Actor/writer Heath Freeman, "Skateland"
Heath Freeman already had found a modicum of success in Hollywood, scoring several roles in television. But he quickly tired of the "L.A. Shuffle," as he put it, and wanted to make his own film with his brother Brandon and friend Anthony Burns, both of whom were filmmakers in their own right.
Their first real collaboration resulted in "Skateland," which found its way to Hollywood casting agents, who soon assembled a cast that included Shiloh Fernandez, who was one of the finalists to play Edward in "Twilight," and Ashley Greene, who actually scored a role in the tween vampire romance flicks.
His film, about East Texas youths struggling with their post-high school lives, found success at both the Sundance and South By Southwest film festivals, and is the closing-night film at the Indianapolis International Film Festival July 24.
Freeman spoke to The Yap about "Skateland," about his two co-stars who are on the verge of stardom, and making a 1980s film where most of the characters are stuck in the 70s.
The Yap: Can you tell me about the process of starting this film?
HF: Um, well, I called my brother (“Skateland” co-writer Brandon Freeman) up. We’ve kind of thrown around the idea of doing a project together, about specifically doing a film that was set in the 80s. The time period was really attractive to me. You know, I was about 6 years old in 1983 when the film takes place, but there’s something about that time period. It was very polarizing, and something I wanted to explore and Brandon wanted to explore. So I called Brandon up, and I think I had just lost a big pilot. You know, I was recast in it, and I was just sick of doing the L.A. Shuffle, so I called him and we talked. Then I called Tony (Burns, “Skateland” director and co-writer) up and just started exploring these roller rinks in East Texas. I really wanted to center the film around that, because that place was so influential to me. And we just did a lot of research on the time period, and went down to Texas and did a lot of interviews and studied a lot of old yearbooks and school newspapers and went to the library and delved through everything we could get our hands on. Through that a story kind of came about. Our life growing up in East Texas had a lot of influence on the story.
The Yap: You ended up in the role of Brent. Was that always the plan, or was it a case where someone needed to step into the role?
HF: No, that was always the plan. We kind of wrote that for me. We all collaborated on it, but there was no one else that could really play that part. The casting process is tough enough, and I developed the character, so I knew every aspect of it.
The Yap: How about setting the film in East Texas?
HF: Well, we all grew up there. We really wanted to portray the land there, because no one’s really done it before. That’s why we thought it was really important to give our love letter postcard to our growing up there.
The Yap: The press materials all talked about how East Texas is a place where culture is a few years behind.
HF: You’re talking about a time and place where there’s really not really any information coming in. MTV had just come in on the scene in 1983, which was a HUGE influence to America. In LA and New York, by the time 1983 hit it was starting to be really new wave, but the rest of America and in Texas they were still kind of stuck in the 70s, you know, with that whole sort of “Smokey and the Bandit,” classic rock, still wearing bell bottoms and long hair with mustaches. In ’83 it was pretty much a time capsule there, and to some extent it still is. They’re still a few years behind the trends. They’re just now starting to wear Ed Hardy, which you can’t even wear any more in LA. Their fashions and trends and music and everything, it tends to hit middle America later.
The Yap: Can you tell me a little about your character Brent from your point of view, and how you approached playing him?
HF: We all knew a Brent. I knew a couple of guys like Brent, where life just passed them by. He was always going to have a good time. It didn’t matter what kind of pitfalls he went through, he was always going to be the life of the party, and was someone you wanted to hang out with and be around. That was how I approached Brent. He’s a failure, basically, but he’s not really letting it affect him. He’s having to move back home with his parents and work with his dad. His aspirations were being a professional motorcycle rider, and he wasn’t good enough. With that aspect, he’s not a negative person. He’s making the most out of everything he has.
The Yap: That was one of the most interesting things about him with the motorcycle driving. You say he was kind of a failure, but he was really close, just right there, and didn’t quite make it.
HF: Yeah. He just couldn’t do it. I think that’s something a lot of people can relate to. They know someone who went off to do it, and they were really good, but man they weren’t just good enough. It either breaks you or makes you stronger. I think it made Brent stronger, and he was happy back home.
The Yap: Let’s talk a little about Shiloh Fernandez. When I was watching the movie I was thinking if they did a weird hybrid clone of Joaquin Phoenix and Emile Hirsch, the result would be Shiloh, and I mean that in the best way. He seems like he’s poised to become a star. Was that a thought you guys shared in working with him?
HF: Well, yeah, of course. Shiloh is a very talented actor, and he’s a dear, dear friend to me. He’s like a little brother. But yeah, we saw that in him, of course, that’s why we hired him. He’s actually shooting up in Vancouver right now with Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried as the lead in Catherine Hardewick’s next movie, and he was second in line to play Edward in the “Twilight” movies. It was between him and Robert Pattinson. And he’s a fresh face and all of that, but Shiloh is on his way to stardom whether he was in “Skateland” or not.
The Yap: Wow. He would have been so much better than Robert Pattinson too.
HF: (laughs)
The Yap: Well, while we’re talking about “Twilight,” let’s mention Ashley Greene real quick. Were there any “Twilight” stalkers?
HF: No, that was actually just before all of that hit. “Twilight” premiered while we were shooting. I was familiar with it because I had read all the books because I knew Ashley was in it and I wanted to see where her role was going, what they would be like, how successful this was going to be. The whole casting process was a strategy based on when they were going to hit and become successful. But during that process, Ashley and I went to the local theater to watch “Twilight” for the first time. There was kind of a smattering of teenage girls in the audience who kind of went crazy in the parking lot because they recognized her. But we were going really just before the whole “Twilight” crazy began.
The Yap: Well, let’s jump back into “Skateland.” One thing I noticed about the film is that even though it’s called “Skateland,” there wasn’t a whole lot of time spent at the rink itself. Can you talk about what the rink represented?
HF: The rink was a representation of innocence and youth. You see “Skateland” at the beginning at its height where it’s packed and everyone’s there, and they’re getting along and they’re happy, and the slow degradation of youth and innocence. And that’s kind of what happened to Shiloh’s character, Ritchie. It’s kind of in a lot of ways like “The Last Picture Show,” when people are moving on with their lives. That was a big influence on us, that film. You don’t really need to see it that much. It’s not about the location, it’s about the feeling Skateland evokes.
The Yap: Have you guys gotten distribution for the film
HF: We’re actually working on that right now. We hope to have that done in the next week or two.
The Yap: It’s a good movie, and seems like it would attract the right type of demographic to really hit. What kind of reaction have you guys gotten on the festival circuit?
HF: Yeah, we got into the dramatic competition at Sundance, which is one of 16 films, which is amazing. It was our first affirmation that we did something right when we got in there, because it’s just so competitive. We’ve done a lot of other ones. We did South by (Southwest), and we’re doing Indy (Indianapolis International Film Festival) this weekend, and we’re doing so many I can’t keep track of them any more. (laughs)
The Yap: Well what are you guys working on next? Are you still immersed in “Skateland” or are you moving on to other things?
HF: Well, yeah, I’m writing a couple of things right now, and Tony is too. We have one thing Tony and I came up with before “Skateland.” We have so many ideas we’re working on. We’re just trying to figure out which one to go with next. Tony is a pretty sought-after director now. So yeah, we have a bunch of stuff. It’s a lot of work to put one of these babies together.