Movies You Made: “The Crew”

Scott Myers

08 Mar 2014 • 3 min read

March is Movies You Made month at Go Into The Story where we feature the work of some independent filmmakers.

Today: The Crew.

Production notes from writer-producer-director-editor Kate Kaminski:

The film has not yet screened at a festival — in fact, it has been rejected over a dozen times — but we stand by our concept (a film about the trials and tribulations of corporate-sponsored indie filmmaking) and the comedy (often sharp and sometimes rude).

The film was recently officially selected for the American Online Film Awards and will “go live” on-demand in mid-April.

Background:

In Maine, winter is long, and in January 2011, THE CREW began as a diversion for us and some of our favorite actor & crew collaborators. It was supposed to be a simple 1-day shoot — we’d gather the funniest people we knew, the best camera and sound pros in Maine, and improvise a short film about a dysfunctional film crew in group therapy. From that extended scene, many shooting days and 2 years later, the feature film THE CREW was born. Featuring a cast of comedy improv geniuses, the film is 95% improvised from a scenario written by the filmmakers.

THE CREW is on the one hand our sardonic ode to filmmaking, and on the other, a comedic critique of what can happen when art is co-opted by corporate interests. But mostly it’s about a bunch of crazy, funny movie people just trying to get it done.

Cast & Crew

Kate Kaminski (Story, Producer, Director, Editor)
Betsy Carson (Story, Producer)

Brent Askari (The Producer)
Peter Campbell (The Director)
Paul Drinan (The Star)
Katherine Davis (Makeup)
Crickett Cote (The Starlet)
Jeffrey Charles Day (Camera)
Scott Mullenberg (The Shrink)
Shannon Campbell (The Stage Mother)
Shawn Harmon (Crafty)
Lisa Muller-Jones (Writer)
Alex Rheault (PB-Kersey Liaison)
Tuck Tucker (Kersey Corp.)
Leslie Downes (VP, PB)
Kenneth Hughes (The Best Friend)

Jayson Lobozzo (Director of Photography)
Peyton Skelton (Director of Photography, Los Angeles Unit)
Tom Pierce (Colorist)
Marc Bartholomew (Sound Mixer)
Reggie Burrows Hodges (Composer)

Here is a trailer for The Crew:

I asked each of the filmmakers in this month’s series to answer this question: What inspired you about this particular story to make it a movie? Kate’s answer:

Sometimes when you start a project, you know what lies ahead because you’ve mapped it out. And sometimes, a project takes you on a completely unexpected journey. That is exactly what happened with The Crew. We started out to make a short, one-scene, improvisational piece satirizing frustrations we were feeling about our work and the world. Two years later, we completed a feature comedy that was narratively stitched together during an extended, fractured production period. Creatively, financially, logistically, the challenges we undertook and overcame to make the film were enormous. And the unmapped path we’ve followed in making of The Crew still winds ahead.

ABOUT GITGO PRODUCTIONS

Gitgo Productions is Kate Kaminski and Betsy Carson. Having early embraced the video revolution, since 1995 they have produced over 25 works — short and long, narrative and nonfiction. Their films have been shown in festivals and other venues all over the world.

Collaboration with other creative people is the core value of their process and solicitation and inclusion of input from crew and cast is essential to the final results. Kaminski characterizes their approach as “cinematic anarchy” and the pair shares a commitment to rule-breaking. She and Carson have shaped several improvisational projects, including THE CREW and the 53- episode comedy web series, Willard Beach.

They are also committed to increasing the visibility of women on screen and mentoring women filmmakers behind the camera via the Bluestocking Film Series, a screening event celebrating complex female protagonists. The screenings are held in Portland, Maine and the “Best of the Bluestocking Film Series” program has traveled to Massachusetts and New York City.

Kaminski received her master’s in Film Production from Boston University. Carson holds an MFA in Filmmaking from San Francisco Art Institute. They live together in South Portland, Maine with their dog, Truman Capote.

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