THE PROJECT & CREATIVE TEAM
Karen Meshkov, producer/actor
Welcome to no-budget filmmaking. "A <$5K Feature."
Director/Producer Matt Pillischer: "Coming off the success of our last independent movie, Broken On All Sides: Race, Mass Incarceration & New Visions for Criminal Justice in the U.S., we are currently working on this film, A Dark Souvenir. Broken On All Sides, although a horror in its own right, is a documentary about incarceration in America. I hope to continue making political documentaries, but I'm also very passionate about (and have always wanted to make) narrative films. The creative team will basically be my wife, Karen Meshkov, and me! The definition of independent, guerrilla filmmaking. We've got the camera, tripod, a house, some pets, and ourselves. I've crafted a script to utilize what we've got, no frills! Karen and I have a history of creating art together that goes way back to middle and high school, where we starred in plays and musicals together at Abington Friends School. More recently after falling in love and getting married, we play music together, we're acting in community theater, and are producing movies! Lots of fun...
Director/Producer Matt Pillischer: "Coming off the success of our last independent movie, Broken On All Sides: Race, Mass Incarceration & New Visions for Criminal Justice in the U.S., we are currently working on this film, A Dark Souvenir. Broken On All Sides, although a horror in its own right, is a documentary about incarceration in America. I hope to continue making political documentaries, but I'm also very passionate about (and have always wanted to make) narrative films. The creative team will basically be my wife, Karen Meshkov, and me! The definition of independent, guerrilla filmmaking. We've got the camera, tripod, a house, some pets, and ourselves. I've crafted a script to utilize what we've got, no frills! Karen and I have a history of creating art together that goes way back to middle and high school, where we starred in plays and musicals together at Abington Friends School. More recently after falling in love and getting married, we play music together, we're acting in community theater, and are producing movies! Lots of fun...
Shana, the mastermind behind the production
"I've always loved scary movies. I think it's the nature of feeling like you're being hunted and very afraid, your adrenaline starts pumping, and at the same time you are enjoying yourself in this controlled and safe environment. I also think it's an extreme exercise in empathy. Horrible stories that are a rollercoaster of emotion are a test of your empathy for other people. Futhermore, horror allows you to play with allegory and explore societal issues in a different way than straight drama.
"Needless to say, I've always wanted to make a horror movie and add my own contribution to the genre. I also love artsy movies, and movies with strong characters, tension between them, and a little bit of humor. The best scary movies contain all these elements. I don't usually like movies with lots of gore or horror movies that show everything. I think some mystery and some things left to your imagination make them scarier. I want A Dark Souvenir to illustrate that you can still make a great horror movie without buckets of blood, monster masks, CGI, showing all the violence, or sexist, reactionary writing. In terms of scary movies, I'm a huge fan horrifying dramas like the kinds made by Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, and Michael Haneke, and newer horror folks I love are Ti West, and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead. My go to classic horror films are TX Chainsaw Massacre, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, and Halloween. Beyond this genre I love Ken Loach, Barbara Kopple, and am closely watching Ava DuVernay and Dawn Porter. Although this will be a horror film, I hope it's also a drama that even people who don't like horror can appreciate. There is a lot of character development, drama between the leads, and reflection. I hope the characters are real and relatable. I am also pushing this project through constant barriers and limitations to show there's a space for creative storytelling with little-to-no budget, and that with the right community support we can keep independent film alive!
"I get extremely annoyed by festivals and movies that call themselves independent, but seem to be just more studio jobs with slightly smaller budgets. I'm not sad for someone when they say 'we only had 2 million dollars to make this.' I think we need a new word for micro-budget independent films. Maybe it's just 'microbudgets,' but I don't know that this captures everything in the way "independent film" used to. More than anything we need more venues and spaces to show good, cheap, independent cinema-- movies that are artful and good but have little money for marketing. We need to find ways to connect to and educate audiences about why they should watch and support mircobudget films and videos. In some small way I hope to contribute to that in my life as a filmmaker."
"Needless to say, I've always wanted to make a horror movie and add my own contribution to the genre. I also love artsy movies, and movies with strong characters, tension between them, and a little bit of humor. The best scary movies contain all these elements. I don't usually like movies with lots of gore or horror movies that show everything. I think some mystery and some things left to your imagination make them scarier. I want A Dark Souvenir to illustrate that you can still make a great horror movie without buckets of blood, monster masks, CGI, showing all the violence, or sexist, reactionary writing. In terms of scary movies, I'm a huge fan horrifying dramas like the kinds made by Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, and Michael Haneke, and newer horror folks I love are Ti West, and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead. My go to classic horror films are TX Chainsaw Massacre, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, and Halloween. Beyond this genre I love Ken Loach, Barbara Kopple, and am closely watching Ava DuVernay and Dawn Porter. Although this will be a horror film, I hope it's also a drama that even people who don't like horror can appreciate. There is a lot of character development, drama between the leads, and reflection. I hope the characters are real and relatable. I am also pushing this project through constant barriers and limitations to show there's a space for creative storytelling with little-to-no budget, and that with the right community support we can keep independent film alive!
"I get extremely annoyed by festivals and movies that call themselves independent, but seem to be just more studio jobs with slightly smaller budgets. I'm not sad for someone when they say 'we only had 2 million dollars to make this.' I think we need a new word for micro-budget independent films. Maybe it's just 'microbudgets,' but I don't know that this captures everything in the way "independent film" used to. More than anything we need more venues and spaces to show good, cheap, independent cinema-- movies that are artful and good but have little money for marketing. We need to find ways to connect to and educate audiences about why they should watch and support mircobudget films and videos. In some small way I hope to contribute to that in my life as a filmmaker."
Emma helps with catering
We are licensing the amazing music of two dear old friends of Matt's from Bennington College: Paul Kikuchi (Open Graves) and Jesse Olsen Bay. The very music that we hope to use in the film can be found on these to stream-able albums below. Check them out and then come and see them set to drama in A Dark Souvenir!
"Open Graves with Stuart Dempster" - http://prefecturemusic.org/portfolio/pr004/
Jesse Olsen Bay's "Ojito" - http://jesseolsenbay.bandcamp.com/album/ojito
"Open Graves with Stuart Dempster" - http://prefecturemusic.org/portfolio/pr004/
Jesse Olsen Bay's "Ojito" - http://jesseolsenbay.bandcamp.com/album/ojito
Eliot will surely make an appearance in the film. He also loves horror movies.
Read more about the filmmaking process,
behind-the-scenes shenanigans,
and personal reflections on Matt's blog.
Also sign up for a free copy of the behind-the-scene documentary, "Making of A Dark Souvenir."
behind-the-scenes shenanigans,
and personal reflections on Matt's blog.
Also sign up for a free copy of the behind-the-scene documentary, "Making of A Dark Souvenir."
Matt and Karen
