Plus Commentary! just a little…

Jamin Winans from DoubleEdge films gave us an exclusive interview about their new movie INK. We really appreciate the time they put into this, but more importantly the time they take to work on their movies.

Without further Adieu!
The Basics:

1. The movie is from an original screenplay, how was it conceived?

I knew I wanted to tell a story about where dreams and nightmares come from. For me, every film comes starts from a single image and then builds from there. Ink started from an image I had when I was just a kid. I was convinced a monster, who looked similar to the witch in Snow White, was going to snatch me out of bed and take me to some other world. That image had been in my mind for about 20 years and so I started writing a script based on that idea.

2. When can we expect to see it nationwide?

Ink seems to be building an underground army right now. We’ve played it in Denver for 8 weeks, then expanded to Ft. Collins and Greeley Colorado. We just recently premiered it to over 550 people in Hollywood and in a few more weeks it will open in New York and Portland. Whether it expands from there is the question. Obviously we’re hopeful a distributor will take it out further.

3. How did Double Edge films come together?

I started Double Edge when I was 20. I created it because I needed a company to sound official in order to make our first feature 11:59. At the time I was working with a producer and good friend Joe Sekiya. Joe has since become a talent agent in LA and Kiowa, my wife, is now my primary producer.

4. What is the premise of the movie?

Ink is about the people who come out at night and give us dreams and nightmares. The story centers around a mercenary named Ink who kidnaps a little girl out of the real world and drags her into the dream world. The event sets off an all out war between the good (Storytellers) and the bad (Incubi).

5. What drove you to make this movie?

I love sci-fi/fantasy and have always gravitated toward supernatural stories. However, one doesn’t generally tackle sci-fi/fantasy on a moderate budget and no one was giving me millions to make a movie. I made the decision that there would be a guerrilla and raw way to make this movie that wouldn’t require a big budget. So Kiowa and I set a date to begin shooting and decided we would make the movie no matter what the budget. Fortunately we had some die hard supporters who helped finance it with us.

6. What genre would you say “Ink” belongs to?

Most in the business would say it’s a “hybrid genre” which is a dangerous category in the marketing world. Hollywood likes to have neatly packaged, straight forward genre films that have a guaranteed audience. So anytime you mix genres you’re running a risk. Ultimately Ink is a sci-fi/fantasy action/thriller, however it has a dramatic core and is more cerebral and challenging than a lot of the sci-fi/fantasy genre. I would say it’s sci-fi/fantasy for the viewer who likes to think.

Fun Stuff:

7. What giants’ shoulders are you standing on?

Ha! I like that. We’re in an incredible time for filmmaking. The art form is just over 100 years old and is in it’s infancy when compared to all other art forms. We’re just scratching the surface of what can be done and all filmmakers today are truly building on and riffing off of those before us. So to answer the question; every filmmaker in the last 100 years.

8. Looks like an ultimate geek movie; one a scale of 1-10 how much geekiness exudes from your skin?

I’m somewhat of a closet geek. Generally speaking I like to think I maintain a cooler demeanor around the general public, but If I’m with fellow geeks then it all comes out of me like a fire hose. Suddenly I’m talking about how the greatest tragedy of modern culture was the cancellation of Joss Whedon’s Firefly. So I don’t know, I guess you would have to be the judge. In the end, though my fellow geeks will love Ink, we’ve found the film appeals to a lot of different people. To my surprise, women of many different ilks seem to really love it.

Woot on the Firefly!

9. What can we do to get the movie in our city? Who do we pressure?

I think the best thing to do is be vocal about it. Word of mouth and buzz are all we have. Send your friends to the trailer, blog about it, post it on your Facebook. if you know people at a local theater, tell them about it. If the buzz grows enough, it will make it to more theaters and consequently to you.

Do you hear this AC Entertainment and Regal Cinemas? Which one of you is going to step up first? We want INK in Knoxville!

10. How many of you secretly believe this war happens when the rest of us sleep?…come on now be honest!

I personally believe very much that things are happening that we cannot see and I believe whole heartedly in the existence of good and evil. I also believe there is a reason for dreams. How all that works together, I don’t know. Something tells me we’ll all find out the whole truth someday.

11.Your other films won awards, your commercials were stand out. What do you like best short and dirty, or the voyage of making a feature length film?

Wow, you make us sound like such a big successes. Our bank statement says otherwise.

I love both formats. Short format is by far the most fun. It’s a much smaller time commitment and is immediately rewarding. However, I just don’t think there’s anything like a feature length film to take you to another world and really move you on another level.

12. Who are the colleagues that you would suggest we pay attention to?

My wife and producer, Kiowa is about the most talented and smartest person I know. If she wasn’t stuck working with me, she might really go somewhere. Jeff Pointer, my DP is incredibly talented and unquestionably has a bright future. And I can’t say enough about our whole cast. All are just getting started in my view. Chris Kelly is someone I’ve worked with for a few years and is one of the best actors and collaborators I’ve worked with. Quinn Hunchar, our little girl in the film has just been signed by UTA, so if she decides to keep acting I don’t see anything stopping her from being a big star. All of our principals, Jessica Duffy, Jeremy Make, Jennie Batter, Eme Ikwuakor, and Shelby Malone are wonderfully talented and have become family. I have high expectations for all of them so you should probably keep your eye on all of the above.

13. We are about the geek here. List some of your top favorite “geeked out to the brim” movies. Please.

I have two favorite films; Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys and Michael Mann’s Heat. I’m also a big fan of City of Lost Children, Dark City, Terminator and T2, The 13th Floor, Brazil, of course the original Star Wars trilogy, Toys, more recently Let The Right One In, Dark Knight, and Battlestar. The list goes on and on…

14. If given the chance, what actors or other directors would you most want to work with and why?

Directors: I would be fine if Michael Mann wanted to adopt me. I’m likely his biggest fan. Without question I would say Terry Gilliam, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Michel Gondry, Guillermo Del Toro, Spike Jonze, Danny Boyle, James Cameron, David Fincher, Darren Aronofksy, M. Night, P.T. Anderson, Barry Levinson… again the list goes on…

Actors: As far as younger actors; I’ve really been a big fan of both Bill Hader and Justin Long. They’re both doing something different. Hader is about the funniest person in the world and I would love to see him do something dramatic and quirky. As far as the greats; I would die to work with Judi Dench, but don’t feel worthy. I think Sam Rockwell is magic and Emma Thomson is just getting started.

15. Did any other films inspire you when it came to the look of “Ink” or is the film’s look organic to the material?

I’m sure the style and look have been influenced by a lot of different films. Though I think I ripped off so many different films, it became it’s own thing. Ultimately, other films act as a subliminal library for me. I start with my story and themes and then try best to figure out how to tell the story. At that point all the influences from my library pop into place. To me the most obvious influences are Dark City and 12 Monkeys.

16. How important is web releases of movies going to be in the future? Will see more and more companies large and small go to this format?

I believe the movie theater will always exist in some form simply because people will always want to go out and have a community experience. And I still believe it’s the best way to watch a movie. That said, indie films are having a very hard time getting into theaters and playing successfully so there has to be an alternate release. DVD is obviously one, but yes, I think download is the future. It’s instant, there’s virtually no overhead for the distributor, and the quality is wonderful and only getting better. It’s only a matter of a couple years before television as we know it is going to become obsolete and everything will be on demand on your computer.

Would I like to see indies all have a chance to play theatrically? You bet. Is it realistic? Probably not.

17. Finally, if we get this movie released in Knoxville, TN are you going to come out and say hi to us nice southern gentile folks?

We would love to. Tennessee is a beautiful state and Kiowa and I love to travel. However, that will all depend on our budget. We’re currently living in a shoe.

Don’t forget to look at Laura’s most excellent review of INK here

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