HFF 2015 Interview: Movies in Space Director/Writer/Producer Chris Smith

2015 Heartland Film Festival Official Selection, Narrative Short Movies in Space is a comedy sci-fi following the rise and fall of Travis Shepard, a future-earth-ambassador, who unwittingly gets caught up in an alien Hollywood-like system.

We spoke with Director/Writer/Producer Chris Smith about his film:

HF: What is your film about, and how did the project come to be?

CS: Movies in Space is a comedy/ sci-fi/ satire about a future earth ambassador on an alien planet who unwittingly gets caught up in an alien Hollywood-like system.

It came as a result of being knee-deep in various screenwriting books touting the “perfect structure” for screenplays. As I navigated writing a couple features over the past two years, I found myself wondering what it would be like if there really was a “universal structure” to the perfect story. The result became a short film script posing as a satire on the idea, seeing what it would be like to make a story that hit all the stereotypical feature film beats in a short film shell. And then… putting it in space of course.

HF: What was your role in the production?

CS: I was the writer, producer, director, editor and co-star of the short. So I have a pretty strong thumb-print on it.

HF: Why did you submit to the Heartland Film Festival? Have you been to the Festival before?

CS: I submitted to the festival because I had heard great things. I have never been to the fest, but am a huge fan of Indianapolis. I was there for the Final Four basketball tournament when UCLA played in the finals (I was a student at the time) and I got to celebrate my 21st birthday there. Definitely some fond memories in that city.

HF: This year’s tagline is “Movies That Stay with You” – what lasting effect will your film have on moviegoers?

CS: Hopefully a laugh! And maybe an opportunity for people to take a moment to consider the structure of stories. That playing into the “rules” allows you to break them.

HF: What has inspired you to become a filmmaker?

CS: I had a strong urge to be a performer on camera as a kid. Growing up in a small town, there was no real outlet for me and my friends to be acting in anything, so I was the guy who bought a camera and learned how to use it. From there on, I fell in love with writing and telling visual stories. I still love to perform, but definitely get a DEEPER satisfaction piecing the puzzle of a story together.

HF: What is something that you know about filmmaking now, but you weren’t told when you started your career?

CS: That learning as much as you can about what goes on behind the camera only helps what goes on in front of it. And visa-versa. Actors should take editing classes. Directors should take acting classes. Why not?

HF: What are some of your favorite movies? What’s your favorite worst movie (you know it’s bad, but still love it)?

CS: My top movies: Dumb and Dumber, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, The Mummy, the Indiana Jones Trilogy.

Favorite “bad” movie: Fire in the Sky. Its a really bad movie from the early 90s, that still goes down as the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. That thing scarred me as a kid!

HF: How many film festivals has your film been a part of? What do you like the most about the festival experience?

CS: So far, my film has screened at three festivals and is slated to screen at a few more in the next month. The best part, hands-down, is meeting the other filmmakers and audiences that share a passion for filmmaking. It’s a very validating thing to meet people who love the same genres/ films/ styles as you- it’s like being admitted to a new secret club. And that’s really important in a creative path that requires so much self-discipline. Teammates are a good thing.

HF: Heartland Film Festival moviegoers love filmmaker Q&As. Let’s say a Festival attendee wants to earn some brownie points—what is a question that you’d love to answer, but haven’t yet been asked?

CS: Ha! Probably these two:

Are there any easter eggs you put into your film that we may not have noticed?

Why a yellow screen, three beeps, and then a green screen?