Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project

We got a lot of problems happening right now, man.

I don't wanna tiptoe around anything.

We got problems looming like the Goodyear blimp, you know?

I don't wanna be cute about it, but it's the reality.

But the thing about it is,

you have to look at it like a challenge.

You know?

Like, this is what...

This is how you show your worth as a filmmaker,

as an artist, you know?

It's hard not to sound pretentious

when you say something like that, but it's true.

I have a lot of regrets in my life.

This is not gonna be one of them.

I'm gonna look back on this with great fondness.

How's it going?

Hi. Hey.

Goddamn. Hold on.

It's okay. How are you? Don't worry. Don't you worry.

Hi. I'm Chase. Chase Bradner.

I'm Rochelle Dupont. Rochelle, nice to meet you.

A pleasure. Come on in. Nice to meet you. Thank you.

Now it's really starting to feel real. Look at this, man.

Here you are,

if you wanna step inside my living quarters?

Oh, shoot, we got the two guns.

These are really pretty, man.

What kind of camera is that?

Uh, I'm Chase Bradner, and I will be

the director of Patterson Project.

So this is your first film?

Uh-- No. Yes. First feature film.

I've done a number of short films before.

Delta Bravo Carter.

This is Alpha Omega Ramos. Do you read me?

They've all performed at the really raw,

untainted festivals out there,

like the Real Cambria Film Festival,

the Salty Earth Film Festival, Exploding Girl Festival.

They perform pretty well out there.

They found an audience, and I think that

it takes a certain number of short films

in order to graduate into

your first full-length narrative feature film,

which is what we're doing here.

So Frank was telling me you've done a few of these.

Uh-- W-What's the story there?

Uh... This is the third in a five-part series

commissioned by Le Musée d'Orange.

We've been following independent production

for almost ten years, I would say.

Oh, wow. Oh, right on.

Frank, would you please give us your name

and your role on the project?

Okay.

Hi, I'm Frank Eikleberry, and I'm the...

Sorry. What am I?

What am I?

Uh...

I'm like a producer. Executive producer.

Executive... Or whatever...

"Executive" sounds stodgy.

Corporate. Yeah. Yeah.

I wanna be a creative.

Because I got input.

I have ideas and stuff. Right, so, um...

Money controller. Money controller.

Creative money controller. Creative money controller.

I like that. Hi. I am Frank Eikleberry.

I am chief creative financier.

Keep going? Yes.

How did you meet Chase? I met...

Chase does all the commercials for my store here.

I do used furniture.

He came in and we had a camcorder, uh,

and a couple of crazy costumes,

and I was a little dubious about doing that,

but then I saw that cut.

I mean, I thought, God damn, this is...

I'm dealing with, uh...

like, a Quenton Tarantini guy.

He's got vision. Like, a real vision.

Oh, hi. Good morning. Please, please keep your distance.

I know this looks a little weird,

but the distance is for your safety.

I have these nice kitchen utensils here, and I'm here...

If I could just take five minutes of your time.

Our kids are napping right now,

so I don't think it's the best time.

I'll be very quiet.

My name is Mitchell Chang,

and I'm an associate producer on the Patterson Project.

I don't actually like to say "associate producer"

because, you know, that makes me feel better

and above everyone, which is a sin.

I think the best way to describe it is like

an associate teammate, associate servant.

I've worked with him now on almost a dozen short films,

and I've never seen anybody talk with that much passion.

It was like... without being sacrilegious,

it was like I had found my messiah

out here in Los Angeles.

Can you get a shot of that?

That's the knife from The Dark Knight.

It's one of the Joker's knives.

It's like super legit, man.

I mean, this is pretty much, like, my whole collection, man.

I mean, I've amassed this over my time in Los Angeles,

and also Brown Deer, Milwaukee, which is where I'm from.

Why this genre for your first feature film?

Why this genre? Mm-hm.

I can answer that question.

But why just answer it when I can show you?

Over black.

So I've had the idea

of doing a horror film, found footage,

and then, of course, Bigfoot has always really fascinated me.

I think people want to believe something like that can exist.

They wanna believe something can go bump in the night.

And I'm definitely, certainly one of those people,

and I wanna make people care about a subject like that.

You don't see too many Sasquatch movies, you know.

We've all read the script, and I know, Frank,

you were having issues with your AOL,

but I'm glad Mitchell was able to get you a hard copy.

I want to get one thing straight right off the bat.

This movie is not about the Bigfoot, right?

It's not about some prehistoric creature

that may or may not exist.

It's about a group of prehistoric creatures

who like to call themselves human beings.

Bigfoot.

Bigfoot.

Ah.

Bigfoot. Yes.

We are all the Bigfoot.

And that's why we never find him.

Really good. Amazing.

Uh-- Yes, wonderful.

I think on that note, we can start the meeting.

Okay. Let's do it.

Let's go. Let's work.

Did you get all that, Todd?

Hey. Hey, everybody. How we all doing?

Yeah, I don't know. Did you hear that? We're all Bigfoot.

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

Frank, could we get Todd on a video call?

Todd, you wanna get on a video call?

Uh-- You know, sorry, guys.

I'm actually on the road right now.

I'm just headed to the doctor.

He's got a sty in his eye, so he's self-conscious.

It's, uh-- It's substantial.

Yeah, we're gonna be fine. Audio's fine.

Okay, great, great, great.

Bottom line is, I read the script.

I think I can sell this son of a bitch. Boom.

Boom. Boom.

Boom. Todd's my boom man. That's right, baby.

Boom, boom. I couldn't do it without him.

First thing is location.

You mentioned the other day--

We're good there. That's totally locked.

So it's flexible, right? Yeah, super flexible.

Okay. Well...

Super flexible, yeah. It's good.

You sure? Mm-hm.

I'm Natalie.

I am the first assistant director

and also Chase's girlfriend.

He's such a visionary, and I'm so amazed.

I love...

You know, he's so confident, and I love his,

you know, confidence in himself

and, you know, fast-paced kind of guy with the project,

and, you know, with our relationship as well, and, um--

Oh.

Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt that.

No, please. It doesn't matter.

I'm just getting some cups.

Yeah, of course.

Um... Budget. We need this to stretch a lot.

Financing. Financing.

Frank, last time we had spoke,

you had mentioned that we are half.

Half-funded.

Courtesy of you. Courtesy of me.

The last $10,000 I have to my name.

Frank, God bless you. Not really. It's not...

Very fluid. Very solvent.

And you mentioned also that you had somebody to match you.

Yes, and we're meeting with our angel, Betsy, later today.

It's a lot of money.

Don't stare at her wig.

There she is.

Get up, get up, get up.

Hello.

Hey.

Hello again. All right.

You good? You need help? You need a hand?