The Epoch Times: Filmmaking is Hot & Rainy in Florida: A "Story of brothers" A Film by Mike Pycher

1. Independent filmmaker Michael Pycher (PHOTO: Israel
Pycher)
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Filmmaking is Hot�and Rainy�in Florida
Interview with Director Michael Pycher
By Frederic Eger
Special to The Epoch Times
Nov 28, 2006
Film critic Frederic Eger interviewed
independent filmmaker Michael Pycher during
the Montreal Young Cuts Film Festival in August,
2006.
The Epoch Times: This August your film
premiered at the 2006 Montreal Young Cuts
Film Festival. It's a drama about two brothers,
one handicapped and the other a basketball
player. One brother is killed defending the
honor of the other. As a graduate of the film
program at Florida State University, have you
personally witnessed this level of violence
among teenagers and young adults?
Michael Pycher: I've never actually witnessed it
with my own eyes, but I grew up in South
Florida in not a bad area. Just by going to a
public school one occasionally hears stories
about people you knew in elementary school
who were shot. And this makes an impression
on you and, as soon as you hear about it, you
change from feeling safe and cozy in your
neighborhood to feeling paranoid and living in
chaos on a daily basis.
Even if this happens only once or twice that this friend or that friend�people you knew as a child, people
you grew up with�are murdered, it really has an impact on your perception of life.
ET: How did this storyline emerge?
MP: It came from my high school experience. There were twin brothers. I knew one of them who was
completely healthy. He was a very good looking guy, very popular, had a lot of friends. He was a social
guy. But his brother... actually I didn't even know he had a brother until one day a kid came up to him and
he basically ignored him and pushed him away. It came out later this kid was his twin brother. So from the
buzz around school, the story was that this twin brother was disabled from a tragic event during birth.
So there, I told myself, there is an interesting story to be made about the unique and exclusive
relationship between these twin brothers, between one brother who is healthy having the life he wants
and the other one who is handicapped and disabled. That left an impression on me and I always
remembered that story. Then, when I had to direct my thesis film at Florida State University, something
triggered my memory of these two brothers.
Although the relationship of the two brothers in the film is different from the relationship of those two
brothers, I still wanted to incorporate parts of their reality that I had heard and have the healthier
brother being not only protective but being the tormentor of the younger and unhealthy brother.
In A Story of Brothers the older healthy brother, Clay, puts the younger disabled brother, Donnie, in an
uncomfortable situation. Donnie wants to look up to Clay and just wants to be like Clay, just like the
brothers I knew in high school. But Doug is looking up to someone he should not probably look up to. Since
I also love basketball, I added it as one of the central elements of the story.
ET: You said in an interview you were a "drama guy." Why do you believe drama should be the leading
genre in filmmaking? When you see the success of Borat, a comedy that makes fun of the hypocrisy of
contemporary American society, do you still believe that drama is the only genre capable of questioning
prejudices?
MP: No, I don't particularly think that drama is or should be the leading genre. There's not only "Borat,"
but Woody Allen films and some other great films and filmmakers. It's just that I always just excelled
more in drama than any other genre. If I were a comedy writer and could write comedy well, I'd love to do
it. I just don't feel it's one of my strengths. Definitely, comedy films are a great tool to point out and
highlight society's dysfunction. I just feel more comfortable with drama.
ET: You've said you found it difficult to keep the final product close to the initial written material? How
many compromises have you had to make in order to have A Story of Brothers completed ? On a scale of 1
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2. to 10, how frustrating was this?
MP: (Laughs) Very frustrating. Probably 8 out of 10. It was an extremely stressful shoot and at one point I
didn't think I had a movie. It was a three-day shoot and on the third day, I doubted I could complete the
picture. Most of the shoot was outdoors. There is only one interior shot when Sandy the girlfriend walks in
on Donnie in the bedroom. The rest of the film is on a basketball court in Florida where it rains
constantly! It literally rained every single day of my shoot. The atmosphere of the film was supposed to be
really hot and humid, sweaty and aggressive, and dirty looking�a basketball court feeling. Overcast skies
and rain were ruining that look because you have one shot where the back of the court is dry and on
another shot it's wet.
So we ended up after three days of shooting with probably only a day and half of usable footage. That
stopped me from doing all the takes I wanted to get because I had a time restraint. On Day Three, it was
raining very hard and we started three and a half hours late because we were waiting for the rain to stop.
I wanted to shoot all crazy cool looking shots of the basketball game, but I ended not having the time to
do so. By starting so late and trying to catch up during moments of dry weather, it really has a negative
impact on morale. You could just look around to see that the crew was unhappy and frustrated. The crew
was stuck in the rain, getting wet and then in the burning sun, and this alternates on and off for the
entire day.
Even if as the director you don't like to witness the morale of your crew going down, there's nothing you
can do about weather and you just have to make the best of it. It's extremely frustrating as a director
because you have a plan in mind on what shots you want and could get if the weather was better, and you
just can't. It gets to the extent that, as a director, you start doubting yourself and whether you can get
the shots you need. I had to redesign shots on the set with the producer, my first assistant and my very
efficient director of photography. We teamed together to figure out what we needed to do to get the
movie made.
ET: In an interview, you mentioned you preferred independent filmmaking as opposed to mainstream
cinema. Why? What do you think of entertainment-oriented films? Do you feel there is a future for
independent filmmakers during these times of personnel cuts at the studios?
MP: I do think there is a future for independent filmmakers in Hollywood, not only because it's cheaper,
but because independent films are becoming more and more popular. I have no specific complaint about
Hollywood's big budget films. I do believe that the storylines and characters in independent films are more
complex, in-depth and interesting. Not only that, these characters also look so much more attractive,
genuine and life-like, as the characters in Little Miss Sunshine or even Capote. The characters are
complex, not black or white. These are films that Hollywood wouldn't take risks on and yet they are
beautiful films with great stories and characters. People do like them. I believe the independent scene
allows the director and producer to achieve things that Hollywood executives would not want to risk.
ET: You advised up-and-coming filmmakers that "they should make sure they are doing this because they
really love it rather than convincing themselves that they love it." Do you mean by that the film industry
is filled with filmmakers who are cynical and ready to do anything for fame or money rather than art?
MP: Before anything, I don't want my answer to appear cynical or pessimistic. And do not think either that
I deserve to "make it" more than other people because I really don't see it that way. Since I'm working in
Los Angeles, you come across people that sort of "try to make it in the business," try to make films and
end up very depressed, very upset and very willing to give up.
When you truly have a passion, you get into it and you're willing to make sacrifices and deal with horrible
situations that come up, the lack of success and ups and downs. I talk with a lot of people and think that
they probably wanted the glamour of it, and it seemed to them to be an occupation that would be fun to
have. It's like they're telling themselves, "Directing�this would be fun to do."
But I'm not sure these people have a real love for the art of filmmaking and for storytelling, I don't know if
they ever had that. They might have potential and some talent, but you can really tell when someone is
not doing something they truly like. They are bitter, resentful and cynical. Then I wonder why a person
would go after this dream if what this person is pursuing is not something he enjoys. From the outside
filmmaking looks easy and fun, but some people just give up when it comes to making the sacrifices, doing
the hard work and persevering.
A Story Of Brothers is directed by Michael Pycher, with Ryan Causey (Donnie), Sam Roberts (Clay),
Jocelyn Scott (Sandy) Runtime: 8 min 21 sec
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