#575castro

         WATCH MAY'S FEATURED SHORT 575 CASTRO ST. NOW

What inspired you to make this film?

I was commissioned to create the short 575 Castro St. for the official Focus Features website for the Gus Van Sant film, Milk. They gave me the opportunity to pitch them whatever I wanted to make and after wandering around the Castro for a few hours while they were in the midst of doing the 1970s period makeover of the street I decided what I really wanted to do was shoot the interior set of Harvey Milk’s Castro Camera store, which was the main set of the film, at 575 Castro St. I had been involved back in 2005 in helping create the digital version of the original audio-cassette that Harvey Milk had made “to be played in the event of my death by assassination.” Ever since that time I had wondered about getting permission to use some of that audio for a film project, so this was the perfect match. In my aesthetic approach as a filmmaker I am always really interested in long takes, simple compositions and seeing the passage of time on screen. So what I really wanted to capture was simply the play of light and shadow in that room, and the passage of time. I also loved that we were simultaneously making a visual documentation of the set of what we knew would become a landmark gay film (and indeed Sean Penn went on to win the Academy Award a year later).

On the morning that we shot our little light and motion study on the Castro Camera set of Milk, I pulled out my iPhone and played the beginning of Harvey’s devastatingly prescient recording — which had, of course, been taped in that very room, on a Friday evening about thirty years earlier. As we stood there listening to Harvey’s voice (my cinematographer Sophie Constantinou, Milk’s unit publicist James Ferrara and myself), we were transported back in time for a few minutes, until being interrupted by the arrival of the set decorator — reminding us that our reverie was only a moment of motion picture magic.

What was your greatest challenge during the filmmaking process?

The folks on the Milk team were really helpful. My commissioning editor at FilmInFocus.com, Peter Bowen gave me completely free reign and James Schamus even chimed in his words of encouragement. Milk producer Bruce Cohen and unit publicist James Ferrara helped me get access to the set and everything I needed. It was amazing to work with my regular team of collaborators on the film — Sophie Constantinou shot the film, Marc Henrich edited it and Jim Lively did the sound design and mix. All of which went really smoothly.

Probably the biggest challenge was dealing with the quality of the audio recording. In our final sound mix (on Friday, June 20th 2008, the day after Opening Night of the 2008 San Francisco LGBT Film Festival) my sound guru Jim Lively diligently removed as many of the clicks and squeaks as he could from Harvey’s tape. The man was an inspiring orator, but really didn’t seem to know the first thing about how to hold a microphone. Just as well in a way — I think the noises provide a vivid sense of Harvey’s presence in that room. There is even one point during the desk shot where we hear the creaking of his chair (like he’s pushing his chair back from the desk).

Any thoughts you’d like to share about screening this film in a Jewish context?

Yes, I really want to thank former SFJFF programmer Nancy Fishman for programming the film at the JFF back in 2009. The film had world premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival where they played it as a short in front of the film Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech. This is Liz Garbus’s film about free speech and about her Dad, attorney Martin Garbus. When Nancy decided to program that film it was really nice that she decided to pair me with it as well.

Although I am not a Jewish filmmaker I have worked with the SFJFF many times over the years on archival presentations of Jewish film history. It’s hard to describe my relationship to Jewishness concisely, but I do practice Judaism and my wife and kids are Jewish, so I often think of myself as Jew-ish (which is actually a joke I stole from Woody Allen). And, of course, Harvey Milk was Jewish (though he was clearly not a fan of organized religion as is clear from his critique on the audio recording). I also have to say that I really like that Harvey recorded his tape on a Friday night.

What film/media has inspired you lately?

Okay, I have to thank my daughter Hazel for this. The most inspiring media I’ve seen recently is the vlogbrothers YouTube channel by The Fault in Our Stars author John Green and his brother Hank. Seriously, this is must-see viewing which is smart, thoughtful, politically engaged and funny (start by watching the brilliant, “Syria in Five Minutes”). Plus, don’t miss their related channel, CrashCourse, which offers amazingly clever in-depth overviews on topics in U.S. History, Chemistry, Literature, etc. Get your teenager addicted to these channels now. I also really love the PBS Idea Channel on YouTube. On the big screen my most recent inspiring film was Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.

What do you do when you’re not filmmaking?

I am extremely fortunate to be VP of e-commerce and consumer marketing at Wolfe Video where I spend my days championing LGBT film and filmmakers and facilitating connections between those films and the audiences who need to see them. It is an exciting (and daunting) time for film exhibition and distribution. I love working in this field and am very proud to have launched our WolfeOnDemand.com global LGBT movie platform two years ago. I am also really proud to have recently joined the board of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. And of course I love spending as much time as possible with my wife Julie and our daughters Hazel and Sylvie.

Lastly, gefilte fish: delicious, or disgusting?