Latest / Cinema Yūgen / Playwright to Filmmaker: The Journey of Michael Coulombe
Transcript
- 0:00G'day. That's right, it's that time again. Time for Cinema Yugen!
- 0:07Music.
- 0:16Yes, Cinema Yugen, welcome back! Michael Kalam, an award-winning and nominated
- 0:22writer and director from Los Angeles, is our guest today.
- 0:25He has also served as a script supervisor for nine years and in over 200 films.
- 0:32He first sprung onto the scene in 2011 with his play You Can Call Me Eve,
- 0:39which was produced by the Wright Eck Repertory in Hollywood,
- 0:44California, and went on to become a feature film starring Academy Award-winning
- 0:49actress Olympia Dukakis.
- 0:51He also wrote and directed the short film Axe in 2012 and co-wrote feature film
- 0:57script Eden Falls with his friends Martin Rogers and Victor Miller.
- 1:01He has created the monthly networking group Eastside Indie Film Group because
- 1:06he feels strongly about bringing the industry together. He is also a published
- 1:11author with his poetry book Swimming the Storm.
- 1:15We are happy to have him on Cinema Yugen. Please welcome Michael Cullum.
- 1:19Wow, what a nice intro. Thank you so much. Thank you very much.
- 1:22There'll be a bit more of it.
- 1:25That's just leading into the conversation. But listen. I should always have
- 1:28someone with an Australian accent. Introduce me. I love it.
- 1:33I can't take any credit for it, mate. I was born with it.
- 1:37I love it. Anyway. But listen, thank you for being my guest.
- 1:42You're an incredible filmmaker. I've been researching and watching some of your
- 1:46work and looking at your diary.
- 1:50And things leading up to our chat.
- 1:54Okay. I love that. I guess a good place to start is what,
- 2:00sometimes i've you know i've done a lot of interviews over
- 2:03the years and and sometimes i used to lead in with
- 2:06you know what what was the what was
- 2:09the film that lit the spark that that started the
- 2:12journey but in in in some cases people
- 2:16came from completely different careers and and
- 2:19by accident in some cases got a
- 2:22job on a film set for a day and realized it was a lot more fun than
- 2:25what they were doing and and went over that
- 2:28way but yeah michael what was what
- 2:31was it that made you want to have a go at uh well i always tell people that
- 2:37that i didn't find film film found me like i wanted to be a writer like i was
- 2:42a writer growing up i wanted to be a novelist and a playwright and i actually
- 2:46did have a play produced i had a play produced back in 2011.
- 2:49But like the film journey was interesting because i had
- 2:52a friend who was like oh i know
- 2:55you like to write but i want to work on a script and he's like i
- 2:58don't he goes i really need help writing a script do you know how to write scripts and
- 3:01i said no i don't even know like i've never read a script i don't know anything about
- 3:04it like i was i was open to
- 3:07making movies i just never it wasn't something i like was like
- 3:10i'm gonna school i was gonna go to school it's just one of
- 3:13those things like and so he actually mentioned that i
- 3:16should take a course on script supervising because it would help
- 3:19me understand script breakdown and he
- 3:21goes maybe that'll help you sort of understand how the concept
- 3:24of scripts are made and i was like okay and i had a full-time job at
- 3:27the time and i was very unhappy there so i was like well sure whatever i'll
- 3:31be open to doing it and i took the course and i found it very interesting because
- 3:34it was teaching me so much about actual film like how movies are made why we
- 3:38do the things we do and of course you know script advisors track continuity
- 3:42and so like literally our job is to make sure that like Like what's movies are,
- 3:46are we shoot them out of order when they put back or that makes sense.
- 3:48So it's like, it gave me such an in-depth understanding of like how movies are made.
- 3:53And I was like, I thought that was very fascinating. And so,
- 3:56Because I learned this particular craft, and I wasn't happy at my job.
- 4:01I was like, well, I guess I'll just go make movies and see what that takes me.
- 4:05And I've been doing it now for 20 years.
- 4:07So it was just the most random thing, yeah. It was just going to be like,
- 4:10I wasn't even going to do it. I was just like, well, just get me out of this gig.
- 4:13And then I was making movies, and I was working with celebrities,
- 4:16and I was traveling all over the place. And I was like, okay, I like this.
- 4:20And then from there, it kind of just led me into writing and directing. yeah
- 4:23but but of course you prior to
- 4:27that you obviously watched movies and have enjoyed
- 4:30movies of course yeah and you know what's so interesting is people go ahead
- 4:34yeah you'll go you're right well no i was just saying because people when i
- 4:37was when i first started like i would watch a lot of like behind the scenes
- 4:41things when i was younger about how movies were made and people are like oh
- 4:45i feel like that destroys it for you i thought it very fascinating so it never,
- 4:49And even to this day, even after working on it. Yes, I am totally in that camp with you.
- 4:54I, in fact, not long after seeing my first film when I was young,
- 4:59what really lit the fire for me was not the movies. I mean, I loved the movies.
- 5:04But what really lit the fire or, you know,
- 5:08in a different description, what blew the brains out the back of my head was a,
- 5:14and I've told this story before, but there was a TV special
- 5:18it was a tv special in the states but it came out
- 5:20here in australia on bhs and it was called spfx the
- 5:24empire strokes back which was a an hour tv program
- 5:27hosted by mark hamill about special visual effects in movies up until including
- 5:32fire strikes back you can actually see it on youtube okay oh that sounds exciting
- 5:37because it's a it was made at the time of empire so it's special visual effects
- 5:43up until and including the empire strikes back which was.
- 5:47Yet to be released, I think, when this special came out.
- 5:50So this was like a prelude to the release of The Empire Strikes Back.
- 5:55And it...
- 5:57I saw in that, not just the visual effects, but I saw them filming portions
- 6:02of the Hoth sequence and you see the British assistant directors going around
- 6:07the Norwegian army who are dressed up as rebel soldiers.
- 6:11And when I saw that and then saw the movie and put it together,
- 6:15like, oh, this is what people put these together, like almost watching a watchmaker make a watch.
- 6:23Completely, that completely blew me away And that sort of enriched my love for
- 6:28it because if once it became possible that, oh, this is something that I can
- 6:31get in on, this is action I can get in on, that is what really lit the spark for me.
- 6:37It wasn't, the film was already fascinating, but once I saw how the machine
- 6:43worked and that I could possibly be part of the machine, that was even more exciting to me.
- 6:51Well, it's so funny because people, when I tell people I work at film,
- 6:55like oh it's oh that's so great that's so exciting it's so glamorous and i was like i mean i guess.
- 6:59If you get to go to oscars it's glamorous but it's like it's just
- 7:02like any job but i know people don't realize like so
- 7:05a minimum day is 12 hours like people don't
- 7:08realize that you know and it's like long days okay
- 7:11but keep that in point people don't realize like what it takes to
- 7:14even make like two minutes of film like they don't realize that we
- 7:17light all day and we have to get really good sound and the actors have
- 7:20to look great and then we just do like you know
- 7:23we should we'll set up a shot and then we'll do like five six takes and
- 7:26then we set up another shot and do five or six takes for coverage and
- 7:29they do and they don't realize that there's a lot of people like my family
- 7:32would come visit me on set they're like oh my god like
- 7:34what an interesting process and i was like i know and like this
- 7:37is only going to be two minutes of screen time if that you know they don't
- 7:40realize and it's like we do this over and over and over
- 7:43again till we have an 80 90 minute movie yeah yeah
- 7:46or even with television and they're just like i'm so my whole family's been
- 7:49on set now and they've been extra than stuff so they they understand
- 7:52it but when they first got on set they're like we like had
- 7:55no idea and i was like yeah it's a it's a
- 7:58definitely a process it's a fun process and they but
- 8:01they don't realize sometimes i remember when i started early on and i had like
- 8:07a lot of directors i had my mother and grandmother in one of my early films
- 8:10right and my grandmother didn't i mean she she's one of the ones responsible
- 8:17for me watching movies anyway because she was kind of the film, I think,
- 8:20buff of the family.
- 8:23Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But she said to me at one point during the making
- 8:29of this, it was only a short film at the time, but she said,
- 8:33why do we have to do this bit over and over and over and over?
- 8:39And I said, well, I'm trying to get, there's certain things I'm trying to get in each pass, right?
- 8:45Yeah, yeah. so that I get the pass that's going to fit.
- 8:50And she goes, fit what? And I said, the rest of the movie in my head. Yeah.
- 8:55And I said, I'm just looking for this particular thing to happen.
- 8:58And either, you know, as you know yourself, sometimes you can either make it
- 9:03happen or it happens by accident. You just hope the camera is rolling at the
- 9:07time. Right, right. Yeah.
- 9:10Happy accidents are always fun. The happy accidents, yeah.
- 9:14But my grandmother had done, my whole family, well,
- 9:17I will tell you this, before I got in the film, my my grandmother randomly
- 9:20was working at this place where they shot a movie right and
- 9:23there was a just they just it was at a it was at a stadium
- 9:26right a baseball stadium and so and she was
- 9:29working it so she ended up just being an extra and so she was the one that told
- 9:32me they do it over and over again so like before i got into film i kind of already
- 9:36knew well there you go so yeah she just was an extra by accident yeah yeah i
- 9:41mean yeah i mean i remember working at a video store during sort of my last years of high school.
- 9:49And I remember very specifically, this old woman came in one afternoon and she
- 9:53had rented the, I don't know if you've seen it, it's called Babette's Feast.
- 9:57I haven't, no. But I've heard of it, but I have not seen it.
- 10:00It's a French movie. It's called Babette's Feast.
- 10:02Anyway, she hands it over and I scan it and take the money and she taps it and
- 10:06she looks at me. She goes, you know, I'm in this.
- 10:09And I said, really? She said, yes, I was an extra in this movie.
- 10:13Because I was where they were filming at the time.
- 10:16And I go, fair enough. There you go.
- 10:20I said, I'll have to watch it. She said, oh, you can only see my back and whatever.
- 10:24But I'm in it. And I said, oh, okay, that's great.
- 10:28Yeah, such a fun thing. Yeah. And I've done extra work, so I get it.
- 10:33Yeah. That was fun. Yeah.
- 10:37It's a bit of fun. I've been an extra on a few
- 10:40things and some lucky enough to
- 10:43get near the near the front where you actually get seen right
- 10:47although that was in like a japanese beer commercial um
- 10:50you know 20 years ago but um whatever whatever
- 10:54it takes but hey lesser things have shown up on youtube one day you know it
- 10:59it could be a sensation and i'll be i'll be an overnight success that only took
- 11:0340 years to happen but you know i mean i kind of feel the same way so i feel
- 11:08you on that one well look i mean people have become famous for lesser things,
- 11:13I mean, you're not wrong. You're definitely not wrong about that.
- 11:16Yeah. More to the point. Your films are, and I watched your reels too,
- 11:23you seem to have this very –.
- 11:27Natural ability it seems in in in the scenes to create this an ambience like
- 11:35it's how do i describe it it's you seem like you're one of those directors that
- 11:41knows where to put the camera,
- 11:42you know what i mean i literally make movies for a living so yeah yeah
- 11:45i mean because you know i started off as a scripturizer so i mean i've scripturized
- 11:49200 over 200 films and i also do commercial so like directing for me because
- 11:55it's a natural progression you know a lot of script advisors either move into
- 11:57editing or directing and also writing and so like the technical aspect of filmmaking
- 12:02is is second nature to me it's i just do it so so often,
- 12:06and so i think because i'm not overwhelmed because i work with a lot of first-time
- 12:11directors and sometimes they're just like there's a lot of things you have to
- 12:14know there's all technical stuff and then there's all the greatest stuff and
- 12:16it's like understanding all of it together i don't so because i know how to
- 12:20communicate to the crew because i i am crew most of the time,
- 12:23it's really easy for me to tell people what i want and then because of that
- 12:26i can be very collaborative and then because of that i'm able to i try to i
- 12:31try to surround myself with people.
- 12:33That can get me a vision that i want and then
- 12:36like i allow them the creativity to do it like the freedom
- 12:39to do it and so i can so sometimes
- 12:42i'm told i make an actor's director because then because i
- 12:45know i do so much prep before we shoot i can
- 12:48go on set and really spend time with my actors but then
- 12:51because my crew already knows because we've talked we've had
- 12:53a good conversation and then like because like
- 12:56i heard like i when i just did this thing i just did
- 12:59this project called reicher and i worked with this this costume
- 13:02designer that we got along with we did a movie in florida and i liked
- 13:06his vibe we got along really well and so when i.
- 13:09Did reicher i was like can you just because i know you i know you're
- 13:11the person you owe me as a script advisor i know you as a we already have like
- 13:14a rapport i'd love to just bring you on and work
- 13:17and so then that way it's like we talked about
- 13:20my vision and then i go take my vision
- 13:23this is what i want and then he likes to create a mood board right his
- 13:26name is malcolm he's fantastic he creates a mood board and i look at it
- 13:29i go this i feel like we're on the same page maybe not
- 13:32this maybe this you know we kind of tweak it but then i just go he does
- 13:34his own thing he knows what he needs to do so by the time i go
- 13:37to set you know it's like everybody's been dressed and and
- 13:41like we've so i can sit there and help
- 13:43the you know the actors you know because my philosophy is the
- 13:46actors each actor understands their character like they're they're
- 13:49trying to navigate their own character i want the
- 13:52actor to live in that space but my job is
- 13:55to see the overall picture so i feel like as a director my job is to
- 13:58sort of help guide everybody to get to where we need to be and so that's why
- 14:02i try to really focus on two things i try to focus on where to put the camera
- 14:06because i want it to motivate the story and i love using sound and i don't think
- 14:10people understand the importance of sound because we'll always hold for we'll
- 14:13always hold for camera we don't always hold for sound but.
- 14:16Sound can give you so much that i don't think people realize you know
- 14:20like i do a lot of horror movies so sound really plays in
- 14:23horror movies and like building suspense and stuff
- 14:26yeah don't totally you gotta have both if you like
- 14:29i say to people if you just look at at
- 14:32at daily sometimes of stuff and just hear the
- 14:35the sound without all of the the mixing
- 14:38yeah it's like and on the color timing and
- 14:41all that it looks really crappy i know
- 14:44it's funny
- 14:47because like i was looking at all the dailies from when we did ryker and even
- 14:49when we did grandma's cookies and it's like i mean because we i mean
- 14:52i know that's sorry i should i should say i know that's different today because
- 14:56you can you can do a lot in camera that that you know right in the format that
- 15:01you shoot but it it still it still is nothing compared to the finished product
- 15:06that you eventually release oh of course yeah because you've color corrected
- 15:09and you sound designed it and
- 15:11yeah it's all that it's you know it's everything yeah and you sign the sound
- 15:14effects and music but like when you got when you first like you're watching
- 15:17dailies you're like you have to have an open mind because you're like.
- 15:20I you know i work with a lot of first-time producers who like will work on films
- 15:23together and they're like oh it looks so it looks great i'm like it's gonna
- 15:26look better like it's flat like just understand that like we're just looking
- 15:28at dailies right and making sure we have the shots that we need so yeah but
- 15:32we understand the process i think you and i do so that's why we we can look
- 15:36at it with an open mind I mean,
- 15:38look, I said to someone, if you watch the myriad of extra features on the Lord
- 15:44of the Rings disc, there's a feature where Andrew Lesney shows you just,
- 15:49you know, footage that they shot on the day.
- 15:52And it looks, I'm not saying it looks crappy, but it's overexposed.
- 15:56It's, you know, it's all that sort of stuff. but he says it needs to be in this
- 16:01instance because of all the color grading because they have,
- 16:05incredible digital color timing
- 16:08now right where as you know you can
- 16:11even go in and if you don't have a light source on a particular part
- 16:15of a face or a thing you can you know digitally put it in there and all that
- 16:19sort of thing right yeah it's also interesting if you know you want to be you
- 16:24want to be overexposed more than underexposed underexposed exactly yeah what's
- 16:29also interesting when you see footage from stuff like that where they haven't
- 16:31done green screen yet because.
- 16:35So you see it you're like oh it's interesting because like they'll have like
- 16:38like a background but it's not complete because you know they're going to add
- 16:41some of it and right yeah and add to it so it's always interesting to see footage
- 16:44like that too where you just like it's so,
- 16:46nowhere near where it's going to be when it's complete so it's always kind of
- 16:49fun too yeah Or there's a great feature on that, the last Planet of the Apes movie they did,
- 16:56there's a great feature on that where you can see it with all of the.
- 17:02Like without all of the cg you can watch it
- 17:05with all the oh right see all the actors in
- 17:08their mocap suits and see how
- 17:11much see how much actual performance they do it's not
- 17:14necessarily all cg the actors really go
- 17:17for it you know they're not um right of course they're not
- 17:20just standing there hoping the cgi helps them make them
- 17:23a better performer this right they've still
- 17:26got i've seen a lot of videos like that right exactly and they have to act to
- 17:28each other i yeah i've seen a lot of videos like that with avatar too where
- 17:31they're like acting to each other and stuff it's very fascinating yeah
- 17:35those big those big because a lot of people think when
- 17:37there's it's like with ai people think
- 17:41that you know cgi was as as
- 17:44one uh effects artist once said people mistook the
- 17:48the lesson cgi should have been a great tool to
- 17:51enhance like you said to enhance the things that
- 17:53you couldn't put in that's what cgi should have
- 17:56been it should have been an enhancement tool but the lesson
- 17:59that unfortunately was learned that oh people
- 18:02like this stuff so the movie has to be mostly cg and then people will love it
- 18:08more somehow which is the wrong lesson should have always been a tool to help
- 18:13tell the story and not let's come up with a story that uses the most computer
- 18:18effects cgi i know yeah that's that's a little overwhelming you know yeah.
- 18:24Yeah sort of like the early 3d craze like
- 18:26we need to have stuff come at the screen to make this whole
- 18:293d thing right i off
- 18:32so it has to be the well i mean yeah it's kind
- 18:35of kitschy though yeah but it's yeah
- 18:37you know i i personally 3d like and and i'm i'm aging myself here but you know
- 18:44having been one of those people that saw 3d with the old 3d glasses back in
- 18:49the oh yeah and even the new the new 3d well i still think it looks it doesn't look as good,
- 18:57with the you're talking about like digital 3d yeah it's so different yeah it's
- 19:01very different well we had i thought because once you put the glasses on it's
- 19:05there's a slight tint to them and right yeah and i yeah i just look you know
- 19:13the gimmicks it's like popcorn buckets,
- 19:16great if the movie's really that good you're not really worried about popcorn
- 19:21bucket sales and having to make it in 3D if it's a good story the audience will come don't you think.
- 19:29Yeah, because people will say how great it is and they'll go.
- 19:32They'll want to go see it again. They'll go with somebody else.
- 19:34Yeah, so I agree with that.
- 19:36It always comes down to the story. I've said this in every interview.
- 19:38I mean, it comes down to the story.
- 19:40Yeah. I mean, I think they talk about a lot of things, the downfall of Hollywood.
- 19:47I still think to this day it comes down to how good the stories are being told.
- 19:54Yeah, of course. The mainstream has drifted from the multiverse into the risk-averse,
- 20:02which they've been in for a long time.
- 20:06I mean, there's always great benefit in just reproducing something that people
- 20:11know and just putting it in a different package and saying, this is a flavor that you love.
- 20:17The packaging is different, sure, but it's a taste that you can count on.
- 20:20It's a taste that you can bank on.
- 20:22Right, exactly. whereas yeah whereas i think the indie film revolution is going
- 20:28to bust this bubble because.
- 20:31Simply because it yes you do
- 20:34have to make money there's no getting around that but just
- 20:38because you're doing something in in a in a box it
- 20:41doesn't matter it's a genre box or whatever you've still got quite
- 20:44a lot of freedom inside right inside
- 20:47the box you know people talk about you need
- 20:50to think outside the box but sometimes you need to just be really creative with
- 20:54what is in the box you know what i mean right you know it's interesting you
- 20:59should say that i i am i had this conversation with matt my manager you know
- 21:02because he set up this this call but we were i was telling him you know i said
- 21:06when we were going through the first writer's strike.
- 21:09And then like the whole burst with like streaming and
- 21:12all that stuff and i said you know these big studios are
- 21:14shooting themselves on the foot because like they're so focused
- 21:17on wanting to keep the money and and and no one's working
- 21:20with him that all the independent films came so i said you know watch and the
- 21:23oscars of 2025 it's gonna be all independent films
- 21:26because none of the big studios were filming because they were so busy trying
- 21:29to hang on to the money that they had and sure enough what won this year
- 21:32anora which was an independent film a lot
- 21:35of independent films are in there so i think we're definitely in
- 21:38a new another era of like independent films coming and then let's talk about
- 21:43horror i mean something as great as like terrifier the first one did so well
- 21:46that the second one was in the theater and in amc and it's like for us independent
- 21:50filmmakers to be able to have a movie especially horror to see that in the theater
- 21:53and then you have stuff like you have winnie the pooh blood and honey and the sequel and
- 21:58It's like, as people like us, it's like, you know, I don't do just horror,
- 22:03but horror is such a genre that I love.
- 22:05And to see, like, something like Terrifier do so well that the third one came
- 22:08out and everybody wanted to go see it, that's, like, that gives us hope.
- 22:11And I think really now's a good time to focus on independent film.
- 22:14Not that anyone wanted to do a big studio project. I just think there was a
- 22:18moment where they're just, like, so caught up in being, well,
- 22:21we don't want to give any of our money, especially people like Netflix.
- 22:23And it's frustrating because you're like, we're trying to make art for you.
- 22:27Right. But I think that gave an opportunity for independent filmmakers to be
- 22:31like, all right, well, you guys figure your stuff out. We're just going to keep making movies.
- 22:35And there you go, this year. So I remember saying that last year,
- 22:40and I'm just glad that I was right.
- 22:41No, I mean, Terrifier is a fantastic example. That's what everybody wants.
- 22:47People forget that the first Mad Max was a similar situation.
- 22:51It was an independent movie.
- 22:54I mean, while it was well-reviewed, it didn't do well in Australia.
- 22:57It found its audience in the US, thus prompting the more talked about and eventually
- 23:05more commercial sequel, The Road Warrior or Mad Max 2. Oh, good. I love that one. Yeah.
- 23:10So, I mean, and it only goes from strength to strength there.
- 23:15The same with The Terrifier, a great example, because it gives independent filmmakers
- 23:20and directors and producers hope that if they stick to their guns and rather than bow to.
- 23:28Convention and stick with stick with the
- 23:31whole idea that we got into this business this storytelling
- 23:34business because we used to read a lot of stuff that came along and
- 23:37it was all different you know yeah now we live in an age where they've turned
- 23:41the the great flavors of our childhood exactly into that into like cereal flavors
- 23:46like you've got star wars flavored cereal and you've got you know all of the
- 23:51franchises transformers you know all lined up and they're just flavors on a shelf, you know,
- 23:56because they've been corporatized and now they're just products.
- 24:00They're not stories anymore. Right.
- 24:02It's products. Yeah. The great thing that I love about working,
- 24:06you know, as a screenwriter and doing this in the independent film world is
- 24:10it's the last original game in town.
- 24:13Like, okay, we have to make genre films. It doesn't matter if it's horror,
- 24:16action, science fiction, whatever.
- 24:19Yeah. The freedom of what you can do inside that is literally limitless.
- 24:26Right, of course. Yeah, I love that. I mean, you take a genre,
- 24:30yes, because it's commercial.
- 24:32Horror movies will always sell doesn't matter what market you're
- 24:35going to if you've got a good horror movie with
- 24:38a decent hook and a good story and some fine performances
- 24:41and some atmosphere you'll sell it all day
- 24:44long well yeah i mean horror does really well it's got a great
- 24:47audience very loyal yeah and
- 24:50they love that and they love it and they will go that horror fans are so devoted
- 24:54and they will go you know like you said to terrify if it if it if it just keeps
- 25:00going from strength to strengthen the filmmakers each time just not so much
- 25:04try to better themselves but try to.
- 25:08Continually enhance the experience so it doesn't just become
- 25:11mainstream stale and and
- 25:14start to rest on its laurels and go well people like this
- 25:17in the last film let's just give them more of that kind
- 25:20of like what they did to the matrix movies like the first one was yeah
- 25:23and then the second one is just a cop out
- 25:26because they go oh well people really like bullet time so instead of six or
- 25:30seven bullet time sequences we're going to have 50 right and neo fighting 10
- 25:35guys he's going to fight 3 000 guys right right and it's just that's not you know i mean that's just,
- 25:44yeah that's pandering yeah and it's not storytelling well i mean independent
- 25:49films been around for so long and if i can get if this proves anything but the
- 25:53austrians that people love they just like a good movie that it doesn't necessarily
- 25:57be five you know it doesn't have be a $25 million, $50 million, $600 million movie.
- 26:01Although I love Wicked, by the way, so I don't want people to think that.
- 26:03I would love the musical.
- 26:04But it is nice to know that sometimes people just want a good story.
- 26:07They want to escape their life for two hours.
- 26:09They want to have a nice night. They want to go out with their husband or wife
- 26:12or their kids. They want to watch a movie, have dinner.
- 26:15So sometimes we just want a night where they just... You want to escape your
- 26:19life. I get it. So give them a story.
- 26:22That's how people go to theater. There's all these people who go to concerts.
- 26:25I just want to be in law. There's a place for independent kind of fun
- 26:28yeah yeah exactly that's what we just want to be lost in
- 26:31whatever story you're telling i just want to be lost right i
- 26:35just want to be right i want to do it i want to be in the thick of it and immersed
- 26:39in it and so much so that by the time it's over i stop and and you know it's
- 26:44almost like i haven't paid attention you you know you know when you've as i
- 26:50say to people you know you're watching a good movie where you're not checking the time.
- 26:55Right yeah whether it be on your phone or
- 26:58or whatever because i get sent a lot of you know screeners to you know people's
- 27:04movies that they're promoting to do interviews with right film threat and whatever
- 27:07else but so i do watch a lot on my phone and i do notice that the ones that
- 27:13are slightly more difficult to get through i i tap on them to see how much more of the movie.
- 27:19Yeah right you're like oh five more minutes yeah but but the good ones i i don't do it once,
- 27:25you know and then that goes yeah i
- 27:28agree with that i i tell you what i haven't i
- 27:31haven't really i haven't seen a bad independent film
- 27:34this year and i've seen a few already more than
- 27:38a few that's good that's awesome i'm i'm
- 27:41constantly encouraged with the way
- 27:43it's going both both in the independent dramatic
- 27:47films genre film documentary short films
- 27:50animated films yeah it's very
- 27:53encouraging i love that and it's so like like i say to people i i love watching
- 27:59independent films because they're so original they're not like they're not they're
- 28:03not cookie cutter like comes out of the comes out of the mainstream you can
- 28:08guess where it's going five minutes into the.
- 28:11Into the movie you know yeah independent films
- 28:15still have that element of mystery and surprise which
- 28:18i miss all right sometimes going to the cinema because
- 28:21uh let's face it if you're going to the cinema to
- 28:24see another star wars movie or another ghostbusters movie
- 28:27or beetlejuice whatever they're
- 28:30making in a sequel to next you know what you're getting and there and there
- 28:35is a place for that i'm i'm a huge believer in that like there you know there
- 28:39are certain ip that i love that i'll go see like i want to see them in the theater
- 28:41there is a place for that yeah look i'm not saying that they're all wholly bad
- 28:47but i'm saying you know there's there's no.
- 28:51There's more of a promise than a surprise there because you right you you partially
- 28:57know what you're in for you know you are gonna get you are gonna get a different
- 29:01different story obviously But, you know,
- 29:05they know that this recipe works, so they have to hit certain notes to make
- 29:13sure it pays off. Because it doesn't pay off. Because it is a business.
- 29:16Right. It is a business. But independent films sometimes aren't governed by
- 29:20that. So they have the freedom to be a little more….
- 29:24Just to change, you know, I guess I think outside of the box,
- 29:26but a little bit more of like the freedom to do something different,
- 29:30which is nice, which is why audiences like them.
- 29:32That's why I said there's a place for each of them. Yeah. It's perfect. Yeah.
- 29:35Look, I mean, there's each have their audiences, but of course what is exciting
- 29:39to see is the crossover, like you said, with Terrify.
- 29:43Now independent filmmakers finding a place, you know, coming up into the mainstream
- 29:50where a larger audience.
- 29:51Right let's face it once you get into larger distribution
- 29:55you're now exposed to a much larger audience then
- 29:58which is amazing yeah so uh which is
- 30:01always the best place to put anything if
- 30:05you want if you want genuine feedback for what you've done because as good as
- 30:09you think something you've done is is is fantastic or not an audience is going
- 30:13to tell you exactly what you've done true right i mean and they've done it before
- 30:18so i'm just straight i mean you know I've been in a sympathy for 20 years.
- 30:20You have to build a thick skin.
- 30:23I've had people go and tell me that my shit sucks. And I'm fine.
- 30:26I'm not for everybody. And I totally get that. I don't want to be. Yeah.
- 30:31Beauty is the one of the behold. Michael, you're a vastly talented man.
- 30:36I've loved looking at your work. Have you got anything that you are currently
- 30:39working on or doing that you wish to tease?
- 30:44Well, the only two things that I have presently are, I did Grandma's Cookies,
- 30:48which is that nice Christmas horror short that's doing really well.
- 30:51We were going to release it last year, but it keeps getting in festivals.
- 30:54So we're just like, well, we'll just give it another run.
- 30:56We're going to release that. I am working on a project right now called Riker.
- 31:00That was a project we started last year and then i
- 31:03do have a movie on dubie called dark lullabies it's a anthology
- 31:06of a lot of my shorts i do have a couple projects coming up
- 31:09that we're moving forward with but i don't have any i can't talk about it just
- 31:13presently but that means i can come back on and have something to talk about
- 31:17yeah that's cool do you have a you have a website and all that that people can
- 31:22follow you yeah i know my my name is interesting that's it my website is,
- 31:27michaeljcolomb.com it's just my name you can put in but it's my first name michael
- 31:31m-i-c-h-a-e-l then j and then my last
- 31:34name is c-o-u-l-o-m-b-e so michaeljcolomb.com it's all there all there,
- 31:41there's a projects button just hit it it's there every project i've done and
- 31:45i like to i like to vlog and stuff on there too so it's always it's available
- 31:49jcolomb.com well we will michael we thank you for being our guest and we will
- 31:54totally put all the links.
- 31:55We'll put your IMDB. We'll put your website, YouTube, all of that in the links
- 32:00to check out Michael Palom.
- 32:02He is a really talented guy.
- 32:05Really great. I look forward to Michael, everything that you have coming up.
- 32:11And it is definitely been a pleasure to have you as my guest here.
- 32:16Oh yes, so much. Thank you so much.
- 32:18I know the time difference is crazy. So thank you so much for having me on your show.
- 32:21I really prefer that yes michael colomb
- 32:24a fantastic bloke we look forward to everything he's got
- 32:27coming up please check the links in
- 32:30the description for all of michael's work and to keep up to date with everything
- 32:35he's got going michael colomb links in the description ladies and gentlemen
- 32:40and as always my little eugenites thank you for listening to us on spotify or
- 32:47wherever If you choose to listen to your favorite podcasts, I'm Kent Hill.
- 32:50And until next time, you've been listening to cinema.
- 32:55Okay.
- 32:55Music.