Austin filmmaker Ben Foster is on his way to Colorado for the world premiere of his debut feature, STRINGS, at Breckenridge Film Festival this weekend.
STRINGS tells the story of a troubled musician who seeks out an experimental therapist to turn his life around. When the therapist calls for him to leave everything behind and take on a new identity, the musician realizes his new life isn't what it seems and his therapist is manipulating patients to commit vigilante crimes.
Foster, who comes from a family of filmmakers and musicians, began experimenting with cameras in early childhood. At 15, he enrolled in the Austin School of Film where he honed his editing skills on music videos for artists such as Bob Schneider, Del Castillo, and Band of Heathens.
A graduate of St. Michael's Catholic Academy in Westlake, Foster attended the University of Texas at Austin where he teamed up with fellow writer/director Mark Dennis on several short films.
"When we screened our solo projects for the class, Ben's films always stood out because they seemed like real Hollywood movies,” said Dennis. “They had great production value, clever camerawork, and incredibly slick editing.”
“I hated him for it" laughs Dennis, "but he was definitely the person to be working with."
GREW UP WITH A MOVIE CAMERA IN HIS HAND
Foster and Dennis collaborated and honed their skills on several short films, most notably “The Alternate” and “Billy the Squid.”
Foster practically grew up with a movie camera in his hand.
“My parents tell me I was born the day after ‘Ghostbusters’ came out,” recalls Foster. “When I was just months old, they had me in a car seat in a Volkswagen bus parked sideways with the doors open at a local drive in theater watching that movie.”
“Their enthusiasm for movies rubbed off and my father would encourage it by playing with Ghostbusters action figures and teaching me how to use his video camera.”
“Living in Austin was so encouraging to learning more about shooting film,” Foster explains. “In high school I developed a presence for being the go to guy for working on video projects.”
“I would take the lead and other students seemed to want to work on my projects,” remarks Foster. “Well, let’s just say we received all A’s and that was great positive reinforcement.”
Foster attributes the creative world of movie making in Austin as being a friendly, receptive, and encouraging environment to learn in.
SURROUNDED WITH ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE CITY
“Mike Judge, Richard Linkletter, Robert Rodriguez and others were influencers locally,” he said. “I was surrounded with encouragement from the city and at the Austin School of Film.”
“If it wasn’t for the open receptiveness of Austin and the kind people who live there, STRINGS could not have been made,” proclaims Foster.
After graduation, the filmmaking duo shared directing and producing duties on STRINGS, the independent dramatic thriller written by Dennis that was filmed in Austin, San Antonio, and New York.
“This was a movie that wanted to be made,” states Foster. “Every struggle, every obstacle, and all the challenges we faced at each point forced Mark into rewrites that made the story even better.”
FAVORITE PART: THE ENDING
Foster says his favorite part of the movie “is the ending.”
“I like the way it turned out at the end,” reflects Foster. “It took some synchronicity to get there, but the end result was worth it.”
Along with Breckenridge, STRINGS is an official selection at the Long Island International Film Expo in July and was just awarded “Best Ensemble” at the San Francisco Best Actors Film Festival.
The Breckenridge Festival of Film was established in 1961 making it one of the oldest festivals in the country. Known for its incredible independent film presence, the 2011 festival runs from Thursday, June 9 to Sunday, June 12.
After Breckenridge, the young filmmakers “are off to Scotland to shoot some external scenes and a trailer for another movie we are working on called RIOT GUN.”
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