Darien Sills-Evans Director of ‘One Bedroom’ on his feature Comedy

Darien Sills-Evans has entertained audiences on stage and screen. First introduced to television audiences as “Darien Hall” in 1998 on CBS’ Cosby, he followed that series with four seasons as “Dr. Mark Fields” on NBC’s Third Watch. Mr. Sills-Evans has also been recognized for his roles as “Agent Tyrell Evans” on CBS’ Person of Interest, “Darnell Nichols” on HBO’s Treme, and in numerous national commercials.

indieactivity: Give a background of your personal experience with the story, writing, production and marketing
Darien Sills-Evans: I’ve certainly had my share of break-ups and have collected a few over the years, that’s where I started drawing the story from.

indieactivity: Did you start writing with a cast (You or any) in mind?
Darien Sills-Evans: Not really, although I did have the barbers in mind when I wrote the script, but only because I had previously worked with them all. Regarding the other cast members, they were all found through casting calls. For the most part, I do not write with actors in mind, because I like to be surprised by the way different actors interpret material.

indieactivity: How long did you take to complete the script? (Do you have a writing process?)
Darien Sills-Evans: I do have a process. Usually my first drafts are written very quickly. I think the first draft of One Bedroom was completed in under two weeks. I then spent about six to eight months rewriting and developing it with my production team.

Darien Sills-Evans, Freddy Sheffield, and Devin Nelson in One Bedroom (2017)

indieactivity: When did you form your production company – and what was the original motivation for its formation?
Darien Sills-Evans: My first production company was formed when I was seventeen-years-old. The motivation for starting the company was because I was young and brash and wanted to work. It always comes from a place of wanting to work.

indieactivity: What was the first project out of the gate?
Darien Sills-Evans: My first projects were sketches and scenes from a feature I wanted to make when I was younger, but never made. The first feature film I completed through my early production company was a feature film called X-Patriots.

indieactivity: During production, what scene (that made the cut) was the hardest to shoot?
Darien Sills-Evans: There is a scene in the film in which my character Nate is studying with a school mate and she tries to seduce him. The scene made the film, but was cut in half. Originally it was to be a complicated camera move involved with some time lapse of sorts – it was very ambitious, but didn’t work and had to go.

indieactivity: What works better in this latest production that mightn’t have worked so well in the last one you did?
Darien Sills-Evans: This film is told in a non-linear narrative. I’m not sure that would’ve worked in my last film, Rivers Wash over Me. Also, though I’m a stand-up comedian, this is the first comedy I’ve directed, so the jokes wouldn’t have worked in my previous films either.

Darien Sills-Evans and Devin Nelson in One Bedroom (2017)

indieactivity: You produced and directed the film, what measure of input did it take to don these hats?
Darien Sills-Evans: All the input. Wearing those hats gives me ALL the input. Naturally, no film is made in a vacuum and I could not and would not get anything accomplished without my amazing producer, Devin Williams and my great staff like Alex Watson-Eng (Director of Photography) and Suni Mayo-Simpson (Production Designer)

indieactivity: Is there anything about the independent filmmaking business you still struggle with?
Darien Sills-Evans: Marketing is still very tricky. It’s not an exact science and the means of effectiveness are always changing.

indieactivity: Where do you think your strengths line as a filmmaker?
Darien Sills-Evans: I’m strongest with writing dialogue and working with actors.

indieactivity: Let’s talk finance, How did you finance the film?
Darien Sills-Evans: Painfully. My producer, Devin Williams, and I had to be creative.

indieactivity: How much did you go over budget? How did you manage it?

Still from One Bedroom written-directed by Darien Sills-Evans

Darien Sills-Evans: The budget was rather small, but we didn’t go over. We managed it by being efficient and knowing exactly what we wanted.

indieactivity: How important is marketing? Do you think a project can make any dent without it these days?
Darien Sills-Evans: Marketing is extremely important, but difficult. No project is going to succeed without it, yet at the same time, you could have all of the marketing resources in the world and still have a failed project.

indieactivity: Can you tell us about your marketing activities on the project – and how it’s gone for you?
Darien Sills-Evans: We’ve done a lot of social media marketing and have asked that people give the film good word-of –mouth.

indieactivity: What do you hope audiences get from your film?
Darien Sills-Evans: We hope that everyone sees themselves or someone they know in the film. We hope they get a few laughs, but not take it too personally.

indieactivity: What else have you got in the works?
Darien Sills-Evans: I’m developing a few new film and pitching some television shows. I think we’ll be announcing the next project soon, but I’m afraid of jinxing anything, so I’ll just she the hell up now.

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