October 2010 artist

BOBBY FIELD

Actor, writer, musician, producer, you name it... OWOA sits down with October's featured artist (and good friend and collaborator) - Bobby Field

Where are you originally from and what brought you to Los Angeles?
I grew up in Miami, Florida where music was a huge part of my upbringing. During my high school years, I played in a classical guitar ensemble and sang in a speed metal band called, Dark Decent. A year out of high school, I moved to San Diego, CA to do some recording with the band.

What happened to Dark Decent?
The band broke up while we were in the studio. Fist, the drummer got his wife pregnant and they moved to Kentucky, then the guitar player had some sanity issues and had to be shipped back to his mother in Miami. You know, a total group effort, self-sabotage break down; which is ironically the nuts and bolts of the story line for my new film, The Bridge. It has nothing to do with Dark Decent but everything to do with how self-sabotage can break up a band and keep you from crossing whichever figurative bridge you are trying to get beyond. Come to think of it, maybe it has a lot more to do with Dark Decent than I was consciously aware of. Anyway, while all this was going down, I took a theater class at the college I was attending and fell in love with the whole acting process. It gave me a similar creative release that playing music did and I didn’t have to rely on four or five other band members to keep it all together. The ironic thing is, now I make movies and have to rely on hundreds of people to help keep it all together. How’d that happen?

You work in multiple creative mediums (acting, music, writing, directing, etc) - Do you have a preference or feel that certain areas are more challenging for you than others?
It’s funny. People seem to be impressed by the fact that I’ve been known to (in some kind of combination) write, act, direct, produce, edit and write the music for my projects. The truth is, I had to learn how to do those things out of necessity. If I would have arrived in Los Angeles and got an agent, who got me the auditions that lead me to working in other peoples films, I wouldn’t know what final draft was or how to even turn on an edit bay today. I learned early on that things seemed to move forward for me, at a much quicker pace, when I put my energies towards creating my own projects. When you are trying to do that, with out a lot of money, you better be prepared to learn how to do those things on your own. But to answer your question, I’m really enjoying the writing, acting and music combo right now. After Dark Decent, I didn’t play music, or even think of writing a song, for over fifteen years. After I finished the script for The Bridge, I had the daunting task of picking up a guitar and writing the music for the film. Now, it’s two years later and I have written fourteen original songs for the soundtrack and for my character to perform in the film.

Are you happy with how the songs turned out?
Over the moon. I had finished writing the script about this guy and his music and had no idea how the music was going to sound. Once I got going, fifteen years of bottled up musical expression seemed to pour out of me and it sounded different than anything I could have predicted. It turned out to be a really cathartic experience and I now wonder why I ever stopped playing. In preparation for shooting the film, I’ve had to put the writing, music and acting all together and they have all fused as one. They don’t feel like separate art forms anymore. It all feels like it comes from the same outlet of communication.

Have you performed the songs live?
That’s one of the most exciting aspects of it all. Ever since I was a kid growing up in Miami, I always dreamed about playing the famous Los Angeles nightclubs on the Sunset Strip. As part of the character preparation, but mainly just for the fun of it, I played them all: The Whiskey A Go Go, The Roxy, The Rainbow, The Viper Room (my personal favorite), The House of Blues, The Cat Club… you name it.

Were you nervous playing live after all those years?
Like all of it, there was a huge learning curve at the start but now I feel pretty comfortable performing live again. The first show was at The Cat Club was a nightmare. Lucky for me, I went on last and the crowd was absurdly intoxicated by that time and didn’t notice the truckload of mistakes I unloaded on them. That was by far the worst outing by far. Since then, the shows fortunately progressed at a very rapid pace and have really come together, as of late. I’m actually having the time of my life with the live shows. The band now consists of myself on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, a second guitar player, bass, cello, violin, drums and a couple of female back up singers. It’s a party up there.



How far along are you currently with making The Bridge?
I recently teamed up with indie-producer extraordinaire, Jason Gurvitz (The Perfect Witness, Broken Kingdom) of Green Dog Films and ever since then, things have been moving forward really quickly. He is incredible to work with because he understands the filmmaking process not only from the business side of things, but his creative input has been a quintessential element of the overall development and direction of the film.

It’s a really exciting time right now because we just attached a director. His name is Marshall Lewy and he directed a movie called Blue State, starring Anna Paquin and Brekkin Myer. It’s really a great film. I highly recommend it. Marshall and I are currently collaborating on the script and the process has seemed effortless. He’s a perfect match and with out a doubt, the most ideal person to take the helm of, The Bridge. Once we finish the latest re-write, we’ll be ready to start pre-production.

Your last feature, Guy in Row Five, hit the festival circuit. What was that experience like and what did you learn?
I co-wrote Guy In Row Five with One World One Art’s very own, the incredibly lovely and significantly less talented than myself, Motrya Tomycz.

I’m right here Thess.
I’m aware (laughs). And if the readers want to be in on that insider “Guy in Row Five” joke, they’ll just have to see the film for themselves when it come out next year. What was the question?



Film Festival…
Right. The festival circuit was a blast because we kept winning awards, which is always nice. We started off winning the The Audience Award at the Cinequest International Film Festival, then I won the Best Actor Award at the Westwood International Film Festival and soon after we won the Best-in-the-Fest at The SoCal International Film Festival and it just went on from there. It was an amazing experience and I learned what an immense task making a film is and how important it is to have every element of the filmmaking process come together and ultimately complement each other. Just one bad element, whether it’s the acting, writing, sound, music, lighting, set design or even the make up, can make the difference between a “good” movie and a movie that will never see the light of day.

Did you learn anything specific from Guy in Row Five that you are taking into the making of The Bridge with you?
Like everything, it is a little easier the second time around because you can predict where some of the speed bumps may pop up. I learned a lot. I could go on forever. Mainly, I learned to just know that you’re going to get to the finish line and to try and enjoy the whole ride; the good bits and the pull-your-hair out bits. It’s all part of it.

If you weren't an artist, what would you be doing?
Yawning.

Job you'd never want to have.
Meter Maid. I’d rather eat my own face off.

Musician (dead or alive) you'd like to jam with.
I’d like to do a duet with Chris Cornell.. backed up by John Bonham on drums and Steve Harris on bass. We’d kick some ass.

Something you wish you'd have known ten years ago.
That it’s not such a big deal.

Something you wish we'd asked but didn't.
Shall we pay you with a check or in cash?


FOR MORE INFO ON “THE BRIDGE”, PLEASE VISIT:thebridgethemovie