Cinequest - Quality Problems
Family To-Do-List: Throw perfect eight-year-old's birthday party, find wandering grandpa, and deal with cancer in the left boob.
Interview with Writer/Director Brooke Purdy
Watch Quality Problems on Tubi and Prime Video
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
When I was diagnosed with Cancer in 2008, it was such a devastating concept that my husband and I couldn’t even really get our heads around it. I immediately fell back on what I could do to empower myself. I thought: “Film it. Film it all.” I thought it might provide a chronicle for my kids at least - how we got thorough this. It helped me focus on something, anything, else other than being a “Cancer victim”. We filmed as much as we could and then my life took over and we didn’t pursue it.
Two years ago, I got sick of waiting for the “right time”. I wrote the script and dove in, finding the perfect opportunity to incorporate the footage we had shot while going through Cancer. This was then catapulted forward by the genius of Colette Freedman who helped me get the script in “Filming shape”, our remarkable friend and Producer Jen Prince then helped translate this dream to an actual- albeit VERY Independent- reality and Jhennifer Webberly who came on as our last integral member of the producing team.
I wanted to create something with heart and soul. I wanted to inspire anyone who struggles. Be it with Cancer, Alzheimers or just plain parenting in today’s world… and I wanted to do it with laughter. I am so proud and grateful because what is on the screen is beyond even my wildest dreams.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
In the end “Quality Problems” is a film about life. It’s about a family, just trying to survive, it’s just that sometimes, survival gets very literal. It appeals to basically anyone who has a heart. There’s laughter and tears, hope, bar fights, dogs and funky cake. What’s not to love?
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
My personal battle with Cancer and trying to navigate through it while life keeps happening can translate to any family. There are daily struggles with the “sandwich generation” in trying to raise a family and care for parents, there’s raising children in today’s complex environment, marriage and coping with difficulty while remaining a unified team. There’s issues of personal empowerment and friendships, both male and female. I truly think it offers up something for everyone.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
After my diagnosis and recovery in 2008, I had been struggling to find a script to either write from scratch or rewrite that Doug and I could do ourselves. Having written, produced and acted in two plays together had proven to us that this was something we were good at. A film was always a plan - it just got hijacked by "Life". Around 2014, I got sick of waiting for the "right time". I started a rewrite of the script - adding the Cancer struggle and found the perfect opportunity to incorporate the footage we had shot while going through treatment and surgery. The two meshed seamlessly and the final draft is something of which I'm immensely proud. I wrote it with locations, actors and scenes we knew we could use - most being in our own house, with our family.
We surrounded ourselves with excellent people, specifically our all female producing team: Jen Prince, Colette Freedman and Jhennifer Webberly were the "Holy Trinity" of resource and talent. Our brilliant DP Savannah Bloch set the Friday Night Light’s look that both Doug and I love. When you see the many locations and big cast, you would never dream that we shot this for what we did. So many people helped and contributed - it truly was a “VILLAGE” that made this movie possible.
Jhennifer Webberly’s Metamorfic Productions came on board as a co-production with us and we shot exactly what was on the page with only a few exceptions. In Jen Prince and Jhennifer Webberly’s editing-- the film truly found i’s rhythm. Once we played with some of the scenes and order it just fell into place. I cried like a baby upon seeing that cut.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
IT HAS BEEN AMAZING! Truly. We had a cast & crew screening and there were both huge laughs and tears in all the right places. We got very enthusiastic responses from our initial festival applications - Cinequest is our first. We knew when their programmer, Michael Rabehl wrote “OMG.OMG.OMG” as the opening reply to our acceptance - that we had foundthe perfect home for our World Premiere. The screenings and reviews out of our first weekend there have been mind-blowing. Again - it is filled with heart, and all evidence shows that that is how it’s being received. We are very optimistic and excited.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Not really- it’s been so positive and has only supported our feeling that this is a special project. It has tapped into a current need for films that just plain entertain. Laughs, tears, hope. What movies were made to do, in my opinion. Especially in the current climate, who doesn’t want to be moved and inspired?
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I would love to continue on the grass-roots ground swell that this movie is generating. We are not studio produced, we have no big “stars”, we are totally self-financed and yet - it is touching everyone that sees it. I am so inspired that audiences are “getting it”. They are also talking about it. I would love to broaden its reach so more people can see it.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Yes. Please. All of the above.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
As I said I would love it to be one of those “Little Films That Could.” I would love it to break through the mass produced, big budget fare and really reach a wide audience, simply because it has HEART.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
When does the current “Independent Film” return to being truly INDEPENDENT again?
Would you like to add anything else?
85% of the people involved in making this film were women, including most of our Keys and department heads. With this film it was important to us to answer the cultural mandate for inclusivity in hiring and casting. Too many qualified women are not being hired and I am so proud that Quality Problems is so well represented.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Immediately after we wrapped Colette Freedman and I started writing. We have a BUNCH of scripts and a couple that we are seriously in love with. The entire team is assessing our “next project” because we are all codependent and never want to be apart.
Interview: March 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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Quality Problems
Family To-Do-List: Throw perfect eight-year-old's birthday party, find wandering grandpa, and deal with cancer in the left boob.
Length:106 min
Director: Brooke Purdy and Doug Purdy
Producer: Jen Prince
Co-Producers: Jhennifer Webberley, Colette Freedman
Writer: Brooke Purdy
About the writer, director and producer:
BROOKE PURDY has written and directed for companies including Def Comedy Jam and Def Pictures, HBO and Showtime. Her recent feature writing collaborations with Colette Freedman are winning awards on the festival circuit. Quality Problems is her directorial debut along with her actor-husband, Doug Purdy. Jen Prince produces independent features and recent work includes And Then There Was Eve (produced with Jhennifer Webberley), Fields Afire, and the road drama Eve of Understanding.
Key cast: Brooke, Doug, Max, Scout Purdy; Mo Gaffney, Chris Mulkey, Jenica Bergere, Ryan Bollman, Michael Patrick McGill
Social media handles:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qualityproblemsfilm
Twitter:@qualityproblems
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
Funders: seeking buyers, distributors, film festival directors, sales agents, journalists. funders for future projects.
Made in association with: Metamorfic Productions and crowdfunded through Seed & Spark
Where can I see it in the next month?
Cinequest Film Festival March 10, 11, 12th in San Jose and Redwood City