5 Questions with Charlie Schmidlin

1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?

I’d really love to survey how many people got their film school education from the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition DVD extras. It was certainly my NYU in eight hours, just in the way they connected in detail how so many disciplines came together to make a film. I was a teenager at that point, and had made small Mini DV projects with friends in Elgin, Illinois, but seeing those documentaries solidified a desire to get into filmmaking professionally. From there I scoured Craigslist for work on any indie set in Chicago that would have me, and gradually worked my way up.

 2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?

I grew up on a farm, and Gossamer stemmed from a few different experiences during that time. It was noticing the creeping suburbs eating up the empty cornfields behind our property, and with that change wondering if the animal noises I heard at night were maybe human instead. Then it was the question of whether my siblings and I would volunteer to possibly keep the farm going, if and when it was ready to be sold. It was a question that I’d never considered before, simply because I was so driven to live and work elsewhere. But I thought that question of how much allegiance a person has to family or property, injected with a steady level of paranoia, could make for an interesting film.

3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?

The biggest challenge by far was scheduling. The film largely takes place outside, and charts a very weather-specific timeline over two days -- from evening to morning to evening. We had two days to shoot, so together with my crew we kept an eye on the light, and figured out a good workflow to leave proper room for those exterior scenes. That didn’t stop every crew member from having to sprint with whatever they could carry to complete the final shot before the sun fully set.

That last mad dash ties in with the easiest part of making the film, which was the cast and crew that gave their time and energy to help out. The Chicago film scene has a tight and amazing circle of artists, film and otherwise. So when it came time to do Gossamer, the mix of old friends and friend recommendations that came out were all talented, warm people that understood the project immediately.

 4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?

I saw Bassam Tariq’s Mogul Mowgli at a virtual festival recently, and it brings everything I love from Tariq’s documentary work like These Birds Walk into his fiction – empathy toward his subjects, an eye for a striking image, and a constant willingness to experiment. Adored it, plus Riz Ahmed in the lead is fantastic as usual.

5) What’s next for you?

Figuring out the best methods for getting back to work with friends.

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charlieschmidlin.com | IG: @charlieschmidlin | Twitter @Schmidlinks