Maine film-making pair get Greenlight
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Two Maine filmmakers are getting a chance many of their contemporaries only dream about: Directing a major movie with a budget of $1.7 million and the backing of Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Miramax studios.
Efram Potelle and Kyle Rankin, both 30, will get the chance because they won the directors' contest of Project Greenlight at the Sundance Film Festival. Designed to help aspiring filmmakers, Project Greenlight is backed by a partnership of entertainment heavyweights: Damon and Affleck, Miramax, Blockbuster Video and HBO.
Rankin and Potelle were among more than 9,000 screenwriters and directors who entered.
Nine months ago, Rankin and Potelle left Portland for Los Angeles after a decade of making small films in Maine and failing to hit the big time. Now they are scheduled to begin shooting the film "The Battle of Shaker Heights" in March. The film is already scheduled to be in theaters nationally in August.
The first film made under Project Greenlight, "Stolen Summer," has not created much buzz. So Rankin and Potelle feel Project Greenlight's future depends heavily on how well their film does.
From now until the film is finished, Potelle and Rankin will be followed by HBO camera crews for a 13-part documentary series "The Making of The Battle of Shaker Heights," to begin airing in June.
"There's a lot of pressure on us, but it's exciting," Rankin said Tuesday. "Both Efram and I feel strongly we wouldn't be here now if it weren't for the support we got in Maine. Hopefully we'll come back soon with a budget."
Rankin said he and Potelle have an ultimate goal of someday making a major film in Maine. He said the pair would have liked to make this Project Greenlight film in Maine, but since shooting begins in March, the cold and snow are obstacles.
The film the pair will direct was written by Erica Beeny of Cleveland, who won the screenplay portion of the contest. The film is a coming-of-age story about a high school student who is a World War II battle re-enactor. Rankin said the story reminds him of some of the better teen comedy-dramas of the 1980s.
"It makes me wish John Cusack was still young" said Rankin.
The pair will also be paid a salary for making the film, but Rankin did not want to say how much it is.
Rankin, a York native, and Potelle, from Fairfield, met 15 years ago as contestants at the Maine Student Film and Video Festival. They started collaborating soon afterward. In 1996, they collaborated on a full-length psychological drama called "Reindeer Games," shot in Portland. Their partner on that film was Shayne Worcester, a Maine filmmaker who was shot to death in San Francisco in 1999 while being robbed.
Potelle and Rankin also made a 30-minute comedy called "Pennyweight" and a shorter comedy called "They Came to Attack Us." Both films got national exposure on the Sci-Fi cable channel.
While living and working in Portland for more than a decade, they also hosted a controversial and sometimes-crude public access TV show that often shocked viewers.
As part of their submission to the Project Greenlight contest, Potelle and Rankin filmed a personal introduction spot that ended with Potelle pretending to run over Rankin and his dog with a car.
When Potelle and Rankin were picked as finalists in the contest, Damon and Affleck called and said how much they liked the stunt.
"We wanted something memorable, and apparently it was," Rankin said.