First off, what is your background in filmmaking? What was the initial spark that got you started?
I have a BA degree in Filmmaking & Television Production and a BA in History from California State University of Fullerton and I was one of the writers and on-screen talent/DJ on a live public TV late night program called Marty’s Corner from 2001-2009. I have always been interested in films since I was younger especially Anime and foreign or rare films. At the time when I decided to write Young Birds Fly in 2001 there had not been any Mod related films since Quadrophenia and Absolute Beginners and I felt it was the right time to produce one. Originally, I just wrote the screenplay to sell to a studio but in late 2005 I just went ahead and produced and directed the feature myself.
I was also motivated with how females have been underrepresented in Mod films and media. YBF was a tribute to my female Mod friends who have been there for me throughout the years. I wanted to make a generational film about strong female friendships. I am a big fan of director Hayao Miyazaki films and close female friendships are huge components of his films like Kiki’s Delivery Service and Porco Rosso. I wanted to have that sort of friendship between Jill and C-Bird. I always found it odd that my live action film was inspired by animation.
To make a movie like “Young Birds Fly”, one must have a solid understanding of the mod and soul culture.
I am an avid reader, researcher and record collector but it was a bit intimidating writing the script because so many people are experts in certain aspects of Mod and Soul and have their own opinions and vision of what Mod is, based on their own personal experiences. When it comes down it, it would be impossible to cover every aspect of Mod/Soul/Skin in a 90-minute film. I am not particularly into the Mod revival era although I touch on it in YBF. I am sure many people could be upset about leaving that era out but the historian in me rather leave it to somebody who lived it and understands the nuance of the era to do it correctly.
The point of view I made YBF was from the aspect of what do young Mods do during the other five days of the week when they are not with their friends at a club or concert. Like having to deal with homework, school, dating, 9 to 5 jobs and parents and family. The inglorious grind of real life. So many people caught up in sub-cultures can get stuck on who they are on the weekend that they can’t cope with the rest of life. I have seen it happen to so many people and that is the tragedy of C-Bird and the warning to Jill and Jeananne.
What about this culture excites and inspires you?
I love the visual beauty and art movement aspects of the Mod style. I consider Mod the first true international youth movement. So many cultures such as French, Italian, British and American were blended together by open minded English teenagers to create something as unique as Mod. Then you throw in Japanese, Asian and South American interpretations of Mod and they take it to another level. Mod really is an unique subculture like nothing else. I also love girls with short hair since as long as I can remember and that is a huge component in my love for Mod as well!
The avant garde and dreamscape aspects of Mod in film, the arts and modern architecture, like the works of Oscar Niemeyer, are also highly influential to me. So much of Mod can be caught up with such trivial things where I tend to look at it as an aesthetic artistic movement.
Can you tell me about some of challenges and situations that you’ve had to resolve while working on a film like this?
I had never made a feature film before but I had worked on other people’s projects and made notes on why they never finished their films. For example many beginning directors always borrowed other peoples cameras, halfway through the project the camera owner decides that they don’t want to be part of the project anymore. They take away the camera and the film is finished. It’s like being a guitarist and not owning your own guitar, a director needs to purchase their own camera if they want to be filmmakers.
A lot of directors take too much time with filming one scene. Sure if you need to take a few days to shoot a scene that’s fine but three weeks later you’re still shooting the same scene you’re going to lose your actors and many of the actors get fed up and leave. Many beginning directors do not let actors be actors and do not allow them to do what they were trained to do. I saw that happen so many times and made sure there was a lot of communication between the actors and myself.
I allowed myself to make mistakes, which took a lot of pressure off me. YBF was my first feature and I consider it my training film to get a feel what was needed to make a feature film. The only real gamble I took was with the song licenses that I could not afford. That not working out is why YBF is not on DVD now. The next film I am writing all the music myself, I will never go through that again. Lesson learned!Just finishing YBF was a big shock to a lot of people including people who worked on it. Many of the actors knew directors who start on features but they usually abandon it about a 1/3 of the way through for reasons mentioned above. When YBF was finished people came up to me and said, “We didn’t actually think you were going to finish it!” I never thought that it wasn’t going to be finished. The hardest part about making films is writing the screenplay. If the screenplay is spot on and dialed in and you can swear by it, the filming portion actually goes along quite smoothly.
What about accomplishments?
I believe the single most important accomplishment was the then 13-year-old Tracy Mathewson silent pantomime performance of Jill/ The Venus Ace. Tracy did a brilliant and accomplished job performing Jill, especially at her age, and it was a great challenge to myself to write and direct a lead character that does not say one word throughout the entire film. Tracy was a true professional and is currently going to college in the UK for acting.
I understand that you do a lot of graphics for Fender Guitars due to at some extent to Young Birds Fly. How did that all come about?
One of the positive results for making Young Birds Fly was it led to me getting hired at Fender Musical Instruments, the maker of the Stratocaster, Telecaster and P-Bass and Jazz Bass amongst other products. The position was for Graphics and Video Specialist and being a ‘72 Fender Musicmaster player for many years and having an in-depth knowledge of the company it was a dream job and I had to have it.
My first week at Fender was the same week Young Birds Fly debuted in July 2007. That was a magical week! They were impressed that I made a feature length film for basically no money and I impressed them with my knowledge of the history of Leo Fender and Co. and their products. Sure YBF is not a top ten film or a Cannes winner but it definitely helped my life along and it has been very rewarding to me. My idea of success is a bit different from most people.
During filming of YBF I had kept my art design and film making skills as separate mediums, although my composition was extremely important to both. I was more concerned with finishing YBF more than anything else while making the film. I did not have the time, experience, money or equipment to make the visual film I would have wanted. I filmed most of YBF like a cultural anthropology study of “How does a young teen girl become a Mod?” using natural settings.
The next film my graphic art design will play a very important part with the look of film. Other than perhaps composition and story themes I want to make it look like another director filmed it. I have a better Idea of what is expected of the cast and crew and now I can concentrate on the look of the film the second time around.
What’s next on the horizon? Any new projects in the works?
YBF stretched out to 3 hours so accordingly the film couldn’t be entered into film festivals. I love my three-hour version but a post-production company is currently editing it down to a 90-minute festival version. I gathered up most of the replacement songs and will insert them in the new cut as soon as I get the festival version. I need to get YBF out on DVD ASAP so I can start shooting the next film which will also be a Mod/Soul/Skin film.
There were a lot of things I didn’t and couldn’t cover in YBF and I want to explore those subjects in the next film. I plan to write the screenplay this year. It will have a much more darker theme compared to YBF.
I also started an American based Mod website on September 2009 called Modcineaste.com that I have been putting a lot of my extra energy into. I collect Japanese 6T’s Group Sounds music and I have been translating the record sleeves from Japanese into English and reviewing the records and other Mod/Soul/GS related items. There is not a lot of information in English about 6T’s Japanese groups and I want Modcineaste to be the go to site for that kind of information. The larger goal is to make the site a catalog library of Mod items from around the world. Modcineaste.com still have a long way to go but it is a great start.
Extra special thanks to Leonardo for taking the time to talk to me. For a quick peak on Young Bird's Fly, Dig the trailer located below.
