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| REBECCA BAGLEY COOK: Director of The Chester Story |
by Chris Parry
If you weren't born in New York or Los Angeles, getting a feature film made can seem like the toughest thing in the world. Kids from Wichita to Wollongong have looked at mom's home video camera and allowed themselves the faint "what if" dream, but most snap out of it, go back to work at the Frost-E-Freeze, and wonder why the movies they keep seeing at the Multiplex are so darn terrible. Rebecca Cook never got so far as the 'reality snap'. She spied that camera and just went for it, and today she's riding the wave of her latest indie feature, The Chester Story. As her flick snakes its way across North America, we yukked it up with Becs on everything from Satan to sexism.
CP: Where did you come from? What brought those feelings of "I want to make films" into your head? And what did your folks say when you told them this would be your life path?
RC: I grew up in South Jersey, and moved outside Boston my senior year of high school. Rather than there being any succinct and clear thought that I had to make films, it was more a subconscious drawing to the new video camera my mother bought one summer. Combine curiousity about the camera, with the fact that I was becoming a writer and actor, and the three things seemed to fit together naturally. It was the same summer I became addicted to soap operas, which means my first inspiration for a film was quite dramatic. Everything ended with somebody dying or changing personalities.
I don't think the reality of my dreams took shape for my parents until I was given an internship at Disney and asked for help to fly across country after graduation. With some skepticism and a distinct preference for graduate school, my parents still afforded me the opportunity and shipped a car to California to await my arrival, along with paying my rent for three months!
CP: So begrudging yet awesome parental support was the order of the day. And what has been the course of your filmmaking career since then? What was the first film you made... you know, the one you don't mention anymore... and what was the progression from there?
RC: Funny you should ask about the films I don't mention anymore. The strange part is that while they're not mentioned as often, I still have great love and pride for them because they were part of my learning curve, and if I don't say so myself, I think they were quite good for a filmmaker with no formal training. In 1998 I raised money and shot my first film - which I wrote, directed and produced with a family friend, who also happens to be a producer, called Nipply Ray. I believe it still plays on http://www.01films.com. Nipply Ray is dark and strange, and I love it its tangible New York sensitiblity and that its odd and artistic.
The next film I did was shot for a measly, teeny amount of money on Digi-Beta. The Gypsy Years was treated with the film look, and the medium we shot it on has made it difficult to sell. I love this film as well, so while I don't speak about them very often anymore, there is no love lost between us.
CP: You went cross country to find your filmic fortune, but is it possible to be a legitimate filmmaker without leaving your hometown?
RC: Yes, I think that, if you can raise the money, hire an intelligent producer, be a self starter, and be determined to connect with people via email and phone, send out those reels, promote your film, travel when necessary - sure, you can do it from your hometown. As long as you are creating a product, it doesn't much matter where you shoot it and edit it as long as you have strong counterparts and team players, and as long as you are determined to send it and screen for people who live everywhere else! Namely, Hollywood and New York...
CP: Okay, you earned a plug. Tell us a little about The Chester Story. Or a lot. Either way.
RC: The Chester Story is my first "real" film. The quality of crew, the locations, the environment, shooting on 35mm, and then selling it, determined a new sort of experience for me - that of the independent filmmaker who sees she may have a shot at doing it again! The film is set in a small southern town, and tells a story about people inadvertantly finding each other and simultaneously needing each other, through the unexpected collision of fate (and literal collision of a car accident).
It's meant to inspire the theory that while life may at times be traumatizing and we may suffer loss, there can be hidden gifts within these experiences, if you look a little bit closer.
CP: Women in the film industry - are they where they need to be, or is there still a little of the old 'boys club' about the biz?
RC: There's a little boys club, although I can see emerging progress, and that is very exciting. I am working with a woman producer on my next film and met with more than one for that job. I also am encouraged by the number of female executives, and it seems that the contingency of female directors is growing - I think that is perhaps where the least amount of women tally up.
CP: You did an internship at Disney... be honest, did you ever see Satan hanging around the office?
RC: Not satan, but they did have a very strange rule that all production companies keep their office doors shut. If competition is that brutal within the walls of Disney, well, imagine what it must be like between studios. This was a long time ago, but I do remember the silence of the building. A hulking mass of movie making machinery in a very silent day-to-day environment.
The scariest moment was delivering a package to the executives in the main building. somehow even the moneymakers for Disney must have sound proof walls - you could hear a pin drop.
CP: The scriptwriting process - how long did The Chester Story take to write, and if you had to do it all over again, what would you have done differently?
RC: The only thing I'd do differently would be to 'show it' more than 'say it' - a hard lesson to learn as a young writer/director! I began the script the year I graduated college and never stopped rewriting it until the day picture was locked in 2002!
CP: The festival circuit - what are your thoughts? Grueling? A great chance to mix with other filmmakers? Lonely? Political? What festival has really impressed you with he way they treat filmmakers, if any?
CP: Did you read my mind? I think the waiting to get into the festivals is more grueling than anything. I don't think festivals are the be all end all - with Chester Story we only submitted to a handful. Once we sold the film we let the dreams of Sundance die and focused on getting the word out about the project. I think festivals can offer a chance to the unknown filmmaker but that the reality of competing in the high profile festivals is very, very difficult. I don't know, though, ask me in a year, hopefully this next film does all the fancy dancing and makes the rounds - it is inevitable that a filmmaker wishes for it.
CP: Fess up now... When The Chester Story goes huge and Universal offers you fat cash to direct for them, on the proviso that the film stars Martin Lawrence and Adam Sandler, you're going to totally sell-out and take the gig... right?
RC: Hahaha! I wish Chester would get that big, but I don't think our distributor's game plan measures up to the hype Universal would need to take notice of me! I think mine will be a slower ascent to stardom, and until then, I'll keep reaching for it and pretend it doesn't bother me that it takes so long!
I think selling out is relative - if the opportunity is good, and you need the money because it gives you a chance to nurture your pet project for your next time out of the gate - why not? If you're going to sell out, though, I say just prove you can be a genius even if the script and casting is shlock!
CP: So what's up next for you? Plug away, soldier!
RC: We're finalizing our deal with cast, but Ali Larter, Adam Pascal and Trudie Styler are attached to my next film, Shooting Livien, which we are shooting this fall in New York. Aimee Schoof and Isen Robbins of Intrinsic Value are producing it with us. The film is dark and edgy and deals with a musician who suffers an unbearable likeness to his hero, John Lennon, and just how far this likeness takes him mentally, musically, and professionally. This one has potential to make some funky, indie waves, so keep your eye out for it - I could use some fans to herald its arrival!
The Chester Story is due for release shortly in Boston and several other cities - keep an eye out as it does the rounds near you. For more information, take a jump over to http://www.velveteenfilms.com
link directly to this feature at http://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/feature.php?feature=792
originally posted: 09/17/03 02:55:41
last updated: 12/30/03 15:45:18
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