|
Lucia Small didn't
know it at the time, but she became a filmmaker
in 1992 when her Father, noted futuristic architect
Glen Small, asked her to write his life story.
|
Time was, a century ago, when
a person wanted to make their mark on the world, they
were given the same general advice, "Go west, young
man, go west!" There, in the unbridled land called
California, nearly anything seemed possible. While
the world certainly has changed, the idea of going
out west has never lost its sense of romance and of
opportunities to be had and money to be made. The
familiar refrain continues to have a certain resonance
even today if one wants to be a filmmaker. With films
now being independently produced all over the country,
there is still a prevailing sense that if one wants
to make movies they should get themselves out west,
to Hollywood, to the true epicenter of the movie-making
world. But for local director and LA native, Lucia
Small, the old adage about "going out west" has a
sweet irony to it. You see, Small had to leave her
California roots and journey east to Boston away from
the shadow of Hollywood before she would realize her
true calling as a filmmaker with her directorial debut,
"MY FATHER, THE GENIUS."
Small came of age in the 1970's
in what could be described as the quintessential Southern
California childhood. On Mulholland Drive she had
neighbors who were movie stars and friends whose parents
were producers. She attended a progressive school
where courses like acting for the stage and animation
were on an even par with more traditional academics.
Her mother and architect father strongly encouraged
Small and her three sisters' creativity and artistic
pursuits. While Small had a strong interest in the
fine arts and thought she might be a teacher one day,
she also loved the movies. In fact, part of her teen
years were spent working in the legendary La Reina
Theater on Ventura Boulevard. She has vivid memories
of the experience. "I remember sitting in the darkened
theater with my father...against my mother's wishes,
watching THE GODFATHER parts I and II and being completely
enthralled by what was up on the screen." So while
Small enjoyed going to the movies, she never thought
about actually working in the film business. "Of course,
it held some sort of allure for me," she says. "You'd
see the film stars come to the movie theater and there'd
be lots of excitement, but I didn't have any real
desire to be a part of that world. With Hollywood
almost in my backyard, it didn't hold any fascination
for me. There was no mystique about it. It's almost
as if it were all just too close."
|
Lucia with father,
Glenn H. Small,
in Waldport, Oregon shooting
for My Father the Genius.
|
After graduating from college,
where she majored in politics, Small was still entertaining
the idea of becoming some sort of educator. It wasn't
until a stint teaching art to children in an after
school program that Small first started thinking about
the possibility of making films. "Here I was, working
with these kids, creating art, and they were always
talking about TV and the movies." It was an eye-opening
experience. "I began to realize just how powerful
and influential the medium of film and television
could be." Always political in her beliefs, Small
started thinking about the possibilities of using
film to help educate and inform people. She was interested
in telling the stories of those individuals one normally
wouldn't hear about. Small was now giving serious
thought to becoming a documentary filmmaker, but felt
as though she had to establish herself as a journalist
first. She decided she could best learn some of those
skills through work in radio. Not an unusual choice
considering radio was a world she knew. Small had
long been an avid listener of National Public Radio
and had volunteered for several months at station
KUSP-FM in Santa Cruz. She made a decision to leave
LA and move to Boston where WBUR, one of the country's
major NPR affiliates, was located. "Why not get my
start there?" she thought.
Small was able to get an internship
at WBUR while she supported herself in various ways.
But she soon discovered that while she enjoyed many
aspects of working in radio, most notably the cutting
and splicing together of stories, she realized she
just wasn't interested in hard news. "I was finding
myself drawn more and more to the human interest stories,"
she recalls. Curious about wanting to learn other
media production techniques, Small signed herself
up to join Somerville Community Access Television
(SCAT), and became a member of the Somerville Producers
Group, one of the country's most progressive community
access organizations. Small was a quick study and
was soon producing a number of her own pieces for
broadcast on SCAT and later as a freelance producer
for Continental CableVision's Local Origination programming
department. Small was hooked. She finally realized
that all the pieces were beginning to fall into place.
This is what she had been looking for all along -
a way for her to create her own visual storytelling.
Now she was eager and determined to learn all she
could about production. She decided the best way would
be to align herself with an experienced producer.
"I started thinking about the possibility of an apprentice-type
learning experience. I wanted to learn all that I
could, completely immerse myself in the experience,
so that I could learn quickly."
Small ended up working with
local producer/director Beth Harrington on her feature
film THE BLINKING MADONNA AND OTHER MIRACLES. Small's
hard work ethic and sense of professionalism enabled
her to move up quickly and she ended up as the co-producer
for the film. Small remembers working with director
Harrington fondly. "I'm grateful for the opportunities
Beth gave me. It was better experience than I would
have gotten in film school. There I was, from the
beginning, on the set with real responsibilities,"
she says. With her now solid production skills, growing
technical expertise and warm, yet professional demeanor,
Small was fast making a positive impression in Boston's
tight-knit film community. As her lengthy resume attests,
she soon ended up working on numerous film and television
projects produced here in town. In 1996 Small was
hired by award-winning director Laurel Chiten to work
on the feature THE JEW IN THE LOTUS. "Laurel was great,"
she says, "she gave me lots of responsibility and
room to grow. I came on as an AP and was again promoted
to co-producer. I started doing more business-oriented
things so Laurel could really focus on her directing."
As with her earlier mentor, Beth Harrington, Chiten
also gave Small lots of opportunity, and encouraged
her to make her own film. Small was now ready.
|
Lucia on location
in
Wilmington, North Carolina.
|
The seeds for Small's first
film had been planted years earlier in 1992, when
her father, noted futuristic architect Glen Small,
asked her to write his life story. Initially perplexed
by such a request from a man she had been estranged
from most of her adult life, she agreed she would
tell his story, but by another means. "I decided I
wanted to make a film about his life instead." Surprisingly,
her father agrees. But Small soon realizes that the
film she wants to make will be far different from
the story her father envisions. For she decides to
examine not only her father's architecture, but also
the "architecture of his life." For Small, the two
are inseparable. For she needs to ask, how a man with
a lifelong commitment to saving the world through
architecture be so oblivious to his family? MY FATHER,
THE GENIUS is a personal film, but one that addresses
universal issues. As Small describes it, "It's the
story of a father and daughter who hardly know each
other. It is a look at what drives them apart and
may eventually bring them back together again." Making
use of both traditional and innovative documentary
storytelling techniques, Small ultimately sees the
film as a biographical journey of the generation caught
between the Baby Boomers and the Gen X-ers.
Directing the film has been
a tremendous experience for Small. "A wonderful thing
about directing is working on something you believe
in. And collaborating with other people who believe
in the film as well." Small's production team for
MY FATHER, THE GENIUS includes some of the area's
best filmmaking talent: award-winning filmmaker and
cinematographer Laurel Greenberg; acclaimed editor
Karen Schmeer; and young and enthusiastic AP Craig
Bouchard. Esteemed editor Bill Anderson is serving
as Senior Consultant to the project and the Center
for Independent Documentary together with Louise Rosen
Ltd. are serving as collaborators for the film. Small
is also grateful for the dedicated interns working
on the project.
A rough cut version of Small's
film recently screened to a capacity crowd at the
BF/VF as part of its select Rough Cut series. Small
describes the process as useful, yet emotionally challenging.
"It's one thing to be working on the film alone in
the basement with your editor, it's another thing
to actually show the film to an audience. I never
felt this vulnerable as a producer, when you are the
director, you are in the hotseat...compound that with
the fact that this is your family's story and you
can imagine the anxiety one feels." Still, Small was
pleasantly surprised by the audience response. "Hearing
them laugh, groan, and gasp, in all the right places,
was incredibly rewarding, It's what all filmmakers
hope for. I feel very lucky that the film seems to
be working."
Writer/producer
Rebecca Richards has many years experience working
in media and arts management. She initiated and co-chaired
the first Women in Film and Video/New England Image
Awards Gala in 1999 and served as Co-Chair for this
year's Image Awards 2000. She currently sits on the
WIFV/NE board after having served as the organization's
Executive Director from 1995-98. She has a Master's
Degree in Film from Boston University. She has also
served as Executive Director of StageSource, the Alliance
of Theatre Artists and Producers. Additional experience
includes Assistant Director of the New England Animation
Festival; Managing Director of the New England Producers
Association; and Publicist for Raphael Films. Prior
to pursuing a career in the arts, Richards served
as Trademark Licensing Associate for Harvard University.
Richards is in the process of developing a film based
on her script "Utrillo's Mother" about French artist
Suzanne Valadon, parts of which were presented at
the Bunting Institute in March. She is also writing
a children's picture book based on her young son's
love of jazz. She can be reached at recrich@aol.com
