Make a movie on a shoestring budget in Mendocino County
From Stage to Screen, Willits Locals band together to make sure the show goes on
Jeff Shipp has the kind of gaze that tells you he’s seen a lot. Which is another way of saying he’s gonna see more. An experimental, curious person with a zest for life, he is at the helm of a full fledged movie that he directed, edited and produced with the Willits Community Theatre last year called “Heliocentric.”
I asked Jeff how his artistic interests began. His story isn’t typical, but it is the kind of tale that can happen in this quirky, one-of-a-kind county. He said the “arc of his life” had been far from linear.
He’s only been pursuing art for a couple of years. In his former life, he was a finance guy, with an advanced degree in financial engineering. He had wanted to be a trader, and in his early adulthood, he worked in the high-flying world of big money sales. He was good at it and lived a high-flying lifestyle to match.
But then he had a nervous breakdown.
His wife at the time was born and raised in Willits. She said let’s move to Willits and be close to my folks. The idea was that they would get away from the non-stop partying that goes with working in the world of big money and focus on slowing down and getting healthy.
Jeff tried a plethora of things in his attempt to find wellness. After landing on something that worked, ECT (electro-shock therapy), he was able to move on with his life in a balanced way. “After that very intense amount of work, I got to the other side, healthy and happy. I thought to myself, ‘I’m here in Willits long term, co-parenting my son, I gotta meet some friends.’”
He started taking a voice class at the college, next thing you know I’m auditioning for a play. He caught the theater bug and kept auditioning. When he got a part in 12th Night, with Billy Heatherington directing, he had an oversized helping of good clean healthy fun.
I asked Jeff about his day to day life in Willits. “I spend most of my time volunteering around town, at the radio station KLLG, I do tech work for the theater, fix the website or help with social media, that kind of stuff…” With a big smile he adds, “and I take care of my son.”
He finds creative inspiration from people. People watching, listening to them talk, or walk. Jeff believes in writing what you know, even if is fiction, “whether it is love and excitement, heartache and sorrow, share your own experiences with people.”
Jeff is both an actor and a director. He loves to act and describes it as being “a tool for the director. “You get seen. Everybody likes a little bit of attention, and you find honesty in acting.” He says he enjoys the challenge.
When the pandemic hit, Jeff was part of a small faction that “kept on going,” making theatre. A nimble transition to radio theater was made, and they continued acting and producing. Once that first wave ended, the local theater opened back up. The actors rehearsed, the sets were painted, opening was scheduled and instead of the audience coming, the Delta variant arrived.
One of the plays Jeff was involved at the time was titled, “Heliocentric.” Despite a compelling script and an engaged cast, for the safety of all, the actors decided they didn’t feel safe performing in front of a live audience.
Jeff describes a characteristic unfolding of theater folks making do… They had the lights, the stage and the set. Mathew Caine, a great local photographer was willing to film the play. Jeff likely put it mildly when he said, “Most people in theater don’t like film, but the head of the theater said. “Yeah whatever, do what you want. You’ve got the stage, go for it.” He decided to direct the play Heliocentric as a film. “No one was really holding us back.”
Jeff was at first nervous about directing, worried he might fail but then he faced his fear and did it anyway. “I realized how much more power and responsibility you have with the statement your art is making. As opposed to channeling an emotion you’re thinking in a much bigger picture… What’s the message gonna be? What is the meaning gonna be? Then it’s fun working with the actors – try this, do this, to pull out a feeling.”
The production process of Heliocentric wasn’t all grins and giggles. To some degree, the “joy of ignorance” worked in Jeff’s favor. He didn’t actually realize what it would take to make a movie from start to finish, a full length feature on a no-budget budget.
He watched endless YouTube tutorials on how to make films. Mathew Caine, the Photographer, had experience on film sets in Hollywood and shared what he knew about protocols. “Everybody gave it their best,” and filming began. The magic of the creative community in Mendocino came together. Kyle Madrigal, a local musician, watched a rough cut and agreed to do a score.
There’s a clear sense of conspiratorial reverie in the reactions of the cast and crew. The film score, “kicked butt and we all flipped out when we saw what he was gonna do.”
This sort of happiness can be contagious. It occurs when small groups of people, against all odds, forge on and make something beautiful happen. The premise of Heliocentric is about a scientist who believes the earth goes around the sun, whereas the people around him, academic fellows, wife, friends, all believe the sun revolves around the earth. When the lauded film “Don’t Look Up” came out instead of being down in the dumps about a piece with a similar portrayal of the plight of silenced scientists, instead, the cast all watched it together and found it amazing that there’s a comedic version of their same premise out in the world.
Jeff commented on the timely nature of the premise and what struck him as important about this particular story. “We have covid denyers and flat earthers walking around Willits. Dino, the big dumb furniture salesman says the most important line in the film, “If this truth is gonna hurt people, is it worth telling?” We go about our days assuming we are right about everything. Everyone on the planet thinking we are right about everything we know. But even if we are right, I think it is our job as storytellers to break that arrogance, to look at the bigger picture. Especially in America today, the sentiment is that ‘those people over there are crazy,’ and they are thinking we are just as crazy.”
Jeff’s intention as an artist was to allow the characters to be ambiguous, even the lead scientist, who is right, but all the same, he has flaws and shows strain under pressure. The hope was the piece could illuminate the ways arrogance separates us and help “bring sides together.”
Don Samson, who wrote the play, highlighted the fundamental flaw of the lead character: ambition. He’s asked to wait a year to release his research. Any sane grounded person could say, you want me to wait a year, check my figures, etc… ok, not big deal. Instead, he could taste that Nobel Price. His ambition was pushing him and it drove him mad. Jeff noted that the meta statement within the film about the division of the nation, “being right doesn’t matter if you’re no longer connected.”
When reflecting on what Jeff might have done differently as a first time filmmaker, he said he would have had more rehearsal time for the actors and used multiple cameras.
I asked him what he was proudest of. With a lightness of heart he quipped, “Completing it! And then the thrill of putting it out for free. We didn’t do it for income. We did it cause we loved the story and the characters and we love making art. The heck with the money. It’s nice to not purse the dollar.” His advice to aspiring filmmmakers is practical. “Learn as much as you can beforehand about the procedure of day to day, scene to scene, cut to cut. Make sure you know what the director does, where you stand during takes. This is important stuff to know because it increases your efficiency. Learn to delegate as much as possible. Most of all, he advises, “if you’re directing it, edit it. You’ll be happier with the final product.”
Jeff has been encouraged by the artistic tenor of Mendocino County and Willits in particular. “This whole area is jam-packed, per capita Mendocino has so many artists. Actors, musicians, painters, sculptors, writers. It’s incredible the number of artists, then on top of that they are all supported by each other. He mentions living in many cities: Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Denver, Atlanta. Yet, he’s “never seen so many artists and supporters of artists. This little pocket of Northern California is so supportive of art. A lot of people don’t have very much money here, but they spend a greater percentage of the money they do have on supporting art. They might go to an art show, and not even necessarily like what they see, but they will buy a painting cause they want the art to continue. They want it to be there next time. That’s amazing.”
I asked Jeff what his peak moment of 2022 was. He said, “Well this movie came out in 2022. That was a really cool day.” Ultimately his peak moment is related to his son. “He’s in third grade and he won the Mendocino County Science Fair. In a thousand person room in Ukiah, he skipped all the way up to the front with his big goofy grin and got his medal.”
Jeff is continuing to pursue his love of theater and storytelling in Mendocino. He can be reached at Shiptastic@gmail.com.
