Bonfire, Falls

INFO

2006-10-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

Be our Friend: myspace.com/BonfireFalls
Learn about the Production
Question Us: doeslittleproductions@gmail.com

New Poster

2006-09-16T17:53:00.000-07:00

have a good summer see you in the falls...

2006-06-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

Bonfire, Falls the first does little productions feature started like a tadpole in November of 2005. We stayed up all night with a stolen camera with no audio no light and a full keg. We then cut the coverage into a demo tape for the full length script that we planned to shoot in May/June of 2006. From this we circulated copies of our teaser trailer till someone took hold. Our brilliant dp Chris Santucci put together the crew, and we set up our schedule. Since then we gathered a cast of brilliant and multifaceted cast members. Together we studied the script. We rehearsed a full week, on set in costume in character. At the end of our twelve hour days of rehearsals we talked over the story deepened the character and worked on set dressings. Now after twelve days of work, we wrapped and are currently catching our breath gathering, our wits and starting plans to begin post. For more information about us visit Making of Bonfire Falls a short doc put together by Matt Holota with Art Voice.

An Essay on Fire: Our Story in Other Words.

2006-05-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of our story I’ll open a beer.

Bonfire, Falls like all works of fiction actually happened. Every character is based on someone. And every line is derivative of actual conversations. It’s not based on a true story, but it is a parody of our summer in 2004.

The trouble with stories is that they are told with intent. I never imagined we would make Bonfire. It was something to sell. But in November I had lived in LA for long enough to know that there was no invitation to indie cinema. People made their own market. And of the people I had met, they kept poor shop. I had been part of a half dozen shit indie features. When promised a copy of the finished film, I gave an apathetic thanks. I could see the many mistakes even from in front the camera. And I could tell the quality was relative to the aspiring film makers efforts. So why not try like hell to make our own?

As the story is about Narcissism, selfishness, nostalgia I want to break down the characters. Three people lived this story, three characters tell this story, but in answer to the obvious Ryan is not Bill, Mike is not Jackson, I am not Rivers. The three characters are a composite sketch of the three of us. I am more Bill than I am Rivers, Ryan is more Rivers than he is Bill, Mike is both Bill and Rivers. As I said it all happened in regards to situation, but it all happened differently to different ones of us.

As for the story, its like a basketball game. Our story is a time capsule and there are two rival teams. There is that which is past and things of the future. Bonfire falls is the in between, purgatory, limbo. Bonfire falls is the present. That’s why our sets, our props our characters, our references are anachronistic.

Examples of past vs. Future: Bill aspires to be a cop. Jackson wants things to stay the same. Mia is trendy and Bill’s prospect for the future. Gracie is retro and Jackson old love. The summer begins with the boys graduating college. It ends with Garrett’s first day of kindergarten. All these oppositions create conflict, and create our melodrama.

Somehow I’ve hoped that this film would be some kind of love child if Animal house date raped American Beauty. I wanted it to be under the radar, unsuspecting. A film that is funny and appeals to the young America but with poignancy. No one makes smart films about our age group. I wanted to tell a funny story with some style, some substance and way too much booze. (In fact its amazing the story is at all coherent. In one writing session I had drank two bottles of wine, become belligerent and was dragged out into the public to see spiderman2. Ask Ryan for detail on how that night ended. You won’t be let down.)

In whole the story is about the bridge between school/adolescents and real life. There are moments of such childishness and selfishness, but there is a feeling that Garrett will be alright because he is cared for, and so there must be some self sacrifice.

Bonfire, Falls is a place. And like our film the setting is a dichotomy. There are few opposites as strong as a bonfire and a water fall. Originally it was a small town, that no one had heard of, just outside Niagara Falls. Recent theories have better explained that the place named Bonfire is micro specific. If the Country is America, if the State is NY, if the town is Niagara Falls than the place that these three young men covet is Bonfire. Other theories suggest that Bonfire, Falls is the end of a statement; “Bonfire’s are moments of total intimacy. Loyalty to intimacy is anything but long lasting. Therefore sooner or later all intimacy fails, thus Bonfire, Falls.”

I apologize in advance as this begins to take on a male dominated vernacular.

If Bonfire is a physical place or an emotional state, either represents our America. Our story in brass tacks is a melting pot. Bill is authority/government and Italian. Jackson is our laughter/goodtimes and Irish. Rivers is our alcoholism and native American influence. Gracie is the girls from our past, our failed mothers, our close platonic friend. Mia is our dream girl, she’s fucking up our shit, changing our lives but we want her there. Clarence is that outside lure. That drug that is evoking of certain impulses, but is in no way sentimental and in no way family. The Sixty year old man is the past who doesn’t understand the generations coming up in his rearview mirror. Garrett is our hope, our boy genius youth. Gracie’s dad is our racist. (Even though none of Pappi’s dialogue speaks of other nationalities, he is a racist. He judges and condemns.) Bill’s boss is a sexual deviant. He may be bi-straight-gay, but he’s that uncomfortable mix of power and sex, no matter what the orientation. Lakara is the spirituality we’re all searching for.

Our objective is in no way to make a god damn after school special. We’re telling a story. It’s got social consciousness but in a damn unimportant and subtle way. My feeling is that family is nothing more than circumstance. It’s not genetic, and that’s why these characters come together and stress loyalty. Because of what family really is. Bonfire, Falls is about the American family. The intimacy of The Old American Family has fallen, like an empire head first. That’s why the film ends with The New American Family: an interracial couple and their adopted child.

As Bill/Mia are pro future, Gracie/Jackson are dead locked in the past, Rivers and Lakara stand a chance because they have no expectations, they have no objective and no baggage. Our lead characters Mia Jackson Bill and Gracie are stagnant. They breed disease and sickness. But a river is flowing water. A river is current and changes with its course. (I had to fight hard to sell that name, but it is one of my proudest achievements in writing.)

Half way through writing this essay and several beers to the head, I want to scream out the material from where all of this comes from. I want to spin a writers commentary and every nuance of the story. But that would be dull and egotistical. Useless to anyone reading. So I’ll maintain the essay format. Besides, the story has changed so much and the actors have fleshed out far better things than I could ever write. And not just actors, everyone involved has tightened, made better our story.

Mike was my audience as I wrote the thing. It was kind of like reading pick a path your adventure. He would read and predict where it was going. This helped give the story momentum.

If it wasn’t for Ryan and Mike the movie’s ending would have been total shit. I had written that Rivers and Garrett just leave. All my stories set up dynamite and leave the characters/viewers looking for a match. Ryan and Mike said simultaneously “I thought the house was gonna burn down.” And so it made sense. I rewrote the ending for my brothers. Though it would have been a hell of a lot easier to have shot the stories ending without the house fire.

And the irony is, that if we had tried to make this film as it was happening we would have killed each other. It’s amazing how time heals all the bad blood in this script. Thank god it’s just fiction. Thank god we got this far... I need another beer.

2006-03-25T09:45:00.000-08:00

Written. Cast. Blocked. Drunk. I've often wondered what it would be like to meet James Woods. I'll tell you. He's a cranky old man same as any. The trouble is that he does his job and he does it well. Like no one else. And for every film he makes a population of the world sees him doing his job. How does one achieve longevity? How does one who aspires to make films stay crazy and keep from turning into an idiot.

I was drinking an adious; liquor bomb blue as a summer sky, while a friend played a set in some dingy rock club. My friend played great music for an audience of twenty. The band their goodbyes took down their equipment and went off stage. The band that followed was a Guns and Roses cover band. Suddenly the club was filled with long haireds. My drink was gone and I felt like I had fallen twenty years into the past, the sick and deafening thing (other than the music) was the size of an audience the cover band drew. My friends group brought together brilliant kids that played great new music but sure enough the masses wanted to hear a Guns and Roses cover band. I was too drunk to point this out to the audience. So I left. I had a hangover the next day at work but not because of the booze. The importance of Popularity vs. Invention is stagering, sickening and discouraging. 2months till our two weeks. Lets make something great.

Bonfire Boys

2006-02-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

2006-01-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

does little productions will be filming Bonfire, Falls in the spring of 2006. The script is under going a weight loss program, while our writer is under going a detox process. Anticipate good things as they develop, we've gotten a bit of good news from a team of experienced individuals. And slowly but surely we're taking our enthusiasm and learning to make fire. In late January we will have a folio of locations and cast members, and in May anticipate an intensive week of rehearsal, followed by a ten day shoot over a two week period, and last the rest of summer to edit in the city of angels. Please be our friend: Bonfire, Falls Myspace Page

...with whatever is dry...

2005-12-10T13:03:00.000-08:00

21 days till the new year. To which some say 'same shit different year.' However, people are talking more and more about freedom. As if it is real and tangible. And yes there is a certain honorary note in the philosophy. It's like love; when it's in check than it becomes a pressing issue. But none of us understand and no one is explaining. This world is full of stories and explanations yet there is an impenetrable fog in all directions. Clarity and freedom are real, the question is: how do we attain it?

Our name does little productions is not just clever word usage, its our mission statement. There are too many people that believe that film and music are the only avenue towards healthy understanding of human emotion. And though this is not true, majority rules. And if we only feel from movies and music, then we'll have to rewrite the physiology of feelings. The stories we're trying to tell are not bias and not PC. They're stories for passing the time. Stories that are interesting and mirror life; if life were just a little more lyrical.

It isn't about egotism because if we could hire actors we would. It isn't about the self preservation of art because we are willing to compromise for circumstances. We just want to elevate the standard of story telling. But meanwhile the machine just gets bigger and bigger. There is no middle class. The golden class and the golden rule are running/ruinning the country.

Hug your family and coworkers. Love one another. Go see King Kong this holiday season. Its a goddamn film about a goddamn giant monkey. Godbless Hollywood.

Every film starts with a Story

2005-11-22T21:45:00.000-08:00

"I find an incredible sense of security in that, nothing is forever. Nothing has ever mattered to me, nothing matters but you my friends."--Rivers

Three best friends Bill, Jackson, and Rivers find little to no difference in the quality of life after college graduation. Their responsible adult lives begin to drive them apart.

"...But right now, with this beer; we are celebrating our last rights. This is our bachelor party, this is our last night before we go away to war. Our last chance to be young and insane."--Handsome Bill

The Old College House gets cramped for each after Bill's girlfriend Mia moves in, Jackson's old love Gracie and her three year old need a place to stay, and Rivers... has his own problems.

"Less metaphors. More apathy. More thrust."--Action Jackson.

It is about loyalty to friends, loyalty to loved ones, and how sometimes loyalty to one thing can be detrimental to another.

photos by Cassie Gorniewicz.

for a copy of the trailer contact:

doeslittleprods@aol.com

Making Films

2005-11-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

If you're family, or a total stranger click babysfirstshoot and try and make sense of our mess. In case you were alive and there at the time; in case you can only remember it in segments; take a look at our photo album from that lovely night. And if you're a stranger take a look at our cast and crew. Remember photos can be deceiving. We are professionals.

Bonfire, Family

2005-11-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

I got off the plane at Eleven am. We began shooting at Ten that night, and we were finished by Six the next morning. During a period over seventy hours long I had slept three hours. My accomplice had done the same. All the while our Blonde Girl Friday kept this chaotic production in a professional order. On the third day we edited; another six hours out of the AM.

Given our resources and a seemingly endless pool of talent, we made a lovely short film. The objective of the project was to familiarize ourselves with the equipment, the cast, and ourselves. We needed to know just how hard we could push the limits with an infinite amount to shoot during a very narrow amount of time.

Michael full on in rehearsal, for his role in a current stage play, fought the good fight against mans natural inclination towards rest. And I after a diet of mostly pills and booze managed to stay alive in two time zones. Katie became a foxy zombie. And on the fourth day we rested. The company took a holiday from the lifestyle.

Godbless this mess. So much more to say, but I need to sleep a dreamless sleep. No more stories for 24hrs.

For a copy, contact us at Doeslittleprods@aol.com

In Love and In Life

2005-11-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

And in the end. No one could tell where it began. Because in the end or even where it started, it all looked the same. The thing few people realize is that caring about shit and loving our loved ones, is not a series of antonyms to nihilism.

So twenty-four hours before our first adventure, doeslittle productions knows full well that everything may last a thousand years, but we will die and turn to dust. Our only objective is to spend time admiring and making art. And maybe in twenty years our kids won't think of us as signoff retired souls feigning passion. Maybe for a moment we had a purpose other than getting up just to get old and drinking to get drunk.

Tomorrow we shoot our trailer. Hold your breath and love life.--Bonfire, Falls

Smooth Jack

2005-10-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

Michael Thompson is a dangerous creature. Exceptional intelligence and pop-shit humor. A young writer and actor, with the capacity for mechanical engineering as well as improvised alternative philosophy. He has agility like a clipped bird, but remains fast as a boar.

Mike's writing has a surreal element to it, that might be visionary. Growing up on cartoons, Voneggut and The Who, his abstract and simple dialogue often depicts daily living through reset eyes. Though in some moments offsetting and disorienting, his work in whole or in part is strong and affecting. A reminder to his readers: when we walk through the past we have to be careful of leaving tracks so as not to leave traces of atavistic crimes. This holds true of young minds writing in a vein years ahead of their time.

A Violent River

2005-10-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

Aaron is a criminal and a junkie; and it is in does little productions best intrest to apply for a professional emancipation as soon as possible. He's a hack writer. A lone drinker. And suffers from delusions of grandeur. Robert Zimmerman aspired to be Hank Williams; and Hunter S. lived in the shadow of Ernest Hemingway; even Dubya aspires to become his own father. Great and Evil men alike desire to achieve the success of their idols. It is yet to be seen which category Aaron falls into.

PFS

2005-10-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

In the New America there is no freedom for an isolated individual to achieve and maintain individuality. Modern man has cut off his own hands with technological extravagance; there are no more rockstars or writers, there are no more artists or idols. A man and his computer can achieve the basis of internal success alone in his room. And now that any jackass with a tendency to reveal their inner proclivities to an audience that may or may not exist, this New America radiates a muddled brown. Bob Dylan, Dylan Thomas, Jim Henson and even Jesus couldn't cut it in this commercially owned and operated world.

(does little productions does not claim to be talented as these historical giants)

What we do, however, is rely on teams of artists, and through combined artistry hope to achieve New Levels of bad/art. No ego. No self portraits. No pretentious high fashion. No good news or false sense of hope. Only the great quality of story; which are otherwise unpublished in the land of Pitch, Loglines and Hooks.

Apifany

2005-10-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

While drunk and trapped in my cubicle it came to me; last thing first. I got on the land line and communicated an interest to my business partners. We would make an artistic venture of my trip back east in early November and make a short film. Instead of trying to convince the world we could make a full length production, let's record a demo tape. And use it as an audition piece to submit to soulless production companies. My accomplice and blonde girl Friday voted yes and so on November 5th we will be shooting a mock trailer for our film: Bonfire, Falls. If you've received this message in error consider it a gift out, the result of some inexplicable fate. See the posting for details.

2005-10-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

An independent effort by a collaboration of talent.

2005-10-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

suffering hollywood to make good films