The Campagna Brothers

Families making their big break and building a legacy on the silver screen is a trend that has spanned for generations in Hollywood from the Garland Sisters in the golden age of filmmaking to the Wilson Brothers of today.

A new breed of Hollywood royalty has also been emerging throughout the last few decades, but their legacies are being forged from behind the lens - the brotherly duo of filmmakers.

From the Wachowski Brothers, the Farrelley Brothers to the Hughes Brothers, Hollywood certainly has had its fair share of cinematic siblings working together on their creative vision under the notion that perhaps, just sometimes, two heads really are better than one.

Toronto has its own pair of rising star filmmaker siblings, The Campagna Brothers, and although they aren't quite Hollywood yet, they're on the right track to becoming Canada's answer to the Coen Brothers.

Their latest feature film, Six Reasons Why, is a post-apocalyptic Western that was made for $12,000 and sold in a quarter million dollar bidding war to THINKfilm and E1 Entertainment. It's now available in 13 countries - from South Africa to Luxembourg - as well as your local HMV.

I sat down with Matt and Jeff to find out how they both ended up in the industry, why they're focusing on Westerns and what we can expect from their follow-up feature film, Roll the Hard Six.

How is it that not one, but both Campagna brothers got into filmmaking? Have you guys always wanted to do this?

JC: Well, we both took pretty different paths after high school. Matt went into radio and television and I went into culinary arts.

MC: Jeff and I both had a tendency to be dramatic in high school, shooting videos instead of writing essays and things like that were pretty common for us; I still remember the first editing suite I jury-rigged out of two garage-sale VCR's. We didn't have a lot of money growing up, but we were able to play with what we had around us. It just so happens I went to Ryerson University's Radio and Television Arts program, specializing in digital film, and came out the other end of four years with the know-how to build a film production company. Which I did.

JC: Eventually Matt wanted to make a television show and I wanted to host a cooking/eating program so we combined forces on a show called Toronto Bites. Then, it was a smooth transition into long format content.

MC: Our first real undertaking together was a travel documentary about our Irish family history called "Roots of a Man". When that $2,000 production raked in over $30,000, we realized this indie filmmaking thing might not be so bad of a career move.

Out of all the genres you could delve into, you guys decided to get knees deep into Westerns. And not just any Westerns, but post-apocalyptic ones. Why?

JC: I believe the western is the most beautiful, intimate and colorful genre of film. The only problem with it is that anyone under the age of fifty can't sit through one without wanting to tar and feather themselves. So, we took it upon ourselves to help modernize the genre by blending some Mad Max and Quentin Tarantino elements into the mix. I am not sure "Six Reasons Why" really achieved that, because even those over fifty want to tar and feather themselves when they are watching it, but we are getting there.

MC: Modern audiences really have a pre-conception of Westerns as slow, boring period pieces. Sadly, that's because most of the greatest Westerns were made in the 60's and 70's before the MTV generation revolutionized editing, so they are pretty patient. But so was every movie back then. So in order to update the genre, we decided that wrapping a Western with a post-apocalyptic skin would mean all bets were off and we could be unlimited in what we could do. Hot rods, motorbikes, machine guns and biker gangs could all be added into the richness and austere beauty of a classic western, making for a completely unpredictable movie going experience.

Which filmmakers do you draw your inspiration from?

MC: Equal parts Sergio Leone and Robert Rodriguez. Leone has an amazing integrity to his storytelling, and Rodriguez is incredibly adaptable and commercial. I think any great filmmaker becomes that by balancing those two forces.

JC: I tend not to draw to much inspiration from filmmakers. I watch films, and enjoy them, but I don't find they consciously influence my work. I pull more inspiration from classic literature and just observing real life unfold before me. I believe that a good film has real life characters in it, and not typical movie characters, so if you let yourself be influenced too much by other movies, I think you'll be pulled away from that genuine, honest and real approach to telling stories.

If you had to choose the best Western film of all time, which one would you recommend and why?

JC: Once Upon a Time In The West."Why? If you don't know, watch it.

MC: I agree, Once Upon a Time in the West is the absolute definitive western. Ennio Morricone's score breathes the perfect life into Sergio Leone's incredible story. The performances are timeless and the narrative focuses on the end of the wild west in a heart-wrenching but fulfilling way. I could watch that movie all day long.

There's a bit of a rags to riches story behind your first feature film, Six Reasons Why. Can you elaborate on this?

MC: Any time that seven guys in a desert manage to crank out a $12,000 film that attracts the attention of a Canadian superstar like Colm Feore, it's a pretty good story. But turning that around and selling it in a quarter-million dollar bidding war REALLY made Six Reasons Why into big news when it was released in 2008. Since then, it's been selling around the world in volumes that stun all of us. Colm really did an amazing thing for us when he got behind the film and championed it in high profile places like TIFF.

JC: But alas, we are not drinking mimosas on Tom Hanks' yacht on long weekends, we do not take phone calls from Hollywood, agents rarely respond to our emails, I don't have a movie theatre in my house, we are not festival darlings and I still try to nourish myself for less then $10 a day. The perception is that it is a rags-to-riches story, but, in actuality, it's simply a rags-to-rags story.

You guys really seem to embody and admire the indie filmmaker spirit as opposed to making films the traditional Hollywood big-money way. Why do you think it's important to embrace this mentality?

JC: Hard to say really. Both the independent world and Hollywood make some amazing films and some miserable films. In the independent world you have a bit more control over the project and you don't have producers breathing down your neck while you cut. A lot of Hollywood producers have amazing instinct, know what people want and will do what's best for the project, but some filmmakers just like to stay in control until the bitter end.

MC: The "money-hose" really is the worst enemy of any creative thinker. When you can just wash away your troubles by spraying them with gobs of cash, it kills the creative integrity of just about anything. You only have to look to George Lucas' last four Star Wars movies to see how the money-hose managed to take some great ideas and dilute the creative sauce. It looks shiny, but there's nothing really there.

Considering you work on your films together, do you divide and conquer ie. take on responsibility for different roles. Or collaborate on all the various processes?

JC: We divide each duty right down the middle. It's quite a feat actually. Screenwriting, producing, directing, editing, shooting. Everything, it's all split down the middle. Other brother filmmaker teams tend to distribute the labour separately, but not us. Whether it's because we just like each other so much or because we don't trust each other being alone in a role, I don't know.

MC: It's great to be able to have one Campagna directing the camera while the other is directing the actors, and then switch it up at any time and the creative direction doesn't skip a beat. We really do function as one brain in two bodies on set.

What are your thoughts on the film industry in Toronto?

JC: The locations are great. The talent is even greater. The weather is rough. And the battle for a career is even rougher. In Toronto, there is bit of an Old Boys club feel and it really comes down to who you know and where they are. It's a very unapproachable film industry with no apparent IN doors and the temptation to move shop to LA is very palpable. Canada tends to be a very cautious and skeptical country to try and get a film off the ground in. Here, people think about making decisions. In LA, people just make them.

MC: As a filmmaker, I love working in Toronto and the GTA. It's a fantastic place to get things done, to meet the people you need to, and to move deals forward. It's such a film hub that anyone we've ever needed to meet with has come to us instead of us having to go to them. And considering how much I love to avoid LA, that makes me very happy. Plus, with the film festivals we have in this community like Reel World, Hot Docs and the Mississauga Independent Film Festival, we're able to have great think tanks and discussions with the creative people who are really pounding the pavement.

What do you work on when you're NOT making films?

MC: I tend to focus a lot of my effort online. I've directed four on-going web series, all of which have either become television series, or are in talks to do so right now. I really feel like the web is the new minor leagues, and it's an amazing spot to create new revenue models and a proving ground for great new on-camera talent.

JC: I write. I write anything. I have made a career out of writing screenplays for other studios and directors who like what I do. In addition to the work for the screen, I am a published author of fiction and poetry. I have also recently finished a 19th century English stage-play as well, but who knows where that'll go. And just so I don't lose my set-legs, I busy myself directing music videos for Canadian artists, some of which have had great success on international charts. I also have two full time jobs: growing my beard and drinking.

Tell me a bit about your upcoming feature film, Roll the Hard Six, and how far along development you are at this point.

MC: The next film takes place in the same post-apocalyptic setting as Six Reasons Why, featuring a few returning characters, but the story is completely stand-alone. It's a motorbike riding, bar brawling, hotrod driving action movie with a love triangle as the major thrust of the narrative, and it all takes place in a frontier setting that gives Roll the Hard Six all our favourite aspects of a Western dancing along with the excitement of the aforementioned Awesomeness.

JC: It's pretty rad. We are caught somewhere in this awkward purgatory between development and pre-production where the film is ready to go with most of the cast and locations, we just need a couple million dollars... know any rich people?