A Director Asking the Question: At What Age Are You An Adult?

I didn’t know what I was getting into when I decided to go the Art Spark that the NW Film Center hosted last month. Part of the center’s presentation required volunteers to shoot a scene. I was the boom operator, the sound person. Our instructor was a tall skinny man, who was very patient with his new students. Little did I know we were working with a great filmmaker and instructor, Andy Blubaugh.

Blubaugh is a talented, director, writer, and cinematographer. His short films have shown at Sundance, Ann Arbor, Seattle International and Los Angeles Film Gay and Lesbian festivals, and Edinburgh Film Festival. He was named one of “25 New Faces of Independent Film: by Filmmaker Magazine in 2007. You have to see his films to really see the magnitude of his storytelling.

Andy Blubaugh’s films are personal…most of the films he has completed are directly woven from the threads of his life. From the dating scene with writing personals, through an experiment with a relationship that had an expiration date. His first feature film, in production now, is probably the most personal.

The Adults In The Room has two lanes – one is the actor re-enactment of the relationship he had with a man twice his age when he was 15 years of age. The other lane is a documentary of the making of the film. Included will be discussions he had with Portlanders who were hard to get to talk at first about the question: at what age are you an adult? Blubaugh explains that there are two storylines, independent of one another, but they complete each other.

Like an unforeseen twist in a thriller, the Sam Adams and Beau Breedlove story broke. People were more accessible and had plenty to share on this topic. Blubaugh told us that this documentary portion of the film, at its completion will be a total of 12 months of work.

For him, Blubaugh says that with the film, he is not finger pointing…it is a love story, a story of his first true love.

Although not seeing the entirety of Blubaugh’s films (we could see all but two of his short films) we definitely see how bravely he dives into the human psyche, exploring taboos and ask questions most wouldn’t dare.

Scaredy Cat is the most provocative. Blubaugh explores his reactions and behaviors after being beaten by a group of young men. At the time, Blubaugh had thought all the attackers were black men. As it turned out, only one of them was; the rest of the group a mixed races. Here, he discovers a racist undercurrent, and his assumptions about the world around him. He is able to talk to one of the attackers in prison by phone. This discussion, coupled with animation is the most riveting in the film.

The Pull is a naked, honest portrait of a relationship with an expiration date. Blubaugh and a friend agree to be together, but have a date for when they break up. It is an experiment, and brave one at that. In the film Blubaugh’s friends don’t understand why anyone would set themselves up for heartache and pain like this. Neither did we. His answer: why not?

In the end, he learned from it, as we all do with relationships. His lesson was being present to the other person. We find out he wasn’t as present as the partner would have liked.

Blubaugh says that The Pull is his best work so far, partly due to the beautiful cinematography. This is a stronger example of his alternative documentary and storytelling which will have a big role in The Adults in the Room. He calls it a hybrid of sorts…part documentary, part narrative and storytelling through actors.
With Adults in The Room, Blubuagh examines the relationship he had as his first love. What led him to this topic was the fact that he is now as old as the adult was back then. He thought to examine it, partially now that he is teaching people in that age group at the time of the relationship.

Blubaugh rather candidly answered a question of mine, which I had not expected. I had asked if he thinks it’s natural for queer filmmakers to explore or analyze their sexuality in their films.

“I don’t see myself as a queer filmmaker; I’m just a male filmmaker who just happens to like guys.”

I got it when he mentioned that filmmaking, subject matter is usually a part of the director or creator’s life. Our lives all have three things in common: Love, Sex, and the complexities of relationships. Once I looked at it that way I understood. What we have seen on the screen all these years has been the lives, sexuality and relationships of straight people. With a male or female filmmaker, despite sexual identity, it is natural that this would work its way into their work.

Most independent films have to do with what the filmmakers experiences have been; you tell what you know. Maybe that is why Blubaugh’s films are so personal. He is storytelling from his own experiences, no matter how raw or emotionally tolling they might be. I found it incredibly brave that he dives so deep and explores what’s beneath the surface, not afraid to try or ask anything…just to experience life.

If you are interested in the filmmaking process, or would like to experiment with film, go explore the NW Film Center’s web site at http://www.nwfilm.org/