Exclusive Interview With Justin Evans

Justin: We never pitched the project to anyone. I didn’t see the point. I wanted to make the film on my own. Many filmmakers dream of working within the studio system. I think if they understood technology better they’d realize that isn’t necessary. And, as digital distribution advances the studio system will be even less relevant.

This was tough, because we had people pushing us to show our script to Hollywood, to pitch it, to sell it…and many thought I was committing career suicide when I said “No, I’ll raise the money myself. I’ll write, direct and produce this myself.” I’ve met a lot of studio executives…and storytelling was never their skill set. The system is broken and I don’t need the system any longer.

Justin: When I first moved to New Mexico I told my wife that I wanted to create a Cold War spy movie set in the desert. We would walk around Santa Fe and see signs about Los Alamos and The Manhattan Project. It was obvious that New Mexico was a hotbed of spy activity and a great background for a Cold War thriller. I was a video game art director at the time, so that was as far as the idea evolved.

Sixteen months ago I got serious about making a feature film. Robert Rodriguez suggests that filmmakers should think about location first and script second if they’re working on a micro-budget feature film. I took this to heart. I decided I’d find the right location first and then shape a story around the location. I looked at dozens of ghost towns throughout New Mexico. They all looked great, but they weren’t big enough to sustain a feature film. When I found Old Main Prison outside Santa Fe I knew I’d found the right place. It’s almost a half million square feet in size. It’s the size of three shopping malls. And it was beautifully decrepit. Once I’d settled on the location it was time to begin work on the screenplay.

I spent about three months researching, shaping the backstory, writing biographies and outlining the plot with my writing partner. Then, we wrote the script. Amazingly, the script came together quickly…it only took six weeks to reach a final draft.

We often wrote inside the prison. We wanted to make sure the scenes could be executed in the location. We also wanted to make sure we were taking full advantage of the location. So, a tremendous amount of time was spent exploring every secret tunnel and hidden passageway of Old Main.

Justin: We had no interest in pitching to the studios. Storytelling isn’t really their thing anymore. I’m sure there are some amazing executives who are passionate about storytelling, but I haven’t met them yet. Until I do, I’m happy to work with my private investors.

Justin: I was realistic about the amount of money I could easily raise. You’ll be amazed at how small the budget is. We shaped the story to fit within these budgetary restraints.

We knew if we took full advantage of digital technology and spent an entire year on pre-production that we could finish an ambitious historical action/thriller on a shoestring budget.

We have several advantages as a small business. We have transparent accounting practices. Our profits are dispersed through an escrow-like account controlled by our bank. Combined, this prevents fraud and that increases investor confidence. Once investors realize that checks-and-balances exist to prevent embezzlement the remaining hurdle is convincing them that we’re capable of making great films. Luckily, I’d just finished a short film which was still winning awards at film festivals.

Justin: I had relationships with two actors from a previous short film I’d completed, Saturday Night Special. I wrote the roles of Robert Harper and Nikolai Dzerzhinsky for them. Ross Marquand really took to the material. He read the script and said “Justin, I’m in love with this material. I really have to prepare for this role, I want to honor the quality of writing and really do something special.” That’s Ross. He’s a gifted actor who is dedicated to research, rehearsal, and preparation. He spent months preparing for his role and you can see it in his final performance. The Santa Fe Film Festival audience was all over him after the screening. They really responded to his work.

We began writing just as the writer’s strike began. And, so I turned to my team and said “Let’s put a notice on Breakdown Services. Let’s just see how many people respond.” We had 10,000 submissions. It was overwhelming. And, many of the actors wrote me emails about how much they loved the screenplay. So, we decided to hold an audition in Los Angeles and tailor the rest of the unwritten script for the best unknown actors we could find. I had some resistance to that approach, but it paid off. We found these amazing actors who were just about to break. Mike Peebler, Jason Moore, Luis Robledo and Brad Culver auditioned for us. You don’t know their names yet, but boy do they know their craft. Two months after casting Mike Peebler he landed a role in Valkyrie opposite Tom Cruise. Jason Moore is currently on NBC’s Kings. We got very lucky.

I asked them to read the first half of the script and commit to being in the film without a finished script so I could tailor the second half to them. They agreed. With the agreements in place I sat down and knocked out the rest of the script in a few weeks.

Justin: From that same audition we got about 1,200 celebrity submissions. That’s when we knew we’d be able to get a couple fantastic, established celebrities for the film. We decided to set our sites on the very best…we knew we could always lower our expectations later. Amazingly, it was fairly easy to get major celebrities to read our material. James Cromwell read our script on the set of “W” and immediately told his agent he wanted to be in the film. We closed our deal with Michael Wincott in about two weeks.

Ross Marquand, who helmed this portion of the producing responsibilities, put in about two months finding the right celebrity actors. We encountered some difficult agents, we almost closed deals with several other celebrity actors but in the end securing James Cromwell and Michael Wincott wasn’t that difficult.

Justin: One week into production we found a secret tunnel that we used for some of the scenes. But, in general I come from the same school as David Fincher and Alfred Hitchcock. I storyboard like mad. I prepare every detail. I’m intimately involved in costumes, furniture selection, prop buying, graphic design, weapons…everything! When one is working on a small budget nothing can be left to chance.

Justin: We screened a rough cut at the Santa Fe Film Festival in December. it was supposed to be a test screening for an audience of 50. It ballooned into a major event. We screened at their largest theater. The screening sold out, which is amazing because it was 450 seats! The festival threw us a world premiere party and we won the Heineken Red Star Award. Not bad for a movie with no sound design, music or visual effects!

We’re being invited to film festivals as we speak. We’ve turned down a few festivals for January because we want audiences to see the finished film. Our next festival is in February. I’ll happily send you a notice every time we can officially announce a festival.

Justin: I hope people are surprised by how epic this film is. I hope it opens up their eyes to what can be done in independent cinema. We don’t need studios to tell ambitious stories…not any longer. And, I’m not the only guy doing this. I know filmmakers who are making World War II epics with no money. I’m making a Civil War short this year entitled “Days Like These” with Luis Robledo and our best team members. Independent film used to mean grainy, underlit movies set in suburban homes and coffee shops. Now, it can be whatever we want it to be. We have over 150 visual effects shots in this movie. Perhaps that doesn’t compare to a Star Wars movie, but it is an ambitious amount of effects shots for a micro-budget feature film.

And, think about everything normally associated with a big budget movie. We have a maxi-single available on iTunes and Amazon right now. Regen Magazine wrote a review of the single comparing it to the classic James Bond theme songs and had high praise for each of the remixes.

I hope our movie will be a rallying cry to independent filmmakers across the globe. Go tell your story. Tell it big. Tell it bold. Be ambitious.

Click here for details on the film and the Sizzler Reel.