Director Statement
Making a film, I've come to learn, is sort of like having a child. You determine if it fits into your budget, you plan for a few months, you dive right in and start plugging away, you end up with something that is a collaborative creation, you nurture it, and when it reaches maturity it's either a great representation of yourself and makes you very proud—or it makes you want to lock it in the basement…
My wife and I went into the making of American Macho Buddha with the express desire to make this first foray something of which we would both be very proud. And at the same time, we were comfortable with the notion that since this is our first project, we should probably not bite off more than we can chew.
So I decided to follow in the footsteps of some of the great "zero" budget movie-makers: Ed Burns ("The Brothers McMullen"), Robert Rodriguez ("El Mariachi"), and Shane Carruth ("Primer"), all of whom made their feature debuts with budgets that did not exceed $20,000. After pre-production, production, and post, down to the burning of the DVD, we will also be in that category.
I picked a genre--the mocumentary--because I could limit the complexity of many scenes, which could be shot, more or less, in documentary style if I ran out of time. I also find that I love the sincerity of those films, no matter how outrageous the characters (if you’ve ever watched a Christopher Guest film you’ll know what I mean). It was that sort of fun, unsophisticated, real-life-feel story that I felt meshed best with our budget constraints.
I benefit greatly from my geography—Pittsburgh offered me an enormous number of skilled crew and talented friends and family of mine who were eager to push themselves to take on tasks that they had never before attempted. And Pennsylvania offers an incredible film tax incentive program that takes a bit of the sting out of self-financing such a venture.
Last, but certainly not least, I have an incredibly understanding wife and partner, Joan, who agreed that we should sacrifice vacations for the next few years so that instead of having a bunch of still pictures of ourselves surrounded by faraway places, we could have a bunch of moving pictures of ourselves surrounded by friends.
In October 2007, I finished the script. It’s a story that is both limited in scope and could be put together in "friends and family" fashion, with the addition of some hired technical “know-how” that Joan and I (full-time professionals with an attention-loving toddler) simply did not have the time to learn. In March of 2008 we completed our first eight days of production over one week’s time, and in May of 2008, over yet another week, we shot an additional seven days of material.
Fifteen days of filming. Super, crazy talented friends and family. Lots of my mother’s homemade rigatoni and meatballs. What a trip…
Production Notes
"AMERICAN MACHO MEMORIES"
One of the great things about working on American Macho Buddha was the opportunity to work with a talented group of people: from cast to crew, everyone was on their "A" game. The movie also gave me a chance to work with my wife Jamie, who acted in the film, playing my sister Kate, and worked behind the scenes running the slate. One of the most memorable moments of the experience for me was when I thought I broke my hand while executing the "deadly" Aluminum Palm Technique. Fortunately for me, though, Walt cast Bill Fera (a doctor) as Mitch--I was in desperate need of a 2 am house call.
Douglas Suttenfield
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