The Bad Penny: An Interview with Todd Bellanca

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By Briege McGarrity

Veteran commercial director turned filmmaker Todd Bellanca has proven

he is not afraid to step out of his comfort zone. His debut feature film starring Casey Evans and featuring Bai Ling was shot using an 80-person crew in cool locations such as Bangkok using an unconventional often-improvised structure!

The finished film entitled “The Bad Penny” is about a former American boxer now exiled in Bangkok who is forced to confront his violent past after meeting a mysterious fight fan from his hometown.

IFQ caught up with Bellanca after a successful west coast premiere at Raleigh Studios as part of Independent Film Quarterly’s Film and New Media Festival.

Independent Film Quarterly (IFQ): Todd, making an abstract film such as ‘The Bad Penny’ for your debut feature must have been quite a challenge. Tell me more about your film.

Todd Bellanca (TB): I knew going in, this would be a challenging film — But I felt like, I had waited a long time to make the transition to features and I wanted that choice to stand out. It was all about taking a shot at interesting material and making a unique film.

I loved the concept of “the deconstruction of a strongman” in this case we made him a fighter — a survivor, a man who can’t stop himself from living even when he wants to quit — his instincts take over for better or worse…Even as he welcomes this downward spiral, his reflex is to fight that inertia…plus I really liked experimenting with the structure of telling this story. To me this film wasn’t a veneer, when you scratch the surface you find it goes deeper and even if it takes a couple of viewings, the viewer is likely to discover details they missed the first time. Everything connects and Jack is solving a puzzle in his head using scraps from his past.

IFQ: Sounds complicated. How was the script writing experience?

TB: Complicated [Laughs]. But it was a great learning experience in two ways, first the material has to be king and second remaining flexible and keeping an open mind will open creative doors that you hadn’t imagine. That being said, we actually started this film without a locked script–in reality before we left for Bangkok, there was only a few scenes sketched out. The plan was very experimental, sort of modern improv with three actors; Casey Evans, Ilia Volok and Jim Van Vleck in Thailand with the rest of the cast there being non-actors… then post write the script and shoot additional scenes as needed in LA.

IFQ: That sounds like it gives a lot of freedom.

TB: Yes, initially this sounds super liberating… it’s not. It’s actually very confining. None the less, the idea was fascinating to all of us who had just come off projects that had been “focused grouped” to death or were so “pre-vised” that the life and energy had been drained…so we were like, “Screw it, REVOLT! No scripts!” Then reality sunk in, as we rolled into Bangkok I had decided we needed at least a “blueprint.” After our first week of shooting, we watched some dailies, and sure enough we had great footage but I felt like we didn’t have a solid path for our hero. A few potential story elements surfaced that were stronger and more interesting than I had expected, but if we didn’t corral them, they would just be a few great vignettes. So I went to my producing partner, Sarote Tabcum, our lead producer and he said “that’s cool, let’s re-group.” I immediately started Skype sessions from Bankgkok, with my wife and partner Sasha Levinson, who is also a writer and commercial director. Our goal was to focus Jack’s downward spiral and introduce a fleeting love interest. We also concentrated on getting as many establishing shots as possible and tons of B-Roll.

IFQ: I’d like to hear more about how you utilized the improvisational element in the structure of making “The Bad Penny.”

TB: We ended up abandoning the improv idea and the final script that’s on screen, Sasha and I wrote together after we returned to Los Angeles. Initially, we focused on a more structured and traditional telling of the story, but we were missing this sense of Jack’s mind fracturing and synapsing. So we began to conceptualize ways to push the envelope structurally– then Sasha reminded me of an old short that I wrote in college, kind of an interpretation of an Ambrose Bierce short story “Incident at Owl Creek” which he based on a Renaissance story about a thief who is caught and hung from the Ponte Vecchio — anyway, Owl Creek is about a confederate soldier that is captured, tried as a traitor and condemned to death. The story unfolds in several flashbacks as he is being hung from a bridge. Anyway, Sasha and I looked at the short I wrote about a window washer in NYC that falls from a skyscraper and dreams as he is falling and looking in windows of buildings around him…The light bulb went off, we cranked out a treatment and sent it to Sarote and he was like, “This is really cool!” We then brainstormed and worked the script to fit our remaining budget and bam – “The Bad Penny” took on this “Wagon Wheel” type structure… where we centered our lead, Jack in present day in his bar, bloated and just existing — it’s the hub and then the spokes shoot out as his mind is zapping and eventually connect to this outer rim which comes full circle and reveals that the story was all happening in just a few seconds.

IFQ: The locations for the shoot sound amazing especially the grittiness of Bangkok. How did you and the cast and crew make out?

TB: Bangkok is amazing, kind of bladerunner-ish, especially in the rainy season. You have all these big super modern buildings, glass and steel, next to other skyscrapers that are completely unfinished…just concrete skeletons… and when your up high you see there are pools on rooftops with palm tree sculpted gardens. Then you go down to the street under the skytrain platforms and there are wires and shit hanging and simply chaos. People cooking on the street or in alleys right behind these architectural uber trendy restaurants– Kind of this “ancient – modern” – a very cool contrast. For the most part, shooting was a rush. We shot in real brothels and clubs and in all the red light districts with real people. We didn’t have any permits except when we would pay off a cop or a bar owner.

A lot of times myself and Vince Passeri, our cinematographer, would scout at night looking for places with great pools of light to center action in and then Casey and I would block the scenes the next afternoon. Then we’d put the 16mm Aaton in a duffel bag with a hole cut in the side and go and shoot the scenes. In Bangkok, we only had a 6 man crew including Casey so we always joked that Casey would start the day as the key grip and wrap as the “Star.” Ultimately, the fact that our producer Sarote is Thai helped us get into some really off limit places and even allowed us to shoot in a couple ancient places where they would never let film cameras, especially with our content…but he made it happen.

IFQ: How does one prepare a character for a Boxing film?

TB: I’ve always been a boxing fan and like I said earlier, I was fascinated by deconstructing this seemingly invincible man so I began by looking at tons of classic fights and careers that had been on high and then devastated. Some pretty sad stories.

Then I sat down with Casey who happens to be a former pro boxer and trained with Joe Fraizer for years. We talked about how so many boxing films go down the road of very stylized sequences because the guys aren’t real fighters. We felt that would be a waste for us. So Casey got this Grinch-like smile and said, he’d been planning one final fight and what if he could put together a true Sanctioned fight in a ballroom in his hometown of St. Louis? Sarote and I were like, YES! do it. So he did.

But I also knew that we then could not control the outcome, we would have to cover ourselves. So we wrote a few variations into the script with different results. We got into St. Louis early and spent a couple days doing some choreography with every possible alternative and insert we could think of in advance… each guy taking knock downs, knockouts, early in the fight, mid fight, and late rounds. For the most part, Casey and Cliff were hardly pulling their punches even in the choreography stages especially the night we brought in about a hundred extras in the ballroom. Casey and Cliff would periodically get a bit carried away for the fans and really start punching the shit out of each other… it was nuts! Then the real fight came and it was all out fight time…the most intense thing was that Cliff is huge. Before the fight, we’re all hanging around at weigh in and Cliff who we knew was a “bit” overweight, steps on the scale and is 30lbs over…We were all like, “Shit, he gained weight.” Casey could have walked, but he was like “Fuck it, get those 4 cameras rolling I’m only gonna do this shit once.” And he ended up winning by decision. Then we shot a couple of fake decisions with the crowd …St. Louis boxing fans are great they really got into it…they went crazy, booing screaming and throwing shit into the ring and yelling “Jack, Jack…” it was perfect.

IFQ: How did you manage to attach the cast members especially with such an unconventional approach to the actual shoot?

TB: Attaching our cast ran the gamut from falling into place easy to complex… Like when one of our actor’s got arrested 6 days before we were shooting and had to really think on our feet. But we were so lucky to find Casey, who not only studied at the Actor’s Studio after he left the boxing world, but he was willing to gain serious weight for the role. From his leanest in the film to his heaviest, there is a 96 lbs difference. Also, through the Actor’s Studio he knew Ilia Volok, and convinced Ilia to come and read– Ilia just knocked our socks off. So that was super easy. We sent the script around for a bunch of the other parts and we were thrilled to hear that Bai Ling loved the role of Nok…I had sent the role of Jack’s parents to my friend Josh Randall and he said he would love to jump on board and passed Jack’s mother onto Lara Phillips who also joined us.

A bunch of guys were interested in Frank and I always loved the idea of Tom Arnold playing this role, but we really didn’t think we had a shot but sent the script anyway. It was a while before we heard back, then it turns out that the contact we had was wrong but by that time we had started down another road but then fate stepped in and we got Tom. The role of Marcus was really tough. We needed someone who could pull off the range and depth of that character; we didn’t have much luck early on and then, Casey said “you gotta meet my friend Nick Faltas.” And man, Nick was a godsend! He had the perfect ingredients and the range from poet to grim reaper…He just got the character instantly. Truly an artist and he really understood the subtlety needed for the role of Marcus.

IFQ: How has press audiences received “The Bad Penny” so far? TB: We are just starting the festival circuit now, so truth be told IFQ, I think, is the first magazine to see it and do an interview. We have an LA and a New York Premier in April and also in Cannes. So I hope you guys dig it!

IFQ: What films and filmmakers have inspired you in your life?

TB: Wow! That’s always a tough one. Are you ready? “The Godfather” 1 and 2, “The Conversation,” “The French Connection,” “Three Days of The Condor,” “Day of The Jackal,” “12 Monkeys,” “The Manchurian Candidate” (the original) and also The original “Mechanic”….”Taxi Driver” and “Outlaw Josey Wales”…

As far as directors who I’ve always been influenced by— Francis Ford Coppola, Sergio Leone, Sidney Pollack, Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, and other guys I gravitate towards are Steven Soderberg and David Fincher for sure. Also, Paul Greengrass. Oh, I have to add, as one of my favorite films in the last couple years, one that I think as a modern classic, “Michael Clayton.” Masterfully crafted in writing and its direction.

IFQ: Did your experience in directing all those commercials help with the visual style of the film?

TB: Definitely. They helped in the sense that I felt like, “Hey, this ain’t my first BBQ.” I know what I want and how to achieve it quickly and with high production value. Plus in commercials, I had been in so many scenarios that I felt I was ready…in spots you get so much time behind the camera that you become a very good problem solver and you can identify and solidify the tone you want to project. Also in commercials, the turn around time is lightening quick and the geography with each job couldn’t be more different. One month you find yourself in the grand canyon doing a car spot and it’s this epic all VFX piece with no people just big… and 3 weeks later, it’s a tug at your heart strings American Red Cross spot with a ton of dialogue, one on one character piece with pure organic intimacy.

Spots also spawn a true sense of perfectionism, which if balanced right can help a director never lose sight of details and telling a story concisely and stylishly. Something I’m apparently not good at in interviews! [Laughs].

IFQ: You attained success with the acclaimed AIDS doc “Because I am.” What type of film/genre are you most comfortable with?

TB: Actually, I’ve thought about that a lot. I initially gravitate to more action/thriller, but I want to be careful not to get too pigeon holed. In the commercial world, it is very easy to get locked into the “guy that does THAT thing” lifestyle, comedy, dialogue, etc. I’ve had good luck with being able to float a little and cross the lines in that world and I would like to do the same in the feature world. I don’t mean jumping from something like “The Mechanic” to “Knocked up.” But I can see myself being drawn to a variety of projects and it will ultimately be the material that’s the deciding factor as to where I go next. I mean at the moment, I’m looking at a really high octane New York action film and a sports film (basketball, actually) and also historical piece which I really love but that one may not be in the cards for my next film.

IFQ: What are you hoping to achieve with “The Bad Penny”?

TB: I hope that when the credits roll, the audience walks away still thinking about it and wrapping their heads around Jack’s fragmenting mind. Basically, leaving the theater with “The Bad Penny” still stirring and coagulating in their heads.

IFQ: Any advice for indie filmmakers?

TB: Yes. It all comes down to the material! Story is king. It has to be on the page in order for it to go to the screen. Beyond that, choose wisely as you’ll have to live with it for a long time.

IFQ: After such an exciting filmmaking journey, what is your distribution plan?

TB: We are hoping for domestic and foreign distribution and we are doing the festival circuit — at least for a bit.