10/20/2006

It's a fantasy come true

Local film 'Folk Lore' featured in exhibition

GARRET ELLISON

Special to the Record-Eagle

Jeff Morgan of Kingsley is the director of "Folk Lore."

What’s playing

TRAVERSE CITY — Five films from local directors will be showcased at the inaugural Indie Film Exhibition taking place next weekend at the Traverse City Opera House.

Over 2,500 tickets are available to the event, which benefits the Opera House and Interlochen Arts Academy. "We’ve got a nice cross-section of stuff," said "Folk Lore" director and exhibition co-founder Jeff Morgan. The films include:

• "Such A Normal Thing" — a documentary about the Palestinians under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, by director Rebecca Glotfelty. It plays Oct. 28 and 29 at 3 p.m.

• "The Lost Treasure of Sawtooth Island" — a family film about pirate treasure in the Great Lakes, directed by Rich Brauer. It plays Oct. 28 at 6 p.m.

• "Frozen Stupid" — a comedy about the sport of ice fishing, starring Ernest Borgnine, and directed by Rich Brauer. It plays Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.

• "Folk Lore" — A vampire fantasy tale about a paranormal detective’s journey to save his kidnapped daughter, directed by Jeff Morgan. It plays Oct. 28 and 29 at 9 p.m.

TRAVERSE CITY — Jeff Morgan stopped by Kingsley High School to drop off some promo flyers for his new movie.

Two days later, his co-producer in Marquette heard through the grapevine.

"He calls me, 'Yeah, my mom talked to so-and-so, whose kid is going to Kingsley, whose teacher was talking about it'," he laughed. "We've gotten a lot of stuff like that."

It's the buzz about "Folk Lore," which makes its world premiere next weekend at the Horizon Cinemas and in an inaugural local film exhibition at the City Opera House. The film marks Morgan's directorial debut and features locations around Traverse City, Marquette and Houghton/Hancock.

The vampire fantasy follows a paranormal investigator's journey to save his kidnapped daughter. Bound by rules like no modern weapons or means of travel, he and a mysterious female martial artist must navigate a mystic and dangerous backwater environment created through the clever use of Michigan scenery and locales.

The film is 161 minutes long and borrows heavily from legends surrounding Celtic, Druidic and Native American lore. It features the Filipino martial art of kuntaw, which Morgan characterized as "another character" in the film. Northwestern Michigan College instructors Buck Henry and Buzz Smith choreographed stunts in the film.

Morgan has not submitted the film to the MPAA for rating yet, but expects it to be "R" for violence and some non-sexual nudity.

The film has been a labor of love for Morgan, a Northern Michigan University graduate who began writing the script after returning from a stint in Hollywood.

"It's tough to work a full-time job and write," Morgan said. "You end up writing a lot of your movie in the bathroom — or at 3 in the morning."

After recruiting NMU buddy Andrew Tomlinson as co-producer, the team began scouting locations, casting actors and securing financial backing. Morgan's production ran through the summer 2005. Backdrops include the pottery studio at NMC, Ranch Rudolf, the Manistee River, the Brown Bridge Quiet Area, Black Rock Falls, Little Presque Isle and an abandoned mining facility in Calumet.

Four leads, four supporting roles and dozens of extras make up the cast, a majority of whom found roles on screen and off.

"When they weren't on camera they were behind us carrying stuff," Morgan said. "God love 'em for it."

He drew upon friends and family alike. Tobias Dawson, the art director who created the armor and swords, is a fellow NMU grad with a degree in metalsmithing. Morgan's wife, parents, grandparents, uncles, cousins — even an old football coach — make appearances on screen. Tomlinson plays four separate parts.

Stacey Griffith, a regular on stage with Old Town Playhouse, Leelanau Players and Riverside Shakespeare, has the role of "Wife." Al Lein, also a regular with OTP and Leelanau Players, is "High Druid."

The director himself has a cameo as a loincloth-clad native.

"I knew I was going to play my role from the beginning because it's a very physical role," Morgan said, laughing. "And I knew I wasn't going to get anybody else to run around barefoot in a swamp."

The editing process took about eight months, longer than intended due to issues with the score and special effects — and the arrival of Morgan's son, Alex, born Aug. 4.

"The post-production process is technically still on-going," he said. "Until we get it sold."

Morgan sought private investors for the project, a deal which allowed him the luxury of professional editing equipment, a steady-camera mount and high definition cameras. However, he gets cagey about precise budget amounts.

"If you tell people your movie is worth ten bucks, they'll give you ten bucks," Morgan said. "Officially, what we're saying is it's under a million."

After the premiere, "Folk Lore" will spend the first week of November at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, Calif., in search of a domestic and/or international distribution deal. AFM is the largest film market in the United States, predicting $800 million in movie deals out of the eight day event.

Morgan's production company, Prometheus Motion Pictures — in homage to the mythic Greek god — is represented by sales agent Darlene Cypser of Inferno Films LLC.

An entertainment lawyer, Cypser said the probability of a deal is helped by the film's unique locations and technical prowess.

"The story line is very interesting," Cypser said. "It's certainly not a takeoff on any other story I've heard."

Inferno Films focuses on low-budget productions and has 32 in its carrel. Cypser is also representing Brauer Productions' new film "Frozen Stupid," with Ernest Borgnine.

She said fantasy and science fiction are the most likely genres to ink a deal with a distributor despite a lack of recognizable actors — usually a death knell for independent films.

"People are tired of seeing Los Angeles" on screen, Cypser said.

"With all the interest over the last few years in the 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' I think people will be willing to take a chance."

That would include people like Carmike Cinemas, who are renting out the Traverse City Horizon complex for the premiere. The deal is a 60/40 split benefiting Prometheus.

"We were hoping they'd have a digital projector set up in time." Morgan said. "They didn't, so we bought one, which we're going to try and cover out of the revenue."

The film will screen in Marquette and Houghton the first two weeks of November. After that, Morgan's eye turns south.

"I'd like to see us make enough money to have a coffer for when we go to Lansing, Detroit, Chicago," he said. "And put something on TV in those markets."

Morgan said he's been into fantasy ever since picking up some books in eighth grade.

"Recently I rediscovered the original Conan series by Robert E. Howard," Morgan said, citing the author's ability to let the gritty, "visceral" paranoia in his own life shine through on the pages — a quality Morgan attempted to transfer into his movie by sending his protagonist, "Father," played by first-time actor and NMU grad Jordan Ewers, through a similar emotional and physical gauntlet.

Father starts out wearing his dress coat and a tie, "and as he slowly gets beat up, his shirt falls apart and his wounds grow and he doesn't have anything to change into," Morgan said. "So, he's just very dilapidated by the end."

Copies of "Folk Lore" will be available for sale on Nov. 4 at local retailers like Horizon Books, The Card Vault and the Fun Factory for $20. More information can be found at www.BelieveInFolkLore.com.

For showtime information, call 933-6388.