INTERVIEW: DONNY STEVENSON

interview conducting began 2/25/2003

We need to find a better term than "fan film fan". It sounds like redundancy or a plug for Run Leia Run. But that's what we have here, a fan film fan. (And, I guess, a plug.)

We see the name "foxbatkllr" all the time on TFN. He's one of us, except with bright red colors for his name so his posts stand out (at the time of this writing). He's even got an icon (at the time of this writing) that sort of looks like him.

And he's got a collection of fan films sitting around, and a thing or two to say about them. So let's move ahead with a profile of this community member.

Okay—basics. Name, age, location, favorite Star Wars movie.

Donny Stevenson, 21 years old, San Diego, Ca, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

I ask him my standard questions about what makes this whole fan film thing so popular:

To understand what has created and fostered such a huge movement, I think we must go the beginning of fan film creation.

Cue Professor Hawking with "billions and billions of stars."

I believe fan films largely started because people wanted to see themselves within their favorite universe. In the case of Star Wars, everyone wants to see themselves swinging around a lightsaber. As time progressed, fan filmmakers started crafting more complex stories. For years people had already been writing fan fiction stories so it was a natural combination of the two.

I haven't heard someone mention the fan fiction connection yet. Interesting. Fan fiction, being prose, is limitless, and as for fan films:

As the ability to create special effects improved so did the the possibilities of the story. Now fan filmmakers have the ability to transform their backyard into a galaxy far far away whereas ten years—maybe even five years—ago that was not quite possible.

What was the last really good fan film you watched?

I'd have to say I very much enjoyed How the Sith Stole Christmas and Run Leia Run.

Thanks! Your check is in the mail.

I really loved their originality, which is something not seen too often in fan films... The last good fan film I've seen with real actors was Duality.

What?... Oh. By that you meant live-action actors. For a moment I thought you were talking about established film actors. Hey, I bet Robert De Niro would have been great as Darth Oz.

My favorite fan film is probably Duality. It's simple and it truly captivates me. It's the only fan film to actually make me feel like I was in a galaxy far, far away. There's no bad acting, the fight is incredible, all the effects are top notch, and the simple storyline is easy to follow but interesting.

What do you foresee as the next big development in fan films?

I would say fan films are beginning to move away from the stories focusing on Jedi. Obviously Jedi will always be a big part of fan films, but I foresee many of the bigger films will move away from those stories and focus on something else.

One thing I'm learning a lot from talking to members of the fan film community is that they see fan films as an opportunity to get what the movies didn't give us. Something hits me as I read Donny's words... the prequels are showing us the Jedi that we weren't seeing before. Will we get sick of Jedi and move away from them?

Okay, nobody can get sick of Jedi. But the point is interesting...

What would you like to see in a fan film?

Details! It's all the in the details! Most fan films are sorely lacking any atmosphere on distant planets such as animals, wind, dust, etc...I would like to see fan films go that extra mile and add more detail to their scenes.

The animals thing could be... interesting. What would you NOT like to see in fan films?

I honestly do not care. If it's well done, it doesn't matter. There is no reason to do something original if it's poorly done anyways. If doing something unique takes too many resources to make it good, then don't do it. Do something simple really well and I will enjoy it a whole lot more.

Because fan films take a long time to download, I am picky on the ones I choose. Trailers, production photos, word of mouth, and background history of the creators go a long way in making my decision on what to download and what not to.

Have you ever thought about doing a film?

I currently have two scripts and another idea. One of them I'm currently working on by myself as a personal project… a tiny bit of live action and the rest will be computer generated. It's about Boba Fett coming to Earth to collect a bounty. And wouldn't you know it, I'm the bounty!

The other two I'm saving for when I can get a larger cast and crew. I prefer to keep my ideas fairly private, however, until projects are well into production or I'm recruiting cast and crew.

What do you think the fan films community could or should do to integrate itself more into the consciousness of the everyday Star Wars fan?

Fan filmmakers must step carefully. Anything that could be perceived as making money off of Lucasfilm property could result in a lawsuit. That limits the options, especially distribution of fanfilms. I'm not sure if it's legal—

I will make it legal.

—but getting your fan film on public television (which you must pay for) could go a long way in making average fans aware...

This throws me.

I've never heard this mentioned before, not even by him. (I mean, maybe it came up and I missed it.)

I was considering following up and asking what he meant by public television (public access? PBS? I can't imagine the PBS crowd liking this), but decide not to pursue it. This is an issue that deserves dialogue in the community, not me shooting my mouth off at 12:30 in the morning (Chicago time).

But it's a nice example of what a community member can provide. We can sit around and make fan films all we want, but we have to show them to someone besides each other. Someone who can take us down to earth, be the audience.

Not that Donny has to be "confined" to the audience if he decides to get up on the stage (work with me here). This Fett thing... sounds like a winner. If nothing else's, he's got the right mentality—do something simple really well.