Andrew Bujalski presents "Beeswax" at the Dryden Theatre, November 7th, 2009

Andrew Bujalski presents Beeswax at the Dryden Theatre

Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 8:00pm
Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman House
Rochester, New York

Featuring:
Jim Healy, Assistant Curator, Dryden Theatre
Andrew Bujalski, Director, Beeswax

Beeswax has one connection to Rochester, New York: Katy O'Connor, who plays Corrine, Storyville's cashier, is a native of the Rochester Area. Andrew first met Katy about ten years ago through Kate Dollenmayer, the star of Andrew's first film, Funny Ha Ha. Dollenmayer and O'Connor worked as animators on Richard Linklater's film, Waking Life. O'Connor's Aunt and Uncle were in the audience.

Katy O'Connor's crying in Beeswax marked the first time Bujalski directed a crying scene, the whole process of which made Bujalski very anxious. "I was nervous. That's a very scary thing to ask somebody to do. [The day we shot the crying scene] was a nerve-wracking day in particular. A lot of takes would be ruined by things like a truck starting up in the alley. At one point, we were shooting and the [store's] owner's car broke down.

Still, O'Connor managed to deliver. "There was all this stuff going on. But I remember going back, and she was listening to something on her IPod that kept her 'in the zone'. I would go back and tell her, 'Okay, it's going to be another five minutes, and she'd go 'WHAT?'. She was fine."

"Was she listening to something to prepare her to cry?" Healy inquired.

"'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes' by The Platters.", Bujalski answered.

The genesis of Beeswax came after the completion of Bujalski's first film, Funny Ha Ha, when the notion of making a movie with the Hatcher sisters crossed his mind. However, Bujalski was quick to point out that Beeswax was not an autobiographical film.

"This isn't the true story of Tilly and Maggie Hatcher by any means. I don't know their true story well enough to have written a movie of it. What they project to me is what I could imagine they were projecting on screen, which doesn't tell their whole story, but was something I could use and begin to build a story around."

Bujalski went on to describe the casting process of the film, and how he chose his actors. "The casting on this film was kind of a peculiar process because they're all non-professional actors, but I think they're all really, really good actors. I sought out people who don't really want to act for a living, and yet, they're willing to be roped into it.

One of the things Beeswax has been commended for is its treatment of its handicapped character, played by Tilly Hatcher.

"Nine times out of ten, if you see someone in a wheelchair in a movie, it's about the transition, the adjustment, which kind of makes sense, because the audience generally likes having an entry point for watching the movie. 'Oh, what if something happened to me?' But if that's your life, that's not what you're thinking about all the time. We liked the idea of a character with a disability. With that being said, it's a major presence in the film. I realized early on as I was writing this, that it didn't make sense for me to go too far out of my way to call attention to it because it's a visual medium."

"I can't think of a single film where disability is not a part of the story except for your film." Healy added. "Or at least it doesn't seem like a plot mechanic. Even when Lionel Barrymore was in a wheelchair, it was always figured into the story. It was a metaphor for him being a warped, twisted old man."

Healy delved further into plot mechanics. "One of the things that is wonderful about this film is the complete disinterest in plot mechanics. An obvious set-up of something that is going to influence something. Instead, it's about behavior. You're much more interested in watching people as they are, rather than having them decide that 'THEY MUST DO SOMETHING!!!'"

Bujalski responded, "Too often, when I go to see a conventionally plotted film, very often, I'm most interested about the things, that, whenever the cops are like, 'We gotta get there!', and they jump in the car, I always think, "What did they talk about in the car?', and then I make a movie about that." The audience laughed.

Beeswax is Bujalski's version of a legal thriller. "Legal thrillers are almost always offering all these connections. You start to see the big picture of how everything is connected. And I thought, anyone who has been involved in legal problems, it's not thrilling, first of all. It goes on forever. A lot of it fizzles, and it's a great expense, and it doesn't go anywhere. That was something I was interested in."

"In the last decade in particular, I think there's been a real trend in the 'everything is connected' movie. Sometimes they work great, but they always kind of bug me in the sense of, 'I've been around awhile', and not everything is connected. Some things are disconnected. I like films that are more conventionally structured, too, but they feel less magical."

Bujalski and Healy talked about the mumblecore genre, the usage of the word "mumblecore", and the connotation tied to it.

"I'm just as responsible for letting that word out. I thought it was funny. When my last film played at SXSW, there were a few films at the festival that year that were chatty films that were made cheaply. Some blogger felt that with these films, there was a movement afoot. I was talking with my sound mixer, Eric Masunaga. I said, 'Eric, as long as there's a new movement, what would you call the movement?' and he said, 'Mumblecore!'. I thought it was funny. I repeated it to a journalist, and I ruined the day. It's not so funny anymore."

"My problem with it is that it seems to be used more often than not to dismiss a group of films."

"They abuse it," Healy chimed in.

"They'll say, 'Oh, I hate mumblecore!' I'm confident there are lots more people who hate mumblecore than people who have actually seen the films. My other problem with being lumped in that group--and I understand the convenience of the term--but of all those films, some of them are really good, and the ones that are good, the things that are good about them are not the similarities, but the differences."

Healy added, "Like any genre, if everything played by the rules, then it's completely boring. For example, anything with shadows and fog and voiceover narration is considered Film Noir. But really distinguishes Film Noir is the immorality."

Having three films under his belt, Bujalski finds himself at a crossroads. With pressure coming at him from all sides, Bujalski feels he could go either way the next time around.

"I've never made a film with a corporate officer looking over my shoulder. That's very rare. Not many filmmakers get to do that even once. [Beeswax] cost more than my first two films combined. The biggest increase in price just comes from the fact that you're making a film where everybody that's working on the film is in their thirties, as opposed to their twenties, and you have to treat them better. People, like want to sleep on beds, and not have pizza for every meal."

"With or without economic collapse, I feel like the world would close in a little bit if I continued this type of filmmaking. I've gotten older, I've gotten married, which is great! But it doesn't make me think that I should go spend a lot of time and lose all my money again. I have a fairly wide contrarian streak, which has led me to make noncommercial films in the first place."

"Everytime I make a film, there's more and more external pressure. I have a Hollywood agent, and my Hollywood agent would not like it at all if I made another cheap movie that would lose money, which kind of makes me want to do it again. Whatever [my next movie] is, it will either cost ten times as much to make, or cost one tenth as much to make. The pressure is on this film, and I could either try to do it bigger, which a lot of people like me to do, or I could get a lot weirder, which I'd be happy to do."

Healy concluded the conversation. "I'm sure you'll be back, whatever it is. Thanks for coming again."

"Thanks for having me."

My Interview With Andrew Bujalski

Hello Everyone,

I covered the 2009 SXSW and Woodstock Film Festivals for The Film Panel Notetaker.

On Monday, I published an interview I did with Andrew Bujalski in The Ithaca Journal's blogs section, in preparation for a screening of Beeswax at Cornell Cinema this weekend.

To read the interview, just click on the picture of Andrew.

Thanks,
Erin Scherer

indieWIRE's "An Evening with Generation DIY" (Swanberg, Gerwig, Katz and Hillis) @ Apple Store SoHo – Thursday, August 23, 2007

DIY filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake (Date Number One), who was in town from DC, and I headed over to the Apple Store in Soho Thursday night where we met up with A.M. Peters (NO Cross, NO Crown) for indieWIRE’s “An Evening with Generation DIY.” After the panel discussion, we met up with iW and other film bloggers at Botanica. The indieWIRE posse was there along with filmmakers Craig Zobel (whose film Great World of Sound is being released by Magnolia Pictures on Sept. 14 in NYC – See my notes from GWOS Q&A at BAM from back in June), Doug Block (51 Birch Street), Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters), Michael Tully (Silver Jew), The Reeler’s S.T. VanAirsdale, Basil Tsiokis (NewFest artistic director), Agnes Varnum (Doc it Out), Pamela Cohn (Still in Motion), Matt Dentler, and this list goes on.

indieWIRE's "An Evening with Generation DIY" (Swanberg, Gerwig, Katz and Hillis) @ Apple Store SoHo – Thursday, August 23, 2007

Panelists:
Joe Swanberg (JS) – Director / Writer / Producer /Cinematographer /Editor, Hannah Takes the Stairs
Aaron Hillis (AH) – Director/Cinematographer/Co-producer, Fish Kill Flea
Aaron Katz (AK) – Director/Writer/Editor – Quiet City
Greta Gerwig (GG) – Hannah/Writer, Hannah Takes the Stairs
Matt Dentler (MD) - South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival Producer

Moderator:
Eugene Hernandez (EH)– Editor-in-Chief, indieWIRE

EH- “The New Talkies: Generation DIY” series at IFC Center brought us together tonight. Matt Dentler programmed a lot of these films at SXSW, which played a role in facilitating a place for these filmmakers to come together. How does this relate to DIY and Mumblecore?

MD- The term Mumblecore came from an indieWIRE interview with Andrew Bujalski (Mutual Appreciation). It’s a frustrating label. Seems limiting by creating a brand where a brand doesn’t need to be, but it has opened up doors to the filmmakers. The New York Times published an article about Mumblecore. People are starting to wonder what this movement is. Mumblecore represents excitement and enthusiasm about new films, but is not used too often, because it’s limiting. The films are bound by like-minded sensibilities. So far, they’re all good films.

EH- A lot of these films hadn’t played theatrically until recently. What’s the state for emerging filmmakers?

MD- Festival programmers are disenfranchised by what the media considers indie films. Mumblecore films open up a dialogue. SXSW took a stance to not program Sundance leftovers. I didn’t know any of these people before we selected their films.

[Clip screened from Hannah Takes the Stairs]

EH- What was the process of making this film?

JS- I had clear idea about the scenes, and we had time to try different things.

GG- There was no script. It was all improvised. You shouldn’t do anything in front of Joe or he’ll find a way to work it in the movie.

EH- What challenges are there to this process?

JS- Hannah is different from my other films, because they started from a script. Hannah was just a two-page outline so the actors could figure out who their characters were. The finished film was different than the movie we expected it to be. It’s a process of discovering the movie as you go along. I like to be excited and not know what’s going to happen. I edited the film each day after shooting. At the end of the day, we had finished scenes.

EH- How exciting was it for you Greta?

GG- I never acted in a film before (except for voicemail scene in LOL). I didn’t have any pre-conceived notions. It was a process of figuring out where the movie was going and finding out who Hannah was. All of Hannah’s boyfriends end up relating to the scar on her foot. It became a theme. We discovered it, liked it, and repeated it.

EH- You’ve had three years of features playing at SXSW. How do you feel your view of your process of filmmaking has changed?

JS- I started out more experimental. The shooting style hasn’t changed that much. I acted all of my previous films, but not in Hannah. The projects I’m acting in I tend to shoot more. Moving forward, I’m interested in telling more stories. My first film (Kissing on the Mouth) was more of a process of showing it to audiences at festivals. Audiences responded to the more narrative aspects.

[Clip screened from LOL]

EH- What is your connection to LOL?

AH- Partners with Andrew Grant on the DVD distribution label (Benten Films) with Ryko Distribution. We saw so many films flying under the radar. Our first title, LOL, comes out next Tuesday. I also co-directed the documentary Fish Kill Flea about a rag tag flea market in Upstate New York. It’s not a Mumblecore movie, but is DIY.

EH- What do you think as a blogger your take on DIY films represents?

AH- Have no lofty generalizations. Mumblecore tries to pigeonhole these films. I think it’s neat that we’ve come to a place without budgetary gatekeepers. It’s exciting these films are getting attention.

MD- There was a DV revolution in the late 1990s where you could shoot everything on DV, but didn’t have access to the editing equipment we have today. One of my favorite films is Tarnation.

[Clip screened from Fish Kill Flea]

EH- How did the idea for IFC’s “The New Talkies: Generation DIY” come about?

AK- IFC Center was going to screen my film Quiet City, then IFC First Take acquired Hannah Takes the Stairs. We talked about other films like Andrew Bujalksi’s Mutual Appreciation and the Duplass Bros.’ The Puffy Chair.

EH- What do you think ties these films together to be grouped as a series?

AK- Aesthetic qualities, shot on DV, except for Mutual Appreciation, which is shot on film. All films are different from one another, but attempt to explore the world around us in a truthful way with day-to-day life.

EH- How did your film Dance Party USA come about?

AK- I went to school in North Carolina and talked about what to do after school. Figured out a $3,000 budget I saved from working. Shot the film in Portland, Oregon.

MD- After viewing the screener DVD, I contacted Aaron right away. It’s really important to have your contact info on the DVD.

[Clip screened from Quiet City]

Audience Q&A

Q: In your (Joe’s) films, there seems to be a certain level of intimacy during certain scenes. How many people are on the set while shooting these scenes?

JS- There were four people including cast and crew on Kissing on the Mouth. I don’t like anyone to be there who doesn’t need to be there, so there are no distractions.

AK- On Quiet City, there was a five-person crew. Relatively small. Everyone is comfortable with each other.

AH- Three people on the crew of Fish Kill Flea.

Q: In Anthony Kaufman’s indieWIRE blog, he posted an entry regarding commercial distribution of films will be these types of films downfall. How do you feel about that?

JS- This is true for all movies in general. The best experience is having no expectations walking into a film. Commercial expectations change all the time. The film community is starting to look a lot like the music industry.

AK- I’d like people to be able to see my movies.

EH- As a performer, what kind of pressure does that create?

GG- It gives more people the opportunity to see me naked. I don’t really see a downside to it. I’m writing more things and acting in more films. It’s more pressure to be reviewed. Kind of scary.

AK- My next film is set in the 1970s, so it will require more money to make. It’s a positive thing to continue making the films I want to make.

Q: What are your next film projects?

JS- Nights & Weekends starring Greta about a long distance relationship. The web series Butterknife.

AH- Short film sometime in October to turn into a feature documentary about the decline of train culture in America.

AK- A 70s piece.

GG- The Duplas movie, Baghead. It screws with genres. They don’t want me to say too much about it.

Hannah Take the Stairs Q&A with Joe Swanberg and cast at IFC Center – Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Wednesday night, I met up with DIY filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake (Date Number One), who came in from DC, and documentary filmmaker Liz Nord (Jericho’s Echo: Punk Rock in the Holy Land) where we saw the premier of Joe Swanberg’s new film Hannah Takes the Stairs at the IFC Center in New York. The film has a week-long run there, and is part of the series, The New Talkies: Generation DIY, or as some people have been terming it, Mumblecore. This weekend, I’ll post my notes from indieWIRE's "An Evening with Generation DIY" (Swanberg, Gerwig, Katz and Hillis) @ Apple Store SoHo.

Hannah Take the Stairs Q&A with Joe Swanberg and cast at IFC Center – Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Joe Swanberg (JS) - Director
Greta Gerwig (GG) - Hannah
Kent Osborne - Matt
Todd Rohal – Brian Duges

Prior to the screening, Joe mentioned that he and Kevin Bewersdorf were the only crew and that they shot Hannah on HD with a Panasonic HVX-200 camera over a period of one month. It was entirely improvised.

After the screening, the audience asked questions to Joe and cast.

Q: Were the relationships between the characters planned out in advance?
JS: We used a guideline. We edited the scenes each day after shooting them, and the cast watched it and talked about it and where it would go next.

Q: How did you get your cast?
JS: I met Mark Duplass and Andrew Bujalski in 2005 at SXSW where my first film Kissing on the Mouth premiered. Andrew was skeptical he’d be able to work on Hannah, but he freed up 10 days to do it. His film, Mutual Appreciation, came out about the same time we started shooting.

Q: Why didn’t you act in Hannah?
JS: I was nervous because this was the first time I had a real budget with someone else’s money. I wanted to focus on being behind the camera.

Q: Did you plan the dialogue in advance?
JS: For example, the scene where Hannah and Matt are playing with the magnets, we woke up that day, had breakfast, and talked about what conversations they’d have such as politics. Shot the scene in one take. Nothing was really planned out. At that point in the movie, we had very little idea what the movie would be. Shot the movie out of order, going back and forth and filling in the gaps. There was about 24 hours total footage shot for the 83-minute film.

GG: I had an idea of what I wanted to do for example in another scene with me (Hannah), Rocco (Ry Russo-Young) and Matt drinking beer, I had the idea of pushing Rocco toward Matt to get jealous. Ry got upset and wondered what I was doing.

Q: Did the original vision for the story change during production?

GG- The original idea was about three relationships happening simultaneously, but we decided to tell the story in a linear fashion. There was no way to know what was going to happen. My character changed based on how her relationships changed. Three different guys fulfilled different aspects on what she was looking for.

Q: When did you realize shooting was over?

JS- We expected to shoot more, but this was the first time I edited while shooting, so everything stayed on schedule.

GG- There was a list of what we needed in the house, ie. Bread, milk, script.

Q: Why is the film titled Hannah Takes the Stairs?

JS- On a practical level, I pitched the movie as a drawing on photoshop with three guys and a girl, and artistically, it’s about being driven and ambitious.