Entertainmentopia - Interview: The BROKEN Production Team

Independent film making has traditionally been done with minimal budgets, thrown together sets, and a group of friends acting out scenes from a collaborative script. From the days of Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi shooting Super 8 films till today, the aspiring filmmaker has had his or her work cut out for them to be seen in a sequel driving environment. Things, however, are getting easier, with advanced editing tools like Apple's Final Cut Pro, Adobe's Premiere Pro, and Sony Digital's Vegas and Sound Forge, there are a wealth of high end tools available for anyone with a camera and an idea.

Entertainmentopia recently had a chance to talk to four members of the Broken production team:

Alex Ferrari - Director/Writer/Producer/Editor
Jorge F. Rodriguez - Writer/Producer
Sean Falcon - VFX Supervisor/SHAKE Compositor
Dan Cregan (D.C.) - VFX Artist/Compositor

These guys are responsible for, perhaps, one of the highest quality independent films ever created. You can see our review of the film right here, but let it be known that the 20 minute short contains nearly 100 visual FX shots and was completed for about $8000. That's no small feat when box office films like Van Helsing and Terminator 3 cost upwards of $170 million and look nearly the same and have a fraction of the plot in certain cases.

Entopia:

Where might we have seen your work before?

Alex:

I have directed a few commercials which you've might have seen, most international stuff.

Sean:

I have done a couple of commercials for the Latin American market. I am currently working on a couple of projects that you guys should be able to see within the next year or so.

Jorge:

Nowhere. This is my big break. ;)

D.C.

I guess in independent animation film festivals... the other movies I have worked on have not been released as of yet.

Entopia:

What were some of your influences (if any) when writing Broken?

Alex:

My major influences for Broken were Robert "The Man" Rodriguez and David "Screw the Studio" Fincher among others. Both those guys make films their way and do it with a great amount of style and control. Se7en and Fight Club are on my top five of all time, and almost all of Rodriguez's films as well. When I first came up with the idea I wanted to create a story that combined a thriller with some kick ass action, then make you think a bit.

Jorge:

Be it that I am a huge comic geek my major influences are Alan Moore, Mark Waid, Peter David, and Neil Gaiman whose
Sandman series reinvented the way comics are written today. As for film influences, convoluted plots like those created by David Mamet, and M.Night Shyamalan remind me to write scripts that don't spoon feed the intelligent audiences out there today.

Entopia:

Out of everything, what do you feel is your greatest accomplishment with the film?

Alex:

Being able to achieve the production value and action we were able to get with this budget. Honesty, just getting it made!

Jorge:

The fact that Alex and I are still friends after all this is an accomplishment in and of itself. The fact my wife decide to stick around after I told her I was using the kids college money to make a movie is pretty impressive too.

Sean:

The fact that we finished it in such a short amount of time!

D.C.:

Some of the title credits came out really well, I'm proud of them. But other then that I'd have to say the compositing of CGI knives into the action sequence was especially fulfilling. Overall, I feel the whole film in general is our best accomplishment but that is more about everyone involved working as a team.


Alex on the set	Jorge on the set

Entopia:

Conversely, is there any part of the finished product that didn't live up to your expectations?

Jorge:

There were scenes we had to change because of time and schedule issues that would have been great if they'd made it on to the short. But now we can write them into the full length script and hit you with those surprises there.

Alex:

I wish we had a bit more time to get a few shots and VFX that we didn't have time for, but overall, I am really happy and proud of the finished product.

Sean:

I wasn't satisfied with the sky replacement shot that I did by the deadline....but thankfully we had a little time to tweak some things before we mastered it, so i fixed it up and we put it in the final cut.

D.C.:

Sparks hits! I was never satisfied with them. It's not easy to replicate the damage done by an Uzi.

Entopia:

How's the process in bringing the film to the big screen going?

Alex:

Jorge & I are feverishly working on the screenplay and we are in talks with some Hollywood producers about financing the project. Wish us luck!!

Jorge:

We have been approached by three interested parties, one of whom is a household name with regards to making the feature. We are eager to bring it the big screen but we will be patient and find the right group to work with so that we can retain as much creative control over the feature as possible.

Sean:

That's Alex and Jorge's horse to ride, I'm just waiting for them to cross the finish line.

D.C.:

Talk to Alex and Jorge... fortune and glory is their department.

Entopia:

In addition to big screen aspirations for Broken, is there anything else on tap?

Alex:

I have numerous projects at the moment in various stages of development, but what I would really like to do a comic book flix. I'm a comic geek at heart!

Jorge:

I am producing a romantic comedy in the fall, and am currently collaborating on a docudrama script.

Sean:

Just enjoying what little downtime I have!

D.C.:

Sleep.

Entertainmentopia would like to thank Alex, Jorge, Sean, and D.C. for taking time out of his schedule to answer some questions for us. If you would like more information about Broken, including a trailer, check out the film's official site at http://www.whatisbroken.com.

And look for more information on Entertainmentopia in the near future.

Interview conducted by Erich Becker, Editor-in-Chief of Entertainmentopia.