Dec 1, 2007
Filmcamp
Indie film draws local talent
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by FRAN SIKORSKI
Before well known Hollywood film companies began coming to Connecticut (thanks to new tax incentives), independent filmmakers were turning out films on shoestring budgets and entering them in film festivals all over the world.
The birth of one independent film,
Filmcamp, a comedy, began in 2000 in an introduction to screenwriting class at Norwalk Community College. The class was led by documentary filmmaker Garret Maynard of Stratford, who has produced three award-winning films and was nominated for an Emmy in 2004 for cinematography. He has taught screen writing at Yale, Wesleyan and Sacred Heart Universities. After attending the UCLA School of Film and Television and the USC School of Cinema and Television. Garret Maynard said during an interview he returned to Connecticut to establish a literary agency and production company.
Enrolled in Garret Maynard’s screenwriting course at Norwalk Community College was Joanne Powell of New Canaan, who has had a 20-year career in consumer packaged goods advertising and marketing and had a story idea she wanted to develop.
“I had a script, Garret liked the story and we co-wrote the screenplay, and became partners in Nutmeg Pictures, a Connecticut-based production company. He became director of Filmcamp, with Mike Mulcey as assistant director,“ said Ms. Powell during a phone interview.
“In 2002, as co-producers with complementary marketing skills, we were ready for auditions and placed advertisements in the Hersam Acorn Newspapers and Back Stage, a New York theater trade newspaper in order to select a cast. The response was very good with actors coming from as far away as 100 miles.
“We realized that Hollywood is set up to say ‘no,’ when you submit a screenplay, and we decided we could do it ourselves,” said Ms. Powell. “We knew people who could help us with the high definition video format, which gives us more possible channels to enter film festivals and market the film. On-location sites were residences in and around New Canaan, the Roger Sherman Inn, and Avon Film Center in Stamford.”
Filmcamp is the story of a B-movie director who is accused of financial irresponsibility by his corrupt producer and “reassigned” to work at “Short Reels Film Camp” in rural Connecticut with out-of-control campers who want to be the next Stephen Spielberg.
In the principal role of Ted Putterbaugh, a B-movie director, is Gideon Fountain of Greenwich, who studied theater with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York. His famous film grandparents, John Gilbert and Leatrice Joy were among the popular stars of the silver screen in the 1920s and 1930s.
Preferring to write and perform stand-up comedy, Gideon Fountain said his first film with a lead role was a comedy called
Firehouse, and it was also the first film for a young actress named Julia Roberts, who had a bit part.
“Julia Roberts went on to do
Mystic Pizza, and the rest is Hollywood history. I did an independent film,
Peering From the Moon filmed in Manhattan, San Francisco, but I didn’t get to go to China” where part of
Peering was filmed, said the actor, a member of AFTRA. He is also a Realtor in Greenwich.
Also answering advertisements for auditions in Hersam Acorn Newspapers were Dr. Elihu “Lou” Rosen, a chiropractor with offices in Wilton, and actor/director and producer Lester Colodny of Weston.
Dr. Rosen said he enjoyed acting in school plays and at summer camp and did summer stock at SUNY in New Paltz playing Humphrey Bogart in
Play it Again Sam opposite John Turturro.
Lou Rosen said he also did stand up comedy in Chicago for several years and writes his own material. He has been in stage productions at the Wilton Playshop and has also taken a film and television course in New York City, and attends audition when time permits.
“I find acting, in reality, is an insane business. You have to be wealthy or retired to get into acting and I prefer to devote my time to my practice,” he said.
Nevertheless, he had fun with his role in
Filmcamp: “I play a theater usher and have lines in
Filmcamp and enjoyed the experience.
“I didn’t accept any money to do the film, but told the producers they could feed me — and the food was very good,” said Dr. Rosen.
Making a one-day cameo appearance in
Filmcamp was a “thrilling experience” for 82-year-old actor, director, and producer Lester Colodny, who will direct
The Sunshine Boys at the Ridgefield Theater Barn in February.
“I’m writing a memor of my life titled ‘A Funny Thing Happened...’” said Mr. Colodny, who has worked with Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, and other greats of the past, and enjoyed being part of the independent film and seeing the potential of the featurred child actors.
The cast of
Filmcamp, which is billed as “The cutest movie ever made about filmmaking,” also includes Patricia Sanger Cook of New Canaan; Shanti-Smith Mensah of Greenwich; and Amy Rose Taylor, Aaron Fili, Krissy Dorn, Joe Silvio, Rocco Stefani, and Hanna Hayes. Child actors are Mikie Baldarelli, Evan Gambardella, Kate Washuk, Josie Andrews, Katherine Evans, Alia Miller, Joseph Cordaro and Anthony Cuomo. “Archie the Dog,” an English Bulldog who lives in New Canaan with Patricia Sanger Cook, appears as himself.
Set design for
Filmcamp is by Gilroy Hain; wardrobe by Callie Talbot; makeup by Linda Hurst; sound by Marty G. Lang and Mike Mulcey. Music was composed by Marshall Toppo.
To see trailers for this film and read more about its creation, visit nutmegpictures.com.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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