When a Russian filmmaker, Vitaly Verlov Moved to LA to make a film with Eric Roberts; We got Redux.

Redux is a Sci-Fi, thriller short film made by the Russian filmmaker, Vitaly Verlov. Redux is about ‘a scientist who must send a warning message through time before he is killed by an assault team.’ Vitaly is a visual effects artist, director, and writer who has braced against the odds to create a provocative work under a tight budget, with Eric Roberts and Russell Fenton starring as its main characters. Oladapo of indieactivity has compiled this behind the scenes (BTS) production account, with the permission of Vitaly Verlov.

Much of the performance in Redux was done outside Russia and in the USA, wasn’t it?
Vitaly Verlov (VV): Yes, a certain part of the production process in one way or another took place in the US, more precisely, in LA. That was a consequence of my decision to create a film with English speaking performers or actors.

Explain how you put together the crew, especially your producer, DoP, and editor?
Vitaly Verlov (VV): I remember the moment when my portable film-crew-mile-density-meter exploded right in my hands (I am just kidding). Since, Los Angeles is the center of the global entertainment or film industry, film business, and the industry has structured production and marketing processes that support it, I had to make Redux in LA, and thus give my film the LA-edge. LA presents multiple resources, both commercial and noncommercial to filmmakers: directory websites, social networks for filmmakers offer numerous services. Which, does not mean that you will find only high-quality proposals. I searched for the core cast and crew on Mandy, Hollywood Casting & Film Offices, and Backstage

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I started with a producer, line producer, cameraman, and production designer. For a producer, I wanted an organizer, someone that can manage operations and production. I wrote to four cameramen, but, somewhat surprisingly, decided to work with only one of them, Garrett O’Brien, who at the time has just finished shooting a feature-length film with Lans Henriksen taking on one of the roles. It was a little more complicated with the first producer I worked with, because after a couple of weeks, it became apparent that he was working “in keeping with the best traditions”, so I had to decline his service. But, I later found a pretty good producer through my production designer.

There were zero problems related to the visual effects on the film, I already made some pictures and selected the necessary references for the materials, light, etc. The issue was to decide whether we should build such decorations or find an appropriate location where we can get the required props. We needed a production designer to do this, so I found several contracts through the same websites. Finally, I started to work with one of them, and it was he who recommended two producers.

Editing or post-production, in particular, the montage, I could do myself. And as for the music or score for Redux, we were working with a composer from NYC.

Have you produced anything in Russia do you have a professional education?
Vitaly Verlov (VV): Yes, back in 2012, I made Forever After, a short film. Forever After was the first narrative live-action film that I made in Moscow. I have, as it is said, a technical education — computer science and software engineering. But even when I was fully engaged in programming, I tried to apply it to the visual genre: namely, video game development and the so-called demoscene. Later, I gave up on programming for good in favor of motion graphics design and visual effects which are basically storytelling tools, specifically, for cinema as a deep symbiosis of a visual genre and a narrative. So if you have a passion for both VFX and cinema, your choice becomes evident, and the evolution of such choice — from programming to cinema — becomes, I hope, a little clearer

The Official Trailer for REDUX written and directed by Vitaly Verlov

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Could you tell me about your work on the script?
Vitaly Verlov (VV): I actually had three scripts ready to go. The first turned out to be inexpensive, the second on (in the spirit of the Hunger Games, the Cube, and The Maze Runner) would be way too expensive to make, for a short. I settled for the third script, which was Redux. I wrote it quickly, it did not take much time. But that’s general with short scripts: they are written within a day, days, or maybe within a week, then they enter a loop of re-writes with minor story changes. The Redux teaser (shown above) partially shows the aesthetics of the film: it is basically a Sci-Fi film with the retro-style of the 1980s, including the story, where an individual faces a powerful corporation. So, Redux references the fiction of the 80s, which is a period when I grew up.

Can you make Redux into a feature? Are you going to do it?
Vitaly Verlov (VV): Yes, I can. The answer to this question interests agents, since short films are not commercially attractive. In the case of Redux, I do have a feature-length script, but, it’s a different story, and it still bears a close resemblance to the short film. Let me give you a peek. I am interested in how our modern world or, how the paradigm of modern civilization would change if what we believe to be fiction turned to reality. For instance, how would we think, behave, and live if we learned to control gravity? The feature-length script for Redux is about that ‘Big Idea’, and it is infused with more comedy than what I have described.

What was the budget for this short? How did you fund the short?
Vitaly Verlov (VV): The original budget for production was $5,000, but it became almost immediately clear that it was an extremely bold expectation. In other words, this amount turned out to be insufficient. From there on, I decided to optimize the final budget with the help of the producers, and we did it by searching for external sources or obtaining various discounts for equipment and location. We ruled out Crowdfunding early because we had no one on the team who could run it thoroughly.

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How did you find the equipment you required for the short?
Vitaly Verlov (VV): Earlier on when I decided to work with Garrett (DoP), we determined “What equipment we needed” and “What equipment we didn’t need”. He made a list and sent me an invoice from the rental who often uses. The email title read “Don’t Freak Out”, my reply was “WTF?”. The figure (with discounts) exceeded the budget, and later we had to settle on anamorphic lenses. The producers, further reduced costs as production progressed.

Another equal part of the budget went on production design: location, accessories, props, paint, and materials. I would like to elaborate on the places where we have found retro electronics for the production design. The first is the Apex Electronics shop where there is literally an open-air junk heap in the backyard: there are old non-operational TV sets, oscillographs, matrix printers, broken street booths, stacks of microcircuits, etc. All of it is leased for cinema use of just sold by them.

The second place is Norton Sales, Inc., right in a room they cataloged, for instance, parts of turbine engines. And it was in there I found the device you see at the very end of the Redux teaser. In fact, the details for the spacecraft’s control boards in Interstellar were also found there. Speaking of the Redux device, I wanted to build something that was unique, so I drew up several concept images and sent them to props-shops that manufacture cinema props. All these raised production costs to $25,000-$50,000. The second and simpler option was estimated at $10,000. The only option we had was to look for something appropriate among readily available industry objects, and Norton Sales provided us with the solution.

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How many days did it take for principal photography?
Vitaly Verlov (VV): Principal photography took two days on a weekend, Saturday and Sunday. The thing is, companies renting equipment do not work on Sundays, and that is why you shoot on weekends, you can pay only for Saturday, and return everything on Monday.

How did you find the actors?
Vitaly Verlov (VV): There are two main characters in Redux: Russell Bradley Fenton and Eric Roberts. The special forces or SWAT team, double-up in supporting roles, I held auditions with actors invited through Mandy, and Backstage. Hollywood Casting & Film Offices (a cool organization) provided us a room for castings and it was for free.

I always wanted a recognizable actor who for the second main character, and I recall Eric Roberts was on my small list. It so happened, later that my producer knew Eric Robert’s agent. We reached an agreement, and he came in the middle of the first day of shooting, and only for two hours, but it was enough. He gave me what I needed. He is a really fun guy because he was kidding all the time. I didn’t rehearse with Eric Roberts nor the SWAT team, but I did have two rehearsals with Russell Fenton, who played the Scientist. And I had made up my mind to work with Russell during the auditions. At rehearsals, Russell and I reviewed the script, discussed important moments together, leaving out some for his homework and spontaneity.

How did you plan to promote the film?
Vitaly Verlov (VV): I will participate in film festivals and film exhibitions, at least, in genre ones both in the US and Russia. And I am always happy to have interested producers working with me to achieve these goals. Redux will be airing on Directv’s ShortsHD channel starting June 5, 2017

Pics of short #Redux @NYFA – thanks Vitaly Verlov, Evgeniya Ulasevich, cast/crew! #feelinggrateful #nyfa #Ilovethe80s pic.twitter.com/oPnm7SeYWT

— RussellBradleyFenton (@russellbfenton) May 13, 2015

Vitaly Verlov is a filmmaker, motion graphics designer, and visual effects artist. He worked for MTV Russia and Friday! Channels. He also worked as a freelancer including in the Beijing department of the Pixomondo studio

This is Vitaly’s account of the main stages of work on Redux, collaborators, cast, and crew.

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