Mark Pirro is one of indie film's
unsung heroes. He was the guy that proved an underground
film could air on regular televison. His feature-length
"A Polish Vampire in Burbank" was shot in Super 8 for
$2,500 in 1983 and aired on the USA Network. In fact, it
made a butt-load of cash. It was a learning experience
for Pirro and the launch of the most bizarre career ever
in indie film. Pirro's Pirromount Pictures (cute, huh?)
produces exploitation movies with a welcome sense of
humor. Pirro's pics are just plain fun.
His latest feature, "Color-Blinded", was shot for
$475 dollars. $475 bucks!!!! That's less than two weeks
pay working minimum wage! Pirro's career should be an
inspiration for all those whiny filmmakers out there who
bitch about money as an excuse to not make movies. Over
several margaritas in posh Beverly Hills, Pirro took
time out of his busy schedule to speak with Film Threat.
[ WHAT GAVE YOU THE IDEA TO MAKE "COLOR-BLINDED"? ]
I knew a black gal who dated white men pretty
exclusively. She made the comment to me that sometimes
she felt that if she were white, she would be treated
differently by them. That got me to thinking that it
would be pretty interesting if a black girl were to
become white and confront the same people she was around
when she was black. How would one's life change? The
movie answers that.
[ WHAT WAS LEFT ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR? ]
Very
little. We pretty much stuck to the original script.
Occasionally I would trim a scene and lose bits of
dialogue, but for the most part, what we shot was what
we used.
[ BUDGET, SCHEDULE, STATUS? ]
The shooting budget
was literally under $500. Of course, we got favors,
locations, equipment, etc. Post production probably cost
a few thousand, but most of that was to buy various
digital editing and computer equipment which will
certainly be re-used. Later on, Iomega Corporation (Zip,
Jaz Drives) got behind it and donated a lot of stuff to
the film.
[ WHY DID YOU DO IT? ]
The same reason I did five
films before this. I'm a filmmaker and to be a
filmmaker, you have to make films.
[ WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE MAKING THE FILM? ]
This was the best filmmaking experience of my life.
It's the first time I used digital video to edit and the
control is fabulous. Once the film was shot, the entire
post production from editing, looping, foley, to special
effects, ADR, and music was done by one person. It took
awhile, but the results are superb.
[ DID YOU HAVE TO SACRIFICE ANYTHING BECAUSE OF THE
BUDGET AND THE SCALE? ]
Nothing. We shot around
people's schedules. Primarily on weekends. Because we
were such a small group, we could steal shots by going
into public places and get the footage we needed and
then get out. Of the six films I've made, this one was
definitely the smoothest (and it looks the best).
[ WHAT'S THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE FILM? ]
We
premiered it at Universal Studios on Jan 20th 1998. The
full house gave it a standing ovation. Two days later,
we took it to the Sundance Film Festival and got great
reactions there at a private screening for Iomega. It's
currently being reviewed by Casey Silver (head of
production at Universal), Ian Calderon - Sundance, 7.23
Productions, is being entered in Festivals and is being
sold via our website.
[ ANY ADVICE OR PEARLS OF BRILLIANT FILMMAKING
WISDOM? ]
Stop sending me your screenplay ideas.
[ WAS IT WORTH IT? ]
Without a doubt. I'm
currently writing my next film, "Jesus: The Revenge."
[ MARK PIRRO'S FILMOGRAPHY ]
Polish Vampire in
Burbank (1983) - $2,500 budget
Deathrow Gameshow
(1987) - $200,000 budget
Curse Of The Queerwolf
(1989) - $10,000 budget
Nudist Colony Of The Dead
(1991) - $35,000 budget
Buford's Beach Bunnies
(1992) - $300,000 budget
Color-Blinded (1998) - $475
budget
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