Two Students Sell Their $200 Movie to HBO
Two student filmmakers from San Diego State University shot their first feature documentary, "Drakmar: A Vassal's Journey," with a budget of $200. The 75-minute movie about a young boy involved in medieval recreations who makes a connection with his long-absent father will premiere Father's Day on HBO Family.
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) June 5, 2007 -- Student filmmakers Lowell Frank and Destin Daniel Cretton sold their $200 documentary to HBO, which will premiere as a father's day special on June 17, 2007 on HBO Family.
With the growing popularity of digital filmmaking, it has become increasingly easy to make a movie on a low budget. But with more cheap films being made than ever before (and most of them being streamed on sites like youtube), it's become more and more difficult to stand out from the clutter. Here are two student filmmakers who have fought through the crowd and come out on top.
Two years ago, Frank and Cretton would have never guessed their film would make it this far. Their project started out as a short film profiling a fourteen year-old boy named Colin Taylor, who was highly involved in a medieval reenactment group called The Kingdom of Terre Nueve.
"After we finished the short, we still had a lot of questions about Colin, particularly regarding his life at home," recalls Cretton. "We knew there was a bigger story there."
The two picked up shooting again in January of 2005, working with a fairly inexpensive digital camera and a crew of two.
"We wanted to keep things simple, small camera, small crew, natural light," says Frank. "It helped to keep our subjects comfortable, and our budget low."
The filmmakers tracked Taylor for about 4 months while he worked towards becoming a man-at-arms and dealt with problems at school and home. Their time with him climaxed when they were able to introduce him to his biological father for the first time. Taylor, who initially had a lot of anger toward his absent father, began to see things a bit differently.
"Talking to him changed everything," says Taylor. "It basically turned my idea of him upside-down."
With the movie finished, Frank and Cretton were faced with the question that most independent filmmakers eventually ask themselves: What now?
"We started sending it to festivals," says Cretton, "but we just kept getting rejected."
The film did receive some acclaim on the festival circuit, garnering an award for Best Direction in a Documentary from the Trenton Film Festival and Best Documentary from Comic-Con International 2006 in San Diego.
"But then things just kind of died," says Frank. "We didn't know what else to do with it."
Then they got it into the hands of Bennett Miller, director of academy award winning film Capote. They handed him a DVD after meeting him at an awards banquet put on by the San Diego Film Critics Society. Two months later, he called and said he liked their movie.
"I'm always astonished when I come across a film that is this honest and disarming," said Miller.
He actually liked it enough to help them get it into the hands of HBO, who made them an offer to purchase the broadcast rights, an offer that Frank and Cretton gladly accepted.
"We really believe that this is an important film for people to see," said Cretton, "and we're thankful to Bennett and HBO for giving us the opportunity to get it out there."
Cretton and Frank have dedicated the film to their own fathers and are looking forward to seeing their little movie on national television.
Drakmar: A Vassal's Journey will premiere on HBO Family on Father's Day, June 17, 2007, and will play four more times throughout the month of June (see broadcast schedule).
For additional information, please contact Destin Cretton or visit flagpop.com/drakmar.
About Flagpop Productions:
Flagpop Productions is a film production company specializing in low-budget documentary and narrative film. It is based out of San Diego and owned by Lowell Frank and Destin Daniel Cretton.
Contact:
Destin Cretton, co-director of Drakmar
Flagpop Productions
619-607-9311
flagpop.com
Broadcast schedule -- Taken from hbofamily.com
Drakmar: A Vassal's Journal, TVG, 73 minutes, Family
6/17 5:45 PM HBO FAMILY - EAST (Father's Day Premiere)
6/17 8:45 PM HBO FAMILY - WEST (Father's Day Premiere)
6/22 1:15 PM HBO FAMILY - EAST
6/22 4:15 PM HBO FAMILY - WEST
6/22 8:45 PM HBO FAMILY - EAST
6/22 11:45 PM HBO FAMILY - WEST
6/27 4:25 PM HBO FAMILY - EAST
6/27 7:25 PM HBO FAMILY - WEST
6/30 11:30 PM HBO FAMILY - EAST
7/01 2:30 AM HBO FAMILY - WEST
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