Alec Baldwin leads an Oscar Worthy Cast with Terrence Howard, Esai Morales, Nicky Whelan in Thriller Crescent City from Filmmaker RJ Collins Premieres August 15
What’s the story? When a small southern town is terrorized by a serial killer everyone becomes a suspect… including the police. Experience a hypnotic thriller about what it takes to catch a killer.
As the body count rises and the dark mystery deepens, the chief detective becomes haunted by the horrors of his past. Academy Award Nominees Terrence Howard and Alec Baldwin star in a mesmerizing crime thriller about what it costs to catch a killer.
Today’s conversation with Filmmaker RJ Collins from “Crescent City”has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Crescent City Filmmaker RJ Collins
Joe Winger:
It’s one of my favorite kinds of movies. Twists, turns, shocks, thrills. Phenomenal cast. What was your process like building this incredible cast, including two Oscar nominees?
RJ Collins:
Even two producers on the movie are Oscar nominated, which is phenomenal.
This small independent film [getting] Oscar buzz. It was a combination of the producers and myself knowing the cast that really helped escalate this to move fast during a SAG strike.
We got the waiver because we’re an independent company. We got the cast all in a specific window, and we crammed it in [between] everybody’s schedule.
We shot it in Little Rock, Arkansas in September of last year. The town just fit the look and style.
It was just a perfect storm.
Alec Baldwin leads an Oscar Worthy Cast in Thriller Crescent City
Joe Winger:
You crammed so much production value into this movie.
RJ Collins:
We were blessed because of the SAG strike, because a lot of the really high level crew and actors were all available more than normal. So it was a collaboration. Cast was coming together. We were raising the money all at the same time.
When we finally got the waiver, we only had two and a half weeks left to prep the film before we were shooting.
I flew in the day we got the waiver and I met Chris Crane, the film commissioner of Arkansas, and he was such a great guy and what a great film community.
It was a true 16 day shoot schedule with some second unit days. I’m very happy with how it turned out and the actors’ performances. Everybody came on the set together and everybody collaborated.
Everybody liked each other. There was no egos, none of that stuff.
It really showed on screen.
Alec Baldwin, for what his body of work, just to work with him and watch him do his thing; same with Terrence, Esai, Nicky. Michael Sirow playing the Pastor Lawson.
Joe Winger:
You mention your amazing cast. The tension, the moments, the explosions. Is there a scene in particular you really want us to pay attention to?
RJ Collins:
There’s so many moments that I would sit back and just go, wow, I’m having the scene happen right now in front of me.
One of the lead characters, Detective Sutter, Terrence Howard’s character. He’s sitting in the chapel and he’s questioning faith.
Another great scene is when all of the detectives (Terrence Howard, Esai Morales, Nicky Whelan) and Captain Howell (Alec Baldwin) are all together and there is an emotional moment where they find a [spoiler]. All this tension breaks loose and all the characters are going at each other and it’s just so much emotion. It was just so great to shoot it and watch it Nicky at the end of that scene, just her look, I had to stay on it for a second with the coverage.
It was like, yes!
The actors’ performances. The writing. We just don’t know who the killer is. We keep throwing left, right hooks. Nobody knows. Even to the end.
Joe Winger:
Because you brought up the script.
Can we do a shout out to the writer and your DP [Director of Photography] and talk a little bit about that process?
RJ Collins:
Rich Ronat is a phenomenal writer. He’s also a buddy of mine. We’ve partnered up many times together over the years. He’s so phenomenal with the story ideas and all the research he was doing on serial killers.
He wrote the script not knowing who he was going to choose to be the killer in the end himself, which is why it was portrayed so well.
Collaboration with the DP, Alex Salahi, was phenomenal.
I directed the performances and storytelling, but man, he’s the guy that makes the visuals what it is.
We had an all star team on this, but the DP had such a beautiful eye. We were talking about looks and tones and colors. He just took it and gave me even more than what I could have expected.
Alexander Seltzer ‘s horror short film “The Door” brings One of Life’s Biggest Nightmares to the screen with short film “The Door” at LA’s Holly Shorts.
Synopsis: A year after their daughter’s disappearance, Kara and Felix struggle to move on in their own ways as their marriage falls apart around them. But when a mysterious door appears in her kitchen, Kara becomes obsessed with uncovering what lies behind it at any cost. Even as it threatens to reopen old wounds.
Today’s conversation with Filmmaker Alexander Seltzer from “The Door”has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger:
We’re here today with writer / director Alexander Seltzer from The Door, a short film playing at Holly Shorts in Los Angeles this August.
I watched your short, “The Door.” It was tight. It was suspenseful. In my opinion, it’s everything you want a short film to be.
What’s the most important message that you want to share with our audience today about the short film?
Alexander Seltzer:
I like to make movies about things that scare me typically.
So with The Door, I’ve been terrified of becoming a parent; and parenthood in general.
I really wanted to make a movie about that and exploring my fears and where they come from, but in an interesting, entertaining way.
I wanted to ask the question of the audience, of myself, of whether or not: does parenthood transcend morality?
Ultimately, I hope that audiences come away watching the movie asking that question of themselves.
Would they do anything different to what our lead Kara does at the end?
Would they do what she did? Would they potentially do something else? That kind of moral ambiguity, I think, is very interesting. I know where I come down on it. And that’s part of the reason why I think I was afraid of having kids for so long. So yeah, that’s what I hope people get away. That’s one of the messages. I hope people come away with it.
Joe Winger:
I think among so many features and shorts, this one does ask a whole lot of questions.
And in my opinion like what good storytelling does is it doesn’t give us all the answers back. It really leaves us questioning ourselves and our world afterwards. So I think you’ve accomplished that. Congrats.
Alexander Seltzer:
Thank you. Especially in shorts too. In features you have more time to play.
But I agree with you.
Joe Winger:
I’m not sure what your schedule is like, how many days, I’d love to hear that.
What was the biggest challenge with your production, and what lesson did you learn from solving that challenge?
Alexander Seltzer:
We had three days but they were jam packed days.
Biggest challenge, I think one of the biggest challenges, I’m sure everyone says budget, my producer Mark [Delottinville] did a great job with what we had.
I never really felt the pinch too much.
Here’s a spoiler alert.
There’s a sequence towards the end of the movie where you find out what’s behind the door and executing the that was probably the most challenging aspect and I knew that going in.
I shot some tests around my house but specifically all the stuff later on in the film like once we’re through the door and into the mirror world. That I knew how to shoot.
We had a very simple gag for that where we just flipped everything in post [production].
Within that, I had to coordinate with how some other heads of department like costumes, for example. Felix; we had to make two different outfits for him, the same shirt, but one with the buttons on the left and one with buttons on the right.
So when you flip the image. The buttons stayed on the correct side, given that he was coming from the real world, things that no one will notice.
But I was just like, I need this to match and be logical.
But the transition from the real world into the mirror world, getting through the door, that was a bit of a challenge that was the most challenging. Because I don’t have a very big VFX background.
Thankfully I had a great team, my DOP, Justin Black. My VFX supervisor, Nigel [McGinn], we worked together, we did some tests beforehand, and then on the day my VFX supervisor Nigel was there, so we shot out the wall and the door
That’s all built, it wasn’t real part of the house, so we built that.
We had a little green box essentially on the other side of the door that when she opens it, we’re looking at a green box, and then we had to flip around, remove the wall and shoot the whole kitchen area as a plate, but we got to make sure the parallax was correct.
We’d measure everything with a tape measure, make sure our angles were correct. So they would all comp together hopefully seamlessly in the end.
Then figuring out how to match her position.
So when she does open the door from the other side. Because we couldn’t build the kitchen twice, we had to fake that as well and that was challenging, but I learned a lot about the process of at least the VFX and, working on set with someone like that was a great delight.
Alexander Seltzer Brings One of Life’s Biggest Nightmares to the screen with short film “The Door” at LA’s Holly Shorts
Joe Winger:
Something you brought up in two different ways.
One, I’m a big fan of movies that are simple stories, but incredibly well told.
You mentioned a second ago, your characters and how the wardrobe informed their behavior. Let’s actually talk with the cast.
Alexander Seltzer:
I was very lucky. We got to work with Tanaya Beatty, Raymond Ablack, and Mercedez Gutierrez.
Working with Tanaya and Raymond. They’re pros, I’m just lucky they said yes, and they liked the script.
We didn’t have any time for rehearsals. We did one read through over zoom.
We flew her to Toronto where we shot the film and Raymond, thankfully, there was a hiatus filming on his Netflix show. Everything worked out perfectly.
They got the script, they got the tone I was going for pretty much off the bat.
I think one of the most memorable scenes I had. For me, the whole film revolves around the kitchen scene and the argument that kind of spills over into pathos understanding where the two characters can finally talk to each other.
We did that. I think we might have. We did some coverage because I knew I wanted to keep it interesting. So I think we spent a good chunk of time on that, but there were minimal notes in terms of me stepping in as a director.
It was just like, let’s have fun. Let’s explore different variations.
I’m also an editor and I came up as an editor and I edited this film. So I knew, the godsend to an editor is variation rather than just doing the same performance 10 times and expecting it to magically work in the edit.
Their stars are just going to keep rising and hopefully one day they remember working with me.
There’s a scene at the beginning where Tanaya’s character, so Kara, she’s throwing out her kid’s belongings.
We did that all in one take.
It was pouring rain at the time, which was perfect because that’s what I wanted.
We’re just shooting, shooting, shooting. I think we had to do it seven times in the end because I wanted, when she dumps this box of children’s toys, I wanted the bear that has the kid’s name written on it in marker to fall exactly right so that when she slams the lid it’s just the little leg of the teddy bear sticking out with the kid’s name written on it in sharpie as we push in and land on it.
There’s no way to do that without VFX and we didn’t have the budget for that.
So we just had to keep doing it until it landed exactly how I wanted it to. And she was a trooper. She was like, yeah, she knew what I was going for.
Joe Winger:
Again, it goes down to the details of your execution.
What was the process like pulling together your production team and what were you looking for that you found there?
Alexander Seltzer:
My DP [Justin Black] was one of the first people. Obviously my producer, Mark [Delottinville] was the first person that came on board and he’s the one who actually made this thing happen. It wouldn’t exist without him.
Then my other producer, Sam Rudykoff incredible director in his own right.
For my DP, I went to my previous collaborator, Justin Black. I think he’s amazing. He’s shot a bunch. He’s shot features. He’s shot Apple TV series. He’s usually too busy for me these days, but I love him for that reason.
But no, he’s got a great combination that I look for in DP specifically for a project like this, where I knew there would be some VFX and some visual storytelling challenges and the quirks that I wanted to figure out because he has that great combination of a technician’s brain, the science of cinematography, but also the artistic side as well handled and in one beautiful human package.
Thankfully Mark, my producer, actually brought and introduced me to a bunch of the other heads of department who I hadn’t worked with before.
There were just a lot of really talented folks that I hadn’t worked with yet, based off of our quick first meetings. These are my people. They get the vision and it all worked out perfectly.
People like Misty, my hair and makeup, my costume designer, my DP, a lot of these people were coming off of things like the Star Trek series that was shooting in Toronto at the time during the hiatus. So timing is also a big thing. I got very lucky to be able to work with people like who knew their stuff.
Joe Winger:
As a filmmaker, you’ve achieved something that everybody wants to do. Very few have done, which is you won Slamdance.
Can you talk about what that experience was like and how that helped you in your journey as a filmmaker?
Alexander Seltzer:
It was surreal. I’ve applied many times before.
So when you find out you’re a finalist, I go in expecting nothing and just expecting to have a good time, maybe meet a few nice folks.
Winning it was great. Going to the festival was incredible. It was my first time going to Park City. There was a cash prize associated with winning. I put that straight into another film.
It’s definitely helped me in terms of future projects.
Joe Winger:
You’re playing at Holly Shorts coming up in August.
Whether it’s you as a filmmaker, whether it’s The Door as the short film, what’s next for you?
Alexander Seltzer:
We have Holly Shorts. We’re premiering in Miami at Popcorn Frights. There’s a couple of other festivals I can’t talk about yet, but exciting times ahead.
I’m currently working on the feature script for The Door. Hopefully I get to make that in the next couple of years. I have a couple of other features that are in various stages. I have some TV stuff that is at some places right now.
Joe Winger:
Usually people come to this website for food, wine, cocktails, even healthier options.
Whether it’s dinner and a movie for date night, or if you like to cook, can you share with us a dish you love or food pairing?
Alexander Seltzer:
Yeah, I love to cook. I cook a lot, but this is probably gonna be so basic, but sometimes basic is good for a reason.
Something I do with my girlfriend a lot when we go away to a cabin in the woods or a new place.
A really good quality steak, some Maldon salt on there, some pepper, some butter grill that up nice. And then some really like fresh tomatoes. Chopped up roughly, like wedges, thick, olive oil, balsamic, lots of garlic, a little tomato salad. Obviously you need Dijon mustard, that’s a non negotiable. A juicy red wine.
And I’m a happy camper. That’s my happy place.
Joe Winger:
A good steak, a good wine pairing. Yes, agreed.
Whether it’s a website or social media, what’s the best way for our audience to follow you for now and in the future?
50 of the Best Chefs in North America! Introducing the Inaugural Manhattan Beach Food & Wine October 2024
Southern California’s Newest World-Class Culinary Festival Coming in October 2024 Featuring All-Star Lineup of 50 of the Best Chefs in North America!
The culinary world is about to be abuzz with excitement as Event Founder Shelby Russell and Event Host Neal Fraser introduce Southern California’s newest and most notable world-class culinary festival, the Inaugural Manhattan Beach Food & Wine featuring an all-star lineup of 50 Best Chefs held at Manhattan Village!
Set against the stunning coastal backdrop of one of America’s most beautiful cities, Manhattan Beach Food & Wine promises to be a spectacular two-night strolling culinary extravaganza with an Opening Night Celebration on Friday, October 11, 2024, and Grand Tasting on Saturday, October 12, 2024.
Each evening will bring together the industry’s top tastemakers and culinary and beverage connoisseurs to celebrate an all-star lineup of 25 of the best chefs and restaurants, illustrious wineries, premier spirits, handcrafted cocktails, craft breweries, curated selection of non-alcoholic beverages, live entertainment, and much more.
Chef David LeFevre, Photo Credit: Courtesy of Manhattan Beach Food & Wine
Manhattan Beach Food & Wine will be held at Manhattan Village in a 40,000-square-foot outdoor space located at the end of theVeterans ParkwayGreenbelt Path.
This beautifully landscaped trail runs through Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach, allowing guests to walk or bike to this year’s event with ease. Manhattan Village will also be offering complimentary parking and guests are encouraged to use rideshare services.
Chef Sherry Yard, Photo Credit: Courtesy of Manhattan Beach Food & Wine
The Inaugural Manhattan Beach Food & Wine will feature an unparalleled lineup of 50 of the Best Chefs from across North America, representing Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, El Segundo, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, New Orleans, Denver, Solvang, Palm Springs, Vancouver, and Mexico. This elite culinary gathering promises to be a spectacular showcase of culinary excellence and innovation.
The Manhattan Beach Food & Wine Inaugural All-Star Chef Lineup includes:
Event Host Chef Neal Fraser:Redbird, Vibiana– Downtown Los Angeles, CA
This year’s Manhattan Beach Food & Wine event beneficiary is Careers through Culinary Arts Program(C-CAP). Long co-chaired by chef Marcus Samuelsson, C-CAP is a workforce development nonprofit that provides underserved teens pathways to pursue careers in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Annually, C-CAP provides culinary, job and life skills in 186 schools across the United States across the entire state of Arizona, as well as in Baltimore, Camden, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City & Long Island, Newark, Philadelphia, suburban Maryland, and Washington DC.
Ticket Information: The Inaugural Manhattan Beach Food & Wine will take place on Friday, October 11th, 2024, and Saturday, October 12th, 2024, and this is a 21+ event. A VIP Power Hour will be held from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm and Regular Admission will be from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Tickets are on sale starting Wednesday, July 31st, 2024. For more information on the Manhattan Beach Food & Wine, please visit www.ManhattanBeachFoodandWine.com.
Transportation and Parking: Guests are encouraged to utilize car services such as taxis, Uber, and Lyft, as the event serves alcoholic beverages. Walking and biking to the event is encouraged, with complimentary parking also available at Manhattan Village.
Follow Manhattan Beach Food & Wine for the latest updates on:
Newcomer Shauna Grace twists and turns with Shane West in Supernatural “Soul Trader”.
The screen fades up at the LA premiere of The Soul Trader and the first face we see reminds us of Hollywood Glamour. This screen siren kicks ass in a Charlize Theron, Scarlet Johannson, Anya -Taylor Joy kind of way.
It’s easy to fall in love with Shauna Grace; the camera certainly has. She leads the audience through an upscale party, to a business deal where she explains her very unique set of skills.
In this business deal, Grace’s character stares down characters played by heartthrob Shane West and TV legend Donna Mills.
If you love more of West’s character work, you’ll love him in this role. He rolls with the plot’s twists and turns with a smooth confidence that makes you want to see him in more mysteries, thrillers and heists. Is a David Mamet film in his future? We’d beg to see that!
We know Donna Mills as a 1980s sex symbol turned wine country icon. Here she delivers icy lines with a vulnerability that remind us why she is a famed on-screen heartbreaker.
Filmmaker Susan Dynner inspires great moments from her cast, but also creates ambience with cinematographer Mattias Schubert and a score by Jeff Russo (yes, that Jeff Russo from Fargo and Ripley) and an original script from Mike Underwood.
Twisty-Turny Thriller
For as short time-wise as a short film typically is, this one moves fast. Real fast. With an ending that feels like it freezes time. The crowded theater all leaned in at the last moment just before it ended. With a collective, “But what happens next?”
The Future of The Soul Trader
What happens next is both obvious and a mystery.
For the obvious, the short film, which has already received acclaim will continue on its film fest journey collecting honors and sparking meetings.
For the mystery, both Filmmaker Susan Dynner and Shauna Grace have revealed this is a proof of concept teaser to the feature film or TV series they want to make based on the concept.
Based on the crowds and applause in Cannes, NYC and now LA, it seems like this short is a sure bet for more.
Susan Dynner shared:
“Today’s audience is an example of our future. The theater was full of the entertainment industry and it played so well. Tides are shifting in Hollywood.
There are more opportunities than ever and we are excited to be getting so many meetings with those opportunities.”
Susan Dynner
At the LA after-party reception, both Shauna Grace and Susan Dynner were crowded with well-wishers and production companies.
I was able to pull Shauna Grace away for a moment to congratulate her and ask about the experience:
“This has already been one of the best experiences and it’s only the beginning. We are traveling around showing our short film that we are so proud of.
It’s so rewarding getting audience feedback. Hearing from companies who are as excited as we are and wanting to work with us. It’s all very exciting about the future.”
Shauna Grace
Story: An occult hitwoman has cornered the market for selling life-extending souls to the elite. But on her final hit before retirement, deadly competition emerges from the shadows.
Best Tasting Room! Best Wine Club! Oregon’s Willamette Valley Vineyards named by USA TODAY 10Best editors
An acclaimed panel of wine and travel writers and USA TODAY 10Best editorshave awarded Oregon’sWillamette Valley Vineyards with two bests; Best Tasting Room and Best Wine Club in the country, taking the #1 and #2 spots, respectively.
The winery was established in 1983, and considering the field of more than 11,600 wineries in the United States, its recognition and accomplishments are no small feat.
A first-time win for Willamette, the award also demonstrates the fervent support of the winery’s robust superfans. With almost 5 million daily visits to the USA TODAY site, the 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards are coveted by winemakers across the country as a testimony to the wine tastings, food pairings and overall wine experiences.
According to USA TODAY, these nominations were carefully curated by a panel of subject matter experts for the Best Wine Tasting Room and Best Wine Club. 10Best editors narrow the field to select the final set of nominees for the Readers’ Choice Awards, and readers were allowed one vote per category, per day. In 2023, only one Oregon winery was on the top 10 list, with Washington and California wineries dominating.
Chef DJ MacIntyre
Willamette has 10,000 wine club members, and 26,000 shareholder members, the only Oregon winery that’s traded publicly.
WVV Founder and CEO Jim Bernau By Carolyn Wells-Kramer
“There’s no one like us anywhere in the world,” said Founder and CEO Jim Bernau. “It’s Willamette’s devoted members, customers and visitors who are fanatical about our tasting rooms and wine club, and they put us on the podium. Similar to the way we were funded with crowdsourcing, this accolade somewhat unexpectedly put us at the top, and no one knew where we landed in the polls until they tallied the votes,” he said.
“I’m happy to provide a top-shelf experience to guests and wine enthusiasts who want to share their joy with others and I’m proud to see an Oregon winery rise to the top.”
The Willamette Valley Estate Tasting Room in the Salem Hills is Willamette’s flagship, offering wine tastings, food pairings from Executive Winery Chef DJ MacIntyre, and memorable wine experiences overall. They have 10 total tasting rooms and replicate their upscale wine and food experience at winery restaurant locations in Lake Oswego, Vancouver, WA, Happy Valley and Bend. Guests can opt for an immersive stay among the forest and vines camping and glamping at Into the Woods in an RV or Airstream, or stay in well-appointed guest suites near the tasting room.
“Our pride in hospitality shows,” said Bernau. “It doesn’t surprise me that we have superfans willing to vote for us many times over the course of a month,” he said. “They’ll often tell us about their experience in person or on an online review site. But I am constantly surprised at hearing from fans in Europe or South America or Australia who travel all over the world for wine and tell us ours is the best wine experience they’ve ever had–wine, food, tours, view, everything. We’ve come a long way in 40 years and we’re proud to help shine a spotlight on Oregon wine through USA TODAY!”
“When we heard we were nominated, our marketing department quickly and efficiently got the word out to tens of thousands of our members via email and social media to vote for Willamette,” said Chief Operating Officer Libby Spencer. Coincidentally, the nomination window was open during Willamette’s Owners Weekend, and recycled paper postcards were printed with QR codes so people could vote quickly and sustainably. “Many owners commented to me that they appreciated how fast and easy the process was,” said Spencer, “and so they went back time and again to vote.”
Echoed Bernau, “Our community-funded model differentiates us from other wineries. These wine enthusiasts are super fans who provide support. It just so happened that they were at the winery during the voting period for their annual owner celebration. They helped each other remember to vote every day throughout the campaign.”
Willamette has an intricate but obviously effective way of tiering support for their wine enthusiasts.
At the top level, for Owners who have 300 or more shares of stock, perks like printed business cards for Owners, or discounted tastings and food at any of the 10 locations.
As one of the five largest wine producers in the state of Oregon, Willamette sources all of its grapes from 500 acres in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, from Forest Grove to the South Salem Hills. They own and manage 1,018 acres of vineyard land consisting of thirteen estate vineyards with two more in the making, 234,000 cases produced in 2023, a new biodynamic vineyard and sparkling winery Domaine Willamette in the Dundee Hills and 346 employees.
About Willamette Valley Vineyards
Founded in 1983 by CEO Jim Bernau with the dream of creating world-class Pinot Noir while serving as stewards of the land, Willamette Valley Vineyards has grown from a bold idea into one of the region’s leading wineries, earning the title “One of America’s Great Pinot Noir Producers” from Wine Enthusiast Magazine. In addition, all the vineyards have been certified sustainable through LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology) and Salmon-Safe programs. With 1,000 acres under vine, Willamette farms its Estate winery in the Salem Hills, sparkling winery Domaine Willamette in the Dundee Hills, pioneering Tualatin Estate Vineyard near Forest Grove and Elton Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills. The winery has expanded in recent years to include 10 tasting rooms in Oregon, Washington and California – growth made possible by the stock ownership of many wine enthusiasts.
LA Shorts: Filmmaker Erin Gavin explores Love and Video Games with “Gaming For Love” — See it July 22
“Gaming for Love” is a poignant narrative inspired by true events which follows the journey of Maisie, a young girl battling cancer, as she finds solace and strength in the world of online gaming.
“Gaming For Love” screens at LA Shorts Monday July 22.
Erin Gavin’s career has spanned over motion pictures, television series, theatrical
productions, print and live-action commercials.
Erin’s other film credits include “Dread”, “The Last Investigation”, “Junk,” and most recently played the Iconic star Marilyn Monroe in a hit stage production.
Erin signed with Serdica Record (Classical contemporary) label and her first song ‘I’m through with love’ has been a global success.
“Gaming for Love” Filmmaker Erin Gavin
Through themes of love, sacrifice, and the power of human connection, “Gaming for Love” beautifully illustrates the profound influence of gaming in Maisie’s life and the bonds forged beyond the confines of the digital realm.
Today’s conversation with Erin Gavin from “Gaming For Love”has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger:
We are back today with Erin Gavin, the writer, producer, and director of short film Gaming for Love. Erin, thanks for joining us today.
Erin Gavin:
Thanks for having me. This is brilliant, Joe. Thank you. Appreciate it.
Joe Winger:
My pleasure. I’m looking forward to learning more about you and sharing your message with the audience today.
You direct, you produced, you wrote this; and it’s a very powerful short film Gaming for Love. What’s the most important message you want to share with our audience today?
Erin Gavin:
So for me, the reason I wanted to tell this story is because it’s loosely based on true events. I felt this wave of emotion come over me when I was reading this article and I thought, what an amazing, powerful real loving story.
I just felt compelled to tell it.
From that thought to where we are today feels absolutely incredible. So I’m very grateful.
Joe Winger:
You’ve done a lot of prolific work, both in front of the camera and behind the camera. On stage, on screen, with music.
What inspired you to choose this project next for you?
Erin Gavin:
Other filmmakers will probably relate to this. But it just felt right. There was no part of me that was hesitant not tell this story. Every part of me just said that’s it. This is the story. This is what I’m doing. It’s happening. That was really it. There was no ifs, and’s, but’s, maybe’s about it.
Joe Winger:
That’s very courageous. We often hear so much glamour about Hollywood. But behind the scenes, the production itself isn’t always so easy.
So without giving away any plots or any spoilers, what was one of the biggest challenges of your production? And how did you solve that challenge?
Erin Gavin:
One was the budget.
So in order to make a movie, as we know, we need money. So I literally I thought, I need to ask for help here, which is something I’m not very good at doing in terms of asking people to put together a GoFundMe and let’s do this.
That was a challenge for me to swallow my pride and be like I need to help.
It was amazing how many people came together and just wanted to help. It honestly made me well up and just feel so appreciative of everybody and everyone’s support.
The other challenge was to get crew together. So I was really lucky. I partnered with a company called Up Next studios.
We had a lot of help. People were just coming on board and helping, but naturally, sometimes people fall off and then you have to get somebody else in. That can be challenging in the final days, when someone drops out two days, I didn’t have too much of that, but it worked out in the end and who was meant to be on the movie was on the movie.
Joe Winger:
That’s a great way of thinking about it. Just to detail that out a little bit more, where, location-wise, where on the globe were you shooting?
Erin Gavin:
It was all shot in Scotland. I wrote it the second week in January, and we had the first cut by end of February.
So it was really rushed, really quick and really intense. We had to find locations really quick and we had to really narrow down those locations. I was in Scotland, so it made sense to just let’s roll. I was really lucky with the locations. I had friends just pull in together and be like, You can shoot here.”
So it all worked out really well.
Joe Winger:
How many days of production?
Erin Gavin:
Three days.
Joe Winger:
Three days in Scotland. You shot about a month and a half after you wrote it, is that more or less right?
Erin Gavin:
After I wrote it, I had about 3-4 weeks to pull all the crew together, locations together, everything together.
It was intense.
Then three days of shooting and then editing. Obviously the final cuts and then putting the music together.
But I’m really thankful for the team. Without the team, this would not be possible, and everybody’s support, it wouldn’t be possible.
Joe Winger:
Just going a little deeper on what you just said a second ago, two things to think about.
Number one, a lot of the people that are watching this interview right now have never been on a production set. The closest they’ve been is the movie theater.
Second thing is how many people out there, they’ve written something. But they may not have the courage or the audacity to actually get out there and shoot it, or as you brought up, to go out there and raise money because it costs money to do these things.
Do you have any advice or inspiration for someone out there who wants to be doing what you just accomplished, and they’re scared, hesitant, or nervously excited?
Erin Gavin:
I think you have to be very vulnerable. You have to put ego aside and let people read your script, polish it, get advice on it, make sure it’s as solid as it can be.
That’s hard to do when you pour your heart into this piece and you obviously this piece of paper has everything that you’ve just poured out onto it.
Then to give that [heartfelt script] to someone to be super critical is really hard, but that’s the first step and make sure it’s as good as it can be.
I would say community is key.
So perhaps maybe look at how you can narrow it down budget wise. So that’s your locations. Everything that costs money. And ask for help. Build that community. G to your local drama schools, go to your local film schools.
People want to film. People in the creative world, they want to be doing something.
So people do want to help. That’s what I would say, [at] home and in your community, ask for help, get the script solid. That would be the first two key things to be doing.
Joe Winger:
Good advice.
The title Gaming for Love, gaming is a big theme of the story.
I’d love to believe everybody in the world knows what gaming means. But just in case, can you tell us what gaming means?
What message do you hope the gaming community receives when they see the short film?
Erin Gavin:
We’re talking about computer gaming and [my short film] doesn’t shine it in a negative light.
I actually spoke to somebody last night who’s in the gaming world, for all the major companies and does computer programming in terms of the creative side of things. He said, they would love this story because it shows that this can help people in certain ways. It also has a community to it as well. Like most things in life have some negatives and some positives and everybody has their own opinion, right?
But for this shines it in a light that is true in terms of belonging to this story and how it helps someone.
Joe Winger:
That’s beautiful.
Erin Gavin:
Yeah, certainly this one has a twist at the end.
So I hope the viewers get to watch it and they’ll see exactly what I mean.
I also created a song about gaming which is also very true. A lot of gamers who have heard the song [feel] it’s so relatable.
Joe Winger:
Let’s talk about the cast. The performances are subtle and thoughtful and deep. I was surprised how much I was feeling in such a short period of time.
How did you find your cast? Any favorite moment that really stands out with you?
Erin Gavin:
I love that you felt that. We were really lucky because we just gelled and it made sense and it worked and not a lot of movies have that luck.
I reached out to a Gent who owns a theater school in Scotland. I said I need a young girl for one of the leads.
He happened to also have a Gent who teaches at the school who would’ve been the perfect, and he’d also been in like big shows like Outlander and whatnot.
So I thought, okay, he can act. I checked him out. He’s good. And she was great. And that all came from a gent called Rhys Donnelly who helped me with the casting. And also I reached out to a friend of mine who plays one of the other parts. Who I know is a great actor, Paul Donnelly, and he’s been in Outlander and a bunch of stuff.
So it, again, it was just a community aspect. It’s Oh, who knows who, and who can, how can I connect this and make this all work? And that’s how it happened.
Joe Winger:
What I love about what you just said is we are talking about the plot and the story and the gaming community earlier. You’re talking about the community behind the scenes of production.
I feel like whether it’s deliberate or not. You just found all these different communities to work together to highlight other communities, really a community effort in front of the scene, behind the scenes, in the story, all over the place.
Joe Winger:
Our audience knows we talk usually with chefs and winemakers and mixologists.
We’re talking about food and drink and travel. This topic is a little bit not what we usually talk about, but if you don’t mind, can we talk about food and flavor for a minute with you? Is that okay?
Erin Gavin:
Sure. All right.
Joe Winger:
You probably eat very healthy is my guess, but I could be wrong.
But when you’re indulgent, When you’re looking for flavor. What’s your favorite or what’s it? What’s a good guilty pleasure for you or what’s one of your favorite food and drink pairings?
Erin Gavin:
Being from Scotland, right? I was, Oh, have you tried haggis? Yeah, of course I tried haggis, but haggis is Most things in life, if it’s made well and it’s done it’s really good.
But it can also be the opposite, but I have to say, I do actually love haggis. But now I don’t really eat meat so much. But they do a really good like vegetarian option these days. So when I’m home, especially around Christmas time that would be my sort of go to but to pair with it, I’m going to be really sad here.
I like to drink milk with it. Most people like, yeah, this wine from this region. I’m like, nope, just milk. But but that’s when I go to at home. So when I’m in LA I actually, we like in LA, we have the best sushi. most extending sushi [00:13:00] restaurants. So sushi would be my go to when I’m in LA and definitely sake.
Joe Winger:
What’s the taste profile of haggis? What’s what’s it similar to?
What’s the aroma? What are we tasting? Will you take a bite?
Erin Gavin:
There’s another drink in Scotland. Sometimes I like to have Irn Bru with haggis. It sounds disgusting to a lot of people, but I like it. So it’s just like Irn Bro and haggis.
It’s an acquired taste.
Joe Winger:
Erin, what’s the best way to follow you and learn more about the short film, whether it’s a website, social media, something else, what’s the best way to follow your film festival journey and just what you’re up to with you yourself.
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