There should be no political allegiances in Renegade filmmaking. As movies succeed in conservative spaces, visionaries are increasingly proving this to be true.
A great example is Paul Rowland, the director and lead actor of the award-winning film. “sample” A psychopolitical drama about Father Colin Jacobi, a 33-year-old priest who aspires to be the Fulton Sheen of millennials, with unimaginable consequences.
Part technology thriller, part philosophical think piece, Exemplum is a reminder that real cinema is no longer Hollywood's thing. Be sure to check out Vince Salerno's movie review of Align.
Late last month, I sat down with Roland to discuss Steven Spielberg's commitment to putting art over politics and writing only what he can photograph.
Alignment: Let's start with the backstory.
paul rowland: I started making films back in high school, and have continued to pursue filmmaking ever since. And I wrote seven screenplays before making this movie. And anyone who knows Hollywood knows that Hollywood is a very difficult place to get a project off the ground, no matter who you know, your talent, etc.
So when it came to this project, I wanted to create something that definitely could be made. So I said I was going to make a $9,000 to $10,000 feature film. I've been guided by some of the great independent filmmakers of the 1990s: Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, and Kevin Smith.
In many ways, Spike Lee was their forerunner with 1980's “She's Gotta Have It.” So I always looked up to these guys and thought, “Why don't I actually do what they did?” So I raised money for the film. That was in March 2020, she said, just before the pandemic hit. I literally raised the money about two weeks before the pandemic hit. And if the pandemic had happened earlier, we wouldn't have gotten the money.
Then the pandemic happened, so I spent about three months writing the script in the middle of this lockdown. I don't even know if I'll be able to shoot this in six months. It's wild. So I finished the script. thank god.
Alignment: When you found out your wife was pregnant, right?
roland: Yes, yes, I found out that my wife is pregnant.Well, there's pressure now. Really upon. I have to take this one this year, definitely. Then, in July, an upstairs neighbor broke a water pipe while renovating his unit. And it floods our bathrooms and kitchens. I have to move out for 5 months to get my condo repaired.
So we're hopping around Airbnb. My wife is pregnant. I stored the equipment at a friend's house and had to pick it up every Friday. It was very stressful because we only had a short amount of time. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do something similar again, but after my daughter was born, I edited a film throughout 2021 and got through it pretty well without basically sleeping while working a full-time job. On the festival circuit, he won the Best Director Award for Safe Distribution at the Pasadena International Film Festival. It's there now.
I think someone's worldview will always emerge. [their work]. But as long as it's art, it's about sharing what's going on inside me, what's going on in my soul, and it's important to share that with the world, and it's important to understand that political It's not a message.
Alignment: What blew my mind was that they did it for less than $10,000. How did you pull it off?
roland: Well, it's very difficult, but what I can say for sure is that when you're making a film of this level, you don't have artistic freedom. So I had to write an entire story around things that I knew were available for free or relatively cheaply.
This movie has a whole story point, and it depends on how much you shoot and whether you can shoot this or not. no. ” And I think, “I can't let go of my imagination. So I have to come up with another way to shoot this scene.'' It's practical.
So this whole story is centered around things that I know are available for free or relatively cheaply. It was necessary to limit the number of main characters to her four. Beyond that, part of it was just a matter of luck.
So the pandemic actually helped us a little bit because we got some great places for free and some that were closed. We were supposed to shoot at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Pasadena, which is a gorgeous, historic church built in the late 1800s, but it was closed, and they said, “Hey, we're going to shoot at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Pasadena.” ”
And I was able to get what I needed, just through hard work and innovation. I think for those seven weeks he was thinking 24/7 about how to solve the problem. And 10 seconds before you see me on the screen and literally shout “Action”, I'm thinking, “How are we going to get tomorrow's set?” How are we going to get people to eat? How much money do you have? How many things are going on in my head right before I start acting in a movie? ”
Spielberg often reflects on the intensity of filming “Duel” when he made it. This was one of his first films that brought him attention, and he says, “I couldn't make a movie like 'Duel' now.” I can't help it. …The level of passion and energy that was in me when I got through that shoot doesn't exist in me now. ” He personally couldn't do it.
I'm 35 years old now and I think I'm at a certain point in my life. You can't do something similar again. But it was so taxing on the soul, mind, spirit, and body that there was only one thing you could pull out of yourself.
Alignment: There are rumors that the set of “The Exorcist'' was possessed by a demon. It sounds like the opposite is true for you and that you have received extravagant blessings.
roland: Yeah, that's true. Shoots may be something like that. If you're lucky you get the shot you need, or you just don't see anything. That's your job as a coach and you have to be ready for anything. We must be ready to receive blessings. We must prepare for disasters. And we cannot leave it to one side to decide. Even if you receive blessings, don't think, “Tomorrow will be like this.'' And we can't allow a disaster to interrupt film production.
The conservative position on this is to create universal films and art that reflect the deep values that we love and hold as Americans and as Westerners, and to create characters that reflect those. , finding artists who are really interested in doing it and expressing it. Politics is secondary.
Alignment: One of the things I enjoyed most is that there is a political element, but the politics are not left versus right. Rather, “Exemplum'' is a human drama that can be described as political.
roland: Yes, well, I am an artist first and foremost, and my Catholicism, my worldview, and my philosophy speak for themselves. It doesn't matter what kind of movie I'm writing, it's always there. Even if there is no specific political intention, [element]I'm not asking you to vote a certain way, but it's just the moral, the story, you know, what it's about, it's always there.
I just wrote a movie that I'm working on right now. This work is very influenced by John Hughes. If you look at John Hughes, he was kind of a closet conservative at the time. His movie had Ben Stein in it, and Ben Stein talked about it a lot, and people thought, “Well, what was the political underpinning of this?” I was there. It was during the Reagan era, and Hughes played many characters. The movie portrayed how the suburbs are a real place. It's not this trap, it's not this scary place, it's not a place where people go to die like their souls. It's a place where people have interesting ideas, where there are real people, where there are people with real problems, and where you can find joy and peace.
That's why I think someone's worldview will always emerge. [their work]. But as long as it's art, it's about sharing what's going on inside me, what's going on in my soul, and it's important to share that with the world, and it's important to understand that political It's not a message.
Alignment: Hollywood is often so focused on political messages that their movies don't make any sense.
roland: Yeah, you know, this is a real tragedy. I mean, Hollywood has long been known to be left-leaning, but at least craft was prioritized.Many of our favorite movies have been made [by] There were people with left-wing tendencies, but technology came first. That's why they are arriving at universal truths. That's why we can all read and watch them. I mean, I think 90% of them are conservative just by the fact that it's about craft and it's about morals that we hold dear. But over the last 20 years, I think it started under Bush and really accelerated under Obama. It was now out of control and political impulses arose over the craft.
It won't work for them. No one likes movies. The right shouldn't turn that around and think, “Okay, let's make a political film from the right perspective.'' No, the conservative position on this is to create universal films and art that reflect the deep values that we love and hold as Americans and as Westerners, and to create characters that reflect that. And finding artists who really value that. And politics becomes secondary. I say that once you make your art political, that's the death of your art.
Alignment: Did you write many drafts? How did the process flow?
roland: It flowed very well. I don't like writing too many drafts of screenplays. Mainly because I think it's better to stay 10 feet away from your target when writing a script. Because I don't want to be 100 feet away.
Alignment: What's different?
roland: Well, my next project will definitely have a bigger budget than this, which is good. And more staff are expected to participate.I think one of the biggest things is that there aren't that many disappointing, Because there's not much I can do about it, but I really wish I had more time to research and plan some shots before each shoot.
Alignment: What's next?
roland: I'm currently working on a completely new project. A script has been written, a pitch deck has been created and will be released to investors soon. I'm going to keep this project a secret, but suffice it to say, it's not what you expected. You will be 100% surprised to hear that this is my next project.
