INVISIBLE MOUNTAINS - PROJECT HISTORY

What follows is a personal history of the project from the director’s perspective.

I moved back to Philadelphia in 1997 after 5 years in New York City- 4 enjoyable ones at NYU, and 1 soul-sucking year as an editor at a large stock footage agency.  I was a bit lost at the time- unsure of whether or not I wanted to make another film.  Maybe I would be a gardener?  This idea began haunting me, though, and its claws wouldn’t let me go.

I started writing Invisible Mountains that same fall and began taking odd jobs and freelance video work.  As I continued writing and work-shopping IM with a local writing collective (Fish Group), I also began exhibiting paintings and video art at The Highwire Gallery in Philadelphia.  At the same time, I honed my skills as an editor and director in the low budget digital video realm, and founded my company, Coyopa Productions.  In the fall of 2000, I traveled to the Digital Video Expo in LA, and the work I saw there convinced me that I could shoot IM on the low cost digital video format, yet create a product that rivaled the look and feel of much more expensive films.

In January 2001, I felt I had reached the end of the writing phase, and had been fruitlessly searching for a collaborator.  As the script was written to take advantage of the natural green hues of Philadelphia in May, I knew that time was running out.  My confidence was at a low point, even though I had gathered the money to at least get the film “in the can”.  I went to a healer, and she assured me that if I put the intention out there, the universe would answer.  I followed her advice, and within a week, I found Paul.

I actually had met Paul Leitner a year or so earlier while filming a concert that his company, Goodie Goodie, was promoting.  I liked his positive “can do” attitude, and I remembered him mentioning an interest in filmmaking.  So I called him up, told him I had some money to make a film, and then dropped off a script.  When we met for coffee a few days later, we hit it off.  Here was someone who would help make this happen, and have a laugh all the while.

Over the next 3 months, we worked intensely together to assemble the cast, crew, and locations.  Our first priority was finding people that were willing to put aside their egos and work together as a team.  Two key players we found early on were DP Tom Schnaidt and Production Designer Nicole Marsella, both of whom found creative ways to stretch our meager budget.  The cast came together fairly quickly, except that we didn’t land our lead Shane until a week before filming was to begin.  I was hoping to have a month or so with the cast to rehearse and the crew to plan, but the filmmaking by fire approach proved to be the way IM was going to have to get made.

Actual filming was a whirlwind, as is typical of any independent film shoot.  Twelve to eighteen-hour days; 22 shoot days in 26 actual days.  Fortunately, nature was kind to us, and it rained only twice the entire month.  Our instinct to assemble a cast and crew with the right attitude proved to be wise, as we all emerged smiling despite the difficult conditions.

Over the course of the next year, we edited the film on nights and weekends, and created the integral sound design and score with Ramsay Rawson and Pete Tramo.  I received a substantial grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts for the script, and I was able to take several months off from Coyopa work to focus on the film.  The rough cut ran 2 hours, 15 minutes- much too long for the subject matter.  We also re-shot the final bike riding sequence in May of 2002, as it was poorly planned and shot the first time around.  Good thing Shane didn’t get a haircut.

We wanted the film to stand on its own without animation, so we trimmed another 35 minutes off of the cut and locked the picture.  Pete put the finishing touches on the music and sound design, and we all felt comfortable with the flow. I had secretly hoped that someone else would do the animation, but when no one appeared, it was left to me.  I turned off the phone and hunkered down for three months, and tried to grow a beard.  Luckily, there are very few pictures of me from that time period.

We premiered at the 2003 Philadelphia Film Festival in April to an audience of over 500 people.   After my forced seclusion to finish the film, that night was a revelation of positive energy and support.  Since then, we have played at numerous festivals and venues, and won Best Feature at the 2003 DV Film Festival.  The audience response has been astonishing to me- I knew artists of all ages would relate, but “normal” people?  It seems that folks have been able find parallels to their own mountains, whether they be in relationships, work, or everyday life.

I feel satisfied to have put a vision on screen that meets and in some parts exceeds my expectations when I began the project.   This is due in large part to the contributions of the IM team. I am blessed to have met so many talented people that are still eager to work with me and take it to the next level(s) on future projects. I hope you stay tuned for the ride…

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