5 Questions with Michael Koshkin
The short documentary, “Ode to Joy,” by director Michael Koshkin is a tender glimpse into the lives of a group of Kazoo-playing residents of a Houston nursing home. We asked Koshkin how he came to the project and what it’s like working with his own grandmother…
1) Can you talk briefly about your background? How did you get interested in film and more specifically documentary?
I grew up in Houston, Texas in a fairly quirky family that contained a wild assortment of characters. I always had a fascination with creating stories. The idea of capturing a moment in time, whether a photograph or poem or short story, felt like a way to produce something that would live beyond me.
I studied writing in school and at some point became interested in making films. I think it was watching low budget genre stuff in the 80’s and early 90’s that made me feel like this was something I could actually do. Troma was a big influence on that.
I’d say I’m equally interested in documentary as narrative, but I like the act of digging and observing in docs. The discovery fascinates me, both as a viewer and as a filmmaker. I’m also very hands on so the smaller crew of documentary satisfies something in me.
2) What was the initial spark to make this film?
My grandmother, Naomi Friedman, is the main subject of this film and a very, very close friend of mine. She has been a major influence on my life. She is eccentric as shit. Fucking beyond. I love her so much.
I mostly make a living as a DP and Camera Operator. She had heard that I was going to be shooting a show in Houston for a while (where she lives) so she called and said: Hi Michael, I hear you’re going to be in Houston a while. I was wondering if you could come video my kazoo band so we could try to get on the Ellen Show.
And I said, Grandma, you have a kazoo band?! I said I’d shoot them perform if they’d give me a day to follow them around so I could make a short. I realized that there was a lot more going on as I started filming and ended up shooting with them periodically over the course of two or three years.
3) What was your production like? How much time did you devote interviews vs just following the residents’ normal life?
The crew in the field was often just me, shooting and running audio. Eventually, I brought a producer and a second camera operator to help. Caitlin Mae Burke, the producer, oversaw what I was doing and helped prevent me from getting lost.
I shot on about four trips over two or three years. I was swamped most of that period shooting TV so it took a while to finish.
We did three or four interviews with my grandmother and several with other figures in the story that were mostly cut to help focus the narrative. We probably shot 70% verite and 30% interviews.
4) What was it like working with your grandma? And then how was it getting to know the others in the home?
I’m lucky to have such an insane and wonderful grandmother. She approached me and I just tried to hear her story and understand what they were doing and why. I guess it was a combination of access and a close relationship with my grandmother as to why she became the voice of the band. She’s also clearly the center of attention in every room she enters. We shot brief interviews with everybody in the band. In earlier edits, we used quite a bit more of them but we were struggling to cover so much in a short and have a cohesive story without straying too much. Cutting down the interview bites from the other band members was the hardest choice we made in the edit. They were all lovely and fascinating but I believe it was necessary.
5) What other projects are you working on now?
I’m mostly working as a DP and Camera Operator at the moment. One of the projects I’m excited about is a feature by Jesse Rudoy about a country band from Swaziland. As far as the next project I will produce, I have some ideas I’m tinkering with but nothing ready to go yet.
Contact Info
https://www.facebook.com/michael.koshkin
https://www.instagram.com/koshkinland/
https://twitter.com/michael_koshkin?lang=en