Joe Stauffer didn’t grow up watching a whole lot of movies. He does not consider himself to be a movie buff nor does he claim to know a lot about Hollywood and celebrities, but he does really enjoy a film with substance–a film that will grab you tight and not let go until it’s over… which is not something you see often these days.
Stauffer, making his feature – length directorial debut with this year’s upcoming horror/thriller, Pieces of Talent, is familiar with the perils of filmmaking. For the past decade, Stauffer has been writing, editing, and producing films, commercials and music videos. Hailing from Wilmington, NC, Stauffer knows the industry and has the talent and dedication to prove it.
What was one of the most important things you learned while shooting Pieces of Talent?
I have worn a lot of hats during the production this film. It is important to have the time to hang out with the actors, work through the scenes and make it feel real–the script is just a reference. Having good actors is a huge part of it and having the time to be creative and not be rushed is one of the most important things I can say as a director on this project.
So you allowed input from your cast and crew regarding the story, characters, and the script in general?
You have to stick to your creative guns, but be open to suggestions and positive creative input. It’s about being open-minded at the end of the day and this comes with collaborating with the people you are working with. Taking suggestions allowed the project itself to grow beyond the boundaries of the blue print in our minds, and gave it life.
Give me an example of parts in the film that grew and changed.
We have scenes in this movie that we didn’t conceptualize until six months later during the editing process. We decided to shoot some pieces later which illustrated greater detail about some of the characters in the film, in more of an abstract way.
For instance, one scene involves the use of leeches. We had to order medical leeches so they could suck on David’s arm for twenty minutes. We had to buy three of them, even though we only needed one for the scene, so basically we had two leeches on standby.
The trailers and video blogs (vlogs ) look great, and I am excited to see the movie. I can’t imagine how stressful it was to make this film.
This film has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my life because it’s a representation of all of us who are involved. It’s been a huge part of our lives and we should be proud of that. It contains moral statements about people and society and they are pretty heavy ones…especially relating to the line of work that we do–making movies. The whole process has been challenging. Considering our budget constraints–self financed–it has been a financially depleting but emotionally rewarding process.
Was casting for Pieces of Talent challenging?
If you don’t have the right person to portray a character, you have a lost cause. Going into it we knew who was going to be David Long. The hardest part to cast was Charlotte, because the film centers around her character. Kristi Ray had it from the start. She’s an amazing person on top of being an amazing actress and we are very thankful for finding her. She’s been right there 100% of the time and with a great attitude to match. She has genuine love for what she does and she is amazingly talented–the one key piece of talent that we needed, we found.
How long did it take you to film?
It’s been one year since we did principal photography. We have shot for about 50 days total and are currently in the sound design and score stages of post production.
Do you expect to create ripples in the film industry?
I don’t know; that would be awesome but that was not our goal going into this. Locally we may have created some ripples but I wouldn’t go as far as saying we are important-that decision is up to the audience. Maybe people will hate it, maybe they’ll love it. We wanted to make something that we were proud of and that told a good story. We created this piece of art together and that’s what matters.
After interviewing Joe Stauffer and watching the trailer and the multiple vlogs for Pieces of Talent, my impression is that this film will indeed create some ripples in the industry. Pieces of Talent will premier Halloween night, October 31, 2011, in Wilmington, NC, with a national tour covering over 45 cities beginning the next day.
SYNOPSIS:
The story centers around Charlotte, a struggling young actress who can’t catch a break.
In an effort to support herself and her hopeless mother, Charlotte holds a job as a cocktail waitress at a seedy, local strip club…and hates every minute of it.
During a cigarette break late one evening she witnesses an altercation between an overzealous bouncer and an unfortunate passerby, David.
David makes movies and given Charlotte’s career interests a friendship quickly develops.
Soon enough, David mentions a project he has in the works that she would be perfect for and an excited Charlotte agrees to take part.
She has no idea what she has signed up for…