HEY YOU!
An Interview With Triple E Productions
By Melissa Moreno

 

 

There are many people who make grand sacrifices to try and take a shot at becoming a successful and world renowned director. There are even those who shoot to fill the shoes of directors such as D.W. Griffith or even Steven Spielberg but never making it big enough to do so. However, there are those lucky few who bring something to the table and dabble in what it feels like to be a hot shot. Paul Del Vecchio is one of these lucky few.  With the release of  his first film, Forever, he won an audience award and built himself a fan base and brought a couple of other guys along for the ride; David R. Doumeng and Douglas Frye. These "Three Scrooges" are able to bring their creative, emotional, and humorous minds as one to help create what can only soon be a major hit.

Art Nouveau Magazine: Paul, on your website www.triple-e-productions.net, it said that you’ve been filming since the second grade. How did this come about? Most kids are destroying their dad’s video cameras instead you were mastering them. Why?
Paul: My brother, who is a year older than me, made a movie for health class when he was in third grade. It was about the effects of drugs on people. I remember sitting during lunch and making these origami throwing stars that the bad guys (I was one of them) would use as weapons. I made around 30-40 of them so we could use them as props in the film. My dad used his video camera to film us. I had such a good time making that film that I continued. Being a horror buff, even back then, our next film was a horror film. I “composed” the score on my guitar I had back then. When we shot, I played the tape recording of me on my guitar through a boom box. We were very crude. I was in second grade.

ANM: So D.J. eh? You were spinning tables as a sophomore in High School. Tell me a little about how that started. Is it safe to say that you’re a music junkie as well as a movie junkie?
Paul: A “friend” of mine (and I use that term lightly) decided it would be cool to lie to me that he DJed. I’m assuming one of his friends was a DJ and made him a mix tape and he said it was him. He said it was his first time DJing. The kid was a compulsive liar. Anyway, being a naïve music buff, I believed him and thought to myself, “I love music. It makes sense.”
So I saved up for turntables and a mixer. Then I came across DJ Battle tapes and was so amazed with what I saw. These guys weren’t just playing records, they were actually rearranging the sounds and drum patterns to make a completely new beat. The strangeness and unique sound I heard from that had me hooked. That’s when I decided that I didn’t want to just play records, I wanted to CREATE a brand new sound.

ANM: What were your favorite records to use?
Paul: I mainly used hiphop records but there were dance records and break records that we used. Pretty much anything though. Anything that would create a dope beat.

 

ANM:  Now, tell me about this bone chilling movie of yours. Forever. What inspired you to make it so creepy? Watching the previews alone freaked me out.
Paul: I wanted to make something that relied heavily on atmosphere. My favorite horror films are heavy on atmosphere and so those are the films that inspire me. The Exorcist, The Omen, The Shining. I just recently saw The Strangers. I loved it. Heavy on atmosphere, pacing, building tension, and control as far as camera, framing, lighting, etc. Great film.

ANM:  Forever, won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the Long Island Big Fish Film. Whew! What a tongue twister!  How is the transition from spinning tables to spinning film? Are you glad that you went back to filming?
Paul: It’s funny because all the creative things I’ve been involved in all connect in a certain way, it’s just learning the technical details that’s different. So I felt right at home coming back to movies. Not to sound corny, but if you let something go, and it naturally comes back, it was meant to be. Isn’t that how the saying goes?

ANM: So, correct me if I’m wrong, would you say that horror movies are your forte? Do you think Michael Jackson's Thriller had any kind of influence on you?
Paul: Horror movies are the most fun to me because you can be extremely artistic and just do weird things with the camera. The two genres I love are horror and comedy. They’re both two completely different ends of the spectrum, but they are both extremes. Comedies make you laugh, horror films scare you. They both play on two extreme emotions. I guess that’s what I like about both of those genres. If done correctly, and they elicit those types of emotions, its one hell of a roller-coaster ride. However, I’m a fan of things based in reality but have a surreal twist. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE “LOST.” It’s a drama, but with a twist that removes it from reality, so it’s one hell of a ride.  I’m really interested in anything with a great script, horror or not.

ANM: Now onto David. You’re an actor who constantly works with Paul but you also like to write scripts. Do you think you have a preference? Or do you seek to be like Sean Penn who likes to do everything that deals with a movie?
David:  The main reason I write is to produce opportunities for myself; to be creative and keep working. I definitely prefer acting to anything else. It is my passion and main focus. But I'm not going to sit around and wait until my manager calls with an audition. As they say, "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." Of course, I do think Paul and I work very well together and we will make many more films in the future.

 

ANM: You also wrote a script for the “Diary of the Dead” which will be appearing in The Final Day. Could you give us a little bit more information on what this is?
David: "The Final Day" was written for a short film contest that was held by the Weinstein Company and George Romero. The submissions were supposed to be an homage or a parody of George Romero films like "Night of the Living Dead." Paul, Doug, and I each wrote a 3 minute script and in the end, decided to go with my version.  We shot it in two days with no budget and no crew. Out of about 311 films, Mr. Romero and members of the Weinstein Company awarded us the grand prize and featured us on the "Diary of the Dead" DVD that was released on May 20th. It was definitely one of the best things that has happened to me in my career so far.

ANM: I read on www.triple-e-productions.net the script that you sent in. Seems like you have a thing for the “out of the ordinary” as well! At the end, the final line says “God bless America!”. If I saw a plane coming in and dropping bombs, I’m sure my last words would not be as polite as your phrase. Why did you decide to make this the last line of the character?
David: Even though it was an 'action/horror' film, I still wanted it to have an underlying message. "God Bless America" was intended to be a juxtaposed political statement on unnecessary war and how America, on occasion, offers it's "help" to other nations.  I want the movies that I either write or perform in to have a meaning of some sort. The movies that inspire us to change the way we live in the world or enkindle a desire in us to pursue a goal can be powerful pieces of work. 

ANM: So Douglas, you were brought onto the production of Forever to help finish the quickly created award winner. Were you expecting to be part of a creation that would get so much hype and recognition?
Douglas: I should be modest and say no but that isn't true. I knew Paul long enough at that point to know he was going to have an impact as a filmmaker so I can't say that I'm completely surprised that it turned out as it did. That isn't to say that we don't appreciate the recognition and winning Big Fish was a very pleasant surprise.

ANM: So you dabbled in poetry while in college, I myself like to write poetry as well. Could you tell me what you think?
Yellow roses on the wall
Your glow is oh so yellow
You remind me of chicky marshmallows
Ok, so maybe I’m not that great of a poetry writer. How do you find motivation to write poetry? Are you a man of a thousand emotions?
Douglas: I am a man of dozens of emotions, maybe even tens. Some thoughts are just best expressed by me in verse and I tend to be inspired by random things. Poetry still just pops into my head at any given moment, though it happens less and less as I focus on narrative storytelling. Oh, and that was without a doubt the finest example of Peeps poetry I have ever read. 

 

ANM: So, as a group I’m sure there are many stressful moments and there are times where one can’t focus on anything. Is there anything any of you do in particular to help alleviate that stress?
Paul: We really don’t have too much trouble in regards to tension and arguments. We all respect each other’s opinions but the main thing is that we all want to come up with a great end product. So there really isn’t much stress at all. If there are times when we lose focus, one of us will just say something quick, such as, “Dave, stop looking at YouTube!” and the work resumes.
David: I shoot sporting clays with a 12 gauge shotgun. 
Douglas: I think we have actually been really lucky in this regard in that we have gelled together pretty well and there hasn't been a lot of tension. I think we are pretty good at setting ego aside for what's best for each project. We all understand that filmmaking is a collaborative process. But then, I only know about the backstabbing I've been part of. God knows what these two say about me behind my back.

ANM: Would you say that you guys work together enough to come up with any nifty nick names as a group? Such as The Three Amigos? Or The Three Stooges?
David: I like the Three Musketeers myself. Which also happens to be a tasty candy bar.
Douglas: I'd say you could call us the Three Scrooges based on our budgeting. But I could also get down with the Legion of Doom or the Mighty Ducks.
Paul: I like Doug’s, “The Three Scrooges.” That’s pretty funny. (See answer on “Stressful Moments” question.)

ANM: Whenever you want to pursue a career that is based on chances (meaning you need to be heard of first in order to reap any success) did you have support from your parents or family members?
David: Luckily everyone I know is very supportive of our efforts to be in the film industry.
Douglas: Yes, I've actually had a lot of support. My wonderful mother (Hi, Mom!) sent me to a summer film program and financed most of my scholarly endeavors when I first moved to New York. After that I had to get a job but she helped me kick myself out of the nest. And I've always had a great deal of encouragement and praise through the years. It's helped me overinflate my opinion of myself to staggering heights.
Paul: If I can’t make enough money off of it to make a good living, my parents won’t support me. They don’t really get the creative types. They would have rather me be a lawyer or doctor, something boring.

ANM: Now, one more question to end this most intriguing interview with you three. If you could replace an actor in any movie of your choice, who would it be and why?
Paul: Myself in FOREVER. I’d replace myself with Tom Cruise. Why? Cuz then we’d have a great actor instead of… me… and the movie would be a lot easier to sell!
David: To avoid the possibility of burning any unforeseen bridges, I'm going to say the great white shark in Jaws: The Revenge. He was terribly overweight and he "indicated" way too much.
Douglas: I would have replaced Linda Kozlowski, reprising her role as Sue Charelton in Crocodile Dundee in  Los Angeles, with Yahoo Serious in drag. Also, I would have had John Waters direct. Then, of course, turned it into a Broadway musical and then had Waters back to direct the film of the musical. Yeah, that's what I'd do.