THE FILM ISSUE
CELEBRATING THE ARTS IN ARKANSAS / SUMMER 2016 idleclassmag.com 1
The conference for makers of the web. Speakers and guests from Facebook, Google Ventures, PayPal, Mozilla Foundation, Open Table, Cards Against Humanity, Mule Design Studio, Misfits Inc., CSS-Tricks / Codepen, Chipper Things, and James Victore Inc.
OCT. 26-29, BENTONVILLE, AR Register at madebyfew.com
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EDITOR’S
NOTE
Publisher Cannon McNair Editor-in-chief Kody Ford Photograph by Sophie Bauer
T
he release of Jeff Nichols’ Mud felt like a watershed moment for the burgeoning film community in Arkansas. Though we were far behind Louisiana and Georgia in terms of the infrastructure, a native son had written and directed an acclaimed drama that caught the crest of (at least the first wave) of the “McConaissance.” Since 2012, the state’s film scene has had some highs and lows. Just when the Little Rock Film Festival was making itself a major player on the national circuit, it folded. Writer Graham Gordy’s upcoming Cinemax series, Quarry, was taken out of state when parent company HBO couldn’t secure the proper incentives to commit to filming here long-term. However, things are not all doom and gloom. The Miller Brothers finished their film, All the Birds Have Flown South, starring North Little Rock native Joey Lauren Adams. And Gordy’s long-gestating project with writer/director Daniel Campbell, Antiquities, recently received funding to begin production in Eureka Springs. That’s the thing with filmmaking, it ebbs and flows. Things are looking up for Arkansas. We are happy to celebrate the craft and industry of filmmaking in our state. We are also proud to feature some great artists in this issue like George Dombek, William McNamara and Anaïs Dassé. We hope you enjoy this issue. A special thanks to the many great businesses that support us. Also, thank you to our great contributors and our readers. Hope you enjoy this issue! See you in the fall, Kody Ford Editor-in-Chief
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Editor-at-large Jeremy Glover Editorial Assistants Marti Nicholson Jenny Vos Contributors Sophie Bauer Heather Canterbury Kelsey Ferguson Shayne Gray Trystan Haney Tim Hursley Danielle James Ron Lutz Gerard Matthews Brandon Markin Chelsie Martin Chad Maupin Dave Morris Ashleigh Price Scott Ray Donna Smith Sandra Spotts Hamilton Melissa Tucker Matt White Jared Wierman Rodney Wilhite Kat Wilson Layout & Design Kody Ford Cannon McNair Cover Cane Hill Barn with Peach Tree by George Dombek
100 E. University • Siloam Springs • Mon-Sat 11am-9pm • 479.524.2828
Fresh. Local. Seasonal.
In the heart of historic downtown Siloam Springs.
Real, honest food—every dish made from scratch, with a rotating menu to show off the best of the season. Handmade cocktails and an extensive spirit, wine and craft beer selection. Casual is fine. Kids welcome.
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THE FILM ISSUE
SUMMER 2016
Three Flowers, 2015, Watercolor, 40” x 40” by George Dombek
BLACK APPLE 2016
LEAVING A LEGACY
The second annual Black Apple Awards showcased the top creative talent in Arkansas during events in Little Rock & Fayetteville.
Little Rock hip hop artist Big Piph takes a multimedia approach with his new album and smartphone app.
Artist George Dombek has made a name for himself as one of the most innovative watercolor painters in America.
HOMEGROWN
THIS BIRD HAS FLOWN
MOORE ON THE WAY
Daniel Campbell and Graham Gordy never gave up hope on funding for their project Antiquities. Now they have cashed the check.
After several years and many setbacks, Little Rock director’s the Miller Brothers have delivered their debut feature film.
Fayetteville native Jason Moore has become a sought after director thanks to the Pitch Perfect franchise.
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RESTLESS
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morning, noon & night in downtown Bentonville
FOXHOLEBENTONVILLE .COM
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PAGES 50 - 51
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PARTY OF THE YEAR WORDS / KODY FORD
e were not sure we could top the W success of the Black Apple Awards last year, but 2016 exceeded them
thanks to all of the passionate people who let their voices be heard. This year we did things differently and reached out to a variety of people around the state who are knowledgeable about the following categories. They selected the nominees. Last year’s winners were not eligible this time, but will be next year. We received almost 3,000 votes. Rather than do an awards show, we held two showcases - one in Little Rock at Garland House and the other in Fayetteville at the Garden Room, Fayettechill, Puritan Brew and Nightbird Books. We were able to utilize half a city block, which was exciting. Both events featured work by nominees in the arts, craft beer, cocktails, music and fashion. Our Fayetteville event also had circus performers, improv by Rodeo Book Club, stand-up comedy by Zac Slusher, short films by our nominees, henna tattooing and a stilts and silks performance. It was certainly a night to be remembered. But let’s get to the important part...
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PHOTOS / HEATHER CANTERBURY
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AND THE WINNERS ARE MAKER American Native Goods (Fayetteville) FASHION DESIGNER Korto Momolu (Little Rock) TATTOO ARTIST Matt O’Baugh – Black Cobra Tattoo (Little Rock) FILMMAKER Angela Carpenter & Dwight Chalmers (Fayetteville) COMEDIAN OR COMEDY GROUP Red Octopus Theatre Co. (Little Rock) FOOD TRUCK Crepes Paulette (Bentonville) NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE Arsaga’s Coffee (Fayetteville) BREWERY Fossil Cove Brewing Co. (Fayetteville) COCKTAILS Maxine’s Taproom (Fayetteville) CHEF Matt Bell – South on Main (Little Rock) PHOTOGRAPHER Kat Wilson (Fayetteville) 3D/MIXED MEDIA ART Cynthia Post Hunt (Fayetteville) 2D ART Nick Shoulders (Fayetteville) SOLO MUSICIAN Sean Fresh (Little Rock) BAND Shawn James & the Shapeshifters (Fayetteville)
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EVENTS
FEEDING THEIR MINDS Northwest Arkansas nonprofit Art Feeds helps children find mental nourishment through art. Celebrate with them on Art Feeds Day in September.
WORDS / TRYSTAN HANEY
A
t 19 years old, Meg Bourne Hulsey was deeply inspired by one child - a little boy who was not being fed at home and struggled academically. As she began teaching him art lessons, she realized art was feeding his creative development and allowing him to express his inner thoughts and emotions. The boy reinforced her belief that creativity and expression were exceedingly important in the lives of children. Shortly after Bourne Hulsey’s experience, she founded the nonprofit Art Feeds. Art Feeds has reached over 30,000 students, providing therapeutic art and creative education in partnership with schools and children’s organizations. The group believes curious, imaginative and innovative skills are an imperative part of a child’s education. When the nonprofit was first starting out, in order to fund the supplies needed, Bourne Hulsey printed and sold t-shirts with her first student’s handwriting that read, “Art Feeds.” That was followed by a fill in the blank line, allowing each person to customize their shirt by writing how “Art Feeds” them. Dale Benfield, of Joplin, Missouri, feels that Art Feeds had an impact on his daughter, Ellie’s, life. “Art Feeds has been not just instrumental, but radical in Ellie’s life,” Benfield says.”After the Joplin tornado, which demolished her school, it was so important to be given a way to express herself as part of her healing process. Art Feeds hit the ground running after the tornado with some incredible, inventive ideas to give therapeutic learning to those affected. Ellie Benfield looks up to Meg and the other staff and volunteers and having Art Feeds in her school has been tremendous for her education.” To continue changing children’s lives, on Thursday September 8th, Art Feeds is bringing it back to where it all began for Art Feeds Day. The goal of Art Feeds Day is to get 3,000 supporters telling the story of Art Feeds by wearing the shirt that started it all. The nonprofit is partnering up with supporters across Southwest Missouri and Northwest Arkansas.
Photo courtesy of Art Feeds Through the month of July, Art Feeds established partnerships with schools, clubs, banks, restaurants, boutiques, etc. Each chapter will receive the sale from their shirts that will fund Art Feeds for the 2016-17 school year. In the month of August, Art Feeds will encourage Art Feeds Tee Parties, where supporter will gather and customize their own shirt by filling in the blank “Art Feeds _________.” Supporters are encouraged to share their t-shirt art to the world with #ArtFeedsDay on social media. The goal is to create a buzz and spread the word by September 8th. All proceeds from the shirts sold in each chapter community will support that chapter and provide an outlet for children’s creativity. “Art Feeds day is going to be so fun, but the reason I’m going to participate is because I believe in this organization with all my heart and want to share it with the world,” Benfield says. “I want everyone to know I am a proud supporter and encourage others to seek it out, bring it to their community, and give children the resources they so desperately need.”
VISIT: ARTFEEDS.ORG
ART ON THE CREEKS RETURNS to ROGERS The fifth annual arts festival set to host over 70 artists from nine states this October.
T
his fall the creative energy of over 70 artists returns to Rogers for the fifth annual Art on the Creeks on October 1st from 10 am to 6 pm at Village on the Creeks. Perfect autumn weather and a fabulous location are the backdrop for extremely talented artists from nine states showcasing their work. A record number of artists applied for this diverse exhibit of painting, sculpture, pottery, jewelry, mixed media and installation art that will flow through the lush, festive courtyard. Sharing and community are the bedrock of Art on the Creeks. Completely coordinated by volunteers with funding from generous patrons and businesses, the festival’s atmosphere of support, cooperation and joy makes for an inspiring day. Artists get to keep all of their proceeds and the community gets to see and buy some of the best work around. This year Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is in on the act, bringing hands-on activities for everyone and jurying the art for some serious prize money. Live music will be provided all day, along with food, beer and wine. Continuing the spirit of giving, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Life Styles, Inc. who participates with activities and a show of their clients’ work. Life Styles is a wonderful Northwest Arkansas nonprofit organization assisting adults with developmental disabilities. Art on the Creeks has its roots in Studio 7, a group of artists who encourage and learn from each other. They extend that same support through their financial and volunteer giving to the festival, and their exhibits symbolically surround the tents of the juried artists as an integral part of the showcase.
VISIT: facebook.com/artonthecreeks Painting: “Sink or Swim” by Natalie Wiseman
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CONWAY ARTSFEST SET TO BRING A VARIETY OF ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT T
hings are about to get fun in Conway this fall. Conway ArtsFest, hosted by the nonprofit Conway Alliance for the Arts (CAFTA), is a week-long celebration of the arts in Central Arkansas. CAFTA is excited to host ArtsFest’s 10th annual festival—ArtsFest X: Conway Marks the Spot—from September 23 to October 1. ArtsFest hosts over 100 events at numerous locations in Conway including the University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College and in downtown Conway. ArtsFest X will kick off on September 23 with Light Up the Night which will take place at Kings Live Music on Front Street in downtown Conway and will feature live music, public art and hands-on art activities. Elsewhere in downtown Conway festival goers can browse and purchase the work of local artists at the Fourth Friday Art Walk. ArtsFest will also feature the work of a number of local, national, and international artists. Houston-based installation artist David Graeve will install a work consisting of 50 globeshaped lanterns that will feature photographs of people in the community. Graeve’s lanterns will be installed in several locations including UCA’s campus, Independent Living Services
Houston based installation artist David Graeve will install a work consisting of 50 globe shaped lanterns that will feature photographs of people in the community.
and in downtown Conway’s “graffiti garden” on Front Street. Graeve’s installation is funded by the UCA arts fee and the Arkansas Arts Council with generous support from Salter Properties. ArtsFest will reach its apex on October 1 with Art in the Park in Simon Park. The Kris Allen stage will feature numerous family-friendly performances from local musicians, actors, dancers and other performers. Artists of all ages can participate in a number of hands-on art activities sprinkled throughout the park. Other ArtsFest events include a performance by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at Reynolds Performance Hall, the Conway Film Festival, an exhibit by the Conway League of Artists, a reading and book signing, and a concert by the Conway Composers Guild. A full schedule can be found on the website below. Unless otherwise noted, all ArtsFest events are free and open to the public.
visit: artsinconway.org
EXPERIENCE FILMS TO SHOWCASE ABSTRACT & EXPERIMENTAL WORKS WORDS / CHELSIE MARTIN IMAGE / JARED WIERMAN
O
n any given weekend, the Northwest Arkansas events calendar is usually pretty booked whether a summer concert series in a local park or exciting new showcases for its thriving artistic scene. And in August, Bentonville’s own 21c Museum Hotel will be hosting the annual Experience Films event, an evening dedicated to the abstract and experimental. With many successful film festivals held in Northwest Arkansas recently, Experience Films founder Demara Titzer wanted to provide a venue for those who specialize in the unique and abstract. “By providing an annual event we encourage local filmmakers to continue creating content they are passionate about,” she said. Titzer hopes this year’s event will not only continue to provide filmmakers with new avenues to share their work, but also grow industry support within the state of Arkansas.
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“There has been discussion about creating a Northwest Arkansas Film Commission. This would provide more focus and resources on the digital cinema education programs at John Brown University, University of Arkansas, and local high schools,” said Titzer. “The film industry can provide Arkansas with new cultural events that enhance our communities, provide jobs for local film industry talent, and drive more business for hotels and restaurants.” The Experience Films event will begin at 6:30 pm on August 20, at the 21c Museum Hotel, with abstract cocktails, Glitch entertainment, short film viewings, and musical acts to follow. The night’s activities will continue with an after party held at the Hive Bar.
Visit: ExperienceFilms.net
@LOST40BEER
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LEAVING A LEGACY Little Rock hip-hop artist Big Piph releases I Am Not Me: The Legacy Project along with a smartphone app. WORDS / SHAYNE GRAY PHOTO / MATT WHITE
B
ig Piph is an East Coast-born, Pine Bluffraised, one of six Stanford graduates in his family and a world traveler. He’s a true rhyme-smith with his mind, his message, his mic, and his new album even has an app! Core band members include Piph (rap/ vocals/lyrics), Corey Harris (bass), Paul Campbell (percussion), Dre Franklin (keys), Lucas “Cool Hand” Murray (lead guitar), Bijoux Pigee (vocals), and Dee Dee Jones (vocals). Standout songs on this full length album include “Endless Summer: The Prologue,” an introspective song with a beat reminiscent of Portishead. “Get Loose Flow” is a fun, catchy, and radio ready. “You Gotta Know” is a sexy beast of a song. “Run/Free Falling” has angelic vocals, chill rap, and a lovely piano outro. “Hey, Hey, Hey” has a ‘70s groove with a Lauryn Hill solo vibe. Tell us about the community programs in which you’re involved? Global Kids-AR is a summer program that sends stellar high school students from underserved communities overseas for study, cultural immersion, and social service work. I’m also involved with Books & Bagels with just (Just-Us) that provides free books, breakfast, reading time and workshops for the community. Tell us about the new album? It’s just one part of the project. The full project is an interactive, app-based album. It’s a “living album” that connects, highlights and engages users in ways I haven’t seen before. The app can be downloaded at the Apple Store or Google Play. I’m hyped most about the music and the interactive app. Is there a main message in your music? Honestly, not too heavy a message, man. I just hope it’s relatable to others. I take my music as entertainment and just make sure it feels right. What does making music mean to you? If I could leave music alone, I would. I can’t, so I don’t trip. Instead, I dive in the creation process to keep me sane.
Where was this album recorded? I did most with Moonrize Studios and Ferocious Productions. I also did a few songs at Wolfman Studios. How would you describe your music? I’d say if Lauryn Hill woulda got with UGK (Underground Kingz) my music would have made their bastard child list. Are there any favorite performances? When I first moved back to Arkansas, I did a great show at my old high school. Opening for T.I. at Barnhill [Arena] in Fayetteville was cool and several with Tomorrow Maybe here and in Northern Africa. I think headlining a concert in Banjul, Gambia, for 7,000 folks wins all. What are your future plans? From July 23, through October, I’ll be touring about 12 locations. What are the best things about our Arkansas scene? The balance from it being a major city (albeit on the small side), but still maintaining a comfortable “homey” feel. I have some good circles here I appreciate.
VISIT: bigpiph.com 16 idleclassmag.com
MUSIC REVIEWS:
Heaven 7 by The Casual Pleasures After what surely seemed like an eternity for the band and its followers, Heaven 7, the new 7” vinyl release by Little Rock’s The Casual Pleasures, is now available. The tracks were recorded in early 2015 at Welcome to 1977 Studios in Nashville but didn’t see a release until June of this year. Led by Nathan Houser (Ezra Lbs) and Jesse Lawson (The Smokes), the band is currently independent, and that translates into the members having to pay for everything themselves while also juggling jobs, families, relationships and everyday life. The Casual Pleasures characterizing their sound in promotional materials as “in the vein of Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Flaming Lips, early Cure, Grandaddy and Pavement.” Somehow all of those myriad influences are actually discernible on the appropriately named Heaven 7, the band’s first professional recording. The record reflects the name of its creators in full. All of the songs move at a casual pace and feature many indulgences beyond the standard rock band format by tastefully peppering in keyboards, saxophone, and even an electric ukulele. It would also serve as a great soundtrack for any number of Epicurean, hedonistic pursuits. The title track is indeed a heavenly assortment of lush layers of expertly crafted instrumentation perfectly balanced with catchy vocals. “Summertime to Meet” would be a perfect montage set to scenes of people partying and passing out in some edgy independent film. The title “All My Friends (Are Dead Inside)” really speaks for itself, and its atmosphere is filled to the brim with the feelings of emptiness that usually accompany a good time that has gone on for too long. With the recent addition of Arkansas music scene stalwart Shayne Gray (Techno-Squid Eats Parliament, The Alpha Ray, and many other bands) on drums, The Casual Pleasures look to have a bright and busy future. Heaven 7 is a great start that suggests a wide variety of creative terrain can and will be covered by the band in the future. In the meantime, the band intends to perform regionally to support Heaven 7 and to continue building its already growing fan base. Heaven 7 is available as a marble blue 7” single at a variety of Arkansas retailers and at the band’s live performances. It is also available for download at thecasualpleasures.bandcamp. com. - Dave Morris
Too Nice to Mean Much by Willi Carlisle Sometimes you hear a song for the first time and it strikes you as something beautiful and familiar that you must have already known. When I first heard Willi Carlisle play the songs from his forthcoming EP, Too Nice To Mean Much, he sang perched on the banister of the porch of a bar near closing time and I thought he was playing old, classic folk standards. All the songs he played were his own. Carlisle’s been playing old time music in dives and coffee shops and square dances for years in and around Northwest Arkansas, but he recently began composing original material. Recorded live and to tape at Homestead Recording with everything from accordions to banjos to fiddles filling out the arrangements, Carlisle’s old time pedigree is evident from the first tune, but he’s doing more here. He leaves old time music behind and moves forward through time, picking up things from folk and country music here and there and forging a collection of songs that sound timeless while still focused on modern concerns. “Cheap Cocaine” starts off the record like a freight train that might appear in one of Carlisle’s tunes. It’s a traveling tune with a road weary singer whose voice wears a little more ragged in each verse. Much of the rest of the songs are focused on either the brief bliss of loving or the long darkness that comes after its inevitable end. Carlisle’s tunes sound the sweetest when he’s singing bitterly to the woman who’s wronged him, as he does angrily in “Singing Knives” and transcendentally in “The Small Things,” singing, “Honey I can’t think of an afterlife worth livin’ / when in your heaven I know I ain’t there.” It’s an impressive start from a young singer whose voice is honest, strong and clear—in the verse and in execution. The record is available at willicarlisle.com. - Scott Ray
BOOK REVIEW:
Sandy & Wayne by Steve Yates
In the acknowledgments at the end of Sandy and Wayne, a short novella about the romance between a state highway inspector and a construction foreman, Steve Yates quotes the great Miller Williams’s assertion that, “There may be no higher calling than writing a good country music song.” In his interview with Big Fiction Magazine, Yates states outright that his intention was to create a novella that read like a country love song. He has succeeded in that: all good country songs are self-aware in a subtle way, winking at the listener that, yes, this is a bit maudlin but I am a country song after all. The self-awareness of Sandy and Wayne, or at least what I read as self-awareness, is an open acknowledgment that the titular characters are of course going to become lovers, but the game is watching them discover that fact for themselves - just as a country singer will sing of uncertainty even as the listener already knows how the song will turn out. This doesn’t necessarily create a significant amount of tension, but we lovers of country music have long since embraced formulaic tropes because we love the comfort of immersing ourselves in the world of them. Perhaps the lack of tension led to what I thought was the least successful aspect of the novel, a subplot about the tragic death of a child that feels very out of joint with the tone of the rest of the novel and seemed to me a self-conscious attempt to show us the hardness of Sandy’s character. The scene itself is well written and very moving, but I couldn’t help but feel a little manipulated by it. Far more successful is the depiction of highway construction. My favorite chapter happens when Wayne oversees the unloading of the construction equipment. It is testament to Yates’s power as a writer that he could make this poetic and a moment of grandeur: “...on each trailer rode a yellow Caterpillar earthmover dismantled so its cab, engine, and yoke tilted on one end of the trailer. The scraper and maw rested on the back. The machines looked like deep-bellied, yellow tiger beetles with their heads split off.” I have spent the majority of my life along the highways constructed in this novel, and any detail of place that was unconvincing would have leapt off the page - but there were none. Every culvert is convincing, every route correct, every honky tonk bar at its proper intersection. It is a familiar world, and a familiar story, and a comfortable book for a Sunday afternoon. - Rodney Wilhite
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A PLACE OF LEARNING Eureka Springs School of the Arts offers classes for a variety of artistic endeavors. WORDS / JENNY VOS PHOTOS / DANIELLE JAMES & RON LUTZ
E
ureka Springs School of the Arts (ESSA) began as an act of generosity from a group of local artists who opened their studios, and their love of creation, to their community. Nearly 80 years later the legacy of that generosity has grown into a registered nonprofit institution with its own campus and rapidly expanding enrollment. The courses offered are diverse, from mosaics to metalwork to drawing and painting. And they look to keep expanding. The most popular courses ESSA offers have traditionally been drawing and painting. Dr. Peggy Kjelgaard, the school’s executive director, attributes this popularity to the vibrant community of established artists of this medium in the Springs. Metalworking has also been a significant and longstanding draw, with a curriculum that reaches from jewelry-making to blacksmithing and metal fabrication. Kjelgaard also noted that there has also been a recent upswing of interest in their clay and ceramics classes.
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ESSA offers a variety of fascinating, niche areas of study. Felting, basketry, leatherwork and bookbinding are all going to be explored by ESSA students over the upcoming months. There is even a class focusing on the use of thurmanite, a unique paper-resin composite which can be crafted into jewelry using techniques from both woodworking and metalworking disciplines. The fall will see many expansions to the ESSA facilities. In August the school will begin construction on a new woodworking studio that will include woodturning facilities, and the school’s usual course calendar will expand to include new six week long workshops that will meet for three hours once per week for the duration. The history of the ESSA is a series of beginnings. Danielle James, the new program coordinator at ESSA, cites Lewis and Elsie Freund as the school’s true founders when they began a collective that was then called “Artists Without Walls” in the mid-twentieth century. After that came the rise of the Eureka Springs Guild of Artists and Craftspeople in 1977, and their transition into the incorporated ESSA 20 years later. The physical campus began in 2004, and since then ESSA enrollment has been steadily growing. In 2005, ESSA enrolled 125 students. In 2009, that number had climbed to 290. This year, Kjelgaard predicts that number will climb even higher.
CALL YOUR MOM
VISIT: essa-art.org
LOVE, THE IDLE CLASS
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ANAÏS DASSÉ
WORDS / DONNA SMITH
I
f you’ve ever taken a drawing course, you are all too familiar with charcoal. With that medium, there is a constant trail left behind, as you are seemingly unable to wash the work you’ve created off your hands. But what is so alluring about the medium is the ability to add information, take away, smudge, and make world’s clear and unclear, simultaneously within one piece. Little Rock artist Anaïs Dasse’ knows this well, and uses it in the creation of unknown, mythical societies, exposing truths and fantastical images. While you are inspired by a broad range of western media and cultural differences, how has being raised in different country affected your work? I was born in Bayonne, in the French basque country where I grew up in a quite large family, surrounded by siblings and cousins, playing video games and watching 90’s horror movies. Later I moved near Versailles then Paris, where I went to college to study art history and scientific illustration - at Estienne Art School then at La Sorbonne x. As I am more of a
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problem solver, I have never envisioned myself as an artist in the romantic-kind-of-way. My first career was as a creative director for museums and public institutions, I was designing and illustrating contents for the exhibitions. When did you decide to pursue your studio practice? Was it akin to an ethnographic case study at the beginning? When I arrived in the USA, where all of the surroundings echoed my childhood memories and cultural components, I started to have the urge to create art. Something clicked. I was in the other side of my TV screen, where kids play unattended on the street and grown-ups buy assault rifles at Walmart. Suddenly, it wasn’t about fiction anymore. I kept a journal and drew places and people. I discovered the local passion for the outdoors, the off-the-grid movement, religious obsession and other very southern things that were totally new for me. I started to apply some kind of scientific method inspired by museums to develop fake ethnographic contents.
Your work feels like a mixture between real and constructed. How do you create these haunting, yet believable landscapes? I am designing an imaginary world where children and teens live feral, organized in tribes with rules and believes. In large scale drawings, I am cataloging behaviors like ethnographers and explorers used to: referring to nineteenth-century photography in the staging and composition of the characters. It’s also about questioning what is real, what is true, introducing fairy tale elements and fictional depictions as in movies, video games, etc. Your technique using charcoal is intriguing to me. The use of it to both erase, add and blur seems to blend seamlessly with your subject matter as well. How did you decide to use that as a standard medium for your work? About the technique, my production is mostly charcoal drawings on gessoed paper. I add pencil and oil painting to textured and focused on some details - as an early analog photograph would do. I do portraits but I’d like to think that there are also (black and white) greeneries, as the forest is such an important element of the picture. People react also a lot to my animal drawings. I have two pieces in the [58th] Annual Delta Show that get me a lot of feedback. As I started to draw last summer, and considering it was the first time I an art competition, I didn’t expect much. It really was a pleasant surprise. It seems like this is a really rich period of growth for your work. What are you working on in the studio now and where can we see your work next? Now I look forward to my show at Boswell-Mourot Gallery in September. After that I have a lot of projects, some studio experimentation with sculpture, I have started installations and animation works that I’d like to resume. But first I’ll probably continue my current works of drawings inspired by the Greek mythology.
VISIT: ANAISDASSE.COM
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WILLIAM MCNAMARA WORDS / SANDRA SPOTTS HAMILTON
“W
e all have within us the impulse to look into the clouds and find an image, to see a face in a rock, a scene in the grain of wood. We also have the impulse to make a mark, whether it be a scratch on a rock, a line in the dirt or a brushstroke upon paper. By learning to control the movements of our hands, we can create our own patterns, our own clouds in which to look and find images.” - William McNamara
The drive to William McNamara’s secluded home studio creates the sensation of being inside one of his watercolors. The road is surrounded by the complex wildness of the Upper Buffalo Wilderness vistas but offers the same quietude found in his paintings. The simplicity of his rustic cabin allows him to live and work as close as possible to his subject matter. A walk on his land may provide him a broad view or a vignette for a watercolor or a cedar log that will become a carved mask. William and his wife first moved to this area in 1976, built his small cabin as well as a larger home down the road, which he still regards as an unfinished work. A tour of the larger house reveals hand-hewn beams, walls of rock collected off the land and artisan-crafted details. The one-room cabin is furnished sparsely with basic comforts. The centerpiece of the room is an easel which holds a watercolor work in progress.
My mother was an amateur artist so I was always doing some kind of art. I studied art, architecture and math in college. Have you always worked in watercolor? Have you explored different mediums? I started out doing broad abstracts in oils and received my master’s degree working in oils. Later, I was drawn to watercolor. I still do wood carvings and woodcuts, which provide a different rhythm than painting and [for the collector] they provide a step between my original watercolors and the prints. Your style is very complex. How did you develop it? It evolved over time. I see my paintings as abstraction. There are many layers. I build up layers and then go back, adding more shadow and color. The process is automatic for me. I have steady production and usually paint about four hours a day. Do you like to revisit a subject? Yes, sometimes I might go back to a certain rock and paint it again in a different color or in a different way several times.
When did you come to this place? We homesteaded in 1976 after I had taught art on the college level in Louisiana. We raised three boys here.
What do you want viewers to take away from your work? I went to Florence at the age of 27 and was inspired by Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus.” I want to create a presence beyond a story where the painting is an object unto itself. Most of my paintings are in private homes, and many people say they get a sense of calm from them.
What led you to become an artist?
VISIT: MCNAMARAWATERCOLORS.COM
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T S E R S S E L George Dombek paints prolifically. Because he never knows what tomorrow brings. WORDS / KODY FORD PHOTO / KAT WILSON
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few years ago, George Dombek woke up one morning crippled by the autoimmune disease, polymyalgia rheumatica. The artist could barely move, much less paint. During the two months of suffering, he persevered, gritting his teeth through the pain, wetting his brush and putting paint on paper. While his crippling ailment eventually subsided, his feeling that one day the art would be no more was affirmed. His talents might escape him so he couldn’t let up anytime soon. “I don’t get out and socialize,” Dombek said. “I get up, go to work. I’m pretty particular in how I use my time. I’m concerned about not being able to paint.” Dombek believes he is running out of time. It’s something he knows deep down in his bones. While a love of painting pushed him forward throughout his storied career, something deeper lurked in the core of his ambition – a fear of losing his talent, his physical ability, his next paycheck. It’s a feeling he came by honestly, having been raised by a coal miner father whose perpetual prophecy that the mine would soon close eventually came true. Dombek’s drive to fully utilize his tenuous gift kept him on a slow and steady incline and cemented his reputation as one of Arkansas’ top artists. Dombek’s prolific and unrelenting work ethic originated during his childhood in Paris. No, not that one, but the one in Logan County, Arkansas. Dombek’s mother made quilts and encouraged her children’s creativity. His father, a survivor of the Great Depression, toiled in the mines to support his family. In the summers when the demand for coal bottomed out, the elder Dombek took odd jobs to keep food on the table. His lack of formal education always left him feeling on edge about their financial security. Like most men of his generation, Dombek’s father had a hard life and remained aloof towards his son. However, Dombek cites one moment that his father encouraged him after he became interested in photography. “I wasn’t a big hunter, but my dad was,” Dombek said. “Of course, I didn’t take a gun out hunting - I took my camera. My father and my two older brothers were all shooting ducks when a duck came flying in and my father said, ‘Don’t shoot them, let George take a photograph.’ That was the most sensitive thing he’s ever said to me. He wasn’t shooting for fun; he was shooting to take those ducks home to eat.” Although Dombek flirted with photography, his destiny as an artist was in watercolors, a love affair that began in high school. “The first thing I did in art class was watercolor and I related to that,” said Dombek. “I’ve done a dozen paintings on canvas, I just cannot bring myself to work on oil paintings. For the most part you put something down and it just sits there - there’s not an interaction of pigment and water. I can’t find much fun in static movement.” After drifting throughout his late teens and early 20s, Dombek enrolled at the University of Arkansas to study architecture, followed by an MFA in art. Those first few years, he painted in a more fluid, impulsive style, before deciding to mix things up. “One morning I woke up and decided I’m going to try to do something different,” he said. “I’m not going to do six paintings today; I was going to take out my architectural tools. I got really excited about this one painting 26 idleclassmag.com
and I couldn’t wait to finish it. I pulled off the tape and thought, ‘That’s interesting; I’ve never seen that before.’ [T]things have really evolved in 40 years, but the essence of it was established in ’75.” Dombek’s style is highly distinctive in the world of watercolor. His work on pieces such as his Barns series or even his early Fire Escape works utilize shadow and sharp lines to infuse everyday objects with patterns and abstraction. As the late art historian and acclaimed novelist Donald Harington noted in his book, One Clear Day: The Paintings of George Dombek, the artist “has the talent to take unpretentious objects from the visible world and make us notice them, make us aware of their interest and integrity as forms.” Henry Adams, a Ruth Coulter Heede Professor of Art History at Case Western Reserve University, echoes Harington’s thoughts by describing Dombek’s work as a kind of “conceptual realism.” Adams said, “George does an interesting kind of realism, which initially sort of has a highly realistic photographic quality, but as you look more closely, you can see there is a strong element of abstract design in the way he develops it.” Over the years, Dombek’s work has evolved throughout his many different series, which tended to draw from his current location. It began with the San Francisco Fire Escapes when he worked at the famed architecture firm, Ginsler and Associates. Other series include the Youngstown Steel Mills and the Florida Tobacco Barns. While painting man-made structures brought some critical acclaim, it was an idea that struck during an architecture teaching stint in Florence, Italy, that became a game changer for his career. When most people look at rocks, they see just that – a pile of stones. But while walking on the Isle of Elba, the smooth rocks that dotted the shoreline caught his eye each one with its own unique shape, patterns and colors. A far cry from the sharp lines and angles of the barns and steel mills as he could get, so he ran with it. Dombek collected a pile of rocks and returned to his studio to paint them in different orders. When he left Italy, he packed them in a suitcase and brought them back to the United States. Eventually, he painted over 200 pieces based on these rocks. These works are a radical departure and showcase a different side of Dombek’s talents. They flirt with realism but still remain stylized in a vibrant and alluring way. Even in this series Dombek maintained control of the watercolors (a feat that cannot be stressed enough). As Harington noted on the artist’s abilities with the often finicky medium, “like a horse-tamer [Dombek] has given the beast the belief that it has not surrendered its true nature, so long as it is agreeable to obeying him.” The Rocks series took Dombek to another level in his career. “That was a turning point right there, people started buying the paintings,” Dombek said. “They made it possible to get out of teaching. So I did that for 10 years and decided to try the architectural image stuff again, then I thought, Why would I do that again? I did it for 15 years and couldn’t make a living. I started to do Ozark Portraits [instead] and people bought those like crazy.” Both Ozarks Portraits, which focused on farm equipment, and Bikes in Trees, which showcase trees with
Right - Any Day Now, 2015, Watercolor, 60” x 18” Pg. 28 - What Did I Say, 2004, Watercolor, 40” x 40” Pg. 29 - Hindsville Interior, 2016, Watercolor, 60” x 40” Pg. 30 - Newton County Barn with Homestead, 2016, Watercolor, 60” x 60”
“bicycles” fashioned out of limbs, were hits, with each new series marking a departure from previous territory. The barns kept calling to him, so he eventually returned to them with a series of dilapidated barns from different Arkansas counties. Whereas the older barn paintings focused on the inside of the buildings, the new series showcased more of the outside. In Barn Paintings, a catalogue featuring a variety of Dombek’s barn pieces, U of A architecture professor Laura Terry writes in the foreword, “The paintings are inspired by existing barns, but that inspiration is also a point of departure. He constructs the compositions by assembling disparate parts to create idealized barns that celebrate the rich, vernacular tradition.” Some people have claimed that these works are steeped in nostalgia or attempt to convey a broader story, Dombek squashes such ideas, explaining that he’s not too concerned with the subject matter, but he knows it does mean something to a lot of people. He said, “I’m only one part of it; it’s the viewer who makes the total circle. I’m finding something that I can manipulate to express certain ideas. Some people are going to look at the barns as a romantic standpoint or when life was simpler at a different time, but that’s a kind
of storytelling and I’m not trying to tell a story of the different times. I care about the viewer, but mostly I’m doing what I want to do. Just like anything else, it can be interpreted many different ways. Everybody brings different things to the table.” Dombek paints throughout the day when he is not spending time with his wife or grandson. His drive remains and while the idea of a legacy is not something actively on his mind, he does have a few thoughts on the subject. “This may sound pretentious, but I’m pretty positive that the work will [hold up],” he said. “If you want to look around, you’re not going to see people doing what I’m doing. You’re going to still see Winslow Homer [style] watercolors and I love all these classical people using the watercolors, but I don’t know of anybody using it like I do.” At 72, Dombek knows life can bring surprises. In the meantime, if you need him, he’ll be with his brushes, his paints and his watercolor paper. He has some unfinished business in the studio.
VISIT: GEORGEDOMBEK.COM
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OPEN STUDIO WITH GEORGE DOMBEK September 24 to October 30 every Saturday & Sunday 1-6 pm 844 Blue Springs Road Fayetteville, AR 72703 479-442-8976 The studio is a sacred space for an artist. So when you get the chance to spend time with one in that space, you want to seize that opportunity. George Dombek is no stranger to doing this. He has an open studio annually every fall. This year, his open studio takes place from September 24 to October 30 on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 6 pm. Dombek has never felt completely at ease at gallery receptions so the open studio gives him the opportunity to have more in depth conversations with his patrons and fans. He held his first one in the summer of 1995 after returning to Arkansas to build a home. In the time leading up to the event, his show at the Arkansas Arts Center traveled from Little Rock to Hot Springs and then to Pine Bluff, burnishing his artistic credibility. Still, the response was surprising as a number of people who showed up, despite Dombek’s belief that he wasn’t that popular in Arkansas.
Photo by Tim Hursley He said, “I probably had 30 one-man shows at that point across the country and they were never fun. You go in there and don’t know anyone. Out here, it’s different. You get to meet and talk to people and you feel like you’ll see them again because you live here. We don’t normally have an opening, but it’s not that type of gathering. There are usually about a dozen people because we do it about five or six weekends.”
FILM FESTIES KALEIDOSCOPE FILM FESTIVAL When: August 18-21 Where: North Little Rock Cost: $10 per screening, $20-$200 for passes
North Little Rock is putting the finishing touches on another filmpacked summer. Kaleidoscope Film Festival returns to the screen this August 18-21, to celebrate the diversity of the LGBT community and filmmakers, presenting poignant and thought-provoking films documenting LGBT lives across the country. The only major festival to highlight LGBT films in Arkansas and their creators, Kaleidoscope is making waves in Arkansas to bring diverse cinema to the mid-South. Why Arkansas? Festival Director Tony Taylor points to a vibrant and welcoming LGBT community, as well as the changing cultural landscape. “I was reading about films screening in Los Angeles and San Francisco and thought, there’s not a chance that these films would find their way to Arkansas.”
Kaleidoscope is working to change that. “Film as art is one of the best ways to reach people,” Tony recalls. “Film especially humanizes the situation. If you can get people to watch the movies, I’ve found it’s one of the best ways to see from a different point of view. On some level, you relate to them.” Catch opening night Thursday, August 18, at the new CHARTS facility of Pulaski Tech. After, head over to the Argenta Community Theater in North Little Rock for screenings all weekend. Kaleidoscope is made possible thanks to Argenta Arts District and the Film Society of Little Rock. For the latest news and updates, check out kaleidoscopefilmfestival.com. - Kelsey Ferguson
Fayetteville Film Festival When: September 6-10 Where: Fayetteville Cost: $0-$40 for passes
The Fayetteville Film Fest celebrates its seventh year this September, renaming and rebranding from its former title as the Offshoot Film Festival. The name change accompanies an updated mission that promises even more excitement for filmmakers and lovers in Northwest Arkansas and beyond. By clarifying their identity and fostering relationships with filmmakers, Fayetteville Film Fest hopes to nurture the art of filmmaking and become a leading player in the region’s cultural landscape. Guests can expect to enjoy a wide range of films this fall, all at convenient venues around the centrally located Fayetteville square. Though all genres are welcomed, the festival will pay special attention to regional films created in or around Arkansas.
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Along with short and full-feature films, Fayetteville Film Fest will offer a full schedule of panels and other events to compliment the screenings of their films. Programming is still underway, so stay tuned for full updates and volunteer opportunities at www. fayettevillefilmfest.org. Fayetteville Film Fest is presented by Executive Director Dan Robinson and the Fayetteville Film Fest board. For more information visit fayettevillefilmfest.org. - Kelsey Ferguson
EL DORADO FILM FESTIVAL When: September 15-18 Where: EL DORADO Cost: $15 - $75
South Arkansas might not seem like one of the bright spots for filmmaking in Arkansas, but the boomtown of El Dorado has some surprises up its sleeve. Over the last few years, the town has begun developing the infrastructure to make it the cultural hub of lower part of the state. One key part of this is El Dorado Film Festival. Now in it’s third year EDFF has grown by leaps and bounds. The festival began after El Dorado native Laura Barrow returned from Los Angeles where she had pursued a career in the film industry, but set it aside to start a family. The bug never left her and eventually, she had the idea to start EDFF with filmmaker Alexander Jeffery and Richard Wharton of the South Arkansas Arts Center. Barrow and her husband, Austin, reached out to their Hollywood connections to recruit an impressive roster of international filmmakers who brought entertaining, intriguing and, at times, provocative works to the festival. It has been dubbed by the visiting artists “a filmmaker’s film festival” because of the great attention to detail the organizers
take to care for the filmmakers attending from around the world. “Our festival is a great networking opportunity,” Barrow said. “I can think of at least eight film projects that have developed from filmmakers meeting at the EDFF including Alexander Jeffery’s film The Bespoke Tailoring of Mister Bellamy, which was last year’s winner of the Louisiana Film Prize. El Dorado loves the cultural experience and entertainment the festival brings to our town.” The third annual El Dorado Film Festival will take place on September 15-18, 2016, will take place at Stars Cinema 6. They have teamed up with The Oxford American Magazine and filmmaker and actor Joey Lauren Adams to select the winner of “The Oxford American Best Southern Made Film.” They will also give an award for Best Arkansas Made Film and the Best of Fest winner will receive the “Golden Spudnut,” based on the famous El Dorado breakfast pastries. Passes are available for purchase on eldofilmfest.com. - Kody Ford
Hot Springs Documentary Festival When: October 7-16 Where: Hot Springs Cost: $8 - $250
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the longest-running documentary film festival in North America, and it’s right at our front door. This October join the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival for a ten-day cinematic adventure of over a hundred of the best films the nonfiction world has to offer. “The festival brings together people from Arkansas, the region, across the country and outside countries to exchange ideas and open minds,” executive director Courtney Pledger confirms. “The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival has become such an icon that when you leave Arkansas and go to bigger cities, everybody knows about it. It’s really a wonderful ambassador.”
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, this year the festival has a little extra up its sleeve. In addition to screenings and events at the historic Arlington hotel, bath houses, museum and more, enjoy the six-film sidebar Women Behind the Lens: Diverse Perspectives directed by six women of diverse backgrounds, cultures and experiences. Get involved with filmmaker Q&A, and stay tuned for announcements regarding the festival’s special celebrity lineup. The Hot Springs Documentary film festival is presented by Deltic Timber and the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute. Check out http://www.hsdfi.org for updates on scheduling, programming and more. - Kelsey Ferguson
ARKANSAS SHORTS When: January 7, 2017 Where: Hot Springs Cost: TBD
Following the programming for its documentary film festival, Hot Springs will continue its reign as a film lover’s hub for innovative cinema experience with Arkansas Shorts – A Night of Short Films. Slated for January 7, 2017, for one night only Arkansas Shorts will showcase some of Arkansas’s most compelling films by its natives and current residents. All films will run ten minutes or less and bend genres including narrative, documentary, music and experimental films. Arkansas Shorts, often coined the Jewel of January by local residents, is highly regarded as one of the most fun and anticipated events of the year. The Historic Arlington Hotel will again provide the beautiful backdrop for the evening’s programming, a
lineup that has been expanded due to an overwhelming surge in film submissions by the state’s up and coming filmmakers. After the show, guests will have the chance to meet filmmakers and fellow film lovers at Low Key Arts for an official after party. Arkansas Shorts is a program of Low Key Arts, a not for profit community arts organization located in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Keep up to date on their Facebook page, Arkansas Shorts – A Night of Short Film for news, teasers and information as January draws nearer. - Kelsey Ferguson
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Little Rock Picture Show When: June 2017 Where: Little Rock Cost: $10-75
After four years under the banner of the Little Rock Film Festival, the Little Rock Picture Show found a new partner this June in the River City Comic Expo. Founder and long-time director Justin Nickels predicts that next year will see the Picture Show’s first independent showing. The Picture Show began as a celebration of horror film under the auspices of the Little Rock Film Festival to round out the Festival’s already bustling year-long schedule. Since then the Picture Show has broadened to include both science fiction and fantasy films. Next year will see even further changes as Nickels passes on the mantle of director to successor Chris Terry. Nickels said in regards to the transition, “[Terry] has always brought us amazing music related events and found some of the films we’ve showcased. I’m excited to see the direction he takes it in and trust he’s going to do a great job.”
Central Arkansas is a unique venue for the Picture Show. When asked what makes the region distinctive, Nickels cited its social diversity, educational opportunities, economic resources, and a tradition of independent artistic production. “As of right now [Little Rock is] the only city to have an LGBTQ festival in the state, and I think on many of these social issues filmmakers in central Arkansas will be the ones helping push our city and state forward.” Find more information about the Little Rock Picture Show and their upcoming events on their Facebook page, Little Rock Picture Show. - Jenny Vos
BENTONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL When: May 2017 Where: Bentonville Cost: TBD
Bentonville Film Festival returned to Northwest Arkansas this May for its second year, executing its mission bigger and better than ever. Founded by Academy Award Winner Geena Davis and co-founder Trevor Drinkwater in 2015, BFF’s mission has always been to champion women and diverse voices in media. This year, BFF screened 75 films, launched multiple celebrity panel discussions, integrated the community with family-friendly social events and expanded their platform with the addition of a short film competition. “This festival and the initiatives surrounding it offers us a real opportunity to impact not just who’s in front of the camera but who’s behind it,” said a smiling Geena Davis in this year’s press conference about the festival, “to really support female and
diverse filmmakers, and offer them not only a platform for their films but really impact the industry.” Co-founder Trevor Drinkwater feels that the face of media distribution is changing too, and is taking a leading role as a catalyst for that change. “If you want a diverse workforce, you have to expose kids to diversity,” Drinkwater points out. Every year, BFF is designed to inspire action, bring together decision makers and content creators, and ensure that media represents the world we live in – a world comprised of 51% women and diverse peoples. Bentonville Film Festival is truly a can’t miss event, and we can’t wait to announce their 2017 dates and programming. Stay tuned! - Kelsey Ferguson
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THE HAIR GUY WORDS / MELISSA TUCKER PHOTO / CANNON MCNAIR
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hen David Kersey headed to Los Angeles with his newly minted fine arts degree, the native Arkansan had no idea he’d spend the majority of his time working on the hair of famous people. Not in a swanky salon, no. Kersey has crafted the animated hairs of well-known characters from the conductor in The Polar Express all the way up to the casts of Tangled and Frozen. His degree, with a specialization in computer animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design was the springboard that launched him into Hollywood. But after almost a decade in Los Angeles, designing hair and other special effects for blockbuster films, he’s once again back in Arkansas, working as the executive director for Fayetteville’s New Design School and conveying his knowledge to future designers. How did you get to Disney? I moved to California right out of college. I started doing computer-aided design out of my house. Two years of doing that, and I got hired to work on a movie called the Karate Dogs. [After the film ended] I had friends who went to Sony Pictures Imageworks. I got in contact with them and was hired for The Polar Express on the team responsible for creating the hair and clothing. I was fortunate enough that my first character was Tom Hanks. I worked on his conductor hat, mustache, hair coming out from under the hat, and that was the first thing I had to do. From there, I went on to work on Chronicles of Narnia doing hair for characters in that movie, then Beowulf, then G-Force. But six years at Sony, and I felt stagnant. So I contacted a friend at Disney, and I was eventually hired on the Look Development team at Disney Feature Animation. What does that entail? It was creating the textures and materials that exist in the animated movies. There’s somebody who creates the shape of the thing, someone creates the materials, and somebody who makes it move, and that’s very simplified. The materials team, they did hair - not the motion but the creation of the hair. It was interesting because I was coming off of six years of doing hair, and not wanting to do any more hair, but I got hired on Tangled, the biggest hair movie ever created. Later, I moved on to become a look development artist on Frozen. It exploded into a major brand, and it was really a fun project to work on. It ended up winning an Oscar, and we had a party to celebrate and take pictures of the Oscar.
How did you get back to Arkansas? L.A. wasn’t the place I wanted to be for the rest of my life. I had family here and I missed the outdoor elements here and the small town mentality, if you will. I was looking at different places across this region. Two-and-a-half years ago, I came through on a trip, and I fell in love with it. I put in my notice at Disney and walked away from that career. What’s the plan with the New Design School? I spent the last 10 months working on what the future holds for the New Design School, adding the animation program on the level of what I experienced at Disney, and other programs
focused on computer animated design and creation. I came here with a vision of creating a digital arts school myself, but I felt like the New Design School had a brand and the owner was open to me being a driver of programming there. He’s begun that process, and it’s not an easy process. We need the ability to scale up, with the addition of the computer lab, and teaching on industry-standard computer systems. We’re doing business planning and development and have begun a capital campaign to raise money for the expansion. I’ve got to raise money to be working on it fulltime. I knew it was going to be my future, but I didn’t know on what scale. And over the past year, I’ve realized the opportunity of the scale, seen what’s needed here, and taken on the challenge of bringing it to the area.
David Kersey wanted to be a digital animator. He found his niche in an unexpected place.
EVERYTHING IN THE RIGHT PLACE Merideth Boswell went from making pots on Dickson Street to working with Hollywood’s A-list. So how’d she do it? WORDS / SUSAN PORTER
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hen Hollywood production designer Merideth Boswell comes home to Fayetteville after working on a film, she heads for her clay studio and starts throwing pots. It’s her way of detaching from the intensity and intimacy of a shoot. “I get incredibly sad,” Boswell says. “I am exhausted and ready to sleep past 4:30 in the morning, but it is so very intense for four to six months that it is hard to let go. I’ve often said that gathering a crew is like bugs on a windshield; high speed mashing together and fairly random.” Boswell started throwing pots decades ago in an old warehouse off Dickson Street as a member of the Calabash Pottery collective. So how did she get from Dickson Street to Hollywood, where she earned Oscar nominations for her work on How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Apollo13? “It was an absolute fluke,” Boswell said. After leaving Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas for New Orleans, her plan was to continue working as a clay artist. But a British director who was shooting a commercial in the Crescent City saw furniture Boswell had designed at a gallery there. He contacted Boswell and asked if she could do more and could she do wardrobe, paint a building, find a particular car, and the list kept going. “Had I known more, I would have known that I was not only doing six different jobs, but I had no business saying I could,” Boswell said. “But I did it and the director called me again.” With that trial-by-fire experience under her belt, Boswell then connected with Victor Kempster, Oliver Stone’s production designer, who was in New Orleans working on the film JFK. Kempster recognized her talent and hired her to work on the next four Stone films. She next met production designer Michael Corenblith, who hired her for Ron Howard’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Apollo 13 as well as other Howard directed films. “They (Kempster and Corenblith) worked in radically different ways...I consider that I had the best master class possible,” she said. Howard too, recognized Boswell’s talent and promoted her from set decorator to production designer on The Missing.
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Photo courtesy of Merideth Boswell “I will always be grateful to Ron for the vote of confidence,” she said. “It was a fairly large budget western and again, I agreed to do something that I had to figure out how to do.” Tommy Lee Jones also turned over the reins to Boswell to create “the look” on several of his films. Boswell credits Jones as one of the directors who has had the biggest impact on her work. She has worked on six Jones directed films, three as production designer. “He brings out my A-game,” she said. “His instructions to me usually consist of ‘just don’t do anything wrong.’ So the thought of failing is pretty terrifying. You can’t underestimate a director’s trust.” It was the 2014 Jones-directed film The Homesman that may have been the biggest challenge, yet the most rewarding for Boswell. The film starred Jones and Hilary Swank and was shot in winter near Las Vegas, New Mexico. Boswell designed and oversaw the building of four period sod farmhouses, a town and a hotel. “It stretched my chops,” she said. “How could I take an adobe technique and add grass?” That was only one of many challenges of the film, which was based on a story about the struggle of women trying to survive the severe conditions of the west in the 1800s. Ironically, the film crew faced struggles of their own. “We were driving 211 miles a day to the set. It was freezing,” Bowell said. “The paint was freezing; the construction guys deserve a medal.” When the hotel was built, the winds were ferocious. Telephone poles snapped. Work days often lasted 12 to 14 hours. A crew was sent to Colorado to cut trees for the set. Everyone worked extremely hard and was dedicated to the project. “When we finished - Tommy Lee Jones who is not one for gushing - but this crew, everyone was sobbing. Normally, it’s either product or process. This film was both.”
Another film that Boswell takes immense pride in is the 2015 film about the life of Hank Williams, the Marc Abraham’s I Saw the Light. “We had little money nor the time to deliver a lot of period sets. The film was shot in Shreveport, which had very little of what we needed,” she says. “The set decorator, Alice Baker, would sometimes have to drive to Dallas to find props. “Alice and I lived together and would meet at the coffee pot at four in the morning and some mornings all we could say was ‘whooo,’ because we either couldn’t believe what we had gotten done the day before or what was left to do that day.” Another memorable film was Stone’s Natural Born Killers, which was filmed at Statesville Prison in Chicago and a Navajo Indian reservation. “It was just the most crazy and wild fun,” Boswell said. Boswell is currently working on a Netflix project with director Errol Morris and cinematographer Ellen Kuras. “Kuras is blazing a trail for other women. Anyone who thinks a woman can’t do what a man can do with a camera should spend a day with her on set.” In addition to her work as a production designer and her limited pottery releases, which can be found at Flora in Fayetteville and N.A. Martin Studio in Bentonville, Boswell stays busy designing interiors. “It’s all the same part of the brain,” she said. After decorating the Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do!, Hanks asked Boswell to do the interiors of his new production company offices, Playtone, in a similar fashion. “When I asked what he specifically wanted he just said, ‘give me the vibe, baby.’ Another sweet and terrifying vote of confidence.” Another director recruited her to do a vacation home and over a 10-year period Boswell designed the interiors of his Beverly Hills offices and three other residences, including one in Paris. Although Boswell never aspired to work in film, it is an interesting aside that her mother worked as an artist for MGM. And, like mother like daughter, it was a fluke. “My mother was sitting in her yard in California sketching one day when Joe Hanna of Hanna Barbera walked up, looked at her work, and hired her.”
5 DAYS, 55 FILMS.
SEPTEMBER 6-10, 2016 IN DOWNTOWN FAYETTEVILLE
WHAT DOES A PRODUCTION DESIGNER DO EXACTLY? “I work with the director and cinematographer to establish the look of the film. I am responsible for implementing it whether it’s palette or sets that will be built or locations to be found. Within my department is the art director who oversees construction, the set designers, the paint, the graphics and who generally keeps me organized. Then there is the set decorator and her team. There is also an art department coordinator who tries to keep us all organized and oversees research, budget, clearances and a multitude of other thankless tasks.”
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KNOW YOUR CREW Movies don’t make themselves. These people do.
BLAKE ELDER
AMOS COCHRAN
DWIGHT CHALMERS
Blake Elder first fell in love with film as a nineyear-old during a visit to see his aunt on the promotional set of a Chris Rock’s comedy special - and he was hooked.
Amos Cochran began looking for new ways to create music without having to be away from his family on tour with a band. He returned to school and took composition lessons, which lead to scoring a nine minute film. After this, a friend tipped him off to Little Rock filmmaker Daniel Campbell who was about to shoot his second short film The Orderly.
For several years, Dwight Chalmers was the go-to guy for Fayetteville bands. But running a music studio for independent musicians in the Ozarks can often mean feast or famine. Then in 2007, he received an offer to serve as production sound mixer on a documentary for AETN.
cinematographer
“I have been interested in storytelling and visually conveying these stories to others since I can remember,” the cinematographer said. A graduate of the New York Film Academy, Elder officially started his film career in 2008 working for HBO and A&E. Five years later he felt drawn back to his roots, where he landed the role as cinematographer and co-producer of Valley Inn. This Northwest Arkansas film earned Elder an award for Best Cinematography for Feature Film at Rahway International Film Festival in 2015. Elder’s journey during Valley Inn pointed him toward starting his own production company, Rockhill Studios. Elder served as second unit cinematographer on the Miller Brothers’ All the Birds Have Flown South. This taught Elder the importance of pre-production, of communicating his director’s vision with the crew. “I like to go into a shoot with a plan and a strategy,” Elder said. “You can have the best camera or the best grip and lighting equipment, but if you can’t communicate the director’s vision with your crew, then you’re headed up a creek without a paddle.” Presently, Elder is working to complete a 4,100 foot soundstage located in Fayetteville, which is set to open in September. - Ashleigh Price
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composer
“I called and asked him if I could write the score,” Cochran said. “He said that would be great and could I do some ‘40s Jazz? I completely lied and told him that would be no problem. We got to the end of that one and it worked out very well. Today, I still work with the folks I met through that film.” The score is something that people often overlook when they consider the filmmaking process, but it is a very jarring change when the music’s gone, Cochran noted. “If you ever get the chance to watch a film with no music, you realize very quickly that it is devoid of most of the emotions the director wants the audience to experience,” he said. “People rarely think of the score as the conveyer of these emotions, but in reality it is probably the most important affective factor in the film. I could go on and on about this but I read somewhere that the original music for Star Wars was going to be some kind of disco music. Now, picture Obi-Wan sneaking around the Death Star to some disco music - see?! The score makes or breaks a movie.” - Kody Ford
production sound mixer
This job turned Chalmers toward a different career path that allowed him to continue his love of recording and mixing, but with a little more job security. Eventually, he began running production sound on commercials, documentaries and feature films. He’s worked with the legendary Terrence Malik and even on Peter Jackson’s documentary West of Memphis and Jeff Nichols’ Mud. A production sound mixer is very critical in the production process as the person is responsible for capturing all the dialogue in a film. Chalmers studies the script and locations to figure out what will cause issues with the sound and plan around that to get what is needed for the production audio. Things have a way of changing the day of, so being flexible with other departments and having backup plans keeps the audio end of the shoot moving. “Getting clean audio on films from the start helps the production in many ways,” he said. “Part of audio post production is fixing audio issues that were unavoidable during the shoot. If you can minimize problems during the filming, then your audio post process can have more time in the budget to create the sound world that the characters live in instead of just fixing problems.” - Kody Ford
BO COUNTS
JOEL C. HIGH
LES & RUSS GALUSHA
Like many people who entered the filmmaking business, Bo Counts got there by accident.
Have you heard of a music supervisor? Probably not. But Joel C. High is okay with that.
“It always seems to start out super casual with someone saying, ‘Hey, a friend of mine is making a short film and we need some help. Can’t pay you, but it should be fun,’” he said. “I think my first official gig as a sound guy was in a super short film for a 24 hour film festival ages ago. Then more shorts, then commercials, and it started to snowball. Next thing you know a few gigs later you’re putting a wireless mic on a guy that was in Captain America.”
Consider one of your favorite films – did it have a hit pop song or a killer soundtrack? If so, thank the music supervisor.
Les and Russ Galusha play an integral part in a film’s production as the editing team. Without an editor, the film is just a series of shots that may or may not make some sort of sense. Les says a lot of creative involvement must take place for a successful edit so that the cuts flow seamlessly in the film.
boom operator
music supervisor
As boom operator, Counts operates the boom and other microphones on set and works in conjunction with the location mixer. Sound departments tend to be rather small, despite having a large responsibility to the film. His primary job on set is to apply and adjust lavalier mics on acting talent as well as “holding that giant furry thing on the stick” aka the boom. He also listens intently to the environment to catch and eliminate small sounds that most people ignore that can really stand out or mess up a take in the finished product such as air conditioner, passing cars, refrigerators, or even plumbing. Capturing quality sounds is his biggest priority. Production can take its toll - staying on his feet for hours on end, lugging heavy audio gear over his head, never quite knowing when the work day ends. But Counts believes the pros outweigh the cons. “Being able to make a living in a creative economy and always take on diverse projects is a million times better than my old desk job,” he said.
Just like props and costume departments have key people guiding their creative and logistical niches in this collaborative medium, a music supervisor is the key person involved with music. They are in charge of all elements relating to music, starting with consulting on budgets, hiring and working creatively with composers to selecting songs and getting the legal rights to use them. Ideally, a music supervisor will be involved starting at script stage through to soundtrack album release and marketing. Even before there was sound in pictures, people would play music along with a film to help enhance storytelling. “Music is an almost surreal element to film that really helps shape emotions, power action and drive drama,” High said. “People have been trying to describe why playing music under image really helps with storytelling and often come up short. I feel it’s almost magic and when it’s done right, it really works.” High will hold a seminar during the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in October to help teach the basics for music in film to musicians and filmmakers. - Kody Ford
editor
“[D]during the editing of All the Birds Have Flown South, in order to visualize the overall arc and dominance of each key role, we constructed a huge visual chart of colored index cards,” he said. “Each color represented actors & their emotional state, and their dominance in the film; so standing from a distance, you could see from the diagram, how the film’s pacing, beats and arcs were playing out. Shifting cards (scenes) in this abstract way allowed us to successfully reshape and sculpt the backbone of the film. Editing is a far cry from simply ‘cutting together’ the best takes of footage to tell a story. It can easily make a good film great or, in contrast, make a great film just good.” Les says that editors must be open to change and suggestions, but willing to stand their ground if necessary. They are proud of the work they have done with Arkansas filmmakers. “When you are stuck in a small room editing with a filmmaker for months, a relationship certainly develops,” said Les. “Hopefully it sticks, and you can build a team. This year, we have been fortunate to edit together alongside talented Arkansans such as the Miller Brothers, Daniel Campbell, Jon Crawford, Gabe Mayhan, Kathryn Tucker, to name a few. Helping piece their vision together is what we do.” - Kody Ford
- Kody Ford
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KIM SWINK director
ELIZABETH STRANDBERG producer
The vision of a film director often brings to mind a man clad in a scarf and sunglasses perched on a wood and cloth chair barking orders through a megaphone at the crew. But the reality is far from that, as Little Rock native Kim Swink can attest.
Elizabeth Strandberg is a woman of many talents. She has worked as a teacher and a marketing director, and has produced four local films in the past five years. This ability to be multi-faceted has served her well in her work as a producer.
“The reality, especially when you’re talking about the set of a low-budget independent film, can be far less lofty and glamorous,” said Swink. “In that scenario, the director’s role is, literally, to do whatever it takes to see that their creative vision ends up on film/video with the least amount of compromise given the confines of budget and logistics. Ego can be a huge stumbling block to achieving that goal and, ultimately, handing your editor enough good (to beautiful) footage that he can put your vision together with an actual beginning, middle and end.”
“For me, producing is taking something abstract and making it concrete - like putting a puzzle together,” she said. “There’s a lot of big picture thinking and multi tasking involved. Lots of people that you need to coordinate with.”
As a child Swink loved drama and storytelling, often cajoling her siblings and friends into live backyard extravaganzas. After taking video production classes in college, she became inspired to move to New York City to work her way into the business. Now a veteran writer/producer/director, she has worked with everyone from Bill Maher to Virginia Madsen to Kyle MacLachlan on projects for HBO, Comedy Central, IFC and more. The years of work paid off in 2015 with the release of her feature debut Valley Inn, shot in the town of Hindsville in Madison County. During production she had a hands-on master class in filmmaking, learning new tricks along the way. “You really have to trust the professionals on your team and let them do their jobs because your job can’t just be ‘creative visionary’ and you don’t have the luxury of time to micromanage (I can be seriously guilty of micro-managing so that’s a hard one for me),” she said. “You have to be a cheerleader, a peacemaker, a therapist; and then you have to be willing to get down in the muck with your team, to get dirty and sweaty and just get it done.” - Kody Ford
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While writers work to build a film from the ground up and a director ensures artistic vision is carried through from the top down, a producer must work laterally and ensure that the crew is prepared, informed and organized. “The role of a producer is incredibly fluid and is project-based,” said Strandberg. “In my case this has included scheduling, casting, recruiting crew, location scouting, script breakdown, crowdfunding, changes to scenes, film festival strategies and finally, negotiations in selling a film.” Strandberg’s work as a producer began in 2011 on Christy Ward’s film, Tree. Since then she has also produced Last Summer, the award-winning Sacred Hearts, Holy Souls, and Amman Abbasi’s Dayveon. She is currently at work writing her own series of short films, which she hopes to put into production in the next year. “Making a film on the indie level has got to be one of the most daunting tasks I can think of,” Strandberg replied when asked what she most enjoyed about producing. “You have no money, not a whole lot of time but what you do have is a team of amazing people who are willing to give it their all and make some magic happen.” - Jenny Vos
October 18 – 27
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Daniel Campbell & Graham Gordy hope to boost the Arkansas film industry with their feature Antiquities WORDS + PHOTO / BRANDON MARKIN
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or those Arkansans who dream of working in movies, whether acting on screen, or laboring behind the scenes, it has often meant leaving the state for one coast or the other. While conditions have improved, most insiders will tell you, there is lots of potential for growth. All around the South, states have begun to try to lure producers and directors with tax incentives and other perks, realizing the revenue and advertising potential of having a successful movie or television series filmed in their locales. In Arkansas, a handful of visionaries are attempting to do the same, and you can count the screenwriting team of Daniel Campbell and Graham Gordy among those pioneers. Recently, their screenplay for the feature comedy Antiquities has acquired funding. Also, Gordy and Campbell have ambitions that go far beyond the filming of one movie, and that would be good news for the next generation of Arkansans looking to work a little closer to home. Antiquities began as a short film based on experiences from Campbell’’s childhood in Saline County, which he wrote and directed. It won the Charles B. Pierce award for best film set in Arkansas at the 2010 Little Rock Film Festival. At that point Gordy, who had recently returned after stints in L.A. and New York and was also attending the festival, noticed something in Campbell that set him apart from his peers. “There are a lot of good directors, but the combination of a sharp sense of humor and the ability to tell a story are hard to find,” Gordy said. He sought out Campbell and the two got together to build onto the framework from the original short. In the process the two bonded over the fact that they had lost their fathers in their 20’s and, over time, the theme of loss worked it’s way into the script. The main character, Walt, has returned after his father’s demise to deal with not only the remaining possessions, but also to learn something about who his father really was. He decides to stay with his quirky aunt and takes a job at a local antique mall where he encounters characters that anyone who has browsed Arkansas’ many outlets of relics will easily recognize. Walt ends up discovering more about his father, and ultimately, more about himself.
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The original script for the comedy was finished in 2012, but without the money to begin filming it hung around in limbo, waiting to land with the right group of investors. In the meantime the two worked on other projects, building momentum as their resumes filled with various successes from Campbell’s 2011 and 2013 repeat of the Charles B. Pierce award, to Gordy’s starring role in Ray McKinnon’s short film The Spanola Pepper Sauce Company, and his most recent project on Cinemax, Quarry. Gordy admits that the buzz around Quarry helped as they pitched Antiquities, as did the modest budget needed to bring the narrative driven comedy to life. In the intervening years the media landscape also became more accommodating to motion pictures like theirs. “You now have so many films that have no other ambition than to be played on the small screen, and these films can turn a healthy profit solely from people watching on Netflix,” Gordy explained. Perhaps the most exciting part of this particular project is that it is meant to be a stepping stone for Campbell and Gordy’s new production company, Mortuus Pater. “We always intended for this to snowball into the next thing,” Campbell said, explaining how they will invest profits from Antiquities into their next idea. Gordy added, “the goal is to keep talent here in Arkansas.” He went on to praise the depth of the local talent pool, and how many struggle waiting around for opportunities while trying to support themselves in the meantime. Co-producer Kathryn Tucker said, “I don’t know if Arkansans have caught on as to how important the film industry is and how profitable it can be…there is so much money in it, from the initial production, to all of the distribution deals…it needs to be incentivized.” There is clearly momentum building and more opportunities for the small army of people that bring a motion picture to life, but without more effort and investment we will linger behind our neighbors. For now though, we can all celebrate the small victories and hope that Gordy and Campbell’s Antiquities snowball turns into an avalanche.
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This Bird
HAS FLOWN After years of toiling away, Little Rock filmmakers The Miller Brothers have released their debut All the Birds Have Flown South. But is it worth the wait? WORDS / GERARD MATTHEWS
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here’s a scene in the new Miller brothers film All the Birds Have Flown South in which a down-on-her-luck woman, played by Joey Lauren Adams, is bent over the open tailgate of a pick-up truck parked outside a dive bar and raped as cars speed around a nearby dirt-track raceway. It’s brutal. The pacing, the editing, the sharp cuts, the howl of the kit-car engines cutting around the track, the subjugation of a woman already out-of-control leaves you, the onlooker, with a helpless feeling in the pit of the your stomach. A film can only assault so many senses at once, but here in this unfortunately empty parking lot, the smell of gasoline, the billowing dust from the track and the sound of crumpled beer cans rattling with every thrust of the truck bed threaten to overwhelm. “Tough to watch” is a description left wanting. Let’s leave that scene for a moment and visit another. You’re a producer from Arkansas. You’ve got what might be called, in the show-biz vernacular, a rag-tag team of misfits who play by their own rules, each with their own particular talent. You’ve got two writers brothers - with long hair and a penchant for magical realism. You’ve got a crew of home-grown talent - cinematographers, editors, production designers - all with a chip on their shoulder borne of an inferiority complex familiar only to Arkansans in the entertainment industry and black-eyed younger brothers. But your ace-in-the-hole, the one thing you’ve got that no one else has, besides the undying devotion of your crew, is the story. You know it’s good, real good. And you know, no matter what happens, you are going to make sure it gets made. But you are a producer. You know the business, and you’ve seen what happens to scripts like this. That parking lot scene is in there, along with some other uncomfortable stuff, and you have got to sell that to someone - a whole mess of someones, really - to get the money necessary to realize this dark, poignant, tight, committed, haunting, compelling vision. “You’ve got a lot of people just telling you, ‘It’s never going to happen.’” Kathryn Tucker is that producer. “This is a very dark film,” she said. “It’s a film that people said would never get made, that it was too dark, and we’d never get the money for it, and would never get a cast. We made it happen. I love that. I think we were tenacious. I think we really made something that’s true to the Miller brothers. You always make some compromises, but we really maintained the integrity and the authenticity of the story that the Millers had originally written.” The Millers are Josh and Miles. After the success of their 2010 short film Pillow, they decided their next project would be a feature film. Six years later, they’re finally sitting on a finished project that, hopefully, now goes to the highest bidder for distribution. But again, it’s not exactly the feel-good movie of the year. It’s not something that leaves you with a sense of uplift or closure (not the good kind anyway), and that’s not something movie audiences and the executives that feed them typically go for in droves. But it would be foolish to dismiss this film as cloyingly dark or brooding just for the sake of being dark and brooding. This is a remarkable film. There isn’t one wasted frame. It’s thematically consistent, it’s tight, well-executed, character-driven, and there’s beauty in there somewhere. But still… That’s a hard sell. Gabe Mayhan is the film’s cinematographer. He also worked on Pillow, which earned him best cinematography awards at the Beverly Hills International Film Festival and the Rhode Island International Film Festival. “Most of the challenges probably took place in the realm of trying to get the movie made. The script, and the film itself, is something that isn’t necessarily commercial at all. Our producer Kathryn Tucker, who’s also my wife, did an amazing job. The script was fantastic, but it’s just not necessarily something that the American public is used to. So the challenge was presenting a script and having people get on board with financing a movie in this genre.” Josh Miller said he knew embarking on a feature film would be challenging but admits he didn’t know exactly what he and brother Miles were in for. “Making a feature film is extremely difficult and takes incredible amount of stamina,” Josh said. “There are so many challenges everyday, but raising money was the single biggest hurdle we came across. Once we had the money in place, we were ready to go. Our team was ready.” According to Tucker, pre-production had a few hiccups and post-pro-
duction was delayed because the crew was waiting on funds from the state’s tax rebate program. “I can’t complain about it, because without the rebate we wouldn’t have been able to make the film the way that it’s made,” Tucker said. “We had time more than we had money. We were just waiting for a long time to get those funds. Ultimately, it’s totally worth it. But when you’re in the day-to-day of that [waiting game for a] couple of years, it’s pretty rough, especially for the directors. It’s like their heart and soul on screen.” “The jump from short to feature is drastic and surreal,” said Miles Miller. “We had our goals, surrounded ourselves with talent, had an enormous amount of community support, and lived this project since 2010. It was a long and cage-rattling road, but we’re proud of the product and we’re wiser from the lessons this experience gifted us.” The story follows Stephen, played by Paul Sparks. You might remember Sparks from having fallen in love with him, as Frank and Claire Underwood both did, in House of Cards. His turn in that series solidified Sparks as a rising star and he shows his mettle once again in this role as a haunted loner who recently lost his mother. Stephen lives in her house, decor unchanged - including a disturbingly replete doll collection. The set design is on the nose. The pastel colors, clashing patterns, outdated curtains - as you watch these scenes you can actually smell old lady. Stephen isn’t quite sympathetic, but curious, and we are curious about him. He looks, as one friend pointed out, like a creepy Jeff Foxworthy: sandy-blonde hair slicked to his head, those aviator-like glasses your high school science teacher wore, mustachioed, and always wearing a suit that looks less stylish and more like something your grandfather wore in the early ‘80s. Stephen happens upon Tonya (Joey Lauren Adams), a waitress at an all-night diner, and takes an interest in helping her out. Tonya’s hauling around baggage of every imaginable kind and struggling to maintain any semblance of control over her life. Stephen offers rides to and from work and a helping hand with her ailing husband (played deftly by Dallas Roberts). What follows is a bizarre and sordid tale of woe spun out of low-rent motels, deception, longing, and fluorescent-lit crank smoke. “At its core it’s a love story,” said Miles Miller. “I mean, It’s a very unhealthy one composed of flawed, if not totally broken people. The three lead characters are far from perfect, all in their unique ways, but at the same time are holding onto the remaining pieces of their shattered lives. They just go about it in the wrong way. Control is a big part of it. Through this need for control they lose their humanity. You see this in every character in the film, I believe.” The theme of control features prominently in the film. “We always saw this story as a dark and twisted love triangle, but to me, at its heart, it’s really a story about a boy and his mother. You never see Stephen’s mother in the film, but she’s always there. Even in death, he is unable to escape her grasp.” All the Birds premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival as one of the 10 films in the New American Cinema Competition in June. The buzz so far is good. Sparks’s meteoric rise doesn’t hurt. Sparks’s meteoric rise doesn’t hurt. It’s a film that will live or die by its commitment to an original vision, but that’s a bet the filmmakers are willing to take. “Right now my goal is to sell the film,” Tucker said. “I’m absolutely determined to make money on this film and I think we can. We had an incredible reception in Seattle. We had distributors coming to us asking for the screener. Everybody that saw it loved it. They loved the tone. They loved how different it is. They loved the performances, how it looked, the music.” “I think the thing I’m most proud of, through all of it, is effectively executing our vision,” Josh Miller said. “The finished product looks like what I had imagined during the concept phase. And I’m very proud of our cast and crew. Everyone went above and beyond the call of duty.” During a post-screening Q and A at the film’s Arkansas premiere at the Ron Robinson theater in downtown Little Rock, Mayhan asked everyone who was involved with the film to step up on stage. He told the audience how proud he was that this film was written, realized, funded, and executed by Arkansans, which drew a hearty round of applause.
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ILLUSTRATIONS / CHAD MAUPIN
ALEXANDER JEFFERY LOCATION: EL DORADO FILMS: Contact, The Bespoke Tailoring of Mister Bellamy ACHIEVEMENTS: Winner - Louisiana Film Prize, Winner - Programmer’s Choice Award Cleveland International Film Festival WWW.alexanderjeffery.com
Was there a moment or a certain point in your life when you knew you wanted to be a filmmaker? It’s the most cliché answer, but the first live-action film I saw in theatres was the re-release of Star Wars: A New Hope. I immediately got the family video camera and started pointing it at action figures. What do you think is the biggest misconception about filmmaking? I don’t think people fully realize how many people it takes to make
a small, independent short film and how hard everyone works. The final product should make it look effortless, but it requires so many thankless positions to put something great in front of an audience. Also, the time between conception of an idea to finished product. It can take months, if not years, depending on funding. I think there’s a mentality of “Oh, you’re a filmmaker, but what’s your real job?”
Juli Jackson LOCATION: PARAGOULD FILMS: 45RPM (narrative feature), The Sowers (narrative short) ACHIEVEMENTS: 2011 Arkansas Arts Council’s “Indie Film Initiative Grant,” 45RPM screened at over 20 festivals, the Little Rock Film Festival’s Made in Arkansas Best Feature and Best Actress, Knoxville Film Festival’s Audience Award, RxSM’s Best Soundtrack, Special Jury Citation for Best Emerging Director at the Oxford Film Festival, and Fayetteville Film Festival’s (previously Offshoot Film Festival) Best Arkansas Connection award, & The Sowers was made as part of the first Bentonville 4320 Film Challenge and won Best Cinematography and Audience Choice Award www.julijackson.com www.45RPMmovie.com
What do you think is the biggest misconception about filmmaking? That the work is automatically impressive, glamorous, and exciting. That small films should screen in all the places blockbuster films screen. And, of course, the ridiculous assumption that every film gets into Sundance. What would be the one piece of advice to your younger self when you were just starting out making your first film? Work even harder. Take more time in pre-production. And deadlines are
negotiable. You think you are working as hard as you can, that you have deadlines that need to be met at all costs. But so much could have been improved by more planning and definitely not listening to others. Actually, you asked for one piece of advice, that is the big one: don’t listen to others. Making your film doesn’t have to be a democratic process and you’ll stay more sane and true to your vision if you learn to be a jerk and develop tunnel vision.
JENnifer GERBER What would be the one piece of advice to your FILMS: The Revival, Missed younger self when you Connections, Capture, Soul Winner, were just starting out Expecting, The Signing, Unbridled, making your first film? In the Mood The Revival, Missed I wish I had made my Connections, Capture, Soul Winner, first feature 10 years ago. Expecting, The Signing, Unbridled, In Granted, it probably the Mood wouldn’t have been very good. But I literally ACHIEVEMENTS: spent 10 years waiting Winner - Arkansas Arts Council for someone to give me Screenwriting Fellowship, Columbia permission and then University Blue List (award for best I finally realized that I alumni scripts), Princess Grace didn’t even need it. I just Award, Indie Soul Award at the had to figure it out for Boston International Film Festival, myself. Probably what I Tropfest Top 15 Finalist, Mentor for was really waiting for was the Native Sundance Directing Lab, the confidence. I guess MFA in writing and directing from that is what I earned with Columbia University, Regional time, but I’m annoyed Finalist for Student Academy Award that it took me this long. LOCATION: HOT SPRINGS
What do you love about filmmaking? I think what draws me to film is that it requires all my skill sets at the same time. I’m a leader and a communicator. I love group dynamics and creative collaboration. I love hard work, problem solving and unusual schedules. I love movement, color, light, faces, texture and characters and DRAMA! Most of all, I am drawn to film because it is a medium where our most important tool for creation is motion.
KENN WOODARD Was there a moment or a certain point in your FILMS: Valley Inn – Co-Producer; life when you knew you wanted to be a The Sowers – Producer; The Shoes filmmaker? of Hayim – Producer, Director, Co- Screenwriter; Hush – Producer, The moment I stepped in front of a camera, as Director, Screenwriter; The God an actor. The film was Particle – Executive Producer, Guiana 1838, a period Director, Co-Screenwriter, The piece set in Guiana, Mustanger and the Lady – (First South America. There Feature - Pre-Production) Executive is a sense of urgency Producer, Co-Screenwriter in this film as it follows world changing events in four continents culmiACHIEVEMENTS: The Sowers – 2012 Bentonville 4320 nating in the brutal sugar cane plantations of the FilmFest – Audience Choice Award, Caribbean...It reveals Best Cinematography, Best Director; the trials and tribulations The God Particle – Top 20 Louisiana of both the resilient Film Prize Official Selection Award African slaves and the 2015 unsuspecting Indians LOCATION: ROGERS
from Calcutta who were sold on the golden dreams of “El Dorado” only to find themselves on a slave ship to hard labor in an unforgiving land. Each faced perils at the hands of British plantation owners who positioned these two exploited people against each other. I was forever changed as an actor, human being, and collaborative artist. This experience led me to envision the dream of living my life as a filmmaker.
Jason MillEr LOCATION: CONWAY FILMS: Blood Brothers, The Whisperers ACHIEVEMENTS: Winner - Little Rock Film Festival – Best Made in Arkansas Film (The Whisperers)
What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced getting a film made? Filmmaking is a collaborative medium. You’re always putting some aspect of it in someone else’s hands, and there are a lot of moving parts. Everything you visualize has to be found or created, from people to locations to props. But mostly people. You have to have enough people who know people who know people who know where to find a particular location or prop. Often, all the pieces don’t come together until the last minute, and that is very
stressful. I can have all the ideas in the world, but sometimes I don’t know where I’m going to set those ideas, or who’s going to perform them for me, until right up to the time we shoot them. What do you think is the biggest misconception about filmmaking? I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that filmmaking is some kind of glamorous pipe dream. That it’s more hobby than a valid career path. But the film industry is just that – an industry. It’s real work with a real payoff.
Joshua Harrison LOCATION: Searcy FILMS: Palsy, Book of Lambs, Mal
Are there any new filmmakers - from local to international directors and anything in between - that you are excited about seeing what they do next? Locally? If I were to ever bet on local filmmakers to succeed I’d put all of my money on Mark Thiedeman and Justin Nickels. Mark’s incredibly talented. He already has a fullyformed voice, in my opinion, director-wise. His writing and eye for cuts is great as well. He has a unique view, voice, and style. That’s rare, especially locally. The
man eats, sleeps, and breathes film. I would be afraid to even talk film with him. Justin is a hard working, passionate filmmaker. He keeps himself busy, isn’t afraid of feedback, and has now been taught by Werner Herzog. That’s a hard act to follow. Justin’s going to do great things.
Amman Abbasi LOCATION: LITTLE ROCK FILMS: DAYVEON ammanabbasi.com Twitter @abbasibros
Was there a moment or a certain point in your life when you knew you wanted to be a filmmaker? Probably when I was 9 or 10. Not one defining moment, always just gravitated towards it. My family would go to Blockbuster a lot and rent a lot of movies. It was probably somewhere within that my brother and I thought we could probably make these things.
What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced getting a film made? I am not a natural fundraiser or really a social type and I think those go hand in hand. That has been the biggest challenge for myself. I believe that comes easier for other folks. Not for me. Thankfully my sister was a huge help for me on my first film with a lot of this. Hopefully it will get easier in the future. Also making a movie requires a lot of talking. I need to get better at that too.
Justin Nickels LOCATION: Little Rock FILMS: Strangers, Sarah and the Drain, Asante, The Dealer’s Tale ACHIEVEMENTS: Attended Werner Herzog’s 2016 Rogue Film School in Munich, my films have played at festivals all over the country
Mark Thiedeman LOCATION: LITTLE ROCK FILMS: Sacred Hearts, Holy Souls, White Nights
Is there one filmmaker that influences you more than others? Or is there one filmmaker whom you have learned the most from? I think there were three milestones in moviegoing that really shaped me. First, there was Lars von Trier, whose Breaking the Waves is the reason I started making movies. Von Trier had the idea of removing luxury from movies. He often shot with no professional lights, on video, degraded his images to make them purposefully raw. He made me realize it was possible to tell
a grand, operatic story without a lot of resources. There was also Alexander Sokurov, whose Mother and Son reshaped my idea of what a movie is and helped me to realize the importance of developing a visual style. And then, there was Terence Davies, a gay filmmaker from Liverpool whose The Long Day Closes is a deeply felt memoir of growing up gay and retreating to his imagination as a means of salvation. That movie made me realize the importance of telling stories that are personal. And I’ve been doing that ever since.
Is there one filmmaker that influences you more than others? Or is there one filmmaker whom you have learned the most from? The filmmaker I can hands down say I’ve learned the most from is Werner Herzog. I spent 4 days with him (and 60 others) in Munich in March learning from him at his Rogue Film School. Prior to going there I did a lot of prep work watching the required viewing and also watching every single film of his I could get my hands on. That being said I don’t know that I want to make films
in the style of Herzog necessarily, I also don’t think he wants that out of the people who attended Rogue Film School. Ultimately any filmmaker with a film that I have seen has influenced me though. I feel like there is always something to learn from every single film made. I am really interested in what Christopher Nolan is doing in all of his films because even if they’re not great he is still making an attempt at something great and within the studio system. That’s something to be admired.
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How a Fayetteville theater kid became A big-budget director spearheading the Pitch Perfect franchise. INTERVIEW / GERARD MATTHEWS
omeone once asked the talented and road-worn singer-songwriter James McMurtry if there was one thing he wished he knew at the beginning of his decades-long career that he knew all too well now. He said simply: “There are no shortcuts. There is only work.” It’s a beautiful quote, and one that speaks to the very particular, singleminded dedication and commitment of people who not only love their work, but wouldn’t know how to pursue anything else. In those two brief sentences, you get a sense of the toughness that comes from working through failure and the reward that comes at the end of it. Jason Moore’s story is no different. It’s one about a kid who dreamed big and worked long and hard enough to make sure it actually happened. The Fayetteville native has always had a love of the theater. Growing up, he kept a Les Miserables poster up on his bedroom wall and auditioned for University of Arkansas plays. He went to college at Northwestern, where he directed his first musical. But Broadway was where Moore wanted to be. After spending some time as an assistant director for a not-to-be production of Ragtime, he wound up as an associate director for Les Mis on Broadway and also started directing in television. He cut his teeth directing episodes of Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, and Everwood in the early 2000s. Recent successes aside, he credits this as his biggest period of growth, marking the first time he was put in charge of big budgets, crews, egos, and expectations. It was an invaluable experience in learning how to create something that was complete, visually compelling, and coherent. Then came Avenue Q. Moore was hired on to direct what would become one of the biggest Broadway sensations of all time. The musical featuring foul-mouthed puppets was the first big surprise of his career, but it wouldn’t be the last. Moore directed the 2012 sleeper Pitch Perfect, itself somewhat of an underdog production that went on to become a massive hit. Moore followed up with Pitch Perfect 2 in 2015 and the third film in the series starts production this fall. We caught up with Moore to talk his improbable rise from a Fayetteville kid who loved theater to a Broadway hitmaker and big-budget director. So, Pitch Perfect 3, huh? Yeah, it comes out next Christmas. We’re just in the process of building the script and getting the story together and working on the songs. It goes into production in the fall.
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When you were shooting Pitch Perfect did you ever think you would be shooting a third one? [Laughs] No. No. It’s always kind of a miracle that any big project even gets made, and then if it’s a success of some sort, then that’s also rare. To have a sequel or a third one is very rare. It is certainly not what you think about when you’re making it. You just hope it makes you laugh and hope that a few other people will laugh too. Have those films been one of the biggest surprises of your career? The first big surprise for me was Avenue Q. It was a similar situation. It was a small show that was kind of weird and esoteric and it was a funny musical. It ended up being a big success and won a Tony for best musical and was produced all over the world. It’s been running in New York for almost 10 years now. So they’re kind of similar in the way they were little projects that took on a life of their own. In some ways Pitch Perfect is the second big delightful surprise of my career. Did you ever think it would turn into such a “cult” thing? That’s also what we said about Avenue Q. Who knew that a musical using dirty-talking puppets would become a staple in people’s playlists. And Pitch Perfect is sort of the same thing in that they both make you laugh and have great music. But I think the real secret to both of them is they both have a soft, gooey center. They both have a heart and I think that’s what people come back for is the emotional part of it. So it’s not like you set out to make huge hits? You just never know what’s going to happen. You never really make something for no audience. You hope you get some sort of audience and you hope at least some people see it, so it’s rare when it becomes a real hit. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t secretly hope something like that happens but you can’t spend time thinking about that because making something is so harrowing that you just kind of get through it and make it as good as possible. It’s always a delight if it turns out good and people want to see it again. But in your gut you probably thought they were good. Is it hard to trust your beliefs and just keep your head down? There are definitely moments of self doubt. You have them on every project on some level. When you direct something it takes at least a year or a year and a half of your life, which is a long time to spend on one project. So it’s kind of like a relationship. You enter into it not really knowing what the result is going to be but you take the leap of faith to make it work as best as you can. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But you do learn to trust your instincts also. You say to yourself, “If I’m going to spend a year and a half on this, does it make me happy? Does it make me laugh? Do I like the people I’m working with?” And the more I’m doing it, that becomes my barometer, because it’s such hard work, you might as well have fun while you’re doing it. And that’s a good and lucky position to be in, as a director, right? Directing requires that people give you lots of resources and lots of money and that they have faith in something that’s hard to describe. Sometimes it’s hard to describe what you do exactly. People understand what writing is, but directing is a little more difficult to get your head around. So every day that you get a chance to do it is a lucky one and I feel very lucky that I’ve gotten to work on wonderful projects with some great people. It’s very fulfilling and even more than I could have dreamed of, in a way. What are you working on now? Right now I have a bunch of projects in development that I’m trying to figure out. We’re trying to cast a couple movies and we’re trying to get the green light on one of them. I really want to do another movie
next, so right now it’s just trying to figure out what that is. You directed a few episodes of Dawson’s Creek early in your career. What were some of the challenges in directing a show like that versus the kinds of challenges you face with a much bigger project like Pitch Perfect? Dawson’s Creek was my first experience directing behind the camera. In some ways it was the most terrifying because I had never directed before and you’re suddenly working with a big crew of 200 people, and there are millions of dollars at stake, and you have actors who at that point were relatively famous. That was really my biggest growth period because I was learning how to use a camera and learning how to make something that was visual and coherent. So that was early on in my career, but TV really preps you well to do a movie because you have to shoot really fast in television and you have to get all kinds of angles, so I felt prepared to do my first movie. The trick of Pitch Perfect is that it’s also a musical so there’s twice as much preparation that goes into it. You’re working on the songs and developing the arrangements, and doing the choreography. You end up rehearsing for about a month. But fortunately, I had done musicals, so that part was pretty familiar to me as well. So it was fusing these two things together - doing TV and directing musicals - but it was just on a bigger scale. But I felt well prepared to do that even though I was just terrified, because you’re always terrified on some level. One of the things that is great about your story is you found your niche despite the culture. I grew up in Arkansas too, and it wasn’t a place that was really hospitable to kids who were different, or liked musicals, or had other interests outside of sports or hunting. What do you think is needed in small towns in Arkansas to help kids get from where they are to where they want to be? With the news in the last few hours I’ve been thinking a lot about that. And this is going to sound a little lofty but it’s true. Places that are more cut-off from the world - though we live in the time of the internet so you’re not really that cut off - just remember that people are often scared of things they don’t recognize or know. And sometimes the things that you think about yourself are strange or weird or awkward, they end up being your best superpowers when you get to a place where you can spread your wings. And sometimes that means you find a way to spread your wings and fall down, but really what’s important is that you remain as authentic to yourself as you can be. I think eventually - and I really believe this although it can be difficult and it can take time - if you’re authentic, then you will find your place and you will find your people. Arkansas has a pretty vibrant film scene. What would your advice be to young people who are trying to break into that kind of work? The great news about making movies is that it has never been easier to get a version of a movie made. Whether it’s on your iPhone, or if it’s using a cheap camera and editing it on your Mac, there are lots of ways to do it. My advice, especially when it comes to directing and creating, is just do it. Don’t sit around and wait for other people to give you a chance because that could take forever. Take your phone out or take your computer out and start writing, start shooting, start trying to tell a story. Because now, with YouTube and the internet, there are so many ways to have your story heard. The advice I always give is the advice that I was given and that is to just do it as often and as frequently as you can and try to get better at it because the only way you get better at it is by doing it.
Running Toward Dreams Join us on 1st Thursday Sept 1 5:30pm to 8pm 1 East Center St. Basement Level, Fayetteville, AR Open 9am to 1pm Sat. & Sun. or by appointment idleclassmag.com 51
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT Dylan Roberts went from the University of Arkansas to war zones with a camera in his hand. WORDS / KODY FORD
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ylan Roberts shouldn’t be alive right now, but fate had other plans. In April 2015, Roberts and his business partner Christian Stephen shadowed the Kurdish Peshmerga, the rugged fighters seeking to regain their homeland from the murderous hands of the Islamic State, who swept through the city massacring 5,000 Yazidi men in August 2014. The Peshmerga held the frontline on Mount Sinjar protecting the Yazidi refugees who were lucky enough to escape the bloodshed. ISIS either murdered or enslaved those left behind. Roberts and Stephen, on the trail of a story for RYOT News, rode in an armored Humvee towards Sinjar City and the frontline, a makeshift barrier like a combination of WWI trenches and emergency sandbag levees. As they headed down the mountain, the soldiers in the vehicle phoned ahead as they would soon be exposed to ISIS snipers. The Peshmerga laid down cover fire. They were closing in on their destination away from the militants’ bullets when a mortar crashed onto the roof of their Humvee, the only unarmored part of the vehicle. Not that it would have mattered either way - a mortar is a mortar - but this mortar was a dud. Their Peshmerga escorts were in shock. No one should have walked away from that. But Roberts knew then that this was no ordinary story. The brutality of the Islamic State has been shown online and on television, but according to Roberts, nothing can prepare you for being 70 yards away from ISIS snipers in an area that has seen more bloodshed in days than many cities will see in a generation. “We saw many bodies,” he said. “The smell of death is what really got me the most. Once you smell it, it’s with you forever. ISIS [even] burned people - taking tires and putting them around their arms, which suffocates their breath and burns their arms off.” At the time, the Kurdish military were lacking in military supplies. Soldiers used broken mirrors tied to sticks and held them over the sandbags to track enemy movements. Roberts said, “It’s surprising, [and] at times, very casual. There are times where nothing can happen
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in a week or there’s time where hell breaks loose and for six hours or more there is constant fire fighting. ISIS likes to use bad weather to maneuver. Anytime a dust storm hit, you knew ISIS was going to come out shooting.” As harrowing as this sounds, Roberts added that he felt safer with the Peshmerga. “I was more terrified in Baghdad, honestly,” he said. “At least in the front line I knew where the enemy was, where my safe spots were, I knew who was protecting me. In Baghdad, we stayed in the red zone for two weeks and there was kidnapping, an average of five to seven car bombs a day, and just driving to Baghdad you had no idea what was going to happen. The unknown of IED’s and kidnapping - that was more terrifying for me because I didn’t have that much control in that environment. That’s where I felt really vulnerable.” Roberts’ journey to Iraq began in Austin, Texas, a hotbed of feature filmmaking. Ever since he could hold a camera, he was making films. He attended the University of Arkansas to compete in track and field. Since the U of A does not have a filmmaking program, he shifted his focus to journalism and documentary film. Traveling was second nature for Roberts since his father worked in the agriculture business. His family exposed him to different cultures from Latin America. All of this became intertwined at the U of A. According to Roberts, “Arkansas was a cool combination of learning the journalism world and combing my editing and filmmaking capability.” His wanderlust led him to connect with nonprofits like Forgotten Song, where he worked on media. Often he worked on trade or entirely free for these organizations as he built his portfolio of work. After traveling some in Latin America and Iraq, he began looking for news outlets. By this time, Roberts had teamed up with Christian Stephen, a Londoner with the same passion for telling stories about dangerous places, and formed a company shortly after they collaborated on a piece during the second to last Gaza War.
“We wanted to work with news outlets like Vice,” Roberts said. “We really enjoyed their work and felt like we could pitch some stories to them. We had no connections with Vice, but we simply just phone called and maneuvered and we finally got someone, which was the editor-inchief of Vice. We showed him the story [we were working on] and he actually signed off while we were in Baghdad in 2013. It was about this Anglican Priest who was doing peacemaking between Shia and Sunni Muslim.” They returned to the United States and edited the story and added graphics. Vice loved the piece. “That one video got us RYOT News, Huffington Post, The Global Post, The Economist - it was a waterfall effect,” he said. “One good story can really lift your career out. It’s a building process.” Having worked for many major web and television outlets over the last few years, Roberts has learned a few hard fought lessons. “If I could change one thing, I wish I did work for a big news outlet or company for a year [first] and really understand the business side of it,” Roberts said. “Once you do self-employed filmmaking, you’re not just doing the artwork, you have to know your budget and have to properly pitch your story. We make show decks now. It went from a simple email for what our story is, and now we have to make 10 page show deck of visuals because it’s so competitive. I wish I worked for a full time company like Vice or BBC to really learn the business side - how to pitch, how to budget, how to manage time.” Roberts and Stephen have blazed some trails in their reporting, particularly with a virtual reality piece called “Welcome to Aleppo” for RYOT News. “I went to Aleppo, Syria, to do [virtual reality] which resulted in the first VR from a war zone,” Stephen said. “Dylan and I do everything
together, however I went into Syria alone - when I came back we realized VR was an interesting way to tell stories. It’s also a medium in which he’s particularly adept given his technical guru side. After Aleppo [Dylan] and I went to Nepal to create another piece and it was a perfect display of our complimentary, opposite skills. He only had a day with the gear before we started shooting - at the end you’d think he invented it.” Roberts and Stephen operate as two sides of the same coin according to the latter, who dubbed their working relationship “a war zone bromance.” Stephen credits his partner’s practical and technical abilities with reining in his tendency to “err on the side of vision, risk and creative madness.” “The man is a silent, simple and brave storytelling guru,” Stephen said. “I couldn’t do it without him. I tend to drag us into danger, and he makes sure it doesn’t go tits up and we don’t go broke. [H]e’s far more technical than me, and he also possesses an uncanny ability to float in and out of hairy situations with the disposition of a man walking through a Walmart in middle America. Not to say we haven’t had fear-filled moments, we’ve probably had too many, but we rely on each other for courage and swift capturing of stories.” They have since traveled to other countries including Nepal to film VR video. For the Nepalese trip, they entered the country during the aftermath of a massive earthquake with a high death toll to chronicle the devastation for an NGO called Theirworld. Claire Wilkinson, senior campaigns and communications manager for the organization, praised Roberts and Stephen’s abilities. “It was an absolute pleasure working with Dylan,” she said. “He is a great storyteller, and knows that the key to being a good journalist is finding the most powerful human stories but then also finding new ways to tell them. Whether that be finding a unique part of the person’s story,
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or by capturing it in a way that has not been done before.” She added, “using VR for example was a new way to immerse yourselves in someone’s life to capture all parts of their day-to-day and story. He is also a great photographer, and interviewer also. The combination of these skills means you get an authentic voice to tell a story. Then by connecting that with experience of the best platforms to launch that piece, you have something that can really engage with a mass audience.” Given VR’s ability to place the viewer directly in a situation, Roberts feels that it does have the opportunity to change perspectives and educate in ways that ordinary video cannot. However, he does not believe it will completely replace our standard methods of filmmaking. Regardless of the medium, Roberts loves storytelling and it’s something he plans to continue doing. “What I do is important to inform and really cover both sides and to stay neutral,” Roberts said. “You’re there to document and report and leave other people with their own opinions. Now, with social media the quality of journalism in the industry has taken a hit. There is a lot of bad information published too quickly on social media, so I love doing journalism that I take my time with, really document, and partner with an outlet that has those qualities [of good journalism].”
Above: Roberts on location shooting a VR video in Nepal. Pg. 52-53: Roberts in Iraq on the front lines of the war with ISIS Photos courtesy of Dylan Roberts.
VISIT: WWW.FREELANCESOCIETY.Co
BIRDS, cont. from pg. 47
Producer Kathryn Tucker with co-directors & writers of All the Birds Have Flown South, Josh & Miles Miller at the Little Rock premiere at the Ron Robinson Theatre in Little Rock. Photo by Gerard Matthews “I’m really proud to have made it with my friends, and people who I grew up in the film industry with, an industry that a lot of us pretty much helped grow,” Mayhan said. “There aren’t just a ton of people that are making films here. The ones that do have this - I don’t know if it’s a drive or a some kind of magic. There’s just something about it. Maybe being from Arkansas, it’s like, ‘Who’s from Arkansas?’ You’ve got to prove yourself.”
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“This film could not have been made anywhere else,” Miles Miller said. “Through the support of the community, individuals and businesses alike, we were able to tell this story with a quality of production value that would at least triple our budget if done outside the state.” Tucker wants to see the film scene in Arkansas grow and she’s determined to be a part of it. “There are so many talented artists in Arkansas,” she said. “There’s just no capital to support these artists. That’s one of my goals: cultivating and developing some of these Arkansas artists and these filmmakers and finding ways to turn filmmaking into a money making machine in Arkansas. They’ve been able to do it in Hollywood. That’s why I’m so determined for All the Birds to make its money back at least. Then all these investors that have invested in this film will say, ‘What’s next?’ They’ve had a good experience, and they’ll reinvest those funds. I’d really like to kind of turn that into a business.” Everyone’s main focus right now is making sure All the Birds is a success, not just artistically, but financially, too. As for the future, the Miller brothers have more projects in the works, including a couple of completed feature scripts and some ideas that might wind up on television screens instead of theaters. “We’re writing away,” Miles said. “There are many stories we want to tell, and so little time. I would like to make a horror film in my lifetime. We’ll choose the next project based on where we want to go as storytellers and budget. I’m very interested in finding out myself.”
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