“It’s
not about money. It’s about sending a message.”
-the
Joker (The Dark Knight, 2008)
First
order of business, the teaser trailer for my fan film Batman: Gag Order is now on youtube. Not only did I write and
produce the film but I also play Batman AND the Joker. I filmed the interior
shots in Pearson 2140 so Iowa State played an integral part. You can see the
trailer at this link:
This has
been a long journey. Gag Order has
been in production since July and I’m just now releasing footage. In fact, this
film was supposed to close my senior seminar film festival showcase.
Unfortunately, it was so far from done that I decided to preview the film
instead but even that didn’t happen. I suppose that I’ve taken the title, “Gag
Order,” a bit too literal. Well, let’s lift that order right now.
The
film has a lot of value to me. It’s my reaction to the Aurora, CO shooting and
a love letter to the men and women in law enforcement all over the country like
my father, who is an Urbandale police officer. The message is that there are no
superheroes, but real-life heroes within law enforcement. Through my love of
Batman and my passion for film, I’ve done my best to craft a piece that is
respectful and unlikely to spark debate as I do not take a stance on issues
like gun control or capital punishment.
The
film cost me roughly $20,000 and it’s because of this that all of my films
shown at the festival were made for next-to-nothing. But as the above quote
states, “It’s not about money. It’s about sending a message.”
Now you
may be wondering why I’m spending so much time plugging this rather than
dishing out the details on the latest developments of my internship. Well,
let’s just say that this trailer has lead to even more opportunities.
After
accidentally sending Tim Sullivan the link for an earlier version of the
trailer that I had deleted, I sent the correct link and this is what he had to
say.
Subject:
HOLY HAYDON!
TEAM T!
I must
say- we are one bunch of talented creative motherf*****s!
And in
this regard- I MUST share with everyone- the trailer I just watched for our
team member Stephen’s new fan film DARK KNIGHT GAG ORDER…
In
which—
Stephen
not only plays Batman- he also plays the joker! And he writes- and he directs-
and he hangs upside down! lol
I am
STUNNED- just STUNNED by this!
JESUS
STEPHEN!
I WANT
TO BE IN ONE OF YOUR MOVIES! PLEEEEASE!
CHECK
IT OUT EVERYBODY!
Tim
This is
the email he sent to the entire team but his personal message to me is listed
below:
DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am stunned beyond words-
NOTHING you have done has prepared me for this.
It has always been my fantasy to be Batman AND/OR The Joker- and
you did both!
You are one f***ing talented motherf****r. I mean REALLY!
Can you BE any cooler?
I am jealous and envious and I want to be in one of your fan
films!
EPIC!
Son- with a GREAT script and this film in your back pocket- plus
your connections and POET IMDB credit- YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT HUGE IN
HOLLYWOOD!
YOU are gonna be the next of the JJ ABRAMS and the JOSS WHEDONS
and the CHRIS NOLANS and MATT VAUGHN! !
What you have accomplished so young and with so little in F***ING
IOWA!
As another Joker once said-
Sorta
“Just wait till Hollywood gets a load out of you!”
MAN !
I am PUMPED for you!
I
smiled so hard when I read this that I may have cracked one of my ribs…but the
pain was easily overshadowed by my joy.
I
followed up with Tim via phone call on Sunday, March 17, in which he gave me
much praise, asked a lot of questions, and gave me some sound advice for when I
move out to LA which could possibly lead to me helming a comic book feature
down the line.
The
biggest news, however, is that the entire team was so impressed with the
trailer that when I come out to LA in April to film promos for the show, the
show’s star wants to film an intro where he interviews me that he can post on
his facebook wall to garner the attention of his 12,000 facebook fans.
Okay,
okay. Enough about Batman and ego boosting. When we last left off, I hinted
about work I was doing for Adam Rifkin. For those of you unfamiliar with Adam,
his filmography can be found here:
On
February 28, Tim shot me an email asking if I wanted to make a good first
impression with Adam Rifkin and earn a hundred bucks. The money was just an
added bonus. The real target was getting in good with Adam. Back when I signed
the contract for The Poet in Exile,
Tim told me about a film he was producing that I might be interested in. The film,
and I’m not sure if I can reveal the title right now, is a Burt Reynolds film
that’s sure to bring him back to the Oscar spotlight. The icing on the cake,
however, is that Gore Verbinski (Director of Pirates of the Caribbean, The
Lone Ranger, and Rango) is
producing the film.
I
jumped at the opportunity without realizing how hard the work would be. Adam’s
new film, Reality Show, a darker and
condensed version of the Showtime television series, was about to make its
premiere on opening night at South by Southwest opposite Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing. Now this is
pretty high-profile stuff but the film needed assurance to find a distributor. Now
you might be curious as to why I was doing this work. Doesn’t Adam have a
manager or agent that should be doing this? Or at the very least a personal
assistant? Adam’s agent, in fact, refused to do this because his job was done
and calling all of these companies wouldn’t be worth his time seeing that he
wouldn’t have anything to gain. Adam called Tim knowing that he had a team
working on his social networking experiment and asked for his best man. Tim
then referred him to me.
Now it
was my job to contact 24 different film companies, find out the identity of the
head of acquisitions of each place, and obtain their email address so that Adam
could send out personal email invitations for the premiere. It was Friday,
March 1, when I received the list of companies, at around noon, and I had to
call 24 different places on the east and west coast. I had to get all of the
emails by Monday afternoon.
Number
one on the list was the Weinstein Company. I got started immediately but I must
admit that I got discouraged rather quickly. These people I was contacting
weren’t in the film industry for the art. They strictly saw it as a business.
These are people who aren’t interested in the director’s message but rather whether
or not the film will garner them extra dough. I’d heard horror stories from
Kevin Smith about Harvey and Bob Weinstein and how they were money grubbing mongrels
who often cheated filmmakers out of their paychecks. Research the lawsuit
regarding Clerks II and you’ll see
what I mean. Granted, I wouldn’t be talking to Harvey or Bob personally. They’re
the heads of the company after all. I found that most places wouldn’t let me
past the receptionist without a specific name so after a few failed calls, I
went back to the drawing board and did extensive research online to find out
those in charge of acquisitions.
Since
this was Friday, most all of these businesses would be closed until Monday. I
did my homework and come Monday morning at 7am sharp, I started calling the
companies on the east coast and come 11am, I started calling the west coast.
Given the amount of research I had to do and the rings I had to jump through to
get a hold of these people, I did roughly twelve hours of work for a hundred
bucks.
There
were two caveats in the list I compiled unfortunately. As I stated in my email
to Adam:
The only two I haven't yet
found are Michael Schaeffer with Summit (he was laid off about a year ago) and
Ben Stambler with THINKFILM. They moved offices and have yet to return my call.
I left a message for
THINKFilm several hours ago at this number (***-***-****) and still have yet to
hear from them. There is no receptionist or operator. It just goes straight to
voicemail. They filed for Chapter 11 back in 2010 and all other information
online is out of date.
As for Summit, Lionsgate
acquired them last January and laid off over 80 employees. All information for
them online is also outdated as Brian Schaefer, head of acquisitions, was among
the people let go. I've tried calling this number numerous times (***-***-****)
and the receptionist won't let me through without a specific name and refuses
to divulge information otherwise.
Adam
called me immediately after I sent him the list. At first, he sounded kind of
cold but he did express his gratitude at the end of the conversation.
When
Tim contacted me on March 14, he told me that Adam’s film found a distributor
and that Gore Verbinski found full funding for the Burt Reynolds film.
Looks
like things are moving forward.
“I
spent my whole life searching for a good death. This…this will be a good life.
Good enough.”
-Batman
(The Dark Knight Returns Part 2, 2013)
