Let’s be honest, moviegoers on the whole tend to look at the concept of films, and the success of them, through the medium of large scale, big budget efforts that earn hundreds of millions and are often made for those amounts to boot.  But in the independent film genre, those budgets, studio backing, promotion, and associated resources are much less, sometimes virtually non-existent.  With available capital under $1000.00 and a crew of seven, the micro-budget effort “Forever Into Space” is another example that showcases people making film because it’s their passion, messages they want to share, and will find the means to accomplish it, on top of having to do their own marketing, Tweeting, Facebook-ing, and other advertising campaigns just to get noticed at all.  And they love doing it.  One person who knows about this is lead actress Kelly Sebastian who took the time to bring OneFilmFan.com an insightful and in depth interview about the nature of her journey so far.

One Film Fan: So, a girl starts out in SE Pennsylvania, eventually moves on to South Jersey, and ultimately ends up in NYC. Expand on that for us.

Kelly Sebastian: Yes, “sticks in the city” as I call it. I was born and raised in Reading, Pennsylvania. A town known for pretzel factories and manufacturing more so than an art scene – at least when I lived there. As a kid I was always interested in art, expression, drawing, music, painting, and … sports. I partially credit sports for giving me a passion to train, to be competitive, work with a coach, learning to lose and win – readying me for acting later in my journey. Film was always cool and interesting to me, but not necessarily something I was submerged in until I got to college.

So there I am in high school, if not practicing on the field or courts, I was in the art room painting, sketching, creating, and learning about “name artists” and their stories, where they came from, where they lived – and the pattern of New York City kept coming up. I worked at a local record store at the mall and so many of the bands I liked were from, or had spent time in NYC too. Why? I didn’t quite understand the big-city draw and NYC’s unique energy just yet, but saw it was a place that artists went and its energy started calling me.

Starting to think about college was overwhelming. I was approached by some highly competitive state sports programs with scholarships, but that wasn’t exciting to me. I wanted to make art and meet diverse people from all over the world, and have experiences to influence my art. Think pre-internet folks! I felt my choices were either join the Army and travel the world for duty or attend an Art School in New York City, the greatest of melting pots. So my mom helped me find scholarship opportunities at Art Schools here. I chose a small liberal arts school for Studio Art and Art History and next thing I knew I was carrying boxes into a YMCA on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

So years later, I’m one of those “adopted” New Yorkers. Having had so many cultured years and experiences living in this city. I like to say I “grew up” in New York City. Sure I was raised in Reading, PA, but that internal shift of realizing I actually “grew up” happened here for me. In Forever Into Space, my character Audrey also experiences that internal shift here as well. We were both young creatives drawn to this complex place with only a responsibility to try to make something of ourselves.

The New Jersey part of my story is all about fishing. All my life I have spent many hours on the salted seas of Southern NJ. I never fully moved there, but my grandparents lived in the small town of Vineland close to where my Dad docked his boat, “The Argonaut.” Every chance we got, we went fishing. I love everything about the experience. From catching summer flounder in the Delaware Bay to going offshore for days in the Atlantic to rail some tuna out in the Canyons. Fishing for me is the most beautiful balance of meditation and big, stinky, dirty fun!

O.F.F.: You attended Marymount Manhattan College, where you became interested in film (among a lot of other subjects). Prior to that, however, what mentors, influences were present that helped guide you there, if any in particular?

K.S.: Prior to living in NYC I didn’t know anyone that lived here and my choice of Marymount Manhattan College was less about alumni success stories and more about giving me access to the city. With MMC being literally one building, I’ve always thought of the city’s streets as my campus. The “name artists” that I mentioned earlier started first with Keith Haring who was from Kutztown, PA – the same County as Reading. Then I found out Andy Warhol was from Pittsburgh, PA. Both craved the energy and diversity of the city and left PA for it. A few other influences were Chuck Close, The Ramones, Beastie Boys, Luscious Jackson. At some point I read The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar – both not on my Catholic School reading list.

My family definitely had some of my first artistic influences. On my Dad’s side, my Pop Pop was a very well known, award-winning, competitive bird carver. His wood carvings appear so real that I have had people shriek at the barn owl I have in my apartment. My Nana on my Dad’s side was a watercolor painter of Pennsylvania landscapes. She was probably the first person to put a paintbrush in my hand. On my Mom’s side, my Nana was one of the best, creative cooks in a kitchen with her true Italian passion for fresh ingredients from her giant garden and old school ways of making pastas and breads from scratch. I also had a Great-Uncle named Al Campbell, who was a really wild and prolific, surrealist painter in Fredericksburg, Virginia. In high school, when he knew I was really into my painting, he once told me that he and Great Aunt Dotty drove up to NYC in the middle of the summer heat in their Studebaker to attend some big, fancy art opening for Salvador Dali in some big, fancy museum. Of course I wanted to go too!

O.F.F.: Your initial focus would appear to have been in writing and producing art films, video docs, ad work, etc. Could you expand a bit on that and how it lead to acting in front of the camera?

  

K.S.: My artist outlet turned into video art after taking a core-curriculum film history class. I became interested in the idea of film/video as art and I liked the teachers a lot so I transferred to the Communication Arts Department to take more writing, production, and video editing classes along with art history, photography, and psychology. My early avant-garde videos were inspired the video work of Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, and Nam June Paik to name a few. I had three professors in college, Dr. David Linton, Alister Sanderson, and most especially Terri Dewhirst, that really believed in the art I was producing and encouraged me to show my work publicly and outside of the school.

Immediately after graduation I started working jobs as production assistant on sets but still created my own work. I crafted “Oh The Ladies”, a documentary-styled public access television show focused on telling women’s stories that reached thousands of NYC households. We had a full first season and some of the segments screened publicly including at CBGB’s 313 Gallery and as part of Miranda July’s JOANIE4JACKIE, “traveling mixed-tape video” project. “OTL” was one of my first DIY projects and I ended up co-hosting the show. From that, I was approached to be a VJ/host of a music show for the channel MuchMusic (now Fuse.)

All this time I was also working as a video clerk at the now legendary Kim’s Video on St. Mark’s in the East Village. It was my own “film school” of the diverse voices and sub-genres of cinema. The NYC-based blog, EV Grieve posted my essay -“On the end of Kim’s” if you want to dive-deeper on my love of being a video store clerk. One afternoon at the video store a fashion stylist asked me if I could ride a skateboard (yes I could) and if I wanted to be in some photo shoot for Nylon Magazine (I didn’t see why not.) The experience was super fun and it turned out I was photographed by the talented portrait photographer Platon. He later asked me to be in another shoot, this time for an advertisement. The producer from that job introduced me to my first talent manager who started sending me out on auditions which became bookings and then more auditions and so on.

Fast forward, I studied the art of acting at The Studio where I was in the inaugural class for ACT OUT that the New York Times ran a feature story on. From that article coverage I got several auditions, including one for the pilot episode of the series Scissr – which I booked a Co-Star role in. Also from that press, I booked a voice-over gig as the brand voice on SiriusXM’s ALT NATION channel which I still do today.

New York is a hustle and you gotta do this in order to do that sometimes. During this time I was also steadfast with writing/directing/editing jobs in various formats including docs, commercials and I wrote/directed two short narrative, award-winning films. In front of the camera work helped behind the camera work and vice versa.

O.F.F.: From your current acting experiences, do you have any certain methods or routines when preparing for a role? Or is it more a “shoot from the hip” approach?

K.S.: I’ve studied with Brad Calcaterra at The Studio who is unlike any acting coach you will ever meet. He says, “The secret you’re trying to keep is the art you’re trying to create.” I have found that quote to be the strongest starting line when sketching out a character. I’ve also done improv training and love to improv with other actors that say “yes.” Writing out a thick backstory is also a mandatory exercise for me.

For “Forever Into Space” I watched films and read books that I thought Audrey would be drawn to. This gave me tools to create her way of thinking, walking, speaking, and instill a vibration in her soul that I hope shines through her eyes on screen. Her story is made up of a series of life events that are pretty universal: money problems, roommate troubles, family conflict, the survival job, that awkward moment when a friend wants to be more than a friend. For scene prep., I would also access my personal parallel experiences and influence Audrey from there.

O.F.F.: Has there been a certain character (or characters) to date you’ve enjoyed playing in particular and why?

K.S.: All of the characters I’ve played to date have given me a nice range of roles, but there are three that stand out. In “Young Stan”, I play a stressed-out, middle-class, suburban widow with a troubled son who ends up saving the day. I love playing the Mom roles – the matriarch who tries to keep her emotions buttoned up in from of her son. Hayden Oliver, who played my son, and I had a lot of fun bonding before our scenes.

In “Scissr” my character Emily is serial-dater, hipster lesbian, who excels at drinking and nightlife while living in Bushwick. It’s fun to play a character so opposite of me. Also, the show’s creator Lauren Augarten is definitely an emerging talent and has written one hell of a first season. I cannot wait for it to get into production later this year.

I also loved my role of June Kelly in the film “Pull Away”. I play one-half of a broken relationship trying to mend myself on a road trip across the American Southwest. The writer/director of this film Desmond Devenish and I disappeared for about 3 weeks with a cameraman and sound man, filmed in LA, then hit the road. I love to travel and explore. I will never forget racing to beat sunset in the middle of the desert to film a scene of me playing my guitar singing a song about my heartbreak. I got one take to nail it, same with camera and sound. We got no rehearsal before the desert went pitch black … we got it.

O.F.F.: Given the diversity of the genres of film you’ve been involved with to date, have you found any particular one you favor?

K.S.: I like being involved with all genres. I’ve acted mostly in dramas, but I tend to write comedy, horror, and psychological dramas.

O.F.F.: Ok, onto your current project, “Forever Into Space”, an independent, self-described “Zero-Budget” feature film about to hit the 2015 Festival circuit.  What drew you to this film?

K.S.: What first drew me to “Forever Into Space” was the unique script and characters that writer/director Greg W. Locke created. NYC is such a distinct place filled with so many diverse people and stories to tell and I felt Greg’s script had such true-to-life dialogue and circumstances. I wanted my first feature lead to really be a role that would affect others and start conversations. This was a chance to help make a cinematic time capsule with enough subtext and counter-culture references to encourage fellow film-snobs to re-watch again and again. And it being DIY in approach, this could inspire creatives who might feel stuck to simply just do it. I also googled Greg and watched some of his previous video work online. I saw his stand-out style and I really believed in his idea.

I became very energetic about the challenge of making a feature film in New York City shot guerilla style, with a mini-crew and zero-budget. Having to pay our way if we needed something made the experience feel so necessary. Also, with all the advances of camera and editing technology, shooting a high quality 2k film that looks and sounds great on a giant theater screen with minimal gear is now a possibility.

O.F.F.: Tell us about the lead character, Audrey Harrington, you play in it.

 

K.S.: Well, Audrey is a distinct female protagonist with qualities rarely if ever seen on screen. She’s a film blogger and her love of film culture rivals my own. She’s complicated, sarcastic, heavily submerged in creative culture, and for some – not easily likable. I wanted her to have clothing that spoke to her inner-identity. She’s a film nerd, so she wears, for instance, a dress covered in black birds, her nod to Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, or her Werner Herzog tee shirt or her “Breathless” shirt. She’s a misfit with her fashion choices like pigtails and pearls. She’s definitely not a girly girl, but not a tom-boy either.

She’s a millennial, in her “figuring it out phase.” Life, purpose, path. She’s smart, well-educated with two-writing degrees. She once believed a good education would grant her a good job. She’s defeated at times, annoyed with her family checking in on her, she doubts herself one minute then she believes in herself the next. She has anxiety that she often calms with pills, wine, weed or lame games on her cellphone.

In your 20’s you’re still naïve, so you’re brave and hungry, and oftentimes only have a responsibility to yourself during these transformative years. I think it’s fun to watch the beginning of something in a person – right before they become very defined. So you see Audrey as she’s going through this and at the very end of the film, you can probably define her.

O.F.F.: From the synopsis about the project, it really sounds like it presents not just a solid character narrative, but also showcases the realities of NYC life. How so?

K.S.: New York City is such a strong character in the film, she even got her own end title card. She is definitely my antagonist. One of the hard realities of NYC is the high rent. Rent here, for some, is a horror film – ouch! Then there’s reality of not being able to pay the rent or just scraping by and living off hotdogs and cereal. But this is the price we pay to have access to this diverse culture – “culture rich and money poor.”

In the city, you never know who you will meet or what will happen here day to day. In our film, one day Audrey and Oliver watch a wonderful weirdo street performer in the middle of crowded Battery Park. Another day, Audrey takes a trip out to Roosevelt Island with an old friend. They find themselves in a park with plenty of peace and quiet to catch up.

“The City,” in everyday life everyone talks about “The City.” I don’t even need to say New York City for you to know where I’m talking about. It’s such a strong presence that if you lived here for twenty years or twenty minutes, she’s a part of you. I’ve always said NYC is a relationship, you love her one day and you’re fighting the next. Some days the express train shows up the moment you reach the subway platform and other days it feels like the entire mass transit system is working against you. She’s a force you have to deal with.

To me, NYC is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and Greg’s cinematography really captures that beauty in the old architecture, bridges, and locations. The city’s skyline is also always changing. One World Trade Center is now built and open to the public. It’s shiny and skinny and was a half-mast work-in-progress when we filmed. Also, did you know that Central Park has had over 300 films shot in it – making it the most filmed location in the world. And yes we shot there too!! NYC is a living set in a way – so creating Audrey’s movie locations tour was so appropriate. Greg and I picked some of our favorite NYC based films to have Audrey visit; the house from “The Royal Tenenbaums”, one of subway exists seen in “The Warriors”, The Dakota building from “Rosemary’s Baby”, the legendary rock ‘n roll Chelsea Hotel shot in “Sid and Nancy” and more. Side note: Greg and I also loved shooting the Chelsea Hotel because some of our greatest creative influences have lived there: Bukowski, Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Milos Forman, R. Crumb – the list is endless. Kerouac wrote “On The Road” there. A creative hub like nothing else in the world captured in a scene with an artist drawn to see the legend in real life.

“Forever Into Space” shows a lot of New York City’s different neighborhoods. Most of our Brooklyn scenes were shot in the neighborhood of Kensington – a little pocket of Brooklyn that is just starting to get on people’s low-rent radar now. We also filmed in Coney Island, and Fort Greene. We shot a really fun montage of moments on the Staten Island Ferry with Oliver and myself. I felt like a little kid out there with him, goofing around, making a new friend, and living life in the moment. That ferry ride is one of the prettiest ways to see the city. People forget Manhattan is an island surrounded by deep blue tides, it’s not just concrete and craziness.

O.F.F.: How was it working alongside your fellow castmates like Oliver Fetter, Tyler Evan Rowe, Julianna Pitt, and Julia Kelly as well as writer/director Greg W. Locke?

K.S.: From the second I met Julia Kelly, who was up for the role of my older sister, we instinctually became “sissy-boos.” In real-life I have two older brothers, so never had that “sisters bond” that only sisters know – a way of talking that only sisters can say and understand. On set, Julia was a force. Her “anti-millennial rant” is pretty intense. I loved working with her. She was always prepared and professional.

My “city family” actors were such a great little gang to work with too. I love Oliver’s balance of clever innocence. Tyler is as wonderfully interesting to stare at as he is to work with. Julianna brought a complex vulnerability to her character that was great to bounce Audrey against within a scene. Jaz, George, Zeb, James, Eli, Ruthellen, everyone really brought their own flow to working through a scene. And though I never got to work a scene with the character Henry, I must say James Anthony Tropeano III is, as I call him, “a little bit off and a whole lot of on.” Editing the energy James brought to Henry was really fun.

Greg and I have that extra-special creative kinship. Creatively, we can finish each other’s sentences and are always encouraging each other to be better. He gave me a lot of space to color in Audrey’s lines because he trusted me with her. I’m glad to have worked with the dude.

O.F.F.: This film has already been nominated for several awards, including “Best Actress” for you. How do you, as an artist, hope to see this film impact the indie film industry?

K.S.: With any project, affecting an audience is always my first goal. Let’s stir up those emotions and make them have a reaction! I would like to see more roles for women that are complex, smart, and clever – especially lead roles. Inspiration was my biggest dream with this adventure. For someone to see “Forever Into Space” and my performance, and them to be inspired themselves to go off and DIY their own film, music, painting or ANYTHING – that is my biggest hope.

O.F.F.: What other projects are on the horizon for you going forward or that you would like to be involved in?

K.S.: This year’s horizon has Forever Into Space playing at a large amount of film festival festivals in the US and Internationally. We were just chosen as the opening feature film of the 20^th Annual New Jersey International Film Festival and will be releasing next festival dates shortly. Our big goal is a distribution deal to reach a wide, cinephile audience. I also have a few projects in development and some scripts for the buyer’s market, including one with Greg – it too is set in NYC but this time in the not too distant future.

My goal is to continue to tell unique, emotional stories. So if I’m in front of the camera or behind – I’m in! There’s a list of directors I’d love to work with but one in particular is Kelly Reichardt. Oh, and I’m always chasing my female “Serpico”.

O.F.F.: What advice would you give someone looking to get into the film industry in general?

K.S.: For starters, create work that you think has grit and do whatever it takes to make it. Write a good script, get some basic gear, gather up your guts and go out and make something. Get it out there and influence people.

There are so many tips about the turns that happen in life but the biggest piece of advice I could give is … learn to ride the rollercoaster with your HANDS UP. You have to learn to just go with the moment and be in the now. If you’re down, at some point you’re going to go up, but if you’re holding on too hard you can’t enjoy the ride.

O.F.F.: The expected last question–what is your favorite film(s) of all time and why?

K.S.: Thanks for the toughest question for a cinephile to answer–ever, Kirk! Here goes the short list–the masterful “Boyhood”, “Happy Together”, “Taxi Driver”, “Grey Gardens”, “Mother of George”, anything by (Jim) Jarmusch, Godard, Denis, the Coppolas, Aronofsky, VanSant, Cholodenko, Cronenberg, Von Trier, Carpenter’s “They Live”, and all films with Jack Nicholson or Julianne Moore.  I love Kubrick’s work, especially the skillful compositions of his films. Have you seen his black-and-white photographs from the 1940’s?

And there you have it, cinephiles!  A truly amazing story and unique perspective coming from the oft unknown and tragically unheralded world of independent film.  A special and heartfelt “Thank You!!” again to the beautiful and talented Kelly Sebastian for allowing us this look into her life and blossoming career in film!

For more about Kelly herself, check out her website as well as “Following” her on Twitter

For more about the film “Forever Into Space”, check out the film’s website as well as “Following” its Twitter, Facebook Page, and director Greg W. Locke’s website and  Twitter

Thanks for taking the time to read and until next time, keep helping to support indie film!