Chris Chan Roberson
First of all, tell our audience who you are.
I’m Chris Chan Roberson, a filmmaker and native New Yorker. When I was a teenager, I was in a comedy troupe (ETC: Experimental Troupe Comedy) and we went from performing sketches on stage to making shorts for the internet. For college, I went to NYU Tisch for film (and actually shot on film!) and I’ve been teaching there for over twenty years. Eleanor Slaughter is my first feature film. I directed, shot, wrote, and edited the movie.
When did you start making movies? and why?
I started making movies ever since I was a young kid watching Star Trek. I loved the Trek universe and I made up stories about my own starship with its own crew. Same thing with the comic books I read: I came up with my own superheroes that lived alongside Spider-Man and Hulk and had misadventures that lasted hundreds of issues. Eventually I was able to get a camera and was able to put my ideas to film, but in my mind I’ve been making movies for as long as I’ve been watching movies and reading stories.
We would like to know a little more about this project. Could you tell us the process?
The first thing I did was make a giant laundry list of all the actors I knew and all the resources I had access to. I wrote Eleanor Slaughter knowing that it had to be producible, so I couldn’t have any scenes that took place with Tom Cruise in Antarctica. I wrote it with locations I knew I could get and wrote scenes within my budget and means.
How long did it take from the initial idea to have the finished project?
The very first shot was on January 30th, 2022 over zoom, and the last day of filming was February 7th 2023 where we filmed all of the singing scenes at the Parkside Lounge in NYC.
Is it self financed? If so, what budget did you have?
The movie is self-financed. As a professor at NYU, I was able to borrow equipment from the school for small blocks of time, which helped immensely and saved a lot of money. I also shot it like a documentary so I had a very small crew and I was able film all of an actor’s scenes within several half days of shooting. When I paid for things, I made sure it was based on cash on hand opposed to credit card debt, so the cost wouldn’t haunt me later. My budget was based on what I had saved and I worked with what locations and gear I could get for free.
Normally independent filmmakers have to take care of many things, such as locating, directing, producing and even editing or distributing. Can you tell me a little better what you did within the project?
Prince’s debut album was For You, and he sang all the parts and played all twenty-seven instruments. Dave Grohl did something similar as well with his album Pocketwatch. I shot, acted, directed, produced, and edited this film, so most of it was done by me!
Tell me one thing you like about this project and one thing you don't like.
One thing I loved was working with my friends. Quinn, a friend I’ve known since high school, did the music on the film. My dad helped compose the opening song to the movie. My daughter animated several sequences in the film. I also had friends act and make cameos and contribute photos that show up throughout Eleanor Slaughter.
One thing that I didn’t like was dealing with the different camera formats. I shot nine different cameras and keeping track of the file types as well as the amount of footage (over 1.5 terabytes of data) was very tricky and a bit of a headache. The film is a mockumentary and takes place over ten years, so I used cameras from the 2010s and they’re not as user-friendly as modern day cameras. The film has a very eclectic feel and I shot with the Blackmagic 6K, the Canon C300 Mark II, the Sony FS7, the Panasonic PX270, and the Pixel 6 to name a few.
Did you have any problems during the shoot?
Films are always riddled with problems throughout filming. Scheduling with people was always difficult, but I also had lots of unique issues like ordering costumes from Amazon only to find them stolen from my apartment lobby the day before filming. I also had an actor that couldn’t find a location and kept insisting that they were in Central Park without providing specifics on where they actually were. Weather was sometimes a factor and because I shot in 2022 COVID was still a concern.
How do you define yourself as a director?
I am a Trekkie, and I try and conduct myself as a director the way that I would as a starship Captain: provide leadership, instill confidence in others, and be inclusive in decision-making and problem-solving.
How is your methodology with actors? How do you work with them?
Similar to Clint Eastwood, I hate screaming “action!” on set. I tell the actors that the cameras are rolling and they should start and stop whenever they’re ready. I try and make sure that their opinions are heard and that they’re included in the creative process. In pre-production, I like talking about the character backstory and the symbolism in the film, but on set, I try and keep things simple: I tell my actors to speak faster or slower, louder or softer. I have them go with their gut and I remind them it’s not theatre and that ultimately their performance is constructed in the edit room. They should feel like they can try different versions and play without feeling like they need to give me a perfect take.
And now a little about your personal tastes.
When I watch a film, I either lean forward and study the editing, cinema, writing, and direction, or I lean back and enjoy the experience. For me, every movie has something valuable in it to enjoy or learn from.
Tell me your favorite directors.
My three favorite directors are Akira Kurosawa, Danny Boyle, and Martin Scorsese. I love Kurosawa because of his vision and how iconic his storytelling is. Danny Boyle I admire because of his eclectic storytelling: he’s made zombie movies, Bollywood films, and he’s directed the Olympics! Scorsese is a genius and I hope to be making films for as long as he has.
And your three favorite movies?
Rashomon, In the Mood for Love, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Rashomon is a film that still impacts movies made today, even though it was made back in 1950. It is powerful storytelling that has audiences challenge how they view characters and how they remember story elements. In the Mood for Love is a beautiful dream captured on cinema. The characters are stylized and sexy and every frame is a painting. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is audacious and bawdy and I have no idea how the writer and director came up with the ideas that they did. It embodies the idea “go big or go home.”
Do you see yourself making movies in 10 years? What is your dream? Where would you like to arrive?
I definitely see myself doing storytelling in ten years. I often wonder what a movie will look like in ten years… will we still be going to theaters? Will we be more open to watching shorter formats? Augmented reality storytelling? Will any films be shot on actual film? I hope ten years from now that my ability to tell a story can utilize contextually and appropriately whatever technology will be trending at the time.
My dream is to make anything and everything. I’d love to continue to make small, intimate films, but also be involved in Star Trek, or finally make that Forbush Man movie for Marvel.
What experience have you had with film festivals? Where do you think they should improve?
I’ve had great experiences so far with film festivals. I’ve been very active on social media, and it’s great when a festival reaches out to me and says “Hey, we saw you posting and we want to have you submit to our festival. Here’s a discount code!” I wish more people knew that you can be rewarded for being a spokesperson for yourself. In terms of festivals improving, I like that there have been changes over the years in terms of formats. Some festivals are monthly, others are specifically on-line. It seems like festivals have been meeting with the changing needs of audiences and filmmakers alike. I was surprised that there weren’t a lot of mocumentary feature categories! More sub-categories, please!