BLOSSOMING TALENT

E.C. FILMMAKER TIM SCHWAGEL’S LATEST WORK WILL MAKE ITS WAY TO MILWAUKEE FESTIVAL SCREEN words by mckenna scherer

CHIPPEWA VALLEY FILMMAKER TIM SCHWAGEL IS NO STRANGER TO HAVING HIS FILMS ON THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT, and his latest short film earned him his first-ever spot in the Milwaukee International Short Film Festival.

Schwagel has worked on various film projects, not just as director, but also as editor and writer, stretching outside his own work and even outside traditional film, directing Them Coulee Boys’ “Midnight Manifestos” music video, among other things.

His latest, Blossom and the Decrepit Man, stars Eau Claire natives Reanna Madson and Ben Schmitz, focusing on a crisp, daunting ticking noise and what it could lead to as Madson’s character faces it – literally – in a gloomy forest. Clocking in at just under three minutes, the short shutters with suspense and adds a Schwagel twist at the end.

Unlike his other work, this short was shot in just a handful of hours, all in one day, with little pre-production work in order to challenge himself and those part of the film’s crew.

“A bunch of us (who worked on the short) learned how to do film stuff at the 48-Hour Film Festival at (UW-Eau Claire), so we did things really fast then and didn’t think too hard,” Schwagel explained. “We wanted to do that again, where you just have an idea and go.”

Taking on the task of a one-day film shoot would have been challenge enough, but of course, Mother Nature had to chime in as well. It rained on and off most of the day, pushing back the crew’s start time by several hours, and there was a downpour as they captured their final shots.

Schwagel described how lucky he and the crew know they are, in the way they seem to have skirted around the typical conflicts most crews come across. When the Punch Me crew went to the

Beloit Film Festival several months ago, they got the chance to mingle and talk with other crews. A Chicago-based crew around their age pointing out that unique characteristic.

“One (crew) from Chicago, which has a much bigger film community, said ‘How do you guys deal with egos and stuff?’ And that was a really good question, so we thought about it,” Schwagel recalled. “We were like, ‘We literally have never had an issue when it comes to arguing or credits about who did what, or things getting inflated.’ You hear about (those things) all the time in film, but it’s just never been an issue for us. We’re very lucky, and all happy to work on each other’s stuff.”

Madson and Schmitz have regularly appeared in Schwagel’s previous work: Madson is easily recognizable as the lead character in 2020’s Punch Me, which did its share in the short film circuit and walked away with a Judge’s Choice Award. Schmitz has been in a lot of Schwagel’s work too.

Written and directed by Schwagel and starring Madson and Schmitz, the short was produced by Zach Staads with cinematography by Nick Houchin, and music by Jasmine Janaé Charleston, the only non-local of the bunch: Her work has appeared in the likes of Lizzo’s new reality show, Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.

The Milwaukee International Short Film Festival will be held at the Avalon Atmospheric Theater on Aug. 10 and Sept. 10. Blossom and the Decrepit Man will be screened Sept. 10 alongside a dozen other shorts.

Visit Tim Schwagel’s official website to watch Blossom and the Decrepit Man and view his other work, timschwagel.com.

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