September 8, 2004
Local thriller grabs screen time
'Vow' makes local debut September 17 at GKC Cinemas
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Locally made film, "Vow," will hit three screens on September 17, including one at the GKC Cinemas in Traverse City.
Tim Hall, also known by his screen name Timothy Grey, wrote and directed the feature-length psychological thriller that was shot at locations around the Grand Traverse region in 2002. Eking out his production on a $10,000 budget, Hall is ready for a slice of independent film nirvana: a juicy distribution agreement.
Hall knows there are many steps to take along this path and he is paying his dues.
The limited release in test markets includes Traverse City, Saginaw and Port Huron, where he hopes to draw appreciative (and good sized) audiences during Vow's run. Geared to the lucrative 18-40 age range, the film also features a modern rock soundtrack that includes pieces by the local band Tanooki Suit.
"If we do well, which I think we will, it will open in six more theaters," said Hall, noting that a good run in nine theaters gives him clout for wider distribution. "Then we'll have ammunition to take it to further markets."
Hall first screened a longer version of the film locally in August of 2003, drawing fellow hometown hero Michael Moore (both hail from Davison) to the event. With a thumbs-up endorsement from the controversial filmmaker getting prominent play on posters and the Vow website, Hall is guardedly optimistic about the movie's future.
"It doesn't hurt that someone who has two film festival awards, an Oscar and a whole shelf full of Emmys says you can use this quote on your poster," he said.
A veteran of the local music scene, Hall backed into filmmaking from music. For one of his numbers three years ago, he created a 13-minute stop-motion piece that sparked a new avenue of artistic expression.
Then communal griping about the quality of films during an Oscar party in 2002, where he and his friend all agreed they could do a better job than many of the 'winners,' prompted him to write the screenplay for Vow.
"It was almost viral in its passion," he said of his inspiration for the movie. "It was something I could not ignore, I had to pursue it."
He wrote the 150-page screenplay in about ten days before hitting every artist's next hurdle: financing.
In stepped Hedges Macdonald, an Old Town Playhouse veteran who believed in the script, Hall and the idea of funding a movie.
"I had always been interested in motion pictures and had never been involved in one," recalled Macdonald, who has been immersed in the theater since the 1960s. "This was my chance to be involved in one."
Hall recruited local actors for the movie, including many Old Town Playhouse stalwarts such as Michelle Perez in a leading role. His wife at the time, Paula Rahn, was also an experience actress and the other female lead.
He next began scouting out locations, contriving props and costumes and finagling anything and everything to come in under budget. By August of 2002, the crew embarked on an ambitious two-week shooting schedule, which wound up stretching into months of challenges.
From a cranky car that kept dying during filming to borrowed Traverse City Police Department uniforms, he and the cast and crew persevered. They somehow managed to get his vision on film.
"We had some really good luck and some really bad luck," he said of the whole process.
Then began a lengthy process of editing, incorporating a soundtrack and marketing, the latter task required him to surface from an artistic thrall.
"There's a time when I felt myself shifting gears," Hall said. "I was so focused on the artistic place that I literally had to shift gears; it was weird to do both at the same time but you just have to juggle both."