Film Details

A Legacy of Whining not only throws gasoline on the familiar cinematic trope of male mid-life crisis but watches gleefully as it sits back and throws a lighted match onto the proceedings. Inspired by its love of early 1970’s American buddy films, this shaggy dog comedy (played out in one desperation-soaked dreamlike evening) tells the tale of two former high school friends, Mitch and Dunc, who reunite thirty years later in an attempt to resurrect the faded corpse of their “glory years” only to find, perhaps, that the past ain’t all it’s cracked up to be…

Starring Ross Munro and Robert David Duncan and Angie Descalzi.

Written and Directed by Ross Munro.

NextOneProductions.ca

Screening Details

Date: Tuesday, April 5th, 2016

Theatre: Vancity Theatre

Time: 6:30pm

For tickets, please visit VIFF.org

Win a Pair of Tickets

Please send an e-mail to info@bizbooks.net and please include this information:

• Your Name

• Your E-mail Address

• Your Phone Number

• “A Legacy of Whining” Movie Contest in the subject line

Winners will be selected at random and will be contacted by e-mail.

The post A Legacy of Whining Movie Contest appeared first on Biz Books.

Just ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Vancity Theatre on April 5th, Robert David Duncan talked to us about how his time as an actor and director influenced his work on A Legacy of Whining.

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Can you start by telling us a little bit about you?

I have been dedicated to acting for 10 years now, having decided to pursue it seriously in mid-life after working as a consultant, college teacher, author and public speaker. At one point, I literally “gave up my day job” and took a leap into the Stella Adler Studio summer conservatory program in New York, which was a wonderful experience.

After lots of acting training here and in New York and some cool experiences in acting, I decided to try directing. Ross Munro was a big encourager of mine, telling me that I should give directing a try, and that it was fun. He was right! Several years ago I formed a production company, Fat Punk Productions, and we have developed a number of films, most recently a feature called It’s About Love that is in post-production. We have been fortunate to have had a lot of success getting our films into festivals around the world and winning several awards. I have also written books on acting and filmmaking and teach both subjects.

Recommended Reading You Can Act On Camera Click a cover for more details The Art of Voice Acting Secrets of Screen Acting

What can you share about your character in A Legacy of Whining?

Hilariously enough, Dunc is like my evil twin. He is everything that I am not. Aside from the obvious physical and name resemblance, he is Mister Hyde to my Doctor Jekyll, which makes him a delicious acting opportunity. In real life, I am an optimistic, encouraging person. I’ve been with my wife for 25 happy years, I don’t party or pop pills, and I’d much rather be home in my nest when the sun sets. Dunc on the other hand, well…

What kinds of things did you do to prepare for your role?

Ross Munro and I talked quite a bit about the characters, and the homage to old buddy movies of the ’70s. We very early on had a meeting of the minds, and didn’t have to explore the script to death, because the rhythm of the communication between the characters was just so natural. We slipped into each of our characters very readily and our rehearsals were really a lot of fun. My wife was also great at helping me with the lines, and she still knows a frightening number of them – we are always tossing around Mitch-isms and Dunc-isms. I also think everyone has had a friend like both of these two guys, the one who remembers everything about the old days, and the one who couldn’t care less, the undermining friend, the starry-eyed dreamer, and so on. By the time you get to middle-age, there’s a lot of experience to draw upon!

You have a wide mix of acting and directing credits. What do you enjoy about each of them?

Directing is a lot of fun and I find it sits comfortably on me as a vocation, probably due to my background in teaching, acting and management. Acting though, is the real drug, and is my first love. There are times during a performance when you can be so in flow that you zone out, and only come fully back into yourself when “cut” is called and you see that everyone is quite excited by the work. I’m sure every actor gets that experience at times, and it is really special.

How does your experience as an actor help you as a director and vice versa?

Because I was an actor first, I get where most actors are coming from, which helps me immensely as a director. I have studied most of the acting traditions, and can relate to an actor that is working either from their emotional experience, or from a more cerebral or imaginative place. This helps me communicate my vision as a director in terms that we both understand. I also know to go easy on the number of takes because I understand the risks of burning out the actors. I aim for 3 takes maximum. To get to that level of performance I try to do a lot of work with each actor before we shoot. As for being an actor who also directs, I think it helps me understand what the director likely needs, and so I can bring that to my performance – things like repeatability in coverage shots, awareness of continuity and the like. In both cases, my empathy is deepened because I understand the different jobs on set, and the importance of serving the story and ultimately the audience.

Many of your directing credits are short films. What would you say are the three most important ingredients that every short film needs to be successful?

A story, a message and a theme you care deeply about. To some extent those elements overlap, but they are the key ingredients. I wrote a book called “Micro Short Filmmaking: A guided learning journey” which guides aspiring filmmakers on how to make a simple one-minute film. If you can get a story that fits into a minute, that is driven from something you care about, and leaves a viewer affected, then you can make any length of film. The important thing is to start. If you have a smartphone or other simple camera, you can make a micro short film for no money and get it into festivals and perhaps even win an award. I run workshops on micro short filmmaking, and I am constantly blown away by the creativity of the people who take part. These are the filmmakers of the future.

Are there any books or authors that have been influential in your career so far?

The Art of Acting by Stella Adler, Being an Actor by Simon Callow and Acting in Film by Michael Caine. I read very widely on acting craft, but those are the 3 that I would grab in a fire!

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career?

Nothing comes easy, and everything takes more time and more work than you can imagine. It’s important to be working constantly on craft and generating your own work through writing and producing. Waiting to be chosen through the traditional audition process is a recipe for defeat and discouragement. You don’t need anyone’s permission to be working on your acting craft. Study, practice, write and shoot a simple film, surround yourself with others who are working hard, and be quietly grinding away all the time. Work more, talk less.

What’s your opinion on the current state of the Canadian film industry?

We are in the middle of a sea-change in terms of the democratization of content production. We are seeing feature films shot with iPhones. If you have a great story, you can find a way to make a film and get it out there into festivals and released online. It’s not a recipe for making lots of money, but there is a lot of talent here in Canada, and a lot of creative people. I think it’s a great time to be an independent film producer.

What other projects are you working on right now and where can we find out more about you?

I am in post-production on a feature film called “It’s About Love” and I am really happy with how it is coming together thanks to an awesome cast and crew. I am also filming a second feature which is an experimental iPhone film, and I have other projects in development. People can come visit us at FatPunkProductions.com, and can check me out on IMDB. Information on my current workshops and training is here. I am @duncanrob on Twitter, and am also on LinkedIn.

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Thanks to Robert David Duncan for speaking with us!

You can check out A Legacy of Whining at the Vancity Theatre on April 5th at 6:30PM.

Tickets available through VIFF.org.

The post The Biz Interview: Robert David Duncan appeared first on Biz Books.

Ross Munro joined us to give us the inside word on everything we need to know about A Legacy of Whining and why you should see it!

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Can you start by telling us a little bit about you and A Legacy of Whining?

Well, like a lot of filmmakers I grew up as a kid spending all my weekends hanging around movie theatres – I would watch the same film all day long (including all the trailers, shorts, cartoons)! The first movie I went to without my parents was Red Sun with Charles Bronson back in 1972- I’ve been obsessed with movies ever since!

A Legacy of Whining was created as an homage to the very popular ’70’s buddy film genre which I loved seeing so much back in my early moviegoing days- with a healthy dose of Woody Allen’s sarcastic humour thrown in.

Recommended Reading You Can Act On Camera Click a cover for more details The Art of Voice Acting Secrets of Screen Acting

What should audiences expect from the film?

Hopefully, audiences will find many of the painful situations that my character gets into not just funny but they will also recognize the universal themes of what it’s like to question where you are in life and whether you’ve made the right choices in trying to achieve success i.e.- what’s your legacy?

You wrote, directed, starred- Can you take us inside your creative process for building the script, prepping to play the character, bringing the overall vision to life?

As for the script, once I settle on the central idea or concept – in this case, a buddy film about two mismatched former high school friends who reunite 30 years later – I like to take some time to just think about it, let it germinate. I buy a fresh notebook and continually jot down info about character, plot, situations, scenes- any and everything that would seem to fit the film. Then when I have the main ingredients for the body of the film, that’s when I get on the computer and do my official first draft – using the blueprint of my now – hopefully- overflowing notebook.

As for preparing to play the main character of Mitch, I found that while still in the writing process, I kept visualizing him- with all his sarcastic commentary and never-ending complaining- as very Woody Allen-like as he’s always trying to talk his way out of jams a la Bob Hope (Woody Allen’s self professed influence for his cinematic persona).

Bringing the vision to life is the most exciting part – when you get to bring in all your cinematic collaborators – camera, costume, actors, production design, music, etc. – and share your vision with everyone and see all the amazing ways they contribute to taking it from the page to the screen!

What was the most memorable moment for you during the making of this film?

It was probably the very first day of shooting. We were filming the Fred Astaire-like 1930s dance fantasy sequence- I remember I was dressed in my tux and top hat and looking around at how our amazing crew had transformed the studio into an old Hollywood musical set and thought to myself, “Wow, we are actually doing this!”

The feeling of accomplishment at bringing a film all the way into the production stage is something I never take for granted and at that time, I felt so blessed- especially to be collaborating with my wife, Maria Munro, one of the film’s producers.

What was the biggest challenge in creating the film and how did you handle it?

The biggest challenge was the unique situation of trying to maintain my directorial vision over the course of the six months of filming. A Legacy of Whining takes place over the course of one crazy night- from dusk to dawn. The challenge was keeping my focus and always re-calibrating my cinematic compass to make sure the film’s structure and events always flowed smoothly. Needless to say, myself and the other lead actor, Robert David Duncan, who played Dunc, had to also assume the daunting task of keeping our physical look the same over the course of the six months filming for the sake of continuity  i.e.- keeping our hair, weight, clothes , complexion etc. – that was not easy. I even made sure not to be in the sun too much or end up having a tan that would not match previously shot scenes in the earlier colder months!

Any books/authors that have influenced you in your career so far?

I am and have always been a voracious reader- I’ve seen great film directors mention what a great influence in their work that books bring and I have to agree! One book that I go back to again and again that influences me greatly is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller for his absurd but deadly accurate satirical style. Another of my favourites is Chilean author Roberto Bolano – especially his awe-inspiring opus 2666.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far in your career? 

It’s the most cliche but also the most true – never be afraid to follow your dreams and visions! If you have passion for what you believe in, you will never stop until you achieve your goals! Also, surrounding yourself with like-minded talented individuals who believe in what you’re doing and have the same commitment and passion will only elevate your work!

What advice do you have for actors who would like to write and direct their own material?

I grew up watching many of my favourite actors write and direct their own films – Charlie Chaplin, Woody Allen, Jacques Tati – so it wasn’t a hard leap to want to climb into that arena. I think it’s important to prepare your film as much as possible as both the writer and director so that by the time you’re on set filming, you are able to then focus more of your energies as an actor as most of the technical aspects – like shot lists, blocking, performances of the other actors, etc. – have all been worked out ahead of time. But mostly, if it’s something you want to do, then just ignore the terror that you might feel at that daunting prospect and just go for it!

What’s your opinion on the current state of the Canadian film industry?

Working as a Canadian independent filmmaker, especially here in Vancouver, it seems like there is a lively, thriving community of fellow filmmakers, acting talent, and amazing behind-the-camera crew people. Everybody seems to know everyone else and there is fantastic support amongst everyone and a willingness to help and encourage that I am constantly in awe. Basically, whether it’s docs, shorts, features of any/all budgets- there really are an abundance of creative people with that do-it-yourself spirit!

Where can we find more info about you and A Legacy of Whining?

Twitter: @rossbrew

Facebook: Next One Productions and World Premiere Screening Event

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Thanks to Ross Munro for speaking with us!

Don’t miss A Legacy of Whining at the Vancity Theatre on April 5th at 6:30PM!

Tickets available through VIFF.org.

The post The Biz Interview: Ross Munro appeared first on Biz Books.