Movies You Made: “Beg to Differ”
For several months, I’ve been tagging a bunch of emails from filmmakers who have contacted me about their film projects, so I figured we should feature them this May. If you have a movie, either short-form or long, with which you were involved — writer, actor, director — please either email me or post details in comments. Happy to promote them on GITS.
Today we feature the short film Beg to Differ from filmmaker Eitan Loewenstein. Background from Eitan:
I suppose I should start with the now standard “thank you Scott” for promoting our short films. A lot of times you work like a madman on a project and then feel like it dissolves into the ether once you’ve emailed it to your friends and family. It’s nice to see fellow writers/directors/actors promoting their work online so we can keep eyeballs on our work.
The story behind my short “Beg to Differ” starts with an empty pocketbook, a camera and a dream. I don’t actually have a pocketbook, it’s a figure of speech. I recently upgraded my old Canon Rebel XT to the Rebel t4i, with HD video capabilities. I don’t have the time or budget to shoot a new short every weekend so I wanted to make a film and make it count.
Before I even came up with a story idea I took stock of what I had available to me and what I could afford on my sub-minuscule budget. In addition to my sorta fancy camera (and knowledge of how to use it) my biggest assets were people. I know some amazing actors and vastly amazing crew members. I shot this film on a Saturday so nobody would have to miss paying work for my silly little short.
My two actors (Assaf Cohen/Anna Campbell) are usually too busy being in movies and guest-starring on TV shows to do silly short films. I didn’t write the project with them in mind but I knew whatever I wrote I could cast the perfect actors. I’ve got a good Rolodex of actors who like me enough to work for free. I don’t actually have a Rolodex, it’s a figure of speech. No big name celebrities but people with piles of talent and experience on camera so I could depend on them to get things right on the first or second take.
My crew was also completely outstanding and overqualified. My location sound guy (Jon Berkowitz) has a masters in film directing from USC and often directs commercials. He was there to whisper in my ear if I was
doing something stupid and helped the production move along. My assistant camera guy (Stephen Moffatt) has professional camera experience. My script coordinator (Clay Lapari) is only called that on my film because he’s been a script coordinator (and credited writer) on many many TV shows. Really he acted as a script supervisor. My
other PA (Kristen Lapari) works regularly as an actress and has way too much on-set knowledge to be a PA.
And then there was me. I write and act but this was only my second time directing a short and my first where it’s not me on camera for 90% of the film. Fortunately I know a bit about framing/shooting from photography so I knew how to make people look good. I also work professionally as an actor, so I knew I could put myself in for fun and not make the project look stupid.
Knowing I could wrangle an excellent crew together left me writing something I knew I could shoot within my limited budget. What’s cheaper than homeless people? To cut down on location costs the entire film was shot within walking distance of my house. The props were all from the 99 cent store or made by me (including the knife used for the stabbing… aluminum foil).
The rest of the budget consisted of two lines: food and renting sound equipment. That was it. The entire film was shot for less than $150 and I think it looks like it cost at least twice that.
Here is the short:
Cast/Crew with Twitter handles.
Eitan (Writer/Director/Victim): twitter.com/EitanTheWriter
Anna Campbell (Beth): twitter.com/AnnaWillTweet
Assaf Cohen (George): twitter.com/a55afcohen
Jon Berkowitz (Location Sound): twitter.com/bigassjon
Clay Lapari (Script Coordinator): twitter.com/Sumupid
Kristen Lapari (PA): twitter.com/KristenLapari
Stephen Moffatt (Assistant Camera): Not on Twitter.
Matt Davidson (Composer): Also not on Twitter, get with it guys.
Technical stuff: Shot on a Canon Digital Rebel t4i 650D with a Tamron
AF 17–50mm F/2.8 XR Di-II LD SP Aspherical Lens. Edited with Adobe
Premiere.
Thanks, Eitan, and good luck with your filmmaking ventures.
Again if you have a film project you have been involved with and would like me to promote it on GITS, and I can embed it, email me or post details in comments.
May is Movies You Made month. Let’s celebrate your cinematic creativity!
Comment Archive