Finding Shelter with director Jonah Markowitz

Finding Shelter with director Jonah Markowitz

Finding Shelter with director Jonah Markowitz by Gary M. Kramer - SGN Contributing Writer Shelter is writer/director Jonah Markowitz's sweet, affecting, and romantic drama about Zach (Trevor Wright), a would-be college-bound artist who is all-too-frequently asked to care for his sister Jeanne's (Tina Holmes) five-year-old son Cody (Jackson Wurth), whom he adores. But when Zach finds himself falling in love with his best friend Gabe's brother, fellow surfer Shaun (Brad Rowe), he starts to take what he wants from life. Zach comes out, applies to art school, and works hard to make the men who give his life meaning - Cody and Shaun - happy. Markowitz spoke about his film, the importance of family, and what makes him happy. Gary Kramer: How did you develop/create this story? What was your inspiration for the film and the characters? Jonah Markowitz: I got the idea about four years ago. I grew up in Colorado, and I saw two guys tossing a Frisbee back and forth. I thought about guys identifying and connecting in the outdoors, and how that [rarely happens] in Queer cinema. Kramer: How long did it take you to bring the film from page to screen? Markowitz: I wrote the screenplay for about two years, and it sat in a drawer for another two years. A producer came up to me at the LA Fest, and wanted me to develop it for here! We shot it a month and a half later, and that was about a year ago. Kramer: Shelter is a coming out film, but it's also about creating a family. Where do you feel your film lies in the pantheon of independent Queer cinema? Markowitz: We were trying to be different. Yes, it's a coming out story, but the main character's identity is not defined [only] by his being Gay. I wanted to make a story about people who had other obstacles in their way. [Being Gay] was only one of the pieces to finding love, family, purpose, and passion. Kramer: In what ways are the characters in Shelter like your family? Markowitz: There are little pieces of me and my family and friends in all of the characters, but no real similarities between me and the character[s]. I grew up in a stable happy family. Maybe Gabe [mirrors] a guy I grew up with who was like a brother to me. Kramer: Why did you title the film Shelter? What does that word mean to you? There are many possible meanings for it in the film audiences will discover. Markowitz: To me, it was about finding a place where you can be sheltered, and nurtured. Where people can grow and develop themselves. Not the physical shelter, but the emotional state of being cared for so you can live and do what you want to do. Kramer: Zach is the family caregiver, and often responsible for Cody, putting up with his sister's irresponsible behavior. Do you think that this role is typical of Gay children in families? Markowitz: I think you see Zach's father once in the beginning of the movie, and you see he has an absent father. He has a real sense [of responsibility] towards Cody, and that he wants to give Cody opportunities Zach didn't have. Kramer: What about your class statements in the film - Shaun's wealth vs. Zach's "ghetto"? Why are Gabe and Zach friends? Markowitz: I think that when you grow up and go to school, you do make friends like that [from different classes/backgrounds]. My life is like that with my best friend/neighbor. As kids, you don't realize those boundaries. You're more apt to be friends with people who are different than you. Kramer: You have an art student and a blocked writer as your leads. We know you write. Do you paint and surf like the characters? Markowitz: My background is that I'm a production designer. I art direct studio movies. I grew up in a very artistic family. It's always been a big part of my life to visually express myself. I worked on art director on Blue Crush, so I started surfing then. I've snowboarded all my life, but I wanted to make [Shelter] more urban, so it became about surfing. Kramer: What about the copious surfing scenes? Was this just an excuse to get the actors shirtless or in skin-tight wetsuits? Markowitz: Of course! [Laughs]. I think anyone shooting a Gay surf movie was going to see it that way. However, those scenes on the beach were to make the characters fall in love. Wetsuits and shirtless guys wasn't my intention, but it didn't hurt. We're struggling with being dubbed "the Gay surf film," but there's less than five minutes of actual surfing in it. Kramer: How did you encourage the chemistry between the leads? There was considerable sexual tension between Zach/Trevor and Shaun/Brad, and their first kiss is really sexy/intimate&. Markowitz: We had this conversation about the "big Gay love montage" as we often called it, to show intimacy, and not the outwardly physical things we tend to see. The guys' first kiss, we shot the scene four times in these long takes. And every time before they kiss, something would happen - e.g., a plane flew overhead. So we had to reshoot. That made it easy to develop tension! As for the intimacy, we have all experienced spending a whole day in bed with someone. I didn't need to tell the actors how to be intimate. They were able to identify with that. That's how we accomplished that and made it authentic. Kramer: Despite numerous bed scenes, you deny viewers any nudity. Was that deliberate? Markowitz: [Nudity] wasn't important to me. It was about having intimacy. It was more important to see the actors' faces, and eyes and what was going on in their heads. A lot of people respected that. It's nice to have it recognized. Kramer: What I like about the script is that the characters - especially when Zach and Shaun first meet - express much in what they don't say. (The same is true with Zach and his sister, to some extent.) How did you "write" this? Markowitz: I write out [the subtext], and then pull out what I don't need, so you are aware of what's not there. The actors are aware, too and working with them, they see what I'm thinking - or something even better. It can manifest itself in those ways. Kramer: What about the use of the word "fag" in the film? It comes up often. This word is can be quite loaded - why do you insist on using it? Markowitz: "Gay" is used the same way - as in "that's so Gay." We're all so used to hearing these words that we often let it slide. Yet there's still homophobia existing in surf/macho culture. I wanted to keep that in because I felt it was realistic. Kramer: You also have some pretty interesting ideas in the film. That we should take what we want, and that people don't belong to people forever. What is the message you want audiences to take away from your film? Markowitz: That family is as much about what we construct as it is who we are born with. In the modern society we live in, we move away from our families, and we don't always have that support system, and structure. We can create that - whether we are Gay or straight. If we have love, we can create family. Kramer: OK, so what makes you happy? Markowitz: Making a film - working with other people and putting it out in the world. I'm a simple guy. Being with my friends and creating my art. © 2008 Gary M. Kramer. Gary M. Kramer is the author of Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews.

True Colors tickets on sale tomorrow, Switches CD released

True Colors tickets on sale tomorrow, Switches CD released I don't have much room this week to pitch music, what with The Blakes interview in The Music Lounge's usual spot (read it, they're wildly fun!). But there are two things worth mentioning. First, tickets for Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour go on sale tomorrow morning at all Ticketmaster locations. This marks the second continuous year of the Gay issues-supportive road show with various artists alternating on the multi-city bill. However, this marks the initial Seattle appearance of the traveling festival with a scheduled list of performers that includes Lauper, B-52s, Rosie O'Donnell and Joan Armatrading. The concert takes place on Tuesday, July 1 at WaMu Theater (adjacent to Qwest Field). Tickets, priced between $55 and $125, will be available for purchase at 10 a.m. March 22. Stay glued to Seattle Gay News because we'll bring you all the action of the True Colors Tour, possibly behind-the-scenes coverage and artist interviews. Second, my pick for the coolest new CD is Lay Down the Law by the UK band Switches. Lead singer Matt Bishop interviewed with Seattle Gay News on February 18 (read it at www.sgn.org), just before the group played a sold-out show at Neumos. The disc has really great, bouncy songs like "Drama Queen," "Stepkids in Love," "Coming Down," and the title track. I called Bishop on Tuesday to congratulate him and the other Switches on their CD's official release. As expected, they're all very excited to have the CD available for fans to purchase. Switches celebrated the release of Lay Down the Law at a soiree hosted by Spin magazine in Los Angeles, and after a short series of radio shows the band will plot another American tour that hopefully returns them to Seattle. If you listen to Franz Ferdinand, Panic at the Disco!, The Killers, The All-American Rejects, or The Cars, then you'll love Switches. Check them out at your favorite music store.