NAME: GORMAN BECHARD
AGE: 47
CURRENTLY RESIDING: HAMDEN
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: NEKO CASE, ARCHES OF LOAF, REPLACEMENTS,
that new SPRINGSTEEN, JENNY OWEN YOUNGS (a MySpace find)

Best Actress (International Film Festival)- Jessica Bohl - Best Narrative Feature (North Hampton Independent Film Festival & 30th New England Film & Video Festival) - Vision Award for Best of the Fest, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress (Indiefest Chicago) and a number of invites to some of the most selective film festivals both nationally and internationally....

I guess I would be ok in saying that Gorman Bechard is a successful and significant member of the film community. His film You Are Alone has won all the above and is continuing to get recognition as he continues to build his filmmaking and writing career. YOU ARE ALONE is the first film from What Were We Thinking Films, a new-style mini film studio that takes full advantage of the digital video revolution to produce quality motion pictures on realistic budgets. The company is a newly-formed production shingle from Bechard and YOU ARE ALONE’s co-producer Frank Loftus. Next up for the company is a romantic comedy penned by Bechard, entitled FRIENDS (WITH BENEFITS), which is planned to lens in late summer 2006, as well as a film adaptation of Bechard first novel, THE SECOND GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD. Both films will be directed and edited by Bechard.

Bechard has also written several novels such as Balls, Good Neighbors and Ninth Square as well as some web novels - The HazMat Diary, Slow Fade to Black:, and Snow Blind. He is also an accomplished photographer portraying sensuality in his young subjects. How would I describe Bechard's photographs? Well, you can either love it and are turned on by it or it will make you feel a little uncomfortable. None the less you will find Bechard's creations innovative, dark, and luring. Gorman took some time out of his VERY busy schedule to answer my questions. Iam honored to have him as Anti-Mag's first feature in it's Film section!

How long have you been involved in the writing? photography? Directing?
Photography was the very first thing I played around with. I was perhaps 13 or 14. So it's been a while. It's always been my "hobby" so to speak.

The writing started in high school. I just really liked telling stories, playing god, creating a universe wherein I could dictate who lives or dies, who gets laid, and who gets the shit kicked out of them for being as asshole. Fiction is so much more enjoyable than real life.

I guess directing was a marriage of the above two, with both members having secret affairs with my other passion "music." To be able to tell the story, not only with words, but visually, musically. I don't know...but when it comes together and works there's nothing more satisfying.

Which do you prefer and why?
I'm torn. I love the book writing because it's 100% me. No one else can really fuck it up. Of course, we started What Were We Thinking Films just so I'd have the same freedom in my film work...but still, there are SO many outside influences.

But again...when it works... Gun to my head...directing films would win by a nose.

Explain your subject matter...do you feel there is a theme to your work?
I like cutting through the bullshit, the lies we tell not only everyone around us, but even ourselves on a day to day basis. I like for my characters to admit who they really are, what they really feel, who they really want to fuck or kill. We ALL live secret fantasy lives in our heads...I want to know what those are.

What's the premise for You Are Alone? How did it feel to win the awards you have?
YAA is about loneliness, more than anything. It's about a depressed middle-aged man and the completely damaged 18-year-old girl who lives next door. He discovers she's working as an escort, and he hires her to spend a hour with him at the Hotel Duncan in downtown New Haven...but not for what you might think.

The awards are nice. I'm always a little shocked. But I do love the collection of laurel leaves you see on the first page of the YAA site.

What do you feel sets you apart from other indie film makers?
I definitely treat this as a business. It's my job. I think that's one of the reasons we've had luck with investors. They see I'm not some kid out of film school. I don't make movies to make friends, I make movies to tell my story, damn anyone and everyone. It's about creating the film in your head, and doing so responsibly.

Also I'm a perfectionist. I won't let one line of dialog ring untrue, and that so shows in YAA. Jessica and Richard are both pretty amazing. I work with the actors a lot. Give them room to breathe. Jessica rehearsed for over 6 months...she became Daphne, or Daphne became her. But she was so lost in the character, every word out of her mouth, every look on her face, every hand gesture, was real.

Tell me how What Were You Thinking came about and what are some projects in the work.
WWWTfilms was born out of my frustration with making a film in Hollywood. A film which was completely recut and rescored, and which flopped terribly because of it. I never wanted to live with watching my child being molested again. So, I will not make a film without complete and utter control. There's just too much of an emotional investment to have some business man come in and fuck it all up. I'll just keep writing books instead.

Right now we're raising money for our second feature: FRIENDS (WITH BENEFITS), a romantic comedy which we plan to shoot in September in New Haven. If anyone's interested in investing, drop us an email: FWBmovie@aol.com

And a version of my first novel THE SECOND GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD. We're trying to attach some a-list talent at the moment for the supporting roles.

What inspires you most and how do you begin a creation...does the writing process come easy for you?
What inspires me most is music. Basically every project beings with the song HERE COMES A REGULAR by the Replacements.

The writing is so easy, even I can't understand it at times. I can open my laptop at a stop light and write. Literally, I often times feel like just a conduit who types for some otherworldly being who's pouring these stories through me. My biggest problem is find the time to write down all the stories in my head.

I've always been a believer that anyone who complains about writer's block is not a real writer. They're a wannabe. There's no such thing as writer's block. Sit down, shut the fuck up, stop complaining and WRITE. Either that or go work in Dunkin Donuts.

How do you choose who's going to be in your films, what is the deciding factor?
I go with my gut. Some intangible that sparks my interest. Jessica's first read was pretty bad, but there was something about her.

I don't typecast. I have no idea what the characters in FRIENDS (WITH BENEFITS) look like. I won't until they're cast.

I know you are a big fan of music...how does this play a role in your work?
It really is my complete inspiration.

What's in the future for Gorman Bechard?
My new novel will be published in January. And the aforementioned films. Plus I'm already working on the next novel.

What's your favorite smell and when you smell it what does it remind you of?
The smell when you walk into Sally's Pizza on Wooster St. Of course it reminds me of what I'm about to devour. I do worship at the alter of our brick oven pizza trinity.

I think we will be seeing Gorman Bechard a lot in the future whether it's in his films, on paper, or through the lens, it is quite evident that he is putting his mark in the world of art.

FOR MORE ON GORMAN AND HIS UPCOMING FILMS AND WORKS SEE THESE WEBSITES: