Already turning heads and attracting attention, Tony Colon is the rising star at Herbivore Productions. Initially jumping aboard as a cinematographer, Colon didn’t take long to pull up the director’s chair. Becoming the driving force behind two Herbivore 2011 short films, Colon has brought some light to the independent Chicago film studio.
Enrolling at Northeastern Illinois University with the intent to major in Business Administration, Tony made a slight course alteration along the way.
“After taking one too many accounting and economics courses, I declared Media as a minor to add variety to my schedule. I’m grateful for making that decision because I was exposed to the CMT (communication, media, and theatre) department and discovered my passion for film on an academic level.”
Tony graduated in the fall of 2010 with a Bachelor’s in CMT. The summer prior to his graduation, Colon serendipitously ran into a contemporary student, Rick Gawel, who was looking to enlist a cinematographer for the 2010 Herbivore production, Gless.
“Prior to Herbivore Productions, I had not worked with any film studio. I was focused on my academics and completing my undergraduate studies at the time.”
Impressing Gawel with his die-hard commitment (Tony took on multiple roles, like editor and in the sound department), Tony was given the opportunity to take the reins for a proposed Herbi-short film, titled How Deep is the Rabbit Hole? What began as a small project turned into a big deal; Rabbit Hole was accepted into the “15 Minutes of Fame” Film Festival in Palm Bay, Florida, and also into the 8th Annual Chicago REEL Shorts Film Festival. Meanwhile, Colon stepped up again to write/direct his own short film: You Are What You Eat; showing, once more, his multi-tasking skills.
“I do indeed wear many different hats at Herbivore productions. I believe, at its core, that is very much the Herbivore attitude: simply do it yourself. And that isn’t to discredit the contributions of other collaborators, because in no way is filmmaking an individualistic endeavor.”
With those many hats inevitably come many responsibilities and obstacles.
“As a cinematographer, when considering angles, proxemics, lighting, etc, and developing an eventual shooting list, you have an ideal vision of how the framing of particular shots should look. Unfortunately, upon the arrival of certain locations, the space can easily erase away that idealism. In those instances, you simply cope and choose the most pragmatic route. An even larger obstacle in the role of director is definitely overcoming the uncertainty and ambiguity of cast and crew dynamics. You simply do your best to oversee and appease the talent, while maintaining a level of professionalism and decorum on set.”
After graduating NEIU, Tony provided production assistance for a web series at Mindlight Films, but has remained exclusive to Herbivore since February of 2011, where he reflects on his progress and future as in films.
“If I were to remain exclusively in one role, I think that would definitely be screenwriting. I’m very comfortable in the pre-production phase of filmmaking, and it’s very rewarding to breathe life into an idea with prose, developing plot and characters. However, if I have to continue being a one-man filmmaking army, I’ll gladly do so at Herbivore. Ultimately, I wish to work on feature length productions. However, at the moment, I am very comfortable with short film. I can only hope as I continue to work on these shorter projects, I’ll continue to learn and home in on my strengths as a writer and filmmaker to better prepare for lengthier film projects.”
It’s been reported that Tony Colon is currently in pre-production for his next project, and plans for a second Herbivore film festival are in works.
Comments