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Welcome to the “Meet the Director” series of interviews featuring local filmmakers that are screening their works at “Get Connected“. “The Way of Justice” will be screening at the January, 2012 event. The mission of Get Connected is to build an industry family, help people gain employment, meet and network with great people, all while having a great time!
THE WAY OF JUSTICE - RSVP
Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Director: Emily Peck
18 min
ABOUT
Sheriff Tom Larue is a man of the law. But when his own son turns up murdered, Tom’s world of order erupts into chaos. Tom embarks on the course for retribution. Yet in this southern town where moral standards mask dark secrets, truth is not easily brought to light. Desperate for answers, Tom begins to compromise his most sacred principles and soon comes face to face with his own worst enemy…himself. In the end, Tom must decide whether he is a man of vengeance or a man of justice. Co-starring Atlanta’s own Sheri Mann Stewart, John Courtney and Griffin Freeman, along with Robert Craighead, David Sedgwick and Ben Hethcoat. Winner of Columbine Award, Moondance Film Festival; Silver Award, Worldfest Short Film Festival; Best of 2010, Writers Guild Theater, Beverly Hills; Best in Category, Los Angeles Women’s International Film Fest 2011; Official Selection Newport Beach Film Festival 2011.
Are you looking forward the “The Way of Justice” screening at “Get Connected”?
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I’m definitely looking forward to having The Way of Justice screened at Get Connected. While I’m not the filmmaker on this one, I play the female lead and I’m very proud of the film and am grateful to Emily Peck, the Director, for giving us permission to provide the GA premiere of it. It’s been going around the country to different festivals and winning some nice awards, but having friends and family and Industry colleagues here in ATL be able to view it on the big screen makes such a difference. There’s another ATL actor, John Courtney, who also costars, and I know he’s equally pleased. After my younger son, Royce Mann, had 2 films in which he stars screened here (Broccoli Monster in Oct. and Boy in the Box in Dec. — I had the supporting role in it), I thought it was time that mom took a star turn! Next up may be one of my elder son Tendal’s films.
Can you tell us your past experience in the industry?
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I’m a native Atlantan who moved away for 20 years and worked in L.A. and NYC before returning here 16 years ago. I started acting in Athens, GA at age 8 and joined the union at age 17 living in DC while I was double majoring in Drama in college. One of my first TV jobs was when I was a college Jr. costarring in a PBS series with the now famous Esai Morales in his first pro role. When I moved to LA, I had the honor of studying with Stella Adler, one of the legends among acting teachers. Over my years in the biz, I’ve had the pleasure of acting alongside some of my favorite performers including James Garner and Jack Lemmon (in My Fellow Americans), James Earl Jones, John Lithgow, Mary Beth Hurt and Kathleen Chalfont as well as Sylvester Stallone, Janet Jackson, Dwayne Johnson and Andie Macdowell. I’ve enjoyed being directed by Tyler Perry (as the Professor in Why Did I Get Married one and “Too”), Peter Segal, Mike Newell, John Korty and Jamie Babbitt as well as local filmmakers The Bontrager Twins (Boy in the Box), Deirdre Walsh and Alfeo Dixon (Insanity du Jour). In recent years, I’ve been doing more writing, theater directing and filmmaking of my own and I’m honored to serve on the SAG Council and to be on faculties teaching acting at The Alliance Theater, Emory University and The Art Institute (Directing With Actors) as well as being a private coach and on-set acting and vocal coach. I also stay busy these days as “momager” for my sons’ busy acting and new directing careers.
So… What is your film about?
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I don’t think I can say it much better than the official promo: “Sheriff Tom Larue is a man of the law. But when his own son turns up murdered, Tom’s world of order erupts into chaos. Tom embarks on the course for retribution. Yet in this southern town where moral standards mask dark secrets, truth is not easily brought to light. Desperate for answers, Tom begins to compromise his most sacred principles and soon comes face to face with his own worst enemy…himself. In the end, Tom must decide whether he is a man of vengeance or a man of justice.” I’ll just add that behind every man, there’s a woman who makes a big difference!
How did you go about making the movie?
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The film was shot as a Thesis project for Emily Peck and Matt Sanders (the DP) at FSU (Florida State University), which has earned the reputation as one of the top 3 film schools in the country. Other Georgians may not realize this, but because it has a level of filmmaking study unequaled in our state, we are eligible for FL in-state tuition in a reciprocal arrangement. It’s true for other Southern states, as well, including TX. For filmmakers looking at college or graduate schools, I definitely recommend checking out their program — my sons and I have now starred in 4 award winning films made there and it’s great for SAG actors like myself that they provide waivers!
Tell us about your cast and crew!
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My co-star, Robert Craighead (Sherriff Tom Larue, my husband), was brought from L.A. for the project. You’ll recognize him from a long list of film and TV credits. The other costar, David Sedgwick is based in NY, but originally from Australia and he achieves an amazingly convincing southern accent! Ben Hethcoat is a young actor with great range who has relocated to LA since the filming and is continuing to do great work and as I mentioned, we’re lucky enough to have John Courtney right here in the ATL market (along with myself)! All of us come from strong theater backgrounds, as well. The crew was made up of first and second year grad film students at FSU — they are as skilled and professional (and in some cases, more so) than most studio and Indie film crews I’ve ever worked with. All of them end up directing their own films and serving at least once in each crew position. Some of the recent grads have relocated to ATL and if you see an FSU film background on a crew resume, I say “hire them”!
What do you think audiences will enjoy about your film?
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It’s a genre we don’t see much of these days: Southern Gothic. It’s not cheesy the way you might think when you hear that – it’s so beautifully shot by Matt Sanders with great use of the locations in North FL and it’s skillfully written (always the basis of a quality film) and if I may say so myself, well-acted. I think they/we did a great job pulling off the mood with the music and the setting with the art direction, costuming, etc. It’s amazing to think that it was only a 6 day shoot!
Any war stores from the set?
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Yes! Robert was stung by a wasp on one of his first shoot days and his eye swelled up so much that it took a lot of makeup and a bit of rescheduling to achieve continuity. We also had to constantly be on the watch for alligators during the outdoor shots.
Any tips you can share with others about the production process?
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Sure, I’ve even thought about teaching a workshop on this! For new filmmakers, find a way (such as studying in a university program or volunteering with more experienced filmmakers) that allows you to use the best equipment that you don’t have to pay for (this was shot on 35 mm, and others of our films there have used the Red). Take time in pre-pro to create the strongest script you can. Cast the best actors, which often means getting a SAG waiver or deferred pay if you can’t afford scale. We have one of the best, friendliest SAG/AFTRA offices in the country — stop by and get to know the staff and learn about the low-budget options. Know how to recognize, when casting, the better, more legitimate and respected training and acting credits — not all credits are the same! If you can’t tell, ask an objective local, experienced actor or acting teacher or casting director to evaluate the resumes with you to make sure you’re auditioning the most qualified actors available to you. The time you’ll save from having real acting pros who can give you what you need in a single take or a couple will allow you to focus on the tech elements and other things. You may be surprised to learn how many of us are here in ATL with years of experience and credits who are always open to playing a good role — high paid or not. I always joke that these days, choosing to live in ATL, I make my living doing small roles in big films (thank you, Tyler!) and big roles in small films!
You can also sometimes get a good pro crew for very little pay by offering things like a higher position/credit than they are used to getting. Once you have a pro cast and crew assembled, be willing to let go of your own ego and work collaboratively, at least in pre-pro and maybe even on set — there can only be one director, but a good, experienced actor or crew member may know just the thing that can make the magic with a particular shot or script line and if you create a production that feels safe in terms of openness to other ideas in an appropriate context, it can make for a stronger end result. After you get the shot you want, you may want to ask the actor (or DP) if there’s something different they’d like to try if there’s time. You may be pleasantly surprised! (For less experienced actors, my advice to them is watch and learn on set until you have some years under your belt — you don’t want to be known as one who delays production by trying to take over!).
For all starting filmmakers, be realistic about how much you can shoot and complete in a day (probably less than you think). Good pre-production planning with story boarding, scene breakdowns, even pre-pro test shooting, can keep things running at a reasonable pace without wasting cast/crew time. I suggest that you run your set as close as possible to union rules (IATSE and SAG/AFTRA) whether or not you’re a union production (this is one thing that makes the FSU studio system so highly regarded): start on time, end on time, respect length of days and turnaround times and meal times, etc. — that way you’ll earn a reputation of respecting your cast and crew and it will put you in a better position to make the transition and be hired by the big budget shoots that are coming to GA! If you can’t do that, make sure you communicate clearly to your potential cast and crew when you’re first meeting them that this will be the case (16 hour days, no time for sleep, only one meal or whatever), so they’re not assuming a standard work/business schedule (8 hour day) or film/TV schedule (10-12 hour day) and they know what they’re getting into.
Don’t make misleading promises (“it’s a film for Cannes” or such) when the truth is that you’re planning to SUBMIT it to Cannes (big difference)! Go to film festivals to see the high quality of films that are out there (for example, The Macon FIlm Festival coming up in Feb., in which my younger son stars in two films, The Razzleand Missile Crisis!). It makes me sad to see beginning filmmakers giving themselves and their cast/crew false hopes and spending money on festival entry fees (which you can sometimes get waived by asking) when their films may still be well below par for what’s expected. Start with very, very short films and get them as good as they can be, then work up to longer ones. Two minute films and such can even be easier to fit into festival slots and they’ll have a chance of being chosen when they are really well made instead of a longer one that is weaker. The more professional we ALL are, the better it will serve all of us making GA our base. Good luck to all and I look forward to working with you someday!
