We are Fred Bohbot and Kieran Crilly, indie film producers. We produced and shot the 2014 Oscar winning short documentary called The Lady in Number 6 about the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor and her story about how music saved her life.

Friday we are releasing our first feature together, BOOST. An English coming of age thriller set in Montreal with a black lead cast. It is opening in a limited release in Montreal April 7th and will expand to new cities in the near future.

The film is the story of two friends, Hakeem and Anthony ‘A-Mac’ McDonald. The two work at Hakeem’s uncle’s car wash ’spotting’ luxury sports cars for a local crime syndicate to make extra money. A-Mac eventually persuades Hakeem to boost a car on their own leading to a windfall of cash that has dire consequences down the road - forcing Hakeem to make a life altering decision that will define the type of man he will become.

We are joined by the film’s writer-director, Darren Curtis, to answer your questions about our new project, winning an Oscar for a short film, making a movie in Canada and anything else you might have in mind.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh0fPpoJDuk

My Proof: https://twitter.com/Bunburyfilms/status/850074554621886465

Hi Guys, We are done for now - feel free to ask more questions and we will see if we can get to them at a later time.

Comments: 91 • Responses: 16  • Date: 

prouge93 karma

How does one even get a short to be considered for a short documentary film at the Oscars? Do you have to submit it somewhere or do they just find you?

Boost_Movie141 karma

Fred: There's a number of criteria that make your short doc acceptable to the academy. Length: under 39 mins. It has to have been theatrically released in New York or LA, or been shown in a number of A list fetivals: TIFF, Cannes, Sundance, etc

CaptainOats7169 karma

What's been the biggest change in method, or what have you, between making a feature and making shorts?

Boost_Movie63 karma

Kieran: Definitely getting the money together for a feature is a huge undertaking. In Canada we have a really amazing public financing system called Telefilm Canada who financed a large part of Boost. Aside from money the logistics behind shooting a feature take a long time to prep leading up to the shoot. Our shorts were usually 2-3 day shoots, so we could usually plan them pretty quickly and solve a lot of problems we ran into on-the-spot. With a feature you have a whole cast and crew, all being paid union rates, so you need to have everything planned out to the minute ahead of time.

Boost_Movie56 karma

Darren: Probably the amount of energy and focus that goes into pre-production. With the shorts you can just kinda show up on the day and wing it. With the features, the movie actually got made before started rolling on set.

Moriartiy24 karma

I am currently planning on filming a short documentary and although I have many questions to ask I'll just ask one. For a film set to be around 30-40 minutes, can it be done (directed, produced, etc.) by only one person? Thank you for doing this!

Boost_Movie41 karma

Fred: Anything can be done by one person. It depends how hard you want to work :-) Doing it all alone can make you go crazy, but many people do it. Film making is a collaborative effort, it's easier to work with a team, but if you have to work alone, if it's your only option or only thing you can afford, then do it. Just be organized and keep your head on straight. If you have people who you can consult, use them as much as possible without alienating them :-) Good Luck!

MysteryCanuck7 karma

I just saw the movie and it was fantastic! Question - who was that hot customer in the black dress at the car wash?
...and those black Cadillacs looked awesome!

Boost_Movie14 karma

Fred: It was a blue dress...

Boost_Movie7 karma

Kieran: Thanks MysteryCanuck, so great that you enjoyed the film. That actress was a lovely and talented friend who agreed to be in the scene at the last minute. The cars were a major score, lent to us by another dear friend. We could never have afforded to rent all those luxury cars on our budget!

lovecatshatehumans5 karma

What do you think about Youtube as a platform for short documentaries ? It seems like the only way a short doc could be discovered wide scale and make money.

Boost_Movie17 karma

Fred: I think youtube is cool when the film is done, but I don't view it as a money making platform. Unless you have millions and millions of views, good luck with that. But it's hard to make money from a short doc, even The Lady in Number 6, ours that won the Oscar, didn't really make money. $50k after all is said and done, it didn't make back it's investment. If there is no other chance of making money, put it on You Tube. I'm thinking of putting a lot of my early films on Youtube.

lovecatshatehumans8 karma

Thank you for your answer.

Or like Youtube RED or Netflix ?

Btw, it reminds me of Louis CK giving the Short Doc Oscar in 2016 saying (without mocking) that winning an Oscar is way more valuable to you than to rich Hollywood actors.

Boost_Movie7 karma

Fred: Truth is I don't know much about youtube red, I think that if you don't already have a massive following it's really hard. It can happen that your thing goes viral, but it happens to one in a billion, so you can go in with that being your only hope. Netflix is not an easy sale either. They don't deal directly with indie producers. I always liked Louis CK, but after that Oscar speech I loved him and then I saw Horace and Pete an he became a god.

Boost_Movie5 karma

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Boost_Movie9 karma

Kieran: Go for it! Film school can be great, but is definitely not a must. Darren and I got rejected from film school twice! But I know friends who have gone to AFI, NYU, USC, Lodz in Poland, and they had an amazing time and have gone on to careers in the industry. Also the relationships you make last your whole career. It's really about what you're going to put into the experience and knowing what you want to get out of it. But film school can also be really expensive and I really believe that you can learn a lot from just diving into writing and making films right away.

monitor_me5 karma

Where is it released?

Boost_Movie10 karma

Fred: It's being released tomorrow April 7th, only in and around Montreal. Through the cineplex and guzzo chains. If you're in Montreal I'll elaborate, but basically the Forum in english, Quartier Latin in French. It'll hit Quebec City after Easter and Toronto in early May. Hopefully the US in Fall.

squishynurse5 karma

What's your favorite kind of cheese?

Boost_Movie15 karma

Darren: Buffalo Mozzarella

Boost_Movie14 karma

Fred: that's as hard as "your favorite movie?" There are too many to choose from. Often Goat, but many others too...

Boost_Movie13 karma

Kieran: I've been liking emmental and Saint-André recently!

paulrenaud5 karma

what are your favourite films? and who would you say is your biggest influence when it comes to filmmaking?

Boost_Movie11 karma

Darren: For this film I would say Jacques Audiard, Michael Mann, P.T. Anderson, The Dardennes bros, Mathieu Kassovitz and Larry Clark.

For movies I would say, Kids, Thief, The Promise, L'enfant, Hard Eight, La haine

Chicoaliceperes4 karma

What equipment did you use on the making of Boost?

Boost_Movie6 karma

Fred: Sony F-55 Cook S4 lenses