BEN BANKS THE MOVIE FILMMAKERS BLOG

DISTRIBUTION... more

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:19:00 -0800

There is a lot about the movie business that we are learning as we go through this process. We signed with an international sales agent and watching them sell the movie to overseas markets is eye opening.

They use different titles to attract different buyers from various territories… THE MISADVENTURES OF BEN BANKS and BEAUTY AND THE LEAST - it’s weird to watch. I mean I’m expecting to see the movie called SMOKING HIGH MAN FINDS LOVE…

No I’m kidding!

We’ve had to let go a little bit as first time filmmakers - but not one frame of the movie has been touched. It is the movie I made. It’s the movie I wanted to make. It’s just being packaged and sold in a way that is in line with what attracts foreign buyers. And I get that. Usually this happens after a movie’s North American presence has been established, but we’re doing it in reverse (as I guess more and more indie movies are doing)

It is cool to see the movie getting out there…

-Bryce

When the movie is released in North America it will be BEN BANKS!

BEN BANKS DISTRIBUTION

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:05:27 -0700

We have learned a lot about distribution and the Independent film business. With many changes in how movies are being distributed, we’ve had to play catch up after finishing the movie at the end of July.

Even from the time we finished the shoot, the independent film industry has changed - in some way quite dramatically. Whereas there used to be a model of finishing the movie, getting into a festival, and getting a theatrical release, the reality is that the # of screens open to low budget independents has been shrinking…

BUT alternative models have emerged from online streaming to VOD (Video of Demand), iTunes, Netfilx, RedBox, Hulu, etc. and we have many options and we are trying to figure out what makes the most sense from a financial standpoint.

OUR POST PRODUCTION

When we finished shooting at the end of August last year, we had planned to finish the movie by the end of 2010 - well… lack of funds and also getting tons of feedback, extended that by about 7 months… in the film business, this is totally normal and par for the course, but we, and people who worked on the movie, had expected the movie to be finished sooner. The reality is that we got to use many really talented people who worked for well below their normal pay - this meant that we had to spend more time finding ways to make schedules work. Also, we got some great feedback from a big time editor in January that led us to recut the movie.

We are now done and as we’ve explored the various options we have, some people have understandably wondered what’s going on with the movie - we are exploring our options and we will announce distribution when we figure it out - but no matter what Ben Banks will be available to watch soon!!

-Bryce

BEN BANKS... THE END IS NEAR

Mon, 16 May 2011 11:16:34 -0700

We are officially in the home stretch - reaching out to distributors, sales reps, etc. We hope to have a big announcement in the coming weeks!

-Bryce

Uncle Russ working his magic behind the console while doing work...

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:14:20 -0800

Uncle Russ working his magic behind the console while doing work on the audio mix!

/ justin

Now we are actually back to work! Sound design!

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:22:58 -0800

Now we are actually back to work! Sound design!

Winning

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:51:38 -0800

Winning

More work???

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:27:00 -0800

More work???

Work?

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 23:31:40 -0800

Work?

Bryce: Director. The only dude I know that drinks a Red Bull...

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:44:30 -0800

Bryce: Director. The only dude I know that drinks a Red Bull then naps in moving car for 45 min.

We heart Pearl Jam

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:28:32 -0800

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

We heart Pearl Jam

Jake trying to post something to damn you auto correct… It...

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:03:07 -0800

Jake trying to post something to damn you auto correct… It involved Craig and the #6

Ben Banks Sound

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:38:29 -0800

On the way to AZ with Justin and Jake to check out the sound design work on the movie. We are very close to finishing the movie!

CAST

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:19:00 -0800

Sal Masekela (Hank Ashby) - I first met Sal at Sundance in 2010 with Justin. I was struck by how he treated people who came up to him for pictures or autographs or just to talk. We were with him for a few hours and many, many times he was stopped, once by a pretty big group, and he was so gracious and kind it made me immediately like him. I knew he would be great as Hank.

So we asked him if he would do it and he agreed! It was a lot of fun having Sal on set. He has a great view of life and of his place in it. It’s great to be around. He’s fun and I can tell you he brought a lot of smiles to our group.

Sal never complained and had a willingness to work and take direction and just a natural likeability… I can’t tell you how helpful that was to me and the crew.

PLUS Sal is really good in the movie. Very natural, believable… cutting the scenes with him in them was great, he’s really consistent and he also did something that I really noticed - he let others have the scene - by that I mean he set people up and didn’t try and shine the light on himself. Actually, our entire cast had that in common - that kind of selflessness which helps so much in building moments that are believable and put the focus where the story needs it to be scene to scene… part of that is my job, to shade the performances that way, but with Sal it was innate.

Now, Sal does have his moments and I love what he gave us. His delivery is so unique and specific to him that it’s really kind of special to have the stuff I wrote brought to a place I didn’t really think about - some of this is in his body language, or gestures, pacing, timing… I was really impressed and it makes Hank real, a guy you could imagine hanging out with, talking to…

I would love to work with Sal again and again if I am lucky enough to have the chance to continue to direct !

-Bryce

SIDE NOTE: We found out late last night that we didn’t get into Sundance… I was initially depressed but it was actually kind of nice the way the timing of that worked out because we had a screening in LA in front of about 100 people and it went great! We got amazing scores on our feedback cards and got some great notes in a little group session we had afterwards. I am very happy with where the movie is and am looking forward to the next phase: completing the technical aspects of post and bringing the movie to distributors and producer’s reps! Onward!!!

CAST

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:35:24 -0800

Alex Beh (Gunner Smith) - I met Alex months before we began to cast Ben Banks. I liked his energy and ‘look’ but I didn’t think about him for Gunner until a bunch of us went back to his place. For some reason it started to crystalize in my mind that he would be good in that role and so I just watched him. There is something about him that’s interesting, “watchable” - then he told us a personal detail about himself that was pretty cool and not what you’d expect from an actor in LA (and so in line with Gunner’s arc) that it struck me as inspired. And so I filed it away in the back of my mind.

As we began the process of gearing up to cast the movie, we tossed around names and ideas and one night I just knew Alex should be Gunner. I called Justin and he got it right away and agreed. I got Alex’s email address and sent him the script. He responded and that was that.

On set Alex was great. He was really funny and always knew where we were in the flow of the story and was a joy to work with.

Alex has a big scene where he pretty much sums up the theme of the movie in ‘Gunner-speak’ and it was a thrill to direct Alex and then sit back and watch him deliver in that moment. It’s one of those scenes that played up could be terrible, not true, but Alex is so understated in his delivery of these lines that when he’s actually up to the point where he’s basically testifying, it’s beautiful. It isn’t forced or corny, it’s just a guy we had put in a ‘stoner’ box and thought we knew, stepping out of that box and showing us a different level. It’s what the movie is all about! It was a great day! One of those times where I just felt so fortunate to be able to be making the movie and working with great people.

There are a lot of moments where Alex went off script and there are a few moments where he’s just silent and you can imagine Gunner’s wheels spinning. I only wish we could have had Alex and Hobert in the same room! That would have been amazing!

I’m grateful to Alex for what he brought to the role and particularly that scene (in the police station). It’s something I won’t ever forget.

-Bryce

CAST

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:10:00 -0800

Michael Hobert (Greg Timmons) - We had basically decided who was going to play Timmons in the movie when Michael walked into our audition and made us question that choice and eventually change our minds…

And we had no idea what was about to unfold: namely the biggest stroke of luck in the history of our collective creative lives! Let me say this: the idea that Hobert isn’t out there making 80 million dollar comedies about him going back to grade school or magical dogs is crazy. He is one of the funniest guys I’ve ever seen.

He came on set and you could tell right away that there was something different on tap. I realized that Michael had comedic gifts kind of out of the range of what I had planned. I decided to open the door to a lot of improvising, something that as a first time director I was nervous about. Well, it soon became apparent that we had a problem: How were we going to get through takes when the director was laughing so hard? It was amazing and has forced me to reconsider how I write and plan scenes (if I am lucky enough to ever do this again…).

Michael took the (again, not to throw the writer under the bus but…) underwritten role of Greg Timmons and has given us something spectacular. Every single take of every scene he is in has more laughs than Junior (our editor) and I knew what to do with. In fact our biggest challenge (and the hardest thing to do) was deciding which parts we couldn’t keep in the movie! I think we’ve found the right tone and amount, allowing Timmons to shine (my son refers to him as “your Uncle Rico” and we should be so lucky… but, you never know!!!) and serve the movie and Ben’s story…

Michael was a joy to work with and it’s not a matter of wanting to work with him, it’s a matter of wondering if I’ll ever be so lucky again!

-Bryce

PS - The DVD extras and outtakes are going to be a Hobert-a-thon…

Justin and Jory - other adventures

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:50:16 -0800

Check out this cool piece Justin and Jory did for Leisure Society with assists from Lan Bui and Jake!

http://leisure-society.com/ - just play the video!

-Bryce

CAST

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:58:00 -0800

Kim Huffman (Fran Banks) - Kim actually auditioned for another role but she was so great we had to have her play Ben’s mom. I was really looking forward to working with her because of her personalty. She’s one of the most genuine people you’ll meet. I ended up talking with her on the phone about the movie and it got me excited about the process!

In fact, I was sad that we only needed her for one day. It would have been great to spend more time with her on set but such are the realities of a low budget indie, right?

Anyway, Kim is absolutely wonderful in the role of Fran. She has such a natural talent and you not only believe that she is Ben’s mom, but also someone that he would feel comfortable talking to and being around. We had to make some adjustments in her scenes as we rehearsed and it’s one of those things as a writer-director that you worry about - what if the actor doesn’t believe in the words? But I learned over the course of this movie that letting go of that and working with actors leads to better material. And so by the time I was working with Kim I was in a place where I could let that happen naturally and it was great working with her, talking over her character and the beats of the scenes. And it was worth it. Her scenes are great and we’ve been getting amazing feedback as people see her in this…

Kim’s easy going and positive nature is infectious and having her around was a treat. She’s a tremendous actor and someone I’d love to work with again.

-Bryce

CAST

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:22:00 -0800

Kate Towne (Erin Parker) - When Kate Towne came in to audition it was surreal. She had us so disarmed it wasn’t funny - actually, it was pretty funny. First of all, she was great, it was obvious she’s a very talented actor. But then she would say these things that sounded like they might be sarcastic, but she would never even hint at smiling, she simply would not break and so we were all just kind of watching, staring, in awe. So she does the scene and says something like, “OK, so any questions? Good. I’m going to leave now and then you all talk about me, bye.” said rapid fire and under her breath and then she just walks out. It was a great, attention getting performance.

So we call her back because after we realized what she was doing we were all like, can I have some more of that please? And she starts into this whole spiel about how she needs negative feedback to thrive, “So, could you please insult me?” She had us all laughing again and I knew we had to have her on board.

So she comes to set and pulls me aside to talk about her role and her preparation and how much improvising I want etc. and I learned a lot from her. As a first time director, it was great to have that kind of open interaction and to see her take and her understanding of the role and her ideas and then to see her use those and also adapt to the other actors.

Kate is amazing in this movie. Watching her as we’ve edited has been a joy. She does so much with, and I’m being honest here, not a really fleshed out character in the script. She’s invaluable and we were so fortunate to have her involved.

Beyond that, Kate is a one of a kind human being. She’s an original and I loved the chance we had to talk to her and get to know her. She’s a lot of fun to be around. I only hope that her self depreciating humor is really tongue in cheek and that she knows how special she is.

-Bryce

Junior's other adventures

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:40:00 -0800

These are some new ads that will be airing online, in stores, and TV. They were produced, shot and edited by Jason deVilliers (aka Junior), who is our editor on Ben Banks!

Muno:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88oZeYlz_6A

Foofa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pvg2_45h6U

Toodee:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbZpnWC7jh8

Brobee:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8opyfdTeq8

Plex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pFrrFa1XFY

-Bryce

CAST

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 13:48:00 -0700

David Sullivan (Glenn Ambers) - OK, so we’re out on LA doing auditions and David comes in to read for the part of Ambers, our mobile home mogul in the movie… David starred in the movie ‘Primer’ which was a big hit at Sundance a few years back.

I’d written the scene as kind of quirky but man, David came in a was so funny it was kind of amazing… I may or may not have shed tears I was laughing so hard.

When he got on set and started “being” Ambers it was a lot of fun. His interaction with Michael Hobert (more on him later) was classic. Watching David handle Hobert’s improv, trying not to break, and then holding his own was one of my favorite days on set.

Beyond that David was great to work with, a real pro. I’d give him a note and he’d be ‘different’ on those beats in the scene, which is not as easy as it sounds… from the audition to the set, the performance became more nuanced and he brought life to a character that is, well, bizarre!

He was a pro and great to be around. Just a great guy with a lot of talent. If am lucky enough to do this again, I’d love to work with him!

-Bryce