TRAILERPARK DRAMA: Russell Banks novel sparks Film Forum student feature
NAJ WIKOFF, News Correspondent
Thursday, June 11
¯6 p.m. — “City Island,” by writer/director Raymond De Felitta (Palace Theatre)
¯8:30 p.m. — “Black Robe” by director Bruce Beresford (Palace Theatre)
Friday, June 12
¯Noon — Director Gerald Peary will present his film “For Love of Movies: The History of American Film Criticism” (Palace Theatre)
¯2:15 p.m. — “Crude,” a documentary by Joe Berlinger (Palace Theatre)
¯6 p.m. — Director Paul Schrader will introduce his film, “Adam Resurrected” (Palace Theatre)
¯8:45 p.m. — “Whatever Works” by Woody Allen (Palace Theatre)
Saturday, June 13
¯9:45 a.m. — Panel Discussion: “Dreaming Up America — The Movie Version on America,” with moderator Russell Banks and a panel of distinguised writers, directors and actors, including Paul Schrader, Richard Russo and Owen Shapiro (Lake Placid Center for the Arts)
¯11:30 a.m. — Authors Russell Banks and Richard Russo will hold a book signing (LPCA)
¯Noon — “North Country Shorts” local filmmaker showcase (LPCA)
¯1:30 p.m. — Conversation: Author Russell Banks speaks with filmmaker and “Frozen River” director Courtney Hunt (Whiteface Lodge)
¯2 p.m. — Silent film “Beyond the Rocks” (Palace Theatre)
¯2:15 p.m. — “Famous in 31 Days,” presented by Owen Shapiro (LPCA)
¯3 p.m. — Conversation: Filmmaker Hugo Perez speaks with novelist/screenwriter Richard Russo
¯4 p.m. — “Run for Your Life,” the story of the New York Marathon (LPCA)
¯4:15 p.m. — Director Hugo Perez will introduce “Neither Memory Nor Magic” (Whiteface Lodge)
¯6:15 p.m. — “Trailerpark,” a feature by students from Ohio University (LPCA)
¯8:30 p.m. — “Sleepless in Lake Placid” 24-hour filmmaking competition screening (LPCA)
Sunday, June 14
¯3 p.m. — “Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in Red Shoes” (LPCA)
Admission for film
screenings costs $10 each, with no advanced ticket sales. Panel discussions and
conversations are free and open to the public.
KEENE VALLEY — In 1981 Keene resident and author Russell Banks published his now famous collection of short stories Trailerpark, a work comprised of thirteen interrelated stories that explore the lives of people living a in New Hampshire trailer park — people who are often viewed as outcasts who have formed a community and contend with the many challenges that life has thrown at them, which at times is their own self-destructive behavior.
Over the past year-and-a-half the students of Ohio University associate professor and filmmaker Frederick Lewis, known for his outstanding documentary of Rockwell Kent, have contended with the challenges their professor has thrown at them, bringing Trailerpark to screen, a task that HBO has not yet been able to accomplish. Along the way they wrote the screenplay, cast the production, raised the funding, rented 8 full-sized house trailers and purchased another, which they torched under the watchful eyes of the local fire department, worked with officials from the American Humane Society to ensure the safety of 30 guinea pigs and one hamster, transported a cast and crew of approximately 35 to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the dead of winter to shoot one of Trailerpark’s crucial scenes in an all-day snowstorm and sacrificed their spring break in order to work twelve16-hour days, shooting approximately 40 percent of the movie over that timespan.
The results of their efforts will get its New York State premiere at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, June 13 at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts as part of the Lake Placid Film Forum.
“The single biggest challenge involved with Trailerpark,” said coordinating producer and Ohio University student Conor Hogan, “was the question that weighed on me all last summer: Do we shoot the film in an actual trailer park, which would involve coordinating other people’s schedules with our schedules, worrying about members of the trailer park constantly driving, talking, dogs barking, kids crying, plus a whole other list of things that could go wrong — for instance, police told us to expect a lot of our equipment to go missing if we did it this way.”
Lauren Malizia, who served as the production designer, was in charge of decorating the trailers, which had her scouring thrift shops and flea markets, and painting and decorating trailers when normal people sleep. “I have never worked on a project this complex before,” said Lauren. “This experience was one of the most rewarding projects I have worked on in my college career. I have learned so much in regards to art, design, collaboration and storytelling. This project has inspired me even more to pursue my dream of becoming a production designer.”
“I think the message of this film is that sometimes the people we know the least are the people living a few feet from us,” said Patrick Muhlberger, who both co-wrote the screenplay and co-directed Trailerpark. “The film is about people making and breaking relationships with their neighbors. I hope the viewer leaves thinking about their own life and relationships, how some of them work out and some don’t.”
“Russell Banks gave us almost complete freedom in the adaptation,” he said. “We worked really hard in the writing process to try and stay as close to the original book as possible. I really hope he sees how much work we put into this and is satisfied with how we treated his creation.”
“The biggest difference between writing a novel and a screenplay is simply that you are moving from a position of total autonomy and control to that of a collaborator, and a minor collaborator at that,” Banks said. “The screenwriter is basically making a blueprint for the director, actors, director of photography and production designers.
“The greatest difficulty a director faces is in reducing a novel,” Banks added, “which usually takes anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to read, down to a two-hour movie and deciding which two or three of the many stories and characters in a novel will combine to make a good film. It’s not ‘translating’ a novel to film; it’s pillaging a novel and using the loot to make a film.”
On Saturday you will have a chance to see how well this band of students looted Russell Bank’s Trailerpark, and brought it to the big screen.
“I am really excited to see Russell watch this film,” Muhlberger said. “I am also a little nervous.”
POSTED: June 15, 2009
Photos
Fact Box
Film Forum schedule:Thursday, June 11
¯6 p.m. — “City Island,” by writer/director Raymond De Felitta (Palace Theatre)
¯8:30 p.m. — “Black Robe” by director Bruce Beresford (Palace Theatre)
Friday, June 12
¯Noon — Director Gerald Peary will present his film “For Love of Movies: The History of American Film Criticism” (Palace Theatre)
¯2:15 p.m. — “Crude,” a documentary by Joe Berlinger (Palace Theatre)
¯6 p.m. — Director Paul Schrader will introduce his film, “Adam Resurrected” (Palace Theatre)
¯8:45 p.m. — “Whatever Works” by Woody Allen (Palace Theatre)
Saturday, June 13
¯9:45 a.m. — Panel Discussion: “Dreaming Up America — The Movie Version on America,” with moderator Russell Banks and a panel of distinguised writers, directors and actors, including Paul Schrader, Richard Russo and Owen Shapiro (Lake Placid Center for the Arts)
¯11:30 a.m. — Authors Russell Banks and Richard Russo will hold a book signing (LPCA)
¯Noon — “North Country Shorts” local filmmaker showcase (LPCA)
¯1:30 p.m. — Conversation: Author Russell Banks speaks with filmmaker and “Frozen River” director Courtney Hunt (Whiteface Lodge)
¯2 p.m. — Silent film “Beyond the Rocks” (Palace Theatre)
¯2:15 p.m. — “Famous in 31 Days,” presented by Owen Shapiro (LPCA)
¯3 p.m. — Conversation: Filmmaker Hugo Perez speaks with novelist/screenwriter Richard Russo
¯4 p.m. — “Run for Your Life,” the story of the New York Marathon (LPCA)
¯4:15 p.m. — Director Hugo Perez will introduce “Neither Memory Nor Magic” (Whiteface Lodge)
¯6:15 p.m. — “Trailerpark,” a feature by students from Ohio University (LPCA)
¯8:30 p.m. — “Sleepless in Lake Placid” 24-hour filmmaking competition screening (LPCA)
Sunday, June 14
¯3 p.m. — “Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in Red Shoes” (LPCA)
Admission for film
screenings costs $10 each, with no advanced ticket sales. Panel discussions and
conversations are free and open to the public.
Over the past year-and-a-half the students of Ohio University associate professor and filmmaker Frederick Lewis, known for his outstanding documentary of Rockwell Kent, have contended with the challenges their professor has thrown at them, bringing Trailerpark to screen, a task that HBO has not yet been able to accomplish. Along the way they wrote the screenplay, cast the production, raised the funding, rented 8 full-sized house trailers and purchased another, which they torched under the watchful eyes of the local fire department, worked with officials from the American Humane Society to ensure the safety of 30 guinea pigs and one hamster, transported a cast and crew of approximately 35 to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the dead of winter to shoot one of Trailerpark’s crucial scenes in an all-day snowstorm and sacrificed their spring break in order to work twelve16-hour days, shooting approximately 40 percent of the movie over that timespan.
The results of their efforts will get its New York State premiere at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, June 13 at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts as part of the Lake Placid Film Forum.
“The single biggest challenge involved with Trailerpark,” said coordinating producer and Ohio University student Conor Hogan, “was the question that weighed on me all last summer: Do we shoot the film in an actual trailer park, which would involve coordinating other people’s schedules with our schedules, worrying about members of the trailer park constantly driving, talking, dogs barking, kids crying, plus a whole other list of things that could go wrong — for instance, police told us to expect a lot of our equipment to go missing if we did it this way.”
Lauren Malizia, who served as the production designer, was in charge of decorating the trailers, which had her scouring thrift shops and flea markets, and painting and decorating trailers when normal people sleep. “I have never worked on a project this complex before,” said Lauren. “This experience was one of the most rewarding projects I have worked on in my college career. I have learned so much in regards to art, design, collaboration and storytelling. This project has inspired me even more to pursue my dream of becoming a production designer.”
“I think the message of this film is that sometimes the people we know the least are the people living a few feet from us,” said Patrick Muhlberger, who both co-wrote the screenplay and co-directed Trailerpark. “The film is about people making and breaking relationships with their neighbors. I hope the viewer leaves thinking about their own life and relationships, how some of them work out and some don’t.”
“Russell Banks gave us almost complete freedom in the adaptation,” he said. “We worked really hard in the writing process to try and stay as close to the original book as possible. I really hope he sees how much work we put into this and is satisfied with how we treated his creation.”
“The biggest difference between writing a novel and a screenplay is simply that you are moving from a position of total autonomy and control to that of a collaborator, and a minor collaborator at that,” Banks said. “The screenwriter is basically making a blueprint for the director, actors, director of photography and production designers.
“The greatest difficulty a director faces is in reducing a novel,” Banks added, “which usually takes anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to read, down to a two-hour movie and deciding which two or three of the many stories and characters in a novel will combine to make a good film. It’s not ‘translating’ a novel to film; it’s pillaging a novel and using the loot to make a film.”
On Saturday you will have a chance to see how well this band of students looted Russell Bank’s Trailerpark, and brought it to the big screen.
“I am really excited to see Russell watch this film,” Muhlberger said. “I am also a little nervous.”
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