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Eugene's indie filmmakers
make flicks on tight budgets
Bijou Art Cinemas is one
Eugene venue where local
films can find audiences
By Ryan Nyburg
Senior Pulse Reporter
When most people picture film
making, large casts and crews, truck
loads of equipment, nationwide dis
tribution and millions of dollars in
funding often come to mind.
But to small local independent
filmmakers, productions involve a
small cast of friends as actors and
crew members, makeshift props and
little, if any, money.
With the advent of digital film equip
ment, local filmmakers have been able
to avoid the expense of editing and de
veloping film stock. While this solves
the immediate problem of putting a
film together, there still has to be some
thing to shoot in the first place.
As with any film production, it all
begins with the screenplay. Some lo
cal filmmakers work with a screen
writer; some do it themselves. For
Dan Epstein, who works with the
University film dub House of Film,
the process is a group effort.
"On our last project we got together
and dedded what we wanted to do,"
Epstein said. "We settled on doing a hor
ror film, so we picked the person who
was most comfortable writing in that
genre to put together the screenplay. The
rest of us then contributed our own
ideas to the process."
Once the screenplay is written, the
next step is picking the cast and crew.
Some filmmakers streamline the
process by forgoing the latter of the two.
"I don't work with a crew," local film
maker Henry Weintraub said. "I just do
it by myself, guerrilla style."
For a large production, such as Ep
stein's feature-length horror film
"Proctor," a more complex process is
involved for casting.
"We put up flyers all around cam
pus for a casting call," Epstein said.
"By the end we had over 20 people
working on the film.*
From there, filmmakers usually go
on to making equipment and props
for the film. In Epstein's case this was
a major expense that dictated the
film's shooting schedule. For others,
however, this is not an issue.
"I don't actually spend a lot on
props," local filmmaker Tyler Ben
jamin said. "I'm pretty good at find
ing stuff to use."
But one thing that almost no one
producing a film can do without is
money. Because there is little if any
chance for local filmmakers to make a
profit off their movies, investors are
LUNA open Tuesd;
30th East Broa
Event info and n
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Independent short
film director and
Lane Community
College student
Tyler Benjamin
demonstrates
some of the tools
of the trade at
an LCC studio
Tuesday.
Tim Bobosky
Photographer
PART 2 OF 2_
May 20: A look at the independent .
film scene in Eugene
Today: How local independent
filmmakers fund, film and
distribute their work
nearly impossible to find. Most budgets
are made up of donations from friends
and family, or they come right out of the
filmmakers' pockets.
"On and hour-long punk documen
tary I did, called 'Bloodkains Across Eu
gene,' I spent about $700to $800," Wein
traub said. "That was my biggest project
My average is about $50 for a film."
Other filmmakers' budgets are at
about the same level. Epstein said "Proc
tor" ended up costing about $1,200, all
of it from the filmmakers' pockets. Ben
jamin said he spends between $200 and
$300 for his half-hour-long short films.
Such shoestring budgets have a long
history in filmmaking. Filmmakers such
as Roger Corman and the New Jersey
based Troma film company became fa
mous for making cheap entertaining
films at relatively lightning speed, some
times in only a matter of days. Local
filmmakers say that examples such as
these work as inspiration for them.
Weintraub even has Troma's most fa
mous character, the Toxic Avenger, tat
tooed on his arm.
But one thing those filmmakers had
that the local group does not is distribu
tion. Local films are rarely seen outside
of private showings, and any form of
mass distribution is beyond what many
local filmmakers could ever hope to
achieve But even within these confines,
some filmmakers have found ways to
get their films to the public
"We rented a lecture hall to get 'Proc
tor' shown," Epstein said. "We're also
iy through Saturday at 4 pm
dway (541 ) 434-LUIMA
lore at www.lunajazz.com
SUN BOSSA
BUSTER B JONES
lace Restaurant 434-LUNA
i to 9 pm weeknights 10 pm Weekends
sending it out to some film festivals.
Right now we're trying to get a showing
at the Bijou."
For most local filmmakers, the Bijou
Art Cinemas, Eugene's art house theater,
is the only game in town. But some are
trying to expand that game.
"I'm trying to get a film festival started
in Eugene," Weintraub said. "I think
there is a lot of untapped talent in this
town that could be brought to light if we
got a real film society going."
For its own part, the Bijou has plans
to show more local, independent films
in the upcoming months.
"We've been approached by a lot of
people who are interested in submitting
films," Bijou manager Louis Thomas
said. "I think there is a lot of interest in
this from the community."
The Bijou is already showing some
local films, including Weintraub's
"Bloodstains" documentary, which will
be showing the weekends of June 4
through 6 and 11 through 13.
Whether they get shown or not,
filmmakers will probably continue to
make films. Some even have plans for
larger projects.
"I'm hoping to come up with an orig
inal idea for a horror film," Benjamin
said. "Horror is something that is really
hard to do well but really easy to do bad.
That is why I hope to make all the mis
takes I can possibly make on small films
before I move on to something bigger."
Most filmmakers say they have high
hopes for the Eugene filmmaking scene
"I think there is a lot of good film
making going on in this town," Ben
jamin said. "The filmmakers just
haven't united. They're out there in
their dark comers and you only rarely
hear of them."
Contact the senior Pulse reporter
at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com.
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