Interview: A North Dakota screenplay that doesn't make the state look stupid?

written by Julie R. Neidlinger      6 comments      link this post     




Did you see the movie Fargo? We don't talk like that. How about the movie Wooly Boys? Yeah, me neither. Not many did. There was another movie that had a brief North Dakota connection. Did it have sled dogs? I can't remember.

Which is my point: North Dakota is used as the punchline in movies, or the place closest to purgatory and all things dreadful while Montana and South Dakota get movies like A River Runs Through It and Dances With Wolves to drag jaw-dropping tourists in. Minnesota has no shortage of films shot there. Wyoming? Wyoming is mostly an ugly plains state (it is! have you been there?! it is!) but thanks to Brokeback Mountain, they too have their moment in the sun. North Dakota is surrounded by glory states. What do we get?

We get the Wooly Boys; we get outhouses in the Badlands.

What to do? Nathan Anderson has an idea, and he agreed to an email interview today to tell us his ideas.

Q: Tell me a little about yourself and your ties to North Dakota. Do you currently live in North Dakota?
A: I moved to North Dakota when I was three from Ohio. Son of a Lutheran pastor and a then housewife, we (I’m the youngest of four) lived in Plaza (50 miles Northwest of Minot) for 10 years and we moved to Minot as I entered the 9th grade. Graduated from Minot High in ’97 and moved to Moorhead to attend Moorhead State University. Spent a year in the dorms then moved to Fargo where I lived for three years. In-between those three years I attended California State University – Bakersfield as a part of NSE (National Student Exchange): Met a girl there, we came to MSUM where I received a BA in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. We moved back to California, spent almost a year in Manhattan and now live in Berkeley, CA.

Q: How long have you been writing? Have you written a screenplay that's ready to go?
A: I’ve been writing since I was young, mostly god-awful poetry until I discovered free verse, which inevitably ran into short-stories, prose poetry, an unfinished novel and journals full of stuff I might use. I started writing my current screenplay over two years ago and feel I have a near shooting script, which means all the written kinks are worked out (for the most part). I also have two treatments for two other screenplays (a treatment is a tool to flush out an idea and story – basically a few to a many pages of movie prose).

Q: Can you give us a synopsis or brief description of what your screenplay is about?
A: The film is based on two friends: One gets a corporate job, moves to Minneapolis, has a nervous breakdown and moves back to the small North Dakota town of his youth. The other is a writer, who lives in Fargo and struggles to find meaning in his life. Although the two were childhood best friends, they have since grown apart and have a brief meeting as adults (both main characters are in their 20's). The movie flashes back to their youth and we find that although both are oblivious to one another as adults, they are united by their past and present situations, which in turn culminates to an interesting ending and window into their futures.

Q: Why is it important to have movies of high caliber associated with North Dakota? Do you think this has happened yet?
A: I would call the movies I wish to make necessary for our state – a creative way to illuminate others to the interesting and often over-looked dynamics of North Dakota under the guise of a great pseudo-fictional film, while simultaneously sparking economic growth, creative growth, and a positive external/internal image of our state. Whether these films will be considered high-caliber is not up to me, but I’m going to make the best damn film(s) I can. To answer the second part of your question: Wooly Boys or Fargo – both films offer a slice of North Dakota, although the latter only offers one bite, which is the wrong flavor and I am not out to make a family film. I use adult language and adult situations, more specifically 20something situations.

Q: You sent out an email via the North Dakota Council on the Arts. In this email, you mentioned that you were trying to redraw North Dakota conciousness. Can you explain that a little bit?
A: By redrawing the North Dakota consciousness, in affect, I am isolating everything I know about North Dakota and redistributing it on film. My brother-in-law is a farmer in Plaza, my sister works at a bank in Parshall, my dad is a Lutheran pastor in Western North Dakota and my mom works at Minot State. I want my 10-year-old nephew to take over the farm. I want my father to continue preaching in Western North Dakota. I want my brother-in-law to continue farming. I want North Dakota to be recognized as a viable artist retreat and creative resource by using topics recognizable to every North Dakotan and interesting/intriguing to those who only think North Dakota is below Canada, near Montana and Minnesota, somehow connected to South Dakota, cold, barren, flat and utterly hopeless. North Dakota’s consciousness is really my way to change how others consciously view our state.

Q: You also mentioned in your email that there was no reason North Dakota couldn't be a center for "film, video and art." Do you really believe this? Will this tie into the state-wide efforts of creating a "New Bohemia" in the state or were you not aware of that?
A: To be honest, I borrowed that part from Mary Ann Phillips who gave a great interview in Prairie Business Magazine’s most recent issue. Her and her husband own Video Arts Studios in Fargo. She was able to articulate the same feelings I’ve been having about North Dakota and film, although she also focused on the television and audio aspect. I do believe that North Dakota could be a center for film, video and art because most movements begin under the radar and gain momentum. North Dakota is primed for this type of movement because we are under the radar as a state, but we can completely take advantage of advances in film, video and art technologies. I am aware of New Bohemia and wish to strengthen their premise. With a centralized contemporary, artistic website, New Bohemia will easily become apart of the film process because the art shown in the films I create, will then show up in the credits as a website: “To purchase any of the art seen go to www.NDNewBohemia.com.” All North Dakota artists and all their art will be featured on the site with price-points, bios, etc…

Q: To quote from your email that went out to artists across the state, you said: "North Dakota's population is about 635,000. If 40% of our state's population donated one dollar, we could make a worthwhile film and bring positive attention to our state, its artists, and the community at-large." Is this a serious idea for funding, or was it a hypothetical way of showing how your ideas could be funded? Do you think this would work? Is it fair to ask for this kind of attention for your project and idea when other artists still here struggle?
A: I am serious about my funding strategy. I want to start the first cooperative film production company, at least with this first film. To break the numbers down even further: If 2,500 North Dakotans invested $100 each into my film project, we (emphasis on we) could create a viable movie making machine. To help with the math, that’s $250,000, which would:

• Make a film
• Start a non-risk high interest fund that would be used in later years to create a scholarship or fellowship opportunity for a college-bound North Dakota kid
• A small piece of property to begin NoDak Films
• National recognition for North Dakota artists and those willing to invest
• A soundtrack featuring North Dakota musicians that could easily be sold nationwide
• A kickass New Bohemia website
• A chance for every day North Dakotans to be in a film because I have a four-tier investment plan, which I won’t get into now.
  

In a nutshell, EXPOSURE. The idea alone would draw national attention. Can you imagine the headline: North Dakota is producing a movie. If the movie fails, it will not damage the state’s image because it would only re-affirm opinions others have of the state, but when it succeeds – we’re on the map and can only move forward. I feel we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Artists’ will always struggle because that’s the nature of an artist; even a successful artist. And the attention I crave is really a means to illuminate the end product, which will give screen time to North Dakota’s artists, while also listing there names and websites in the credits. I feel the process will be advantageous to everyone.

Q: Do you think the value of positive film experiences for the state would bring in more revenue than other art forms? Would it draw in a wider interest area?
A: I had a great conversation with Sten Iverson who is the manager of the Montana Film Office. He sent me a report produced by the Montana Commerce Department, Montana Film Commission and in conjunction with Arts Market, Inc. The report outlines the positive impacts of the film industry on Montana’s economy. The report is very detailed and shows that Montana has been the beneficiary of millions of dollars of revenue as a result of the films made there. I believe North Dakota could also be the beneficiary of substantial revenue with positive film experiences. My kind of film would draw wider interest because again, my films would illuminate our strengths as a state and not isolate the stereotypes.

Q: Would these films be all genres, eventually? (documentaries, fiction, etc.)
A: In addition to the screenplay, I have two treatments about two films, which are completely different from one another and the former so right now I have 3 legitimate North Dakota films that touch on a myriad of North Dakota topics.

Q: Have you spoken with other artisans across the state who are struggling to make a living in their art form? Do you think North Dakota is open and arts-friendly at a people level (i.e. the citizens, not the universities or art groups)? Do you think film has a better chance than more traditional forms of art?
A: When I lived in Fargo, I was a part of that scene: I lived in the Gardner, hung out at Zandbroz and Atomic Coffee and Trentinos and Bosnian House and Luigis (when they had the open mike). I was a writer though and didn’t spend a lot of time at Plains Art or the Moorhead art gallery, but I hung out with visual artists. North Dakota is arts-friendly because we have no reason to be pretentious and because there are so many traditional artists who are the only expert in the state so they want to share their talent with others. I feel strongly about film because that’s what I’m dedicated too, along with writing. I don’t have the knowledge to form a bias towards other genres, but that’s why this process will not be individualistic – everyone will be accounted for.

Anderson's Final Thoughts: That’s it for now – the other questions are more involved and I will have more long-term info when I finish my business plan, but until then will leave them mute. Although I have contacted congressional delegates: Some have responded positively and some haven’t responded, it is what it is, but the process moves on and forward.

My Recap: Here are the rest of the questions Nathan Anderson references in his final thoughts. I thought I'd include them, as well as a few follow-up questions I have after reading Nathan's response in the hopes of getting the thoughts of my readers.

• What, specifically, is your plan to go ahead with this push for your film? Your plan for making the state a center for film in general?
• What other ways have you gotten your ideas out (media, newspapers, other writers and artists in the state)? What has the response been?
• Have you had any contact with Hollywood or the regular channels of film-making in regards to your screenplay and/or the idea of making North Dakota a center for film?
• Will North Dakota need new infrastructure, laws, financial incentives, schools for filmmaking, etc. to make the state a viable center for film?

Interview Follow-Up Comments/Questions:

• Will a focus on twenty-something films with "adult" situations (i.e. not G-rated family films populated with sheep and grumpy farmers with hearts of gold) play well for a state made up of an older population that might not be so inclined towards the twenty-something-indy-Parker-Posey-type film? What I mean is, if you're asking the citizenry to pony up money, what do you do when they want a say in what kind of product their money is used for? How real and important is twenty-something angst to a sixty-year old farmer and his checkbook?
• One of the comments I had about the New Bohemia concept back on my old blog was this: are we going to out-hip the general population of North Dakota? Will this young, hip direction be it's own stereotype?
• Is twenty- or even thirty- something relevant really relevant? Is hip necessary?
  

Disclaimer: I am no longer a twenty-something. I no longer feel their angst. I have a new decade to deal with. In fact, I now spend most of my interactions with twenty-somethings rolling my eyes. Back when I was an art student at Moorhead State (four years), I did not go to art museums, coffee houses or any of the usual haunts as listed above. Instead, I sat in my apartment and watched Star Trek. What I'm trying to say is, I am very leery of the "hipness" factor often seen in art movements and revitalization, a factor that often eats itself and kills the momentum. I am not, however, making these comments or asking these questions out of spite. I think Nathan has some good ideas, plenty of enthusiasm, and was graciously willing to take serious time to answer my questions.

So now it's up to you, reader.

I invite your response, whether you're from North Dakota or not. The only responses I don't welcome are those that say things like "North Dakotans are idiots" and "no one cares about North Dakota" or "where's North Dakota, anyway." If you feel led to leave such a response, go throw yourself into traffic.




| tag: north dakota |

Labels: interviews, north dakota

Copyright (c) Julie R. Neidlinger      2/06/2006 10:57:00 AM      (6) comments      Links to this post    
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