We recently sat down for a Q & A with Three-Minute Picture Show veteran Nathan Wollman who happens to also be working on his first feature length film…
Q: How did you get started in filmmaking?
A: I used to mess around with an old VHS camcorder as a kid. I dubbed the audio bits onto a VCR with a walkman for the soundtrack. It was a ridiculous method even for that time, but to be honest, I blame the original MTV videos (when they actually had good ones) in the 80′s and 90′s for some of my first inspirations!
Q: Tell us the history of your film-making career…
A: Long time friend and now colleague, Max Good and I have always had some kind of project going on since we were teenagers, it wasn’t always film and video, sometimes we made prints, stickers and music but our projects were always hilarious and non conventional! Max became heavily involved in working on documentary film during his 20′s, which inspired me to keep up my film hobby over the years as well, now at 32 years old, I am producing my first feature documentary. Naturally, when I first heard about the Three Minute Picture Show I jumped at the opportunity to share in an open forum film activity, it’s amazing to see what people can do with 30 days, a camera, and some pure creativity. It definitely is part of why I am working on a feature film now! This is year 3 for me at the festival, and I’m really happy to see it moving forward.
Q: What’s your feature length film all about? How’d you get the idea? How did you go about making it? Doesn’t it cost tons of money to make a feature film? Where are you in the filmmaking process with that film? How will you market it?
A: The feature film I am producing is all about anti graffiti vigilantes, obsessive and hardened civilians armed with cans of paint and rollers with the goal of erasing graffiti and blight from America’s neighborhoods. The idea came about when Max decided to find out about a local vigilante who was spraying silver blobs all over the city, it started off with some investigative work and turned into a full blown project.
Yes. Making a feature documentary is absolutely not cheap, we have joined forces with the San Francisco Film Society, Indiegogo.com, and various other production associates to help us get funding, but as of right now we are still funding it by ourselves. The budget for the film is very modest at an estimated budget of somewhere in the $100,000 or less range. Dirt cheap by most standards. We are in the editing phase at the moment getting ready for festival submissions. We hope to tour the festival circuit and get distributors on board who will get the marketing end of this thing in high gear.
Q: What have you learned from the process so far that you’d like to share with others? What advice do you have for someone who has an idea for a feature length film?
A: I would have to say that making a feature film is really just about staying on top of your sanity, getting a grip on the long term commitment needed to see it through and not to worry about crossing bridges until they are dead in front of you (I did not say I mastered all of those!). I would in my very humble opinion, say to anyone wanting to make a feature film: Make a film you think you can do with the resources you have now, if you make something good on a low budget with a high production value, that’s going to go much further than the opposite scenario.
To learn more about Nate and Max’s film Vigilante Vigilante, visit
www.vigilantefilm.com
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Vigilante-Vigilante/111244808068?ref=ts