Beast: We all had been interested in film for a while, but probably got started in our comedy groups. I (Paul) started making short comedy sketches with my friend Travis when I was a junior in high school. That kinda stuff made you cool because no one knew how to edit things then, there was no youtube and stuff. So having edited video made you a super stud. Kevin and Darren are in the group receSs at George Washington, and they always have awesome videos that they show at performances. But we've always had a deep love for filmmaking.

 

 

 

Well it was kind of a slow transition from basic acquaintances to collaborators, but basically we were connected through a friend of ours who goes to GWU with Kevin and Darren. They are in the George Washington University comedy group, ReceSs, and my friend who was part of the group introduced us. We slowly started doing improv and smaller projects together until we formed our own sketch/improv group, beast. in the summer of 2007. We did a few video sketches, realized that we all wanted to have some kind of career revolving around film, and that we should make a short. So in a way, this kind of was our first real long term "project" as a team.

 

 

 

Since Kevin and Darren were back to DC in September for school, a lot of the pre-production was spread over a longer period of time then it should have been. It's hard to collaborate through a phone or an iSight, so I would go down there every now and then we'd work on a ton of things, and then I'd have to go back. That definitely put a strain on our process.

My advice, again to amateur filmmakers about preparing projects is pay someone to produce/organize everything, even though I'm sure that's a given to most people. Even if you can do it yourself (sure you can, anyone can), you shouldn't because that takes your focus away from what matters when shooting a film. Kevin and I were on set, and instead of worrying about performances and getting a point across, we'd be worried that the van wasn't going to find a parking spot in Manhattan. It's very worth it to pay people for that sort of thing so you don't get stuck taking a phone call about a light rental when someone is waiting for a blocking rehearsal.

He took beast. out one night to a shitty dive bar (because we were under 21 at the time and that was the only place we could go. He made the other actors in Cloverfield go there so he could hang out with us. That just goes to show how grounded and nice he is). At the bar, he gave us this meaningful speech about how now is the time for comedy groups to make films and produce as many scripts as you possibly can. He kind of left us  inspired, and we figured that we should just write a short and shoot it, since the summer was ending soon and we wanted to follow his advice. So then Kevin and I came up with the idea for the film and started writing it. Darren became a part of it soon after.

TJ didn't really come into the picture until later on. Our choice for the lead role was a performer at UCB named Charlie Todd. He, however, was doing a bunch of stuff for his group Improv Everywhere and couldn't really commit to the time. So we auditioned a bunch of people, and couldn't find anyone who fit. So it was a total shot in the dark with TJ. We never expected him to say yes, we never expected him to respond actually. He was in the middle of shooting "Carpoolers". He was busy and his career was rising. He had no reason to say yes, and he said yes. I have no idea why.

 

I went to film school, I just recently took a hiatus. I think film school is great if you go for the right reasons. If you go to film school in New York or LA, network and meet teachers that can help you out, then it's worth it for a few years. But if you go to film school in Ohio to learn how to "direct", you're basically just piling up student loans for no reason.  Most people who went to film school say it was worthless, whether they're successful or not.

I think it's for the better, though with new technology always comes its downfall. More people will be making films for less, but that means it'll be harder to impress people with a good looking movie. But I feel that you can't buy sensibility, that's sort of something I learned in film school. Kids spend upwards of 30 thousand dollars making their opus, but it's like a piece of crap wrapped in a tiffany box, you're only fooling people so much.

 

I don't think so. I think effort and talent shows. I think a script and actors are the most important. It's like music; anyone can learn how to play the guitar, if you practice months and months for hours you will be awesome. but not everyone can write a good song, and that's kind of the most important thing.  it hasn't really gone far yet because we're still finishing up the post process, but I would definitely say if anyone has taken us seriously so far, it's because of TJ and the rest of the cast, it looking so good, and the humor in the scenes. We put up a scene of it and the trailer online, and have gotten a lot of responses already in terms of promotion and distribution help. We're sending it off to festivals this week, so I guess we'll wait and see.

 

 

I don't know if we have strong "plans" for it. We're just sending it to festivals and seeing if we get any bites. We really have no true experience in getting distribution, so hopefully this film will be a learning experience in that.

 

 

I guess it's "don't take no for an answer", or rather "don't let the idea of someone saying no keep you from trying". that's a big lesson we learned in this film. Every breakthrough we had with it was an instance when someone should have said "no". TJ should have said no. Our friends and family, who financed this, should have said no. The people who helped us get free equipment and worked for free also should have said no. Yet they said yes. Because we took risks and were lucky enough to have them pay off. We are so thankful for all the breaks we have gotten for this film. From the actors in it, to the score (which is being done for free by a talented friend of ours), we have been lucky to find someone who is way more talented then us.

 

 

It should be officially done by the end of September, and hopefully will be in a few festivals come this winter. But you can check out any updates at Charlieonparole.com or beastfilms.net.