Filmmaker strives to keep people real, stay in Iowa

By Nicole Riehl / CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE / December 24, 2005

Nicole Riehl: This month, you and filmmaking partner Scott Beck won MTVu's Best Film on Campus: Trailer Competition for your film "University Heights." Your prize is a production deal with MTV Films. What movie will you make?

Bryan Woods: It'll probably be a script we've been working on for the past year, called "Coast." It's about a young married couple who are at the end of their relationship. They're dealing with that, and they get tied up into this world of a father trying to save his dying son.

NR: How'd you get started?

BW: It started in elementary school, borrowing friends' video cameras. We dressed in Batman clothes and made our own Batman movie. It was pretty lame. In sixth grade, I met Scott, and in high school, we started taking movie-making a little more seriously.

NR: What are your plots like?

BW: Our films are usually geared toward drama and suspense, but we always try to have comedy within those movies. The common theme is that they're all about people. We want to tell stories about real people.

NR: What sort of budgets have you been operating under, and how do you keep production costs low?

BW: We've been working on super low budgets, like $300. That's possible because of technology - we shoot on digital video instead of film - and because we found so many great actors in the state who are willing to work for free because they love to act.

NR: Where do you get ideas?

BW: Anywhere. Walking down a street, in a classroom, eavesdropping on a conversation.

NR: What strengths do each you and Scott have?

BW: We're almost on the exact same page. I'd say the only difference is in the writing process. Scott's more theme-oriented, trying to make sure the story's on track in terms of what it's trying to say, and I'm more audience-driven. I'm always trying to think, "Is this entertaining enough?"

NR: What filmmaking skills have you learned in school, and what's self-taught?

BW: We basically taught ourselves the technical aspects of filmmaking: camera, editing, lighting. What we've learned (in college) is how to observe people, how they interact. Those skills are extremely helpful in directing because you want to portray realistic people. A lot of learning can be done through DVDs - the special features on making of documentaries.

NR: Iowa is no filmmaking hub, but you two want to stick around. Why?

BW: The plan is to make it a state that film works in. Whether we have to move to L.A. for a couple of years to make a name for ourselves, the long-term goal is to keep making movies here and give back to the state that embraced our dreams.

Profile

- Name: Bryan Woods

- Age: 21

- Occupation: Co-founder of Bluebox Limited film production company; director, writer and producer of 13 shorts and four feature-length films

- Hometown: Bettendorf

- Education: Bettendorf High School, 2003; Scott Community College, 2005; University of Iowa junior in communication studies

- Family: Parents Dennis and Lynn Woods of Bettendorf, three brothers and one sister