INTERVIEW WITH TALMAGE COOLEY
DIRECTOR OF "DIMMER"

By Rooftop Films on 02/05/2009

DIMMER (Talmage Cooley | 12:12 | Documentary)



Talmage Cooley's award-winning documentary short film presents a poignant and memorable snapshot of life within a gang of sight-impaired teenage boys who create their own world among the abandoned factories of Buffalo's rust belt.

Q&A

Rooftop Films: What was your inspiration?

Talmage Cooley: The band Interpol was looking for short film ideas they could commission to accompany the release of their album ANTICS. One of my best friends had been home to Buffalo, NY, for Thanksgiving and his cousin told him about this gang of blind teenage boys who were local legends for getting into trouble with the police. They had recently been arrested for taking turns riding a motorcycle down the street. So I sent the shortest treatment in history to Interpol. It read: "There is a gang of blind teenage boys in Buffalo, NY, who commit petty acts of criminality and teenage mayhem. We should make a film about them."

RF : Is there anything you'd like to share about the film that might not be immediately apparent (your conception of the film, backstory, production methods, etc.)?

TC: Interpol only had $1,000 to put into the production. I think they were really looking for very DIY type projects that somebody would put together on a laptop. And most of the ten films that were commissioned were like that. Some very cool stuff actually. Some animated, some collages. I wanted to do something with a bit more production value, so I called my friend Andy Spade, who likes to get involved with interesting art-oriented films, and he kicked in the money required to do the film properly. The film eventually was a finalist for the 2006 Academy Awards, which means it made it to the final 8, though it wasn't one of the four nominated films.

RF: Any interesting stories about the production? Any particular difficulties or serendipitous events or pleasant/unpleasant surprises?

TC: Projects like this seem to be all about managing the constant presence of both serendipity and disaster. Now that I've done a few films, maybe I'd say all film is like that. There are just too many variables, and complete control is pretty much impossible. The whole idea really came alive when I realized it was going to be a film not about blind teenage boys, but rather teenage boys in general -- the frustration, rebellion, adventure, hope, longing and all that. So that leads you to friendships, girls and vague conceptions about what life might hold in store for you. The shoot itself involved following the boys around Buffalo and just seeing what happened. They were breaking windows at the old train station in Buffalo one day, which is one of their favorite pastimes, when the guy who manages the property came over and after giving them a hard time. We talked and he asked if we wanted to see inside the station. He opened the door and then said just lock it behind you when you leave. Kind of hard to believe because inside that door was a massive beautiful turn of the century train station with a main hall as big as Grand Central's. We got some great stuff there. So that was serendipitous. Then on the way out they wanted to shoot a BB gun at a passing train, another pastime of theirs, when Mike got a call from his girlfriend breaking up with him. This created a new story line that in my mind really helped ground the film in what it means to be a teenager. It was like that day after day. We all felt like part of the gang and we just wandered around and did stuff.

RF: Why did you decide to shoot in black and white?

TC: It seemed obvious to me that since the boys can't see at all, the look of the film should be as minimal as possible, and definitely not in color. But not all black and black is created equal, there are lots of different ways to approach that. We found a book by a French photographer named Gilles Peress called "Telex Iran 1979", which is full of photos he sent from Tehran to Paris during the hostage crisis at the American Embassy. An incredible book actually. The photos have a slight green tint to the black and white, which gives them an exotic feel that amplifies the foreigness of the chaotic Iranian revolution Peress was shooting. We thought that direction would help support our intention that this is a very unique world the boys inhabit. Despite the very lo-fi nature of the shoot, I'm very proud of the final look of the film.

RF: How did you meet the boys?

TC: My best friend is from Buffalo, and his brother who still lives there tracked them down for us and helped us get their parents permission to shoot them. There was definitely some suspicion as to what we were up to, quite naturally. But when the film was finished and had done it's round of the festivals, we put it on iTunes and Apple gave a percentage of the revenue to the blind school that the boys went to. Everybody seems pretty happy about how it turned out.

RF: Why did you focus on Mike and Joey?

TC: Mike was kind of the ringleader and very personable, and Joey is his best friend, so that naturally led them to be the primary focus. Plus the other boys weren't available quite as much. I think the balance ended up working pretty well. For a 12 minute film, you really have to focus quickly. No meandering allowed.

RF: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to?

TC: Yes, I just finished my first feature, a satirical comedy called PATRIOTVILLE with Justin Long, Rob Corddry, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Keir O'Donnell. All about a young guy who goes to war with everyone in his bankrupt hometown over a plot to sell the town to an Indian casino. Should be released later this year.

RF: What is your current/next project?

TC: I'm writing a feature called GENIUS FACTORY, about a guy who discovers he is actually the product of a sperm bank stocked with the seed of Nobel Prize winners, and he sets out in search of his genius father. Based on true events, but very much a fictional drama/comedy.

RF: If you've been to a Rooftop show, how was the experience?

TC: I was in California when DIMMER screened at Rooftop, but I've been to other Rooftop screenings and I love them. That's my neighborhood in NYC and it seems a great way to integrate watching films into the city environment. Doesn't get any better. Watching films outside in such a magical place.