Richard Roe

If no one remembers a man, did he really exist?

by Ian E. Lawrence | Published September 28, 2002

It's the age-old quandary: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" Extrapolating from there, one could wonder "If a person is completely forgotten, can we be sure he really existed?" This is the theme that inspired my short film, Richard Roe. The desire to leave a legacy, or at the very least avoid complete anonymity, is somewhere in the heart of every moviemaker. The quest for a post-mortem existence on earth is a natural part of the human design. The conventional way is procreation, but others are driven to seek immortality through personal achievements.

The idea for Richard Roe came to me one day as I was sitting in a coffee shop. A man walked up and greeted me warmly. This man knew my name and certain things about me, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out who he was. For an agonizing 10 minutes I carried on a conversation, hoping that something might jog my memory. Alas, nothing did, and he eventually left—with me still completely befuddled.

This man's only distinguishing characteristic was that he had no distinguishing characteristics at all. He was perfectly nondescript. Since we witness the world with only two eyes and two ears, a majority of the people we encounter will simply be "extras" in our journey through life. But what if there were certain people that are so typical of what we consider "average" that we don't even notice them?

I had my inspiration. Now all I needed was a script, a cast, a crew, locations, camera, grip and lighting, permits, insurance and about $15,000!

Writing the script was the fun part, as the idea phase usually is. In the beginning, every new project feels like the next Citizen Kane—until you have to deal with the limitations of reality, of course. As my concept could easily become preachy or intellectual in an obnoxious way, I decided to make Richard Roe a comedy instead of a drama. I'm a believer that films should first and foremost be entertaining. Not to say they shouldn't also be profound, but great themes are lost if the film bores most of the audience. So thus was born the story of a gumshoe private investigator searching for a man so "average," no one can remember him.

Having already made two shorts, I had the luxury of bringing aboard several great people I'd worked with previously. Among them, cinematographer Mateo Londono, actor Michael Marsellos and editor Karl Morton. These individuals, along with several others, gave me the comfort of familiarity and experience. Finding talented people you can trust is more uncommon than it should be, so when you find someone good, grab hold and don't let go.

I was also determined to avoid making the same mistakes I'd made on my previous projects. I guess one could hardly expect a masterpiece from the unimposing $1,500 I spent on my first film, where I served as writer, director, producer, extra, craft services, etc. And considering that filming was once interrupted by gang gunfire 50 yards from our location (I was living in a suspect neighborhood at the time), it's a miracle the film was made at all. Fortunately, I had these learning experiences early and at low cost. Too often I've seen people spend a fortune on their first effort only to later find that their grand opus was just an expensive course in Film Pitfalls 101.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Michael Marsellos and Chopper Bernet in Richard Roe; writer/director Ian E Lawrence and Bernet.

It being 2000, I had recently made some money in the stock market. Begrudgingly, I sold my "valuable" Internet stocks, favoring a film over a potential retirement fortune. The market tanked a few months later, so really I was blessed with a movie instead of a bunch of worthless stocks.

I chose to shoot Richard Roe on 35mm. My first short was on BetaSP, the next on Super16, so it was time to make the jump. I intended Richard Roe to be a festival piece, and many of the best fests prefer the films they showcase to be on film. A transfer from DV or Super16 to a 35mm print was nearly as expensive as shooting it on 35mm from the beginning, so this was an easy decision.

Earlier in the year I'd met a sharp and ambitious individual, Sean O'Riordan, whom I thought could be a good fit for Richard Roe. Coming from the talent management side of the business, what Sean lacked in production experience he more than made up for in effort and adaptability. In projects of this nature, where you don't have the luxury of enticing people with significant monetary compensation, enthusiasm and dedication are far and away the most important attributes. Ultimately, of course, it's the job of the person in charge to keep morale high and make sure that everyone knows they are appreciated. Pay or no pay, the least one can do is treat people well. There's no such thing as a project so important that it justifies treating anyone disrespectfully.

The next and most crucial part was casting. It may seem obvious, but poor casting is often to blame for projects that don't work. Actors tell the story. And the blame of a bad performance falls as much on the casting and direction as it does on the actor.

Lawrence, with actor Jayme Gallante, script supervisor Andre Hargunani, DP Mateo Londono, camera operator Michael Ortiz, Bernet and sound mixer Drew Dalzell.

A director's ability to work well with actors is vital to a film's quality. Take care of the actors and they'll take care of the film. I gave myself plenty of time to rehearse in order to understand each actor's individual nuances, and ended up altering some of the dialogue in order to maximize what this talented cast had to offer. I feel the best way to direct is to provide an environment that maximizes everyone's potential. Set parameters, but not hard boundaries. Find the right people and encourage them, and they will make your work better.

A project begins with a simple idea, and with enough momentum it will start to live and breathe on its own. Getting it over the first hump is the hardest part. But if you have a good script and are organized and focused, it is amazing how things will start to happen. Don't relax, though, until the film is on the screen, and even then there's work to be done.

Getting a short seen is even more important than making one. I started Richard Roe's festival screenings with two familiar places: Sarasota and Hollywood Shorts, the latter of which helped my film get acquired by Hypnotic. Since then it has been in about 10 more festivals, including Seattle, Palm Springs and Telluride IndieFest, and picked up two awards, including the Audience Award at WestFest. Now that it has done as much as I had hoped for, Richard Roe is a good sample piece for my feature project, The Frenchman, which I co-wrote with Jim Houck, and is being produced by Richard Rothschild and Bob Balaban.

To every artist trying to build a legacy—or at least avoid total anonymity—I have the following suggestion: get inspired and go, go, go like hell. MM

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