{"id":88,"date":"2010-03-09T00:26:13","date_gmt":"2010-03-09T00:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/interview-with-broken-toys-letia-clouston\/"},"modified":"2023-03-03T03:22:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T03:22:28","slug":"interview-with-broken-toys-letia-clouston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/interview-with-broken-toys-letia-clouston\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Broken Toy’s Letia Clouston"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve originally did this interview for the February 2010 issue of\u00a0 Bazooka Magazine<\/a>. Since Broken Toy has a cool sci-fi\/super-hero vibe going on, we thought readers of the Death Cookie might enjoy it as well. You can also read Steve’s review of Broken Toy <\/a>at www.kingyak.com.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Letia Clouston is a native of Paducah, KY. She became involved in theatre at an early age, both as an actor and an assistant director, and went on to receive a BFA in Theatre at Stephens College in<\/span> Columbia<\/span>, MO.<\/span> Upon receiving intense classical training at the British<\/span> American<\/span> Dramatic Academy at Oxford University, Letia moved to Los Angeles to begin her education in film. After working on numerous movie and television productions, Letia directed her first feature, In The Dark<\/em>, which won “Best Low Budget Feature” at WorldFest Houston<\/span> International Film Festival and is distributed by Vanguard Cinema and can be found on both Netflix and Blockbuster. She recently received her MFA in Directing at the American Film Institute, where she directed several short films and her award-winning thesis film, AB Negative<\/em>. \u00a0She is currently directing a web series, Broken Toy<\/em>, created by her production company, Forewarned Films. <\/span>Our roving reporter (and by \u201croving,\u201d we mean that the chair at his desk has wheels) Bucky Manitoba conducted the following interview with Letia via email in January, 2010.<\/p>\n

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Bucky Manitoba: <\/strong>Most of the web shows I’ve seen have looked pretty low-budget, but Broken Toy looks like a studio movie or network TV show. Are you robbing banks and ripping off little old ladies to fund this thing, or are you using some kind of cool trick to make it look like the budget is a lot bigger than it really is?<\/em><\/p>\n

Letia Clouston: <\/strong>Our budget was $25 for the first episode and $50 for the second. \u00a0We had to buy fake guns. \u00a0Matt Clouston, who plays the lead character, does the VFX work himself, frame by frame, so it looks expensive since he put tons of hours of work into the imagery. \u00a0We also have a really great cinematographer, Chris Burgon, who is really passionate about the story so he donates his time, talent, and his awesome HD camera. \u00a0He knows how to make the image look like we spent a lot of money on it! \u00a0There are no tricks–just a lot of hours of hard work.<\/p>\n

BM: <\/strong>What kind of crew does it take to put together an episode? Do you have a bunch of people helping out, or is it a handful of people pulling double and triple duty?<\/p>\n

LC: <\/strong>It’s less then a handful! \u00a0I do the FX make-up, sound mixing, sound design, picture editing, props, production design and directing. \u00a0My cinematographer does all the lighting and camera work with one other person. \u00a0And the Broken Toy himself is not only acting but advising us on VFX work during the shoot and writing the episodes. \u00a0It’s basically a three person team doing everything.<\/p>\n

BM: <\/strong>How is the story for Broken Toy plotted out? Is the whole thing already written so that it works kind of like a movie that gets released a scene at a time, or is it open-ended like a TV so you can keep going for as long as you’ve got ideas?<\/p>\n

LC:<\/strong>The first 10 episodes are set, 7 are already written. \u00a0Then from there we have ideas where we want to go, but it’s open-ended like a TV show.<\/p>\n

BM: <\/strong>On a related note, is Broken Toy strictly a web series, or do you hope to eventually move to a more traditional format with it?<\/p>\n

LC: <\/strong>We’re looking to have fun telling a great story. \u00a0If it turns into something else that would be great. \u00a0We just want to entertain people. \u00a0What we need in order to keep going is support in the online community–tell your friends about us!<\/p>\n

BM: <\/strong>From the two episodes I’ve seen, it’s kind or hard to tell what the tone of Broken Toy is going to be like. The premise is right out of science fiction or super-hero comics, but the first couple of episodes have quite a bit of action and dark comedy, some drama, and a hint of horror. Will the show continue to mix these different elements, or will one of them end up being the main focus? Personally, I tend to like shows that move from one extreme to the other without blinking, but I’m not sure I’m a typical viewer.<\/p>\n

LC: <\/strong>The show will continue to mix all these elements…we’re moving more into sci-fi action territory soon. \u00a0I don’t think we should hold fast to one genre–we want to keep the audience on their toes. \u00a0We are going to try to alternate between action-heavy and dialogue-driven episodes.<\/p>\n

BM: <\/strong>Moving away from Broken Toy, I’m required by the International Interviewer Code to ask you about your influences. What movies, directors, and writers do you look up to, and what do you like about them?<\/p>\n

LC: <\/strong>I love the Coen Brothers– “Raising Arizona” set me on the path to filmmaking. \u00a0Kubrick is great…Billy Wilder, Stephen Soderbergh, Danny Boyle, Terry Gilliam, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Tarantino, I could go on and on. \u00a0I also love Charlie Kaufman’s screenwriting. \u00a0And dammit– I love “Citizen Kane”. \u00a0“M”, directed by Fritz Lang, is also a must-see. \u00a0I think the common thread here is there’s an element of darkness in each of these director’s stories. \u00a0“Joe vs. the Volcano” is one of my favorites as well…a box office flop that is endlessly entertaining. \u00a0This past year I really loved “A Serious Man”, “The Hurt Locker” and “District 9”.<\/p>\n

BM: <\/strong>Are there any sources outside of film that inspire your work? Authors? Musicians? Alcoholic beverages?<\/p>\n

LC: <\/strong>I like comic books–“The Authority” is one of my favorite titles. \u00a0I also loved “We3”, “The Ultimates”, “All Star Superman”, and I’m just about to pick up the JMS “Thor”. [Interviewer\u2019s Note: For you non-geeks, JMS refers to J. Michael Staczynski, a TV and comic writer who\u2019s probably best known for creating the sci-fi series <\/em>Babylon 5] <\/em>Comic books and graphic novels are great teachers of filmmaking. \u00a0It’s visual storytelling at its most distilled level.<\/p>\n

Generally I’m inspired by life. \u00a0I know that sounds corny–but there is a world of shit around us and you have to find something entertaining about it or you’re going to stab yourself in the face. \u00a0I also like a glass of bourbon on the rocks with a splash of water every now and then.<\/p>\n

SJ: <\/strong>If a studio or network handed you some ridiculous amount of money to do whatever you wanted with, what would you do?<\/p>\n

LC: <\/strong>Being as I’ve worked on television shows for 8 years now, I would probably do a really great series. \u00a0Working on TV is strangely like being in a theatre troupe–something I’ve missed immensely since leaving The Market House Theatre in Paducah. \u00a0I would do a show similar in tone to “Broken Toy”– whatever that is…it’s hard to define. \u00a0Studios think audiences want something singular like “comedy” or “action”. \u00a0I’m constantly getting comments from people in Hollywood like “What is your tone?” \u00a0But I think people really want something like their life–comedic, action-filled, dark, sad, and up-lifting.<\/p>\n

BM: <\/strong>The Forewarned Films web site has information on a couple of features you’ve done, In The Dark and AB Negative. Do you mind telling the Bazooka readers why they need to see them?<\/p>\n

LC: <\/strong>“In the Dark” is my first feature…before I went to film school. \u00a0The only way to learn to direct is to actually direct–so all of my work has been a learning process thus far. \u00a0 It was loads of fun and we made it for very little money but had a great time. \u00a0We were really excited to get distribution given the fact that we have no recognizable cast or high-end production values. \u00a0 “AB Negative” is my short thesis film from the American Film Institute and it explores sacrifice and guilt–something with which I think most of us can identify. \u00a0If you want to see a filmmaker finding her voice…check them out.<\/p>\n

BM: <\/strong>Are there any other projects in the works that you’d like to tell us about?<\/p>\n

LC: <\/strong>Yeah, we’ve got 6 features written that we’re trying to get funding for–they’re all different genres. \u00a0Anybody got a million dollars they’d like to donate to our cause?<\/p>\n

BM: <\/strong>Do you have time for one more question?<\/p>\n

LC: <\/strong>No. \u00a0Gotta get back to work editing Episode 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve originally did this interview for the February 2010 issue of\u00a0 Bazooka Magazine. Since Broken Toy has a cool sci-fi\/super-hero vibe going on, we thought readers of the Death Cookie might enjoy it as well. You can also read Steve’s review of Broken Toy at www.kingyak.com. Letia Clouston is a native of Paducah, KY. She…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2006],"tags":[3181,3172,3173,3174,3175,3176,3177,3178,3179,3180,3171,3182,3183,3184,3185,3186,3187,3188,3189,2633,517,519,520,1040,1448,1626,1733,2559,516,3163,3164,3165,3166,3167,3168,3169,3170],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-the-authority","tag-michel-gondry","tag-spike-jonze","tag-quintin-tarantino","tag-charlie-kaufman","tag-citizen-kane","tag-fritz-lang","tag-a-serious-man","tag-the-hurt-locker","tag-district-9","tag-danny-boyle","tag-the-ultimates","tag-we3","tag-all-star-superman","tag-babylon-5","tag-j-michael-staczynski","tag-market-house-theater","tag-paducah-ky","tag-hollywood","tag-raising-arizona","tag-letia-clouston","tag-forewarned-films","tag-bazooka-magazine","tag-interview","tag-science-fiction","tag-terry-gilliam","tag-coen-brothers","tag-thor","tag-broken-toy","tag-web-series","tag-in-the-dark","tag-ab-negative","tag-matt-clouston","tag-chris-burgon","tag-stanley-kubrick","tag-billy-wilder","tag-stephen-soderbergh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4012,"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/4012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}