Rising Bull

Can a pair of local filmmaking upstarts make the Fox Valley come alive on the big screen?

There has been a longstanding shortage of the kind of cinematic product which we as Wisconsinites can fully embrace. Quite unlike, say the New York-based works of Woody Allen or Sidney Lumet, there has never truly been a film that feeds in detail off the essence of our humble yet hardy vicinity. Aside from awkward fare like Meet the Applegates or the ghoulish historical documentary Wisconsin Death Trip, our only major area claim to fame is, of course, the recent Hollywood invasion upon Oshkosh known as Public Enemies. But, while the jury will have to sit tight on that mammoth Michael Mann opus until its unveiling next year, there does appear to be another more immediate ray of hope on the horizon.

A blood, sweat and tears brainchild of area natives Hunter Adams and Kip Irish titled The Hungry Bull is poised and ready to stake a claim at becoming the first full fledged Wisconsin epic, replete with that special Midwestern touch. Both men shared writing and production duties and Hunter served as the picture’s director. The film is a three way character study centering on a young man, his childhood better half and a charming old drunk.

I had an opportunity to sit down with the proud duo on the cusp of the film’s public bow and pick their collective brain plates for nuggets on the steps and struggles of nurturing their baby to play date reality.

Of course, the seed has to be planted somehow.

“We made a fund raising trailer that we named Diary of the Seducer based around a singular character.” Hunter reveals. “He was this sort of Chaplin-esque guy from Lawrence University named Phred and we just basically used this trailer thing to get people interested in either helping out or putting up some dough.”

He goes on to mention a rather fluctuating scriptwriting process.

“The script was developed and changed in stages well on until about halfway through the actual shoot. It was basically an evolution that began with this one character and we kind of added layers.”

Said script also fed readily off the actors cast to flesh it all out. “We gradually found these people to fill the roles and sort of adjusted the story around them. For example, the lead actress (Naomi Strauss) was a kickboxer with a motorcycle in real life, so that helped, in part, to define her character Katherine in the film.”

The indelible value of collaboration came into play as well.

“We went into this not really knowing what we were doing.” Both Hunter and Kip emphasize. “Nobody really knew what was happening. We were kind of figuring it out as we went, and that is how we developed this rather backwards, somewhat free form way of doing things.”

Kip points out how this ultimately works in the film’s favor.

“It created an atmosphere of an open forum for creative input and the blending of ideas from everyone involved. We had an outline of what we were going for and we swayed from it everyday.”

I interject with a mention of a work-in-progress trailer I recall seeing awhile back bearing the wildly dissimilar title An End to Intimacy.

“That title just sounded to too many people like soft-core porn.” Hunter responds, adding that as the storyline changed so did the relevance of the title. “The Hungry Bull sounds ‘punchier’ and is more in line with how the film ended up.”
Details of an earlier incarnation now begin to surface. Kip pulls no punches when describing the first rough cut. “It was like watching paint dry. Excruciating.” For Hunter, it may have been the result of some “mis-inspiration.”

“I was definitely watching too many art films at the time, and that may have had a negative impact. Jim Jarmusch being a big influence in particular, and our first rough cut, the pacing was just painful. Too long, too many static shots, it just didn’t work for us. Part of the reason we went back and reshot was to add more movement and spice up the visual quality.” One seemingly positive influence cited by Hunter is the work of the great German directer Werner Herzog, best evidenced in a gentle, lyrical scene at a country bar with a charming old bartender showing his chops on an accordion.

Expanding on the subject of visuals, Kip covers my inquiry into locations – the what, where and why.

“We shot with what we knew. Hunter had certain locations in mind as he was writing. Using what we knew, we lived here are whole lives, that made it easy. We sort of have a sense of what makes this area what it is – it’s the paper factories, the dive bars, that small town feel. It’s a quality we consider our own and we love it. We wanted to give the film a piece of us. I think we can flatter this area with what we did to it’’

“There was a deliberate attempt to create almost another world.” Hunter explains referring to the mixing together of a multitude of locales and landmarks from Oshkosh to Menasha and several points in between. “Somebody we showed it to said it felt European, that old historic texture. Well, we were watching a lot of French new wave films and we were seeking that kind of timeless quality.”

The project was completed in stop-start fashion over an almost four-year stretch. The filmmakers note that during the expected labor pains that come with the process, such as balancing schedules and maintaining an at least serviceable budget flow, one of the primary factors in the project’s ultimate success was the gathering of the right group of people.

“We tried to find people who were hungry for the experience, willing to work their hearts out and give the project all they could.” Kip relates, citing students from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh film program as being a key source of aid.

Another of the major players in the production was Ross Riege, who handled the cinematography chores. Fresh out of NYC film school, Riege worked hard to both build his portfolio and grace the picture with a solid look. He has since used the experience to jump start a career in commercial and music video work in LA.

As for the three primary actors, they were largely mined from Hunter’s well of social networking. Joe O’ Donnel (who plays Phred) is a Boston native who was a roommate to Hunter when they were both studying film abroad in Paris.

“Joe is the kind of guy that, if you put him in a room something’s going to happen. He’s no wallflower and we really wanted to bring that type of energy to the role.”

Female lead Naomi Strauss (Katherine) first crossed paths with the director on a commercial shoot in Milwaukee, and then there’s Gregorio Parker.
As the lovelorn boozer Dante, Parker is easily the find of the movie. A veteran of the Appleton Papers Company where Hunter worked summers as a forklift driver, Greg would develop into a standout presence in the film. When the initial choice for the part fell through at close to the eleventh hour (or “dropped off the face of the earth” as Hunter puts it) the boys scrambled for a replacement, eventually swaying Parker. To embody a ragged alcoholic who is eternally mourning the death of his wife, Parker came equipped with a strikingly coincidental personal history.

“First we read the script.” Hunter recalls. “We started talking and it turns out that his wife had passed away just six months prior and he WAS the character, bottomed out and drinking heavily, it was an uncanny coincidence.”

At first, the prospect of projecting one’s personal demons through a cinematic doppelganger seemed daunting and it took some convincing to get Greg on board. “His brother Jon helped us talk him into it and it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.”

It turned out to be, perhaps, one of the best things to happen to the film and its makers as well. “If nothing else comes out of this, it was worth it to have an impact like that on someone.” Kip agrees that the mutual benefits are remarkable. “He’s still, to this day, able to feed off the energy of this project. This guy had never acted before, but he’s just this natural storyteller and so charismatic. Everybody just falls in love with the guy.”

And his brother Jon plays Mr. Freeze, and Mr. Freeze rules (you’ll have to watch the movie to see why).

With all the parts in place the shoot eventually reached its conclusion and the boys found themselves the task of wrangling some 75 hours of material down to the slim and trim 80-minute feature that now lives and breathes. It proved to be both intimidating and enlightening.

“This is were the art comes in.” Kip offers, returning to the shifting state of the screenplay. “We didn’t really have a solid script, so we really had to create the story at the end.”

The pair spent about a year and a half compiling multiple versions and running them by a makeshift test audience made up of family members and friends. Along the way they conceived a voice over by the Phred character to help smooth elements together as well as working the film to completion in tandem with a score generated by Dan McMahon and Charles Koltek of local superstars-in-the-making The Wandering Sons.

“One of the highlights of the film is the score. It’s very deep, even organic if you like. I think it will definitely get some attention.” Kip says. “It’s a lot of fun to edit to music as it brings a whole new dynamic to the process”

Hunter couldn’t agree more. “It’s the most fun of the filmmaking process, doing the score. It’s kind of like being in a band.”

Now that all the hands-on labor is said and done and Hunter and Kip have a bona fide moving picture to call their own, the duo has many a scheme in line in relation to getting this puppy exposed to the general public.

In addition to jockeying for placement in as many festivals as possible, they are pondering some alternative routes of distribution.

Hunter: “The market is so glutted and the studios control the majority of film distribution options, so it makes it very difficult for little guys like us. Our main goal is to get it out to as many people as we can.”

Some proposed avenues include Internet sites that either rent and/or stream indie films and a possible road show style tour to various collage campuses and taverns (in fact, Cranky Pat’s in Neenah has already expressed interest in showing the film) to help enhance a word of mouth buzz about the film. Additionally, DVD copies of the film as well as t-shirts will be available for purchase at the hungrybull.com..

At the end of the day the one thing that truly counts is that these boys fulfilled their dream and satisfied that initial moviemaking itch, and they produced an effective little piece of true Wisconsin charm they can genuinely hold their heads high over. The Hungry Bull should serve as an impetus to many a local filmmaker in waiting.

Both men agree that the first step is having the gusto to “pick up whatever camera you can afford and just do it, just go with what you know.” This credo has served these guys (known collectively as Burgoo Films) in helping them realize the first big step toward a potentially lofty film career.

So do your Wisconsin self a favor and seek this thing out. Thanks for letting me ramble yet again.

www.killpeoplenamedrichard@yahoo.com