HFF 2015 Interview: Elgin Park Director/Producer Danny Yourd

Elgin Park is a lot of things: a 1950’s utopia, a fantastical world, and an optical illusion. Artist Michael Paul Smith’s imaginative town – composed entirely of miniatures – delighted audiences worldwide when his photo series went viral. For the first time, the documentary Elgin Park dives into the life of this charming, reclusive artist to reveal the dark inspiration behind his work. Elgin Park is a 2015 Heartland Film Festival Official Selection, Documentary Short.

We spoke with Director/Producer Danny Yourd about his film:

HF: What is your film about, and how did the project come to be?

DY: Elgin Park dives into the life of Michael Paul Smith – a reclusive artist turned viral sensation – recognized for creating 1950’s utopias out of pain, love, and miniature cars. When I was young, I was fascinated with magic and Elgin Park reads like a magic trick. At first glance, Michael’s photos appear to be authentic images from the 1950’s or 1960’s. Once you pull back, you realize you’re actually looking at miniatures and it’s mind-blowing. I wanted to play with that idea visually while filming. We’d start up close and then pull the camera back on a slider to reveal the scale of the diecast cars and model sets. I wanted to deliver the same sense of wonder to the audience that I experienced when first encountering Michael’s work.

HF: What was your role in the production?

DY: Elgin Park was directed by me, Danny Yourd, and the cinematography by my close friend, John Pope. We wore many hats being the only two people on set with Michael for the 4 days we were there. My friend, Mike Lahood, edited the short film and he introduced me to Anthony Malagutti who did the motion graphics. Animal, the production company I work at, handled the color grade and finishing. My friends and longtime collaborators, Defacto Sound, did the sound design and mix. This was very much a passion project among friends.

HF: Why did you submit to the Heartland Film Festival? Have you been to the Festival before?

DY: We were very fortunate to have experienced Heartland Film Festival in 2013 with a feature documentary that I produced called Blood Brother. Heartland chose the film as one of their award winners. And this year I have another film called Crocodile Gennadiy, which I again produced, picked for an award winning film again. I am beyond excited to share both films with the audiences at Heartland.

HF: What has inspired you to become a filmmaker?

DY: In high school myself and a group of friends were introduced to a VHS, tape to tape, editing system that was used for wedding videos and a camera. We set out to create short films throughout high school. This was the beginning of my fascination with filmmaking.

HF: What is something that you know about filmmaking now, but you weren’t told when you started your career?

DY: Failure and mistakes are ok. To quote Johnny Cash “You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone.”

HF: What are some of your favorite movies? What’s your favorite worst movie (you know it’s bad, but still love it)?

DY: Having a toddler makes it hard to keep up to date with movies, so I usually have to wait until a film is available to rent or on Netflix. But recent movies that I thought were influential are Leviathan, Mad Max, Ex Machina, the Kurt Cobain doc, Cartel Land. I’m very excited to see The Tribe.

HF: How many film festivals has your film been a part of? What do you like the most about the festival experience?

DY: Elgin Park is fortunate enough to have played at over 40 film festival – this is something I never expected. Although I haven’t been able to go to many festivals with the film, it’s been great to connect with people who have seen it. Since it was released online as well – that’s been incredible to see people connect to Michael and the film on many different levels. He gets a lot of people reaching out to him because of the film and I know that has been really encouraging to him.