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LOCAL FILMMAKER, writer and producer Patrick Delin will be producing his own film this winter, inspired by past personal experiences and relationships. It will be filmedfn hishome^
town of Sioux City, Iowa.
Local film director casts his first reel
By W.T. McCoy
Staff Reporter
Nebraska, a land nestled hun
dreds of miles from both of the coun
try’s cultural epicenters, Los Angeles
and New York, is effectively smack
in the middle of nowhere.
It is a sparsely populated place
where college football is the biggest
game in town, and getting loaded on
weekend nights and waking up next
to your beer is a commonplace
Sunday occurrence.
For some, however, there is more
to life than a No. 1 ranking in the
Associated Press poll and Saturday
afternoons of bedlam and chaos in a
sea of red.
For some of these people, there is
film.
Patrick Delin, a University of
Nebraska-Lincoln history major, has
been hard at work producing his own
independent film, which he hopes to
shoot in his hometown of Sioux City,
Iowa, by late December.
Tentatively titled “Common
Threads,” the film portrays a group
of young people honle for winter
break. When they learn the main
character’s parents are traveling to
Paris for a three-week vacation, the
group decides to celebrate too - and
throws an equally long party in the
parents’ home.
The movie focuses on the lives of
the five friends and their relation
ships with each other as the party and
drama unfold. The film is intended as
an exploration of friendship, love and
the effects of time on people.
With native actors like Marlon
Brando, Henry Fonda, Johnny
Carson, Dick Cavett and Alexander
Payne having left their impressions
on the world and their faces
ingrained in Americans’ collective
pop-culture psyche, Nebraska has a
good track record of breeding bank
able Hollywood talent.
In recent years, a few indepen
dent films have been made in
Nebraska* but few have caught the
public’s attention.
Delin is hoping that his first pro
ject, which should be completed by
late spring, will be recognized at
regional and national film festivals,
thus earning respect for the talent,
creativity and the people of the
Midwest.
Trying to make the plunge in a
frustrating regional film scene, Delin
has encountered many difficulties
and many blessings in trying to
launch a completely Midwestern
film, comprised of completely local
talent and dedicated friends.
DN: What made you decide to
shoot your own movie?
PD: Basically after a relationship
that I had a lot of emotion invested in
took a turn for the worst, the script
just kind of poured out
While the script was being mold
ed, I got back into contact with a high
school friend that I hadn’t really spo
ken to during the last year or so. I
talked to her a bit about the entertain
ment business and began playing
around with the idea of making a
film, which I say with a little sarcasm
because we never planned on doing
anything for real.
I posted some ideas to the Usenet
newsgroups on the Internet. That is
basically where I began to run into
people, names and great advice. I was
introduced to the film underground
in Lincoln along with a few actors
from Hollywood (like some minors
from James Cameron’s “Titanic” set)
and some major music labels, (like
Mannheim Steamroller and Tonic).
The frightening thing is how
closely connected we really are to
people. It only takes a few phone
calls to see how far those six degrees
really stretch.
DN: How did you get funding?
PD: I sat around in my room rack
ing up the phone bill calling every
business, sponsor and friend that I
had within 300 miles. It came down
to a lot of hometown support.
DN: What is the movie about?
PD: It’s about that time between
high school and college where we try
and find an identity. It’s always a
struggle to try and find that path we
are supposed to follow and it inspired
me to do the movie about the struggle
in real life, because so many things
during that time are so surreal and
seem like a Hollywood film.
DN: Have there been any major
hassles in getting your own film off
the ground?
PD: Definitely. Last time I
checked, my stress level was so high
that I could almost feel the hyperten
sion coursing through my body. My
biggest problem has been trying to
secure equipment and cameramen.
Other than that, trying to find people
to invest is always difficult, and when
you’re learning everything as you go
it is very easy to make mistakes and
blunders. I am already working on
my second feature script.
a
It s about that time between high school
and college where we try and find an
identity. Its always a struggle to try and
find that path we are supposed to follow...”
Patrick Delin
independent filmmaker
DN: What kind of budget do you
expect to end up with?
PD: I hope, with every extremity
of my body crossed, to end up with
$50,000. We won’t know the exact
dollar amount coming from our spon
sor until the first week of December:
That’s only two weeks before filming
begins. Fortunately I have my own
resources to fall back on that is guar
anteed funding,
DN: What has been the most fun
about your experience thus far? Have
you been able to lure any actresses
onto the casting couch with the
promise of future employment?
PD: Actually the fringe benefits
of being a director seem to come in
free doughnuts.
DN: Much of your productions
communications rely heavily on
Internet business traffic. Have you
had any power lunches or connection
calls?
PD: I have had a couple. The fun
niest thing I have noticed about talk
ing to people in the film business is
die way you get connected. It is near
ly impossible to get a hold of them,
even harder to get a meeting with
them, but then once you are sitting
somewhere talking with them, they
end up hanging out for six or seven
hours telling you their deepest and
darkest secrets. It’s truly bizarre.
DN: What are some movies that
have influenced you, or role models?
PD: Oh God. Now you are going
to laugh. I am a big ’80’s fan, so that
kind of rubbed off on me. The top
three list would have to be “Career
Opportunities,” “Labyrinth” and
“Pump Up the Volume.”
As role models go, I would have
to give that award to Kevin Smith for
making it happen the way he did.
Without a doubt, his tenacity is
unmatched when it conies to getting
it done. I have seen pictures on the set
of “Clerks” where he even ended up
occasionally sleeping on the set. . ^
DN: Any hints as to what your
next script is about?
PD: It’s going to be another dra- . -
matic comedy with a very strong
feminist message. I want to say
something serious, but again with a
humorous twist on it, hence the title,
Please see DEL1N on 10