Observations of a Young, Indie Director on No Budget, with a Roaring Deadline

Roughly two months ago, I, Joseph Mosca, the director, had written the screenplay to a film simply titled, "My Brother in Christ." The aim of the script was to help myself overcome fear(s) and struggle(s) writing a spec script, which was essentially a longer version of this film. In the brainstorming process of the feature, I'd come to meet and sit down with the character of "Father Ezekiel" (played by Tyrik Iman-Washington on left in photo). He was the amalgamation of the charisma of Billy Graham and TD Jakes, lucratively connected with the evil and seductiveness of Jim Jones and L. Ron Hubbard. I always wanted a character that I wrote to make his case to God; quite literally, and not like that Aaron Sorkin quote about writing a good character-- I wanted them to LITERALLY stand up on a stage, and give the audience a true assessment on their character and personality.

With one week of shooting down, starting with scene two, which is the meat and potatoes of the film, I can confidently say that I'm starting to gain some confidence into myself, and strengthen my chemistry with Tyrik-- which has always been strong since fifth-period History class, sophomore year. Despite the obvious scheduling qualms regarding time Tyrik could opt-out of his classes, and with the school, trying to get access to the ONLY auditorium in our school, which is frequently used by drama, choir, and band classes-- everything's gone smooth-sailing from here. I've worked with, for the second time, a two-camera setup, influenced by my use with other frequent collaborator, Andrew Kearney on our award-winning, 2023 short, Knockout. The only real qualm I see is continuity between when we use the stage and when other classes move things, like chairs, pianos, and musical instruments around stage, and consistency and a smooth, built-up transition from Ezekiel's opening to his final "point" of his sermon.

On the grounds of directing this film, I've taken much of my inspiration from David Fincher's sets. With me being influenced by his two-camera setup, as mentioned above, his way of always knowing what he wants as soon as he arrives on-set is something that I took a liking to, picking up on the fact that if he was in the loop, the actors were too, and likewise, were actually excited to be on-set. The standout films that I watched b-roll from are The Social Network, Panic Room, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He always had control, but for those who know about his run-in with 20th Century Fox and his first movie, Alien 3, he started with nothing remotely close to control. Despite that, he still found a way to make the movie he wants, get who he wants to play the roles, and sure as hell does however many takes he wants.

To which I owe great thanks, my film teacher, Mrs. Polakowski, my assistant director, Chloe Taylor, and my sound operator/mixer, CJ Snyder, have been working for the best of the project since I finalized the first draft. They've all given me the confidence to direct confidently, and speak my vision, since they'll do their very best to help me achieve it, and adapt it from the page to the screen.

Here's to Week 2. Oh boy.

-Joey