest!

Watch the Trailer!

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

Damon and I have been talking about writing, directing, story, and our own projects for the better part of a decade. We both had feature films we were trying to make, but we seemed to be hitting similar roadblocks. I was originally asked to turn a story idea I was developing into a screenplay in a very short amount of time for a specific director. I knew that it would be a stretch to take this job on myself, and Damon and I had talked about combining our efforts to get a first feature under out belts. We are inspired by many of the same movies, had developed a common language, were comfortable collaborating, and had already spent time talking about the story of Detonator, so it just made sense to write it together.

As we proceeded, and the director moved on to another project, it became clear very quickly that we should combine our resources, efforts, and expertise, and direct the film as a team. Neither one of us had set out with the ambition to co-direct a film, but in the case of Detonator, we had each invested so much of our selves and our experiences into the story that it just made sense. We began raising capital with some success, but in a very grassroots way. It wasn’t until my close friend from growing up in Philadelphia, David Jacovini, took the reigns as Executive Producer that things really took flight and became real. He had the perfect combination of business knowledge and the experience of choosing to leave the world of high finance to start his own venture back in Philadelphia. It just fit. After we had a real budget, it was a whirlwind of agony and joy that brought us to where we are today, our “World Premiere” at Cinequest, and we couldn’t be happier about it.

2Q: Cinequest is proud to host the World Premiere of Detonator. 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?

My hope is that audiences find some connection to the story, something in the character of Sully (beautifully rendered on screen by Lawrence Michael Levine) to which they can relate. Damon and I tapped our own experiences of trying to make art and have a creative voice as a “grown-up” with real responsibilities. I think some form of this notion is relevant to most human beings.

We also chose to set Detonator in a very specific world that we found compelling, the underground punk scene in Philadelphia. I’d like for audiences to lose themselves for a moment in the world we created, and go on a journey with our protagonist to a place where they might not normally have had an opportunity to go in their own lives, and hopefully be moved by it.

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

The best experience of making Detonator was working with good friends, my partner, Damon Maulucci, our lead, Lawrence Levine, our Executive Producer, David Jacovini, to name a few. We had a great cast and crew, so it was a pleasure to get to know everyone and spend time around passionate and talented people.

The worst or most difficult experience was being away from my one-year-old (at the time) son, Lorenzo, for over two weeks. It was excruciating. That was, by far the longest time we were ever apart. Cinequest is the second longest, and now I have a 6-month-old daughter named Stella, so being apart will be doubly difficult.

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?

I think people should educate themselves about what’s screening, and then just see what truly intrigues them. They should trust their instinct. If Detonator does that for you, then you should absolutely check it out. It’s the kind of film I would like to see. My hope is that wonderful resources like your website will give audiences a good sense of some of the great films waiting to be seen at Cinequest 23.

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?

We hope for the best, but are realistic and very pragmatic about our plans for Detonator. We made a small-scale film, so we might just have the potential to recoup our costs, and then continue to make reasonably sized films. I think this is a sensible and sustainable approach to the business of making films outside of the system. But more than anything, we just hope a lot of people who are receptive to non-Hollywood movies will have an opportunity to see Detonator one way or another.

Though budgets and bottom lines are a reality, I think it’s a mistake to get too wrapped up in the short-term dollars and cents of it all. So, I am less concerned about shifting distribution models, and more interested in maintaining a healthy relationship with the creative process and pushing myself artistically. I think if you can focus on the bigger picture and the work you are doing, you will be okay.