Interview: Actor Teo Halm, Director Dave Green of ‘Earth to Echo’

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CHICAGO – A new voice in the movies is an exciting event, and this new voice is made more exciting with a high profile pre-Fourth of July release. “Earth to Echo” is directed by Dave Green in his feature debut, and teen actor Teo Halm plays the key role of Alex. The action begins on July 2nd, 2014, for this adventurous family film.

Director Dave Green is making his feature film debut as a director, and has plumbed the depths of his childhood movie favorites to create the vibe in “Earth to Echo.” The circumstance of his involvement is extraordinary (see the story below), and his creativity in the film is evident. He directed teen actor Teo (Tay-oh) Halm, who portrays a sensitive foster child named Alex. Part found video, part “E.T.,” part modern technological society, “Earth to Echo” is a film everyone can enjoy during the Fourth of July weekend.

Teo Halm
Teo Halm is Featured as Alex in ‘Earth to Echo’
Photo credit: Relativity Media

HollywoodChicago.com spoke to Dave Green and Teo Halm, as they promoted the film in Chicago on May 16th. They talk about the joy – and yes, anxiety – of creating this passion play.

HollywoodChicago.com: Dave, this is your debut feature film. What was the path to directing ‘Earth to Echo,’ and what was your biggest anxiety the first day on the set?

Dave Green: The anxieties did not stop after Day One. [laughs] That path for me started with my short films and music videos, and I met with the producer Andrew Panay and his partner Adam Blum, and they pitched to me this kind of one sentence idea – Panay said he had the idea when he was on a jog – ‘what if kids went out to the middle of nowhere and found something, and they documented the whole thing themselves.’ He is a very energetic guy.

It happened very quickly – within a week we came up with the pitch and shot a sample one minute video. The studio said yes to that pitch, and three months later we were off to the races.

HollywoodChicago.com: So what about that first day anxiety or joy?

Green: I would say on Day One I was more prepared than any other day. [laughs] I was nervous about getting one scene, because our schedule was so full for that day. I wanted to prove to everyone that I could get it quickly. But I failed to do so, and then the anxieties went on from there.

HollywoodChicago.com: Teo, you were asked as an actor to take on a much more subtle performance as a foster child who related best to the alien presence. What feelings did you have to prepare to understand the character of Alex?

Teo Halm: It was a bit difficult for me, because by nature I’m fairly outgoing, energetic and super hyper. Alex is a mellow guy and introverted, he’s opposite to me. The key to playing him wasn’t the dialogue, because there wasn’t that much, but the facial expressions and what was going through his mind. As an actor, I had to embody the role, and since he was a foster kid he didn’t trust the good faith of other people.

Before filming, there was about three weeks of coaching, and I would sit down with the coach and we went through Alex’s backstory and history. We figured it was multiple foster homes that he went through, and that helped me to understand how to play him.

HollywoodChicago.com: Dave, this was a valentine to the movie magic of our youth. What did you want to specifically get out of Henry Gayden’s screenplay that would be both nostalgic and its own identity as separate from the films it gives tribute to?

Green: When Henry and I were working on the story together, and writing the script, we kind of had touch points from certain films we loved growing up, but overall it became about the tone rather than the references. The tone that Henry and I hadn’t seen in awhile, even since were kids.

It about those adventures, laughs, scares, action and suspense – the popcorn movies that I loved growing up, and Henry as well. It was about being the product of that generation. It was in our DNA, and what we were hoping to achieve was to have our audience feel the same way.

HollywoodChicago.com: Teo, There is always going to be adult supervision and guidance on a movie set. What there anything that you, Reese, Astro and Ella did on your own to form the friendship bond that created the chemistry in the movie?

Dave Green, Teo Halm
Dave Green and Teo Halm in Chicago, May 16, 2014
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

Halm: They sent us to the Universal Studios theme park together and we bonded there. That helped during filming, but the whole friendship thing was kind of weird because the movie wasn’t shot sequentially, so we might have shot something later in the story towards the front, so the friendships had to be established to feel them at different moments. We all got along together for sure, and the bond was strong.

HollywoodChicago.com: Dave, the American suburbs have evolved so much since the era of ‘E.T.’ What kind of social/economic class are your representing in ‘Earth to Echo,’ and why do you think that particular class of Americans best fit into this story?

Green: I would say in picking production design, props and art direction, we wanted the kids to be more like us than have a particular economic class. We were careful to show that not all of them had the latest and greatest mobile phone. Part of the story and theme of the movie is about kids who think they are small, or ‘just kids,’ and the situation of the whole neighborhood having to move makes them feel even smaller. They overcome their ‘positions’ by being resourceful and being friends. It’s about nostalgia and the shared experience of those neighborhoods.

HollywoodChicago.com: Teo, there are many fears that are overcome in the process of what your character and friends do to make this situation right. Can you think of an instance in your own life in which you had to be courageous to overcome a particular challenge?

Halm: Alex is a foster child, and my parents are divorced. Even though it was a while ago, that was the lifeline I clung to when I was trying to relate to Alex. My childhood wasn’t as difficult as Alex’s, but thinking back to how I felt during the divorce period helped me to feel who Alex was, and to get a sense of how he felt in certain scenes.

HollywoodChicago.com: Dave, let’s talk about the challenge of special effects. What can you tell me about the Herculean effort to make sure all the effects were lining up with the physical action you were filming?

Green: I wanted to do as much as I could on the physical set. I had the explosions, for example, because I wanted the kids to have something to react to – for example I had the ‘Echo canister’ prop explode by surprise, to get a natural reaction. Legacy Effects was the FX company – they fabricated the ‘Iron Man’ suit – and really was on board with our designs.

HollywoodChicago.com: You have many subtle references to other popular films, both kid and adult, in ‘Earth to Echo.’ Without giving too much away, was there a favorite of yours that came out in the editing, and was it hidden or overt?

Green: For me, it was a shooting style thing. I’m a ‘blocking’ nerd, and I like to watch movies for great blocking. And so, I shot a lot of scenes as ‘one-take’ masters, and was trying to achieve a Spielberg tradition, an old Hollywood tradition, with longer takes staged in great depth, in which the camera is being blocked with the actors, and there is a dance between the two. So everyday on set I would try to outdo myself, which added to my aforementioned anxieties. [laughs] It was done to make the audience feel like they were there.

HollywoodChicago.com: Teo, if you could play any role in the history of movies or television, which one would it be and why?

Halm: I always wanted to portray a superhero, or on the other side the Heath Ledger role as the Joker. That would be a crazy character to play.

“Earth to Echo” opens everywhere on July 2nd. Featuring Teo Halm, Reese Hartwig, Ella Wahlestedt and Astro. Screenplay by Henry Gayden. Directed by Dave Green. Rated “PG

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

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

© 2014 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

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