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TIM RITTER: UNREEL 1) Please tell us a bit about UNREEL and it's development. A: UNREEL is what is now commonly termed a 'fictional autobiography.' I had it in mind for many years, but exactly how to write it always seemed to elude me. It's the story of an ambitious guy with no money and no connections in the movie business...who refuses to see the odds stacked against him...as he stops at nothing to live his dream of becoming a moviemaker, even if it's mostly just shooting shot on video horror flicks. Generally all of the protagonist's opinions are mine, all of the underground moviemaking stories are true...and the action/chase scenes are homages to my favorite 80's action movies...so it's a strange mixture of the truth, my viewpoints on things...and pop culture fun, in a sense. The lead character is so movie-obsessed that everything he thinks about and goes through is compared to one kind of movie or another. Very much like I see things! 2) What things inspired you to "fictionalize" the (your) story of making movies? A: I had told the old "making of" war stories so many times that I wanted to come up with a new and exciting way to present them, a fresh (and hopefully final) spin on them, if you will. Plus I wanted to go through the internal thinking that most struggling artists go through as they try to relate their obsessions to family members, spouses, and even like-minded friends. There's lots of struggles, lots of ups and downs. But some of the 'making of indie movie and video' stories had been told so many times that I had to keep it it interesting for myself to tell those stories one final time...it was almost a motivational factor! My favorite parts are actually the action scenes where I get to put my whacked-out viewpoints on everything into the mix. That was fun and cathartic. 3) What has been the most exciting thing to happen to you since publication of UNREEL? A: The feedback from other struggling independent artists has been awesome! It's great to hear from people who have experienced the same things and compare notes. It really brings all of us together and makes us stronger in some way, just knowing we're not all alone out there trying to do our thing. It's that same connection you might feel with a song that you really enjoy, that the artist is speaking directly to you. So that has been very rewarding. Sometimes it's just so hard to find like-minded people in this world, lots of people are surrounded by friends and family who just don't understand the artistic impulse or obsession, so they NEED something like UNREEL. I know as a rather obscure artist myself, I look for stuff like this! 4) With two novels now under your belt, can we expect a third? A: Probably, sometime down the road. I'm in no huge rush, though. UNREEL took so much out of me, writing it and getting it out there. It took me about six years to figure out how I was going to tell the story (bouncing back and forth with chapters that were fact and fiction, past and present) and it was exhausting going through my life...over 1,900 pages of diaries...to pick out the scenarios I thought were best suited for the story. I learned a lot about myself doing this project, some of it good, some of it not so good! (laughs) 5) What is the hardest part about writing for you? A: In addition to finding the time, I'd say being satisfied with the right words, descriptions, and phrases. I have a tendency to write something and just keep going back to it, changing it over and over and over...it never seems right! So that can slow the process down and make it frustrating. Ideally, a writer is supposed to whip through the first draft and not dwell on things like that. When you do your second draft and edit, that's where you can fix things up...but I'm sometimes obsessive-compulsive about writing something "right" or "perfect" the first time. 6) What would you like to say to your fans and potential readers? A: Thank you for the support and if you're looking for some artistic inspiration, check out UNREEL, especially if you want to make movies and are working in the video world. There's plenty of war stories and inspiration in there for you! | |||||||||||||||||||
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