Small town Rex heads North

Any Atlantan who's experienced afternoon northbound traffic knows I'm tempting the traffic gods by trying to make it to the set of the new feature film Rex, being shot primarily in North Georgia.

Director Christopher Miller looks through a viewfinder on set. (photo: Rex still)

It's day 20 of 22 and I walk around trying to put faces to names only met via email. Among the cast and crew I spot character actor Duane Whitaker, as well as fresh-faced Alan Ritchson, who you might have seen as Aquaman on television (and no, not the Entourage version, but from the longer running show, Smallville). But as for most of the crew, they're too busy to talk so I bide my time learning more about the film.

Rex is a drama set in small town Georgia and deals with a man who turns the family farm he inherits into a Meth lab in order to save it from foreclosure. Trouble comes however, when a corrupt sheriff finds out about it and steals the drugs.

The film stars Daniel Roebuck, Alan Ritchson, Duane Whitaker and Russ Commegys. It's directed by Christopher Miller, a former story-board artist taking on his first feature film and is produced by Sam Borowski and Kapil Gandhi.

The day ends, and while the crew packs up, I get a chance to sit down with the director, the producers, as well as Duane and ask them a few questions.

Director Christopher Miller:

CinemATL: How does it feel directing your first feature? Is it harder or easier than you imagined it would be?

CM: For every filmmaker, the opportunity offered in directing their first feature is the realization of a life-long dream. As far as harder or easier, it's almost what I expected. Going into a project as a director, you almost have to anticipate everything blowing up in your face - that way you are prepared for any eventuality that may arise. Bearing that in mind, there's always something not anticipated that crops up - you just have to deal with those issues as best you can, and never let anything derail your progress. In production, you're never blessed with the best luck. If you prepare for the worst, and hope for the best, you tend to have a fairly uneventful shoot as far as catastrophes.

CinemATL: How long did it take to get this project going?

CM: From concept origination, which came to me during a lunch conversation with an associate at the FBI about the number of farmers being busted for running Meth labs on their property in South Georgia, the process has taken about four years. Two and a half to get the script to a point where I was happy with it, and then another year and a half of struggling to put together the production. Having had two investors back out of the project, I was forced to put up the money myself.

We still have another several months of post to get through, and then the festival circuit. It's sure to be a wild experience to say the least.

CinemATL: The script is about Rex, a small Georgia town, how important was it for you to keep the production in Georgia?

CM: I'm a Georgia native. Born and bred. Having traveled extensively, I always seemed drawn back home to the south. There's an innate beauty in the landscape and the people who populate the region. For some time now, Georgia has been recognized as a music haven with companies such as SoSo Def, LaFace Records, and many others - the nation seemed to only get to see one dimension of Atlanta and the South. There are other aspects that I feel we've highlighted in this film: the sense of family, the devotion to community and responsibility. Although we may have taken some license with the portrayal of some of these attributes, which are imbedded within narrative of Rex, we feel that they are present and will be recognized in spite of the illicit activities present in the conflict of the film.

CinemATL: Do you have a planned completion date?

CM: We are pushing for completion sometime in August in order to meet the deadlines for many of the upcoming festivals.

Producer Sam Borowski:

CinemATL: What attracted you to the project?

SB: I had known Chris for several years before the project, and I'd like to think of him as sort of an apprentice. When he sent me the script over a year ago, that was what initially attracted me to the project. Put simply, I think it was his best work to date and I have read most of his scripts. His writing and storytelling have improved - and they were very good to start with. He also took my advice and wrote what he knew - he told a Georgia story. I was so impressed with Rex, that I thought it could become the quintessential Georgia movie for the new millennium.

Miller directs actor Russ Comegys. (Rex Still)

SB: There were a lot of challenges, but I think one of the biggest had to be dealing with different people in the crew that were inexperienced. But, as much of a challenge as it seemed, we had a very hard-working crew, from the ADs down to the Assistant DP to the PAs. They gave it their all, and I always appreciated their effort. We had several people who were working on their first major film, such as Art Director Laura Culler and 2nd AD Mike Palma. Through it all I felt like they really stepped it up.

CinemATL: Is this your first experience producing a film in Georgia? Do you have designs on returning for future projects?

SB: I have been to Georgia several times, however this was the first time I got to shoot in the Peach State. I have to say, I was very impressed with the local Atlanta film community, which is a growing, thriving group. They really work together and help each other and get involved with the (Atlanta Film) Festival. Everyone from the festival directors to local filmmakers and actors to even the good people at CinemATL, they seem to really support each other. I can see why another publication (that very few read) rated Atlanta as a top five city for independent filmmaking. And since I live in New York, that's saying something. The film community in Atlanta is certainly one of the hardest-working and passionately driven groups I have ever seen. I would absolutely welcome the opportunity to come back and shoot here again.

Producer Kapil Gandhi:

CinemATL: How did you go about putting the crew together?

KG: Through a lot of the contacts that Chris and I have made working thus far in the production industry in commercials, shorts, and music videos, we put together a list of names and broke it down into the people we knew we could count on for a feature schedule. We filled in the rest with online posts on production sites and Craigslist. We got really lucky; we were able to get an incredible crew that worked hard and pulled off a miracle, shooting the whole feature with us in 24 days!

CinemATL: Did you have a lot of local hands on the project?

KG: Yes, actually, almost all of the crew is from the greater Atlanta area. A lot were actually fresh out of college; Jason Todd Smith, our first AD and also the actor who played The Drug Boss, is from Louisiana. I am originally from Los Angeles. It was interesting to have such a vast group of heads; myself from LA, Chris from the South, and Sam from up north. It definitely brought an interesting combination of schools of thought, but it made for a great vibe on the set.

CinemATL: When did you get involved with the film?

KG: I was asked by Chris to get involved with the project in January of 2007. Chris was already far ahead of being on the ball, with almost all of his principles cast, but there was much to be done. Chris knew that I worked in the production field full time with Full Lock Media, which specializes in music videos and band DVDs, so he asked me to step on board. After the reading the script I simply couldn't refuse.

CinemATL: How was producing your first narrative feature?

KG: It was draining. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I felt comfortable getting involved, but never imagined this. You see so many images of Hollywood producers looking slick and dressing with high-end style, but I don't know how they have the time to pull it off. I'm definitely worried about my cell phone bill. It was great having Sam Borowski on board. He taught me a lot, and I feel so much more confident taking on large tasks like this with ease and comfort now.

Actor Duane Whitaker:

Duane Whitaker (right) mixes it up with Alan Ritchson. (Rex photo still)

DW: I play a crooked banker who is running a scam with the low-down dirty sheriff (played by Daniel Roebuck).

CinemATL: What film do most people recognize from?

DW: I am most recognized as the nice pawnshop owner, Maynard, in Pulp Fiction.

CinemATL: How has your experience in Georgia been in filming Rex?

DW: I loved shooting in Georgia. It was a lot of fun - [there were] very nice people. Very movie friendly.

Martin Kelley is Editor-in-Chief of CinemATL.com. He's also a local screenwriter and filmmaker who co-founded the Atlanta Screenwriters Group, one of the largest screenwriting organizations in the Southeast.