The Cure
Overview:
It'll take an extra ordinary agent to save this day.
A Q&A with TL Westgate
Tell us your film name, the category you won for, and where the idea for your film came from?
The Cure, Best Short Film (1-10 mins). This film stems from our participation in the Orlando 48 Hour Film Project. We were randomly assigned the horror genre, so we had to go with that. But we injected our humor into it, as well.
What were the toughest aspects of creating this film? How did you overcome them?
Doing it in just 48 hours! And with such minimal crew, as well. That's why in the credits we just list Crew and not cinematographer, sound recordist, etc. We all just did everything behind the camera!
What inspired you to enter into the world of filmmaking?
I was a stage actor as a child, so I always dreamed of being involved in storytelling. I prefer film to stage, though, because you can do it over and over again until you get it right.
Do you have long-term goals for filmmaking? What are they?
My long-term goals are to just keep doing it. Maybe someday I'll take the time to really make a truly great film that gets into some big festivals. But for now I'm really enjoying what we do as a team.
Tell us a funny anecdote or a memorable moment from creating this film.
As part of the 48 Hour Film Project, you also have to have a specific line of dialog in your film. My son plays Agent Jack Gemini in the film and he was assigned THE line. It has to be verbatim. So we did a few takes and he said the line each time with no errors. Then, and this was literally the last shot of the entire shoot, I told him "let's do one more and just flub up the line once or twice, then get it right." That take cracks me up! Of course, as an audience member unfamiliar with the 48, you wouldn't know why I'm laughing so hard. But he had a great delivery!
Do you have any film-making influences or people you look up to?
I look up to lots of people in the industry. As a kid I was taken aback by the skill of Steven Spielberg and just blown away by the talent of James Cameron. Robert Rodriguez is another trailblazer.
Do you have a favorite film project that you have done? Why?
TechSquad was our first success on the film festival circuit, but I'm probably more fond of Shadows in the Dark. That film is very tongue-in-check in an Airplane/Naked Gun kind of way. It's full of in-jokes for filmmakers. We purposely inserted continuity errors and stuff like that. It got a lot of laughs on the festival circuit.
What advice would you share with someone wanting to make their first movie?
My advice, and I know how horribly cliché this sounds, is to just do it. By that I mean get out there with your cell phone if you don't have a big expensive camera. Learning comes from experience, and you're not going to learn how to get better at filmmaking without being bad at it first. So get those bad films out of the way. As I always say, the best thing you can do is hate your old work, because that means you're improving.
What are you going to do next?
Up next? As I am writing this out I'm rendering my latest film collaboration with Dale Metz. It's a film challenge for the Orlando Independent FIlmmakers. We're looking forward to audience reaction to see how well it plays.
Where can we find more about you? Plug any social media links or info you'd like to share!
You can watch my older films on my web site at www.creativeinletfilms.com or search for me on Facebook.
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