URI alumni live for 'reel life'

10/15/08 - As the University of Rhode Island gets more and more exposure on the silver screen, like in Richard Gere's "Hachiko: A Dog's Story" or the Farrelly brothers' "Outside Providence," the campus has seen its fair share of reel life.It should come as no surprise then, that at least one independent film company is using URI as a launch pad into bigger and better projects. Patrick Bosworth and Jamie Dufault, both recent graduates of URI, have been making short films since they started their college careers.

After founding Tiny Penguin Films, the pair - who are housemates in Narragansett - have been putting out short films for the past few years and have been receiving consistent recognition for their work. Their first film, "Breezehaven," won first place in the open narrative category of the URI Visualizations Film Festival. It was a short horror movie filmed on Block Island in conjunction with one of their friend's film company, Night Owl Productions.

"We didn't really have any collective yet, we [were] just kind of aimlessly working on other people's projects," Bosworth said. "I needed something to call my own films, so I just came up with the name Tiny Penguin Films."

The pair won first place in the open narrative category of the URI Visualizations Film Festival for four consecutive years, and two of those won best in festival. They said although these are helpful in getting much needed prize money - up to $400 per win - and exposure, festivals do not go all the way in producing their films. Everything from free working actors to Home Depot gaffing and lighting equipment has been used to make the films as inexpensively as possible.

"A lot of the time we've actually made most of our equipment," Bosworth said. "It's about getting it done any way possible, but not compromising on quality."

Dufault said the camera dolly they use for just about every film was built from scratch, and although it is not very pleasing on the eyes, it has served their purposes well during the years. In the actual film itself, they said, aesthetic value is quite a different story.

"People expect a certain quality in the production value," Dufault said. "That's just what we're trying to achieve. We think we have the other tools, but that's the ultimate goal."

Bosworth added, "You could make probably the best indie film in the world, but if you make it on a [home video camcorder] it's not going to look very good."

One of the problems they cited as being independent filmmakers was constantly being constricted by their means of production versus their ineffable commitment to quality.

Bosworth and Dufault said every time they make a movie, they want to do it better than the last. But when money is in short supply - and it almost always is - the pair has realized there is a limit to what they can do.

"Our ambition and our abilities are now becoming further and further apart," Dufault said. "We can't fulfill what we want to do with the means and equipment we have now. That's why were looking for money."

The pair both firmly agreed that a big money client would be the best-case scenario in their ultimate goal of creating a full-length feature film for the public. They said while the financial constraints of being independent are staggering, the benefits are completely worth it.

"It's not a matter of wanting to hit it big," Bosworth said. "It's a matter of having the means to make a good film. For me, and I think for all of us, really."

Bosworth said the biggest hero he has seen in film is Kevin Smith, mainly because he sees a parallel with Smith's career and his own.

"[He was] somebody who went out, had no money ... he had ability, but he didn't have too much of a grasp of what he was doing," Bosworth said. "He's not Steven Spielberg, but he's well known. He doesn't really care what people think, he's doing the movies he wants to do. That's what I respect about him.