Lance Weiler will screen his latest effort, the psychological thriller ‘Head Trauma,’ at the County Theater.
By: Josh Appelbaum
Director Lance Weiler says making digital features is the easy part of the filmmaking process getting them seen is a wholly different challenge.
The Doylestown, Pa., resident is touring with and introducing his new effort, Head Trauma, in 15 cities across the U.S. this month, including an engagement at the County Theater in Doylestown Sept. 19.
The follow-up to his cult mock-documentary with Stefan Avalos, The Last Broadcast (1998), Head Trauma picks up on George Walker (Vince Mola), a drifter who returns to his childhood home after 20 years to settle his grandmother’s estate. He tries to restore the condemned home and, in the process, falls and strikes his head, triggering vivid nightmares and waking visions.
The Last Broadcast gained an audience thanks to airings on the Independent Film Channel. The film will also be released on DVD Sept. 26, to coincide with Head Trauma’s DVD release.
With the avenues of alternate distribution expanding, some independent filmmakers might eschew costly theatrical runs for the lower overhead of DVD and cable releases. But Mr. Weiler, who produced The Last Broadcast for about $900, is intent on "building value" into the $120,000 production to draw audiences to the screenings at independent cinemas and personal appearances at universities and film societies.
"Over 20,000 feature films were made last year even more will be made this year," Mr. Weiler says. "What they all have in common is that they will have trouble finding an audience through traditional distribution."
The theatrical run includes screenings at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute Sept. 20 and the Ambler Theater in Ambler, Pa., Sept. 21.
Additionally, Mr. Weiler will host a Philadelphia screening with live accompaniment from bands on the film’s Dark-Side-of-Oz-like soundtrack. Like that classic of psychedelia, Cursed: The Head Trauma Music Project, is made to be played simultaneously with the film when started at a key scene. The CD features music from Park the Van Records artists Bardo Pond, Dr. Dog, The Capitol Years, Steve Garvey (of the Buzzcocks) and Awol One.
"I gave (the bands) sections of the film and asked them to interpret them with the intent of playing the CD along with the DVD," Mr. Weiler says. "There are additional story elements on the soundtrack that aren’t in the movie. It gives the audience a different way to experience the movie."
Modeling his independent release the same as a publicity firm might market a studio picture, Mr. Weiler is connecting with audiences with what he calls a "boot-strap, grass-roots" campaign. Adding yet another layer of enticement is the Head Trauma Web comic, designed by Sparkart.
But it’s more than marketing and post-production work that has made Head Trauma more visible to potential audiences, as Mr. Weiler has an important industry heavyweight in his corner: George Lucas.
The Star Wars filmmaker and Industrial Light and Magic guru lent Mr. Weiler the services of a soundstage at his Skywalker Ranch for five days. "The sound was done at Skywalker Ranch, based on the strength of the material, so they gave us five days on a soundstage, which is worth at least $300,000 to $400,000," Mr. Weiler says.
And with houses felled, cars blown up and what he says are some pretty innovative aerial crane shots, with Head Trauma, Mr. Weiler has a film that is worth a lot more than its initial monetary investment.
But in terms of an emotional investment, Head Trauma was taxing for the director. The inspiration for the film came from a head-on collision Mr. Weiler was involved in during the winter of 1994, when his car collided with a garbage truck.
"There was a black ice situation and I went around a bend and lost control of the car and had a head-on collision with the garbage truck," he recounts. "My head hit the windshield and my jaw broke the steering wheel I broke my jaw, it was wired shut. I was in intensive care for five days and when I got out I was plagued by these vivid fragmented nightmares of the accident. And then they just stopped."
But it wasn’t until after The Last Broadcast that Mr. Weiler thought to bring his traumatic experience to the screen. "In ‘Head Trauma,’ it’s all about the idea that these nightmares cross over into his reality in a very strange way," he says.
Mr. Weiler says Head Trauma hearkens to the psychological horror films of the ’70s, including those by Roman Polanski; Nicholas Roeg’s Don’t Look Nowwill introduce Head Trauma at the County Theater, 20 E. State St., Doylestown, Pa., Sept. 19, 7 p.m. For information, call (215) 345-6789. Mr. Weiler will also introduce Head Trauma at the Ambler Theater, 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, Pa., Sept. 21, 7 p.m., (215) 345-7855; and at Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, Pa., Sept. 20, 7 p.m., (610) 527-9898. Tickets for the County Theater cost $8, $6 seniors/students. Head Trauma on the Web: headtraumamovie.com. Lance Weiler on the Web: lanceweiler.com