We had the wonderful opportunity to interview Karan Choudhary to discuss his latest film The Timepiece. Check out the interview below.
Hi, Karan! Thank you for granting the interview. Congrats on your new film The Timepiece. Tell us what inspired the story.
Thank you so much for talking to me about my new film and all the best wishes. I really appreciate it.
For the most part, the story of The Timepiece is based on my real experiences after I moved to New York six years ago from India. New York City is full of a diverse group of people and so many cultures collide with one another. Where I come from, it’s totally normal to be a close friend to another guy, hold hands or put your arm around your guy friends’ neck. But in New York? It isn’t. At least in my experiences. After a while, I noticed that I’m getting a lot of unwanted attention for my “normal” behavior I brought with me from my culture. That’s what inspired me to make this film and tell the story that it’s ok to be a friend to another guy. Two guys from different sexuality could be seen together and grow their friendship without any prejudice involved from one another or society.
Did you have to do any specific research for the film?
As mentioned, the film is based on my personal experiences, for the most part, so there wasn’t anything in particular that I had to dig deep on. Research for this film was part of my day-to-day life living in New York City, hanging out with a diverse group of people, and noticing various things. But my co-writer, Michael Anastasio, did a fantastic job writing about the ’70s Aids epidemic crisis in New York and the true emotions of a gay character losing someone close to their heart. This was something I wouldn’t be able to do myself because I wasn’t alive in the ’70s and never been in a situation like that.
How do you fund your short films?
[su_pullquote]”Films are not made with money in the beginning, they are made with passion and vision.”[/su_pullquote]I self-funded this film. I’m not good at fundraising or asking for money to finish the project. But I’m really good at asking favors and bringing people together to get things done. I had a tremendous amount of support from my co-director, Shawn Regruto, my DP and a good friend, Jake Denicola, who worked on all my three films, my co-producer and actor in all my three films, Kyle Mcilhone, and my editor friend, Alex Spiess. In my opinion, films are not made with money in the beginning, they are made with passion and vision. At this point, I wouldn’t know what to do with a million dollars if I had it to spend on a film. But I could definitely make a film if I had an idea and a vision behind it.
Have you faced any challenges making the story?
I probably faced the most challenges making this film out of all three films because I was making a better film than my previous films. We had seven different locations to shoot, seven days of shooting, five actors involved, two different seasons (summer and winter), a lot of props, and a very, very low budget for the size of this film. We also had to go through a major problem when our sound guy lost one day worth of sounds from a summer season and we find out in winters. So, we had to reshoot the summer scene in winters, cheat our way a little bit to make it look natural and bear the cost and efforts of reshooting the same scene.
How did you choose the talent to feature?
[su_pullquote]” I almost cast nongay actors to play those parts.”[/su_pullquote]I had a real task to cast these actors. We have two gay characters in the film and I almost cast nongay actors to play those parts. But my co-writer, one of my co-producers and the non-gay actor who was going to play the part convinced me to cast real gay actors to justify these characters. My casting agent Ann Steele did a fantastic job finding me these very talented actors to play those parts and made it look easy.
What is going to surprise people about the stories you’re going to tell?
One of the main surprises and my biggest motivation to make this film was when people take things for granted and just assume things without facts. They would definitely experience that in this film. I wish I could tell more but there are few moments in the film where the audiences would be caught by a surprise. I hope that would make them learn not to make certain assumptions right away.
Without giving anything away, what’s your favorite scene and why?
The last scene of the film is one of my favorite scenes. We shot the whole film in the summer, except the last scene, and waited four months for the winters to arrive so we can shoot the scene to define how much time has been passed in the story and between the two main characters. It was really hard to shoot outdoors in New York winters on a super crowded street. But it gives me great satisfaction when I watch that scene in the film and see the emotions on people’s face. It just reminds me as a filmmaker why we do what we do.
When looking at the current production, what is resonating with you the most and why?
Two things I’d say resonates with me the most is how I came to New York to study acting and make a career in one of the toughest professions out there. I never thought of making films or becoming a filmmaker. Now looking back, and specifically at this production, which was so hard to accomplish the cause of very limited resources and filmmaking experience. It just reminds me that sometimes things aren’t going to go according to the plan and you have to take what you got to make the most out of it. Being able to take this film to the finish line is a very satisfying feeling.
Second, the prejudice and misjudgments I see in our society in any given situation or topic. While making this film I had moments in real life I could easily relate to what I was trying to convey in this film. How people could easily judge each other based on their appearances, sexuality, or cultural differences.
Do you have anything else you would like to share about The Timepiece?
This is a much-needed film for people to watch. It is entertaining, it has a message, and it is done by a very passionate team of filmmakers who have the talent to show and hopefully be recognized somewhere for their talent. This film is based on true events, for the most part, and I want to encourage those people out there who can relate to the story and tell their own if they have been holding on to one. Prejudice is a very big problem in our society today and we need more and more stories like these to make people aware of the problem.
Thank you for chatting with us about The Timepiece. I hope we can catch up in the future for another interview.
Thank you so much for giving me the chance to answer some of your questions and everyone out there who took the time to read this interview. It means a lot to me and my whole team. I really enjoyed talking about the experience of making this film. Please feel free to reach out if you have more questions about anything related to the film or questions about where to watch the film. You can reach out to me via these links below.
[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/327760888″]
Synopsis: An unlikely friendship between two characters from different cultures and sexuality. Sunny, a young straight guy from India meets Larry, a middle-aged gay guy in New York. They share a love of film, acting, life and deep affection towards each other. But what happens to that true friendship when something goes missing and the blame goes to the minority? They both are the minority in the story but ones have to apologies and other has to forgive.
Connect with Karan:
Website: http://www.karanchoudhary.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karanmrmr/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keithnkieth
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karanmrmr
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7592188/
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