My First Interview

This is one of my least favorite interview articles they ever did on me, but it is a nice Blast from the Past:

Posted Apr 24, 2002, 08:00 PM EDT

SUDBURY - Jeremy Jed Hammel is the first to admit he has a big ego.

"I like to be the big cheese," he says.

But in his directorial debut for his 45-minute short film, "all that is not," the Sudbury resident's proudest moment came when he cast his ego aside and let someone else briefly hold the reins.

"We came to this one scene. It was supposed to be the pivotal point of the story," he recalled. "We did it a couple of times with a couple of takes and it was not working. This was supposed to be my moment where I could show people I was a director to be reckoned with."

While Hammel concentrated on figuring out why the scene wasn't working, much to his surprise the answer came in the form of a young production assistant.

"Out of the blue this 21-year-old kid stepped in and said this is what we're going to do. On any other production this is a way to get fired or at least be told to shut up, but I just stepped back and let him do it. He was having a moment and it allowed me to step back. It was my greatest achievement just letting him do it," said the 28-year-old Ithaca College graduate.

By taking his own advice - "The second you think you have everything figured out is the second you don't" - Hammel not only lived up to the name of his project, Team Hammel, he also saved the scene.

"I told my crew that the name of my company is Team Hammel. I really wanted it to be a team," he said.

Longing to break into the film industry, Hammel threw himself into it full-throttle. He wrote and directed "all that is not" in the fall and early winter of 2000 and edited the project from March through September in 2001. The film debuted in Los Angeles on Nov. 28 at Culver Studios.

Locally, Hammel will premiere his 45-minute film at Curtis Middle School in Sudbury on Sunday, April 28, at 7:15 p.m. The free event is open to the public and a question and answer session with Hammel will follow.

The film centers around two main characters - one white, one African-American - on a basketball court. Throughout the film, the audience's perceptions about race as well as other preconceived notions are continually challenged.

"all that is not" is not Hammel's first foray into screenplay writing. In 1997, he began writing his first feature-length screenplay, "Last Summer." In Sept. 2000, the script was optioned to Division One Entertainment.

"I finished it ('Last Summer') in 1998. It's about how life takes time and about how life is precious. Here I was thinking I was teaching the world this deep thing and looking back now at the script I realized I hadn't really learned those things," he said. "When I finished that script I thought everyone would love it and give me a million-dollar deal. That was clearly not the case," he chuckled.

While small independent companies were interested in the screenplay, the companies lacked clout, Hammel said. Other studios read the script and wanted to make changes - a point Hammel would not waver on.

"Last Summer" tells the story of a dying 14-year-old girl who feels she'll never be able to grow up and a lovelorn young man who never had a chance to be a kid. Together they spend one last summer together doing all of the things they think they missed out on in their lives.

Hammel is currently trying to secure financing for the film, which he plans to direct in the New England area this summer.

For "all that is not," Hammel says he financed the film himself, which cost him about $5,000. The cost was mostly tied to promotional expenses.

"I created a story that requires a small amount of actors, takes place in one location, is shot outside and fits the hand-held style," he said, adding all of these elements made the venture financially viable.

His crew of 10 consisted mainly of friends who pitched in to help him out. Through his connections at Access Hollywood, where he worked as a production assistant in 1999, he was able to borrow the camera and lighting equipment for free.

His production experience, including his first stint as a production assistant for "Next Stop Wonderland," proved invaluable throughout his directorial debut. "Next Stop Wonderland" was filmed in Boston in the fall of 1999 and later went onto the Sundance Film Festival where Miramax picked it up for a record-breaking $6 million.

With "Next Stop Wonderland" Hammel became friends with the unit production manager who took him under her wing. "Instead of being sent out on gopher assignments she kept me on the set," he said. "... It was very nice to see a lot of people who were together as a team whose only goal was to create a piece of art and entertain people."

"all that is not" premieres at the Curtis Middle School, 22 Pratt's Mill Road, in Sudbury on April 28 at 7:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The film is appropriate for children age nine and older.