Filmmaking Focus

Filmmaker Don Kraus calls his first project a dramedy. “The genre is comedy, but the scenario is drama.” Valentine’s Day is about death, and Kraus has fallen in love with what he calls Human Comedy.

“I love the human comedy so much that I would include it in every film I make, no matter of the subject. If I were to make a film about the 9-11 Tragedy, I would have to include some moment or moments that demonstrate how ridiculous Life and The Living can sometimes be. A guy is in an office at the World Trade Center applying for a job that he really doesn’t want and suddenly the building is burning and collapsing. Not funny, but the emotions burbling inside that guy will range from ‘My God, the world is ending’ to ‘My God, I should have stayed home and had that extra bowl of Froot Loops this morning.’”

Kraus has thirty-five years experience as an actor, and eighteen months experience as a filmmaker. He spent his childhood in an ethnically diverse neighborhood in Queens, New York, and forty-seven years later settled in Loveland, Colorado.

“I’ve done a wide variety of things in my life, from owning a very successful advertising agency to driving a cab.” Whether writing ad copy or working with developmentally disabled people, he was always an actor as well.

“Now I am a professional actor-writer and filmmaker…it beats the hell out of anything else I’ve ever done.”

Kraus grew up watching his father splice home movies with cartoon snips on a cheap editing machine. “I was fascinated with his creativity.”

Unfortunately, film school wasn’t in the cards. “There wasn’t usually enough money, and when there was money, there wasn’t any time.” However, working as an actor in several films made by students from the Colorado Film School taught him a lot.

“Probably the most important thing I’ve learned from those experiences is that anyone can do what they desire if they have the balls to go out and do it.”

Kraus believes that the best study course for a budding filmmaker is to sit in front of the TV and watch movies. “Even the not-so-great films can teach us a great deal abut how to and how not to make a movie.”

He also recommends plenty of reading and writing to help stretch the imagination. “Even if what you write is crap, you learn from doing it.”

Not surprisingly, directors who have the courage to bring comedy to drama influence Kraus. “Frank Capra made a comedy out of the Great Depression, and managed to teach us something about ourselves in the bargain.” Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean and Billy Wilder are some of his roll models.

Kraus says that the biggest mistake he made in making Valentine’s Day was trying to do everything himself. “I wrote it, produced it, directed it, edited it, promoted it and even appeared in it as a major character. Now, I know it sounds like Ego-working-overtime. But actually, it was necessity-working-frantically, because I had no financing. It was a labor of love for me and for everyone in the cast and crew.”

Directing himself was nearly impossible, and it isn’t something he’ll take on again. “I’ll do a minor character or walk-on because I love acting and my ego is just big enough to want to be seen by people.”

He’ll also leave the business aspect of making his next film—the financing, distributing and promotion—to professionals. “The filmmaker should make films and let other people do their jobs in getting the films out there.”

On the other hand, he’s eager to learn about the details of filmmaking like camera and sound techniques. “I have no mechanical aptitude, so learning that stuff is hard, but it’s essential to be a better filmmaker.”

Valentine’s Day was filmed on Mini-DV with a Panasonic 24p camera and edited in Final Cut Pro on a MacMini. “The cast of eight…weren’t all experienced, but all were very dedicated to participate in the making of a good movie.”

Kraus has a new project in the works, a drama titled Shame. “A story about how other people’s choices and experience can teach us how to avoid some of the burdens we carry throughout our lives.” The script is in development and casting has begun. Kraus plans to start filming in the spring of 2007.

Kraus has another script, Bad Bob, that has received good reviews, which he’d like to start filming next year as well. “It’s another dramedy, but deals with something less weighty than death, as in Valentine’s Day.”