LATEX the movie shot its last scene, a crowd shot, at The Brattle Theatre in Cambridge at the end of January. The bad New England winter this year has hampered some of the production with filmmaker Kevin Anderton quipping, "We have had more snow on this production than a Robert Evans show." This film, like his others, will "push the limits of good taste" according to the film's website.
As a budding comedy writer, Kevin Anderton is adding this one to his 25 other short films he completed in the past 18 months. He began the project as a way to create a reel to help him land a writer position at network television shows in New York. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he loves the art of filmmaking. LATEX, written by Anderton, David Kornfeld, and Jim Warren, is a comedy about relationships today, especially unconventional ones. "This guy basically can't get a date. Even the blow up doll he purchases refuses to have sex with him" to hilarious results, Anderton said.
He said he wants to turn [the volume] up on this latest film. "Half the fun was buying the blowup dolls," he said with sarcasm. "I went to the Amazing Store, the McDonald's of sex toys. All the boxes said the dolls were modeled after this or that porn star. I needed two, a blond and a brunette." After peeking at all 30 boxes in the store he said he discovered "they were all ugly, all had the same makeup job, they were all the same," he said laughing, "Far be it from me to expect honesty in the sex toy market." When he went to find the male doll, he had to convince the saleslady he wanted a 'simple one' not one with a detachable this or that. He said they only had two one with a cartoon face and one with a printed pasted on paper face. He said he could have put his own face on that one, but chose the "drawn on" face for maximum comic effect.
Shot on Mini-DV on a VX2000 camera with a budget of $3000, this 15-minute film includes an animated opening of local actor Hilary Badeford. Bryan Quint plays the loser who can't get a date, human or otherwise, in the film. The biggest challenge to the shoot was the weather, Anderton said, "We shot inside. The first weekend of production we had the huge snowstorm. We had the lead actor basically with us the whole time, so that wasn't a problem. The extras scene in the bar had to be postponed to weekend two. Because of the impending snowstorm the shot had to be changed to accommodate the loss of extras."
Anderton said his hope for LATEX is that people will come to see it and enjoy it. He plans to enter film festivals but knows the length makes it harder to get accepted. "You don't win awards with comedies," he said, "You want people to see your movie. I don't make these for the money. Any residuals will go to the cast and crew." Anderton said he plans to take some time off from his movie making, take a little vacation, help others make their films. He said his focus is to get everyone in Boston together and make film and video projects.
Midnight Chimes Productions, his company, is currently raising funds for his first feature FAMILY FEUD. Anderton said he is a master of stretching a dollar. "I am a big fan of Spike Lee. He never had any money and did a great job. When he finally did have money he didn't spend it. I have done over 25 films of various lengths and only gone over budget once. In PARTING SHOTS I got that done ahead of schedule and under budget by $4000. It's all about pre-production and preparation. I know filmmakers who don't use binders or lists. How do you live without a shot list or phone numbers? It's like fighting a war. The battle can be lost over such things. The script is the most important thing, and having a great crew and editor. The editor can really clean up a lot of stuff. I had key people to help. When things get bogged down, when money dried up or things went wrong, people would step up and take care of things," he said, adding he has great praise for his editor David Eells for working so quickly. LATEX is scheduled to be unveiled at a DVD release party at the end of February.
Anderton recently held an 8-hour screening of his other shorts, including a spoof on O.J. Simpson for the 10th Anniversary of his murder acquittal. It's a parody called "Celebrity Cheaters" in which "O.J." is interviewed and a hidden camera shows Nicole Brown with another man. O.J. then disappears and the rest is muddled history. Anderton said he screened the rough cut to over 300 people to good response.
LATEX is scheduled to be unveiled at a DVD release party at the end of February 2004.
For more information about LATEX, the release party, and Anderton's other films, visit the website www.midnightchimesprod.com.