Mike Kravinsky Interview

7th August 2014

Described as a cross between The Newsroom and Hope Floats, writer/director Mike Kravinsky’s new film Geographically Desirable tells of an overworked sleep deprived TV News woman, Nicole, whose life is derailed when she inherits a house in a small quirky town.

First of all, what a discovery in Blair Bowers. Where does she hail from? Where did you discover her?

Blair is an amazing actress. It was so fortunate our paths crossed. She was in the process of planning a move to LA when she saw the ad for Geographically Desirable. I understand Blair figured she do this and then make the move. Originally I had her pegged as Abby, Nicole’s roommate. But the more I thought about it, it became obvious that Blair should play the lead. She had this wonderful ability to play the tough TV news producer along with adding a warm comedic side.

Are the cast all newcomers – or are they well-known Virginian actors? How did you find your ensemble?

All the actors are seasoned professionals from the Washington, DC area. DC has a large theatre / film community. I find many of the actors around here also work in Baltimore, Richmond and Philadelphia. I placed an ad on the local Actors Center website. The word got out. Some came from there, others, like Rick Kain, Connie Bowman, Emily Morrison and Paul Fahrenkopf I knew from my previous film The Nextnik. I had such a good time working with them on that, I wanted to have another go. I really feel I had a top notch cast. Everyone was perfectly cast.

How long has this idea been tinkering around your brain for?

I had been playing around with versions of Geographically Desirable for a few years. I always thought a film that that had a basis in network news was something I could really get into. Before I got into narrative filmmaking, I worked for ABC News in Washington, DC for twenty nine years as an editor and technical director. Write what you know. Originally, I had thought of a guy as the lead character. But the idea of a tough network news producer being a woman seemed to have a better feel to it.

What were some of the difficulties in getting it made, if any?

Money. It’s always money. That being said, even though Geographically Desirable is a low budget film, it’s just amazing how well it turned out and how good it looks and sounds. I had great actors, a terrific DP and audio. And the locations were amazing. We lucked out by finding Floyd, Virginia, a really scenic, charming town of 425 people. They got behind the project. We filmed in many of the businesses and on the street. The local residents even wanted to be extras. Great place.

Independent filmmaking is no walk in the park. Did you experience any setbacks while filming?

As you know, making a film, especially the principal shooting can be really stressful. There are time constraints, long days (and nights). Did we have setbacks? Not really. But if I had it to do over again, I think I would add more time to the shoot schedule.

When did you know you had something special?

There were two moments where I said to myself, we have a fantastic film here. I was the editor of Geo Desire as well, so I had really lost all perspective by the end of editing. The first “wow” moment was after I heard it when the sound design and mix were completed. When the sound effects, music and background are all mixed, it was just great! The second “wow” moment was when the color correction was done. It just popped visually. All of a sudden this was a film.

If you had to compare the film to another, what would that other film be?

It has the feel of Doc Hollywood when it comes to the small town scenes and Broadcast News when Nicole is navigating the big city / TV news world.

What’s the next step – does the film go theatrical or DVD? In an ideal world, what’s your hope?

There are lots of options for independent filmmakers today. Right now we’re waiting to hear from festivals. August and September are big for getting notified if your film makes it in the fall festivals. I’m working on getting a distribution deal. Of course it would be great to do a theatrical run then VOD. What can I say. We’ve got a good film, see what happens.

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