KYLE: Definitely the paperwork and planning. Finding and locking down locations is exciting, but all the legal red tape that goes along with it is boring. Also setting up equipment is pretty mind-numbing.
GD3: To be a little more optimistic, what do you find the most enlightening about moviemaking?
KYLE: When you get that one take where everybody knows 'that's the one'. Also when the scene you were worried about ends up looking great in the editing room. But overall, the most enlightening is watching the audience respond positively.
GD3: In all honesty, what would you see as the most overlooked and underappreciated aspect of filmmaking?
KYLE: Most of the fundamentals of visual storytelling. Is the pacing good? Does it look and feel like a real moment in time? Many filmmakers I know try to be too fancy when they haven't even learned the basics.
GD3: Having quite a few hits under your belt, what was been your favorite and most enlightening? What was it about?
KYLE: Amazingly, the first movie I ever did is still my favorite. It was a 7 minute silent comedy called For the Love of the Dame, about 2 idiots fighting over the love of a pretty girl. It flowed well, was completed not abandoned (which is VERY rare), and the whole time on set everybody knew that we were doing something special. It really felt inspired. Since then I've done much bigger projects, but none of them have matched it in my opinion.
GD3: You mentioned making a Christian production company. What movies do you hope to churn out and with what messages? Which audience do you hope to reach?
KYLE: I don't know, really. But I know I can't spend a year and half of my life on a self-indulgent movie. As a Christian, I feel that if I put so much time and effort into a project, it has to be for something other than just myself, so I want them to glorify God. They will all have some message to them, some more blatant than others. I won't make Christian propoganda films. There are some movies I want to do that aren't even Christian, but have Christian undertones. I would love to do a movie on Bill Waterson and his fight against the suits to stop them from merchandising Calvin and Hobbes. I want to reach all audiences and entertain everybody, but in the end I want it all to glorify God.
GD3: Speaking of Christian, lets get onto the subject of your upcoming hit: Entertaining Angels. It's garnered a lot of attention from local newspapers. What do you have to say about that?
KYLE: Most of it is me trying to publicize in advance. OSU doesn't have a film program, and not many movies have been filmed there, so it's a little natural that the town takes notice when one is. It feels good when people tell me they've seen me in the papers. I hope to generate a lot more publicity once the movie is finished.
GD3: So that the people may know, what's Entertaining Angels about? What audience are you hoping to reach out to?
KYLE: Entertaining Angels is about a guy named Jack who meets his guardian angel named Kitsy, who only Jack can see or hear. It's a throwback to the old physical comedies of Keaton to Lewis and Steve Martin. I'm trying to reach everybody, in that the comedy is really highlighted and the message is more underlying. Of course it's Christian in nature, so I hope to hit the Christian niche and maybe play it in Churches as well as theatres.
GD3: What kind of camera are you using for Entertaining Angels?
KYLE: Because I'm so poor, I use the studios PD-150. However, I've found that even with a PD-150 you can get a great looking picture with decent lighting and color correction.
GD3: With a no-budget/low-budget film comes great obstacles. What kind of obstacles did you face during the production of Entertaining Angels, and how did you overcome them?
KYLE: Oh man, everything goes wrong. Actors cancel, locations cancel, weather changes. How much worse can it be? All I can do is relax, pray, and then look the problems in the eye and punch them in the face. You have to have an obsene amount of resilience and determination to get a good movie made. I'm right now trying to discover if I have what it takes.
GD3: Working with actors has always been a blessing or a curse. How were the actors for this film?
KYLE: A blessing from God. In the past I've dealt with some stupid actors. Come in late, high, drunk, didn't know the lines or even the scene. I've had actors cause strife on set and try to undermine your authority. This time I'm working with Sami Haj, for whom there is no equal. He brings experience, talent, and most importantly an aura of fun every time he steps foot on set. I have Angie Lefor, who is beautiful and talented. I'm also blessed to have talented people playing every single role. Most indy films suffer from HORRIBLE acting, but I don't think EA will be one of them.
GD3: How did you get the idea for the movie?
KYLE: Sometimes ideas come to you and it seems as if they were inspired. For the Love of the Dame and Spade on the River were like that for me. But the idea for EA came to me around springtime 2004, as I was walking through the park thinking of ideas for movies. I always wanted to do a crazy physical comedy like Jim Carrey, so I thought of particular plots that could highlight that. I figured that if I had a character in there who was invisible, I could fight him and to the crowd it would look like I was fighting myself. I think fighting yourself is the pinnacle of physical comedy. However, the idea was undeveloped so I let it sit for over a year as I did Spade on the River. I wasn't too please with SOTR, and wanted to get back to doing comedies, so one day I called me mom and told her various ideas I'd had, and she really responded to the angel comedy, as I called it. That's when I decided to do it.
GD3: Many beginning script writers have problems with penning comedies. How did you avoid that with Entertaining Angels, and what type of comedy did you aim for?
KYLE: It's hard to avoid problems when doing comedy. First of all, you have a story to tell, and you can't let the humor detract from the story. It has to be quick, it has to be fresh and it has to be funny. Those last two are nearly impossible to get right. Fortunately, the plot itself provides some very funny situations which actually add to the story, so that problem was taken care of from square one. Secondly, there's an angel in the movie, and nobody knows exactly how angels act, so that gives a tremendous amount of freedom to create a fresh, funny character. Nobody has ever filmed a character like Kitsy. However, even with those two bases covered, it's hard balancing the rest of the characters. How many of them should be funny? I'm still rewriting and working out some kinks. Also, the script allows for a decent amount of improvisation. I'm still trying to add humor, and will continue to until the end of reshoots.
GD3: Is there a message you hope for audiences to get from the movie?
KYLE: Yes, it's that we can't do everything by ourselves. Jack is selfish and tries very hard to do everything himself, the only problem is he's an idiot. He needs God. God can empower Jack to do things he couldn't on his own. I feel the same way about myself.
GD3: What were you looking for when you casted the three leading roles in the movie? How did the actors land their positions? And how is it to act and direct simultaneously?
KYLE: Great question. I knew I wanted Sami Haj to play Kitsy. He had starred in Spade and did an excellent job. I knew out of anybody he could play a quirky and funny character, and I would choose Sami even if I was offered Tom Hanks. My other lead role is Kate, played by Angie Lefor. This was a more difficult part to cast, because the girl in question needed to really be special. I've known Angie for a long time and always felt she would be a great actress, so one day at Church I asked her if she would act, and she said she had never acted and I would hate her but she would do it. Turns out she's a natural. When Angie said she would play the part, I was ecstatic. I knew I had a star. As far as acting and directing, it comes very naturally to me, probably because I have never done anything else. Many people make a big deal out of how hard it is, but it's not. You set up your shots, tell your AD what you're looking for and then you do it. Of course, it helps if you have an AD as great as Ron Rhinehart, who is in fact my AD.
GD3: What were you looking for location-wise? Was it a problem finding what you were looking for?
KYLE: I wrote the script with various locations in mind, so it wasn't too much of a problem. However, if you don't get the locations you want, then it's a problem. I like the old time look of Corvallis, the city streets and shops. It's a great backdrop for a movie like this.
GD3: Can we expect an Entertaining Angels 2?
KYLE: I don't know. I love playing the character, I love Kitsy and Kate, so maybe. It depends on whether or not there is another story with these characters. Also depends on how well it is recieved. More likely is a movie centered around a similar character as Jack but in a whole new story.
GD3: From experience, editing has always been the most time consuming and trying part of production. With a 90-minute film on your hands, how do you feel about post-production? How do you keep the momentum and the energy up?
KYLE: I edit as I go, because it helps me determine if we need to reshoot a scene or shot, and it helps me get into the flow and pacing of the movie. However, I intend to have about 110 minutes of usable scenes and cut down to 90. Cutting out unneccessary scenes and shortening scenes is a great way to keep up the momentum. Gotta be ruthless in the editing room. When in doubt, leave it out. The movie always has to be ahead of the audience, with little time to stop even for jokes. There is such a thing as gratuitous comedy.
GD3: What territory are you hoping to explore after Entertaining Angels?
KYLE: Comedy will probably be my bread and butter for a while, but I really want to do action. Action is still my favorite genre. I might make Spade on the River 2 and have it be an action movie, cause those characters would be great in that genre. The pinnacle is drama though, and I eventually want to make great dramas like Forrest Gump and Shawshank Redemption.
GD3: Let's talk about your past work. What type of films have you done? Which was the most challenging?
KYLE:I've done 3 silent comedies, though one of them wasn't completed. I also did Spade on the River, a dramedy about an overbearing Christian who becomes roommates with a sociopath. The most challenging was definitely Spade, because it was 70 minutes, sound and color. I really wish I had done a better job. That story could have been something great. Talk about potential, it had comedy, tons of drama, suspense, action, romance, everything. I was too lazy and addicted to gambling at the time, and that effected everything. I was out of shape, spending my time on poker instead of taking care of business. Maybe one day I'll rewrite it and do it again. But the challenge of making EA blows anything I did on Spade out of the water.
GD3: Movie directing has to be one of the more trying jobs on the face of the Earth. What has been your most trying time?
KYLE: Thinking that my movie sucks. Watching it and feeling like the audience won't get it. At times I've slipped into an almost suicidal depression when I feel like shooting didn't go very well. At the same time, there's nothing on earth that compares to the elation of knowing your scene/movie works.
GD3: After making a few movies and getting a good feel for directing, do you see yourself keeping to that goal or trying another division of film?
KYLE: Keeping the goal. I came into college and ambitious 18 year old who wanted to be the best movie maker ever. At 22, and after 4 movies I'm more driven, dedicated and ambitious than ever. I imagine after this one it will just be more fuel to fire. The endless pursuit of making great movies dominates my life. After school I'm not going to get a normal job and save up for a movie, I'm just going to make a movie. Force my way into the business, head first, out of control, all or nothing. I feel it's my calling from God, so why shouldn't I? However, I am producing a movie this spring. It's written and directed by my friend Mike Backus, and I really need practice at the business end of things, so in that respect I'm trying a new division of film, but I'll immediately write and direct a movie after that.
GD3: Anything else you'd like to mention that we haven't touched upon?
KYLE: I gotta give props to Kaleen Woods, who is my cinematographer. I like the word 'cinematographer' more than 'Director of Photography' because it reminds me of cinnamon. Random. I think you ask great questions and are a very talented filmmaker as well. Thanks, this has been very fun. I think I'll post it on my website.
GD3: And of course, any inspirational words? You know, for the readers.
KYLE: Many of you know how to make films better than I do, and thanks for those of you that have taught me and continue to teach me how to improve. For those of you who are looking to start making movies, do it. Nothing is holding you back. All it takes is effort. There isn't anything much more rewarding or fun in this life either.
GD3: Pleasure interviewing you and I can't wait to see Entertaining Angels!
KYLE: Thank you so much, this has been extremely fun.
Being 22, I think Kyle has plenty of good movies to look forward to. Spielberg made Jaws at 23, Rodriguez made El Mariachi at 23 and Singleton made Boyz in the Hood at 23. Looks like Entertaining Angels will be Kyle's big break. Best wishes to you man, you're great!