While I was at Sundance, I met Ellen Utrecht, the founder and executive producer at MIKE TEEVEE, an ad agency that creates some spectacular and surprising branded entertainment. Check out their stuff–it’s quite fun.
As we hurried up the hill on Main St., grasping frantically at our coats and nearly sprinting to avoid immediate hypothermia, she said in in no happy tone, “Reels! I hate directing reels. You can’t tell anything from a reel!”
I was just about to tell her she should check out my directing reel.
Based on that enlightening conversation, here’s my new directing portfolio site! It offers a quick way to watch the branded entertainment, docs, and scripted content that I’ve directed. And yes, you can also watch (sorry Ellen) my directing reel.
Ellen, if you’re out there, I hope I’ve done you proud. Head to www.bencaro.com for new and old films.
I’m proud to say that CATHEDRALS has earned its first few of selections and awards:
Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival 2018 (Wed. Sept. 19th 7pm.Tickets here) – Official Selection
Los Angeles Movie Awards (Sat. Sept. 22nd 1pm.Tickets here)– Best Narrative Short, Best Actor (Brendan Sexton III)
Genre Celebration Festival – Best Cinematography
Miami Independent Film Festival – Official Selection
Make sure to like us on Facebook for the latest updates and screenings in your area. The more support we have, the more we can call attention to giving disabled artists the roles they deserve! https://www.facebook.com/cathedralsmovie/
I’ve cut together a new directing reel, featuring work I’ve done in the past couple years in the world of entertainment, travel, film and branded content. It’s nice to have a quick look back. Let me know what you think!
We wrapped production on my passion project in October. Here’s what I had to say on our Kickstarter page a day later:
What a whirlwind weekend! One car in a ditch, two locations, three long days! But we did it. And we can’t wait to show you what we’ve got.
Late Saturday night, Rick Boggs texted me to say thanks. Since it’s only because of you that we were able to make this happen, I thought I’d pass it along to you all:
“Hello, thank you again for the opportunity to appear in your film. Your staff was absolutely professional. You’re very smart and surround yourself with some very smart and talented people. Hope there might be a screening or at least one more opportunity to get everyone together. Have a pleasant night and thank you again. Rick Boggs.”
Here are some stills from the shoot!
Jessie Lande, costumer Jessyca Bluwal, Brenden Sexton III, makeup artist Cici Andersen and Rick Boggs hanging in the dressing room. From Instagram @heymisscici
The monitor used to say “B Cam” but we went with something more appropriate.
Luckily, the shoot went off without a hitch. We did not have one car stuck in a ditch and certainly did not have the battery die on the car we were using for the main character.
Producer Ruby Siering, costumer Jessyca Bluwal, Michele Weaver, makeup artist Cici Andersen and production designer Jonathan Denmark just joined the Babysitter’s Club and this is our first book cover.
Ruby standing in while they adjusted the light. She’s a natural.
I promised an update when I was able to figure out who the copyright holders were for “Cathedral,” the Raymond Carver story I’m adapting into a short film. I am a man of my word.
In the vlog above, I describe the journey it took me to get there, from hunting through the U.S. copyright archives to asking New Media Rights. In the end, all it took was a Google search, and the word “estate.” I also talk about interviewing Greg Shane from CRE Outreach, an organization devoted to empowering blind people, for the Kickstarter video. He directs all the productions at Theater By the Blind, so he’s a great advocate for the blind and a huge asset to have in our corner.
Greg Shane of CRE Outreach
My Letter about why this project should be allowed
It hasn’t been all roses, though. We still have to convince Tess Gallagher, Carver’s widow and executrix, to allow this film adaptation of his story. She was hesitant at first because of the departures from the original story, but I wrote the agency a letter:
This project is so important to me. Would it be possible to chat on the phone with her? I would really love to get tell her about all the great things we’re going to do to help blind and disabled artists with this adaptation, the fact that we have partnered with CRE Outreach to raise opportunities for the blind through Carver’s work, which I think is a wonderful thing. I’d love to tell her that by adding these departures, I’m incorporating elements of Carver’s story “Fat,” enriching the story not from any bastardization but by infusing Carver’s greater universe, as Robert Altman did with Short Cuts. I want to tell her about why this film will be talked about–not only because it’s a “Cathedral” adaptation, but because of some awesome and filmically experimental sound design, and because we are taking a risk by casting a blind person rather than going the easy route. Our production team has produced both The Hammer (2010) and The Championship Rounds (2013), movies that both starred deaf actors and brought a lot of interest on the film festival circuit, and attracted big names, because of it. We’re not using Carver’s name to get our movie out. We’re using our movie to get Carver’s name out, and hopefully introducing Carver’s work to a new legion of people who otherwise wouldn’t have read him, and would perhaps pick up a book or two because of it.
Tess Gallagher (right), a distinguished author herself, and Raymond Carver.
Tess is a writer, and I think that if I make a writer’s appeal to her, she’ll understand why the departures are a great way to incorporate Caver’s voice into film format, as many other adaptations failed to do. As we know, Carver is especially known for using narrators with strong voices and perspectives, and by framing the Cathedral story, we get to hear that voice, that unique perspective, coming from Phil as he tells Rita about what happened, just as the narrator does with the reader. For me, it’s important that when somebody Googles “Cathedral short film adaptation“, they don’t get a smattering of half-assed college assignments, as it stands now. It’s important to me that Birdman (which seemed to poke fun at him) doesn’t come to be the biggest Carver touchstone in this decade. It’s important for me to make something enduring that does Carver justice and represents him correctly, which is why it would be great to have Tess as a collaborator. I would love to listen to her concerns and make any changes to the script that she feels uncomfortable with.
I think we all want the same thing. Ms. Gallagher wants to honor his writing. The agency wants to honor his writing and grow his audience. And I want to honor his writing and grow his audience, all through raising awareness for a great cause: benefiting blind and disabled artists.
So there it is. There’s my appeal. Hopefully that strikes a chord in her and to anybody who wants to come on board! Please like the Facebook page to keep up to date with the latest developments.
X Men: Apocalypse was released this Memorial Day weekend with Sophie Turner playing Jean Grey. No matter the reviews, though, no matter the box-office numbers, people will still adore the actress. And for good reason. She’s delightful.
Sawhorse Productions needed a pinch-hitter to direct Sophie in her cover shoot for GQ. Blake and Gino were working on a Pepsi Halftime “rap-up” to air soon after the Superbowl, so they called me in. I’d directed an Improv Imagination episode with Katie Lowes from Scandal, but this was a bigger deal. A little more run-and-gun, a little more involved. The DP Casey doing A cam, and a B cam operator. We had a PA, who I asked to go to the grocery store and buy apples (unbeknownst to him, two hours later he’d be balancing those apples on his head while Sophie shot at him). We’d film b-roll of the photoshoot, then try to squeeze in a humorous little feature sometime afterwards or during lunch.
GQ came up with the creative a couple nights before. Bryan Singer posted an Instagram vid of teaching her archery in prep for X-Men, so we were going to have Sophie use a toy bow-and-arrow. Our first idea was some sort of archery challenge. Can you hit that target? No. What if it has Ramsay Bolton’s face on it? Yes. But that idea was “shot down” (cough) –instead, they wanted her running a-muck, shooting up the set. Fair enough.
My first and probably biggest decision was choosing the bow and arrow, which was upsetting, because you know, who am I to pick out a girl’s trusted weapon? Seems like a very personal decision, one that no man should have the right to determine or legislate. Even so, I had five options. I put myself in Sophie’s shoes: which one was the least embarrassing? They were all embarrassing. One was pink. New strategy: utility. I had the sound guy spend 45 minutes testing which ones worked, and which ones would worked too well. I didn’t want any deaths. No deaths on this set. In the end, we went with a Zelda/Robin Hood-esque arrow you see in the video. The ritualistic-looking bow stand, by the way, was one of my pillar candle holders I brought from my apartment. Yes, Pier 1 sells weapon stands for your weapon relic needs.
Sophie was great. She was down. She was totally go for all of this. The things I was asking her to do–shoot at her photographers, chase a goofy stampede of people running from her down a hall, hide behind clothing racks and look ULTRA-SERIOUS–should’ve made her want to tell me to go fuck myself. Instead, she went with it, smiling the entire time. It gave the shoot a feeling of some sort of high school project–we all knew we were making something goofy, rough around the edges and spontaneous. Instead of feeling insecure about that, she took it seriously, even after hours of being in front of the camera posing for the mag.
A few surprises made it into the cut. First of all: Look, I didn’t actually want her to shoot anybody in the head. Aim at them, I said, but you know, don’t really pull back all the way. Just kind of let the arrow out softly.
Nope. She had no interest in that. She had the bow, and suddenly she was out for blood. I highly doubt the photo assistant knew she was going to nail him right in his head. On the first take, she drew the string back, and… the arrow fell off. On the second, right in the head. The shock on his face was so real. The three guys cracked up at how absurd it was that she actually launched that thing. I said, “Great! But let’s not um, actually kill someone.” She was like whatevs I’m a boss ass bitch.
The next outtake that made it in the cut was when she hit the mirror with the arrow. After the first take where the arrow fell off the bow, I can’t say she felt super confident with it. So when she aimed at the mirror and the thing stuck right to it? A goddamn miracle. A feat of epic skill. So she stood up and pointed at the thing and cursed in utter awe of herself and we don’t have the best coverage of that but that was definitely an awesome honest reaction. She had overcome her doubts, become one with the arrow, and now was ready to face the final boss: Kyle, our PA.
The scene was to hit Kyle in the chest with it, then bite the apple. Get it? It’s a twist. Apple twist. First off, the apple kept falling off Kyle’s head. I knew Sophie was down to earth because she kept picking this dirty apple off of the ground and trying to reuse it, but I was like, “Listen, don’t even worry bout it. I got us a whole bushel of apple” and I took out a big produce bag and she was like oh ok it was so rad. So she pulls back, aims, fires, and it hits him… right in the face. It wasn’t my proudest moment. It looked painful. When a grown man says “Ow!” in front of a small crew of people and a well-known actress, you know that whatever’s happening to him, it’s painful. So, officially, publicly, I’d like to say that I’m sorry Kyle. But she did give you a hug, so that’s nice. You can see that blooper at the very end of the video.
If you’re interested in what I’m working on now, keep tabs on Cathedrals. It’s a short film based on a Raymond Carver story. There’s no bow and arrows, but there is going to be alcohol, so join the party.
Before I go any further with the film adaptation of “Cathedral,” I figured it was time to make sure I was in the clear, legally, to reproduce Carver’s material.
From what I’ve seen in the copyright section my Carver books, it looks like the sole copyright holder of the story was the man himself. The problem, you can guess, is that he’s not around. I can’t call him. I can’t tweet him. He’s in a better place, bless his heart. #blessed Because of this, though, there’s no one I can talk to in order to get express permission. I can go for it and hope that nobody pops out of the woodwork to sue me, but I’d rather just say “hey!” first, buy them a coffee, and we can work on that woodwork together.
Thanks to Loren Cochran for the advice so far, but I was wondering if anybody else knows the answer: if the copyright holder is deceased, who can I talk to make a derivative work? Please get in touch! Maybe leave a comment on the Facebook page. I’ll let you know the answer once I find out.
For a couple years I’ve been threatening to adapt Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” into a short film that combines the best parts of that story with some truly unique sound design ideas. If I was a good salesman I might say these sound design ideas have never been done in a film before. Of course, that’s probably not true. Moreover, does anything make you want to roll your eyes more than hearing a sentence like “never been done in a film before?” Probably not. So I’m not going to say that sentence, but you get the idea.
EXPERIENTIAL CINEMA
I don’t believe there is enough form experimentation in narrative films. Even “arthouse” indie-minded films tend to showcase a story in traditional ways. Though the content is shocking, out of order, or shot in a unique way, on the surface the audience is still watching a scene shown in a frame with as little interruption as possible. Film has the opportunity to use both sound and sight to express a story, but movies tend to tell the story visually, with the audio only enhancing the visuals, always in sync, rarely contradictory. I see an opportunity to use those tools separately.
I’m interested in film as an experience, rather than a mouthpiece for a story. Most movies in theaters try to get out of the way of the story—they want the audience to forget they’re watching a film entirely. But I’m interested in using the form to give the audience a unique experience. In the same way as most movies, many novels seek to relay a story. Poetry, however, uses rhyme, rhythm, spacing and line breaks to deliver an experience to the reader. I want to do the same thing with Cathedrals.
WHY ADAPT “CATHEDRAL”?
Carver’s “Cathedral” presents a great opportunity to tell a story through an experience. One of the major characters in the story is a blind man. Blind people use what they hear to understand their world. They’ve learned to live without eyes. Therefore, I want to present his part of the story in the same way to the audience. I want the audience to hear the story first, and see it later, so that hearing becomes the dominant way to take in the story.
For parts of the film, the visuals will be delayed several seconds, so that the scene feels slightly out of sync. Like a blind person, the audience will use their ears to take in the full story, rather than just their eyes.
I’ve tested this effect before, and it has a couple amazing effects:
1). It focuses your attention to the sounds, and how they connect to what you’re seeing. 2). It makes you feel a bit stoned or drunk, which matches what happens in the story. 3). Most importantly, it creates a strange dissonance that mirrors the dissonance between the characters on screen.
The film becomes an experience.
When the climax of the story occurs, you will feel that experience emotionally, too. I can’t wait for you to feel it. It’s going to be shocking.
THE PRODUCTION
Sawhorse Productions is helping me create this experience. Unfortunately, as of now, all the money needed to create this experience is coming out of my own pocket. That’s why I’m asking for any help at all in the creation of the project. Perhaps you want to donate some of your time to providing props for the set or PA-ing on our shoot.
Feel free to get in touch with me. I would be tremendously grateful for your help. Like the Facebook page for updates, subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch more from the filmmaking vlog. Shoot me an email, and I’ll send you the script.
Last year I went to Los Globos in Echo Park with my girlfriend to throw my name into a hat and have the chance at telling a story on stage for The Moth, one of the most widely recognized nationwide storytelling events. I didn’t invite any friends, because although I rehearsed and wrote and planned, there was no guarantee I’d get to do anything other than enjoy some great specials on Red Bull drinks.
We happened to go during Red Bull’s 30 Days in LA (which, incidentally, is starting up again), so the show, while free, was packed. Usually everyone gets a turn. This time, there was twice the turnout of a usual StorySLAM event. So if I did go up, I had an audience.
Look at that crowd. Look at those hipsters light bulbs.
Of course, instead of assuming I would go up, I ordered a price-so-low-that-you-have-to-get-one Red Bull vodka, and immediately regretted it once I downed most of it and my foot nervously pounded the floor like a tiny soft jackhammer. My name was called and as I waited to walk on the stage, suddenly realizing how jittery I felt, I wished I’d been responsible and simply had a few shots of vodka instead.
Just kidding. Nobody wants shots of vodka.
Since your set could only be five minutes, I had been tightly gripping my iPhone all week, using the voice recorder to get the story under that running time. Trim this section, cut that section, figure out what’s important, what’s the beginning/middle/end… It was certainly fun for a writer. I was prepared, but a bit off-base. It seemed that night everybody just wanted to talk about fucking: where they did it, how they did it, whom they did it with. Instead, I was about to talk about time I exploited homeless people.
Good reading the room! Check out the video below. The effects of the Red Bull are obvious.
I’ve transcribed the story below for you readers out there:
My first job in LA is on Skid Row. I’m visiting from Boston on an internship. I’m 20 years old, and filmmaking to me is art, and authenticity, and honesty. And I’m so excited because this movie is about a girl who’s run away from home, and she’s living on the road with homeless people.
I don’t really know much about LA, but I’m headed downtown, and suddenly downtown is looking kind of scary a night. And it’s an overnight shoot. I finally get to the set. I’m part of the art department, so I’m going to be setting up the set, all the tents and all the homeless blankets. And I’m also running interference, which means you have to keep people from entering the filmmaking.
I ask a fellow PA. “How do I do this?” And she just says, “If people look too interested, just tell them you’re working on a tampon commercial, and then they’ll lose interest.” So I’m like, “Okay, that sounds not really helpful, but thank you.”
We get to the site and throw the truck against the sidewalk and unload all the tents. The art director says, “Let’s hurry this up, because the longer we’re here, the more we’re in danger.” And I’m like, “What do you… what do you mean?” And she says, “Well, we’re in the worst part of LA. Just so you know!”
And you know, I probably look like I’m 12 years-old-at the time, so I’m kind of scared. I realize all of the homeless people are just around the corner from us, just rows and rows of actual houses and tents and trash bags. And I feel like once they get a whiff of people with wallets around the corner they’re going to just tear us apart like a zombie brigade. And so we’re trying to get things done really quickly because we’re on the front lines. There’s only four of us and the rest of film crew hasn’t shown up yet, so it’s just us and the zombie apocalypse. We’re throwing down the tents, and then one guy comes out, and I’m like, here we go. We’re told to ignore him, and we ignore him. Eventually the art director says, “Get out of here.” And he goes away. And I’m thinking, okay, crisis averted.
The tents we’re setting up are newly bought. They’re like, from Target or something. They don’t look like they’re old, so my job is to take this tank thing and spray it down with water and grit and basically just ruin these tents, and I couldn’t help but notice that just around the corner are real tents and real trash bags and stuff that people are actually living in. And here we are, just ruining this nice new stuff. But I figure it’s for sanitary reasons, so I’m like, okay, whatever.
Another homeless guy comes around and I ignore him, but he’s right behind me as I’m ruining this tent, and he says, “What are you doing?” I start to feel guilty. The art director takes care of him and he leaves, but another one comes, and I’m kind of feeling overwhelmed like the enemy’s at the gates. But then the art director starts talking to this guy, and she’s talking to him like a five year old. She says, “We told you to leave. You’re not supposed to be here. Get out. You’re not listening.” He slowly walks away and I’m thinking, well, we’re actually in his spot. This is where he lives.
When we get done with the tents, she looks at them and says, “I don’t know if this is good or not. I have an idea…”
So I’m spraying, and she brings one of the homeless people back and starts to talk to him like a real person. And I’m thinking, well, that’s nice. But then I hear her say, “Is this realistic? Can you help us? Does this look like a place you would live?” And I’m shocked, and pretty embarrassed. But the guy, to his credit, he’s kind of excited somebody’s talking to him. So he says, “This one looks too formal, this doesn’t look good.” So she says, “Thank you.” She says to us, “Destroy this all.”
So we do. We tear it up, we spray it down and we throw chairs everywhere. But I see the conflict on this guy’s face, because he’s finally being used but he’s just watching us destroy something he could’ve used. And we’re not helping them at all, you know. We’re just using them. At that point I felt nauseous. The rest of the film crew came and I finally felt safe, but I’m wondering whether I should’ve ever felt unsafe in the first place. And I think I realized then that filmmaking in LA wasn’t going to be about truth. It was going to be about making things smooth and contributing to the illusion.
I walk across the street. I sit down and watched the ironies unfold. This guy kind of pops up next to me, out of the blue, out of nowhere, and he says, “Are you guys shooting a movie?” And I’m a filmmaker now, essentially, so I tell him the truth. I look him straight in the face, and I say, “Well, we’re shooting a tampon commercial.”
And he believes me, and he goes back inside, and he loses interest.
