Last year, while touring the film festivals with my film Improvising, I had the chance to see the Shakespearean Action film Avenge at the Independent Filmmaker’s Showcase. As I lounged in the Belle Varado Studios in Echo Park, the IFS Fest created an intimate setting to view this labor of love. Shakespearean films are no easy task, and action films can be a huge financial burden on the indie filmmaker. Yet Gregory Christian willingly and wholeheartedly took on the task, and in doing so, also took away Best Action Film at the Fest. Christian demonstrates how important it is to finish what we start as filmmakers. Whether you’re making a streamlined short or an 87 minute Shakespearean Action film, financing might set you back or steal your time, but it should never keep you from telling your story and sharing your film with the world. With Avenge in the spotlight, here’s what I asked the film’s director:
Q: What inspired you to make the film?
Christian: Having just come off of my first feature, “Cowboy Junction,” I wanted to explore “grey” characters even further. The world of organized crime just made sense. In what other realm, as proven by classics like “Goodfellas” or “The Godfather,” would there be such an inordinate amount of “grey” to explore. No one is right or wrong; no one is good or bad; they just are. In their minds, they are completely justified in whatever, as audiences may deem it, atrocities they may commit.
Q: How would you describe yourself as a director?
Christian: I have to admit that I can be a bit of an auteur. I have a clear vision and, if I’ve written it, I know exactly how and where I want to go with it. However, I enjoy the collaborative process of filmmaking and, having worked with such creative individuals, you have to remain open. It is in moments like that when some of the best ideas come to you or inspiration comes-a-calling. In a nutshell, once the artistic side of things is under control, I like to be prepared, professional, punctual, and ready to work as a director. That helps to move things along smoothly on those long production days.
Q: How long did it take to make the film?
Christian: Though “Cowboy Junction” took about 2.5 years before it was released on home video, it was, in essence, a “drawing-room drama” with only three main characters. The scope of the storytelling in “Avenge” was a bit more epic and, in the true indie film world (not the one made up by studios claiming to make “indies”), that costs. Our prep, pre and post production, marketing, and eventual home video release was a 7.5 year process. We went through two editors who could not quite grasp the Elizabethan dialogue. Our final cut by Editor Alan Peak is a seamless motion picture that does not rely solely on the dialogue but is merely enhanced by it.
Q: How did you decide what Shakespearean elements to include?
Christian: Following “Cowboy Junction,” I knew I wanted to tell a mafia story. I grew up on them and they were very popular in my Greco-Armenian-American household. I had so many ideas in my head; so many tales that my head was spinning. I started rereading Shakespeare’s Tragedies and, like a lightning bolt, it hit me. A story of an extended family and their quest for power was born. From “Macbeth,” I had my basic foundation of the struggle for the “throne” or, more specifically, who would be the head of the family. “Romeo and Juliet” helped give birth to the star-crossed lovers in “Avenge” (the Freddy and Juliet Characters). “Hamlet” helped enhance the layers with ghostly hauntings; “The Tempest” with our mid-film segue; “King Lear” with our reveal and reconciliation.
Q: How did you cast the actors?
Christian: I had just worked with The Kingsmen Shakespeare Players and had amassed quite a circle of talented actors who were well-versed in Shakespeare and Elizabethan dialogue. We also put out the usual casting notices and went through a three part process before we settled on the cast we wound up with. While most of our cast had performed on the stage in some Shakespearean production, Ursula Taherian (our Juliet) was a natural and “Avenge” was her first exposure to the Bard.
Q: What was the most challenging obstacle you had in making the film?
Christian: The most challenging aspect that I dealt with was financial. When dealing with non-studio indies, you have to find ways of making it work. Like most first-time filmmakers, I sacrificed. In my case, I sold my house to make sure that I completed post-production on my first film and to have the funding to shoot and complete “Avenge.” When we got the first cut of the film, we were very disappointed and knew that with a third of the movie missing, our editor just didn’t get it and we had to look for someone else. It took over a year but we found someone who was willing to come in for little to no pay but, unfortunately, they were too preoccupied with trying to get their own projects off the ground and simply didn’t prove a good fit. Eventually, we were blessed and unbelievably fortunate to meet and work with Alan Peak who, from his initial interview, just “got it” and knew what I was going for with “Avenge.” Our winning “Best Action Film” at
the 2014 I.F.S. Film Fest is a testament to his artistry.
Q: What was the most rewarding thing about making the film?
Christian: The most rewarding aspect of making “Avenge” would be completing it and also the pleasure of working with so many wonderful people that I still consider dear friends to this day. I remember how bonded we were on one of the last days of shooting with my friend (and caterer on this film) Whitney James grilling hot dogs and burgers in the courtyard of my old apartment complex.
Q: What advice would you like to share with new filmmakers?
Christian: It’s been said before but keep it simple. Though I would not take back the experience of working on “Avenge,” it truly should have been two movies like I originally planned. Unfortunately, money dictated otherwise. I wanted to marry the timeless words of the world’s greatest playwright with one of the most popular movie genres and, with the support of my cast and crew, was able to bring this new world to life. I believe the last time a cinematic Shakespearean collage came out was 50 years ago, back in 1965, with Orson Welles’ “Chimes at Midnight.”
Q: What projects are up next? Do you see any other Shakespearean films in the future?
Christian: Though I don’t rule out any future Shakespearean inspired productions, currently we just completed an animated short, “Tamar,” which is based on an old Armenian legend about a princess, unrequited love, and revenge. We’ve been submitting to film festivals and, in light of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, hope to premiere this year. It is a redemptive tale of acceptance, love, and moving on. We are also working on a television version of “Avenge,” with modern-day dialogue, which serves as a prequel of sorts to the action that goes on in the film. It simply was too much story for one film and, fortunately, lends itself to the world of serialized storytelling beautifully.
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