Se7en Questions with Filmmaker
Robert Chuter

Who are some of the artists or some of the works that inspired you to get started in your field? Of today’s current artists, who do you draw inspiration from?

Well, the first time I watched Barry Lyndon, I dozed off a number times. And snored, I believe. Years later, I saw it again many times, and I loved it more and more with each viewing. Sometimes art is not so easy to digest. I felt the same about Visconti’s Death in Venice originally – now I think it’s a masterpiece like Barry Lyndon. In my early years, I became drawn to directors like Elia Kazan, George Stevens, and William Wyler.

When the British director Ken Russell was in Melbourne directing the opera Madam Butterfly, I gatecrashed the stage door and invited him for spaghetti and a chat. My shout. His conversation was cathartic and has left a profound impact on me to this day. I loved his films of Women in Love, The Music Lovers, The Devils and the most underrated Savage Messiah.

When I was accepted into (the original) Swinburne Film and Television School some of my lecturers: Peter Tammer, John Flaus, and Nigel Buesst introduced me to some amazing films and their directors, ones that I was completely unaware of. It was like discovering Aladdin’s cave: so many treasures. On one particular occasion, we had two guest speakers: Paul Cox and Werner Herzog. These two presented to me a menu of European films to look it. It was like a feast, a smorgasbord I couldn’t get enough of. I fell hook, line, and sinker for Lars von Trier, Peter Greenaway, Gaspar Noe, Michael Haneke, Wim Wenders. Recently I discovered the talent of Quebecian Xavier Doolan – his films like I Killed My Mother, Tom at the Farm, Heartbeats are all exemplary.

I have also drawn inspiration from the films of American film director and screenwriter Mike Cahill and his colleague/friend, the wonderful Brit Marling. Their films – Another Earth and the excellent I, Origins – display, for me, clever enterprise, great imagination and refreshing filmmaking. I am also a dedicated fan of Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Betty Blue, Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers and currently the work of Luca Guadagnino and Francis Lee.

What have thus far been some of the negatives of being an indie artist in your field?

Raising the finance! The budget battle: rejection, pitches, proposals, funding applications and crowdfunding is never-ending and never gets any easier. It can be a real downer, but luckily I have had a lot of support from sponsors, supporters and rare private investors. There are many obstacles, too many to mention. Another difficulty is the area of distribution, online distribution – a complete maze. Development funding is hard to get. Yet without proper development, most films will continue to suffer from weak storylines, but it is a very exciting time to be a filmmaker because we have this endless possibility at our fingertips.

What have thus far been the positives of being an indie artist in your field?

Collaborating and meeting many talented people! Creative freedom with reliable and dedicated people who inspire me or challenge me – and working with some great material! I was pretty lucky last year in that I worked on some good projects as a director/producer.

I’ve also watched a lot of friends and colleagues go on to become successful directors such as Andrew Dominik, Clayton Jacobson, and Aleski Vellis, and they have made wonderful films. There’s a teeny weeny bit of jealousy there but it’s also very satisfying to see it happen to deserving, hard-working people. If I wasn’t independent, I wouldn’t appreciate that stuff as much. And let’s not forget how much fun it is, and how remarkably satisfying!

What have been your favourite completed projects to work on up to this point? Can you tell us a little bit about them?

Well, obviously my debut first feature film The Dream Children, which happened quite by accident. I directed the stage play at Melbourne’s La Mama Courthouse in January 2009. On the opening night, there was a lot of heated debate in the foyer post-show. Someone audience and critics suggested this show should be adapted for the screen and it started as a small DV camera film. Four or five months later the camera was rolling and we were off and running. The production took on its own momentum and grew and grew into a six-week shoot with a large crew, experienced cast and a substantial budget (for an independent feature) with private investors. Strangely, the film took over and I hardly remember directing it.

The funding bodies weren’t interested, of course, and we didn’t want to go through, as Patrick Hughes describes it: ‘development hell’. It took approximately five years to complete the film. Finances dried up just in time for post-production, so it took a long time to raise funds for editing, grading, sound design and music composition. Somehow, we managed to acquire enough funds for the editing and the brilliant Sash Dylan Bell came on board.

A lot was learned from this experience, his expertise enhanced the film to no end. Our test screening was horrible with mixed results. Never again will I have a test screening! Eventually, composer Andrew Bishop completed the sound design and music then finally DDP Studios assisted with the grading and fine-tuning.

With a European sales agent and distributor now in place, the film hit both the American and European Film Markets and the international film festival circuit screening in many major festivals. The Dream Children had its sold-out world premiere in March 2015 as part of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival at the Australian Centre of Moving Image.

Since then it has been distributed worldwide except for Australia! Hopscotch informed us there was no money in Australian films and weren’t interested distributing and Madman didn’t even bother to reply to any of our emails. But patience does pay off, in most cases – the film’s now on DVD, BluRay and online through Ozflix, haView, iTunes, Amazon and many others.

It was an extremely interesting journey fraught with many highs and lows but suffice it to say, our tenacity paid off. With a drained bank account and a drained spirit, my next question to myself was: “What’s next?”.

What projects are you currently working on or have planned for the near future?

I always have several projects lined up in various stages, and besides I enjoy developing a lot of projects at the same time, it keeps you inspired, busy and the depression at bay!

We have shot a pitch teaser for my next feature called The Hidden Well last year which is a portmanteau film, composed of six standalone chapters united by a stylistic framework and using the same cast in each story.

A Beautiful Request was shot late last year in and around St. Kilda. It’s about a young man who’s always been out of step with life. He is burdened by a quarter-life crisis and middle-class ennui, his only relief is found in extended binges of The Smiths and Morrissey with his only friend, famous playwright Rick. It’s based on real-life events and is adapted by my old mate, playwright Alex Broun’s acclaimed one-man play Half A Person: My Life as told by The Smiths.

The budget for this production was low, but was supported by an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign and a lot – and I mean a lot of sponsorship from various St. Kilda’s businesses and organizations. The film is currently in post and will be released in May this year.

I have just finished co-producing the independent feature film Insomnia City and am working on three other developments at the moment:

The Velvet Curtain – a bold, controversial and evocative story about a unique older woman and an affair that crosses generations.

The Girl in the White Polka Dot Dress – a dress’s journey back to the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968.

Almost – adapted from the award-winning play by Canadian writer Krista Dalby about an office romance set in the background of September 11.

Then there is a possibility of directing a screenplay tentatively entitled On the Edge written by novelist and playwright Tobsha Learner.

Where do you see yourself in a few years and what would it take for you to consider your career a success?

As to my career being a success? Yes and no. It depends on how one measures success. I was speaking to an old colleague of mine, (who has become extremely successful), who told me, “Just the fact you’re still doing it is quite amazing,” we were part of a group of  Swinburne film students who were very keen, but most are doing something else now. And best of luck to them all. I am successful in that I am still creating, still working, more successful than I was when I started. Very successful artistically and I am satisfied. So, yes.

If you couldn’t do this anymore, what career path do you think you’d follow?

Something where I can work with people, most likely community services or probably with animals (the four-legged kind). I also have a penchant for writing, arts reviewing, publicity and marketing but who knows, life has so many strange twists and turns. There is this quote: “The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.”