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(Complete, lengthy interview with Belleville Director Dan Steadman)

By Sandra Olmsted

Director Dan Steadman reveals his thoughts on writing, directing, and editing and discusses micro-budget, independent filmmaking and why he makes films away from Hollywood. He raves about the talent here, the city of Belleville, and Wehrenberg Theaters, which is opening Belleville on September 5 in all their theaters. After mentioning a few people I knew and had worked on his film, we agreed it was small world when you work on local films. Dan Steadman, the director of Belleville, which shot in southern Illinois replied, “I like about this community, a lot.” Then we launched into my questions.

SO: How do you come up with story ideas? What’s your process?   DS: Well, it’s different for each movie. I would say for this particular film, it worked backwards. It started with Ted Trent, who is from here. He and I had made a film together in Los Angeles, and he said, “I would love to have the next film set back at my dad’s farm in Belleville, Illinois.” I hadn’t heard of Belleville even though I had lived in Illinois, the northern part of the state and graduated from a school in Waukegan, Illinois, but he sent me back here to basically location scout. Sometimes with independent films, what I’m trying to do as a director is make the most cinematic film I can make on a micro-budgeted film. When you have a great location like a farm with broken down buildings and peacocks and horses and a swamp, those things are all very visual. Those things would be very expensive in Los Angeles and would really raise the budget. And you have nature;   We were shooting in the fall, and we had nature and the October fall leaves changing, and we got a lot of good rain. So, we lucked out and got down poured on the first day of shooting, which was actually great for the film because we happened to be shooting in sequence when the character from another world shows up in the swamp behind the farmer’s property. Everything just really cooperated. But to answer that question, I wrote in reverse. I started with my location, and I was even auditioning actors in St. Louis before I had a script because I needed to decide what kind of location talent I had. It turned out that I had so many good actors that I ended up making the film a bit of a faux documentary. It’s not a documentary because it’s fictional story, but using that method where you have a lot of people talking about their experience in the movie. I use a lot of actors playing regular town’s people, and I did that because I found so many great actors, I wanted to be able to use all of them.

SO: There is a lot of talent here, but it often leaves town.   DS: I went back to LA, and I was just raving about the auditions I had in St. Louis, and people were skeptical because that’s how they are in LA. Now I feel vindicated because one of my St. Louis actresses, Cooper Shaw, won the American Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress for our film. She’s from St. Louis, and she’s our villain in the movie, one of the three major roles, and she’s won this award, bringing us national attention. That’s all the proof I need. I’m like, “See, I told ya!” (laughs) “That’s what they have going on over there in the midwest.” A good actor is a good actor. This award that she’s won was previously won by Meryl Streep. A good actor can be found anywhere, and I found a lot of good ones here.   SO: How would you describe your directing process?   DS: Well, each movie is different. The Christmas film I just finished was a very traditionally shot film with a camera on sticks, and we shot with the beautiful red camera. But for Belleville, we decided to shot it in the vein of Friday Night Lights, the TV series. We shot with two camera simultaneously, and because we were going for that faux documentary style, that was the right look for this particular film because most of our set ups were outside. Basically, any way you pointed the camera was beautiful shot. In terms of my directing style, I’m a writer first, so I just write the story even before I know how I plan to shot it as a director. Then when I get to direct the film, it’s an entirely new version storytelling. Now, I’m telling the story in a visual way, and then when I edit the film, which I do as well, then I get to tell the story a third time, which can be entirely different inside the editing room. It’s very important for me to never be married to my material. You can’t find anything too precious when it comes to directing and editing because I realize I’m putting on a whole new hat as a brand new storyteller in each role that I play in the movie from writer to director to editor.

SO: During the studio era, the editors didn’t even see a copy of the script. They were just told, “Here’s the footage; make a movie.”   DS: That’s right, and they are the unsung storytellers. When you see what an editor is capable of doing, and I think it’s real great for them not to see the script because they can tell the story through new eyes their own way. Most of my favorite storytellers, Richard Kramer, James L. Brooks, Nicole Holofcener, and Mike Leigh, are writer-directors. So they’re auteurs. All my influences are directors who write their own material. I don’t know if they edit them, but I am sure they’re hovering right over the editor’s shoulder while they edit them.

SO: Cringing at every cut.   DS: I don’t really cringe. I like to cut. I’ll cut an entire scene if it’s not working. I come from television, and TV is a lot more collaborative, and the writers are in charge in TV, unlike in film. Writers are running the show when it comes to TV. So I’ve learn not to get too attached to any shot. I don’t care if a shot is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever shot, if it doesn’t belong in the film, it goes away.   SO: You can put them on the out takes reel.   DS: That’s right because I’m an actors’ director. I’m not going to be directing any stunt-filled action sequences or science fiction. (Laughs) I’m not the director of Gravity. That’s a special skill that I admire, but I am an actors’ director I direct performance.

SO: So, imagine in ten twenty years from now, and you have a pile of movies under you belt, and film critics write you are writing that you are an auteur director, why would they be saying that?   DS: Hopefully because they connected to my characters. Hopefully, they fell in love with the characters. It’s characters first in my storytelling. As much as I value plot and story structure, which I do, for me plot and story structure folds out of who the characters are. They don’t all have to be lovable; the perfect example is Copper Shaw’s character in Belleville. She plays Arlene, and she’s the antagonist of the film, who is out to get Neila, our character from another world. If you can imagine imagine a character out to get Forrest Gump, that is who she plays. Then the challenge for me as a director, as a writer, is to make sure she’s not just a villain, and she isn’t just a one note mean-spirited character, but that we, as the audience, actually understand why Arlene is the way she is. I take a lot of pride in roles I write for women. Even though this is a villainous role, it’s a very juicy role for Cooper, I guess, as evidenced by her win. It’s multifaceted role. I take a lot of pride in my casting. My movies are filled with interracial relationships and all sort of envelope pushing characters with, hopefully, original points of view. When you describe Belleville, all Belleville is is a very traditional story about character from another world changing the life of a reclusive man. I realize that this could be a very dated story; we’ve seen it in movies like Starman (1984) and a lot of movies throughout time. What I wanted to do was update it for 2014 by the way we shot it and really tell the story in a very modern, fresh independent movie because that’s something new I can bring to the table as a writer. I was influenced by Lars and the Real Girl (2007) when it came to Belleville even though our subject matter isn’t kinky. (Laughs) What they did so beautifully in that movie was they made that doll a real human character that audiences empathized with. That’s what I did when it came to writing the character of Neila. I never say who Neila actually is; we see glimpses of the world that he comes from, his land, but I enjoy letting the audience decide what they think that is. .

SO: I think that’s something that gives a film legs that you don’t have otherwise. You have to give the audience something to chew on and to remember a film by.   DS: You do, and I don’t want to insult their intelligence either. People tend to think that audiences need everything spoon fed, and a lot of movies that come out in the summer, they just are. Nearly everything in the summer is spoon fed, but movies that come out in the fall, which is why I wanted this to come out in the fall. Fall films have a little more respect for the intelligence of the audience. This is movie for grown ups, even though it is family friendly, the subject matter alone makes it appropriate for ages ten to twelve and up. It’s certainly not for little children. We deal with depression and addiction even though there’s still hope, and it has a very light touch to it because of Neila’s character. The subject matter is definitely something that teenagers and adults certainly gravitate to. I have never written a movie which got such a wide demographic appeal as Belleville. Teenagers enjoy this movie as much as anyone, and our biggest audience is seniors. Movies don’t usually have that much appeal.

SO: That’s kind of the new mode because, ever since the economic down turn, seniors haven’t had the money to travel and do other things, but they can still go to the movies. So they are becoming the driving force.   DS: That’s right. When I go to movies, which is usually during the day, it’s me surrounded by seniors. I like it that way because they are a very respectful audience, and I enjoy that. The problem with younger generations is that they think entertainment is supposed to be free, so they just steal it. While they might not think it is okay to walk into Target and walk out with sweaters and merchandise underneath their shirts, they think nothing of stealing entertainment.   SO: Meanwhile, the traditional 17-34 male audience is now watching movies on their handheld devise or streaming it on their computer.   DS: I know. I watch some things on my computer, but the idea of watching a feature film on my phone — I have no interest in watching something play so small. However, I do love how every generation finds their way. It’s not as if storytelling is ever going to go out of vogue. It finds a way, and I have adapted my viewing habits, too. I binge watch TV shows, too, but I believe in paying for things. I believe that artists deserve to have a job, just as much as everyone else. That’s my take on it, and I won’t rant. I realize I was on the verge of ranting, so I’ll stop. (Laughs)   SO: When you’re being interviewed, that’s your job. (Laughs)   DS: (Laughs)   SO: Okay, given this deal: Direct a violence and explosions blockbuster in order to make several films of your choice, would you do it, and why or why not? And if you did it, what would you bring to the blockbuster to make it your own?   DS: That’s a fantastic question. I love your questions. If it would open the doors for me to do what I want, I would absolutely direct a violent film. What I would do, as a director, is I would look for every character beat within that film that could make it more relatable to audiences. You know, there is a reason why Die Hard (1988) and The Fugitive (1993) and certain movies that are considered violent and action-packed resonate for decades and decades. It’s because they took some care in developing the characters so that they resonate with audiences. Most of the other action films that are made, there’s no care to the character at all. It’s just about explosions, and really what they are creating is just this roller coast experience to have fun for an hour and a half which I find completely forgettable. You can’t even come up with some of the names of the action films you’ve seen because it came, it went. If I were doing an action film, I would do everything I could to fill it with truth within the characters. Because even in a violent situation, there are moments of truth to be found. But the reason I would do that would be so that I could continue to make the stories that I like. But I feel the same way when big name actors do ridiculous movies in order to keep their appeal up and do what they want to do. I don’t fault them for that at all.

SO: The three picture deal has historically been you make the film you want to make, the film you wouldn’t be caught dead in, and the film that kills your career.   DS: (Laughs) Right. Right. Yeah, I would certainly be willing to do that because I would enjoy the process. A lot of filmmaking is the process of making the film. I know a lot of actors who say they won’t watch their own movies, and I know that sounds crazy to audiences, but that’s because they get their reward from the actual process of making the film. You make a film with a couple hundred people, and you bond with those people. That some times is enough, and you don’t really care how it turns out you’re just like “I did it because I wanted to work with these people.” I don’t fault them for that. I would do that if it opened up the opportunities to do what I wanted to do, do the kind of stories I wanted to do. For me, it’s all about getting to do tell as many stories as I can in my life that mean something to me and that I think are valuable for audiences. Not just entertaining, but actually hold some weight, and they get the audiences to talk. That’s my biggest thing. I can take someone criticizing me as long as they tell me they were talking about my films with their friends. Most entertainment you think nothing of after you see it.

SO: And those films don’t usually stick with people, I don’t think.   DS: No, and I want to make movies that people want to own and watch repeatedly. I don’t own a lot of movies, but the movies I do own, I watch once a year, every year. Some of the films I own I have watched twenty some times in my life because I want to take someone new through it. I want to revisit it every year because it makes me feel a certain way, and the characters understand me, and I understand them.

SO: That’s great advise for filmmakers. Let’s switch gears a little here. A friend of mine, named Tim Reischauer, who is from St. Louis but in LA, shot a pilot for a series in southern Illinois, called “Slice of Pie,” and he had a great experience, too. I don’t think there were even film tax credits at the time. What would you recommend, including what not to do, for anyone who wishes to make a feature film in a small town?   DS: I would recommend that you do what I did with Belleville, in that you look at the locations that you have, and you lock them down first because low-budget films can look lower budget if you paint yourself into a corner where all you are doing is small scenery. But if you think about what nature has to offer, what your town has to offer — think of the historic buildings, cobblestone streets, of lakes that fog comes up off of early in the morning. There are so many things that would cost so much money. You have to brainstorm. Think of things that would cost you millions of dollars in LA to reproduce. Because LA has nothing but beautiful amazing gorgeous weather. Think about things that will make you movie look big. Don’t be afraid of wide shots. Don’t be afraid of making your movie for the big screen. You can still tell a very intimate story, like Belleville, just between a few characters, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t try to bring in as much epic scenery and epic production value as we could to our movie. That would be one thing for local filmmakers; look at what’s right beneath your nose and what to you have access to that the world would love to see on film.   DS: How much did the film tax credits in Illinois effect your production? Did you get any? Did it effect you choosing Belleville to shoot in?   DS: It really didn’t. We probably didn’t even qualify for them. I don’t think we even qualified for them, so we didn’t look into them. Maybe we missed out.

SO: I think you have to have a pretty healthy budget to qualify.   DS: Yeah, you do, and, without knowing our actually budget, I think we just neglected to look at it because frankly so much of this was done with the support of the community. The city of Belleville closed down their streets for us to film, and we brought a lot of attention to the city for their bicentennial this year. To be clear, we shot this movie in a lot more than just the city of Belleville. We were all over Illinois, and I think we were in Missouri a little, too. We certainly shot more in Missouri for our up coming Christmas feature that we shot in April. We shot in several locations in St. Louis. Film tax credits did not came into play with Belleville, the movie but I encourage states to do that. The idea that people are pulling back on that — they are really missing out because LA is looking to shot things on location. I know Michigan did that; they had a great tax incentive, and then they took them away. There were a lot of major features shot in Michigan in a short amount of time. I don’t now if people understand how much it does for the economy. It’s not just filmmakers who are hired. It’s dry cleaners and restaurants. The restaurants near where we shot the farm scenes made a lot of money. All the food we needed to eat because we didn’t have running water or even functioning toilets out on set at the farm. It was Freeberg, Illinois, and it felt like the end of the earth. But somehow we got amazing cell reception. (Laughs)

SO: Well, that’s something! (Laughs)   DS: I was at a swamp in the middle of nowhere, cornfields for miles, and I had four bars on my cell phone. I was calling a producer back in LA, who lives downtown, right next to the Staples Center, and he barely had reception in his loft, and I thought what is wrong with this picture.

SO: That is so funny. Shifting back to film tax credits, they rely on the REMI model, which was designed for any kind of tax credit. To analyze how much tax money comes back to the state, but it doesn’t include all the money that’s spent, like when Up In the Air (2009) was shot in St. Louis, we did have film tax credits in Missouri at that time, but it doesn’t count the approximately 8,000 hotel room nights to film production paid for. That’s not included in whether the film tax credit benefits the state or not.   DS: I hope we work ourselves up to bigger budgets. It’s going to depend on this run. I don’t think that people understand how important the opening weekend is for a film. I hear from people who say, “Yeah, I wanted to see that, but I just didn’t get there.” This opportunity never happens — an independent movie opening in thirteen theaters. And I’m including independent movies with big name stars. They don’t even get runs like this. So this is unheard of, and that’s why we are really encouraging the community to come out and to audition for our next feature, which is why we are holding auditions at all thirteen theaters in the four states that we are in.

SO: It was very generous of Wehrenberg to set that all up and allow you to do auditions at the theaters opening weekend.   DS: They’ve been nothing but fantastic. They are sort of a dream distribution outlet. We love the people over there personally, and they’ve been so accommodating. I think then that it’s a test model for them as well. They didn’t just do it as a favor. We performed very well in Belleville. We thought it was going to be a one night, red carpet event, and it turned into five weeks where we out performed The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) in Belleville, and we did quite well at the Wehrenberg Ronnie’s for the screenings we had in St. Louis. It really is our numbers, as well, that allowed this to happen. It wasn’t just a charitable act they were doing; they believe in the movie. They’ve also seen the film. Number one, there’s a misconception that it’s documentary about city of Belleville, Illinois, which it isn’t. It was made by people who done this for many years. I mean I started in 1987, so it was done by Hollywood professionals. There were only five of us from LA, and there were probably hundreds from this area, so it is a good collaboration. It’s been good educational training for local filmmakers here who have joined our team and done this movie with us. Then most of them returned for our Christmas movie, and they get better and better jobs. You jump in rank in movies like ours light years ahead of how you’d jump in your career in any Hollywood film. You go from being script supervisor to being first assistant director in the matter of one film which could take you ten years in LA.

SO: At least.   DS: That’s because you work with people you love and that work hard. Almost all of our crew works for free. There has to be something in it for them; I don’t want anyone doing me any favors. I want it to be like film school for people. I don’t like a big crew; I don’t like more than ten people around me ever when I’m shooting unless the scene is filled with extras. I don’t like more than ten crew members because I’m making character-driven pieces and that requires a lot of concentration. I don’t like the actors to be distracted, and I don’t need people sitting on an independent film set doing nothing. I would rather they be busy, and at the end of a movie, they feel like they got to experience all kinds of production experiences in various departments. I want it to be rewarding for everybody. I would every actor who appears in the film to be thrilled to have a piece of work like this on their reel. I would like the crew members to be able to grow by leaps and bounds and being part of the team the more we build this up and more projects we do. Most of the actors in the film have turned into marketers, too. That’s the business of show business.

SO: You’ve got to sell it.   DS: Yeah, and you have to follow through. A lot of people think, I have seen it and that was then. And I’m like “No, no, this is only the beginning. The red carpet is only the beginning.” We commit to these movies for years. This isn’t a one off experience that happens in a matter of months. The project turned into a movie that I believe in and always will. It will be one of my proudest film experiences. ###

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