What is LIT, exactly? I keep asking myself that very question, even though post production finished weeks ago. I’ve still not been able to work it out in my head. Was it a five part television series designed for local access television? Was it a short webisodic experiment for the intertubes that flowered into something more…tedious? Or was it a feature film lurking in the shadows waiting for the proper moment to mature? In the end, it’s a 105 minute story of two best friends doing their very best to survive what students seldom are aware of: the life of a college professor. Sure, we call them jerks when they forced tests on us, or sneered at them after being scolded for interrupting class in attempts to hit on some cute girl sporting proud Greek letters. But damnit, they’ve got lives too! They hate tests. They hate assignments. And yes, they even eat Ramen noodles and drink beer.

LIT is the story of two best friends in their 50s, in their 20s. What starts off as a quiet semester for Doctor Samuel Kete quickly becomes his worst nightmare: he has to teach undergrads. As a respected professor of literature, Kete feels slighted by the board’s decision to “punish” him. He rebels in the only way he knows how: he takes control of the class and, using his own brand of method teaching, he guides his students through a semester studying children’s literature. Kete’s best friend, Carrey Wasse, an administrator on campus, is also dealing with his own brand of wake-the-hell-up-and-get-with-the-program. Stuck in a loveless marriage, Carrey continues to flip-flop between his wife, and his secret lover in his personal quest to figure out which is the better choice. Together, both me use the only strategy that’s ever worked for them to get through the semester: each other.

So now you know what the film is about. But deep down, you want to know more about this film: where it came from, why it was made, what hopes and dreams it might have. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this. You’d be off boiling water in the ceremonious practice of preparing Ramen for lunch, dinner, second dinner, or 3AM snack. Thinking back, it really does seem like it was all just a random decision to spend a few hours writing out a 15 page short. It was the beginning of December, 2008, when I decided to write a short script about a college professor that was down on his luck, and worse, recently assigned a fresh batch of freshman. Sure, the short was fun and I had a great time writing it, but nowhere in my mind did I think I’d expand the idea to a full length feature film. I passed the idea to a long time friend of mine, Nathan Pierson (who later became the Assistant Director), and after spending some time talking about it, I was convinced to continue writing. We outlines a plot arc and came up with an ungodly 12 episode mini-series.

Yeah, like that was ever going to happen!

I spent 7 weeks writing the first 3 episodes, from concept to final draft. I pared down the story arc to 5 episodes, broken into two working scripts. The first script (first 3 episodes) was used to acclimate the actors to the project, and used for auditioning. The first couple of weeks in January saw our call for actors, and later, our auditions. We held 3 casting calls in Columbia, MO on the University of Missouri campus. After 18 hours of taping, Nathan and I reviewed all the auditions and made our selections. As of the beginning of February 2009, we had our cast and crew. We began shooting the first week of March, and finished May 31st, 2009

The real question is this: what was it like shooting an indie film on a Velcro budget? And what the hell is a Velcro budget? Personally, I think we’ve all heard the phrase “shoestring budget” way too often. An independent, low budget film is almost always referred to as a “shoestring budget.” But those budgets often include up to and including $100,000. This is certainly not the case with LIT. We didn’t have $100,000, nor would we have known where to even start looking for that kind of bank. No, this is a REAL low budget film, which I call Velcro budget. So what was it like, you ask? It was the second best thing to happen to me, next to getting married to my wife. It was stressful, painful, depressing, infuriating, relaxing, and satisfying all at the same time. For 6 straight months, every night was spent scheduling, rehearsing, shooting, editing, making deals with local business, wondering why other local businesses wouldn’t help, fretting about extras, fretting over funds, and researching the Jedi secrets of Do-It-Yourself tutorials. Working on your own film takes time, it takes commitment, it takes energy, it takes passion and it takes patience. It also takes money, which I won’t deny.

Nothing teaches you more about the film industry than diving right into it. Sure, some people go the route of film school. Much to my frustration, film schools haven’t really popped up in the Midwest. I’ve learned so much as a director, as a producer, and as a writer by simply funding my own film and working my way through the process. Sure, we had our long nights, our round-table discussions on whether or not to finish the project, brainstorming sessions on how to literally bribe people to be extras. But that’s all part of the process, as a film maker yes, but also as a film maker working in an independent setting bankrolling his/her own budget. If anything, I hope that our film encourages other local film makers, as well as other independent groups to take that chance and make your film. There’s nothing more painful than watching someone else do the very thing you hope to someday achieve.

LIT is a project that has more fact than fiction embedded into it. And most of that fact comes from my experiences both as a student and as an educator. My favorite stories are the ones about real life, and the elements that are sometimes overlooked. That’s what this story is about—at least I hope so! Doctor Kete is a fictional educator, as is his best friend Carrey, but I hope that after watching the film, you can relate to them, their struggles, and their triumphs, and think to yourself: I really want to buy that DVD. Ha! Seriously though, this film was a wonderful project to work on, and there are pages and pages of stories that I could share about the development, and production of this film. I hope that if this film ever reaches you, that you come up to me and say “how did you do it?” Because I’m very glad to say that it’s easy: you just need to find dedicated people that will support your dream. You need to take a chance on something that you’re afraid of. You need to have a loving and supportive wife (well, maybe not in your case, but for me, she was indescribably helpful). In the end, I hope that you come up to me and say hello, because nothing has been more satisfying throughout this project than meeting new people, and becoming great friends.

Brian Maurer
Director / Badass