HFF 2015 Interview: Listopad Producer Jefe Brown

Petr, Jiri and Ondrej are an unlikely trio of friends. An artist, a hockey player and a music trader, the boys survive Communism by playing sports, drinking beer, chasing girls and listening to underground music. Bound together by their common desire for freedom on a cold, dark night in November, Petr, Jiri and Ondrej join the front lines of a student demonstration in the streets of Praha. Face-to-face with the riot police, the boys are forced into a momentous decision: stand up against the Communist regime or give into a system that has silenced their families for generations.

Listopad is a 2015 Heartland Film Festival Official Selection, Narrative Feature.

We spoke with Producer Jefe Brown about his film:

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

JB: Listopad is a story of spirited friendship between three boys swept up in the Czech Republic’s 1989 Velvet Revolution. Director-Writer-DP Gary Griffin based the story on that of three boys (now our long-time friends) who he met around the 1989 Czech Velvet Revolution and who were swept up in those events (Gary shot the Czech Velvet Revolution for NBC in 1989). The story was developed over several years until we started shooting in 2009 on the 20-year anniversary of the Czech Velvet Revolution. We shot off and on over the next years and premiered in 2014 on the 25-year anniversary of the revolution in November.

I lived in the Czech Republic for 20 years from 1993 to 2013 before relocating to Austin, TX. Gary has travelled back and forth since 1989 and has had a half life commitment to the Czech lands.

HF: What was your role in the production?

JB: Producer. (I now rep the film for festivals and sales too.)

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

PA: Other filmmaker friends had a great experience and recommended it to me. This will be my first Heartland festival.

HF: This year’s tagline is “Movies That Stay with You” – what lasting effect will your film have on moviegoers?

JB: The film will be an introduction to some filmgoers (especially younger ones), a reminder to others of the Czech Velvet Revolution and how things were prior to the fall of Communism in Europe. Also some reminder of how much more complex the world was prior to then, too.

HF: What has inspired you to become a filmmaker?

JB: It was a natural fit in many ways. I was doing a good deal of wriiting and was something of a storyteller. I also enjoyed the process of getting projects off the ground, finishing them and releasing them in some form — so I naturally gravitated to being a producer. There was also something in the air when I lived in the Czech lands at that time.

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

JB: The amount of time each film takes to make and how long they hang around…

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

JB: Movies of the Czech New Wave are some of my favorites. Bad movie I actually watched…..Footloose?

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

JB: The film? Just 3 or 4 so far. Others have been in several internationally. I love audience reactions – seeing what does and does not work or how it is interpreted in different places, different countries

also, meeting locals and have a relatively intense experience over a few days

HF: Heartland Film Festival moviegoers love filmmaker Q&As. Let’s say a Festival attendee wants to earn some brownie points—what is a question that you’d love to answer, but haven’t yet been asked?

JB: Tell us about your new film on Vinyl Music in the Czech lands…