As we're in the middle of pre-production for our upcoming debut film project, FLOATING SUNFLOWERS we'd like to take a moment to share this Q&A with our screenwriter, JASON FURLANI (pictured on the left on the set of Law & Order!):
1. What City and State are you from?
Schenectady, NY
2. What was a memorable childhood memory that helped shape your career today?
I was drawn to storytelling at a very young age, but it wasn't until my late twenties/early thirties that I found my voice as a writer. I would say that my earliest memory of influence in the, "I want to do THAT", sense, came when I saw Agatha Christie's TEN LITTLE INDIANS at the Egg in Albany. It was intense, impressive, and made me want to tell stories that reach out and grab an audience.
3. When did you start writing for film/tv/theater?
I wrote my first play in 1998 (LEADED.) I wrote my first screenplay (REXFORD ALL-STARS) in 2007. Actually...my "first" screenplay was the short, FLOATING SUNFLOWERS. Ironically - though I wrote it over ten years ago - it will be my first film to be produced.
4. Favorite Film? Favorite Screenplay?
My favorite film is THE GODFATHER. I know it's cliche, but it's such solid storytelling, with such incredibly compelling characters, that I can watch it over and over again. My favorite screenplay? That's tougher. I like LA CONFIDENTIAL for its twisting noir, but I also think - in terms of structure/character/storytelling - BULL DURHAM is my favorite screenplay. Yes. I'm a hopeless romantic.
5. Where did story for Floating Sunflowers come from? How did it come to you?
It was literally a flash of inspiration. I was kind of in a blue mood (which is a side effect of being a hopeless romantic...) so, there I was, sitting in my apartment, when this trio of sunflowers my girlfriend had recently put in a vase, caught my eye. And I had a vision of these flowers, floating on water. How that felt so hopeful and hopeless all at the same time. What would drive someone to that state? And - probably more importantly - what would pull them out of it. And THEN, I thought, "but do they actually float...?" Turns out they did, so that sealed it: I had to write it.
6. Why Barefoot Studio Pictures?
Barefoot Studios and Floating Sunflowers were made for each other. I've been so fortunate to have the opportunity to collaborate with Frank and Nicole and Chris and all of the Barefoot family. They've not only given me the opportunity to grow as an artist, but have nurtured and supported that development in ways that I'm eternally grateful for. So when Frank told me that they were looking for a short to develop as Barefoot Studio's premiere project...I knew I had to get it to him. Who better to tell a story of hope?
7. What inspires you?
The human spirit. There is no greater will than the will to "live." To some, that simply means breathing for one more day. For others, it means the embrace of the energy and beauty in world around them. The confluence of these is where the human spirit "lives."
JASON FURLANI
A native of
Schenectady, NY, Jason has asserted himself as a veteran in the New York
theatre world, having had successful productions of his work with various
companies and on numerous stages in NYC.
Currently a
Playwright In Residence with Barefoot
Theatre Company (whose home stage is the world famous Cherry Lane Theatre)
Jason is developing his full-length play, A LONG HARD RAIN, for an eventual
World Premiere.
Prior to
his tenure with Barefoot, Jason was in residence with the Blue Collar Theater
Company, who presented his full-length comedy, THE BIG VIG, at the Bank Street
Theatre, and, his full-length play LEADED
at the West End Theatre, as well as, his ten minute play SUSAN IS A PINHEAD,
which had its debut as part of the Blue Collar “Shorts” Festival. Other
companies/stages that have featured Jason’s work include: Zena Group, the
Kraine Theatre, and The 42nd Street Workshop. This summer, Jason’s
one act ROCKET’S RED GLARE, will be featured in the Subversive Theatre’s 2012
Subversive Shorts Festival this summer in Buffalo, NY. His most recent
completed full-length work, FAMILY TREES, was developed as part of his
membership in the Actors Studio Playwright/Director’s Workshop (Carlin Glynn,
Director.)
Along with
Jason’s work in the theatre, his original screenplay, REXFORD ALL-STARS, was a
Second Round Selection of the 2011 Austin Film Festival’s Screenwriting
Competition. He has also recently been taped to write the screenplay for the
feature film, VENICE (Polaris Pictures.) Jason wrote the script for both of the
Families of Freedom fundraising
events (a 9/11 charity) hosted in successive order by Chevy Chase and Carol
Kane.
As an
actor, Jason has been featured on TV shows like WHITE COLLAR, each of the LAW
& ORDER franchise shows, and the SOPRANOS. He was also recently seen on the
big screen in the film, LIMITLESS, starring Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro,
MAN ON A LEDGE, starring Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, and Ed Harris, and
will be featured in the new FOX pilot, GUILTY, which stars Cuba Gooding Jr.
