“Civilization is at its end. America has been reduced to a land where only a few, strictly-governed communities still exist. All else is Shadowland, where there is no rule of law and where fear is the common denominator of all men. Gil Parsons is a wanderer in that place, wary of the strangers he encounters, as the circumstances of his existence call into question the inherent nature of mankind.”
This is the description you’ll find on the Shadowland page on the Knoxville Film Festival website. The film, which is directed by Knoxvillian Steven Wesley Miller, will be presented as part of the festival on Sunday, September 14th at 2:15PM at Regal Downtown West. We caught up with Miller just before the premier hometown screening of his film to ask him about how Shadowland came to be.
BLANK: When did you first develop a love for filmmaking?
When I was 10 years old I watched Easy Rider. It became my favorite film. After, as a teenager I watched Reservoir Dogs and knew I wanted to make movies.
BLANK: When did you realize that you could actually turn your passion into a career?
When I got my first paid directing job. Honestly, I never wanted to call myself a director until I was paid to do it professionally. I’ve just always felt that way.
BLANK: Is this the biggest project you’ve taken on thus far?
Absolutely. We had a cast and crew of over fifteen people on set.
BLANK: How did Shadowland come about? Where does the story come from?
It was based off a dream I had. I woke up and immediately jotted it down. After writing a rough draft, I turned it over to David Peacock, who is a life-long friend and an incomparable writer. We spent six months working on it until we eventually started raising funds through indiegogo. We raised close to $6,500.00 and then I budgeted for the rest of production and post on my own. As the vision began to form, more people got on board and we ended up with an amazing cast and crew, that we really couldn’t have done without.
BLANK: What was the toughest or strangest experience that happened during production of the film?
The weather. We shot in two locations. Kingston and Newport Tennessee. The weather was around 33 degrees outside and the cabin we shot inside wasn’t insulated and was about 10 degrees cooler. Our last day of shooting got snowed out after the entire crew arrived about 80 miles away from Knoxville. Luckily, by lunch time it melted out and ended up pulling through for us.
BLANK: What can people expect from the film? What do you hope they take away from it?
I hope they are entertained. We wrote it with the intentions of displaying the choices people make and how they affect everyone involved. Hopefully, people will get that in some way from watching it.
BLANK: What’s next for you?
I’m writing a feature film very slowly. Hopefully, I’ll be able to bring it to fruition eventually. I’m also working on a documentary. Other than that, I’ve been focusing on my two favorite hobbies: songwriting and boxing. Just living one day at a time.
