Aspiring filmmakers zoom in on Iowa

By Melissa Coulter / ART SCENE / February 2006

This isn’t Bluebox Limited’s first brush with fame. But it is the first time that filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have been offered a development deal with a major studio. Following Beck’s recent first-place finish in mtvU’s “Best Trailer on Campus” competition, doors seem to be opening right and left for these talented Iowans.

Juniors at the University of Iowa, the two have been making films together for ten years now, which is nearly half of their lives. Beginning with stop-motion animation as Bettendorf sixth graders, the two continued to make short and feature films through high school and into college. Under the Bluebox Limited name, four feature films and several shorts have brought the rising stars attention and acclaim.

But it was Beck’s “University Heights” that led the Bluebox boys on a path that culminates this month in a meeting with MTV film executives to pitch their latest screenplay, recently redubbed “Anniversary.” (A trailer for Wood’s film, “Her Summer,” also finished in the top five.)

Woods and Beck have a tight bond that allows them to work together creatively. “We can try anything, but we’re also able to tell each other if something sucks…You’ve got that immediate feedback system,” Woods says of their rapport. Beck feels it’s easier to formulate ideas as a tag team, helping each other through frustrating moments.

“But the worst thing is when we’re both stuck,” Beck says, which has happened a few times during the writing process for their latest project. Though authorship for previous screenplays was limited to one or the other, Woods and Beck are writing “Anniversary” as a team. “We both have an equal share in the creative process,” Beck says. “Collaborating is opening up tons of different ideas, and it’s really helping the process.”

“All of our short films we’ve done 50/50—directed, written, produced— together, and those always turn out a little bit different than the features that we do on our own,” Woods adds. “Our collaboration forms its own vision that we wouldn’t have by ourselves.”

The pair is determined to keep their vision broad. Upon entering the University of Iowa, they both opted to major in communications rather than film studies. They feel this opens them up to more experiences and viewpoints from which they can draw material for their screenplays. “I think communications has helped us just because it’s a lot about observation,” Woods says. In fact, the film “University Heights” stemmed from a philosophy class that Beck took.

Whether or not MTV decides to make “Anniversary,” Beck and Woods are committed to their art and to succeeding together. “I imagine we’ll definitely be making movies together for the rest of our lives,” Woods says. Beck dreams of a day when both are successful enough to work on their own projects as well as on Bluebox films.

Even with this first taste of the big time, these young auteurs say they have no desire to run off to Hollywood after graduation.

“We’re really rooted in the community…We write stories about what we know, and we know Iowa. We know the community and we know the state, and we love making films here now,” said Beck. “We’d love in 10 years to have Bluebox Limited still working here out of the Quad Cities.”