Interview about Indie Film Project SHADY VALLEY

Through Twitter I learned about a new indie film project in South Africa called Shady Valley, so I interviewed the film’s writer/director, Tyron Janse Van Vuuren.

TG: What’s your project called, and what’s it about?

Tyron Janse Van Vuuren: Our project is called Shady Valley, and its about a geeky kid who discovers that his made-up karate moves can slay demons.

TG: What inspired you to undertake this project?

TJVV: I am inspired by the talented people around me.  For me, a film project is a way to bring my creative friends together and let them shine.

TG: Tell me more about the main people involved.

TJVV: The Shady Valley team is made up entirely of friends and family. This really helps when you’re making a film with limited resources, because we’re motivated by more than just a paycheck!

(NOTE: You can check out the team by clicking HERE.)

TG: You’ve said you think you’ve got “a pretty irreverent take on a horror concept.” What do you mean by that?

TJVV: Traditionally, fighting the forces of darkness is something that should be taken seriously.  Even Buffy had a “calling” to fight vampires. But our hero stumbles onto his ability to slay demons, then spends the whole film trying to get someone to see how cool his made-up karate moves are.

TG: How did you come up with the karate concept?

TJVV: The script started out as a very serious horror movie set in the afterlife, and I was struggling to get it to work. At the point of giving up, I tried adding karate. And suddenly the whole story came to life because it was so funny. Also my dad is a black belt, so karate was always a part of my childhood.

Tyron Janse Van Vuuren

 

TG: How are you moving forward with this project as you pursue the “indie” approach?

TJVV: As new filmmakers, we need to have a good example of what our movie will look like to get potential investors excited. We are raising finance for our three-minute pilot with crowd funding so that we can make it our way—after that, we will use the pilot to pitch the project to anyone who is interested.

TG: When do you expect to reach your financial goal for the pilot, and when will you begin production?

TJVV: Our campaign to raise finance for our three-minute pilot runs until July 7. We’re planning to shoot the pilot at the end of September.

TG: How will you move forward after that?

TJVV: Once we have a kick-ass pilot video, we will shop it around and begin as soon as we have finance.

TG: Will Shady Valley be released to theaters or straight to DVD, or both? Worldwide, or South Africa only?

TJVV: The film will have a worldwide theatrical release. Watch for our announcements!

TG: What can my blog readers do to help?

TJVV: Join our team! There are super-cool perks for getting involved! 

To find out more about this exciting indie project, click HERE.

Let's Work Together: Part Five

This is a very long blog entry, in six parts, about how indie writers, musicians, and film people need to work together and support each other. (Scroll down to see Parts One though Four.)

Part Five: Don’t Be a “Flame Pisser”

Perhaps because the Powers in the film industry are even more monolithic and foreboding than those in the book industry, the Indie option has been available and successful for much longer than other anti-paternalistic choices.

So there’s less room for change. But I include the film industry here because I see so many screenwriters on Twitter who are working with and encouraging each other, through vehicles such as Twitter’s #Scriptchat.

That’s great, and it brings me to what #Scriptchat co-founder Jeanne Veillette Bowerman calls “flame pissers.”

Last week in a Script Magazine column, Bowman said the following: “Above all, do not ever allow someone to piss on your flame. . . . If someone in your life drains your energy, causes you to doubt yourself, or takes too much of your time from your work and passion, [don’t allow the flame pisser] to sabotage you. This is your journey. Own it. Take control of it. Don’t let someone else drive your career (Jeanne Veillette Bowerman, “Balls of Steel: How to Grow a Set,” Script, April 29, 2011, http://www.scriptmag.com/2011/04/29/balls-of-steel-how-to-grow-a-set).

When I went to leave a comment on YouTube for the first rap/hiphop video I was asked to look at, I saw a lot of really nasty remarks. REALLY nasty. The people making them seemed totally invested in destroying the artists who had made the video.

You see these people everywhere there’s a “comment space” on the Internet. “Flame pissers.”

I try not to let the flame pissers into my life. But sometimes it’s unavoidable.

Just last week I received an unnecessarily nasty email from a literary agent to whom I’d pitched something. It was a brutal rejection and I cried for two days.

Now, this person might simply have said, “This is not what I’m looking for, but I wish you luck elsewhere”—a response that might be tepid and unoriginal and discouraging, but that at least is civil.

But instead, this person went into “flame pisser” mode—and seemed to enjoy doing so, just like the YouTube commenters.

The flame pissers are out there, lurking.

And we need to support each other against them.

Next: A Call to Action