Film, Hipstercrite Life, Pop Culture

How to Make a Movie

My boyfriend is a writer/director. He’s been making films for over ten years and his first feature, Mars, debuted at SXSW in 2010. Mars is a love story that takes place in space and stars Mark Duplass, Kinky Friedman, Howe Gelb, James Kolchalka, and Don Hertzfeldt. Geoff shot the entire movie live action, then animated the living shit over the entire movie with a program he created. If that is not badass, then I don’t know what is! The film has traveled all over the world in the festival circuit. Geoff is also currently one of the filmmakers remaking Richard Linklater’s indie classic Slacker and was selected as one of Filmmaker’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film.

I am not a director. I’d like to think of myself a writer though? Last year, I made a movie in my head that starred David Byrne, Danny Elfman, Bryan Ferry, Robert Palmer, and Peter Gabriel. I one time remade the intro to Twilight Zone by putting on a suit and burning a cork to draw thick Jewish eyebrows on my face in order to look like Rod Serling. I once made a science experiment that involved Ecto-Cooler and dirt.

With our qualifications combined, Geoff and I created a script titled Loves Her Gun, that he’s planning on shooting this summer. We started talking about movie ideas one day (Geoff had been itching to start a new project), touched on the subject of young twenty-something women and the anxieties and real dangers they face (ahem), and decided we were going to make a movie! BAM! THERE YA GO! THAT’S HOW YOU MAKE A MOVIE!

Loves Her Gun is a “cautionary tale of transformation, crime, guns, and hipsters”. I’ve never been good at the elevator pitch, so I’ll try to tell you what it’s about:  So there is this girl, right? She lives in Brooklyn and she dates douchebags and she gets robbed one night. And then she decides she wants out of NYC so she heads to Austin and….OH, F THIS! I’m just going to copy and paste what Geoff wrote:

Q: How far will a well educated, underpaid, twenty something Brooklyn hipster go to sleep through the night again?

A: TEXAS!

The narrative film follows Allie as she leaves Brooklyn, New York running away from a violent attack and an uneasy social life. She hooks up with an absurd band of karate rock musicians from Austin and embarks on a fast paced road trip across the south. Once she settles into the slower paced slacker lifestyle of central Texas, she finds new friends, work with her hands, a crummy place to live on the east side, cool water to tube in, and several new love interests. Despite all this some of the same old problems follow her. After the BBQ’s and skinny dipping parties, there is still crime, and possible violence against women is a legitimate fear anywhere. As Allie struggles to find new ways to feel strong and in control here in her new environment, she walks the fine line between reasonable self preservation and paranoid withdrawal. As she spends more time on the shooting range than she does in her apartment, can she maintain healthy relationships, or will the weapons she uses to protect herself actually cause new problems worse than the ones she was fleeing?

We’re really excited about the project and already have a team of people on board. We put the film on US Artists late last night (kind of like Kickstarter for filmmakers) and already seeing some dough trickle in. It’s super low budget in the traditional Austin mumblecore filmmaking way and should be tons of fun! It’s kind of cool to not be on the personal assistant side of filmmaking for once.

(not really sure how to format the video below, but you can also watch ithere)

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15 Comments

  • Reply jdel July 27, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    that is awesome. it sounds like a great movie. i can't wait to see it

  • Reply girluntitled July 27, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    i love all the wardrobe changes. I'M SOLD!

  • Reply MG July 27, 2011 at 7:55 pm

    That is so exciting! I'm glad that there are still people out there who create content in films and don't just regurgitate old crap. Also, now I'm jealous that my boyfriend is in finance. It's so lame!

  • Reply Trina July 27, 2011 at 8:17 pm

    This is awesome! Congrats to you both! If you need a Hispanic chick, I'm your girl 😉

  • Reply Randall July 27, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    This sounds/looks remarkable – as someone who has struggled to get any of my work made, I'm really excited you were able to make this happen. Congratulations, and to your guy too.

  • Reply Adria July 27, 2011 at 10:05 pm

    This is so exciting! Congratulations! As someone who is trying to consistently be a part of these things I know how hard it can be to get something off the ground, so I gave you what little I can spare at this time and hopefully you'll be met with great fortune and generous artistic creatures!!

  • Reply Big Mark 243 July 27, 2011 at 10:39 pm

    You are gorgeous (yeah, you were only on camera for a smidge, but your aura was awesome!)!!

    If the budget gets fixed I will definitely donate my movie ticket to help you get the project off the ground. Hope to see more of your sweetie's stuff along with this project!!

  • Reply Hipstercrite July 27, 2011 at 11:06 pm

    @Jdel- Thank you! I hope it all works out!

    @Girluntitled- Hahaha. Geoff is all about the wardrobe changes. His actors in Mars changed hair styles every scene.

    @MG- The life of a filmmaker is not necessarily a wealthy one though. Don't knock accounting.

    @Trina- I'll keep you posted on when we shoot in Austin. I'm not sure when it is yet.

    @Randall- Thank you so much! I'm excited about it. We'll see where it goes. Should be interesting!

    @Adria- That is so amazing of you. Thank you so much. Gosh, that just made my day. Come to Austin and you've got a part!

    @Mark- Awww…thank you! Your support always means so much to me, you know that?

  • Reply Guise Faux July 28, 2011 at 8:22 am

    Sounds eeeksellent. Now get yerself a .45 revolver for that big photogenic muzzle staring at the screen. And Jerry Miculek to show ya how to empty the cylinder on target and reload in less than a second. You might even get some hardcore shooters on board if they have the right sense of humor.

  • Reply M July 28, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    L, this sounds super cool. Keep us posted on how it goes. And if you shoot any of it in Bklyn, I'm happy to help!

  • Reply Cait July 29, 2011 at 7:21 pm

    Degrees of separation! One of my best friends is Kate, who is with Bob (of the Super variety)! I've been reading your blog for ages and it's so cool to learn that we would share space in a Venn Diagram.

  • Reply YoungUrbanAmateur July 30, 2011 at 12:46 am

    I'll join M in trying to help out. I also really want to see Mars! Where/how can I see it?

  • Reply Hipstercrite July 30, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    @Guise Faux- I do kind of want to go to the shooting range. I'm kind of scared, but I'm sure it will also help me with my anxieties. Do you shoot?

    @M- You're sweet! Actually we are shooting in Brooklyn. Geoff is going to be there 13th-19th. I will def keep you posted if you're around.

    @Cait- No way! That is too cool. Kate is awesome! And so is Bob. I'm excited to see Kate's movie, it sounds pretty great!

    @YUA- It will be available on Netflix Instant Watch soon if not already. Thanks for your interest in this, we really really appreciate it!

  • Reply John Poet July 31, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    This is all very fascinating…

    Yeah, you should definately go to the range! It's quite empowering!

    I prefer a .357 magnum revolver with the four-inch barrel, but I'm kind of old-fashioned…

  • Reply The Kid In The Front Row August 3, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    Very exciting. And great that your friend Directed Mark Duplass, he is one of my favourite actors. A brilliant talent.

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