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An Interview with Felipe Jorge, Director of The Comic Book Palace

by Mike Haberfelner

July 2014

Films directed by Felipe Jorge on (re)Search my Trash

 

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Your new movie The Comic Book Palace - in a few words, what is it about?

 

The Comic Book Palace is an observational documentary about a local comic book store that has survived business for over twenty years in the same location. Follow Glenn, the owner and operator, as he manages his store and talks comics with his loyal clientele.

 

How did the project come into being to begin with, and are you a regular at the titular store?

 

This project was born out of frustration! I was at work thinking about making a project, like, a real project. I’ve made plenty of music videos for local rappers but that got really repetitive very fast and since I am a filmmaker I felt like I needed to make a film, I needed something that I can call my own, something that I would be in control of.

Honestly speaking I was not a regular at the store; I barely stopped by even though I only lived a few minutes away, but once inside the store it’s hard not to not want to buy a comic book.

 

Making a movie like The Comic Book Palace does suggest you are not totally impartial to comic books as such - am I at all right in that assumption, and would you care to elaborate?

 

I totally admit that I know Jack-shit about comic books, other than the fact that they have great artwork and great stories. I don’t know that much about the artists except for the well-known ones, like, Alex Ross and Jim Lee, etc. As far as writers? You got me there. I do read The Walking Dead and I thought The Lone Ranger series from Dynamite Comics was fantastic, better than that Lone Ranger movie from Disney, that comic was serious. But all in all, the guys at the store are WAY above my knowledge, but that didn’t matter, the documentary was about the people and their love of comics. The comics were the “tits & ass” of the documentary.

 

You shot the movie with literally no crew - where were the challenges but maybe also advantages of that?

 

No crew is a challenge depending on what you're doing. Something like this, the size of the store, and the hours I had to endure capturing everything really wouldn’t have worked with a crew. It was very hard because it was just me. All I had was my Canon T2i, directional Rode Mic, camera batteries, and a couple SD cards. I had to make sure the camera batteries were charged, which sometimes they weren’t, and that was annoying because I only had a single battery charger at the time. I had to make sure the Rode Mic was on, which one time I forgot to turn on after a regular customer gave a 30 minute interview in front of me; that was embarrassing, and dear old Glenn gave me some nice shit about it, jokingly. The other thing is only having one camera! I wish I had another camera while making this, at least a stationary camera that I could’ve set-up, but no. I had to place the camera on shelves, on top of comic book piles, counter tops, you name it. I wanted this to look like there was more than one camera so I had to hustle around the store all the time.

 

The other challenge you face when making a project is yourself. While filming I kept telling myself that this has to be made no matter what, no matter who was talking crap about it, no matter who thought I didn’t know what I was doing, etc. I knew that I was making something with my own equipment and my own time so I really didn’t care who thought this was going to look stupid because those people that criticize things like this will ALWAYS have a rebuttal as to why they can’t do it.

Making this documentary was my own personal film school that didn’t cost me anything except my time. I had to be a fly on the wall in that store, it wouldn’t have worked if I stayed put on a tripod - boring! I had to be free and move around a lot. All those conversations were shot with one camera and then edited heavily to try and make it seem like there were more than one camera. I had that in my head the whole time, “don’t make this look like you had one camera, move around”. There are times when I broke the 180 degree rule, but fuck it, this was my project, and I wasn’t making a movie. I was capturing real life.

 

Glenn O'Leary

What was your collaboration with store owner Glenn O'Leary and several of his regulars who appear throughout like during the shoot? And do talk about the shoot as such for a bit!

 

The best thing Glenn told me when I approached him about the documentary was, “Do what you want!” The craziest thing while making this doc was that the regulars didn’t mind the camera at all, it was weird because I thought people were going to look into the camera all the time and make faces like middle school kids, but they were real pros, it was like I wasn’t there and that felt great. There was no acting and no playing up to the camera; these guys are like this for real!

 

Glenn was always a treat to get on camera but my personal favorite was Davey, he was always a bag of fun, his gruff voice and youthful demeanor always made me have the camera ready to REC as soon as I saw him approaching the store.

Corey and Glenn were always good to get together on screen, they would have nice debates and discussions about certain authors *cough* Grant Morrison. I honestly don’t know what the big deal is about Grant, but Glenn has it out for him, big time!

There were times when I wasn’t recording and just reading some trade paper backs of The Walking Dead, sometimes I was just chatting it up with the guys at the store, or sometimes I was just plain tired and took breaks. When you work a full time job and then after that you go record guys for a few hours it makes you really tired, you feel like just saying “fuck it!” but I know that this was going be pretty good after it was completed, it’s cool to like comic books now, for some reason, so I knew people would enjoy it.

 

What can you tell us about critical and audience reception of your movie so far, and any idea when and where the film will be released onto the general public?

 

Corey Turner, Glenn O'Leary

The general reaction was great! I had a premiere screening at a local AMC. Glenn sold the tickets at his store so we raised the money to rent out theater by pre-selling the tickets there, and then people who showed up to the screening that night were able to buy tickets at a table we set-up. Mostly everyone that showed up were from Glenn’s side, I tried to get people from my side to show up by sending text messages and posting flyers around town but in my neighborhood comic books are not that gangster. I only had a few people I knew show up, but it didn’t matter to me, that was MY movie and people DID show up and they LOVED it! The people that know me in my area of town and blew off my doc missed out on something great; the people that showed got a great show! One person thought I was going to be rich and famous and was all smiles and asking me questions, like “So how much money do you think you’ll make if someone buys this?” and “You’re really talented!” YADDA-YADDA-YADDA, I’m not even in Hollywood and already they’re coming out, was my thought about that.

I felt like a real big time for one night and really wish I had a real career in filmmaking because it was fun making that documentary! The thing that sucked was knowing I had to go back to my job the following day so I can work and pay my bills. I like my job because it provides a roof over my head, but I love filmmaking because it is what I want to do for life, no matter if I’m Hollywood or indie, I don’t give a shit, I WANT IN!

I hope I can get this out to the general public; it’s on VHX, that’s a place where you can download movies by purchasing them, so I guess that’s a start. I would LOVE to get this on Netflix because that would just put it right in people’s faces. No offense, but if Bong of the Dead can get on Netflix, then…

One very cool thing is that I’m screening this at the 2014 Boston Comic-Con on Friday, August 8th at 6 PM. I’m really looking forward to the crowd reaction; Comic-cons are the real deal for these kinds of things and there will lots people there! I’ll be selling DVDs there as well!

 

Felipe Jorge, Glenn O'Leary, Corey Turner

Any future projects you'd like to share?

 

I made a short horror film after my documentary, but that was for a contest, it’s called Mandible. I am saving up for a brand new camera because I really need an upgrade. That BlackMagic Pocket is on sale for $500, so once I get that I think I’m going to make another documentary or an actual narrative movie. I am working on other people’s movies, I’m editing one for Chris Esper [Chris Esper interview - click here] called Please Punish Me and I am a cinematographer on another movie called This Time Each Year, but nothing of my own for now, I’m just trying to get my name out there and get some more work.

 

What got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on the subject?

 

I’ve always been an avid movie watcher! I love going to the movies and staying home and watching the same movies over and over! I’ve always wanted to go to film school but sometimes you don’t realize what you should’ve done with your life until much later in your life.

I started out doing local rap videos because the rap videos I’ve seen on YouTube from the local guys were bland and boring and just not good. I know that’s a douche thing to say but it’s true. I figured I can add something that those other videos didn’t have. David Fincher is my main inspiration for music video because he added a cinematic experience to his music videos, now music videos are ALL the same; shaky camera and editing that can give you a seizure.

The only real training I had was just watching a lot of movies, listening to commentaries, podcasts, and just making short, little movies. I read Robert Rodriguez’s book Rebel without a Crew, and that started the engine, but I didn’t step on the gas until I got my own camera. I taught myself how to edit and used YouTube as a reference for learning how to use Sony Vegas, which is what I edited the entire documentary on. So no, I didn’t go to film school but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be a filmmaker! If you can afford to go to film school go on ahead but if you don’t have the money, use that money that you would for school to fund your own film and go through your own personal film school.

 

What can you tell us about your filmwork prior to The Comic Book Palace?

 

I have a YouTube account: M2MFilms, and there you will see most of my film work. I don’t have much of a resume on IMDb but I have a resume. I do like to act sometimes; I was an extra on The Equalizer and actually walked right next to Denzel Washington a few times. I was an extra on an NBC pilot, The Odyssey; I played a uniform cop in the background.

 

How would you describe yourself as a director?

 

The only person I can think of is Robert Rodriguez. I know he’s not the greatest filmmaker but to me he’s someone who just used what he had around him, he knew how to make it happen, he wasn’t afraid of problems because there was always a way around it. Reading his book and then listening to his commentaries, they’re very informative, and inspiring in ways. So to describe myself as a director the best way I can, I think I would call myself a “finger painting” type of director. I hope that helps that’s the best thing I can think of.

 

Filmmakers who inspire you?

 

Any filmmaker that gets their movie made, good, bad, or ugly, inspires me. It’s tough to make a movie. But as far as actual people, David Fincher, I love! I wrote an art history paper one time comparing Rembrandt to David Fincher because Fincher has that dark, moody lighting and his inserts are awesome! Hitchcock, Richard Donner, Kubrick, Spielberg, Ridley and Tony Scott, Paul Thomas Anderson, Tarantino, Nolan, Kevin Smith; It can go on and on. I’ll admit that I’m not familiar with a lot of foreign directors but I do watch a lot foreign movies because they have more weighty issues. Mother and The Hunt are both fabulous movies, The Hunt especially because of the issue of the movie and it stars Mads Mikkelson.

 

Your favourite movies?

 

To me there is no such thing, but to be fair I’ll name a few…

Boogie Nights, Alien, Aliens, Bound, Tango and Cash (because that movie rocks!), The Godfather, Fight Club, Glory, Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, They Live, Rocky, Jaws, Groundhog Day, The Crow, The Color of Money, Black Rain, Robocop, T2, Three Amigos, Night of the Living Dead (Romero), Dawn of the Dead (Romero), and The Game.

Those are just to name a few!

 

... and of course, films you really deplore?

 

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USA  amazon.com

Great Britain (a.k.a. the United Kingdom)  amazon.co.uk

Germany (East AND West)  amazon.de

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Something naughty?
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x-rated  find Felipe Jorge at adultvideouniverse.com

I love shitty movies! I watch them all the time! But I’ll name some too…

No Holds Barred, Over the Top, Teen Wolf Too, The Ghost of Mars, Friday the 13th (remake), Robocop 3, Superman 4, Beverly Hills Cop 3, and Seed of Chucky.

 

Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?

 

https://felipejorge.squarespace.com/home/

https://www.facebook.com/felipejorgedirector

https://www.facebook.com/ComicBookPalaceTheDocumentary

 

Anything else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?

 

To anyone out there, please, please purchase copy from VHX! It’s only $7.00; you’ll spend more money buying a bag of shitty weed or some snacks or whatever.

$7.00 for a short, nice documentary is pretty good - http://thecomicbookpalace.vhx.tv/

 

Thanks for the interview!

 

© by Mike Haberfelner


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Thanks for watching !!!



 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
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