Taking the words "Based on a True Story" to a new level
This past Friday, the twelfth annual Brooklyn International Film Festival kicked off with a film called Breaking Upwards. The film was directed by Daryl Wein... And edited… And co-written with Peter Duchan, and Daryl's girlfriend, Zoe Lister-Jones. Who also co-produced, and co-starred in the film with Daryl... And also catered... Oh, and they also wrote most of the music, too. To say this is an independent production would be a bit of an understatement. The movie follows Zoe and Daryl as they strategically plan their break up after several years of co-dependency on one another. Fittingly enough, the story is based on an actual experiment between the co-stars. I caught up with Daryl at the BiFF and here’s what he had to say.
Jonathan Monina: What made you decide to produce this film yourself rather than take the script to a larger production company? Finding distribution would have been much easier that way, no?
Daryl Wein: We decided to produce the film on our own for several reasons. Firstly, it was taking forever through traditional industry avenues. Going through a production company, having someone option it, waiting for them to try and put it together, just takes soooo long. We didn't want to wait. We tried it at first, but it was too slow. We were excited and eager to work. Secondly, keeping it small and maintaining creative control was very important. We made the exact kind of movie we wanted to make. No one ever told us what to do. We didn't have to change anything because of a big executive. We didn't have to cast stars. We didn't have to edit it a certain way. It was ours.
Regarding distribution: yes, it may have been easier to get bigger offers with a name production company on board. But there aren't very many of them anymore, and getting them to do it the right way is another issue. We didn't really have that option. Maybe if we waited another year or two for someone big to bite it would've happened, but again, we didn't want to wait for someone to come around.
JM: In the credits, I noticed several Wein's and Lister's were listed. How much of an impact do friends and family make when producing an independent picture? What roles did they play for your film? Any regrets?
DW: Friends and family are incredibly important when you're making an independent film. They are the ones you count on the most for support. We couldn't have done it with out the generous contributions of so many people. Zoe's Uncle, Bill Lister, kindly invested in the film. We shot in Zoe's mom and dad's apartments in the city. Actually, both our sets of parents have cameos in the movie. And some of our parent's parents. My grandfather has lines! Lots of them, near the end. We also cast friends in the movie. Some were in 5 or 6 scenes as repeated extras. And they helped us on set. They were extremely valuable once we entered post production, as well. We were able to get lots of constructive criticism from them by doing this, which helped to re-shape the movie in the final stages.
In terms of regret, sometimes it puts a lot of strain on a friendship when you work in a professional capacity. You can really jeopardize your relationship with someone if you are not careful. I'm not sure I want to work with too many close friends for this reason. It's scary to think you could lose someone this way. But if you communicate well, don't act too possessive, and leave your ego at the door, it can work. Always working with people you trust is essential.
JM: The style of the film was extremely unique, almost gritty at points. Was this intentional or a result of the small budget?
DW: I don't think it was a result of the small budget. Because you can make something extremely gritty with millions of dollars. Look at the films of Lars Von Trier, Mike Leigh, or the Dardenne Brothers. They have relatively big budgets but their films are gritty. It just depends. It was my intention to make the film feel as genuine and real as possible, but still have it look professionally put together. There is a trend among filmmakers who shoot everything handheld to try to achieve realism. Argh. Show some discipline!
For the small budget we had, we did our best to make the film look as good as we could. It wasn't easy. Sometimes Alex Bergman, our director of photography, only had one person to help set up lights. Other times, it was just him. We used all dolly tracks, steadicam, and tripod. The style I was going for in the film was simple expressionism. We shot in HD, but neither Alex nor myself like the sharpness of video. So we used a mini-35mm lens adapter to get a softer image to achieve some nice depth of field.
Also, I love actors, and I think they are always going to be more interesting than the way you move the camera. I tend to let them do more of the work. You're going to get more out of an actor's eyes, or the emotion they're feeling, if the camera isn't always shaking around, or swooping by on a crane. I do want to use a crane, though! For my next film! They're awesome! I'm not trying to write off camera work, not at all, I just think there is a happy medium. You can do cool things as long as it doesn't take away from the story or the performances. It needs to add to them. Alex Bergman lit the film beautifully, so that added to our natural aesthetic. In addition, we used vibrant color correction to emphasize the heightened emotional state the protagonists were in throughout the experiment they devise.
JM: With the economy in its current state, raising funds for anything is tough. Give me the elevator pitch you gave to your investors.
DW: I think we said something like, "we want to reinvent the classic romantic comedy genre and inject it with new life. Our premise is totally original. It approaches a relationship from a new angle. We want to show a long term couple strategizing their break up, but our couple is going to be a real one. We're going to ask the questions other romantic comedies are afraid to ask. It's gonna be smart, fresh, and universal. Invest!"
JM: Was there anything you wanted to do with this film that you could not because of the budget?
DW: Yes, of course. It would have been awesome to have a bigger crew to help. More lights. A better camera. Someone to cater other than my co-star! All the perks money brings to a film set.
JM: What made you decide to submit the film for the Brooklyn International Film Festival?
DW: Zoe had a film there a few years ago called "Arranged," so we've known about it. It's a cool local fest, and they offered us the Opening Night slot. You can't pass that up. They pick interesting films, and it's well run. Everyone is nice and the party opening night is great. I love to play a film in its hometown.
JM: Larger film festivals such as Sundance and Tribeca often alienate some of the smaller independent films because of the heavy competition. How important are smaller festivals like the BiFF for independent films?
DW: Smaller fests are very important. It's easy to get lost in a big festival just as you're saying. A lot of the bigger film festivals prioritize big films with stars, enormous budgets, or famous filmmakers. Some of the smaller fests might actually have some truly undiscovered masterpieces that don't make it to the top. They're good for that reason, as well.
JM: If you could have recast this film with any two leads (besides you and Zoe), who would it have been?
DW: But our leads are so good! So versatile! :) Yes, I just did a smiley emoticon. Are those cheesy? I don't know...honestly, in a perfect world, two amazing unknowns...
Also, please note the extraordinary amount of “That Guys/Girls” in this film. As in, “Oh, that’s that guy from The Wire.” Or “Hey, isn’t that the woman from My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Ooo, and that chick from The Wackness and Juno!” Just to name a few.
The Brooklyn International Film Festival is currently in full swing and will end on June 14th. To learn more about the festival, visit the website here:
Jonathan graduated from Binghamton University with a BS in finance. He has lived in New York his entire life, where he has worked for a small independent film company, as well as an independent film blog.
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