Big Apple Film Festival - Looking For The Jackalope
Sometimes nostalgia can take you down the wrong road. A disenchanted New York writer embarks on a comically ill-fated odyssey from New York to Ohio where he attempts to reunite with his old college girlfriend at their 20th class reunion.
Interview with Writer/Director Karl Shefelman
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
After many years of working as a storyboard artist for well known directors including Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola I decided it was my turn to make a movie. I had made two award winning short films, but for many filmmakers, making that first feature film is the real rite of passage. The story was an idea I had for many years based on personal life experiences, and I had made several attempts to write the script. It was a story I was burning to tell and I finally decided 5 years ago to either finish the script and make the film or stop talking about it.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
“Looking for the Jackalope” is a cautionary tale about nostalgia. If you have ever yearned for the more romantic adventures of your youth then this film is for you.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The film is about a man, obsessed with his past, who embarks on a cathartic hitchhiking odyssey to his college reunion where he then tries to rekindle a relationship with his old college girlfriend. When we try to relive our past, be it an adventure or relationship, things often go wrong. Nevertheless, some of us need a cathartic experience to remind ourselves to live in the present.
The idea of a talking Jackalope came to me in a dream. The Jackalope is a mythical animal in American folklore that can imitate the human voice, often giving people misinformation or bad advice. I thought it would be a great metaphor as the demon my protagonist must confront during that cathartic moment when he realizes he must let go of the past, now just a memory, a memory that has taken on mythical proportions, much like a Jackalope.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
The story is based in part on two hitchhiking experiences I had, one with a girlfriend immediately after graduating from college in Ohio, and then ten years later traveling back for my college reunion. Because the actual story was so personal, it took me a long time to get it out of my head and make it more compelling to a general audience by raising the stakes and creating more dramatic conflicts with other characters besides just the protagonist. This took a lot of rewriting, putting it aside at times and coming back to it with a fresh eye. I also was not shy about letting my actors, once I had cast them, improvise and help rewrite scenes, right up until shooting time. Then of course with editing (which I had to do myself because I couldn’t afford an editor) there was additional streamlining and revising.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
I had my first screening of the finished film at the Big Apple Film festival in New York this past November and the response was very positive. A lot of the audience seemed to really relate to the story, especially the college reunion part. The most satisfying feedback I got was people commenting on how good the acting was in the film. To a director, that is probably the best thing you can hear. I didn’t have any huge names in the cast, but all my actors were top notch.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
When you spend so much time so close to a film, you can lose perspective, including whether the story works or even if a film is any good or not. I had a couple of pre-screenings with private audiences as well as some consulting with professional editors that were hugely beneficial. The main thing I learned is that you often have to kill your darlings to keep the story moving. This was especially true in the first half of the film, and I trimmed it down a lot after those first “test” screenings.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Quite simply I’m trying to create “buzz”, enlarge my fan base, and in general just get the word out about my film. I’m currently waiting to hear back from quite a few festivals whose announcement dates are spread for several months well into next year. I am also talking to a few possible distribution outlets or contacts, so the more exposure and press coverage I can get to peak their interest, the better.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Basically I need all the above, especially sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors and programmers, and journalists. I’m also hoping producers looking for a director for their film or TV episodes will take notice as well!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
First and foremost I want audiences to watch this film and relate to the story and experiences of the characters, both the protagonist and supporting characters. My favorite response is when people say, “oh yeah, that happened to me once”, or “you really captured what it’s like to go to your college reunion, I totally related to that”.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Is this story autobiographical?
Would you like to add anything else?
In a perfect world I would like this film to become a festival darling, find distribution, sell the rights all over the world, make all my own money back, pay back my investors, and beyond. The bottom line is I made an independent feature film, a task which any indy filmmaker will tell you is one of the hardest human endeavors on earth. Of course I couldn’t seem to write a simple story set in one location with two characters. It had to be a journey film with dozens of locations, spanning three states, and a college reunion. But I did it. What I DO hope is that this film will enable me to make another and another and another, perhaps with someone else producing and finding the money so I don’t have to.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I have written a couple of other scripts. One is called “The Hunters” and was a Nicholl Fellowship semifinalist last year. It is a cross-cultural coming-of-age adventure, based on a true story, about some American and French embassy kids stranded in the West African desert. It is very relevant, with global appeal, especially in today’s vitriolic climate of cultural misunderstanding. I have also optioned a novel, a thriller set in Eastern Pennsylvania about dart hustlers.
Interview: November 2016
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Looking For The Jackalope
Sometimes nostalgia can take you down the wrong road. A disenchanted New York writer embarks on a comically ill-fated odyssey from New York to Ohio where he attempts to reunite with his old college girlfriend at their 20th class reunion.
Length: 102 mins
Director: Karl Shefelman
Producer: Ellen Goldfader, Matt Starr, Karl Shefelman
Writer: Karl Shefelman
About the writer, director and producer:
In addition to directing, Karl has worked as a storyboard artist for such renowned directors as Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott.
Key cast:
Michael Leydon Campbell, Larry Clarke, Meissa Hampton, Mary Testa, and featuring the voice of Stephen Root as “The Jackalope”.
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
All the above.
Funders:
Todd Ruppert, Jan Richardson, Michael and Elaine Ambrosiani, Susan Ramser, and a few hundred crowdfunders through Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns.
Made in association with:
Jackalope Pictures, LLC
Release date:
TBD