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Your new movie Garthwaite: A
Film by Ben Kurns - in a few words, what is it about?
On the surface, Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns is the story of a complicated man failing his
way up through life. On a deeper level though, I like to think it's
about the way we look at our history, and how the problems we deal with
today aren't much different than what people dealt with in the
past. And not just political and social issues, but personal ones
like complicated family relationships, identity, and self-worth...
that was probably more than a few words.
What were your sources of inspiration when writing Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns, and what part did the pandemic play in
choosing your subject and approach? Aside from the collection of Ken Burns documentaries and some of our
favorite presidential stories, the main inspiration for me personally is
a movie called Confederate States of America directed by
Kevin Wilmott. It's an amazing journey through a messed up, bizzaro version
of US-history and everyone should watch it. As for the pandemic,
that had absolutely everything to do with our decision to make Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns. We weren't willing to take risks with people's safety, so
the most important thing to figure out was what we could film while
practicing social distancing, and that people would actually want to
watch. The summer before Covid hit we shot a short film in that same Ken
Burns style called Coasters which wound up being the most
well received project we'd made up to that point, so we ultimately
decided to go in that same direction for our first feature. Do talk about your
co-writer and co-director J.G. Murphy [J.G.
Murphy interview - click here], and what was your collaboration
like? J.G. and I met in college while we were both studying acting. We had
done a few performances together, but it wasn't until after graduating
that we started working together as screenwriters and then eventually as
filmmakers. Getting to collaborate with him so often has been one of the
more fulfilling aspects of my career. We've been friends for so long
that we can share a creative space with an incredible amount of respect
and honesty, which I think is essential in an artistic partner. It also
helps that he's an extremely talented cinematographer and editor. A few words about Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns's look and feel? Most of that is taken straight from Ken Burns documentaries. J.G.
really dialed in on the aesthetic in the editing process. Plus we had
our photo-editing team, Lindsey Weed, Ben Froedge, and K.C. Pena (who's
also in the movie) to really sell the look of the historical scenes.
You
actually appear in the film in photographs as the titular character - so
do talk a little about the production of these "vintage"
photographs! That was actually one of the more time consuming parts of
post-production We got a few dozen headshots in one day after tracking
down the right public domain photos and had our editing team put them
together. Normally you'd want to rent wardrobe for that kind of thing,
but we didn't have that kind of money to work with. So we really leaned
on the team's expertise to make the photos look right. What can you tell us about Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns's cast, and why exactly these people? J.G. and I are lucky enough to be friends with some of the coolest
and funniest people on the planet. We're even luckier for the fact that
they really love the stories we want to tell and are willing to work
within our extremely limited budget. Most of them are also people that
have been in our previous work. I'm a really big fan of working within
the same talent pool whenever I can. Knowing what to expect from an
actor is invaluable when you're working with no money and a tight
schedule. From what I know, Garthwaite: A
Film by Ben Kurns was shot during the height of the pandemic with
lockdowns in place and all - so how did you actually direct your actors
remotely, and since many of their lines were improvised, how much guidance
did they have and how much freedom did you grant them? Safety was our top priority during the whole process, which is why we
came up with a story that could be told without ever needing to have
more than one actor on set at a time. Most of the cast were kind enough
to volunteer their homes for locations, which made setups for interviews
so easy that J.G. was the only crew member on set. Meanwhile, I used a
webcam to direct the improvised interview from my home. We gave the cast
a ton of freedom during the shoot. They largely came up with their own
characters and we let the interviews go on for as long as we were all
having fun. Aside from the occasional sound bite we fed them, almost all
of the interview dialogue was improvised. Truth be told we didn't even
start with a traditional script. I wrote a ten page biography about
Garthwaite, and that's what the cast used to come up with their
characters. The actual script came after the fact when we were editing
the ten hours of interview footage we wound up with. The
$64-question of course, where can Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns be seen? We're currently still trying to get
Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns into film festivals, so
it's not yet available to the public. But, if there were enough
interest, we may be willing to skip that step and do the release
ourselves. The trailer however, is on YouTube -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExD0ExA0k6o.
Any other info on the movie can be found on its Instagram page @garthwaite.movie
Anything you can
tell us about audience and critical reception of Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns? The people who've seen Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns so far have enjoyed it and
are really supportive. I think the craziest thing we keep hearing people
say is how often they forget it's not a real documentary. We
haven't been able to get it in front of as many people as we'd like yet,
but we're determined. Going through your
filmography, it seems in your directorial work, you always seem to
gravitate towards the mockumentary genre - in short, why is that? Coasters was the first mockumentary that J.G. and I made
together, and that was originally part of a sketch comedy web series we
shot before the pandemic. I wouldn't say we started out with a specific
interest in mockumentary, but the reception that we've had so far has
kept it in the conversation whenever we're brainstorming
budget-conscious film projects. Any
future projects you'd like to share? Yes, actually! We've started pre-production on another mockumentary
project. This time around we want to do something on conspiracy
theorists, particularly flat earthers. From what I know,
you've entered the filmworld as an actor - so what made you go into
acting, and did you receive any formal training on the subject? I grew up performing in plays and musicals at my school and
community theater. Then I was a Performing Arts major in college and
went to Second City Hollywood afterward to study improv. Of
late you've also stepped behind the camera every now and again - why is
that, and which side of the camera do you actually prefer? Like most people, my acting career has had periods of feast and
famine. I originally started studying screenwriting and filmmaking to
further my acting and comedy career, but since then it's become a
driving force in my life. As far as preference, I'm happiest when I get
to combine my acting and my writing.
What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns, in whatever position? Prior to making
Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns, almost all of my behind-the-camera
experience has been through collaborating with J.G.. Other than that, my
on-set experience is primarily as an actor. How
would you describe yourself as a director? Oh, man. Why is that the hardest question? I guess I'd like to think
I push for the cast and crew to be a big happy family. Film is a
collaborative medium and everyone involved needs to feel like a valued
and respected member of the team if you want things to go well.
Aside from that, making a movie is just really really hard. So if you
and the people you've put your trust into aren't having a good time
while making something awesome, then what's the point? Filmmakers
who inspire you? Judd Apatow, Mel Brooks, George Lucas and Kevin Smith are the first
ones that come to mind. But I try my best to learn something from every
filmmaker whose work I get to see. Your favourite movies? I've seen Star Wars about as many times as every other movie I've
seen, combined. So that one takes the top prize for me. Then there's
Back To The Future, Starship Troopers, The 40 Year Old
Virgin, Clerks,
Blazing Saddles, Super Troopers... I'm gonna stop before this takes up
the whole page. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? I made a few short films with my friends in high school. Those need
to stay dead and buried. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
You can follow Garthwaite:
A Film by Ben Kurns on Instagram: @garthwaite.movie For everything else J.G. and I have made
together, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/@tmkpictures3750/featured
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Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I just want to give another shout-out to the incredible people who
helped put this movie together. I feel like we made something really
special. Thanks for the interview!
Thanks for having me! Let's do it again for the next one.
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