Tulsa -
A Tulsa-based
collective of filmmakers is using local talent as cast and crew, as well as
local settings, for a modern-day live-action adaptation of the fairy tale,
Three Little Pigs.
Gustavo
Cervantes and Doug Layne Anderson, founders of production company Pocket Full
of All Stars, describe The Brick House as a dramatic and suspense-filled,
modern, gritty re-telling of the tale.
The film's
official trailer can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=4TxkTWtFWdY.
The basic
plot surrounds pigs Jack, Curly, and Bill reuniting after their uncle's passing
and inheriting his old country home—soon becoming targets of a pack of
land-developing wolves who want the house for their own purposes.
Pocket Full
of All Stars, originally based in south Florida,
relocated to Tulsa
to produce the film because of Green Country's midwestern ambience.
Location
filming took place in Tulsa, Skiatook, Collinsville, Okmulgee,
and Owasso.
Tulsa-area
cast members include Josh New, Gallagher Goodland, and Thomas Andrew Johnson as
the pigs—as well as Brendan Hopkins, Bill Aaron Tarpenning, and Andy Woodard as
the wolves.
Josh New
previously starred in the Tulsa-area shorts Another Forest and Joshua, Send Me.
Local
talent was also used as extras, especially in Collinsville's Silver Dollar Café.
Cervantes
told KTUL.com
on Saturday that all of their crew members are from the Tulsa area.
Pre-production work began in November of 2011, when Cervantes and Anderson started planning what
resources would be needed—including casting and funding.
Cervantes
told KTUL.com
that casting was done primarily through Craigslist ads.
Cervantes
said auditions were held in Tulsa
in December of 2011.
Cervantes
and Anderson funded the production of The Brick House through the online
crowd-funding pledge site Kickstarter.com.
They
estimated $7500 would be needed to break even, but online Kickstarter backers
pledged over $10,000—the excess going right back into the production.
Filming
began this past February and was completed by the end of March.
In-house post-production
began immediately after shooting was completed in March.
The
filmmakers partnered with Toronto-based special effects and creature shop NorthFur,
which specializes in creating animal prosthetics and masks, in order to make
the live-action anthropomorphic animal characters look more realistic.
Cervantes
told KTUL.com
that they hope to show The Brick House at venues such as the Sundance Film Festival
in Park City, Utah, South by Southwest in Austin, and the
Miami International Film Festival.
Pocket
Full of All Stars will have a special advance screening of The Brick House for local Kickstarter backers
at a future date.
"This
was a movie made with a small amount of money, but it has a big money look," Cervantes
told KTUL.com
on Saturday. "We've been able to
market it and bring awareness to it through the Internet."
The
filmmakers hope to highlight the presence of northeastern Oklahoma's film communities when The Brick
House reaches broader audiences.
Ultimately,
all involved are hoping for a wide distribution deal for The Brick House.
The film's
running time is one hour, thirty-five minutes.
The Brick House was predated by a house made of straw and a house made of sticks in the original fairy tale.
Printed
versions of Three Little Pigs date back to the 1840s, but the fairy tale itself
may be older.
ABC's
parent company, Disney, adapted the fairy tale into a Silly Symphony
cartoon in 1933.
Scene from the official trailer for 'The Brick House' on YouTube
Scene from the official trailer for 'The Brick House' on YouTube
Scene from the official trailer for 'The Brick House' on YouTube
