Interview with 'Children of Invention' director Tze Chun

Randolph native Tze Chun, director of the Independent Film Festival of Boston's grand jury prize winner "Children of Invention," will unveil his locally shot flick at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge beginning Friday, Feb. 26 until Thursday, March 4.

In "Children of Invention," two young children living outside Boston are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother (played by Cindy Cheung from "Lady in the Water") gets embroiled in a pyramid scheme and disappears.

The film is also loosely based on Chun’s own childhood in Boston’s suburbs. “When I was little, my sister and I followed my mother to countless pyramid seminars," says Chun. "The film is a personal story about the world I grew up in--a subculture of immigrant and working class Americans trying to get-rich-quick in order to get themselves out of a financial hole. I didn't foresee the current financial crisis. But with the economy the way it is now, it seems like everyone's living through some version of what the family in the film goes through.”

The Brooklyn-based director, who shot the eviction scene from "Children of Invention" at his childhood home in Randolph and includes several Boston-area exteriors in the film including Downtown Crossing and the Red Line, tells Loaded Gun Boston that he hopes his film will inspire up-and-coming filmmakers to shoot locally.

"Boston is a very cinematic city, and it's a shame that more films don't shoot there," he says.

Chun continues, "We hope that with the success of this film, more homegrown filmmakers will stay in Boston to make their features, and more filmmakers from other parts of the country will consider setting their stories here."

The director chats about shooting at his childhood home, his experience filming in Boston and gives advice to up-and-coming filmmakers looking to break into the business.

Q: You shot the eviction scene from 'Children of Invention' at your childhood home in Randolph. Was it difficult on an emotional level to shoot there?

CHUN: I think I've probably shot about 10 projects around my childhood home. As an indie filmmaker, you kind of need to shoot where you have access to. And my mom still lives there. I shot a bunch of short films in my home when I was in high school, and so my mom's used to have extension cords running all over the place.

Q: Several Boston locales, including the Red Line and Downtown Crossing, are featured in exterior shots. How was the experience and any plans to film in Boston in the future?

CHUN: I would love to shoot in Boston again. The film commission was very generous and helpful.

Q: As a Boston-area native who has successfully launched a film career. Any advice to young up-and-coming filmmakers?

CHUN: Make as many short films as you can before you make your feature. It helps to log a lot of time behind the camera before your career is really depending on it.

Q: There's been a lot of film action--including several big-budget flicks that shot here last year like Tom Cruise's Knight & Day" and others like Ben Affleck's 'The Town' and 'The Company Men'--in Massachusetts. Think it's a good thing? Or, does all of the celeb-driven attention take the focus off of locally shot indie films?

CHUN: I think it's great for productions of all scales to be shooting in Boston, be they tiny micro-budget features or huge studio films. It all feeds into a film industry and a film culture. It's a shame that BF/VF is no longer around, since it was such a great gathering point for local filmmakers. I think right now one of the most exciting things happening in Boston is the Independent Film Festival Boston (IFFB) which gives audiences access to the newest indie films on the festival circuit. It was definitely one of the most pleasurable experiences we had on the festival circuit.

Q: Anything else?

CHUN: We're very excited to do our Boston hometown screening. Hope people will come out and support locally shot films!

Both Chun and producer Mynette Louie will be in attendance at the evening screenings on Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27.

Justin Timberlake sounds off on 'The Social Network'

Justin Timberlake, who co-stars in the upcoming partially made-in-Boston flick based on local author Ben Mezrich's tell-all book about the founding of Facebook in a Harvard dorm, picked up his Man of the Year pudding pot on Friday, Feb. 5 during a roast at the New College Theatre orchestrated by Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

But, JT did manage to get in a jab regarding the locally shot film "The Social Network" during the press conference.

"I just wanted to say that Harvard wouldn't allow us to film here," he jokes, alluding to the fact that crews with "The Social Network" had to shoot the script's Harvard scenes at Wheelock College and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. "My manager dared me to say that. Ha ha ... just kidding."

During the roast, "The Social Network" star was courted by a Harvard drama queen dolled up as Britney Spears and sported a bra made out of boxes in an obvious homage to his "Dick in a Box" skit from Saturday Night Live.

"Ive never felt more like a man than I do right now," the former *NSYNC performer muses. His girlfriend and actress, Jessica Biel, laughed in the audience.

In the locally shot movie "The Social Network," Timberlake plays Sean Parker, the Napster co-founder who became the founding president of Facebook.

"The Social Network" follows founder Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, getting dumped at a Boston-area bar (shot at the Thirsty Scholar Pub in Somerville) and ends with him adding his former girlfriend to his friend list on his multibillion-dollar social networking site. The story is based on Mezrich's latest book, "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook. A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal."

Timberlake, who joins "Bride Wars" actress Anne Hathaway as the 2010 roastee, says he was honored to snag the prestigious Hasty Pudding award. "This is cooler than any Grammy or Emmy that I've ever won," he adds.

Renee Zellweger and James Franco were honored last year. Christopher Walken and Charlize Theron were tapped as the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Man and Woman of the Year in 2008.

Click here for photos from Anne Hathaway's Harvard visit on Thursday, Jan. 28.--Photos for Loaded Gun Boston by Ryan Miner, Beantown Photo

Native Tom Everett Scott's 'Southland' homecoming

Tom Everett Scott, an East Bridgewater native currently in Boston to promote the upcoming season of his TNT crime drama "Southland," says he jumped at the chance to revisit his hometown roots.

"It's just like home. I never got to know the city of Boston as well of some of friends who went to school here," he says, sitting on a couch in the posh Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons. "But growing up in Bridgewater, I would come into the city a lot to visit my dad who was a civil engineer."

Scott continues, "I love Boston. I really do. I can't believe they put me up in the Four Seasons overlooking the Boston Common. There's snow on the ground. It's just beautiful."

On Thursday, Jan. 7, Scott's mother (who recently relocated to Holden) and sister joined the 39-year-old native at an exclusive screening of the first episode of the new season of "Southland" at Ned Devine's Parris Room.

"I don't often get to do this sort of thing," he says, adding that it's been years since he made the trek home to film the flick "The Love Letter" in Rockport. "While I was making that movie, I became friends with the couple who owned the condo I stayed at in Rockport, which was right on the water in front of this beautiful rock jetty. The last time I was in town was eight years ago where we ate some great food and was able to take in a game at Fenway."

For the record, his wife's brother was a chef at Audobon Circle, a place he says was his favorite Boston hot spot.

Scott, known for his break-out role in "That Thing You Do!" as well as parts in "Boiler Room" and "Saved," made the return trip home from Los Angeles to celebrate the acclaimed cop show's move from NBC to TNT. The revamped series is slotted to begin airing the first 13 episodes with an extended version of the explosive pilot scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 12.

The "Southland" run on TNT includes six brand-new episodes, which are set to hit the small screen on Tuesday, March 2. "Southland" is a raw, authentic look at police work in Los Angeles that takes viewers inside the lives of cops, criminals, victims and their families.

In the series, Scott co-stars as Det. Russell Clarke, a complex man struggling with an unhappy marriage and a difficult living situation. At the end of the season finale, his character is gunned down on the front porch of neighbor during a climactic Fourth of July sequence.

"He was shot in the stomach and is having a hard time walking because of a spinal injury," he tells Loaded Gun Boston. "As an actor, it was cool that he was shot. It's a challenge playing this guy who was having trouble with his marriage and wasn't doing well connecting with people in his personal life."

Scott says he's enjoying Clarke's character arc. "He needs this job. It's his way to connect to the world," he explains. "And now that he's been injured it's going to be hard for him to come back. It''s great writing and as an actor, this is the sort of thing I really like to play."

Besides its obvious ties to homeboy Scott, "Southland" is helmed by Emmy-winning producer John Wells. For those in the know, Wells wrapped filming the made-in-Boston downsizing drama "The Company Men," starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones and Rosemarie DeWitt, during the summer.

Scott, who originally met Wells during his stint as Eric Wyczenski on "ER," says he chatted with the filmmaker during "The Company Men" shoot.

"The cast of that film is amazing," he says of "The Company Men." "I remember being jealous that he was in Boston and had a chance to see the Red Sox during the summer."

When asked about all the made-in-Boston film action, Scott says he would welcome the opportunity to snag a role in a locally shot flick.

"There's always a chance and I would jump at the chance to work here. Maybe someday they'll film "The Love Letter 2,'" he adds with a laugh. "You never know."--Photos by Ryan Miner, Beantown Photo

On the set of 'Girlfriend' with actor Jackson Rathbone

The last place fans will find up-and-coming “Twilight” actor and 100 Monkeys musician Jackson Rathbone?

“I don’t go to malls,” he jokes, taking a break from filming the indie flick “Girlfriend” outside of the State Road Auto Body’s garage in Wayland. “You won’t see me in a tabloid magazine outside of a club unless my band just played there. I keep myself busy. I consider myself an artist and not just an actor,” he says, punctuating each sentence with a thick Texas accent.

Rathbone, known as vamp brother Jasper Hale in the “Twilight” series, is playing a volatile auto mechanic Russ in the made-in-Wayland flick. He’s wearing gray coveralls and is covered from head to toe with grease. Behind him is a picturesque autumn setting with leaves changing colors juxtaposed with the harsh metal garage set. The actor graciously signs autographs and poses for photos for the handful of locals checking out the set.

The 24-year-old comments that he’s been filming around the clock in Wayland since flying in from Vancouver where he’s shooting a beefier role in the third edition of the Stephenie Meyer franchise called "Eclipse." So far, Rathbone says he’s blown away by the New England aesthetic ... and the kindness of the locals.

“I’ve never filmed in Massachusetts,” he says, signing an autograph for a mechanic wearing a “bodies are our business” T-shirt. “It’s been wonderful filming in Wayland and Natick and in the outskirts because everyone has been so kind to us. I mean, they shut down their auto body shop on a weekday for us. They could be working and they’ve opened their garage for us.”

In “Girlfriend,” Rathbone is thrust into a bizarre love triangle with a small town single mom (played by Shannon Woodward from “The Riches”) and newcomer Evan Sneider. The drama centers around Sneider’s protagonist, a young man with Down’s Syndrome, who romantically pursues Woodward’s character Candy. So far, the actor says the on-screen chemistry has been magic.

“Every time we go back to watch dailies, we’re all silent,” he says. “If you’re watching playbacks in a room full of producers and they’re all silent, you know something is going right.”

Rathbone, smoking a cigarette and exuding a Johnny Depp-esque swagger when the camera rolls, jokes with the locals who step up to shake his hand. “Be careful,” he muses, wiping his palms on his grease-monkey getup. “You don’t know where this hand has been.”

For the record, the scene is a sexually explosive interaction with Woodward’s character in the State Road Auto Body office. His hand, by the way, was all over Candy for most of the shoot.

Rathbone says he’s been able to go there as an actor because of the “laid-back, casual atmosphere” on set. “The thing with indie film is that you have so much freedom,” he says. “And at the same time, you have to accomplish things either quicker or more creatively because of the budget.”

The rising star continues, “As an actor, I believe in putting yourself out there. I try not to hold my cards too close to my chest. It’s also about being honest. The job of an actor is to stand where they tell you stand, wear what they want you to wear, but you always have to be honest.”

When he isn't in front of the camera, Rathbone tours with his acting-singing buddies Ben Graupner and "Girlfriend" producer Jerad Anderson from 100 Monkeys.

“I’ve been lucky and blessed to be able to make a living since I was 19- or 20-years-old as an actor. My dad always said you’ve got to have a vocation and an avocation," he muses. "For awhile, I thought music was my avocation. But, it’s become my vocation as well. My avocation these days is taking a pretty girl to dinner.”

COMING SOON: Interview with "Girlfriend" filmmakers Justin Lerner, Jerad Anderson and Shaun O'Banion.
--Photo courtesy Wayne/Lauren Film Company

Photos of Joe Rogan and Kevin James in 'The Zookeeper'

Kevin James, taking a break from the Franklin Park Zoo set and filming "The Zookeeper" in Boston this week, was spotted cruising around on a bike with "Fear Factor" host Joe Rogan on Wednesday, Sept. 16 in the Boston Common.

In the film, Rogan is "Gale" while James is "Griffin," a love-sick zookeeper who consults with the animals in an attempt to learn their methods of dating and mating to help him win back the woman of his dreams.

Filming is slotted to continue in the Public Garden and Boston Common area until Thursday, Sept. 17.

Click here for the latest on "The Zookeeper."

--Photos courtesy of Kevin Wiles Jr.

Photos of Kevin James filming 'The Zookeeper' in Boston

Kevin James, filming "The Zookeeper" in the Boston Public Garden, ditched the Segway he made famous in "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and cruised around as a co-pilot in a tandem bicycle with "Fear Factor" host Joe Rogan on Monday, Sept. 14 in Commonwealth Mall near Arlington Street.

As previously reported in Loaded Gun Boston, crews with "The Zookeeper" moved shop from the Franklin Park Zoo and shot scenes with James, Rogan, Nat Faxon and James' wife, Steffiana De La Cruz, near the "Make Way For Ducklings" statues at the Boston Public Garden.

In the film, Rogan is "Gale" while James is "Griffin," a love-sick zookeeper who consults with the animals in an attempt to learn their methods of dating and mating to help him win back the woman of his dreams.

Filming is slotted to continue in the Public Garden and Boston Common area until Wednesday, Sept. 16.

Set designers crafted a faux bike rental booth with the swan boats, and even real swans, in the background. The bike rental sign boasted a "bike-a-thon" and offering a slew of bikes including a BMX ($25 per day), tricycle ($18 per day) and tandem ($7 per hour).

Click here for the latest on "The Zookeeper."

--Copyrighted photos by Loaded Gun Boston

Photos of Donnie Wahlberg on 'The Zookeeper' set

A crew of hardcore Donnie Wahlberg supporters snapped a few photos on Saturday, Sept. 12 of the Dorchester homeboy on the set of the made-in-Boston flick "The Zookeeper," starring Kevin James, Rosario Dawson and Leslie Bibb.

"Four of us waited from 7 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. in the pouring rain for him to come out," recalls Wahlberg fan Melissa Buja, who says the native was "super sweet" and accomodating off set. "The other four arrived around 1 p.m. Are we diehards or what?!"

Wahlberg has been tweeting about his behind-the-scenes experiences from the Franklin Park Zoo's elaborate mini-zoo set near the Giraffe Entrance of the park located at 1 Franklin Park Rd.

"Heading to the set. Amazing to come back to Franklin Park to 'work' after all these years! Just a whole different type of work," he writes.

"The Zookeeper" follows James as a zoo caretaker who consults with the animals in an attempt to learn their methods of dating and mating to help him win back the woman of his dreams. Rosario Dawson has been cast as Kate, the smart zoo veterinarian who works alongside James' character Griffin. Leslie Bibb plays Stephanie, the ex who broke Griffin's heart.

In contrast to James' character, Wahlberg is playing a zookeeper who detests the furry critters under his watch.

Click here for the latest on "The Zookeeper."--Photos courtesy of Melissa Buja