13: "Ann Arborland"

One nice way to simplify the college experience is this: it's not about what you LEARN, but what you DO.  With that, my number 13 college memory is something I DID that I'm very proud of: Ann Arborland.

I apologize right away if this post goes sort of all over the place.  Making movies is like that sometimes.


It all started, for me, with my desire to have something to show for the work I had done in college, something to prove I had learned something.  For me, that was directing a short film for M-agination Films.  M-agination is great because they provide you with the resources to make your movie, and then screen it at the historic Michigan Theater at the end of the year.

I originally heard of M-agination via a departmental email, I believe, and submitted a pitch for "The Designated Driver," a shorter version of a feature-length script I'm writing right now.

At the same time, I was directing a short play I had written with my friend, Grace (SPOILER ALERT: tomorrow's entry in the Top 25).  One of the other directors was Anna, who I would find out is a producer for M-agination.  Anna's first impression of me was that I was some a-hole director because I was harassing auditioning actors and making a real fool of myself, but I think she picked up on my odd sense of humor before too long.

At the after party for the play, Anna approached me several times about my pitch, and encouraged me to write the script, which I would.  She said she liked the idea and enjoyed working with people she knew.

During the writing process, I reached out to Grace for feedback on The Designated Driver.  She ended up writing much of the dialogue in the script for me.  At that same meeting, she read me a short scene she wrote with her friend, Reid, during a road trip.  She said it was based on a scene from the show Portlandia, which I had never seen.  To be honest, I didn't quite get it at first and didn't think much of it, but that script she read me, of course, was Ann Arborland.

I submitted the Designated Driver, and assisted Grace with another script she had written for the M-agination submissions, and was disappointed to find out neither was chosen.  But I did recognize the name - Ann Arborland - of the script chosen by none other than one Anna Baumgarten.

So, here's where the story takes off, I suppose.  Grace invited me over to her place to talk about the script.  She said she wanted me involved in some way, and I had hoped to direct but wasn't going to push it.  I was going there to give her my feedback and advice.  Coincidentally, Anna was at my house the night before for a party and I told her then what I told Grace and Reid, the other writer, at that first meeting.  I knew they wanted to act in it - and I knew that Grace, in particular, wanted to return to acting - but I advised them that it'd be very difficult to direct themselves.

"Then you'll direct," was what Grace told me next.  I said my only requirement was that if I were to direct, I wanted to DIRECT, and have all the power and responsibilities of a director.  The great thing about Grace Hawkins is that she has always trusted me, and she told me that was fine, that she trusted me to make it work, and her one order was "make me look good."



This was the first time I had ever directed something I didn't at least co-write.  My job, as I saw it, was to get the most out of the script.  One thing Grace and I talked about very early on was improvising a certain amount of the film, bringing in props and visual gags to increase the comedy, and making it as realistic as possible in its look and tone.

Reid had connections at Amer's, a local restaurant, and said we could shoot there.  Grace knew some people she thought could act, Anna was working on finding a crew, so I thought we'd be all set.  We picked a date for our shoot, but then things weren't coming together as quickly as we planned and we weren't very prepared, so I pushed the shoot back a few weeks and said that instead of this person doing this and this person doing that, everything was going to run through me.


THE CREW

I'll use this section to just talk about everyone involved in the making of this movie, and share some memories of the production along the way.

Grace Hawkins: "The Brain" - Grace is one of my best friends at this university. We've worked together about six times now, all in just the past year even thought it seems like it's been a lot longer.  She's a brilliant writer, but a great actress, too, and took any notes I gave her and used them well.  I will never forget, it was about 4 a.m. and we'd been shooting for hours, and Grace and Reid had been sitting idly for a long time at that point. I was worried they were going to be too tired or forget their lines, but as soon as we started rolling, they just flipped a switch and nailed everything.

Reid Walborn: "The Movie Star" - I admit, knowing that Reid was the only member of the cast with no acting experience scared me.  Not as much as him showing up drunk to the set, though.  But he was awesome, and really surprised me.  And he probably saved our extras by keeping some of them awake between takes with his sense of humor.

Lena Drake: "The Pro" - I did not know until after I added her on Facebook how legit this girl is. We cast her based on her audition, and then I found out she had been in EVERYTHING produced at U of M the past couple of years.  The third-scariest moment of the production was Lena texting me as I was driving to the set to tell me she had the flu.  But she came in, was funny and nailed every take, and somehow managed to still look like that good at 3 a.m. with the flu.

Paul Vites: "The Comedic Relief" - Paul.  If they gave a Best Supporting Actor Award at the film festival, he had it locked up.  Immediately after meeting this guy, I knew we needed to add more to his role.  In the script, he only had a few lines.  But I gave him free reign to improvise his lines and told him to just keep going with the ordering scene.  Lena has told me she never came closer to breaking character, and several of the extras were worried their laughter was picked up by the mic.  Paul also wrote the opening scene with him and I.  He also was a savior for me in the ADR process, making me lunch and coming by to give me a morale boost and a fresh set of eyes in editing.

Anna Baumgarten: "The Boss" - We owe Anna everything. This doesn't happen without her, and she did a great job in helping us build a crew and was a valuable advisor for me during the whole process.  I had several late night chats with her when she either calmed me down (which was often necessary) or lit a fire under my butt, like when she told me the sound was so bad we couldn't screen the movie and said it'd be near-impossible to dub all the dialogue in three days.

Matt Infante: "The Genius" - This movie is what it is because of Matt.  I've never seen anything like him.  He told me several times I was "a machine," but really he's the machine.  He'd spend sometimes an hour setting up a shot (the extras hated him), and it was worth it.  Everyone who has seen this movie comments on how beautiful it is, and that is 100% on his shoulders.  He also contributed a lot to the opening title sequence, planning shots and encouraging me to run through each shot.  Matt's also a really cool guy to chill with.  He was my right-hand man in this, and I often deferred to his expertise on decisions during the shoot.  He, too, was with Paul and I in the late stages of post-production, and even came in last-minute to edit some shots he didn't like.

Zoe Crowley: "The Savior" - Zoe was, like Matt, someone I gave a lot of leeway to.  She edited the video for us, and did a spectacular job.  She cut some scenes better than I thought they could be cut and was able to use some shots (such as the typewriter bit) that I thought wouldn't make it.  She also took direction really well, and fixed a lot of concerns I had with the film (mainly, the pacing).

Dylan Sundberg: "The Ice Man" - Dylan came through big in the clutch for us.  He joined us very late in the game and wrote three songs with almost no direction whatsoever.  I think my favorite part of the movie is the opening titles, which his song really completes.

Paige Pfleger: "The Resident Hipster" - Paige did it all for us.  We originally considered her for the barista role before casting Lena, so we made her "Barista #2" and her presence in the background really completes a couple of shots in the film.  She was also our hair and makeup expert, and a perfect choice for our costume designer.  Paul's shirt (which cost 60 bucks) was golden, as was Grace's outfit, which I love so, so much.  One of my favorite moments from the shoot was Paige coming up to me about 5 hours in to give me a hug and say, "I can't decide if I hate you or love you right now."

Austin Bucholtz: "The Voice" - I called my brother to talk music with him, as I knew early on I wanted to include one of his songs.  I knew none of them would work during the narrative, but I wanted to promote him a bit with the closing credits.  "Fairytale Shadowland" ended up causing quite a stir at the screening, with people wanting to know who he was.  And its inclusion made Juube cry, of course.

One thing I decided on right away was the need for as many extras as we could get to fill out the room, because I wanted this to look as realistic as possible.  We had 10 extras show up, and it was incredible and I'm so thankful for all of them.

Anne Scheps: "The Natural" - I was so glad I got to work with Anne again.  She was supposed to play the lead in a play I never got off the ground, and I felt so bad about it.  She's one of the 3 most talented actresses I've ever worked with - a real natural talent that is very rare, I think - and one of my best friends, too.  And she's also the most prominent extra in the final cut.






Greg Hicks: "The Good Luck Charm" - Greg has been in almost every play or movie I've directed.  He gets on my nerves a lot - and knows it, too - but I love him like a brother, and he also helped out quite a bit in post-production. And that look he gives during Reid's improv...

Devin Brooks: "The Favorite" - one of my old pastimes is telling people they're my favorite _____.  In this case, I tell Devin she's my favorite actress ever (she's in the top 3) and I'm glad she came.








Gabriela Granados: "The First" - Gabi was the first person I worked with on a movie, ever, and one of my first friends at Michigan.  I thought it was a great full-circle ending that she came.

David Brownman: "The Toga" - Davey.  I love this guy.  Originally, I wanted this to be a Casting Call reunion, but most of the cast backed out.  But not Davey (or Greg and Gabi).  He's one of the most naturally funny people I know.







Tiffany Reynolds: "The Laugh" - I had acted in a short play with Tiffany, and I was actually kinda surprised when she agreed to come.  But I'm real glad she did, and we've become friends since.  One of the highlights of the shoot was when she started laughing for a reason I'm still not quite sure of (her laugh is unmistakable, a real classic).








Sam Kavalier: "The Typist" - Grace has joked about making a sequel about Sam's life as a professional typist.  He killed that scene, and also kept Reid on his toes with his wit in-between takes.

Phia Blumenthal: "The Sass" - I don't know WHAT I would have done if I did not have Phia there to keep my ego in check. She's one of the few people I let get away with sassing me as much as she does.









Jon FitzGerald: "The Hat" - That hat.  It cracks me up.  And Jon was one of the last extras to leave because he was so close to the action, but never complained once.

Becca Volpano: "The Quiet One" - I don't know if Becca said a word the whole night.  She is one of Grace's friends, and proof of how valuable the extras were because we used so much of Paul's improv in which she is in the background.








And, we'd be nothing without our crew:

Caroline Schaper: "The Shot" - Caroline also auditioned, so in addition to being an AD, we put her in as an extra (she's a great actress).  She also directed my second-favorite film from the festival.  But her biggest contribution to Ann Arborland was perhaps taking the picture of Grace and Reid I used on our Facebook page as the official image of the movie.

Danielle DeLuca: "The Interviewer" - One of my favorite moments, personally, from the shoot was Danielle asking me if I was having fun, and I got to say "No, directing is not fun. It's a job."  She also was great in helping shoot the production videos and drove Lena home early for me.

Nick Alderink: "The Wingman" - One of the great things Matt did for us was decide to shoot with two cameras for a couple of scenes, and Nick was his #2 cameraman and also helped out in lighting a lot.

Jorge Gonzalez: "The Muscle" - Even though the audio didn't work out, Jorge was a big help during the shoot in holding the boom pole, and was I think the last person to leave besides Matt and I.

Britt King: "The Right Hand's Right Hand" - Matt brought Britt with him, and he ended up serving as essentially the assistant DP and was a huge asset for us.

Loui Vong: "The Geek" - Loui, one of my oldest and best friends, designed the official "Ann Arborland" logo for us, and recreated the M-agination logo to near-perfection, all in just a couple of hours on my couch.


And, lastly, myself:

Zachary Bucholtz: "The Ringleader" - I thought about calling myself "The Machine," as Matt did, but I really like this better.  The way I see it, 26 other people made this movie, and I was just the guy making sure everyone was on the same page.  I didn't write anything, I didn't shoot anything, and I only edited when I had to (oh yeah, I acted, but we can't really count that).

I think I did contribute a few things, though.  The decision to improvise was my idea.  The opening scene and the title sequence were my ideas, but other people brought those to life.  My two biggest contributions were in solving the two major crises of the production.

The first was when we had to change locations the day before our scheduled shoot.  I won't go into details of the switch, because there's nobody to blame, but I was really happy we got Sweetwater's, and I think that was a great move.

The second was when Anna said we didn't have enough time to dub the movie.  My response:

"I'm screening it Thursday. I'll record the all myself if I have to and put it together in the middle of the night if that's what it takes...Whoever you talked to says there's not enough time.  But whoever you talked to isn't me and doesn't work like I do..."  WIN.

This was the most rewarding experience of my college career.  I'm not only honored to have had the help of so many talented, kind individuals, but I'm also pretty damn proud of the work we did.  A lot of people asked me if I was excited or having fun, and every time I said no.  Because this was extremely stressful from start to finish.  But, in the end, it really was a lot of fun.