{"id":2693,"date":"2011-01-25T13:00:51","date_gmt":"2011-01-25T19:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=2693"},"modified":"2014-09-06T14:55:15","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:55:15","slug":"cineaste-1-to-l-a-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=2693","title":{"rendered":"“Cineaste” #1: To L.A. & back"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Double Life of a Cin\u00e9aste\u201d
\nAt the Intersection of Hollywood & Centerbrook<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our new columnist provides back story about filming indie in Indiana<\/p>\n

by Tyler Tharpe<\/em><\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Double Life of a Cin\u00e9aste\u201d follows contributor Tyler Tharpe as he balances the business of running a drive-in theater in the Midwest with the long and arduous process of filmmaking.<\/em><\/p>\n

For some reason, I just can\u2019t make more than one film a decade.<\/p>\n

Some filmmakers can really crank them out. For instance, Fred Olen Ray<\/strong> (HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS<\/strong>) makes at least one movie a year and has logged a whopping 94 director credits since 1977(!). I can\u2019t quite fathom how you could make even one film a year. Terrence Malick<\/strong>, on the other hand, only has five features under his belt since 1973 including THE TREE OF LIFE<\/strong>, opening in May. I certainly fall into this category.<\/p>\n

So far, I\u2019m responsible for FREAK<\/strong> (1999) and RETURN IN RED<\/strong> (2007). As you can tell, that\u2019s a long span between films and it looks like my next film, PHANTOM COMPANION<\/strong>, won\u2019t be completed until 2014. I shot FREAK <\/strong>in my mid-twenties and RETURN<\/strong> in my mid-thirties; PHANTOM <\/strong>will finish up when I\u2019m in my mid-forties! One reason for this, and I think most filmmakers would agree, is that a feature film takes an incredible amount of time and energy from start to finish. For me, it takes one to two years to write, another year to produce, another year to edit, and another year to shop it around. When you do sign with a distributor, yet another year will pass before it\u2019s released. Then, if you\u2019re lucky enough to get your film released, it\u2019s nice to sit back and watch the response roll in. At this point, at least for me, it\u2019s time to rest for a while.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A second reason that contributes to my slow output is that I am currently buying and operating a drive-in movie theater, which soaks up about seven months out of the year. But, that\u2019s a good thing. Running a drive-in is nearly as much fun as filmmaking but, more importantly, it pays the bills! FREAK <\/strong>and RETURN IN RED <\/strong>cost a ton of money to make, mainly because I chose to shoot on 16mm, and luckily I did make most of my money back on both films. But, I\u2019m not \u201cliving\u201d off of them, if you know what I mean.<\/p>\n

I fell into the role of drive-in owner back in 2008 just after Image Entertainment<\/strong> released RETURN IN RED<\/strong>. I had been working at the Centerbrook Drive-in<\/strong> in Martinsville, IN<\/strong>, about 20 minutes southwest of Indianapolis<\/strong>, for seven years as their projectionist; in fact, I wrote most of RETURN <\/strong>in their projection booth. The owners had been trying to sell it for years and I finally approached them about buying the drive-in just after the 2007 season ended. I initially tried to get a bank loan and was turned down \u2013 in this current economic climate, no surprise there \u2013 so I asked the owners if they would be willing to finance it. After a long winter of back-and-forth negotiation, we ended up with a land contract that we both liked and I started running it the following spring.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll never forget the awesome feeling of sitting down with stacks of exhibitor\/distribution agreements at my local coffee shop, and going through and signing all those agreements with the major studios out in Los Angeles<\/strong>. It felt great to be \u201cworking\u201d with the studios, albeit on the exhibitor end. Crazy! This all comes from a filmmaker who, when I initially got out of college in the early Nineties, went to L.A. to pursue \u201cthe dream.\u201d After about two years, I called it quits and returned home to produce my first feature, FREAK<\/strong>. So, there I sat 15 years later, signing agreements that would actually see me start making money off of Hollywood<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. You may not believe this, but I\u2019m not one of those filmmakers who dreams of signing a \u201cthree-picture deal\u201d or whatever and making studio films. I\u2019m too fiercely independent for that. I like making my own films on my own terms and not answering to anyone; spending those two years in Los Angeles helped me come to that conclusion. Although I will admit, like any cocky 22-year-old coming straight out of college, I set out for Hollywood in hopes of making a living out there.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t have a bad start, landing an internship right away at Summers\/Quaid Productions<\/strong>, the joint production office of actor Dennis Quaid<\/strong> and producer Cathleen Summers<\/strong> which happened to be right smack dab on the Columbia Studios<\/strong> lot. (In fact, it was that very summer when Sony <\/strong>bought Columbia; I came into work one day and found Sony had plastered their name over the ages-old Columbia Studios sign. Quite depressing, actually!) They were shooting HOOK <\/strong>(1991) and it was quite a sight to behold. On my daily walk from the parking lot to Summers\/Quaid, I\u2019d pass by loads of pirate extras at the chuck wagons and, on a few occasions, Julia Roberts, Dustin Hoffman<\/strong>, and Robin Williams<\/strong>. I saw Williams the most; he\u2019d buzz around on a bicycle with a basket and was very personable, very much \u201cRobin Williams.\u201d Once I was lucky enough to visit the set and watch Steven Spielberg<\/strong> direct a few of the climactic scenes on the ship with Williams and Hoffman.<\/p>\n

All of this, as you can imagine, was exciting and quite dizzying but after a year and a half of paid work on the animated movie BEBE\u2019S KIDS<\/strong> (1992), I just felt like it wasn\u2019t going to fly. It didn\u2019t help that Paramount Pictures<\/strong> pulled the plug on the production company that hired me to work on KIDS; my guess is it happened mostly due to that film bombing at the box office. The company was nice enough to recommend me to Disney<\/strong>, then gearing up for POCAHONTAS <\/strong>(1995). I interviewed three times for a \u201cvideo shooter\u201d position \u2013 I would have been in charge of test shooting the daily hand-drawn animation cells of the production on video \u2013 and as far as I know I didn\u2019t get the job. So, I packed up and headed for home.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Who knows? If I would have been hired on POCAHONTAS<\/strong>, I might still be out there. (Disney may have called back to find my number disconnected but I guess we\u2019ll never know.) But, would I be making my own films? Probably not. Los Angeles is a very insecure place and to be able to thrive as an independent filmmaker is nearly impossible \u2026 for me, anyway. I\u2019m sure some filmmakers are able to make movies in L.A. on their own terms and retain \u201cfinal cut\u201d and be a true auteur, but not many.<\/p>\n

Back in the comfort of my own home, I set out to spend thousands making my own first feature film. And that I did. To some, it may seem like I gave up, but quite the contrary. I\u2019ve been lucky enough to be able to make, so far, the two films I wanted to make. Both have been released world-wide and played film festivals which enabled me to travel to the likes of England <\/strong>and Montreal<\/strong>, places I probably never would have visited otherwise.<\/p>\n

Currently, I believe I\u2019ve found a happy medium as a filmmaker slash drive-in theater owner. Owning a seasonal business gives me half of each year to write and shoot my next films. I think I\u2019ve accidentally stumbled upon the perfect opportunity, at least for me anyway, and I sure hope I can make this thing last to the grave.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Next \u201cCin\u00e9aste\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

Tyler Tharpe is an Indianapolis resident who has a B.A. in Telecommunications with an emphasis on film from Ball State University. He is currently an independent filmmaker and drive-in theater owner\/operator who can be reached at <\/em>tylertharpe [at] yahoo [dot] com<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Double Life of a Cin\u00e9aste\u201d no. 1 \u00a9 2011 Tyler Tharpe.
\nPhotographs courtesy of and \u00a9 2011 Tyler Tharpe, except
\nDVD Artwork \u00a9 2007 Image Entertainment\/courtesy Tyler Tharpe.
\nUsed with permission.<\/p>\n

CUBlog edit \u00a9 2011 Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n

Click to follow the making of PHANTOM COMPANION<\/strong> on Facebook<\/strong>!<\/a><\/p>\n

Click to see what\u2019s playing at the Centerbrook Drive-in!<\/a><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Back to the fore, MacTharpe\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Visit the Column Index<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Return to Home Page<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the premiere of C-U Blogfidential\u2019s new column, \u201cThe Double Life of a Cin\u00e9aste,\u201d author Tyler Tharpe explains why he moved to Hollywood and back in the pursuit of making his own movies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[217,594],"tags":[598,595,597,599,596],"class_list":["post-2693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-column-du-c-u","category-double-life-of-a-cineaste","tag-bebes-kids","tag-freak","tag-hook","tag-phantom-companion","tag-return-in-red"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}