An Interview with Gabrielle Savage Dockterman Writer - Director - Producer of "THE WOODCUTTER" 2004 by Helen Chavez & Pat Paone

We are pleased to present the following interview with Gabrielle Savage Dockterman, an award-winning producer, director, and writer of interactive video and television projects, who makes her feature film debut with "The Woodcutter."

This powerful drama stars Danny Glover as 'Jake Neely,' a reclusive Vietnam war veteran who becomes the unwilling guardian of an abandoned child. Other cast members include Linda Hamilton, David Strathairn, and Ron Perlman, and introduces newcomer Zoë Weizenbaum as 'Lenny.'

PP: The Woodcutter is your first foray into feature film direction after an illustrious career in interactive television and video, and the world of independent film is notoriously fickle and difficult. How long has it taken to get the film off the page and into the can?

GSD: Once we had the script in order, it was another two years before we had the financing in place. The World Trade Center attack in 2001 slowed everything down and made it very difficult to raise private equity. Then in December of 2002 I partnered with New York producers Isen Robbins and Aimee Schoof at Intrinsic Value. They introduced me to casting director Adrienne Stern, who helped us get the script to Danny Glover. Then everything came together fairly quickly.

PP: You have assembled a remarkable cast of actors in Danny Glover (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Color Purple), David Strathairn (L.A. Confidential, Limbo), Linda Hamilton (Terminator 2 - Judgement Day) and, of course, Ron Perlman. How tough was it to attract 'names' to the project?

GSD:We started with casting the main character, "Lieutenant Jake Neeley." We hoped to attract a name actor who could really shine in this challenging, dramatic role. I wanted someone who would bring a deep level of humanity to the character. We aimed high: Danny Glover was our first choice. We went through the normal channels and made an offer through his agency. As soon as Danny read it he said yes immediately. You can imagine how thrilled we were. Once Danny was on board, we just continued to aim high to get the best cast we possibly could. Danny is such a brilliant actor, people really wanted to work with him, especially on a project with such a moving story. I feel very blessed and honoured to have such a wonderful cast. They are all very genuine, heartfelt people who brought so much to the project. It was a labor of love for everyone.

PP: You have been quoted that Ron came on board after he discussed the part of 'Red' with you and you rewrote it for him. Can you tell us a little more about it and what Ron brought to the role?

GSD: Ron initially was on the fence about the part. We had a phone conversation in which Ron said he loved the script and as he read it he kept hoping that he would ultimately like the character of "Red." Instead he was very disappointed that he didn't. Red seemed too purely a villain. As soon as Ron said these things I knew he was right. I needed to make Red more dimensional, more conflicted, and ultimately someone for whom the audience would feel compassion. Ron agreed to read a new draft. I emailed it to his agent and the next thing I knew he was signed on.

Ron plays a mute, scarred Vietnam vet who lives in a makeshift camp in the woods. In his addled mind he can't distinguish Lenny from the "little gook girl" who threw a grenade at him, causing his disfigurement. He is an extreme case of what war can do to a person's psyche. Ron was amazing. He brought so much to the role. He could be scary one moment and make your heart melt in another. All without saying a word.

When I met Ron he announced proudly that he had all his lines memorized. I said great. Then I noticed a sparkle in his eyes, and I remembered that he didn't have any lines! Red is mute. He got me good.

PP: We were particularly pleased to see Linda Hamilton cast as 'Kate', a feisty store owner. Can you tell us how Linda became involved in the project?

GSD: We were lucky in that Linda happened to be looking to do a meaningful independent film when we approached her. We were in the right place at the right time. Linda was an absolute delight. She was perfect for the role. There are some funny comedic moments for Kate, and Linda really nailed them. She has a great sense of comedic timing. I enjoyed working with her immensely.

PP: You found Zoë Weizenbaum after an extensive search for a young actor to play the pivotal role of 'Lenny', the child unexpectedly left with Danny Glover's character 'Jake'. This is her first film, so how has she coped with working on a project such as The Woodcutter?

GSD: I was very nervous about this casting challenge. I knew the girl could either make or break the film. She had to be spunky, likeable, strong, yet vulnerable - and able to stand up to Danny Glover! Lenny is in almost every scene, so she had to have stamina. We wanted someone who was 12-years-old so that we could work more hours a day, but she had to look younger - still like a little girl as opposed to a budding teenager. And on top of all that, she had to look like she could be half Vietnamese, half Caucasian. As time went on the shoot date grew closer and closer and still I had no Lenny. Zoë had very little acting experience. She had only been in three community theatre plays, so it was with a leap of faith that I cast Zoë for the role - only five days before we started shooting!

Zoë was a godsend. She is very smart so she learned quickly. She was a natural. I often forgot that she wasn't a seasoned professional. The first day of shooting she had her first dialogue scene with Danny. We shot the master and then were setting up for coverage and she asked me, "Are we doing it again?" I said yes. Her face fell, and she said, "But I thought I did pretty well." She was crushed. I explained about how we do a master and then close-ups and edit them together later. She caught on quickly. By the third week she was asking the cinematographer, "Can I have an eye-line, please?"

PP: You particularly wanted an Amerasian actor for the role - did you find this shifted the perspective of the film a great deal?

GSD: Yes, very much so. When the story came to me initially, the girl was white, and had no connection to veterans or the war. I wanted to explore the issues more fully, and ratchet up the conflict. When I first suggested that she be of Vietnamese descent, Ken Miller was vehemently opposed to the idea. He said it would be too difficult for Jake, bringing up all kinds of mixed emotions and conflict. I replied, "Exactly!" He was soon convinced.

PP: One of your co-writers, Ken Miller, is himself a veteran of the Vietnam War. He has stated he was inspired by Lee Teter's magnificently poignant painting 'Reflections'. What do you hope The Woodcutter will achieve in portraying the place, or even dispossession, of veterans in today's society, and how do you think - or hope - the film will be received, considering the present hostilities in the Middle East?

GSD: While The Woodcutter is fictional, it is based on the realities that veterans face, and Vietnam vets in particular. There are several areas of North America where homeless veterans really do live solitary lives camped out in the woods. They call them "bush vets." These people never rejoined society after the war. They've dropped out.

The Vietnam War didn't end when we pulled out of Vietnam. People continue to suffer and die from that war, both here and in Southeast Asia. Generations are still being born with birth defects from the chemicals we used. Veterans die every day from health problems from agent orange. Even though many of their buddies are dying from it, it's still difficult for vets to get a lung x-ray unless they have symptoms, and by then it's too late.

When I started working on this project over three years ago, there were those who wondered why I would choose a Vietnam-themed story, because at the time it seemed as though that topic had been played out and was old-hat. New York still had the Twin Towers and Americans still felt safe. Why stir up that old issue?

For me it was always about the relationships - how the love of a child could turn a weary man around after he had given up on life and written off other people. That's a universal story. The societal issues explored in the film transcend the Vietnam War: the conflicted emotions of fighting when the enemy is faceless and could include anyone, even children; the unfair discrimination against an entire ethnic group because of the actions of a few individuals; the angst associated with committing acts of war - even in the name of good - and the need to find peace with those acts. Now with the situation in the Middle East, unfortunately these themes have become even more poignant.

It was important to me to portray these issues and characters accurately and without bias. The film doesn't take sides. I hope it will appeal to people on both sides of the war issue. I'd like it to get people talking.

While the story is tragic, it is also healing. For people who have been touched by war, I hope it will help them heal. For others, I hope it will open their eyes.

PP: Location filming took place around Vancouver and Washington in the fall of 2003, a rather cold and daylight-starved time of the year. What kind of problems (if any) did you encounter?

GSD: We were always fighting the light, trying to eke every bit of daylight out of the day, especially since often we were shooting in the woods, which are darker anyway. There was one raw day when the rain turned to snow during the last hour of daylight. We were filming the scene where Jake first takes Lenny with him on his wood trading routine. (He brings the bush vets a box of supplies and they leave him a pile of firewood in return, which he then sells to pay for the supplies.) Lenny asks lots of questions as they cart the wood back and forth to the truck. It was freezing, and we were shooting with the aperture wide open because we had no choice. Ken Kelsch, our DP (and also a Vietnam vet) feared the light was too low but we kept going anyway. It was snowing these big wet globs of snow like spit-wads, and the light was fading fast. We were rushing. I had no idea if the coverage would cut together, but it did. And thanks to the Kodak Vision2 film stock which performs well in low light, it even looks great. It's one of my favorite scenes in the film.

We only had one big problem due to weather. We built Jake's cabin on the side of a mountain (on the grounds of a nudist colony!). It was supposedly below the snow line, so we were only expecting rain, but one storm dumped a foot of snow on the cabin. All the trucks got stuck in the mud and my trailer slid down a hill into the woods. Our wonderful transport crew worked several all-nighters before we could get back in there. We ended up having to repair the road. Thank goodness for insurance.

PP: What plans do you have for a release? Will it be doing the film festival circuit, or can we hope to see it on general release? Also, do you have any ideas for a DVD issue?

GSD: We just locked picture and are doing the finish work, composing the score, scanning the negative at 3K resolution to do a digital intermediary. We have not shown it to distributors yet. We will probably go to festivals initially, and want to have a general release. We hope to partner with a distributor who shares our passion for the film and who will maximize its exposure and theatrical life. There is no reason this film can't cross over to general audiences if marketed properly. Our test screenings have played very well to all ages, even teens.

We will have some nice special features on the DVD. Not to mention some great deleted scenes! That was my salvation during editing, knowing that although I might have to cut a great scene out of the film for pacing reasons, people would still see it on the DVD.

PP: Now the film is on the 'final stretch' as it were, are you, as director, writer and producer, satisified that you have made the film you wanted to make? Had it turned out exactly as you wished or has it sprung a surprise or two on you along the way?

GSD: They say that in the life of a film there are actually three films made: the film we write, the film we shoot, and the film we edit. It's definitely an evolution. One of the biggest (and best) surprises was during the shoot. I had thought all along that if I could just get what we shoot to resemble what I had in my head -- what was written on the page -- that I would have achieved what I set out to do. But what I hadn't anticipated was that the actors would bring so much more to the table. They elevated the story, added to the emotional depth in ways I didn't know were possible. I knew going in that they were great actors, but I had never dreamed it would unfold in the beautiful way that it did. During editing we screened cuts of the film with numerous test audiences, which helped shape the film as well. So while it's not exactly 100% true to the script, I would say overall the film evolved to be something even better than I had ever imagined.

PP: We at The Perlman Pages would like to thank Gabrielle for her kindness in granting us this interview, and also for giving us a unique insight into the making of this very special film. We wish her well with The Woodcutter, and look forward to seeing the film when it's released.