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In-depth articles about Asian American film & filmmakers
Some Time with Eric Byler, director of 'Charlotte Sometimes"
09.03 - Posted by Editor
Michael Idemoto and Jacqueline Kim in "Charlotte Sometimes"
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Some Time with Eric Byler
Interview by Greg Pak
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9.30.02 - Eric Byler's feature film "Charlotte Sometimes" screens tomorrow in New York and this weekend at the San Diego Asian Film Festival. The film has won awards at the South by Southwest Film Festival and the Florida Film Festival and will be shown at the Hamptons and Hawaii Film Festivals this fall. The film stars Michael Idemoto, Jacqueline Kim, and Eugenia Yuan in the story of a reclusive mechanic who hides his love for a young actress who rents an apartment in his inherited family home.
AAF
It's been six years since you made a splash with your short film "Kenji's
Faith." Can you tell us a little about your struggle to get "Charlotte
Sometimes" made?
EB I don't know why it took me so long to realize no one was going to finance an
art film with an all Asian cast. If the digital thing hadn't come along, I
probably never would have made another film. I had a lot of fears about DV,
but I saw it was the only way and just took the leap. I had a couple
thousand dollars. My parents and my uncles were nice enough to help out-- it
was scary asking for money without knowing if I could pull it off. Once they
said yes, that's when the real struggle began. The years of looking for
funding were easy compared to shooting a full-length feature on a nothing
budget.
AAF
How did you prepare for directing your first feature?
EB
I just followed the steps one at a time, locations, casting, rehearsal, shot
schedules. A few years ago I was able to watch Greg Araki direct "Splendor,"
which was actually the only feature I ever worked on before "Charlotte." On
the creative side I had been preparing for a long time -- I'm a meticulous
story-boarder, so the visual fabric was already in place. Actually that's
not true. Because we were shooting on digital, I considered scrapping my
cinematic approach for a down and dirty hand-held style, but luckily
(director of photography) Rob Humphreys talked me out of it. The most
important part of pre-production was rehearsal, getting to know the actors,
observing the dynamics they naturally create with one another. My goal was
to shape those dynamics, without spending too much time on the text, so I
could capture their on-going discoveries with the cameras rolling, which is
the only time that matters.
AAF
Tell us about your writing process. Did the story go through many different
incarnations?
EB
It actually started out as a comedy, believe it or not. In a workshop
created by (co-story author) Jeff Liu -- this was probably 1997 -- we
improvised some of the scenes that I'd been working on. We were short on
male actors, so Jeff actually played the role of "Justin," who was named
"Buster" back then. Anyway, the improvisations went well, and when the
workshop was over, I asked Jeff to write with me. The drafts we did together
included a lot of the dialogue from the improv sessions, and were sometimes a
bit silly. We actually wrote a scene where "Michael" and "Buster" follow
"Darcy" with binoculars like Keystone Cops, convinced she's a secret agent or
something. I was enjoying the process, and was kind of stunned when Jeff
suggested that I continue alone. He told me, for the story to realize its
full potential, I should complete the process by myself, and make it truly my
own. The result was that a lot of the dialogue got tossed out, and I started
thinking as a writer/director, more in visual terms, and dealing with the
characters in a personal and honest way. For instance, I couldn't call the
alpha male character "Buster" -- which I think was the geek in me trying to
dismiss him. I re-named him "Justin" after a real life alpha male, a friend
who used to intimidate me. Quite often in romantic stories, alpha males are
portrayed as "dumb jocks," people we can laugh at or look down upon. Instead
I named him after an intelligent, sensitive man who used to date a girl I
loved. In other words, to make the film my own, it needed to be inspired by
life rather than by other films, even if that meant confronting some painful
truths.
AAF
Did you workshop the screenplay with actors?
EB
No, just rehearsed for a week or so. But the screenplay changed a lot
because of the actors and who they were. "Michael" was written as a
jeweler, but I looked at Michael Idemoto and said this guy's not a jeweler,
he's a mechanic. Idemoto also changed the story by insisting that his
character be true of heart. I'd written him as a more deceptive sort. This
combined with Eugenia Yuan's winning performance as "Lori" forced me to
re-write the ending half way through production. If "Michael" and "Lori"
were both going to be sympathetic characters, the original ending was much
too dark. Matt Westmore and Jacqueline Kim played their roles much closer to
how I wrote them. I wrote the role for Jacqueline. She put everything she
had into "Darcy" from start to finish.
AAF
People frequently refer to European art movies when they describe "Charlotte
Sometimes." Can you tell us a little about your influences?
EB
That's funny you say European, I think they more often say Asian. But the
stronger influences actually came from the U.S. From a cinematic standpoint,
I studied early Altman films -- "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" and "The Long
Goodbye." The writing was influenced by films like "Five Easy Pieces" and
"Carnal Knowledge," also American films from the 70's. I can't say I really
intended comparisons to Asian and European films. If you're making a
character piece, by that I mean a film that asks "who are these people?"
rather than "what's the craziest thing that could happen to them" -- you'll
naturally end up with something comparable to films from Europe or Asia,
because filmmakers over there still have that freedom. I think the
impression that my style comes from a far away place is an interesting
commentary, not just on my film, but on the current state of American cinema.
These days, most of the independent films are really studio films made for a
less money. They have the same formulas, the same wink and nudge, and
they're casting "the guy from this" and "the girl from that" rather than
finding the perfect actor for each role. Meanwhile there are some beautiful,
truly artistic films being made in America, but they almost never get seen.
So now all of the sudden a film like "Charlotte Sometimes" happens to sneak
through and they say it must have come from far away, it's crazy. It's not
that I mind being compared to Fassbinder or Ozu, but "Charlotte Sometimes"
was born in America, just like the actors and the characters they play.
AAF
"Charlotte Sometimes" seems to attract controversy -- can you tell us what's
up with those crazy IMDB ratings? [Users at IMDB.com have rated the film just 1.7 out of 10. -- Ed.]
EB
Well, by and large, the response at festivals has been very positive. It's
just a few people who have really come after me-- and a few went after
Jacqueline for whatever reason. I think this has more to do with their own
personal issues than whatever it is they see in the film. Anyway, I guess
someone's trying to hurt the film by voting multiple times on IMDB. I talked
to the IMDB help desk. They said you're only supposed to vote once, but as
long as the people know how to circumvent the system, there's nothing they
can do. They suggested that I encourage supporters of the film to do the
same, so if you want to vote, please give us a good vote, ha-ha. [Click here to vote for "Charlotte Sometimes" at IMDB. -- Ed.]
AAF
You've mentioned that you're "excited but concerned" about screening the film
for the first time at an Asian American film festival in San Diego next week.
Could you elaborate?
EB
Very few Asians have seen it so far but the ones who have seen it have had
some strong reactions. The film deals with issues that a lot of people feel
strongly about, Asian American sexual politics, Asian masculinity,
interracial dating, etc. But, I should also say that I sometimes worry too
much about whether I'm accepted by full-blooded Asians. I think all human
beings want to feel like they belong to a tribe. I've always wanted that
feeling, but it's eluded me so far. Maybe that's why my perspective makes
for an interesting film -- because I draw from both intimate knowledge and an
outsider's point of view. Anyway, I've made an art film about Asian
Americans, and the name in the director's box says "Byler," and people stand
up after the screenings and ask, "Why did YOU make a movie about Asian
people?" It just doesn't occur to them that I could be mixed. Even when I
tell them I'm half-Asian, they still want justification. So in a few days, a
theater full of mostly Asian people will sit down to watch the film for the
first time. I'm just curious as to whether I'll still have to justify
myself. I'd like to think not. Maybe I'll just set the record straight when
I introduce the film -- I've done this before, I announce my genetic
components and then say thank you for coming.
AAF
For the filmmakers out there, can you tell us what format you shot, what kind
of camera you used, and how you did your video-to-film blow up?
EB
It's DV-CAM, blown up to 35mm film. We shot 8 days originally, the first four
were with two cameras, both Sony PD-150s, using a lens adapter to make it
wide screen. Then we managed to get our hands on a Sony DSR 500, a much
better camera, and shot with three cameras for a while. Then we ran out of
money, so we shot with only the DSR 500 for the last three weekends. The
blow up to 35mm was done at Alpha Cine Labs in Seattle, and orchestrated by
Chris Miller of Visionbox Media in L.A.
AAF
What was the best part of making the film?
EB
I feel lucky because I worked with so many great people... The actors of
course, it was all about discovery with them, and discovery is what it's all
about. Marc Ambrose (the producer) pulled off a miracle with nothing for a budget and never
showed the stress; in fact he was the one that kept us loose. I loved being
able to trust Rob Humphreys with the visual approach, and the actors trusted
him too, which meant a lot. Having a world class musician like Michael Brook
turn my images into music was a great honor and so much fun to even be a part
of. When I heard his recording of "Charlotte Sometimes" with Jacqueline
singing, I was overwhelmed.
AAF
What was your lowest point?
EB
The lowest point, I think, was during the early stages of editing. I felt
I'd shot a terrible film and disappointed everyone, and maxed out my credit
cards for nothing.
AAF
What are your goals and prospects for distribution?
EB
My goal is to have tons of people see the film and LIKE IT! We are working
out a theatrical release for early next year. We sold the film to the
Sundance Channel, and have video and DVD offers, so it looks like the first
part of my goal will come true. It would be nice, also, if I could pay back
my family and my credit cards.
AAF
What are you up to now?
EB
I'd like to go back to Hawai'i and shoot the first screenplay I wrote, called
"Kealoha: The Loved One." Meanwhile I'm writing the screen adaptation of
Shawn Wong's novel, "American Knees."
Are you looking for U.S. and foreign distribution? Are you looking for finishing funds or postproduction services to complete your film?
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eric, i admire your tenacity and passion about filmmaking. i am also asian and i'm one of the producers of my brother's film which he has been working on for 3 1/2 years. we know how hard and frustrating film funding can be and we're almost finished with the film (it's in post production.) i have this burning desire to finish this film as soon as possible and if me and my brother have as much the burning desire as you have, we'll do well. i know you will do well and maybe we'll meet up when you, me and my brother are successful.
just in case you want to e-mail us, my brother's e-mail address is dirtythemovie@yahoo.com (the movie's title is DIRTY THE MOVIE)my e-mail address msialrules@aol.com. my name is jun banting and my brother who is the real star of this project, his name is frederic banting and we're up here in the bay area. good luck and hope to hearing you soon.
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