Tight Focus on Karim Scarlata, Director of Larrylandia
Sometimes, Jaman is so cool that I just want to pick it up and cuddle it (unrelated link). Take, for example, the numerous filmmakers on the site. Karim and I were joshing around about Oprah wanting to high-five Salma Hayek every moment (see discussion at the bottom)*. Jaman is really about getting filmmakers to connect to others on a personal and very real level, not an abstract, Wizard-of-Oz level.
I decided this was a good opportunity to interview Karim Scarlata, the Director of Larrylandia. Over the next few months, I’ll be interviewing several filmmakers about their work on a weekly basis. Rock on…
How did you come up with the idea for Larrylandia?
I originally wanted to make a series of mockumentary sketches about men who obsess over basketball for different reasons. It is largely based on my experience playing pick up basketball on the playgrounds of San Francisco, a city not really known for its high level of b-ball skill; however, what we lack in talent we make up for in passion. The character of Larry is actually an amalgamation of two people Cuatemoc and Larry. My good friend Norman Zelaya, a writer first- a wrestler second, was down to act in it, so I based a lot of the script on what Norm could bring. I grew up in the Latino section of SF with a Chicana activist mother so I’ve always been fascinated with pre Hispanic culture and how it has survived the centuries despite attempted genocide. And I just wanted to show the complexity of my people through humor.
What was the most difficult part of making the movie?
Time. Everyone was volunteering their time, so coordinating schedules was a challenge. it took about 6 days spread out sporadically over four months to shoot. Post took a long time for similiar reasons. It was a battle of patience and contrition. I received a grant from San Francisco Film Arts, which allowed me to take a few classes. Other than that, I never went to film school, so i was just learning on the job. Luckily, brother Antonio really helped out a lot as both DP and Editor.
What was your most triumphant moment as you were filming?
When Larry, towering in at five feet two inches, summoned his inner eagle warrior and leaped into the air and dunked a basketball. Unfortunately there was no tape in the camera and we missed the money shot.
Oh SNAP! Damn, that’s sad. But at least now you know he has it in him, right?
Now that Larrylandia has been in SXSW 2006 and run the festival circuit, what are future distribution gigs for the film?
I am just starting to learn about distribution. What I thought going into making this was that shorts were mostly a calling card to tell the world. “Hey world I have a vision, I have a voice, I want to make a feature.” But with all these new mobile devices and platforms it seems more and more likely that the short form is a viable model. At this point I have been lucky to hook up with Jaman which I think is on the frontier of online distribution so I am looking forward to seeing that grow. For an emerging artist like myself it is all about putting my work out there and hoping people can appreciate it.
What would you tell filmmakers just getting started with filmmaking? Like, gimme some gems of wisdom for the fans.
I feel like I am just getting started in filmmaking. I really have a lot to learn myself. Hmm. From what I can tell filmmaking is all about collaboration, so I would suggest really trying to build up a community and surround yourself with people that you believe in and believe in you. If you can’t do that then just believe in yourself. It ain’t easy.
* On a somewhat related note, I’m completely addicted to Scrubs and I can’t think of anyone high-fiving anyone else without getting visions of The Todd… which, of course, makes Oprah’s high-fives even funnier.
