The Baton Rouge-filmed "Beware the Box Folk" is a wrap.
Unoriginal Films, a local indie company, completed shooting on the dystopian thriller, its first feature film project, just before Christmas.
“When we first started thinking about 'Beware the Boxfolk' in May of this year, we knew we needed serious support to make this film happen,” co-director Nathan S. Hall said.
“Thanks to the New Filmmaker Program Equipment Grant provided by Panavision, we are able to bring our vision to life on a grand scale. We cannot thank Panavision enough for their continuous support of independent filmmakers like us,” added Brendan Pyron, also a co-director.
The grant to which Pyron refers gave Unoriginal Films access to a comprehensive camera package courtesy of Panavision New Orleans.
“Beware the Box Folk” was filmed using the state-of-the-art Panavision Millennium DXL2 camera equipped with Panaspeed large format optics. High-quality equipment like this contributed to the cinematography in numerous recent blockbuster films, including Disney/Marvel's "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," Apple TV+'s "Greyhound" (also filmed in Baton Rouge), and A24's "Midsommar." The lenses have also given a visual boost to Neon's "Ferrari," MGM's "A Good Person" and multiple seasons of AMC's "Better Call Saul."
“The DXL2 has been a vital tool for filming in low light for this project. With a powerful native ISO of 1600 and T1.4 Panaspeed lenses, we’re able to capture more visual information with fewer fixtures, allowing us to be mobile and efficient within our tight schedule,” said Michael Prince-Bouton, director of photography.
Producer for Unoriginal Films Joe Carleton, along with Hall, Pyron and Prince-Bouton, co-own the company. They met at LSU in 2016, and each has been working professionally in the film industry while always returning to work together on several award-winning shorts and now a feature film.
The filmmakers say 75% of the cast and crew for “Beware the Box Folk” are LSU alumni and current students.
Before heading into the editing room for the next couple months, Carleton, 26, fielded more questions about "Beware the Box Folk." The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When did filming begin and were you able to use the Panavision camera on all filming?
Filming began Dec. 7. The Panavision grant was afforded to us for the entire project.
In layman's terms, explain what these cameras can do as opposed to what you would have used minus the grant.
Essentially this grant enabled us to utilize cameras that are typically reserved for films with massive budgets. These cameras are top-of-the-line, industry standard. These cameras are used on projects by Apple TV+, Amazon, Marvel Studios and more.
Walk us through how the project went from a $50,000 one a few months ago to a $110,000 one now.
With the connections and grants we were fortunate enough to have, this film is of equal or better quality than projects with a similar mass of budget. The only budgetary update is that we were able to utilize the Louisiana Film Tax Incentive to attract additional investors and more than double our budget.
Briefly, what's the plot of the film?
While pursuing a deadly political scandal during a garbage strike, a muckraking journalist uncovers a strange community of people who have escaped society by wearing cardboard boxes and hiding among the trash.
How many in the cast and crew?
We were able to create 37 job positions across the cast and crew. All 37 cast and crew members are Louisiana locals.
What specific locations were used for filming in Baton Rouge?
We filmed at Manship Theatre, the Shaw Center, BR Press, Veterans Memorial Park, the River Center Branch Library, many streets downtown (Convention, Laurel, Third to name a few), Celtic Studios, as well as the banks of the Mississippi with the help of the folks at the USS Kidd.
What was your most memorable moment during filming, if there was one?
The most memorable moment during filming was our final lunch before wrapping the movie at Celtic Studios. Filling a room with filmmakers and seeing how far we’d come, all while knowing that we still had the most important scene of the movie left to film. It was the most electrifying, exciting and gratifying moment of the entire process.
What does the editing process entail and will that phase happen in BR as well?
Our editing process is all done in-house. We have fantastic local editors that will be putting together the visuals, sound and music composition. They work in tandem to create stunning colors, sound effects and music that come together to result in the final product.
After the spring film festivals (including the Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival in May) and Baton Rouge premiere at the Manship Theatre this summer, will you be pitching the film to streaming services or other outlets?
Yes, we are aiming to sell distribution rights to major streaming services such as Netflix, HBO and Shudder. We will also be pursuing a traditional theatrical release via companies like Lionsgate and Paramount.
Do you have a next film in mind already?
Unoriginal Films has production plans for the next five years to bring four high-quality, indie feature films to Baton Rouge. The next project slated for production is "Cowards," a medieval adventure project that investigates what it means to be brave in the face of both natural and supernatural challenges.
Anything else to add?
With the major success of principal photography on "Beware the Box Folk," Unoriginal Films has shown that it is possible to produce a feature film with 100% of its processes occurring within the state of Louisiana. We still have many steps ahead before the project meets its most major success — becoming commercially viable — but it’s time for Louisiana to fully understand its potential and identity as a great pivot point for the film industry in the United States.
We are not the first film company to accomplish this task in Louisiana. However, the more visible and frequent this accomplishment becomes, the better our local film industry develops; bringing more jobs, revenue and intrigue to the state of Louisiana.
This feature film has been made possible through the generous support of companies and organizations, including Panavision New Orleans, Manship Theatre, The Shaw Center, Anntoine Marketing + Design, Celtic Studios, Film Baton Rouge, Quixote/Sunset Studios and many others.
For more, visit www.Panavision.com/NFP and tag @panavisionofficial on relevant social media platforms.
