For Joseph Abboud’s menswear line JOE, Carolyn London, co-owner of London Squared Productions, New York, directed a series of viral videos. The client agreed to two-and-a-half-minute, dark little character studies as a way to launch the brand. The characters, including a hardened criminal and drug-addled rock star, talk longingly about their connection to this mysterious “Joe.”
“I thought that was pretty adventurous for a retail brand,” London said.
Like the viral videos, London’s new short, I’m In The Mood For Death, has a dark-comedy vibe. The film , which made its world premiere at the LA Shorts Fest yesterday and has been selected for the 10th annual Mecal, the International Short Film Festival of Barcelona, which starts today, follows Jamie, who has planned her perfect death down to the very last detail. But just as she is ready to die, life decides to get in the way. London teamed with husband Andy, who is also co-owner of London Squared Productions, to execute the project, which she admits was inspired by her own life and work. “My husband and I have a production company that specializes in ridiculously obsessive type work such as insane animation projects and music video shoots with 35 locations. This film is about someone who has created a world of her own making–one that makes sense only to her. It’s completely reasonable that she’s trying to perfect the art of death. And she’s going to keep doing it until she gets it right. I suppose that’s how I feel about being a filmmaker.
“When I’m in the throes of writing and creating, my OCD kicks in big time. I become a lock-checker, almost as if everything would be right in the world if I could tame locks and oven knobs. My husband teases me about it so I wanted to delve in deeper and see what was behind this anxiety and desire to control the tiniest details. I believe that it rises from a fear of death and the unknown, of jumping into the world without a safety net. But that’s the ultimate joke–only when you do is when you really start to live.”
Temporary insanity One of the insane animation projects London mentioned is a film she and Andy are currently working on, which will be released this fall. The film is loosely based on events from Andy’s life–being obsessed with a woman in high school and the devastating circumstances of a certain night. To properly do justice to this film, the husband and wife team played around with many techniques for six months: cel drawing, flash, different animation styles.
“Then we hit upon it– rotoscoping actual video footage. So, in essence, Andy and I acted out the events of this high school experience over several weeks with a room full of extras and then it was rotoscoped and traced scene by scene. So just in case high school wasn’t bad enough the first time, now we’re revisiting it frame by grueling frame,” said London.
Meanwhile the independently financed I’m In the Mood For Death took three months to wrap from start to finish, and required some clever finagling of resources. The 350-square-foot NYC apartment in the film belonged to actress and friend Sonya Rokes, who plays the lead protagonist Jamie. Other key collaborators include editor/line producer/post producer O’Hara Tudor, DP Bill Lucia, art director/production designer Michael Vadino and animator Pascal Campion.
London’s background in advertising–she was a copywriter at Saatchi & Saatchi New York and Lowe Worldwide–has informed her directing. She understands the importance of starting with a really good idea. “And spend a lot of time beta-testing that concept before you invest thousands of dollars to execute it,” London said. “Andy and I collaborate on all of the writing, and we spend a lot of time making sure the idea is ironclad and watertight.
“On set, I’ve learned that everything comes from the top down. Trust, faith, security, comfort, excitement–whatever. I picked that up early in my career when I was a copywriter going on shoots. I also try to infuse the spirit of my projects with an optimism and sense of daring…I go in with a strong idea, but I’m open to how we come to the end product. I like to have a sense of discovery. I think that’s where film and advertising sometimes depart. It’s just way too expensive to ‘discover’ on a commercial shoot. Clients need a sense of security. And who can blame them?”
As far as clients she’d love to direct for, she has a fondness for Target spots and their visual wit as well as how they pull in theatrical bits.
“My recent films are human-scaled, black-comedy-type stories, but in my heart I feel like Vincente Minnelli. I’m a big fan of choreography and precise timing. Many years ago I was studying dance and when I figured out I wasn’t a great dancer, I became interested in choreography and directing performances, which is partly what got me on the path to directing. So timing and syncopation and musicality still figure largely in my approach to work. I’d love to work on any spot that has a bit of panache, a little wink and nod. Bring on the sunshine and the dancing girls. I’m a shameless sucker for raw entertainment for the masses.”
Review: Director/Co-Writer Kyle Hausmann-Stokes’ “My Dead Friend Zoe”
Even for a film titled "My Dead Friend Zoe," the opening scenes of Kyle Hausmann-Stokes' movie have a startling rhythm. First, two female American soldiers are riding in a Humvee in Afghanistan 2016 blasting Rihanna's "Umbrella." They are clearly friends, and more concerned with the music coming through loudly than enemy fire. Zoe (Natalie Morales) tells Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) tells that if they ever set foot in "some dopy group therapy," to please kill her. Cut to years later, they're sitting in a counseling meeting for veterans and Morales' character has a sour look at her face. She turns to her friend: "Did we survive the dumbest war of all time just to sit here all broken and kumbaya and ouchie-my-feelings?" But after this rush of cavalier soldiering and bitter sarcasm comes a sobering moment. Merit blinks her eyes and is instead staring at an empty chair. Zoe isn't there at all. "My Dead Friend Zoe," co-starring Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris, confronts a dark reality of post-combat struggle with as much humor and playfulness as it does trauma and sorrow. It comes from a real place, and you can tell. Hausmann-Stoke is himself a veteran and "My Dead Friend Zoe" is dedicated to a pair of his platoon mates who killed themselves. The opening titles note the film was "inspired by a true story." Audience disinterest has characterized many, though not all, of the films about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the output has pretty much dried up over the years. "My Dead Friend Zoe" feels like it was made with an awareness of that trend and as a rebuke to it. This is an often breezy and funny movie for what, on paper, is a difficult and dark story. But the comic tone of "My Dead Friend Zoe" is, itself, a spirited rejection to not just the heaviness... Read More