BRADENTON -- The six key members of the cast and crew were gathered at a rented condo in Shorewalk Vacation Villas off Cortez Road.
Seated at a white, sun-washed table on a Wednesday afternoon during a break from rehearsals, they interacted like old friends.
The leading actors didn’t meet the filmmaker until auditions were held in March.
But clearly a bond has been formed.
The University of Central Florida graduate film production “15 Minutes of Faye” begins shooting at a private, local residence Monday.
Writer/director Joshua Ingle has spent the past two years preparing for making the feature-length movie during his time at UCF’s master’s degree in fine arts film program. The cast includes more than 20 Florida actors, many from the Bradenton/Sarasota area. “15 Minutes of Faye” is being marketed as a dark romantic comedy about a 23-year-old egomaniac obsessed with becoming famous.
“The anti-hero, Mycha, wants to be a rock star even though he doesn’t play an instrument,” said the 24-year-old writer/director.
Tampa-based actor Jamie Parslow, who plays Mycha, added, “Well, he plays a little guitar, but poorly.”
Ingle graduated from Southeast High in 2005 and lived in Bradenton since age 7 before attending college in Orlando. In addition to private locations in the Manatee/Sarasota area, there will also be exterior scenes shot at the Riverside Café and Regatta Pointe Marina in Palmetto, the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport and concert footage at the Cock & Bull Pub in Sarasota. The shooting schedule concludes with an August 16 scene at Beck’s in downtown Bradenton.
“The movie has dark humor and dramatic parts throughout,” Ingle said. “It focuses on how people of our generation want to be famous just for the sake of fame.”
The UCF film program takes an entrepreneurial approach to filmmaking: students raise funds for projects themselves, and run their productions more like a real-world business than like a typical student film. Ingle plans to submit “15 Minutes of Faye” to film festivals by 2013 and hopes to obtain a distribution deal.
“This definitely goes beyond being my master’s thesis,” Ingle said. “UCF is one of the few film schools that hammers home how to go about getting distribution.”
UCF advertises itself as one of only two institutions in the United States requiring that each student develop, organize and produce a feature production as partial fulfillment of an MFA degree. The movie can cost no more than $50,000, all of which must be raised by the student.
The total budget for “15 Minutes of Faye” is $30,000. That’s about the same amount Sarasota native and UCF film school graduate Daniel Myrick had to work with on his 1999 blockbuster “The Blair Witch Project.”
Like Myrick, Ingle described his payment to the main actors as “very low” and “none” for extras.
During production, though, meals and lodging will be provided. Some travel expenses will be reimbursed for the leads. In addition, all cast members will receive screen credit and a DVD of the film. “Many of the film’s roles lend themselves to some great dramatic footage for demo reels,” reads the movie’s website www.fayefilm.com.
The four actors present Wednesday all learned about the audition through Craigslist. Leading lady Cameron Gagne, who plays the rock star title character, lives in Orlando and works as an actor, model and choreographer there.
“I could tell right away I was working with professionals and being able to sing for the first time on film is a real plus,” the 22-year-old said.
Stephen Schlow, the chair of UCF’s film department, also has faith in Ingle’s filmmaking skills.
“When he presented his project to the thesis review board we went away feeling he knew what he was doing,” Schlow said. “A couple of people on that board could have been quite picky but were satisfied with his answers to all the questions about multi-camera set-ups at the concert and everything else.”
Details: Extras needed for night shoots. If you’re interested, contact producer Addison Bryan with your name, phone number and email address at (727) 871-4881 or fayefilm@gmail.com.
Wade Tatangelo, features writer/columnist, can be reached at (941) 745-7057. Visit his blog at www.bradenton.com/blogs.
