Interview roundtable!

Two weeks ago I sat down with several incredibly involved "Trailerpark" crew members. It was a casual group sit-down, with different folks jumping in and leaving throughout our chat. A lot of the factual material said has been peppered throughout the blog, so I would like to simply highlight interesting portions of the interview that haven't been addressed yet.

ART DIRECTION AND TIME PERIOD...

JM: I read that the book "Trailerpark" [upon which the film is based] was written in the early 1980s. Is that the time frame for this movie?

Patrick Muhlberger, co-director: We chose not to depict a specific time period so that it's...timeless (laughs). There's no computers, no cell phones, the TVs are very old-fashioned so that way it feels like it could be anywhere during the last 20 years, any time in the last 20 years...maybe even 30 years, probably.

JM: Is that difficult for art direction, creating a set not defined by a specific time period?

Lauren Malizia, art director: It is and it isn't -- they [the directors] only make my life difficult (laughs). Actually, for me, I have a secret date in my head that I have to work with. If I don't have something go off of, I'm asking way too many questions.

Conor Hogan, coordinating producer: Wait, are you not telling anyone the secret date?!

Lauren Malizia, art director: No, I'm not telling anyone.

Conor Hogan, coordinating producer: Can we have like, a pool of guesses on this date? I'll give whoever comes closest gets a dollar from me at the end of production.

Lauren Malizia, art director: (Laughs). Yes! Anyway, I do have to establish a date for myself so that I have more security when I go out looking for set stuff because I can get drifted very easily into different aspects. I just need to establish a date for myself, but no, there's no set date on the film.

THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PROJECT...

JM: How many students are involved?

Conor Hogan: ...100 in all, easily. Seventy from School of Media Arts and Studies, and at least 100 once our sales team starts working more.

JM: I know you folks have fundraised a lot for this project...What's the budget like now?

Hogan: Originally we were looking at around $30,000, then $45,000, and now we're looking at a couple thousand over that.*

JM: Let's assume this film is going to be absolutely incredible and you folks want to distribute it. Has this been discussed at all, in terms of who is responsible for that?

Muhlberger: It's all in Russell's [Banks, the author of "Trailerpark" book] court, really. He kind of owns the rights to this. If he likes this, then it can go as far as he wants it to. But it's really up to him, so that's why we're trying to make it as good as possible.

Frederick Lewis, MDIA 419 professor: I don't think Russell's expectations are very high because this is a student film. As production has gone on, he's become more and more interested in the project...

ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE THE DESIRED OUTCOME OF "TRAILERPARK"...

Hogan: Eye-opening (to other college video production programs around the country).

Jillian Jacobs, assistant director: Inspiring (...later she changed her mind to thought-provoking).

Muhlberger: Enjoyable (he cooed, smugly, while his fellow crew members laughed).

ONE PERSONAL CINEMATIC INFLUENCE...

Hogan: "Children of Men" (...later he changed his mind to Alan Ball, creator of "Six Feet Under" and writer of "American Beauty," to which Muhlberger asked, "Didn't Alan Ball create that show "Even Stevens"? and uproarious laughter abounded).

Jacobs: Sofia Coppola ("Lost in Translation," "The Virgin Suicide").**

Muhlberger: Steven Spielberg, specifically "Indiana Jones." Lately David Simon, creator of "The Wire."

TIMELINE FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR...

Muhlberger: Shooting wraps at the end of April and the Ohio University premiere of "Trailerpark" is June 7.

*If you're interested in the budget increases on the "Trailerpark" set, here is an informative article from the Scripps College of Communication site about the $20,o00 grant the film received from SAC and Vision Ohio.

** Jacobs brought up the lack of women in the film world in general. Many productions feel segregated in terms of gender, she said, though "Trailerpark" is not as male-dominated as some sets she's worked on.