I Want the Movie to Feel the Same as Attending Oktoberfest by Writer/Producer/Actress Hayley Derryberry of Oktoberfest Movie

 

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Film Courage:  Where did you grow up?

Hayley Derryberry:  I grew up in a small town in Tennessee, very rural. My parents were divorced and remarried so, with all of my siblings and step siblings, I was back and forth between two very busy households. I was the youngest out of everybody. I got picked on and pushed out a lot, so I really loved being away from home at church or school where I could really find my identity. Summer camp was an absolute dream for me.

Film Courage:   Which of your parents do you resemble most?

Hayley:   I take different attributes from both of my parents. I got my dad’s coloring he’s black Irish, I got my mom’s giant man-hands, which I’m proud to say have gotten me some well paid hand modeling work, and both of my parents will tell you I get my long, shapely legs from my dad as well.

Film Courage:   Did your parents lend support toward creativity or encourage another type of career/focus?

Hayley:   Yeah I think with a big family, by the time you get down to the youngest child, the expectations have dwindled. It’s just like, “Eh, don’t get arrested.” My parents have always supported my creativity and are proud to tell people about the movie star in the family. My dad does wish I’d finished college, though, but I’m planning to go back soon and fulfill that finally.

Film Courage:   What were your plans after high school? 

Hayley:   I always planned to be an actress when I was a kid, but I did have a rebellious period away from that path briefly while I was in college. I majored in foreign languages and thought I would work in an embassy or something. My mom wised me up from that though. She was the one who convinced me to go back to acting.

Film Courage:   Did you go to film school?

Hayley:   No, acting was always my focus. I did theater while I was in college and considered a film school acting degree, but I went on one of those prospective student tours that they do where they show you what you could be doing in school and the work of past students. Everything they showed was stuff I’d already done years ago at the very beginning of my acting career, and they told me that students were not permitted to audition for acting jobs outside of their full-time class schedule. So I was like, “Peace!”

Film Courage:   How would you describe your perfect day?

Hayley:   I think I’m too fickle to choose. My perfect day would definitely not include travel though. I hate the stress of going places. I like to travel, but then I want to stay put when I get there. When I go on vacation, I usually don’t go see a lot of tourist attractions, I prefer to just go see people and hang out all chill like a backyard BBQ or a movie marathon. I really love board games, too. Maybe my ideal day would just be playing parlor games with a group of friends.
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Film Courage:   What inspired the story for OKTOBERFEST?

Hayley:   It was Paul’s idea to do it. We never wanted to actually shoot anything more than a 1-2 day short film in LA, because everything is such a hassle here. So I was surprised when he brought up the idea. He just said, “We should make a movie about Alpine Village and Oktoberfest. I bet we could shoot everything here at the village.” And I was like, “Yeah that’s a great idea.” But I never thought anything more about it. Then a month or so after all of the craziness of Oktoberfest ended, he came to me and said, “So I’ve been working on Oktoberfest Movie and I have a pretty good plan of how we can do it.” Then I got all excited again and we started working on the script. Oktoberfest is the perfect backdrop for a comedy film. It’s really about the people who attend. They make the festival, and it’s people who want to let loose and have a good time who come. I’ve seen even the most uptight people get silly and do the chicken dance at Oktoberfest. I think that’s my favorite thing about it.

Hayley:   A few months I guess. I’m gearing up to do my 3rd Oktoberfest right now, and probably from the very first one, there was a spark. As a film maker you’re always looking at your surroundings as how they can tell a good story. But it was really Paul who started laying out the first elements of the plot.

Film Courage:   How long did it take you to write the first draft?  What about rewrites?

Hayley:   From When Paul came to me and really wanted to make the movie, it was about 5-6 months of planning the story and getting all of the elements into place before we had a first draft. Actually most of that time was really the planning. We make a “story” board with a timeline on it and essential plot elements. Then we start just pinning in one-liners of scenes. It’s very visual and helps us understand the film from start to finish and very easily move elements around. Then we did a lot of character work developing who everyone was and their purpose, and a lot of brainstorming ideas for funny moments with our other producers. Actually writing the first draft, we did most of in one weekend. We worked out a great system. We were painting our apartment, so one of us would be sitting at the computer writing and the other would be up painting. When the writer’s brain needed a break or the painter would get a stroke of inspiration, we would swap places. We went back and forth like this for 3 days and it was a really great way of writing.

Film Courage:   How many people did you share the script with during the writing process?

Hayley:   Well, we’re still in the process. Always revising. I guess a script isn’t really finished until you wrap shooting and sometimes it even changes in the edit. Mostly its just been the four of us, the four main producers along with a couple of friends who were willing to take the time to give notes. We just sent the latest draft to the actors who we have already cast. They shouldn’t get too attached though, because we already have ideas of things we want to change.

.Film Courage:   How long have you been planning the film?  What went into the pre-planning?

Hayley:   Really taking it seriously, since last November. That’s when we started planning the story. The first hurdle we had to pass was getting the permission of Alpine Village to shoot the movie at their location. That was a huge struggle because there isn’t just one owner, it’s a whole board of directors and then a whole bunch of share-holders. The first time we brought it to their monthly board meeting they said “no,” so we thought that was it. For an entire month we started planning other things. We thought we’d go to Kansas and shoot my horror film that I’ve written. Then at the next month’s meeting, out of the blue, the board decided we could do it. And like a phoenix from the ashes, Oktoberfest Movie arose. That’s when we really started planning. I think that was February or March.

Film Courage:   Is OKTOBERFEST the first movie that you’ve made (or will make)?

Hayley:   No, Mine and Paul’s first feature film was ‘Rabid Love’ which we made and sold I believe three years ago. It is a campy horror flick set in 1984 Kansas. We also shot in Kansas and had a great time.

Film Courage:   For OKTOBERFEST, did you come up with a film budget first (based on your resources available) before coming up with idea?  Or was it the other way around of having the idea first?

Hayley:   Idea first, budget second, script third, If that makes sense. We had the idea then we needed to see what resources we had and we wrote our script based on what was available. We also have stretch goals for our kickstarter to hopefully add elements that’d we’d like to include should the budget allow for it.

Film Courage:   How much does your Kickstarter Campaign mean to this production?

Hayley:   It’s one of the first things we started planning. It means a lot more than just money to us. We’re thinking long term and wanted to establish our audience early on so that we can distribute directly to them later. If we don’t reach our Kickstarter goal, we most likely can’t shoot this year, but we’ll find a way to fund it and hopefully shoot early next year.

Film Courage:   How much preparation went into your Kickstarter Campaign?

Hayley:   We always had it in mind but started really planning it back in February. We wanted to approach the film marketing first, so everything was planned around and leading up to the launch of the campaign.

Film Courage:   What are you doing to prepare for the upcoming shoot on September 12th and the 19th at Alpine Village?

Hayley:   We don’t actually have any funds yet, but we can’t pass up the opportunity to shoot during Alpine Village Oktoberfest. We’ve planned 3 major crowd shooting days with volunteer crew. We also hope to get pledges during the event.

Film Courage:   What is your job at the Alpine Village Oktoberfest?

Hayley:   I work year round on the marketing team for Alpine Village. During the fest though I am also an “O-Girl”. We organize and execute the various games that we do on stage and also do some dancing and hyping the crowd up.

Film Courage:   Can you share some of the most fun and zany experiences from working at Alpine Village!

Hayley:   It’s absolutely crazy! One thing that happened last year is that we knew a guy who came with an entire party bus for his birthday. He later told us that the bus left Oktoberfest without the birthday boy on board. No one could find him. The next day he showed up at home by way of Taxicab. He had passed out in one of the porta-potties and woke up when the cleaning crew came in.

 

Hayley:   Yes, totally. But the problem is I don’t have enough down time to drink enough beer to counter how much I’m sweating it off on stage. I’m in constant motion. The beer keeps me hydrated and gives me needed calories, but I rarely even get a buzz.

Film Courage:   Which character in OKTOBERFEST is most like you?

Hayley:   The giant chicken! (I wonder what Paul put). I would love to go through life with a mask on. You could get away with so much!

Film Courage:   What went into creating your fantastic pitch video?

Hayley:   We wrote for the location we had and we wanted to start with a feel of Oktoberfest so we started with cute girls and beer. I think that’s what comes to mind for most people when they think of Oktoberfest. And of course we needed to get all of the important information in, so it’s kind of part sketch and part pitch video. We were very lucky to have some great people volunteer their time to help us out.

Film Courage:   Why do you love Oktoberfest (the celebration)?

Hayley:   I think the thing about Oktoberfest is what they call in German Gemütlichkeit. It’s this feeling of everyone being together, accepting each other, and celebrating life. There’s no pretension to Oktoberfest. It’s a bunch of silliness and of course beer drinking.

Film Courage:   When/where was the first time you attended an Oktoberfest celebration?

Hayley:   My first Oktoberfest was when I came to Alpine Village to consider being an O-girl. It wasn’t very busy that night, but it was totally amazing. I knew right away that I wanted to come back every night and be a part of it.

Film Courage:   Favorite Oktoberfest beer and food?

Hayley:   During Oktoberfest, I usually drink something light like a Pilsner because I want to stay hydrated well and Pilsner is easy to drink a lot of while packing plenty of protein and calories. Favorite food is the amazing sausages that we make here.

Film Courage:   Despite the fact you’re still in the midst of your Kickstarter campaign, what’s something you learned from crowfunding for OKTOBERFEST (and maybe didn’t execute as well as you would have liked) that will be an area of emphasis on your next project?

Hayley:   We didn’t launch the website until May. I would have liked to have launched it earlier so that we could have built our audience up a little more before the crowdfunding campaign.

Film Courage:   How did you pitch the script to your actors?

Hayley:   We don’t have all of our actors yet, but we just told them about it and they were like, “Paid work? Yes please!”

Film Courage:   Will you film segments of the movie using real Oktoberfest footage?

Hayley:   Yes, that’s what we’re shooting this weekend.

Film Courage:   When do you anticipate finishing OKTOBERFEST movie?

Hayley:   We hope to have it out this time next year to take to different Oktoberfests around the globe to sell and show it.

 

Film Courage:   What do you want audiences to gain from watching OKTOBERFEST?

Hayley:   I want the movie to feel the same as attending Oktoberfest. Something you can take home and enjoy all year round with a cold beer in hand of course.

Film Courage:   Biggest supporter in your life and why?

Hayley:   My husband, Paul Porter. He will not let me give up and inspires me daily with all of the work that he does.

Film Courage:   If you had only one day to live, how would you live it?

Hayley:   Surrounded by friends and family.

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Film Courage:  If you had a million dollars (aside from funding a movie), what would you do with it?

Hayley:   Buy a house somewhere not in LA.

Film Courage:   What’s next for you creatively?

Hayley:   Once we’re finished with this, we want to get started on one of the other scripts that we have ready to go or write something totally new. I’m really looking forward to just shooting this movie and also touring with it.

 

BIO:

HAYLEY DERRYBERRY @HAYLZBELLZ

Writer – Producer – Actress

Hayley grew up in Tennessee and began acting on stage at six years old. Hayley and her husband Paul Porter moved to Los Angeles in 2011. With their production company Rogue Taurus, they produced their first full-length feature film “Rabid Love” which was released in March 2014. After getting her feet wet with writing on that project, Hayley branched out and began blogging with Ms. In The Biz a collection of articles written by women working in entertainment. Hayley’s love for German culture has existed since childhood when her aunt who lives in Liechtenstein would send German chocolates and gifts every Christmas. In high school, Hayley spent a year abroad in Germany as an exchange student. She felt right at home when she began working at Alpine Village Oktoberfest in 2013. Her writing and love of German culture came together in August 2014 when she began blogging full time for Alpine Village and working as a part of their marketing team putting on various events throughout the year.

ABOUT THE FILM @OFESTMOVIE:

Oktoberfest Movie is a comedy about a group of colorful employees who share a love for their workplace the Alpine Village. When the village gets in trouble, they must pull together all of their strengths to put on the greatest Oktoberfest the world has ever seen. The newest member of the team is Freddie Fest, who has just inherited Alpine Village from his estranged uncle. As an outsider, he must not only learn about the company he has come to own, but also about his German heritage, the meaning of Gemütlichkeit, and a little about himself.

The movie takes place in Southern California and is about the unique experience of Oktoberfest at Alpine Village, which is enjoyed and celebrated by thousands of people from diverse backgrounds every year. As a celebration of that diversity, Oktoberfest Movie is not only made by movie producers who are fans of Oktoberfest, but it is also reaching out to fans all over the world to create a truly unique way of filmmaking. It is a movie by fans, for fans!

About Gemütlichkeit, LLC:

Our producers, two husband-and-wife couples often clad in Bavarian garb, have a combined total of 230+ Oktoberfest festival days and 770+ chicken dances. Needless to say, the team’s passion and experience shape the planning, creation, production and marketing of the Oktoberfest movie. Paul Porter and Hayley Derryberry are the driving force behind the story. With their production company Rogue Taurus, the writer/producer/director/actor/blogger duo produced their first feature film in 2014, Rabid Love. Otto and Brenda Radtke have been at the helm of planning, creating and marketing Southern California’s premier Oktoberfest at Alpine Village for the last five years. Together these couples lend their distinct perspective and knowledge to all stages of film development.
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