Q&A: The Siouxland filmmaker behind ‘The Captain’
One of the filmmakers who will be shown on the big screen this Friday as part of the Siouxland Film Festival is Dakota City native and Morningside graduate Adam Gonshorowski.
Gonshorowski went on from Morningside to further study film, and has since moved back to Sioux City. We dropped him an e-mail with a few questions about his film.
Tell me about “The Captain” and your role in it.
The Captain, takes place over the course of a night, and revolves around James and a small band of mutinous pirates aboard the legendary ship the Queen Anne’s Revenge and their plan to take over the ship. The short film was completed as part of the masters program in film production at Loyola Marymount University’s film school where I partnered with Catherine Wolf, who was Director, Producer, and Writer. She was in the production track and I was in the screenwriting track, so it was a natural fit to team up and produce something extremely ambitious on a grand scale. I started the project as a writer and as the film moved into the pre-production phase I became a producer and production designer.
What inspired you about the Peter Pan story to write a related screenplay?
The Captain started as an exploration of the character of Captain Hook, mostly looking at who he was before he ended up in Neverland. We took the approach that he would have to be a pirate from the 1700s who lived in the Caribbean and was part of the British Empire. So we took a realistic approach to this character and gave him a starting point in the real world. This was the initial inspiration. Who was Captain Hook before Peter Pan, before Neverland, and based it all on historical reality. So in essence the inspiration was what if Captain James Hook was a real pirate that became stuck in Neverland.
What do you think of the current filmmaking scene in the tri-state area and in Sioux City?
I feel that the filmmaking scene is in a very early stage and the only place it can go is up. As digital cinema technology advances and becomes more accessible, the current scene can have the same level of technical equipment as the professionals on the coasts. Technology has been equalized across the board and with a DSLR and Macbook one has the ability to make almost anything.
Events like the Siouxland Film Festival can bring this fragmented group together, and hopefully we can advance the industry here into a true industry rather than just a hobbyist scene.
What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers?
My advice for aspiring filmmakers is to find a group of people with different talents than your own and start making films. Films are a collaborative effort and you cannot do it on your own. Find people who love to write, or love to edit, find a good sound guy or gal, and work with people that have different viewpoints and backgrounds. Seek out criticism of your work and accept the fact that everything is not always going to be good, but that’s okay. Don’t skip pre-production, don’t neglect sound, and keep striving to make something better, but at least make something. The Internet is a treasure trove of information about every aspect of filmmaking, find your specialty within that world and become the best you can at it.
Where and when can we see your film?
The Captain screens during the Sci-fi and Fantasy block of the Siouxland Film Festival on Friday at the Sioux City Public Museum, starting at 7 p.m. See a complete schedule here.
About the Author
Thomas Ritchie I love food, cycling, family, music, social media and especially Sioux City. Got an idea for a story - shoot me a note at siouxcitynow1@gmail.com.
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