[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: If we go back to your first feature film, you had what we’ll call a flawless plan to get it made.
Can you think back to that time and reveal to us what that strategy was?
Gavin Gaitan, Writer, Producer, and Director: Yes.
I was determined to make a…I just wanted to hit the feature [film] mark.
For some reason, I thought that was like 75 minutes.
That to me was if it’s 74, it’s a short film.
If it’s 75, it’s a feature.
I was like, I just have to hit that minute mark, basically.
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But I knew that on my first endeavor, it was going to be really hard to try to tell one overarching story, especially with the amount of money that I had and the experience that I had.
I just thought logistically and realized the best thing that you can actually do is make the anthology film which I would say is a great first feature idea.
It’s not going to be a great film in terms of maybe going to festivals or or getting distribution, but it’s an amazing starter film because you start your day and you shoot one or two shorts, either little sketches or you spend one day doing one whole short or weekend doing a short and if it’s good, it makes it in.
If it’s bad, it gets cut.
Then you do it again and you do it again.
Then each day you’re bringing in just one actor to work with you.
I have my core crew who will stick around, but I didn’t have to have any actors where you need to dedicate a month of your life to my film.
Everybody comes in for one day, they play their part, and then they leave.
If it stinks, it’s gone.
If it’s great, it stays in.
I mean a lot of it was coming from a place of insecurity, which I wish I could have had more confidence back then about making a linear narrative…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
About:
Gavin Gaitan is a Los Angeles-based feature film writer, producer, and director. He graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2019 with a major in Narrative Film Production – Directing, and a minor in Political Science.
He has completed three feature films, which have played at festivals, won awards, and secured distribution. His most recent, Down Town, is now available to stream online.
WATCH ‘DOWN TOWN’
CONNECT WITH GAVIN GAITAN
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New book from Film Courage! – See it on Payhip here
New book from Film Courage! – See it on Payhip here
