Behind the Scenes
STANDING FIRM is the first production from Praise Pictures, and it won't be the last. NOTE: This entire story is availble in the Press Room.
Humble Beginnings
The beginning of STANDING FIRM came in early 2007 when Kyle Prohaska and Kevin Michael were inspired (like so many others) by Sherwood Pictures (creators of Fireproof, Facing the Giants, and Flywheel), and they began developing ideas we thought would impact the culture for God's Glory.
"Movies like Flywheel were a great inspiration to us when we began. It showed us that a great story could be told on a shoe-string budget, and become successful in the marketplace," Kyle says. "Because of the connections I had with some people I was able to ask all the questions I wanted and it became very clear that without much money, we could achieve a quality that a lot of films in this budget range never reach."
Kevin and Kyle prayed everyday they met, asking the Lord to bring them a story that he wanted them to tell. "I kept trying to find a common and relatable topic that we could wrap the movie around," Kyle says. "Eventually after many ideas shifted and merged together we ended on the issue of death. Death is something that reaches a relatable level that marriage, family, friendship can't touch. It's all secondary to one ultimate truth, one day...everyone will die."
"Then as we created the idea of a widower, the wheels in my head began to turn. It was subconscious I believe but I started adding more and more of my childhood into this film. I layered in problems that happened in my own parents marriages, asking my mom questions when I could. The more I wrote, the closer the script resembled real life and the unequally yoked marriage that my mother and father have dealt with in their past. Even writing the film I can see purpose in my parents difficult past because now it's written into a film that can help others rebuild their own marriages."
Over the next year the film was developed and shaped into what would eventually become STANDING FIRM.
Ramping Up Production
Casting became an interesting challenge, with options being limited. The cast was made up of Niagara Frontier Bible Church members all except for one individual, Eric Stevenson, a stage actor from Houghton, NY. "Everyone was really chosen by what personalities they had. Instead of looking for acting experience which we know didn't exist, we looked for people who fit the personalities of the characters they would play," says Kyle. "Rob just fit that demeanor and look of a father and that of a construction worker. He had the build for it and a presence that nobody we could think of really lived up to. Eric was a great find through a mutual friend, and was the only "actor" on the set. He hadn't had any film experience but had done stage for a few years. Eric’s quirky, offbeat, and nervous personality fit the character of Steven perfectly. I would know, I was essentially casting myself in the role. It was difficult to find absolutely everyone we needed but in the end the Lord brought us everyone."
With a limited budget, all the equipment was acquired over a years time from May 2007 - June 2008 so all aspects of the production would have the proper gear. The film was barebones even on the gear available. Kyle Prohaska (Writer/Director/Producer) also served as overall Production Manager of the film and the Director of Photography. This was his very first film outside of small YouTube videos or other projects from High School.
“I was pretty nervous,” Kyle says. “I had watched films for years and I was itching to get my hands on a real camera and shoot a real film, direct a real film, write a real film, but hadn’t had any proof that I could do it. I felt like I could, I believed I could, and this was my chance to give it a shot!”
The film employed a sub $4000 camera that shot HDV in 1080p at 24 frames per second. The film also used a Letus Extreme, a 35mm adapter that allows attachment of still camera lenses for depth of field. Very few lights were purchased and the rest borrowed by a friend of the gaffer.
“When I see what we did with the budget we had, it always blows my mind,” Kyle says. “Films of this budget that are made this way, simply do NOT look like this one or sound like this one. God gets the Glory for all of this! I’m so incredibly proud of the film just from a cinematic standpoint. When some folks have looked at the footage we have available, they guess our budget off by a ton, and that from the get go is what I was hoping to accomplish. It seems the Lord has helped us achieve our goals!”
Only one real crew member was on set most of the time, Shaun Smith, a local photographer. Shaun served as the Gaffer/Sound Man for around 85% of the film with Kevin filling in on summer days (Kevin is a teacher in the Niagara Falls School District). God brought the right team together at the right time, and on June 6, 2008...production began.
After production began, it became very clear that this was the right movie to be making.
A week before shooting began, Betty Lively (Grandmother of Kyle) passed away. Then around two months later, Karen Ortman, a young lady well known by the cast and crew passed away in a tragic accident. A month after that, Debbie Richards (mom of Kyle's best friend Brad) was struck by a drunk driver on the 290 near Buffalo. Many others followed leading all the way up until the present where Mike Cooper (close friend of the cast and crew and even has a role in the film) was involved in an accident at the Niagara Gorge.
"It seems the suit never stayed in the closet," says Kyle. "Every time I left a funeral I was right back in the same pew, crying for another friend or family member. It wasn't just me either, our entire church family was dealing with death on a monthly basis. Although I was not close to absolutely everyone, I believe one person per month passed away either related or a friend to someone in the church family or on the cast/crew. It was an eye opener. This film had to be finished and needed to be seen by our congregation. God was showing us just how vital our project was, I just wish his signs weren't so painful."
Shooting each day proved difficult with changing weather conditions and a lack of experience across the entire cast/crew. "The schedule didn't help us much, that's for sure," says Kyle. "I had to schedule it in the most terrible way because of the kinds of factors we had to deal with. We shot in Kevin's home so naturally people live there and we can't just leave everything out until the next day of shooting. Also working with inexperienced actors I had to give them scenes to do that were more in line with their current level of comfort/skill. That meant we ended up skipping from room to room, location to location, all throughout the shooting process. It was difficult and challenging for everyone but in the end, I feel it raised the quality of the production a huge amount. The last scenes that were shot were the most difficult and required much greater acting chops, something the cast had after so many months of experience."
"My mom brought a really excellent level of intensity to her role as she was essentially revisiting her own past. When she yelled it was the real deal, and Rob was there to take every word of it," he says. "Rob brought a fatherly presence to the set that resonated in his performance, having a large family of his own. Eric brought the only acting experience to the set allowing himself and Rob to really learn from each other. Dave Gifford brought an honesty and wise nature to his character. Everyone basically played themselves, so seeing them pull of their roles day after day was an incredible treat."
Shooting carried on for almost an entire year from June 2008 - May 2009. Eventually the last shots were filmed and the team said their goodbye's. Everyone was local except for Eric, who headed to Korea right after the last days of sound dubbing to teach english. It had been a long difficult road with a lot of learning on-set and off, but the real work on the film had only just begun.
An Uphill Climb…
Although shooting the film was difficult and stretched across an entire year, the real work had yet to be done. From shooting day number one, the edit of the film was in progress by Director Kyle Prohaska. To make sure the scenes were working, Kyle would come home every shooting day and capture the footage from the day to assemble a rough cut. Many months later the lock was called official in the winter of 2009. Then came in composer Jurgen Beck, a man from Texas who’s wife was currently going through her own personal suffering, breast cancer. Although the payment for Jurgen couldn’t be given on any other basis than deferral (contracted percentages of the profits in the future), Jurgen took the project because of the nature of it’s story.
“I was terrified choosing a composer,” says Kyle. “I needed somebody who could deliver what I wanted but wasn’t going to break the bank either. I had dozens and dozens apply for the job, but nobody could give me anywhere near what I was looking for with the samples they had available. I built the film in visuals, and even the first five minutes of the film is 90% visual, so a strong score was a must. Because of the nature of the film and the way it was made, all the money went into equipment to shoot it, with personal funds picking up the slack where needed. This doesn’t leave room for a composers fee. I’m very grateful for Jurgen’s dedication to the project and personal attachment to it’s story. I had a few other options when Jurgen came around, but after hearing his heart, I realized that only one man was going to be right to score this film, and that was him.”
Marketing had also been a regular thing since before the film even began. Kyle Prohaska aside from all the other jobs done on the film, had to keep a consistent marketing campaign going. Because of Kyle’s diverse skills (all of which were used on the film in some regard) he was able to keep the awareness of the film growing.
“How do you market a film with no money?” says Kyle. “I used whatever techniques I knew of to make sure this film was known by way more people than normal. Films this size don’t reach across the world, but I wanted this one to do so. It’s not impossible, but it takes hours every day of constant digging and interaction with people in forums, emails, on Facebook and Twitter, etc. When you look at our fan page and (at the time of this documents release) you see over 12,000 fans for this little movie, you know something must be pretty unique about our film. We have fans in over 20 countries and 20 languages and I’ve been receiving sign ups to our email list and folks asking about church screening availability in countries like Egypt, The Netherlands, Brazil, and countless others. That’s a God thing, what else do you call it? I see God’s favor on this project, and slowly but surely he has been Blessing.”
STANDING FIRM found favor only the Lord could bring when it was announced that the film would get a nationwide DVD release. Praise Pictures is distributing the film, going an alternate route, different from the norm (which seems to be typical with Praise Pictures!) to get it into stores. The DVD will also be available in Canada and offers to distribute the film in South Africa and Australia/New Zealand are also on the table.
The film is currently wrapping up post-production, with Kyle working on finishing up the credits and designing all the promotional materials, DVD covers and menus, working alongside Jurgen Beck to complete the score, and then moving off to final sound mix. A completed copy of the film should be in hand by the end of June, just in time to send off to different people for endorsements, Dove approval, and entrance into various film festivals.
“It isn’t easy being a one man band,” says Kyle. “Sometimes I do wish I had a partner here in this little town to complete all this stuff, but I see God’s favor in me doing a lot of jobs on this film. Who needs film school? I’ve learned so much on this project that I can’t wait to get started on another! Prayers appreciated as I continue to figure out many logistical problems in completing the film, releasing it, and making the church screenings available to everyone who is interested. It’s been a long three year road, and it’s not anywhere near over yet! We hope as you support our film and spread the word, you will pray for it's completion and a great harvest of souls for the Glory of God! Strap yourselves in, and get ready for STANDING FIRM...coming your way soon!"
