David Lawrence graduated from the college in 2006. And since then, he has toured the country as a stand up comedian and has worked as a writer for Disney Studios out in Los Angeles. Now, he’s adding feature filmmaker to the list of his accomplishments. Check out what David had to say about his latest project, Disney Shot Kennedy.
A shot of David after sustaining an on-camera injury during the filming of Disney Shot Kennedy.
THE FILM TRIBE (TFT): What is the general premise behind Disney Shot Kennedy?
DAVID LAWRENCE (DL): The story follows the last week of a small conspiracy theory newspaper that gets shut down, and the four friends that work there. They are in their mid to late twenties and have to come to terms with the fact that their lives aren’t turning out the way they thought they would, and they don’t know what to do about it. They don’t have any answers.
(TFT): Is it a comedy?
(DL): It’s kind of an experimental comedy. We have the traditional
narrative, and then I mined the national archives for footage. The
archival footage pops in and out to comment on what’s going on with the narrative.
(TFT): How long did it take you to write the script? And what was your inspiration?
(DL): I wrote the script off and on for about three years. I’d hit a wall
with the story, give up, throw it in a drawer and go write something else. The original idea was called SOFA and the concept was to shoot three guys and their Saturday night sitting on a sofa. It grew from there into a record store movie and got read at a couple of agencies around Hollywood, but they all called it a “High Fidelity knock off,” which I hadn’t consciously done, but it was true.
Over the same period, I was writing a book of off the wall conspiracy
theories called Disney Shot Kennedy, and I realized that I could marry the two, and instead of the characters talking music they could talk pop-culture. Then I needed a “record store,” so I had the characters run a little newspaper.
Production still of the conspiracy paper HQ.
(TFT): Was this what you typically like to write, or the exception?
(DL): I’m very fascinated by plot structure, so my work tends to either be comedy of errors or these intricate conspiracy stories. This was a little of both I guess.
(TFT): How long was the screenplay?
(DL): The screenplay that I green-lit was 126 pages, but I was constantly rewriting on the set. We would start to block a scene and it would become obvious that it wasn’t going to work the way I had it in my head, so I would have to rewrite on the fly. Always for the better I think.
Action shot from Disney Shot Kennedy.
(TFT): How long has production been going on?
(DL): The film was green-lit December of ‘08. The principle photography was shot in June, and we have set a final cut for the first part of the new year. The film is being edited by Erica Westmoreland (‘07), also a W&M grad. She and I have been collaborating since college. She’s brilliant and a total workhorse.
(TFT): How many total WM people were involved with this production?
(DL): There were four W&M grads including myself. Erica signed on very early in pre-production. She introduced me to Randall Taylor (‘08) who came on for sound. I met Tara-Rose Hess after I saw her in a comedy at the black box on campus. It was student directed, and it became pretty obvious that the director had given up about half way through, but nobody cared because Rose was so funny. I went up to her after the show and told her I was writing a script and that I’d like to put her in it. It took me a few years, but I made good on my offer. Mika Shannon (‘06), another alum, made a painting as a prop for me.
('06) Mika Shannon's painting that was used in the movie.
(TFT): What did you major in at WM?
(DL): I honestly don’t know what my actual degree is in. I kind of took anything I thought was interesting (ex. Vampires, Myths and Legends). Prof. Zuber sort of came to my rescue and helped me cobble together something resembling a completed degree, and the school graciously graduated me.
Prof. Knight and Prof. Zuber were both excellent film professors. And Prof. McGovern’s, Prof. Kennedy’s, and Prof. Joyce’s classes on cultural analysis were all brilliant.
(TFT): Did you do a lot of filmmaking while in college?
(DL): I made two movies in college. A short film about a girl running from a murder which was just one big chase sequence. We shot most of it in the Matoaka woods. At like 10pm, the generator for the lights died. We hadn’t brought any flashlights, so we had to wander around in the dark till we found the parking lot, and were able to get some more gas for the generator. Night shoots have never gone well for me. The other movie was an experimental collage film.
Production still from Disney Shot Kennedy. Click for more stills.
(TFT): Did you have a budget for the feature?
(DL): I was writing for Disney Studios when the economic collapse hit Hollywood and I lost my job. The work dried up for everyone that was just breaking into the industry or getting close to retirement. So, I started my own production company and set up this production as a co-op where each person involved owns a percentage of any future profits from the film. It was enough to get some of my incredibly talented friends and colleagues to say “yes,” and I was able to put far more of the entire budget in-front of the camera. We had a crew of about twenty, half from LA and half from the East Coast.
(TFT): What kind of equipment did you use?
(DL): We shot on a Sony Vericam and used 35mm Zeiss super speed lenses. The color saturation with the Zeiss lens is very rich, and I wanted the film to have a brightness to it. The vericam is getting to be a little outdated, but it is still a great camera and incredible for the money.
(TFT): Any particular reason for shooting in Atlanta? Was it nice shooting there?
(DL): I’m from Atlanta, and the art community there is very supportive and fiercely local. It opened a lot of doors for great locations that I wouldn’t have been able to pay for or get access to otherwise. R.Land, who is kind of a local counterculture legend, signed on to do our posters and inter titles which is a real coup for me since I’ve been a fan of his since I was 15.
Disney Shot Kennedy.
(TFT): What do you plan to do with this film when it is finished?
(DL): I have a festival rep for the movie I met through my cinematographer, and we have a track we think it will do well in. P.S.- Anyone thinking about making a film and duking it out on the festival circuit needs to see the documentary Official Rejection.
(TFT): So what do you think the future holds for you?
(DL): Well I’ve been working as a writer for a few years now. Out of college, I toured the Southeast as a stand-up comic. While I was in L.A., I was a story editor at Disney and had a script optioned by a producer at Dreamworks. But Hollywood is kind of a weird animal for writers right now.
The WGA West just put out its numbers a few days ago and 50% of the members of the guild are unemployed. That means that there are roughly only 2,200 entertainment writers, on the entire western half of the US making any new money right now (as opposed to residuals for past work).
A night shoot during production of Disney Shot Kennedy.
(DL): I got out of dodge just as everything was beginning to contract and I couldn’t be happier. I’m making enough going the Woody Allen/Kevin Smith route, splitting my time between stand up gigs and personal projects. It scary, but liberating.
I have my first headlining tour as a comedian coming up this Spring. I’m also currently working on my next feature, Utopia Cola Co.
(TFT).
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1 Comment
October 1, 2009 at 4:51 pm
PRETTY SWEET, DAVID. CONGRATS!