Carl Darchuk’s Higher Education

A local moviemaker fights the system after completing his first feature film

by Timothy Rhys | Published November 30, 1993

Not unlike many virgin moviemakers before him, when Carl Darchuk shot his first film he knew just enough to be dangerous.

"I wrote a script I liked and budgeted it at about a million dollars. I wrote lots of letters to raise the financing, and of course no one was interested. Then I got a book called "Feature Filmmaking at Used Car Prices," and decided to take the plunge."

The infamous Rick Schmidt book, which has gotten many first-timers fired up with its simplistic,  can-do approach, makes Darchuk laugh now. "There's a line in that book which kills me- it says something like 'now when you pick up the rental camera, make sure you ask how to load it."

"I ended up scraping five grand together and things started falling into place. It was really quite miraculous."

Darchuk, the founding artistic director at the Renton Civic Center, where he still works, gathered a skeleton crew together and headed to Montana to shoot Crossers in the summer of '91. The final product, which premiered at the Renton theatre in August, cost close to $50,000. There are a lot of things Darchuk would do differently now.

"Until you do it, you don't really realize the ripple effect of everything you do. I'd certainly call cut faster and  call action sooner. All these feet of film you go through... it translates to a buck a foot in the end. You can't wait for an actor to get into character. That's later, when you can afford to do 16 takes.

"The next thing I'd do is shoot in 35mm, not 16. People are so used to having stereo sound, and seeing a good  picture, they say 'that's not a professional job' when they watch 16. Marketing's easier too. Brad Manzurri of Seven Gables would have been interested in picking it up if it was 35.

"I also made the mistake of paying the crew. I wouldn't do that again. Instead, I'd set it up so that everybody's involved as a partner. And next time I'd transfer to video and edit on video. Every print is five hundred bucks. Just get a reasonable finished product on video and you can get a good idea if there's going to be any interest."

As soon as the release print was ready Darchuk began his struggle to find distribution for Crossers. The experience has left him with the feeling that film marketing doesn't exist on a level playing field.

Carl Darchuk (left) and crew on the set of Crossers.

"We contacted all the distributors and sent 2-300 letters and 50 or so videotapes out.   "They all basically rejected it. It's really an elab-orate series of tricks and traps to keep outsiders from getting in. But the people who are crafty enough, like Stephen Soderbergh, for instance,  can find a way. I'm much more aware now of market needs.   That's one of the first things Hollywood asks- 'who's your market?" And 'who's in it?"'

Darchuk is currently collaborating on a script based on Seattle playwright David Golden's "Tales From the Great American Roadway." One gets the sense that he is still recovering from the bruises he suffered making Crossers, but he's not at all discouraged.

"There are hundreds of people just like me who never get their films done. If you do, that's a club you should be proud of being in, whether or not anyone's throwing money at you. It's a higher education.

"Everybody asks 'how do I get the money? That's not the question. The right idea will sustain itself 'I can't do it because...' is the oldest cop-out there is." MM

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