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“If you wanna be a filmmaker, you gotta get used to working for free.”
Local Director Chris Townsend Talks About Film, Faith and Fame

I first met Chris Townsend in May of 2008, when he was shooting a music video for the local rock band, Spüknof. A friend's house on Rivermont Avenue had been turned into a makeshift film set – make-up was in the kitchen, pizza in the hallway, and filming took place just about everywhere else: in the living-room, the dining-room, the bathroom, and the bedroom. When I got there in the afternoon, Spüknof were playing “Going Nowhere” in front of the fireplace for about the fiftieth time, while volunteers applied Elmer's Glue to the face of a 20-year-old actress, hoping it would resemble something like wrinkles once it dried. (It didn't).

In between all of this, Chris was sitting behind his camera, dressed in baggy jeans and an oversized orange sweater, trying to get every shot just right. Occasionally, he'd get up and adjust props that came from the basement, jump in front of the camera to show his two actors and the band what he was looking for, or assure the policeman that had been alarmed by complaining neighbors that the noise would soon end. And it did – after a number of cigarette breaks on the back porch, one Mental Health Awareness parade marching past the house, and bassist TJ stripping down to nothing but his chucks during a scene in the upstairs bathroom.

Even though Chris shot the entire clip in just one day and basically without any budget at all, it made it into the Sunscreen Film Festival in Florida that year, along with eleven other videos from around the country. The finalists were chosen from thousands of submissions, many of which, according to Chris, cost hundreds of thousands of Dollars to make.



“A David-and-Goliath battle,” says Chris during our interview almost two years later. It's a Tuesday in January around 7 pm when Chris calls me from his Forest office at InService America to talk about his new film, and anything else I might be interested in. He says he'd probably be stuck at work until 1 or so in the morning, anyway, and that he's glad to take a little break.

Since the “Going Nowhere” video shoot, Chris has filmed a number of music videos for several local artists, including two more for Spüknof, as well as commercials and promo-videos for a variety of clients.

But the thing I'm really curious about is the controversy around his new short film, “Yes, We Can.” From film trailers posted on facebook, I know that it's about a group of unemployed white guys planning to assassinate Barack Obama during his campaign trail in 2008. Quite a risky subject, and I'm not too surprised to hear that it's been rejected by film festivals, or that the government felt the need to investigate the matter. So what's really behind all the rumors? Is it really a “hate film,” or “too racy” to show?

“The film is actually a love story,” says Chris. “The whole Obama assassination plot in the film is very, very small, it's just something that sticks out...The film, when it comes down to it, is about a jealous redneck. He's not very bright, he comes up with a plan to kill the president.”

He goes on to explain that his plan was to surprise his audience, but that many people automatically see the film as a political statement.

“I just thought it would be an interesting subject matter to see how people would feel about watching these not so educated characters talk from bullet point – like from Sean Hannity, or from Rush Limbaugh, or Glenn Beck – and use that as their education on politics,” Chris adds.

His inspiration for the film came from people he knows, and especially from the language they used when talking about Obama, but none of them were actually as extreme as the characters in “Yes, We Can.”

Chris wants to make clear that it's “just a film” that deals with the idea of killing Obama, but that he doesn't “wish death on anybody, including the president.”
Nonetheless, the film has caused very mixed reactions. While some viewers “flat out liked it,” as Chris tells me, others think it's “racy,” among them Chris' African-American wife, who told him that he shouldn't expect a mainstream audience to understand his film.

“She doesn't hesitate to tell me what she likes and what she don't,” says Chris.
I still have to see for myself what side I'm on.

“It's not the greatest piece of artwork ever,” he warns me. “My passion is music videos, and you see a lot of stylistic editing in this short film that kind of resembles that...It's not your typical stylistic standpoint. I really like to mess with audio, and I like things to be really distorted...I like to have more of an experimental atmosphere.”

Despite Chris's passion for music videos, his short films have earned him more attention so far. In 2006, “The Clarence Frazier Project” won the New York Independent Film and Video Festival for best short, dark comedy. Inspired by an article Chris read in the newspaper, the film tells the story of a man who intentionally infects women with HIV.

“Not so much a chick flick,” says Chris, “because it talks a lot about sex...A lot of people think it's just a perverted film, but it's really not that. It's an honest look at this guy and what his mission is.” Clearly, Chris doesn't shy away from controversial issues. But while his short films feature a lot of violence and sex, there's also a different side to the 29-year-old father and husband.

“I don't talk a lot about my faith, but I think my strength stems from my faith,” says Chris.

Besides filming his own personal movies, Chris also shoots videos for Christian bands, and he is currently working on a website for the National Prayer Center that features testimonials of Christians talking about their faith.

Recently, Chris directed a commercial with Stephen Baldwin, and filmed a promo video with former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee.

“I think those are the largest things from a bringing-home-bread-and-butter type, nine to five, job,” he says.

Perhaps it isn't surprising, then, that before studying at New York Film Academy, and working as an intern on various Hollywood sets, Chris started his career at Liberty University.

But when I ask how Liberty influenced him, Chris tells me that it was “just kind of a discouraging time.”

He says that the fines students receive for watching R-rated films or getting involved in sexual relationships made it seem as if money was more important to the school than fostering faith and charitable actions. It also affected his own faith.
“I had a hard time in church at that time and Liberty hurt my relationship with God and made me more angry at him,” explains Chris. “I hate the God the church has created for us to worship. Church is a great place as long as they don't tell you their God wants you to dress this way, or they try to scare a false God conviction into you.”

But despite all the negative influence Liberty had on Chris' faith, his struggle with the church also made him realize what really matters. “In the long run I found that my relationship with God is just MY relationship. I talk to God as if he were my friend, I have yelled at him, cried to him and even talked to him about my day. He knows me and that is what I like about God,” says Chris.

Because he grew up in a “fundamental, Christian household” and went to a Christian high school, he had no trouble with any of the Bible classes.

“But the Communications program there is one of the worst things I've ever experienced,” Chris says. “I don't know how it is now, but jumping from there to film school, I can tell you that they're as twisted as can be. They mix broadcasting and film-making, and they're really two completely different styles.”

While Chris was discouraged both by the curriculum and the strict rules he had to follow because he lived on campus, his time at Liberty turned out to be at least somewhat useful because of the different kinds of people he met.

“When I moved to New York, that kind of prepared me...It made me a little more open-minded towards things,” he says.

In order to prepare for film school, Chris took a year off and studied film editing in Washington, DC. “I had a mental idea of putting shots together, but from a technical standpoint, understanding software, I didn't know anything,” he explains.
Getting a crash course in editing turned out to be a good idea. When Chris got to New York, he was ready for what “had to be one of the most intense programs I'd ever experienced in my life,” as he describes it.

“Day one they hand you a 16 mm-camera, teach you how to load it, teach you how to understand lighting, so you don't overexpose or underexpose film...it was a great experience.”

Chris was lucky to move in with one of his teachers in Brooklyn, a full-time editor in the industry.

“My private time with him was awesome,” says Chris. “He took my skills to a whole new level, and he still does to this day...You know, your art always changes, whether it's film editing, writing, or directing, and the second that anybody says that they know how to do it, that they don't need any help, they're gonna fall flat on their face. That's the one thing I've learned: you always gotta be willing to listen to other people; even people that may not know as much as you may end up having a really great idea.”

After graduating from New York Film Academy, Chris moved to Los Angeles to be an intern on different film sets.

“If you wanna be a filmmaker, you gotta get used to working for free,” he says. “I was literally getting about fifty bucks a week...I never got a credit for one thing I did, but it was being around that atmosphere that helped me understand everything.”
While Chris worked as a production assistant on “The Shield” and “24,” his wife, then his girlfriend, supported him financially.

“She's been my rock in a lot of ways,” says Chris. “Having my wife in my corner is the best thing in the world.”

Another rock in his life are his two kids, who can't wait to play with him when he gets home from another long day of editing.

“I learn a lot from them,” says Chris. “It kind of gives me that Peter Pan-syndrome, and I get to dive back into being a kid, and use my imagination and learn from that.”
And they're part of the reason why Chris likes living in Lynchburg, even if it means that one has to dig to find “artful gems,” as Chris calls them.

“Would I love to move back to New York?” he says. “Yeah, but I gotta look at it from the standpoint of my kids now. I know when my kids go to school, I wouldn't want them to go there [New York].”

Besides, Chris doesn't think that location has a huge influence on one's art: “I think that the people you surround yourself with, the stories that you hear from them...I think that staying true to yourself, and how you feel, and what you can pull from your heart makes you artful.”

Chris finds his inspiration in everyday things, such as reading the newspaper, or people- watching.

“Some people find that creepy, but, you know, go to the mall and watch people. You can learn a lot about people,” he says.

When he's not hanging out at the mall or playing with his kids, Chris spends most of his time editing videos, even on weekends. “It's addictive to me,” says Chris. “It's like building a puzzle. It's fun.”

And just because a film is practically finished, or because everyone loved it, doesn't mean he's done with it.

“I'll come back to it, say, a month later, and try taking it apart, and rebuilding it like an engine, trying to make it even better than it was, and sometimes I've done that, and sometimes it's come out so horrible,” he says, laughing.

While Chris is proud of a lot of films he's done, particularly the music video,“Going Nowhere,” and the short film, “The Clarence Frazier Project,” there is one film he wishes he'd never made. “Supersize Me, Too. The Life and Diet of a Man Named Dan” is a documentary about a man who plans to lose 50 pounds while eating McDonald's every day, and exercising for an hour five days a week. Even though Chris knew that this was impossible, he took on the project, but problems with the main character soon overshadowed the film.

“What could have been, what I feel, a good documentary, turned into a two-and-a-half hour nightmare,” says Chris. “It basically just became this guy and his vision to wanna be famous. Anytime the camera was around he would try to be as extreme as possible.”

Disagreements between Chris and his protagonist led to a lawsuit, and according to Chris, the man even went on national television about the case.

“It got tons of national exposure, but the problem is that it was a huge let-down,” says Chris.

But as with anything negative Chris has mentioned during our interview, he can see something positive in this experience, too.

“I learned a lot about myself during that time that I don't regret,” he says. “I had put that film before my family, and I learned the dos and don'ts of a lot of things as an early married couple. I also learned a lot about patience...but making that film, I wish I had never made it. I wish my name wasn't on it.”

Luckily, not everyone is as difficult to work with as “Dan,” so Chris continues to be involved in a lot of different projects.

Besides filming music videos with the Christian Hip Hop artist, Humble Tip, and Richmond punk band, True Liberty, Chris is currently writing a script for his first feature film with local actor and Lynchburg College graduate, Graem Kutt, a former Theater major, who also stars in “Yes, We Can.”

“The Life and Times of Sean Madden” is a romantic comedy with “no death towards anybody,” as Chris puts it. “It's definitely challenging because it's a lot different from any content I've ever done.” Maybe because this is new terrain for the Staunton native, Chris decided to take Graem on as a writing partner: “Like I said, you can learn from other people, and I think he'll help me, and I'll help him, create a really good story line.”

While planning to shoot his feature film, Chris is also finishing Spüknof's third music video, “Weeds Have Grown,” which he began filming in August of last year.
Unlike with the one-day video shoot for “Going Nowhere,” Chris is clearly taking a lot more time with this one, “a complete art house video,” as he calls it. To give a sneak peek of the video, and probably because he's just so excited about it, Chris has uploaded a few very stylish black and white photos on facebook.

“There will be people out there that totally don't get this, and they don't have to, but it's imagery at its greatest,” Chris tells me.

“Music videos to me are kind of like painting. If a band comes to me, and they bring me a song, I will listen to it until I know the lyrics inside and out – just because I want to try to create something different to go along with their vision of the song, and let the audience kind of determine what they feel from both arts, from the song and from the imagery.”

One of Chris's longterm goals is to see himself more established on a national level with music videos. But in the end, success isn't everything.

“I don't necessarily see myself being a millionaire, or ever necessarily winning an Oscar or anything like that,” he says. “I just hope that I'm blessed enough to continue to be able to work, have a job, and create art...but overall, I hope that I'm a good father and a good husband...that's my primary goal for the next ten years.”

Chris Townsend (left) with Mark Carey, Terry Lee Johnson, and Jamie Bates from Spüknof.