As part of our commitment to promote Michigan talent in film, this month we have interviewed Jenny Januszewski, director of the upcoming 3D short film “The Shadower”. Jenny was born in Vietnam but raised in Michigan as part of Operation Babylift at the tail end of the Vietnam War. Since moving to Los Angeles two years ago, she has had feature-length screenplays as Official Selections at the Beverly Hills Film Festival (’10, ’11) and has directed four short films including her current 3D project. She hopes to film her next project, an official adaptation of a Stephen King story, in the midwest.
Tell us briefly about your film and your vision for the project.
About four months ago, Directv and Panasonic contacted Tribeca, Sundance, IFC, and IMDB to see who the emerging directors to watch were. Only 20 of us from around the country were invited to pitch a 3D short film concept to them in Beverly Hills. While mine was not chosen for the final piece to be greenlit, I was compelled to see my project through. So, within five seconds of getting the “Thanks but not this time” email, I went into pre-production.
Why a 3D short?
This has two answers…
First, the majority of the larger TVs being sold are coming 3D-ready and 3D is being shown at movie theatres more and more lately. Most of the 3D that is out there is action or animation. I wanted to create a beautiful art film that shows what 3D can do with an emotional arc. It’s important that we raise the bar for 3D moviemaking and the future of 3D TV programming before it’s too late. In order to do so, we need to show that 3D can be a genre and fine art as opposed to just an annoying gimmick.
Second, filming a 3D piece is at very least 2x more expensive than filming in 2D. It’s the cost of the camera rental, 3D monitor, higher end sound and then the 3D editing bays. I felt it was important to show that there are serious Indie Filmmakers that shouldn’t be shut out due to cost. Right now, there are consumer 3D cameras coming out and then it jumps to the huge $100k rigs that require two red cameras (or the equivalent). We used one of the few “in between” cameras that has fixed ocular distance, so, our staging was quite limited. For example, if you set anything closer than 11.5 feet to the camera, it would be extremely painful to the eyes—-trust me, it happened every time they put the slate up to the lens out of habit. Or, if you put anything past 25 feet, it would fall flat and turn into 2D or strain the eyes. So, we were left with 13.5 feet to play with and had to either have walls or blow out the sky in the background. It was a fun challenge. But I definitely feel we gave a strong impression of our intent as well as our potential as 3D filmmakers.
When do expect the film to be finished and where will we be able to view it?
We expect it to be finished mid-August (fingers crossed). We’re in the early stages of post. I just saw the rough cut and we’re going back and forth on that right now. This week, I’ll be sitting in with sound designers. We still have an entire scene with green screen to deal with. But I’m confident that we’ll be getting it done on time. We’re entering it into the major film festivals around the world and I’m making sure we enter a few in the midwest so the people back home can have the opportunity to view it as well.
What is your production budget?
The production budget came to about $50k. But a good amount of what we needed was donated. So, we were able to bring it down to having a more reasonable number for our cash expenditures.
How are you financing the project?
Most of the financing came from my meager savings. But we’re raising the last $5,500 on Kickstarter. We’re currently up to $800 and, if we can raise the difference by July 24 of 2011, then we get to collect the funds and can afford to finish our film. Any size donations are welcome. If you can afford to donate a lot because you believe in keeping Independent Filmmakers in the game and support diverse casting, please do so. If you can only afford $10-$20, those donations are very important and appreciated as well. If we can get 240 people to donate $20 each, we’re golden. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/199150787/the-shadower-a-3d-short-film-about-love-and-circum
How have your Michigan roots influenced your filmmaking?
Michigan has been HUGE in my filmmaking and general artistic career. I grew up on a farm in Springport. So, sitting outside listening to the grasshoppers at night or noticing different flowers during the seasons has really helped me develop my eye and ear for detail. My parents also used to take me to The Barn Theatre in Augusta. I think my first play was either Annie or Oklahoma. We’d always see Tom Wopat in Oklahoma and then he’d sing at the cabaret bar that was part of the theatre grounds afterwards. Being close up and seeing someone you saw on stage sing in a more intimate setting, or even when he’d drive up on his motorcycle smiling at everyone, really put the idea of being in the arts not so distant.
I was pretty shy. Around the age of 17 I took an acting class at Jeff Daniel’s Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea. Just being surrounded by artists really helped boost my confidence. Just a few years later, I was on Chicago stages performing and then toured the US in a musical.
But even more important than anything—as far as my Michigan roots influencing my career in a positive way, being raised in Michigan on a farm really prepared me for what being a director really is. While it’s considered an artistic position. It’s very much about hard work and taking responsibility for your crew and the overall project. When you’re in film school, you learn theory. But there is nothing like being on set and seeing the 50 faces of your cast and crew who are hoping you knew the way. It’s like going to war. They trust you; they don’t ask whats at the end; and you’re responsible if anything goes wrong. We’d have 12 hours of work on set and then I’d go home to do 6 more hours of paperwork for the next day. Never did I complain. You just know your duty and take responsibility for your team. It’s like when you’re a kid and your job is to go next door at 5am and pick rocks out of a field. You just get up and do it. Then, at the end of the day, you’re proud of how hard it was and how you got through it. I don’t know that I’d be the same director I am had I not had my Michigan experience.
