The Reel World of Zack Parker

In September of last year, I found myself gearing up to spend 5 weeks of my life working on the set of Quench, a full length feature directed by Zack Parker. This would be my first HD production and it would push my creative and physical boundaries to new levels.

Zack was raised in the small industrial town of Richmond, Indiana. Art was not prevalent in his home outside of some painting that his mother had dabbled in, in her youth. Sometime around 7 or 8 years old his parents were going through divorce, and it was then he would discover an interest in the arts. It was a babysitter that shared this common interest and would stimulate his creative appetite. She taught him how to draw and model with clay and by the time he was 11 he would be ready for his first encounter with film. His father bought a Sony HI-8 handi cam and Zack cut his directorial teeth filming clay animation. He taught himself how to work the camera to get his desired result. When he got to middle school, he already had a few animated shorts under his wing and was enjoying the process of movie making. In school, when presented with a book report or science project, he would request to make a movie instead. His teachers were accommodating, and despite the fact that it was a considerable amount more work, it was worth it because he enjoyed the creative process.

In 1994, Zack saw Pulp Fiction and this would be a turning point in his understanding of movie content and what a director was. It was unlike anything he had ever seen and he was rather intrigued by Quentin Tarentino. The fact that he was an independent director, producing quality content without following “the formula” was inspiring. He didn’t come from money, and worked in videos stores as a kid, illuminating the concept that one could actually make a living out of this. Zack realized that his own passion could actually be a job! He respected his father and his business but had no intention of following in his footsteps. He had his own dream to live.

Despite being sheltered from movies like The Shining and The Exorcist, he was drawn to horror movies. It was thrilling to be frightened, and he would do movies with his friends just so he could do the make-up and special FX. Eventually, he found he enjoyed the making of the movie more and began to evolve to a new plateau of filmmaking. He enrolled in every art class that he could and also attended a radio and television class. Zack was able to incorporate his radio and television as his study hall and spent most of his spare time learning to edit. He found that he learned the most from watching movies as he understood the “language” of cinema. While in school, he met fellow student Brandon Owens in gym class, and a budding partnership had sprung. Brandon had actually made a real movie, a mixture of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, entitled…”Reservoir Fiction”. It had impressed Zack, “This movie had credits and everything”. For a class assignment, he was required to make a video. The other kids made 5 minute videos. He and Brandon teamed together and produced a 60 min film. When it came to the grade it was a definite A, yet they felt like it was worth much more!
The experience they had extracted from making their movie was beyond the grade.


Zack would be the first in his family to attended college. He enrolled at Ball State University under the impression that they had a film program but found it to be more of a broadcasting school than a film school. Although alumni David Letterman had put some financing into the broadcasting department, his hunger for filmmaking would not be satiated at this college. In his freshman year, he met a senior, Jen Schaffer, who was starting a student run production company. He submitted an English project as his script to be considered for production. Out of twenty or so entries, his was chosen. The script was entitled, Sanity, about a day in the life of a paranoid schizophrenic. Jen asked if he wanted to direct the film as well and Zack obligingly accepted the task.

His film would be shot over summer break so every possible minute until then would be spent gleaning all the knowledge he could on becoming a director. He started attending more movies than ever, got all the books on directing that he could, and attended an acting class to “better understand the language of actors”. His new venture required 100% of his focus. He stopped attending classes and stayed up nights on end absorbing information. It was through the editing major assigned to edit his film, that he learned “non-linear” editing and we was even given the opportunity to edit some of his own work. The film was shot in black and white and showcased to the student body with about a 50/50 approval rating. Some people just didn’t get it, and thought it was “like a foreign film”.

Some did get it, and one of those people happened to be a new teacher who was a working director in LA. He had come to Ball State to teach a new directing class and insisted Zack attend his class. He was able to pull some strings so that the second year freshman could attend his senior level directing class. Upon completion of his class, the teacher said Zack had learned all he could in the sleepy town of Richmond and needed to head west to LA. He knew he still had a few more years left to complete his degree at Ball State, so he started working on his first feature intending on shooting it there. In the meantime, Zack gathered his college savings and any monies he had and headed out west. He ended up getting a job, no pay, as a PA for Roger Corman in LA. He started by sweeping the lots, parking cars, making friends with the crew. Despite the lack of income, he was assured three meals a day on the set.

He signed up for UCLA extension classes where he took Producing classes so he could meet up and coming producers. He really had no desire to produce his own films, so it seemed the intelligent thing to do was to associate himself with tomorrows producers. He was 19 at the time while the other students, in their 30’s, were experienced professionals. This was another situation where he was attending advanced classes trying to prove himself to his peers. He pitched his idea for his feature Inexchange and found an interested party to produce his movie. He promptly returned to Indiana to start casting.

Zack had now begun the next process of manifesting his first feature. To his surprise, the investor later decided that she was not going to be able to finance his movie. He was back in Indiana, no job and no movie and he had to let everyone already cast know it wasn’t going to happen, for now. It seems, those Producing classes had more meaning in his life than just for networking. Now he had to learn how to produce his own movie. He came to the realization that “no one was going to give me a movie” “no production studio was going to beat down his door and beg him to make his film”. He would start the learning curve by producing two shorts, one was written and directed by his friend, Brandon Owens and was entitled, Liquidate. The other short, Deception…he wrote and directed, and was accepted at the Slam Dunk Film Festival, the third largest film festival to play along Sundance.

When asked how he is different from another director he retorted, “Out of every story that has been told the only thing original thing you can bring is yourself.” There are bits of him in everything he does. His inspirations are Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski and Alfred Hitchcock and believes them to be “true innovators” of film. Zack believes that his current project is always his best as he is always learning and growing. He looks at everything he has done and sees how to improve on the next project. His ultimate goal is to be able to make films with as little interference as possible. It’s not surprising to find that he is also his own business manager and has created his own business plan that he follows to the letter. In his mind you have to do what you say you are going to do.

Every time he makes a movie, he generates more contacts and new friends. This is necessary in the business of independent filmmaking. If you want to produce your own movies, and don’t have a huge pool of resources, you have to be resourceful. In this organic world of movie making, one has to inspire others that are passionate about your artistic vision. You have to know when to call in favors. The trick is working with a small budget but making it look like you have spent much more. This process will include bringing people on that are new in their fields and need experience, but there are areas you have to know where to spend the money and hire the people that can make or break your film. So where does the money come from? He puts no money up front, but finds investors that wish to see his work completed. When the film makes money, the investors make their investment back plus 5%, contract deferments are paid out, and the remaining is split 50/50 between he and the investors.

I asked him how he sees the Internet as a tool for movie making. He said that the Internet in an invaluable tool in getting your work to a much larger fan base. Myspace has been a huge networking tool which has led to 11 other countries have selling rights to Inexchange. He was unsure about whether or not he likes the concept of people downloading his movies, i.e. being more accessible and cheaper. In his mind, movies are meant to be watched in a theatre. It’s not just the size that matters, but the group energy that adds to the whole experience.

In closing, his words of advice to young filmmakers are, “Take a good look at everything that is accessible to you and go ahead and make your movie. So much is available as far as technology goes that you can’t fail if you don’t quit. If you keep trying you don’t fail.”

His second feature, entitled Quench, is premiering June 30th in Richmond, Indiana. After this it will go straight to various film festivals so it can gain a buzz before presentation to distributon companies. The film is so different than anything currently out there that it doesn’t fit in any genre and most distributors won’t know how to market it. So he will get the public interested in it first and let it create it’s own genre.
Movie stills and behind the scenes shots


QUENCH- Teaser Trailer

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((if the above cannot embed in the article, the please link to here for the trailer URL:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2032200864)) **

Zack can be found here:
talentdatabase.com
alongthetracks.com
Myspace.com


I want to thank Zack Parker for sharing his insight and experiences.Also thanks to talentspeaks.com and talentdatabase.com hosting arenas for creative expression. If you don’t know what it’s all about, here is a summary:

Talent Speaks is a web discussion that explores how advancements in electronic networking and digital technologies are quickly creating opportunities that will empower independent artists to achieve success through self promotion. As the Internet continues to evolve with far-reaching networking tools, artists now have an unrestricted ability to promote themselves to the global audience. New Media methods are creating a New System that allows artists (musicians, designers, photographers, writers, etc) to deal directly with consumers, bypassing the traditional hurdles of an outdated art and entertainment industry. As a result, scores of independent creatives will benefit both professionally and financially, to achieve success through their networking efforts and the support of their fans.

This forum serves as a sounding board for the world’s emerging talent pool and as a pilot study for a new, visionary web-based talent program called theInspirit. Once launched, theInspirit will teach the ‘art of self-promotion” and encourage creative artists to network with buyers and fans around the world. Through the use of a proprietary suite of promotional tools, the program will create immediate exposure and economic opportunity for millions of creative people around the world.

The New System (as opposed to the old) will undoubtedly rewrite how art and entertainment is produced, promoted, distributed and sold throughout the world. It will offer exposure and success to hundreds of thousands of artists instead of a privileged few. Today’s creative minds are opinionated, New Media has spurred an era of voice and choice, and talent is speaking loudly.

If you haven’t browsed around the site, do so! Sign up to be a beta tester for talentdatabase.com and get involved in the new generation of creative expression.

Namaste

barbee