NBFF Filmmaker's Five with Curt Wallin

By Kelly Strodl

Today we talk with Curt Wallin, director of Boys of Bonneville: Racing on a Ribbon of Salt. The documentary tells the story of unsung hero, David Abbott Jenkins, who set out to single-handedly break every existing land speed record on his beloved Bonneville Salt Flats, in Utah.

With an unshakable faith and integrity, Jenkins set out to break every existing land speed record and then establish several endurance records of his own. In remarkable vintage footage shot on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Ab can be seen piloting his own car in 24-hour endurance runs through vintage newsreels, photos, interviews and letters. Although suffering exhaustion, hallucinations, and injury, he never left the cockpit. His 24-hour records remain unchallenged. Seventy years later, the legacy lives on through his son, Marv, and his car - the now reconstructed 12-cylinder, 4800-pound “Meteor III.”

Q:  How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?

I heard about the Newport Beach Film Festival a few years back, when a short film called “Courage and Stupidity” won the Audience Award at NBFF.  I was the Assistant Director for the film.

Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.

The film tells the story of Ab Jenkins, the first man with the idea to use the Bonneville Salt Flats as a location for endurance land speed racing.  After more than two decades of dreaming, Ab worked himself into position – seized his chance -  and as a result  broke all endurance land speed records and set the standard for this type of racing throughout the 1930’s and 40’s.  With the help of one of the world’s greatest automotive engineers,  Augie Duesenberg, he created the Mormon Meteor III race car, which remains one of the most iconic racing vehicles ever built.  Ab also attracted international racers to the salt flats thru his own tireless PR efforts, opening this unique speed venue for all the world to come and conquer.  

Originally, we were commissioned by the Price Museum of Speed in Salt Lake City, Utah, to produce a simple 20-minute account of the restoration of the Mormon Meteor’s original 1924 12-cylinder airplane engine.  While meeting with Marv Jenkins, Ab’s elderly, surviving son at his house in St. George, Utah, we found thousands of feet of archival motion pictures of Ab’s exploits from the 30’s and 40’s.  This seemed to be unique footage that had not seen the light of day for decades.  Intrigued, we arranged to have the film transferred and preserved - and the idea for “Boys of Bonneville” evolved around this copious mass of amazingly shot footage. 

Q: Tell a little about yourself and your story in filmmaking.

I’ve been a director of photography for 15 years, and have been fortunate to learn about the craft by being around some truly great filmmakers as I worked on projects, ranging from wildlife documentaries to crazy TV series.  Through personal connections, I learned about this project and was brought on board early on.  It has truly been a dream project, being able to shoot, direct and after nearly 4 years produce this film that combines amazing history, phenomenal footage - both archival and modern - and a story that captures the emotions and the imagination of everyone, not just people interested in cars and racing.

Q: Your take on the performances of the lead actors, (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)

Our narrator Patrick Dempsey, the voice of Ab Jenkins, had to step out of the standard third person historical documentary narration and bring Ab to life as a living, breathing character.  He was extremely enthusiastic, hardworking, and did a fantastic job.  Patrick is an auto racer himself (his team took third at this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona race!) so he really got the story, and what Ab must have been going thru more than 75 years ago. 

It was also an untold pleasure to sit amongst Jay Leno’s stellar collection of world-class cars and “talk shop.”  His knowledge of cars and automotive history is deep.  He was very, very gracious. 

 Q: What do you do when not making a smash indie film? 

I work on other people’s smash indie films.  

BOYS OF BONNEVILLE screens Wednesday, May 4, at 6 PM at the Triangle Square Theater 7.

Buy tickets here:

http://newportbeachfilmfest.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=355266

Or watch the trailer on YouTube, here:

Posted via email from Lights, Camera, Film Fest!

NBFF Filmmaker's Five with Kevin Van Hagen and Drew Pierce

By Kelly Strodl

Yesterday I talked with Kevin Van Hagen (producer, actor, editor) and director Drew Pierce – of DEADHEADS, a postmodern take on the buddy flick, where the two friends just happen to be two inexplicably coherent zombies!

Reminiscent of such 80’s-epics as Goonies, TeenWolf, My Best Friend’s a Vampire, and the like, the story follows two slackers, Mike and Brent, who find themselves surprisingly un-dead amid a disastrous zombie outbreak. After discovering an engagement ring in his coat pocket, Mike enlists his new found zombie pal, Brent, to embark on a quest in search of his lost love. So they’re undead, that doesn’t mean the two can’t embark on a road trip adventure of Goonies proportions – full of high jinks, awkward reunions,  and a search for lost love, unaware that they are being pursued by ruthless, zombie-killing bounty hunters!

Q: How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?

It had been recommended to us and we'd read an article about the 10 best fests that were worth the price of submission and Newport was up there. Advice to any new filmmakers like ourselves, budget for festival submission costs and do your homework about which ones are worth it. 

Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.

It's a zombie/buddy/road trip/action/adventure/romantic comedy. Say that three times fast! It's about two zombie pals newly risen from the dead, Mike and Brent, whom embark on a cross country road in search of Mike's lost love as they are pursued by a team of ruthless bounty hunters. After moving to LA to pursue our dreams we quickly entered the lovely world of production assistant employment. Drew came up with the idea of a zombie buddy film andI chimed in with the lost love angle and we started burning the midnight oil on draft after draft of the script out of fear of becoming permanent PA's. 

Q: Tell a little about yourself and your story in filmmaking.

Drew and I grew up amid the production of EVIL DEAD as kids, our father was the visual FX artist on it. Watching Sam Raimi and the guys spin out their crazy horror/comedy flick got us itching to do the same. We made some zero budget indie films with our friends back in our home state of Michigan and that was our film school. Every weekend someone was shooting something and if you didn't show up to lend a hand (or your camera) you weren't pulling your weight. 

Q: Your take on the performances of the lead actors, (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)

Our cast is amazing. Michael McKiddy and Ross Kidder are our zombie comedy duo and it kills me that others haven't picked up on these two yet. Mike and Ross are the type of actors you pray you get. They never flinched that we shot 10 weeks/6 days a week, covered them in fake blood, and rigged them with explosive squibs. Truth is, they wanted to be there just as much as us, they believed in us and the movie. I remember one night we we're setting up for this beautiful wide shot of an old creepy barn with encroaching zombies, and there's Mike next to me in full makup and costume. He looked at me and said with a smile "I can't believe we're doing this!" That makes me smile even to this day. 

Q: What do you do when not making a smash indie film? 

I'm a production coordinator on a reality TV series and my brother is a freelance animator. After work it's still a full time job on DEADHEADS. The battle for distribution is an entirely different monster and applying to fests can be very up and down emotionally but you just keep moving forward. Making movies is a series of insurmountable problems but it's also the most fun we've ever had in our lives.

DEADHEADS screens on Friday, April 29 at 8:15 PM at the Triangle Square Theater 1. And Tuesday, May 2 at 7:45 PM at the Triangle Square Theater 6.

The Friday show has already sold out, but there are still tickets available for the Tuesday screening.

Purchase tickets here:

http://newportbeachfilmfest.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=358115

Or watch the trailer on YouTube, here:

Posted via email from Lights, Camera, Film Fest!