“My Brother Jack” Seeks
Actors, Financial Backers

An informal forum featuring Stephen Dest, the director of the New Haven-based independent film project ​“My Brother Jack,” and local artists Larry Morelli and Silas Finch, whose work will be featured in the film, took place at Kehler Liddell Gallery on Sunday. The forum was moderated by outgoing gallery director Sarah Fritchey, and provided an opportunity for the audience of several dozen to hear the artists talk about their creative processes and the roles their work will have in the soon-to-be-made movie.

The expressive paintings of Larry Morelli and evocative mixed-media sculptures by Silas Finch were first presented at an opening reception at the gallery on August 6, which was attended by a large and lively crowd, many of whom enjoyed a gallery after-party held at the adjacent Lyric Hall Theater. Sunday’s Artists’ Talk was preceded by a screening of the film’s trailer (below) made earlier in the year and now making promotional rounds at film festivals around the world.

Dest, who is known to many as a theatrical director and who this summer directed regional musical productions of Grease and The Music Man, explained some of the differences between theatrical and film directing: ​“In theater you hit your marks and then you’re done. In making a movie, they say, no, do it again” referring to the arduous task of doing multiple takes to get a scene just right. Dest reaffirmed his commitment to making his film in New Haven, saying it would have been easier and perhaps cheaper to have the film made in Los Angeles where his cinematographer is based, but he wanted to make the film here and to have as much New Haven flavor and talent in the film as possible. This follows a philosophical trend in the independent movie-making business according to Dest, where the industry wants cities and its people to be part of the landscape, to be ​“represented strongly.”

Audience members were inquisitive about the relationship of the visual artists to Dest and how it was that they came to be selected for the movie. ​“Larry found me” said Dest referring to his longstanding friendship with the artist whose paintings, he insisted, ​“helped me write My Brother Jack.” Sculptor Silas Finch, whose work embodies some pictorial historical references among the wonderfully aged, patinated surfaces of his found-object sculptures, came to the director’s attention in an article Dest had read a few years ago. The artist’s work seemed a perfect match for the type of artwork he had envisioned for one of the film’s characters. ​“I had to find Silas” said Dest, and through a serendipitous meeting with an acquaintance of Silas, was able to finally connect.

Among the audience members at Sunday’s forum was Lindy Lee Gold who was curious about financing and how much it would cost to make the movie. ​“There is a mini/maxi budget to consider” said Dest, explaining that the movie could be made for as little as one-hundred thousand dollars or less, but could run closer to one million dollars depending on whether an ​“A‑list” actor is brought in. Financing and final selection of a lead actor remain priority considerations as the project moves forward. Film project principals continue to communicate with potential financial backers, but are seeking short-term support in the way of donations to their campaign on kickstarter.com to help fund current production costs. With a goal of $10,000, the project gets funded through the online funding platform only if the total amount of pledges is met by October 5. Filming on the full-length feature film is slated to begin this fall and is expected to wrap within a maximum three-week window. The ​“My Brother Jack” exhibition at Kehler Liddell Gallery runs through September 4, 2011.