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Andrew Shapter’s ‘Happiness Is,’ Part 1
Andrew Shapter, who directed the 2006 documentary “Before the Music Dies,” returns to the Austin Film Festival this year with “Happiness Is.”
We talked with Shapter via e-mail last week about his new project, and here’s what he had to say:
Out & About: You obviously spent countless hours interviewing people all across the country. How did you assemble your crew? Were they volunteers? What was the overall cost of filming?
Andrew Shapter: The hard costs were about $150,000 for over two years of production. My crew was a mixed bag, including folks from my first film, “Before the Music Dies.” We started strong and then the bad economy set in, which had us struggling to the finish line. That’s where volunteers came in. Usually a sound guy and I traveled on the cheap and stayed in basic motels, but, sometimes we met people who would put us up in their homes. Doing it this way really enabled us to capture some back-porch moments from some pretty colorful characters from all corners of the country.
“Happiness Is” plays at 9:15 p.m. Sunday at the Rollins Theater and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Alamo Lake Creek.
More interview to come…
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By tracy
October 16, 2008 1:41 PM | Link to this
To add to Andrew's words, I wanted to say that without the hard work of our "third coast" production team, this film would not have been possible.
I especially want to call out the dedication and sacrifice of our Exec Producer, Jim Bruno, our Editor, Sjon Ueckert, and our Associate Producers, Troy Campbell and Christina Fernandez.
Tracy Marino
Producer