Interviews: Red Carpet at Chicago LGBT International Film Festival Reeling31

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Director D.M.V. Greer, Lead Actor Trent Ford of “Burning Blue”

HollywoodChicago.com: What was the inspiration for the film ‘Burning Blue’?

D.M.V. Greer: It was drawn from my stage play of the same name. I wrote the play about 20 years ago, and it made its debut in London in 1995. At the time, it did get some interest from Hollywood, to make a gay ‘Top Gun,’ but the play was nothing like that. After we toyed around with the studios, I finally decided to make the film myself about three years ago, and a friend who was an indie film casting agent found me Trent Ford, who became the lead actor.

Trent Ford: The term ‘Burning Blue’ was pulled from a poem from a downed Canadian air pilot. It speaks not only of not just the aspirations of a combat man and fighter pilot, but just in general it has an Icarus-type quality. We push our mortality to the limits, we look into the face of God, and we’re not afraid. It is the unofficial poem of all those lost in service by flying aircraft. That meant a lot to me.

D.M.V. Greer, Trent Ford at ‘Reeling31’ Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

Greer: Some people might be familiar with the poem when the space shuttle Challenger was lost in 1986, Ronald Reagan read that poem to the nation.

HollywoodChicago.com: Is the main issue gays in the military in this film?

Greer: It is, but more than it’s about love and friendship in all of its alliterations, and between men.

HollywoodChicago.com: What is the most personal element of the play and screenplay in regard to your experiences?

Greer: It’s pretty much my story. I don’t know if I can parse it, but I think to me it’s about a romantic love triangle between men, but also the platonic triangle between Trent’s character and two of his friends. It’s about how they all are dealing with how their love and lives are taking unexpected turns.

Ford: The three could have co-existed, I believe, but it is also about the witchhunt that is happening, which is purposefully blind. They were looking for problems with the flight squadron, which could be alcoholism or eyesight issues, but in the end they were willing to ascribe all of that to the idea that homosexuality is a virus that is making everybody incapable of operating an aircraft.

The personal bit in the film for me was when I was dressing to go in front of the tribunal, and in that group was my character’s father, who is the Chief of Operations. My own father flew these planes, and he told he knew there were ‘funky guys’ in the outfit who liked men, but he never asked too many questions. When I asked him what he would have done if one of those guys confided in him, or told him that they loved him? He furrowed his brow, and was silent. It’s the idea that so many of these talented guys put their lives on the line, and then was pushed away and put in the corner, it just doesn’t make any sense.

HollywoodChicago.com: What’s the first thing you talk about when you talk about your love for acting?

Ford: I’ve always wanted to do something and be something, and put it out on the line. The most important thing for me in the profession is stillness. When you know the lines well enough, and understand them well enough, take a moment to feel those lines and have faith in yourself, and it all comes out.

LeRoy McClain, Lead Actor in “The Happy Sad.”

HollywoodChicago.com: How is this film a good fit for this festival?

LeRoy McClain: ‘The Happy Sad’ is very now. It’s dealing with a group of twentysomethings who are navigating contemporary social and sexual morality, and finding their way through life as they find their in, out and through one another. You watch them figure themselves out, and figure out the world. It’s an age in which they think they know everything, but really know nothing.

HollywoodChicago.com: What is the most personal element of yourself in the character of Marcus?

LeRoy McClain, Director Rodney Evans on set for ‘The Happy Sad’ Photo credit: Miasma Films

McClain: I think Marcus is a guy who is racked with indecision, a character who finds himself at the beginning of the journey as sure of himself, sure he knows who he is, what he wants out of life and who his partner is. But as I said, he realizes slowly but surely he doesn’t know anything. The issues of fidelity and identity all get challenged through the course of the film. It was a personal process, because I figured things out about the character as Marcus figured them out.

HollywoodChicago.com: What is best piece of acting advice you’d ever received and how do you apply it to characters you’ve played in your career?

McClain: Simplicity and specificity, and finding the nexus in which those two traits intertwine is the key to a successful performance. It’s all about distilling down the essentials, and conveying them in a clear, concise manner.

Writer/Director Rob Moretti of “Truth.”

HollywoodChicago.com: How will your film connect to the audience at this film festival?

Rob Moretti: The subject matter is something that a lot of people don’t like to talk about, but it happens. I wanted to do something that was completely different, off the beaten path and what people are afraid to talk about.

HollywoodChicago.com: What is the most personal element of you in the screenplay of the film?

Rob Moretti of ‘Truth’ Photo credit: TLA Video

Moretti: There are a lot of personal elements for both Sean [Paul Lockhart, who portrays Caleb] and I. For Sean, it was everything about him and horses, he loves horses. For me, there is a part of the film in which my character talks about being a recovering alcoholic and drug addict – which is very personal.

HollywoodChicago.com: When you talk about your love of filmmaking, what do you talk about first?

Moretti: I can remember being just three or four years old, wanting to go inside the television to perform, because I thought that is what you could do. When I was six years old, I packed up all my toys and told my parents I was going to Hollywood to be a star. [laughs] That’s how passionate I was.

HollywoodChicago.com: What screenplay in the history of cinema would you have liked to land on your desk, for a chance to direct?

Moretti: “Misery.” My film “Truth” has many of the elements of that type of thriller, with a suspenseful, edge-of-the-seat type edge. And I love Kathy Bates.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com