Oakville Councillor & Producer Jeff Knoll on ‘Coming Distractions’

Jeff Knoll is a Canadian producer of film and television/new media content, and he is Executive Producer and Showrunner for Coming Distractions. He is also a member of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and the Canadian Academy of Cinema & Television. Jeff talks to us on his idea behind coming attractions, his production exploits and his vision

indieactivity: Give a background of your personal experience with the story, writing, production and marketing?
Jeff: The idea for the story came from my almost 40 years in the cinema business. I have been working in movie theatres since I was 13, and even though I have had other careers since, I always remained involved if only on a periodic or part time basis. I started my own cinema business in 1998 and currently operate a 5 screen first run movie theatre in Oakville, Ontario, Canada where the show (Coming Distractions) was also shot. I had always wanted to do a work place tv sitcom based on the stories from working in a theatre and I was able to convince my friend, Marc Reyer Grant, to turn them into a show.

Movie Review: Mikelle Virey’s Coming Distractions by Peter Nichols

I have produced other independent content including 12 episode tween show “Kid’s Town “(Amazon Prime, Hulu, iTunes, etc.), 6 episode teen dramedy “2nd Generation” (Amazon Prime) and most recently edgy drama “Walking on Sunshine”. I went to school for film & television and worked in the business right after on industrial and advertising films for a few years and then returned to the business and worked in narrative production in 2013 after having been “bitten by the filmmaking bug” hanging out on sets with my professional actor son, David Knoll.

indieactivity: Did you start with a cast (You or any) in mind?
Jeff: No, the script was agnostic to particular actors and we found our amazing ensemble through a traditional casting process. We had worked with some of the cast before, but everyone was auditioned and brought back for chemistry tests so we could pick actors who have the exact synergy we needed to make the comedy work.

indieactivity: How long did you take to complete pre-production? (Do you have a writing process?)
Jeff: I greenlit the pilot in December 2016 and got right to work on preproduction and shot the pilot over four days February 5-8, 2017.

Coming Distractions pitches Season 1 to investors, as pilot debuts online

indieactivity: When did you form your production company – and what was the original motivation for its formation?
Jeff: We started the company in 2013 with the goal of creating both episodic and feature content for both linear and non-linear platforms. We like to provide an opportunity for emerging talent both behind and in front of the camera in our productions. The ultimate intent was to become fabulously wealthy and be able to drive a different car each day of the week, but that hasn’t worked out… I am stuck with my Ford Fusion 7 days a week.

indieactivity: What was the first project out of the gate?
Jeff: The first project was a short film called “Why Wear a Poppy”, which was really a very basic and mostly a test of my ability to get back into the business after many years and to be able to assemble and manage a team. The short has had a life of its own and gets heavily shared in social media (over 500k views in aggregate on all platforms to-date) and shown in Canadian schools leading up to Remembrance Day. The short was pretty rough, but the story was compelling and it helped me prove to myself that I was up to the task of creating more elaborate productions.

The cast of Coming Distractions: Felicia Simone, David Huband, Mathew Edmondson, Justin Mader, Torri Webster, Nathan McLeod, Sofie Holland, Marie Dame, Jeff Knoll, Berkley Silverman, David Webster

indieactivity: During production, what scene (that made the cut) was the hardest to shoot?
Jeff: I believe the scene(s) with the goose. Geese are not particularly cooperative performers. Our animal wrangler brought us three “just in case”, but I am going to take Producer privilege and say the arcade game scene was tricky too. This scene was shot at 4ish in the morning. The poor kid that played the son had been up all night (err morning) and was dead tired (but remained super professional the whole time), as were the rest of the team. Getting the reactions from the point of view we shot with was challenging especially since they were faking game play while exhausted.

indieactivity: What works better in this latest production that mightn’t have worked so well in the last one you did?
Jeff: I think the singular location made this production a dream. Last production was shot in over 10 different locations and travel, set up and logistics made everything more complicated.

indieactivity: You produced the film, what measure of input did it take to complete?
Jeff: Like all my productions, I rely on a substantial amount of collaboration from the whole team. Everyone had input as we went through pre-production process.

indieactivity: Is there anything about the independent filmmaking business you still struggle with?
Jeff: Funding is always the biggest struggle. A close second would be finding a home for your shows. I find that there is little interest in prospective licensees to give us a break or even give us the time of day. It is very hard to make money in this business as an indie producer. Even getting in on grants and funds is often not about what you know as much as it is who you know. While it is amazing that there are incredible opportunities to get your productions on VOD, SVOD and TVOD distribution platforms on a pay for play basis, the revenue share is very small and not near enough to justify the speculative production of an episodic or feature.

indieactivity: Where does your strength as a producer lie?
Jeff: I am very organized and resourceful. I have a wide range of contacts for great locations and operate in a very open and collaborative way with my whole team. I don’t mind “getting my hands dirty” and always willing to help out wherever I am needed. Most of all, I know how to have fun and make sure my sets are professional but fun.

indieactivity: Let’s talk finance, How did you finance the film?
Jeff: The pilot of Coming Distractions was self-funded but also supported by fee deferrals from our writer and director. Camera (ARRI ALEXA), audio and grip gear was borrowed from another producer I collaborate with, David Kim at DVUS Film.

indieactivity: How much did you go over budget? How did you manage it?
Jeff: We hit our budget bang on! It was easier to do this with a single episode pilot shot on one location.

indieactivity: How important is marketing? Do you think a project can make any dent without it these days?
Jeff: Marketing is everything, especially for an indie. It is hard enough to get taken seriously when you are an unknown independent with no major stars, but without any public awareness it is basically impossible. Productions I have been associated with have never left enough to market and my new mantra is to never go into production again without marketing money available and a plan in place.

indieactivity: Tell us about the marketing activities on the project – and how it’s gone for you?
Jeff: We took a unique approach to promoting our pilot and to prove audience interest by openly sharing it extensively online through YouTube, Facebook and Amazon Prime. Our whole team shared it on their social media sites, we bought social media ads on Google and Facebook and as a result we have been able to get it watched over 26,000 times to great reviews and comments. It seems everyone likes the show except the people who could license it so we can make a full season. We are currently doing festival submissions to reach into the industry and just completed a Crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo that had lukewarm results. The marketing campaign to-date has been successful in securing fans, won some awards but have not generated any funded licensing arrangements.

indieactivity: What do you hope audiences get from your film?
Jeff: As a sitcom, we hope they have a good laugh, fall in love with our quirky characters and have a great time behind the scenes, at the movies.

indieactivity: What else have you got in the works?
Jeff: We have developed a full 30 minute season as well as a 10 episode web version of Coming Distractions that can either be produced at the same time or separately depending on funding and/or licensing. We have a family feature in the pipeline as well as a family/kid friendly reality tv series as well that are being nurtured in our evil laboratory.

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