by Scott Weinberg
THE 'A HARD STRAIGHT' PITCH: A Hard Straight follows 3 parolees in their post-prison lives; enjoying their newfound freedom, as well as negotiating the difficulties of re-entering an uncaring and sometimes hostile society.
Will this be your first time at South By Southwest? Any other film festival experience?
Yeah, this is my first time at SXSW...or any film festival.
Describe your film in seven words or less.
Parolees out of prison, face big struggles.
When you were 14 years old, if someone asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, what would your answer have been?
Only god knows.
How did you get started in filmmaking?
I was doing cannery work in Alaska for money, and was getting sick of working 18 hour days/7 days a week. I knew a friend of a friend’s dad had a little production company in Maine. So, I moved out to be an intern, only to find that he had moved offices to Washington, DC. Then I moved down to NYC, where a friend of mine was working in TV. He hooked me up with a job with a small production house that made short news pieces on NY related topics for Japanese TV. That was where it all started. And of course going to all the great movie theaters in NY and watching a lot of late night PBS.
How have things changed for you since your film was accepted into the festival?
Not a whole hell of a lot. Well, actually it’s been busier since now I’m doing the online/sound mix/music, but aside from this, not much has changed. Still trying to figure ways to pay rent.
When you were shooting the film, did you have SXSW (or other festivals) in mind?
No. At that time, I really didn’t have any festivals in mind. This is my first filmm so I was just hoping to make something that I wasn’t too embarrassed with. Also, because it’s a documentary and so much of the film is dependent on the stories that unfold, I was really most concerned with trying to capture whatever was happening.
How did you get your film started? How did you go from script to finished product?
My film got started in the summer of 2000 when my girlfriend dumped me. This meant I had a lot of free time, especially on weekends. Also, I’d been thinking for a couple of years at that point of trying to make a film. Around that time I heard a piece on ‘this American life’ (NPR radio documentary show) that featured a writer/ex-con named Joe Loya. It was a fascinating piece. So I tracked him down and talked with him. He talked a lot about how freaked out he was when he got out, and what a major adjustment it was, etc.
So this was the inception of the conception. Then I started filming with a couple of guys who were getting out, enough to put together a 15 minute demo reel, and began to apply for grants. After a couple of years of pure rejection, I got a grant to keep the film going.
What’s the single most important lesson you learned while making this film?
A lot of people lead really hard and precarious lives. I live in a bubble.
When you were in pre-production, did you find yourself watching other great movies in preparation?
No. I actually watched a lot of crappy films that showed me what I didn’t want to do.
If a studio said ‘we love this, we love you, you can remake anything in our back catalogue for $40m’ – what film, if any, would you remake?
Off the top of my head, maybe something like 8mm with Nicolas cage, because that looked like it was gonna be a good movie, but actually sucked. They could’ve done a better job with that...maybe with a second try. There’s tons of movies in this group.
Two-parter: Which actor would you cut off an arm to work with, and which relatively unknown actor in your own film do you want the world to start recognizing sooner rather than later?
With anesthesia, I’d cut my arm off to work with Marlon Brando.
The festival circuit: what could be improved, and what couldn’t be?
With my limited festival experience so far, I’d have to say it would be nice to have travel/accommodations paid for, because I’m flat broke, deep in debt, and would like to see the film when it plays.
Have you ‘made it’ yet? If not, at what point will you be able to say ‘yes’?
No, most definitely not. I’ll be able to say yes when I can pay the rent without having to look through film/tv/radio jobs section of craigslist and seriously consider applying for that focus group job.
A movie is made by a lot of people in addition to the director, but often films will open with a credit that says “a film by…” – Did you use that credit in your film? If so, defend yourself! If not, what do you think of those who do?
No, I don’t use that. I guess it’s cool for some people, depending on who they are. I just saw Robert Rodriguez’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which had something like that, and that was cool. From what I’ve read, it seems that he does more than average joe director in putting the film together, and probably feels like it is a film by him. It’s kind of pretentious, but whatever. If you want to do it, do it.
A Hard Straight - Directed by Goro Toshima, starring Regina Allen, Richard "Smiley" Martinez, Aaron Shepard
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link directly to this feature at http://efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=1007
originally posted: 02/20/04 18:35:42
last updated: 02/20/04 18:41:03
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