Filmmaker Prost’s new movie taps into young-adult angst
With a mere $8,000 budget and a 12-day shooting schedule, a young Calgary filmmaker created an endearing feature film about young adults and their insecurities.
Sensitive Parts will be screened at the Globe Cinema on Thursday. Brendan Prost, the writer and director, said his films could be characterized by how earnest and evocative they are.
“You get a sense that there’s a storyteller behind the camera, who’s trying to reach out to the audience.”
Prost began his film career as a child actor.
He first starred in Theatre Calgary’s production of A Christmas Carol before acting in TV and film.
On numerous sets, he found himself surrounded by filmmakers and soon took an interest in the process.
A home video camera proved to be his initial outlet as he roamed around filming his own stories.
“Eventually, it became more of a meaningful process,” Prost said.
Graduating from Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts, Prost was recently a resident in the Directors’ Lab at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto.
He has since made numerous short films and four feature films. Prost said such achievements wouldn’t have been possible without recent advances in technology and the “democratization” of film. “I was kind of captured by that.” Prost made his first feature film, Generation Why, in 2009.
During his directorial debut, he figured out a number of essential filmmaking tasks, including directing actors who are friends.
“It’s a logistical challenge,” Prost said. “You just learn a lot of things the hard way.”
Having directed numerous films since, Prost said he has grown since Generation Why and that each of his films has been a little different than the last.
He characterizes his films as being primarily performance-based with an emphasis on character.
“My background as an actor has influenced my directing a great deal.”
Prost’s films are also about realworld problems and his personal issues like the “communal frustration” many young Calgarians feel.
“People were having a hard time articulating it,” Prost said.
“Sometimes, it’s painful to go back and watch those things, but it’s an emotional chronicle of your life.”
Sensitive Parts is his fourth feature film about an insecure young woman (Carolyn Yonge) who must overcome her social fears after finding out her boyfriend (Sean Marshall Jr.) and her best friend (Jennifer Kobelt) had a past relationship. Thankfully, she has the guidance of an imaginary manifestation of an iconic pop star.
Prost wrote the three main characters specifically for the actors, while the imaginary pop star (Monice Peter) needed to be cast. He said this imaginary friend serves as a source of strength and levity for the heroine.
“We all have a personal voice that gives us positive affirmation.”
The hardest part of making Sensitive Parts was the tight production schedule. The hectic environment made it difficult to have an open and creative environment.
“Shooting a feature film in 12 days is beyond a whirlwind,” Prost said. “Everyone was basically on vacation from their day job.” The only positive about the 12-day schedule was how the actors looked just as stressed as their characters.
“They’re not imitating emotions,” Prost said. “They’re living them.” Prost has personally financed all his projects through several means such as a scholarship and working various jobs.
All his micro-budget films were made for less than $10,000.
“I write for the resources that are available to me,” Prost said.
Sensitive Parts is on a short theatrical tour before being released online via iTunes, Amazon and Google Play. Prost, who will also release a short film this fall titled In the Shadow of the Mountain, said he hopes to enter mainstream filmmaking by directing Canadian TV and stop having to self-finance his own films, which he said isn’t a sustainable venture.
He plans on doing this through finding producers, accessing tax credits, contacting art councils and getting his hands on any resource he can find.
Shooting a feature film in 12 days is beyond a whirlwind.