The Commies are coming
posted January 15 :::
A Brief History of the Grand Falls Communist Party was completed on January 11, 2007. With a final running time of 57 minutes, the finished movie is too long for a short and too short for a feature. But it’s the length I needed to tell the story of five communist kids and the proletarian revolution they tried to bring about.
A mockumentary, Grand Falls covers five years in the lives of its protagonists and is divided into two parts. Part One covers the Party’s origins and rise to prominence (the high school years), while Part Two examines the Party’s downfall and eventual demise (college and after). In style it resembles my first short movie Imitation, though on a much more ambitious scale. Like Imitation, it was made for virtually nothing. It’s the first movie I’ve shot and edited myself (with the qualifier that Kelly Ambrosius and Laura Arend were behind the camera for a couple of the movie’s key sequences).
Grand Falls is also the first movie I’ve shot sans rehearsals – partly to try something new, partly to give the movie a more spontaneous feel. The four principal characters are played by Beth Goffena, Jeremy Greenwell, Matt Mulcahey and Sarah Schulte, who starred in my previous feature Autumn Leaves. They’re all excellent, as usual. Roughly ten percent of the movie was improvised as we shot. As the maker of the “documentary,” I asked some extra questions, and Beth, Jeremy, Matt and Sarah came up with answers on the spot. Many of the movie’s funniest bits came from this method.
Grand Falls also features Jason Tiberi and Danny Reese in their movie debuts. Jason plays John Jenkins – the founder of the Grand Falls Communist Party who has disappeared. In many ways, though he’s off-stage for much of the movie, he’s the main character. Danny’s character plays a big role in a key sequence during the movie’s second act. Both actors faced the challenge of making a strong impression on the audience in a small amount of screen time, and I think they do that.
As for screenings, I’m hoping to hold the premier at an Underneath Cincinnati film event (which has previously debuted Imitation and Sara’s Surprise) in the spring. Check back here for information on screenings and DVD sales.
And thanks to everyone who helped bring the communists to life.
