We’d like to introduce you to Fuller student and filmmaker Andrew Christian Neel. Andrew’s first feature, We Grew Up Here, will be released in 2014. Follow We Grew Up Here on Twitter and follow Andrew on Twitter for all the latest updates.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Christian Neel
Production Manager
Stop Traffick
Screenwriter/Producer
We Grew Up Here
1) How did you get involved in filmmaking and why?
My earliest foray into filmmaking was as a kid when I made stop-action videos with Legos. The one my parents seem to get the biggest kick out of was a video inspired by Jaws where I showed a Lego guy getting attacked by a Beanie Baby sea turtle. Other than that and a few other random projects, though, I was mostly ignorant of filmmaking until college.
After acting in a few student short films, I decided to take a video production class my senior year and absolutely loved it. I was amazed at how collaborative the medium was, how music, acting, photography, writing and countless other skills worked together to create one cohesive movie. I wanted to know as much as possible about every part of filmmaking as quickly as I could. It was too late to change my major, so I helped out on every project I knew was being made. From then on, my life has been more of the same. I’m still trying to learn everything I can about filmmaking with the goal of telling meaningful stories and, hopefully, having lots of fun in the process.
2) What project(s) are you particularly excited about (current or past) and why?
I had the extreme privilege of producing and co-writing a micro-budget feature film in Chicago last summer called We Grew Up Here. Our team raised funds on Kickstarter and had a hectic shooting schedule during May and July of 2012. On the film, we worked with the lead singers of Paper Thick Walls, a fantastic indie band based in Chicago, who both acted in the film and performed the soundtrack for it. The project is currently in the final stages of post-production and we are planning to release it in 2014.
We Grew Up Here is about a musician who goes searching for his hometown and his ex-girlfriend after both disappear. I was compelled by the film’s story because it shows a character who is too caught up in the past to successfully live in the present, and that’s an idea I wanted to explore through the film.
Being a Producer on a micro-budget indie movie means you fill any role that isn’t being filled. It varied from day to day, but I was often simultaneously in charge of managing locations, handling paperwork, watching our actor’s dog, and (regrettably for our crew) making food for the production. It was a filmmaking boot camp, and as stressful as it was, I’d definitely do it all over again.
I was also blessed to work under some incredible filmmakers as the Production Manager on Stop Traffick, a short film about human trafficking in the U.S. that was made for the 168 Film Project. In addition to having a tremendous cast and crew, the project tells an important story that the filmmakers plan to offer as an awareness-raising resource for anti-trafficking organizations around the world.
3) How does your faith influence your filmmaking?
I would hope my faith influences everything I do, and obviously that would include how I treat people I’m collaborating with on a project. I try to be a calm, kind, and caring person on set and in any filmmaking environment, which isn’t always easy given the stress and chaos of the process.
More specifically, though, I aim for my work as a filmmaker to be a natural manifestation of my core values. I hope the stories I tell or help others tell emphasize the intrinsic worth of humanity as beings made in the image of God. For me, this means capturing both the beauty and brokenness of existence with clarity, a focus I’ll bring with me to any future projects I’m fortunate enough to work on.