The Collective Studios
headquarters, hidden in a nondescript warehouse on the Southwest side
of Grand Rapids at 215 Logan St. SW, is a vault of wonder. The
eight-member film studio cooperative features an impressive special
effects lab, handcrafted monster masks, overflowing ash trays, a bulging
rack of costumes (mostly suited for large men), along with a variety of
movie posters and a plethora of cardboard cutouts, all spilling out
around a green screen set.
The studio specializes in affordable
filmmaking with a professional edge. Boasting a hearty lineup of
directors, producers, actors, special effects gurus and screenwriters,
each member possesses overlapping skills and is individually committed
to creative collaboration.
"Collective Studios started back in
2008, sometime in the summer," says Ryan Lieske, writer, director and
sometime actor with Collective Studios. "Paul [Bosen] and Rick [Reed]
are the CEOs, but recently we made a decision to make it an actual
collective." Lieske has been a longtime friend and collaborator with
founders Bosen and Reed.
In a short time, Collective Studios
has made an imprint on the community. The studio's films are regularly
shown at the annual Thriller! Chiller! film festival, the Mr. Spookity
independent film showcase, and on other screens about town. The regular
showings have helped contribute to the growth of local film culture by
providing another facet of entertainment that features regional talent.
While
Michigan's growing film scene has been slowly thriving since the
Michigan Film Incentive was enacted in 2008, Lieske emphasizes that,
"even if there wasn't a scene in Grand Rapids, we would still be making
movies."
"I think there is a lot of good quality stuff coming out
from production companies in Grand Rapids," says Lieske. "But what sets
Collective Studios apart is "we are very do-it-yourself filmmakers. We
don't play by the book, and we don't care to. We don't fit into any
category. People will be like 'Oh wow, weird, you guys made a movie
about a skeleton puppet.'"
"Rick [Reed] has been my best friend
since I was a junior in high school and we have always made movies
together, this is just an extension from making movies in our parent's
back yard. It's the same, like we just got out of class and are going to
make a zombie movie and use our dog, we just now have bigger toys,"
says Liske.
Jason Roth, of Bargain Basement Productions and an
affiliate of the studio, first collaborated with Collective Studios when
working on his spoof 1970s exploitation trailer, "Devil's Pussy," about
a demonic house cat. "Rick did narration…Paul built a cross that would
catch on fire [and] we ran him over a bunch [with a car]," Roth
deadpanned.
"I think [Collective Studios] will just keep expanding,
making more feature length films...make something associated with
quality filmmaking and entertainment," said Roth.
Explaining his
approach to filmmaking, Liekse says, "My main philosophy is tell good
stories and entertain people. You don't have to be really fancy, just
have fun and people will go on the ride with you. [Actor and de facto
member] Joe Anthony jokes that we are the punk rock studio."
Out of the Collective Studios mix, Daniel Falicki is the ultimate anti-filmmaker.
"Dan
is kind of the lone wolf," says Lieske. He does his own thing and
helps out in a lot of our productions. He did a small part in 'Clean
Break.'"
Falicki's post-apocalyptic, feature-length film
"GR30k," inspired by "Heavy Metal" (1981), is set in the year 3000 in
Grand Rapids. The satirical send-up excoriates notable Grand Rapids
big-wigs and is complete with high-powered fight scenes, futuristic
aircraft, desolate landscapes and dozens of cast members on a zero
budget. Filmed entirely on green screen at Collective Studios, each
scene was painstakingly edited over hundreds of hours. "GR30k" debuts
October 22nd at Wealthy Theatre's
Thriller! Chiller!Other
works from the team of entrepreneurial filmmakers include the
irreverent short, "Frisky Whiskey," which features an errant and vicious
wolverine alongside a sassy, whiskey poster girl complete with gushing
sprays of blood and "Dolmen," both directed by Rick Reed.
"We
try as hard as we can to be unique and give people something worth
watching," says Lieske, whose upcoming film, "Clean Break," features an
adult-sized skeleton as the main character, detailing his literary life
as an author and his subsequent lust for a fully fleshed body.
"We
have upped our game a lot from the beginning. As we continue to get new
toys and notoriety, we will continue tell bigger stories," Lieske says,
"but it is still just a bunch of dudes sitting around in an old
building laughing at ideas and playing with puppets."
He adds, "I
think as far as I am concerned we spend time making the stories come
alive before we actually make the movies. We are very much stories
first. Even more so, we are character driven."
"Keep your eyes peeled for us, we've got six or seven projects on the back burner."
Audria Larsen is a part-time bookstore employee at
Barnes & Noble, a burlesque performer, a hoop fitness instructor,
hoop business operator, a freelance writer for REVUE Magazine, an occasional model, headmistress of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art Class, and director of Shimmy Shack Burlesque. She's also a full-time student at Aquinas College. Photos: Paul Bosen (3)
Daniel Falicki (2)
Photographs by
Brian Kelly -All Rights Reserved