American Golden Picture
International Film Festival
AN INTERVIEW WITH Roger Kuhns, DIRECTOR
As a filmmaker, please introduce yourself. Filmmaking is on a crescendo curve in my life.
I have a science background, and initially called upon film making to offer diverse and creative approaches to education and communication in various aspects of my life. This included making music videos, short-animated films, short audio theater skits for radio, filming dramatic and monologue performances, and educational-oriented science-based short films. About 8 years ago I made my first feature length documentary, and making feature films has become forefront in my life. I started as a writer of books and monologue scripts for performances. This led to screenwriting and the feature film projects I’m doing now, with my co-producer wife Anne Schmidt. My science background (I have a PhD in geology) brings a real-world perspective to my screenplays. I also greatly enjoy the technical side of filmmaking in terms of equipment and editing. Acting and directing have become a big part of my process, and this helps me refine the story line and imagery.
Why you became a filmmaker as director and producer?
Early on I so greatly appreciated the artform of filmmaking. The creative elements span every aspect of the human condition and of our world. Because of this creative window to storytelling, I began writing screenplays, performance monologues, books and music. Then I dove into creating music videos, and then short topical films. All of this guided me to making movies that are experiential story-driven narratives, and through them I get to work with amazing people from all ages and cultures. I just love it.
Give some more information about yourself and the films you have made so far, about your experience?
My first feature-length documentary, “ESCARPMENT”, drew upon my background in the geologic sciences and teaching combined with storytelling and theatre. It won recognition in film festivals. The experience really opened the door for me to all aspects of filmmaking: writing, directing, on-location filming, editing, writing soundtracks, animation, and production. This was followed by a feature-length performance film called “An Evening with Jens Jensen.” I wrote the script and performed it many times, and this led to a collaborative project to film it live, and it gained local recognition. And now my third film “Carbon Men Salvation: The Senator’s Dilemma”. This is my biggest project so far, involving over 25 actors, locations around the U.S., and a strong interlaced message of climate science, relationships and politics, all with a sci-fi angle through time travel and “knowing” what the future brings depending on our behaviors now. I really like to mix genres in storytelling.
What are the films or people that had impacts on you and deeply inspired you to become a filmmaker?
There are quite a few, but some standouts include the classic “Casablanca” (and the convoluted story of how it was made), and “12 Angry Men” that so perfectly delves into the personal dilemmas of wrapped within the human condition. For a pure form of storytelling, Spalding Gray’s “Swimming to Cambodia” is one of my all-time favorites – the art of storytelling, minimalism in sets, and a closeup of the human condition. Spalding Gray helped me in my early writing, for which I am forever grateful. I really love sci-fi, and quirky films like “Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension.” These kinds of films are so fun with really great characters, and often tongue-in-cheek portrayals. The harder sci-fis, like “Alien”, “Blade Runner”, and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” are solid influences for me. As for writer/directors – there are many, but right now I am very impressed with John Krasinski’s work (“A Quiet Place”) – the soundscape is gutsy (lots of silence), and the story is so very human. Brilliant.
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You have made your film "Carbon Men Salvation: The Senator's Dilemma" which got official selection in the "American Golden Picture International Film Festival".
As a filmmaker, why you decided to make it? In my “other” life, I work with young people and elected officials to work towards meaningful climate change legislation that will protect our planet and future generations. My wife (co-producer Anne W. Schmidt) and I felt that a narrative feature film built on facts was needed to convey the real-world challenges we face in bridging the gap between science and politics to bring about a better future. That is the foundation for our film, and I added time travelers (the sci-fi angle) to explore what happens in the future, depending upon our actions now.
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What were some of the challenges you faced in making this specific film?
The first challenge was on me – write an engaging screenplay. Once I had that, we then reached out to the acting community in our area and connected with some great talent. Since this is our first feature narrative film, a big challenge was not letting it get away from us. I added scenes and that added time – I learned to be more disciplined about that. I also wrote the soundtrack, which includes 11 original songs. A challenge was finding the right musicians to bring diversity and variations to the music so it could rise to support or drive a scene when we needed that energy in our soundscapes. Fun but lots and lots of work. And editing. Editing is very, very hard work, and I so respect film editors, and learned a lot by talking to them. My learning curve in this whole process was steep – but fun. Our team for this project (over 50 people) was so great, and we’ll be working on future films together.
Let us more about your experience in this film?
Our film brought together actors, musicians, students, scientists, and teachers. Many of them knew very little about the subject matter of climate change science and politics, and they became very excited about the message of the film. We also worked on real-world legislation during filming, which gave some of the team members more purpose to the film and their lives. In addition, our team was wonderful. As I edited the film, combing through the terabytes of digital video, and reviewing many takes on scenes and out-takes, I saw a joyful team. We were very fortunate our team found creative synergy and cooperative teamwork. As the writer/director I made sure I listened to all input from the cast and crew and took on some of their advice to make the film better. We practiced respect, listening, and cooperative supportive work – critical for a team’s success.
The Crew member of your film supports the story in a very effective way. What was it like to work with them? Since we are a small independent film company (my wife Anne Schmidt and I), we sought out help from up-and-coming talent. One example is our part-time camera man, Matt Johnson. He had just graduated high school and was starting classes in film production at University of Connecticut. This young man is a tech wizard, and quickly picked up operation of the Komodo Red 6k digital video camera (our main camera), and he also had some experience in filmmaking from his own short films. We also drew upon a carpenter friend, Ed Gaffney, to help with set building – and that made the Senate Office and the Climate Science Lab look great. My son, Matthew Kuhns, is a professional photographer and conducted our drone photography – so necessary for the time traveler scenes. His skill with drones really made those scenes come to life.
For you what was the biggest lesson you had to learn after making this film?
Every step can be the hardest part: What’s the script . . . then I got that done; find actors . . . then we got that done; build believable sets and find the prefect locations . . . then we achieved that; getting good sound – always a challenge . . . but we got it. And editing – the biggest lesson is to think more about the editing early on to save time later on in post-production.
What keeps you inspired to continue filmmaking?
People and the creative process. There’s nothing like bringing a story to life with our cast and crew, and the positive impact the project had on everyone. Following that – seeing an audience walk out of a theater (we had some critical audience viewing to test the film) and talking excitedly about what they saw and realize that they can make a difference in the world by what they experienced in the film.
The most important part is distributing the film. What did you do for distributing your feature film?
Right now – as of this interview – we are entering film festivals and do not have a distribution contract. That’ll come next as we hopefully have a good reception in the festivals and prepare for wider distribution. We plan to take the film to young people on college campuses and to audiences in small theaters across the country. We are still working on that.
What are your filmmaking goals?
My goals are to connect with people through storytelling, such that the visuals and soundscapes of my film find an emotional touchstone in the audience. An important goal is that the film opens up dialogue on the human issues of climate change impacts, relationships and politics so people can better connect and talk about these things.
What is your next project?
Our small independent film company (music TO ears press) has two projects underway. One is the story of a singer in NYC and his journey in later years dealing with life-decisions and how they impacted his life. The second is a sci-fi adventure involving space travel (based on some real work my son, Matthew Kuhns, and I did for NASA a number of years ago).
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Thank You and GOOD LUCK Roger
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Website:
https://rogerjameskuhns.com/movies/movies-carbonmensalvation/
IMdb:
Carbon Men Salvation: The Senator’s Dilemma
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/carbonmensalvation/
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X (Twitter):
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