LOS ANGELES—Michael Givens, the amicable and well-dressed writer and director of film festival darling Angel Camouflaged discussed his new film with me recently while he was visiting the City of Angels from his home base in South Carolina.
He tells me that the picturesque town of Beaufort, S.C., where The Prince of Tides and Forest Gump were filmed, serves as the lush backdrop for his new feature film.
The story of a rock ’n roller, Scottie B is played by real-life South African rock singer Dilana Robichaux (her stage name is simply Dilana), who was the runner-up in the CBS reality television show Rock Star. In the film, her character must face the demons of fame and addiction, which nearly destroyed her years earlier when she and her manager/brother inherited an old bar from a relative.
A graduate of Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, Calif., Givens established his career first as a photographer before transitioning into the film business when he became a cinematographer. He has since traveled the world shooting feature films and commercials, as both a director and cameraman.
“It’s all consuming,” Givens explains about making a feature film. “It spits you out hopefully as a better person than you were before.”
He should know. He served as writer, director, and cinematographer on Angel Camouflaged, joking that this position afforded him fewer people to argue with.
Angel Camouflaged started when Givens was approached with a screenplay to direct, of which he was skeptical. He recognized that this was not a genre he was interested in. But he had a change of heart and was inspired by the project when he was scouting out shooting locations.
Givens told producer Ken Dalton that if he cast Dilana of the CBS reality show Rock Star fame as the star, do a “page one” rewrite (meaning completely overhaul the script), and secure a larger film budget, then he would be excited to take on the project.
Comically, the script was overhauled, but it was Givens who put in the hard work. In between the Cannes Film Festival and a commercial shoot, he locked himself in a hotel room in Milan and wrote the first draft. Then he stuck to his vision for his protagonist.
He tells me that the picturesque town of Beaufort, S.C., where The Prince of Tides and Forest Gump were filmed, serves as the lush backdrop for his new feature film.
The story of a rock ’n roller, Scottie B is played by real-life South African rock singer Dilana Robichaux (her stage name is simply Dilana), who was the runner-up in the CBS reality television show Rock Star. In the film, her character must face the demons of fame and addiction, which nearly destroyed her years earlier when she and her manager/brother inherited an old bar from a relative.
A graduate of Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, Calif., Givens established his career first as a photographer before transitioning into the film business when he became a cinematographer. He has since traveled the world shooting feature films and commercials, as both a director and cameraman.
“It’s all consuming,” Givens explains about making a feature film. “It spits you out hopefully as a better person than you were before.”
He should know. He served as writer, director, and cinematographer on Angel Camouflaged, joking that this position afforded him fewer people to argue with.
Angel Camouflaged started when Givens was approached with a screenplay to direct, of which he was skeptical. He recognized that this was not a genre he was interested in. But he had a change of heart and was inspired by the project when he was scouting out shooting locations.
Givens told producer Ken Dalton that if he cast Dilana of the CBS reality show Rock Star fame as the star, do a “page one” rewrite (meaning completely overhaul the script), and secure a larger film budget, then he would be excited to take on the project.
Comically, the script was overhauled, but it was Givens who put in the hard work. In between the Cannes Film Festival and a commercial shoot, he locked himself in a hotel room in Milan and wrote the first draft. Then he stuck to his vision for his protagonist.
“I fought people who thought I was making a huge mistake to hire Dilana,” explained Givens, because she had no prior acting experience. But since Givens is also an acting coach, he was confident with his choice and never regretted the decision. Givens credits her with a great deal of courage to essentially “carry the movie.”
“She succeeded and I’m not alone in thinking that,” beams Givens, referring to Dilana’s recent win of Best Actress for her work in Angel Camouflaged from the American International Film Festival this past September. This brings the total to six film festival awards for Angel Camouflaged.
The rock-and-roll drama also stars James Brolin, Carlos Bernard, Tessie Santiago, the Marshall Tucker Band, Kurtis Blow, and Patty Smyth. Givens shares that it was a thrill to work with his musical heroes, the Marshal Tucker Band, and how he admired the old-school professionalism, passion, and commitment of James Brolin.
“Making this movie, I was the happiest boy in the world,” recalls Givens. “It’s not ‘Casablanca,’ but it’s good entertainment.”
Givens’s next project is a thriller based on the book Jigsaw by Ted Miller Brogden.
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