The journey of creating each individual story begins with a reason for telling it. For some
people, it might be to shed light on a seldom-spoken-of topic that affects society, or to tell of a life
lived by an inspiring individual who greatly impacted his/her fellow man. It might be something
that’s just flat out cool, or funny, or entertaining. No matter what it is, though, it always comes
from a “why.”
In the case of Efficiency, this story was very personal to me, and I felt that the subject matter
would resonate with those who had gone through a similar experience. When I was in high school,
a couple close to me suffered the tragedy of a miscarriage. I saw how deeply it affected them, as
well as how isolated it made them feel. There was so much guilt, anger, sadness, fear, grief, and
the kind of confusion that leads one to ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It had a
profound impact on me, and it left me feeling hopeless as someone who very much wanted to help
in some way, but couldn’t. In many ways, those feelings were the early beginnings of what would
become the same struggles that Patrick’s character faces in the film.
Not knowing how else to talk about this, I turned to art, as I often do, as a means of giving a
tactile meaning to what I was feeling. I wondered how something as common as miscarriages
could be so isolating; how so many people seemed incapable of understanding why such a thing
was so hard for the parents. I first tried to write Efficiency as a play, but over time, I realized that
film was the best medium for the piece.
The more I thought about it, the more I became aware of just how frequently people allow
adversity to dictate their lives. I had seen it happen to people I love, and I too had fallen into that
manner of thinking on several occasions – those periods of darkness when all you really want to do
is lie down and give up. I wanted to tell a story about someone rising above their circumstance. I
came to the personal realization that it’s not what happens to you, but what you do with it that
makes you who you are; bad things happen to good people because that’s the only way we can
know who we really are. We can’t help what happens to us, and we are, of course, shaped by
external forces, but we are ultimately responsible for how we deal with that. We have a say in who
we get to be. Life will always find a way to kick our asses at some point or another, but it also
provides us with a way to build ourselves back up – to arise stronger and better than ever before.
To me, that’s the essence at the core of Efficiency. Sometimes, we’re afraid to grow up, and we
aren’t ready to accept certain responsibilities, but, whether we like it or not, those responsibilities
have a way of popping up and smacking us in the face – sometimes when we least expect it. It was
decided, then; I was going to go make a movie.
Behind every film is an army of people who made it possible: a stalwart band of artists who
want to see a labor of love through to its completion. I approached Kate Enge with the fat mess of
a first draft that was Efficiency at that time, and I spoke to her about what I wanted out of the
project. I think several of its themes struck a chord with her as well. She agreed to climb aboard
my raggedy ship to direct. Kate and I had worked together in the past on a pet project of hers called
{the moment after}, which was a series of improvised short films that spanned a wide variety of
genres and themes. It was because of the organic nature that she worked with us as actors, as well
as her penchant for exploring truth within film that I felt her style was going to work very well for
Efficiency. It was her idea to make Derrick and Patrick identical twins. Originally, I had thought it
too difficult to pull off identical twins on a technical level, but Kate was confident we’d be able to
pull it off. I thought, “Great! Not my headache.”
Together, we built a team of exceptional artists who were equally enthusiastic about bringing
this film to fruition. We went through the trenches together. It was a wild two weeks, split between
(mostly) two cities across the country from each other. We pulled all the favors we could, stole
shots in subways, scraped some money together through IndieGoGo, and scrambled to find a new
location for the efficiency apartment a day before principal photography began, because the place
we’d had set up was on the top floor of an apartment complex where it was 110° and bereft of an
air conditioner. (That was without cramming up to ten bodies and light kits inside of it.)
Through the whole ordeal, I found myself facing some turbulence in my relationships outside
of filming. That whole life-sneaks-up-on-you-to-kick-you-in-the-ass thing. A lot happened in
those couple of weeks. It was a ton of pressure, but dammit, you keep showing up every day and,
eventually, you have a movie sitting in a few hard drives. I’ll never forget the chaos of it. I don’t
think I could ever forget any film I work on. Each one is insane in its own new way, but anything
worth loving is worth bleeding for. Each film just bleeds you differently than the last. It’s a
bloodletting that’s equally as rejuvenating as it is draining. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Post production was a long and tedious process. We didn’t have any money for the initial
edits, but once we’d secured a picture locked cut of the film, I approached Asko Akopyan to help
us finish Efficiency’s remaining stages of post. He graciously agreed and it is because of him that
we have a finished film today. Janek Ambros brought together a killer team for our score (Corey
Wallace and Michael Kramer) and our sound (Zack Howard and Onnalee Blank). They really
brought the film to another level when they were done with it.
We had our premiere at Grauman’s Chinese 6 Theatre in Hollywood as part of the Dances
With Films festival last May, 2014. We were also honored to play at the Austin Film Festival later
that fall after wrapping a new film, Oxenfree, in which I played a man struggling with cystic
fibrosis. Austin is a great city, and AFF is one of those festivals where it’s apparent that the people
running it really care about what they’re doing. They make their filmmakers feel right at home.
Shortly after Austin, Efficiency was picked up for distribution through FilmWorks, and will
be released on DVD on April 21st, 2015. It’s currently available for pre-order through Amazon,
Best Buy, and Barnes and Noble. Please check it out, as I would love to share it with you.
It’s been a wild ride and I couldn’t be more thankful for the journey that was Efficiency and to
all those who made it possible. I’ll spare the readers from the gigantic list of people for whom I
have an overwhelming amount of gratitude. You all know who you are – you are a wonder to me,
and I will love you to my last breath.
I wanted to make this film because of the love I have for whom it was made. I want it to be a
love letter to anyone who has lost a child through miscarriage. I also want it to bolster others who
have their own demons to fight. I wholeheartedly believe that we are stronger than our struggles.
Every single one of us has it within ourselves to overcome the obstacles that stand in our way – to
own our problems, rather than letting our problems own us. Hopefully, Efficiency can deliver that
message.
Efficiency will be released on DVD on April 21st. Pre-order here.